#THIS SHOWED UP FOR ONLY HALF A SECOND HOW DID Y'ALL CATCH THAT

[justvea18]

Does he have pregnancy mood swings?

I just spat out my drink what the hell

[auroragreenvale]

People Watching - JJ Maybank

They met in class for metaphysical philosophy, he tells his friends I like her ‘cause she’s so much smarter than me

OR How you and JJ met

Summary: A look into different points of JJ and reader's relationship inspired by People Watching by Conan Gray. 3k words

***

A/N: I loveee this song especially the opening verse and I always loved picturing the people that inspired it. The chapters wont follow the order of the lyrics. I hope y'all enjoy :)

***

“Dude look what is this shit?” He smacked the paper before holding it out to Pope. He took hold of it, looking over each class listed in his friend’s schedule for the upcoming year until he found the so-called “shit” JJ was referring to: Philosophy. Pope let out a chuckle the moment he registered the word and looked over at his friend, amused. “Pope, man this isn’t funny they must’ve messed up my schedule and shit! I can’t take this class, man!” Pope could only continue to laugh, catching Kiara’s attention. She grabbed the paper out of Pope’s hand and quickly displayed the same reaction as him. 

“Wow JJ I had no idea you were such a scholar! An intellectual if you will?”

“Shut up Kie!” JJ rolled his eyes as his friends’ laughter died down, ready to show a little sympathy. 

“Look JJ,” Pope started, “It really isn’t that big a deal. This stuff happens just go talk to the counselor and get it fixed, easy.”

“Yeah alright… gimme that,” JJ snatched back his class schedule before roughly folding it and putting it into his pocket. He’d probably remember to look at it again before the first day. Probably.

***

To JJ, school was the single biggest waste of his time. He sat through stupid classes all day, missing out on prime surfing time. And what’s worse, it’s not like he could smoke a joint in the middle of history, much less chat with any of his friends in English. He was just glad to have guaranteed easy classes that required close to nothing on his end. That and the knowledge that he didn’t have parents riding his case about his education or caring about his future allowed him to ignore the nuisance that was school once he left the building. But being put in philosophy did not work into his plan. Philosophy was for the smart people. Like Pope smart. Maybe even smarter and JJ definitely considered himself a lot less smart than Pope. JJ took the classes that were required of him and absolutely nothing else. The people who took philosophy probably finished half of their requirements in middle school and overloaded on classes with specific topics because they were actually interested in them. He shuddered at the thought of more school as he entered his next class. Seven students sat at the various desks, not even filling half of them. JJ thought maybe the rest of the class was running late but he thought it was weird that everyone there currently sat toward the front of the room. His other classes were always full and people had no issue sitting in the very back row even if the one closest to the teacher had yet to be filled. But JJ was a master at blending in of course and even though he planned to get out of this class by tomorrow, he could still have fun pretending to be one of the smart kids. He slid into the last empty seat in the second row, looking around and observing his temporary classmates. His brow furrowed in confusion when he noticed them all with faces in books or scribbling away in their notebooks. How were they doing work before the bell had even rung? He slid down slightly in his seat letting his head hang down in the direction of his empty desktop, hoping to divert attention away from himself so as not to blow his cover and ruin his little game. His hand came up to the side of his face, blocking it from the others in his row as he waited for the dreaded class to begin. 

“Hi!” The sound came from the desk next to him. He lowered his hand and looked over at the girl sitting there. “...I… haven’t seen you before, I’m Y/N.”

“Oh well… I typically take a lotta... math... classes so this is kinda… new for me,” he tested out.

“Oh me too! Maybe we’ll have some more classes together.” You smiled at him warmly.

“Mmm yeah maybe,” he smiled, amused at the possibility, “I’m JJ.”

“Nice to meet you. Glad to have you in class JJ.” Again he smiled, you reading it as politeness when he really was trying to hold back laughter. Finally the bell rang signaling the beginning of class and JJ realized no other students had entered the room. If the first bell took that long to sound, he knew it would take an eternity before the last one would sound, ending his philosophy career and his misery. 

***

“You’re kidding me what!? What do you mean there’s no other classes??” JJ yelled, ignoring that he was in the administrative office. 

“Please keep it down Mr. Maybank. What I mean is that all the other classes at that time are full so we can’t move you out of your current class.”

“Ughh! … Yall messed this up, you gotta fix it!”

“I’m sorry JJ but there’s nothing I can do.”

“Okay but you don’t understand I can’t spend the whole semester in this class its for like the genius kids! I can’t do that shit!”

“Mr. Maybank please watch your language. And as for these ‘genius kids’ I suggest you talk to one of them about tutoring you.” At that JJ threw his head back and groaned as he exited the office and made his way outside to join his friends for lunch. They immediately noticed his dramatic expression as he approached. 

“Whats up J,” Kiara asked slowly. 

“This bullshit! They said they can’t take me outta that stupid class!”

“Wait you mean philosophy? You have to stay in it all semester,” Pope asked. JJ nodded.

“And what’s worse they said I should get a fucking tutor! Like I’m gonna go outta my way and do more school when I’m not even at school,” JJ shook his head, “I think I’ll just go ahead and fail.”

“Hate to break it to you man but if you fail it they’ll probably make you retake it over the summer.”

“Pope dude are you serious?” He nodded. “Fuuuck.” Kiara patted his shoulder, looking amused.

“Well uh, guess you’re getting a tutor.”

***

JJ walked into his second day of philosophy and slumped down in the seat next to yours. Blowing out a breath, he reluctantly looked over at you, preparing to ask you the dreaded question. You gave him a small smile.

“So uh… do you like… tutor people ever? For a friend! He’s… he’s looking for a… tutor.” Your smile grew, knowing where this was going. 

“Oh yeah I do what does your, uh friend need tutoring in?”

“This class!-- Well not this… class but you know this subject.”

“Mmm okay well I’d be willing to be your friend’s study buddy, help ‘em out.”

“Okay cool cool.... Cool. That's real uh cool of you.” You giggled. 

“Cool,” you answered sarcastically. This made JJ laugh softly, dropping his charade.

“Yeah so uh… should we get crackin’ like today I-- I think that would… be good. And do we… me at… the library or…?”

“Um we could or we could just go to my place if that's better?”

“Okay yeah… yeah sure that's good I’ll uh, meet you after school?”

“Sounds good.” He mirrored the smile you gave him before you both turned to face the front of the class where the teacher stood.

***

“JJ come on, the final’s in two weeks you need to get some more work done on your paper so you can start reviewing in time.”

“But dude. This paper is so stupid I do not care about any of these old guys’ theories.”

“Okay but you know them, I know ‘cause I helped you learn them, so pick one and write something about it.” JJ groaned in his usual dramatic fashion making both of you laugh. You shoved him lightly, telling him to write which he eventually began to do. When you had finished up your own essay you turned your attention to what JJ had started writing. You read over the beginnings of his essay a couple of times.

“JJ! This is good. These ideas are really good!”

“Well don’t sound so surprised,” he joked.

“I just mean I figured you had nothing since you didn’t want to write it so bad. But this is good, keep going and we can polish it up.”

“For real?”

“Yeah I’m really proud of you.” It was a simple statement and you quickly turned your attention to work for your other classes. But JJ let his gaze linger on you for a few seconds longer, a small smile on his lips. No one had ever said they were proud of him before. At least not that he could remember and definitely not when it came to smart stuff like this. He felt his heart expand hearing those words and he wondered how it would feel to hear them again. And again. He hoped he might do something else deserving of someone’s pride again. It made him feel taken care of in the way he tries to take care of his friends and it felt good to be on the other side of that kind of affection. He turned his attention back to his work and for the first time in his education, felt some motivation.

“No listen John B she’s like, so smart it's like cool! She might even be smarter than Pope and he’s probably the smartest person I know.” In his modesty, Pope let out a loud laugh, thinking JJ must have pretty low standards for intelligence if he was on the smartest end. “Pope what the hell is funny man?” This made Kiara snicker as well. JJ’s friends were all amused at how serious he seemed to be about this, all seeing what he couldn’t.

“Uh, JJ it sounds like you might have a little crush,” John B said. 

“Shit,” JJ said, brushing off the notion. “Fuck,” he said more quietly in realization in disbelief. His friends continued their quiet giggling at his apparent predicament. 

“You gonna… you gonna ask her out or what? I mean you’ll only be in class together for another what, two weeks? And I doubt you’ll ever be in one of her classes again so,” Pope laughed. 

“Shut up man I could be, I'm doing pretty good.”

“I’m sorry could any of you imagine JJ dating this apparent genius girl,” Kiara laughed at the images it brought to her mind.

“Yeah I don’t know if she’d be down to date like a surfer dude,” John B changed his voice to mock his friend. 

“Or she’d be like studying or something and you’re all,” Kiara also took on a ridiculous voice, “‘Hey babe wanna hit,’” she mimicked blowing out smoke and took on a stoner persona that they all knew was incredibly far off from JJ. But they still found it funny.

“You guys are the fucking worst and I’m gonna ask her out and you’re all gona feel like idiots okay,” JJ said holding both of his middle fingers up for all of his still amused friends to see. 

“Just invite us to the wedding okay,” Kiara mocked, earning a shove from her friend as she fell out laughing. 

***

“Hey I wanna… say, ya know thanks for helping, uh my friend out with this class,” JJ said trying to bring you back to the beginning of the semester with this class. You closed your book figuring it was time for a break. You gave JJ a tired smile that was nonetheless bright. He almost rolled his eyes when he smiled back just as big remembering how his friends noticed his feelings before he did and hating them being right. 

“Well he was a pretty… okay study buddy,” you joked back. JJ let out a breathy laugh.

“Just okay?”

“Well you’re pretty easily distracted but you do keep it fun. So better than okay I guess. And you really impressed me this semester. You’re a lot smarter than you think.” When JJ recalls this moment he can only assume he blushed a bright pink at your genuine statement and the look in your eyes. Thinking about it, he still wants to melt in both embarrassment and somehow happiness. He quickly changed the subject.

“Gonna be weird not seein’ each other all the time huh?” He had really gotten used to seeing you everyday, enjoying the time he spent with you even if it was filled doing activities he didn’t so much enjoy. 

“Yeah.” You paused. “...No one in my classes is ever as,” you searched for the right word but couldn’t find it, “...fun as you.” 

“Well no one in my classes is ever so damn smart like you,” he replied, “But uh, I was wondering did you maybe wanna hang out sometime? Like no studying or anything?”

“Yeah I would, yeah. Let’s do that,” You smiled at him and then opened your textbook again, eyes going down to the words you knew you would no longer be able to focus on. 

***

JJ stood in front of the small bathroom mirror in the Chateau fluffing and fixing his hair over and over, indecisive. He wore his least dirty pair of boots and had borrowed one of John B’s less loud button down shirts. He topped it with a jacket. He felt a little weird but he hoped you’d think he looked nice in the clothes that were slightly nicer than what he typically wore to school. He smoothed back his hair one more time and ran his hand through it once. He settled on that. At least it was clean and dry, an improvement from the usual. He drove the Twinkie to your place, a very familiar route by now. When he arrived he paused in the driver's seat. Did he text you he was here or did he go up and knock? Was that what people did to pick up a friend or just dates? You hadn’t said this was a date. And what if one of your family members answered the door? He let out a breath and opened the car door before he could stop himself. He walked up to the door and knocked. He waited almost a moment too long, beginning to contemplate going back to the car and texting you when you opened the door grinning. You were actually really excited to hang out with JJ and get to know him more without homework and studying. You had enjoyed his company over the semester. JJ smiled and felt relief when you appeared and then suddenly felt self conscious. You looked exactly like yourself and he was wearing someone else's clothes. So fucking stupid. He tried to push it out of his mind as you greeted each other and he walked you to the Twinkie. As you both almost arrived at the driver's side of the car, he had the idea to open your door for you. He stopped awkwardly and abruptly, confusing you, as he changed direction to go around the front of the van. He opened the door for you and you got in thanking him. You showed little confusion, just a small smile, as you were used to his odd actions at this point. JJ got in the car, turned up the music and began driving. He felt nervous as shit. He spent the entire semester with you and now you were causing him to act like an idiot. And this wasn’t even a date! What was wrong with him? He clutched the top of the steering wheel and glanced over at you quickly before he started speaking.

“So uh I was thinking we could maybe get some food over at The Wreck? That… that cool?”

“Yeah that sounds good,” you responded. JJ didn’t really love the idea of going to the place Kie’s parents owned and she worked there. He’d be surprised if he didn’t see his dumbass best friends there trying to spy on his date. If they all weren’t, Kie would definitely be working there, and have prime position to embarrass him. But she did offer to cover half the bill and it was a hot spot. JJ figured it would look good and maybe earn him another date. Or a first real one actually. God he just hoped he wouldn't blow it. Another date with you, even if only one more sounded like a great deal to JJ, and he needed to do everything possible to make it happen.

***

You sat in the passenger seat of the van that JJ had informed you was called the Twinkie. The conversation lulled as he drove the car up to your house and in that moment of silence, realization dawned on you. Your brows scrunched as you tried to make sense of the thought that had appeared in your mind. JJput the car in park and you turned to him before he could say anything. You took a breath. 

“JJ? Was this a date?” You asked it with hesitation but more confidence than you expected to come through your words. JJ turned to you, caught off guard, but quickly painted on his signature playful smirk.

“Did you want it to be,” he asks. You almost rolled your eyes. 

“JJ,” you repeated more sternly this time. You really wanted to know his answer. “Was this a date?” His face softened and his expression changed from the confident boy most knew well to almost bashful. You decided you liked that look on him.

“I was kinda hoping it could be.” He looked up at you at the end of his statement and mustering all of his confidence leaned in. It happened quickly. He touched his lips briefly to yours in a soft kiss. It was so delicate that it stole your breath, making you dizzy. He pulled away before you could even process that moment. He looked at you, eyes closed and bottom lip between your teeth to suppress a smile. You took a deep breath in. 

“Definitely a date then.” You opened your eyes slowly.

“That cool with you,” JJ asked, growing nervous. You nodded flashing that smile that JJ already found intoxicating. 

“I’m hoping you can… take me on another one?”

“Yeah of course.”

“Okay,” you said. You leaned over quickly, mirroring his actions, and placed a kiss on his cheek. Just as quickly, you exited the car with one more look back at the boy. With your back to him as you unlocked your door, he let out a cheer before speeding off. You smiled to yourself as you entered your house and JJ grinned his whole way home.

[cowboyemeritus]

Il Suo Campione (Copia/Reader)

Chapter Seven

Series Masterlist

Summary: An exhibition match.

Warnings: violence, blood, descriptions of injury, gang violence, death

Read on AO3

Notes: i was originally going to have this chapter end somewhat differently but for the purposes of Plot changed my mind, so if parts are clunky... whoops. not sure how i feel about this one.

thanks again everyone! i'm glad y'all are enjoying the story so far. y'all are so sweet :)

feedback is always welcome!

Copia has the uncanny ability to get people to do what he wants. You probably wouldn’t be in this position if not. Maybe that white eye is magic, imbued with the power to bend others to his will. If that’s the case, then it’s no wonder the Emeritus Family has been able to carve out such a large slice of the city for themselves in only a few decades.

Whatever… gift Copia has, whether it be luck, natural charm, or some sort of animal magnetism, it’s at work tonight. The noise from the crowd is thunderous, bouncing off the walls of the old gym and magnifying to an almost intolerable degree. Based on the sound alone, this is for sure a new attendance record. Under normal circumstances, that would be enough to satisfy him for the night, regardless of the outcome of the fight.

He’s trying not to look nervous, leg bouncing as he sits on a folding chair nestled between his two brothers. You’re not the only one who notices. Secondo nudges Copia in the side, uttering something to him. One of the bookies passes by, obscuring your view so that you can’t read his lips. When Secondo looks back up, your eyes accidentally meet. A chill runs down your spine.

“He can be rather aggressive when he is upset about something,” Copia explained over breakfast after your trip to The Pinnacle. “I don’t know what set him off.”

You have to tear your gaze away from the second Emeritus brother, your skin crawling. Instead, you look to Copia. There’s still nervous tension on his face, but when he sees you he forces a smile, throwing you a little wave before sitting back in the chair and doing his best to look nonchalant.

“I promise you did nothing wrong, cara. You were perfect. Me?” He sighed, poking at a piece of pancake. “Do you think I sold them on it?”

The pressure is on, just as much for him as is it for you. Awkwardly, you wave back.

Terzo has been chatting with his guests, Cumulus and the silver-haired woman you saw dancing. Why either of them would want to be here is beyond you. His younger brother’s restlessness catches his attention. Seeing that Copia’s eyes are still on you, he turns and shoots you a wink. You cringe, the taste of licorice and bile burnt into your memory. Now, with three pairs of green and white eyes trained on you, you’re starting to feel a little uneasy.

The bell rings.

You’re half-listening to the announcer prattle on about this evening’s show, checking and double-checking your wraps to make sure they’re secured. When he steps back you know it’s time to go, rising from your seat in one of the corners, your opponent mirroring you. Through the building rush of adrenaline, you feel anxiety, like pins and needles, in your stomach. This woman is at least a head taller than you. Unlike legitimate boxing, there are no weight classes here. Although, as Copia says, it makes for a better show when the fighters are evenly matched, that isn’t always feasible. Sometimes, you just have to put your head down and fight whoever’s in front of you, even if it means getting your shit rocked.

This isn’t one of those times, though. Copia is counting on you tonight.

Your opponent is bouncing on the balls of her feet as you approach, the two of you sizing each other up. From between her raised fists you can sort of get a look at her, something you neglected to do before. She’s pretty in a rugged sort of way, with well-sculpted muscle and bronze skin like an well-polished statue. A valkyrie, versus the feral animal thing you’ve got going on. She looks down at you with sympathy, maybe even a little pity, in her eyes. Both of you know this match-up isn’t fair.

“No hard feelings, yeah?” You respond by throwing the first punch. She’s able to tilt her head to the side in time, the blow glancing off her cheek. Again you swipe at her, and this time she blocks you with a raised arm. When your fist connects, she doesn’t budge at all. She’s rock solid.

You dance around each other for the rest of the first round. Your opponent takes a few swings at you, but you’re able to dodge them. Still, her speed is worrisome. At the beginning of the second round you go to block a punch and her fist connects with your left wrist. Something pops. If it’s supposed to hurt, the pain is drowned out by the blood racing through your veins.

You certainly feel it the next time she gets you, socking you right in the eye with fifteen seconds left in the round. The full force of the impact is brutal, momentarily throwing you off balance. As you stumble she’s able to hit you twice more, each blow harder than the last. With the first punch you feel your teeth cut the inside of your cheek. When she hits you again you’re able to turn your head to the side, your brow ridge taking the brunt of it. The skin splits, and blood begins to pour down your face, hot and sticky. It gathers in the grooves around your already swelling eye, making it nearly impossible to see.

The round ends with a heavy, uneasy feeling settling into your gut. Even considering the size difference, you’re performing poorly. It’s not like you to be this jittery. Taking a short, life-giving sip of water, it does little to wash away the coppery taste in your mouth. As you’re catching your breath and trying to steel yourself, Copia ducks under the ropes, a washcloth in hand. You simultaneously wish he’d go away and wrap you his arms. You’re angry at him for putting you in this position, and yet you can’t help but want to please him. He needs you. It’s hard to look at him as he wipes away the blood gumming up your eye; he’s trying to play it off but you can tell by the slight scrunch of his eyebrows that he’s nervous. Neither of you say anything, and the break ends dreadfully soon.

You go into round three with a plan: evasion. Move around as much as possible and tire her out. Not a strategy you’d normally opt for, but these are desperate times. The bell chimes and she comes at you fast, leaving you scrambling to avoid her. When the opportunity presents itself you take it, ducking under her arm to hit her in the torso. Your wrist complains with each blow that lands but you ignore it, the rush starting to take over. Miraculously, you go to fake her out and she falls for it, giving you a clear shot. You deliver a vicious right hook to her face and her nose immediately begins gushing blood. She pays you back in kind almost instantly but you’re so caught up in a sense of smug satisfaction that it hardly fazes you.

All you needed to do was turn the gas on. This is fine, actually. You can do this.

You go blow-for-blow until the last thirty seconds of round four. The laceration on your eyebrow is still bleeding and no matter how many times you wipe the blood away, you end up blind in that eye. Both of you are sweaty and breathing hard, keen to make the other drop as soon as possible and finish this. You’re trying to focus on making that happen, planning your next strike, but it’s hard now that your vision has started to go double. The sense of urgency builds inside you, your heart hammering as you fight to control your breathing.

The mat beneath you is soaked with blood and sweat. Trying to evade one of your opponent’s blows, you step in one of the small puddles, your foot nearly sliding out from beneath you. It’s all the opportunity she needs. Before you can even raise a fist in defense she swings, catching you in the jaw. The roar of the crowd is only surpassed by the thump of your pulse. Like carrion birds, they can sense the end drawing near. Your vision narrows as you stumble, black spots dancing around the room.

The round is almost over. You can make it through this. You have to make it through this.

You’re off balance, swaying as you try and plant your feet again. The gym is spinning. If you could just lay down, even for a second, you’re certain you could make it stop. You don’t dare look at the time, not when your opponent is so close. Why won’t the round end already?

She steps towards you. You can see her clear as day, but your brain, fogged up, is light-years behind. By the time you register what’s going on, her fist is already coming at you. The best you can do is turn your head to the side. You can feel the nerves light up as she makes contact by your ear, but you’re already unconscious before the real pain sets in.

I am a fool. A miserable, pathetic fool.

The crowd goes wild as you crumple to the ground. Those who bet right scream with excitement, while others groan and hang their heads.

How could I do this?

When presented with the size difference between you and your opponent, Copia had turned his head. It didn’t matter. He thought — he knew — you would be victorious. You always are. And what a better way to win over his brothers than by taking down someone twice your size? Everyone loves an underdog.

Things had gotten off to a rocky start, but you were turning it around. What happened?

The count begins. Perhaps you’ll get up. It’s happened before, you rising like the dead to claim your rightful victory. It’s unlikely, given the way your body fell limp, like a rag-doll, but Copia clings to that hope nonetheless, riding the edge of his seat. If anyone can pull it off, it’s you. It’s his campionessa.

One, two, three-

“Come on, girl,” he hears Cumulus murmur. “Get up.”

Four, five, six-

“Get up!” From the seat next to him, Secondo scoffs.

Seven, eight, nine-

Terzo places a gentle hand on Copia’s shoulder.

Ten.

He sighs. “That is really too bad, fratellino.”

There’s a sinking feeling in Copia’s stomach, like he’s falling over the edge of some vast, inescapable chasm. Disappointed and more than a little regretful, he sits, overthinking, as the crowd begins to disperse. He can still salvage this, he just needs to-

“She’s still not moving,” Mist observes. Copia is torn away from his train of thought. In the ring, a small crowd is gathering around your prone form, more than a few people looking expectantly in his direction.

“Shit,” he mutters, immediately rising from his seat. “Shit.” Every atom of his being screams at him to run to you, but he knows he can’t. He has to maintain the usual illusion of calm and detachment. It’s a performance he puts on not only for his clients, but for himself. He settles for a hurried jog. His heart pounds, not from the exertion, but with fear at what he might find beyond the ropes.

What have I done?

You’re lying flat on your back. If not for the blood on your face, still gushing from your eyebrow, you could be asleep. The referee is trying, with no success, to rouse you, lightly tapping your cheek with a flattened hand. Your victorious opponent is surrounded by a gaggle of admirers, but observes out of the corner of her eye with clear concern. She’s more sportsmanlike than you, that’s for certain.

Copia comes to kneel by your side. He jostles you with a hand on your shoulder but still you remain unconscious. Anxiety, like a hot iron, pokes and prods the inside of his stomach.

“Dolcezza.” He shakes you again. “You have to get up.” For a moment he’s considering blowing the lid off this whole operation and calling for an ambulance but you groan, eyes cracking open. You squint hard under the old fluorescent lights, like you’re looking directly into the sun. “Oh, meno male.”

You perk up a little more at the sound of his voice. “Papa..?” The ref gives him a suspicious look but says nothing. Copia laughs, suddenly uncomfortable, pulling the washcloth out of his jacket pocket and dabbing at your bloodied face.

“I’m here,” he says, fighting the urge to go full mother hen. “You scared me, cara.” Your eyebrows scrunch together.

“Have to go to work,” you mutter weakly. “Where’s Mary?” There’s a pinprick of something in his chest — he doesn’t dare call it jealousy — at the mention of your brother, but it’s quickly drowned out by worry, bordering on panic. Not good. Not good at all. He scans the crowd of remaining spectators, knowing at least a few of his regulars are doctors. There are none that he recognizes, but he notices Aether placed tactically among the swarm, monitoring the flow of people. A paramedic in his past life, surely there must be something he can do for you. Copia is about to call for him when your opponent approaches. She’s got some welts on her face and twisted cotton balls stuffed in both nostrils, but otherwise looks to be in decent shape. She’s gotten off miraculously easy. He still thinks you could have beaten her.

“Is she okay?” The woman asks, a fearful edge to her voice. You jolt, grimacing as you try to get up. There’s a wild look in your eyes. Copia has to coax you to lay back down, one hand supporting your head, the other pushing down on your shoulder.

“Easy,” he warns. “The fight is over.” The look of confusion on your face transforms into something else. It’s a myriad of emotions: pain, anger, sadness, shame.

“I lost…” Copia nods. Your eyebrows knit even further together as you stare at the ceiling, unable to meet his gaze. “‘M sorry.”

It’s like his heart is being torn from his chest.

“I- No, dolcezza.” This is my fault. I made her do this. I put this pressure on her. “It’s okay.” It’s not entirely a lie. Not knowing what else to say and not having the bandwidth for it, he calls for Aether, shooing everyone else away. This has been enough of a spectacle already.

“Boss.” The large man gives Copia a nod as he ducks under the ropes. He kneels on your other side. “Hey, love.” Copia wants to reprimand him for calling you that, but lets it slide for now. “You got knocked about pretty hard. I’m just gonna check a few things, okay?” Using his thumb and forefinger, he pries one of your eyelids open. Your pupils are blown out, hardly dilating under the harsh light. You grunt, grabbing Aether’s wrist. He easily pries your fingers off, repeating the process with the other eye. It has the same reaction. “You know what day it is?”

“Thursday,” you mumble, sounding more with it and clearly irritated by Aether’s pestering. He nods in approval. Copia has never felt more useless in his life.

“Yeah, that’s it. Very good. Think you can sit up?” You nod, starting to rise from the filthy old mat. Before Aether can try, Copia places a hand on your back to support you the rest of the way up. Your right hand goes to your hairline, fingers massaging the area around your tight braids. The other arm hangs limp by your side. Aether gently picks it up, inspecting your wrist. It’s already deep purple and the shape of it is… wrong. He pokes at where a bone protrudes awkwardly under the skin and you frown at it. “I can pop it back in. ’S gonna hurt, though.”

You give him a skeptical look. “Do it.”

Terzo picks the perfect time to butt in. “Well, fratellino- Ahia!” He recoils as Aether manipulates the joint just right, the bone slipping back into its normal position with an audible crack. You remain unfazed other than a wince. Terzo blinks once, twice, before motioning Copia over. Hesitantly, he obeys, glancing worriedly over his shoulder at you as he heeds his brother’s call. Terzo leans against the ropes, looking up at him with a smug smile. Dread burrows into Copia’s stomach, clawing at his insides like a horde of starving rats.

“Let me guess: just a fluke?” Copia scowls down at his brother.

“As a matter of fact, it was.” He chooses not to mention his part in it. Terzo laughs.

“Always so serious. All of you.” At least he seems sober tonight. There’s a pause, Terzo glancing over to where Aether is triaging you. “I do not know what you see in the girl. No offense — we all have different tastes.” Copia scowls at him harder. Terzo makes a sweeping gesture around the room. “But, I can see the potential in all this.” Relief, like a tidal wave, crashes over him. He bites the inside of his cheek to keep himself from breaking out into an idiotic grin.

“Well, good,” is all he says.

“Secondo left already. He may need more convincing,” Terzo notes. “But I will work on him. Call it a favor, from me to you.”

“That’s fine.” Copia doesn’t like the idea of being indebted to his brother, but he can survive it if this works out.

Terzo claps Copia on the back. “We will be in touch. Go take care of your lady friend.” He’s going to protest the use of that vocabulary but before he can blink he’s gone, collecting his girls. He exchanges a few words with them, at which point Cumulus jogs over.

“We brought this,” she reaches into her purse and pulls out a bright orange sports drink, “for her.” Copia smiles. He goes to take it, grabbing one end, but she holds on tight to the other. Her eyes narrow. “You’re gonna take care of her, right, C?” It’s both a command and a threat. Gulping, he nods.

“Yes, ma’am.” Cumulus lets go of the bottle, smiling sweetly.

“Great! Thanks for having us!” She gives him a quick peck on the cheek before skipping away, turning and waving as she follows Terzo and Mist out the door.

Copia scratches the back of his head. “Yeesh…”

He’s in a much better mood as he returns to you, even when Aether tells him you’re concussed. You’re no longer confused and the cut on your eyebrow has stopped bleeding, but that frustrated, ashamed look in your eyes remains. He tells you the good news as he cleans the blood and sweat from your swollen face, and it seems to elevate your mood the slightest bit. Still dizzy, you lean against Copia for support as you file out of the old gym with the rest of the stragglers. Aether had offered to carry you, but you had politely refused, cheeks pink. Copia is relieved; he likes the weight of you on his arm — substantial, but not overly burdensome. It’s like you were made to be there. He’d be loathe to have anyone else squander that, even someone he trusts as deeply as Aether.

The street is dark and quiet, most of the buildings on it also abandoned. These are the times we live in, Copia thinks, eyes darting from one run-down storefront to the other. We all must steal to survive. That’s not important right now, though. Not when he’s one step closer to realizing his goal, to making the old man acknowledge what he’s done.

Tonight didn’t turn out exactly how he wanted, but this is still a victory. Copia decides he’s in a celebratory mood.

“Do you think you will be able to eat, cara? I was thinking about making-“

About ten yards down the street, a car explodes. The shockwave sends you both tumbling to the ground. Tiny pieces of debris pelt Copia’s back, and it’s only then that he realizes he’s thrown himself on top of you. His ears are ringing. Around you the scene descends into chaos, tires screeching as people begin to flee. The cops will undoubtedly be here soon. He looks down at you, knowing the fall couldn’t have been good for your head. You appear unharmed but are staring, wide-eyed, at a point behind him.

“Are you alright?” You don’t answer. Copia gets up and off of you, turning to see what it is you’re looking at. A man is lying on the scorched pavement, convulsing weakly. Based on the remaining scraps of clothes it’s Diego, one of the bookies longest in his employ. His body is covered in burns and he clutches at his throat, a large shard of glass jutting out between his fingers. Copia turns back to find you fixated on the dying man, eyes glazed over as you watch the lifeblood pour out of his neck. He goes to shake you, but thinks better of it. “Dolce-“

“We need to go,” Aether yells, running over to help you both up. You’re unable to rise to your feet until both men grab your arms and pull. The whole time you remain staring at Diego, who has now stopped moving, tripping over your feet as they drag you across the street to the vehicle you’d arrived in. Copia dives into the back seat with you, scrambling to buckle your seatbelt as Aether throws the already started car into drive. The wreck is in flames as he peels away. That thing had been Diego’s pride and joy. He was a good guy. A wife, a few kids; he was just another person trying to make ends meet.

Copia tries not to think about that, or about how his car was nearly identical to the vehicle you’re riding in right now.

[grumpybunny-edith]

"Hey, uh, can I --"

"Oh gosh, I remember you two!" called the girl from behind the counter of the Hot Topic. I could've sworn her teeth and nails looked a little sharper than last time we met. I could tell she was studying me too, her eyes dancing between my ears to catch any growth. Her eyes got caught on Anabella's wings too, but only for a second. "You got some jeans last time you were here, right? Did your ears get longer?

"Yeah, this is… kinda the only place where I can get stuff that accomodates a tail. Oh, and, um, they tend to do that, yeah," I blushed. About a month ago she had spent like a half-hour helping me find pairs that would fit. I took a deep breath, feeling my tail shake anxiously behind me. Ana giggled at that, which frustrated me, only making it wag more. Why bunnies had to have the most embarrassing tails on the planet was beyond me, but getting to hear it laugh was worth something. I was just thankful the cashier couldn't see.

"It's so shitty how few options y'all get," said the cashier like it had anything to do with her. I turned knowingly to Ana, who just ruffled her feathers and shook its head. "Anyway, can I help you find anything?"

I grinned, trying to hide my anxiety, and held a plastic bag out to her. "I, uh, need to make a return." She took the bag, opened it, and raised an eyebrow.

"Are these not the jeans you just bought like, three weeks ago?"

I blushed and tried to hide behind my ears. They're not quite long enough to do that yet - the best I could do was hide a bit of the blush creeping up from behind my mask. Being covid-conscious is cool, but really I just prefer to keep it covered so people hopefully fill in the gap with something a little more affirming than what's under it.

"Yeah, they just… Don't fit anymore." I gestured to the snug black sweats I was wearing. I had cut a hole in the back for my tail like I'd done for most of my pants, and turned to the side to show her. Ana would rib me for this choice later, calling me a show-off, but I swear it's not like that. That decision had nothing to do with how cute the cashier was.

"Ohh, because of the medication?" She said, "Or have you just been hitting the squats too hard?" I'd done a lot of wishing my face had the full-coverage fur some other girls have, and the amount of blushing I was doing wasn't making that wish go away. I wanted to look cool; I needed to look cool. That was at least fifty percent of the reason to even be in this shop in the first place.

"A little bit of both," I said sheepishly.

The girl behind the counter looked over her shoulder to nobody, then leaned in. "Technically, our policy doesn't allow returns after two weeks,' she started in a whisper. "But! That policy is bullshit and unfair and you seem cool, so no worries! It's important to be a good ally, or whatever."

After we got the returns handled, she helped me find some new ones, cut me a discount, and assured me I could return them whenever I needed to. At the rate I've been developing at, that's quite the relief. Anabella mostly floated around the conversation, speaking up only right as we crossed the threshhold to leave.

"You know she was staring at you constantly, right bestie?" it said matter-of-factly, adjusting a couple askew feathers. The task seemed to frustrate her quickly, and she never complained when I realigned them instead. Gave me something to do other than be a blushy mess.

"Yeah, people stare, whatever," I said quickly.

"You know what I mean." She shook its wings out and pulled them in.

"I'm gonna count it as another point for her being one of us," I chided, hopping along a step ahead of Ana. I wasn't not hoping to garner a little more attention.

"Sometimes people are nice and gay, Edith," said Ana, its voice like a hand waving my sentence away as she made the same motion with her actual hand and wing in tandem.

"And sometimes they're nice, gay catgirls. When have I ever been wrong?" My tail fluttered unconsciously - I was still getting used to it - and I crossed my arms triumphantly.

"When you decided to spend $200 on a bunch of pants that you knew wouldn't fit a month later," Ana giggled. My new ears were too good at picking up that noise; I nearly melted into it, but managed to stay strong.

---

Thank you @flightlessbirdgirl for letting me write with your character 🩶

[battybriefs]

Remember kids, it's only grooming when it's gay.

But for real heres personal story time. Let's talk about actual grooming.

I grew up in the Mormon church in the 90s and early 2000s. Like a good child, I participated in all the church activities including the young women's program. My parents wanted me to do it, i was told the church leaders were good people so I didnt question anything.

While the guys in the boyscouts and young mens program were learning survival skills, learning woodworking, learning how to fix cars, and learning financial literacy ... we were learning to do our makeup, can food, bake bread, sew clothes, cook large meals, and learn about changing diapers. It was hammered in our heads from a young age that our entire purpose in life was to get married, serve the husband, have kids and raise a family.

I remember when I was a Beehive, around 13 or 14, our ward was invited to participate in a fashion show for one of the local bridal stores. They dressed all the young women up, did our makeup and hair, put us in wedding dresses, and invited all the men in the ward to come watch us runway walk in the cultural hall. I was a literal child. I didnt even have tıts yet. Men in their 60s and 70s in our ward came to watch us parade around in our little wedding gowns. That's straight up a pedopagent and grooming child brides, y'all, and I didn't even realize it because things like that were so normalized in the church.

I remember sitting in the bishops office interviewing for my first temple reccomend so I could participate in the young women's activity to do baptisms for the dead. He asks me if I live by the laws of chastity. I was young, naive, sheltered and didn't even know what the word chastity meant. I remember him aggressively, explicitly asking me questions about my virginity- had I ever kissed a boy, touched a boy, thought about a boy, touched myself, touched a girl, thought about a girl, felt tingly down there, had a hymen. He kept asking me over and over if I was sure about my answers, and would elaborate on what he meant like he was fishing for a specific answer. It felt so dirty and invasive. In hind sight it felt more like he was trying to get spank bank material than trying to find out if I was being a "good girl".

Fast forward a few years. Im in Junior High, probably about 15 years old. I'm a closeted homo sitting next to my girlfriend in church, trying my damndest to hold my tongue and not let people catch on that I was crying. The young woman's lesson was about a woman's worth.

They opened up by talking about how we're getting old enough to go to college in a few years and that that's great, but a career and college education should be a hobby and not a goal. They stressed that we shouldn't put our educations and careers as a priority over finding a man, getting married in the temple, and starting a family. They said as soon as we found a man, we needed to drop out and become stay at home mothers. It was the mans duty to provide for the family. We were told that the reason God sent women to this earth to serve men and raise families, and that it was a divine and sacred calling.

The second half was about how lesbians and gay people were sent by the devil to destroy families. We were told if we "struggled with same sex attraction" we needed to pray, repent and try harder to be straight. That we needed to tell the bishop so they could help us get gay conversion therapy. That even if we liked girls, we needed to find a man to marry and bear his children. They actively encouraged gay men and women to catfish straight partners and trick them into thinking you loved them with the purpose of bearing children. Can you imagine how fucking awful it would be to fall in love and marry a person thinking they felt the same way, only to find out they're gay and living a lie so they don't go to hell?

The church advocating "its ok to be gay but you have to be celibate and single for the rest of your life" was a change the church made a few years later when Prop 8 passed and their members started leaving in hoards.

Meanwhile I've been to drag shows since I was in high-school. It's just a bunch of people with great makeup skills doing lavish impressions of Lady Gaga and Freddy Mercury.

Why is a drag show considered grooming but telling actual children that theyre going to be mommies and daddies when they grow up not? Why is it grooming if a trans person is out in public doing something mundane like grocery shopping, but it isn't grooming watching television shows that has love triangle plotlines that revolve around teenagers making out and exploring their sexuality? Why is it grooming when a children's show has a character with two daddies but not grooming when the children's show character has a mom and a dad?

If people really give a shit about grooming, they need to start in their own backyard. Start by deconstructing straight representation in media. Start by asking why its ok to joke that a toddler is going to be a ladies man when he grows up. Start by asking why child beauty pagents even exist. Start by looking at how your religion teaches and enforces sexuality. Start with comprehensive and age appropriate lessons about the human body and consent with little Suzy so when uncle Bob is being inappropriate at the family reunion she has the knowlege and tools to know whats going on, to assert her boundaries, and the confidence to tell another grownup what's going on.

[theodoraflowerday]

heartstopper s3e2 live episode reaction

and it's gonna start to get so much worse I wanna bask on that final scene for a little longer

bro it took me one hour to watch a half hour episode

"shame mom had to pull out" honestly yeah it's such a shame I'm gonna miss Sarah so much this season

but also HELLO AUNT PEGGY CARTER

oh he wrote it down lmao me too charlie

OH. OH OKAY CHARLES

bro and by the end of this they're gonna be having sex idk how I'm gonna cope

tori's face.... she's always so worried about charlie I get her so much

oh my god

JANE STOP

TORI SPRING CHARLIE'S #1 DEFENDER

"can you please not undermine me like that in front of him" stop making her do your job then she's a *child*

I see julio's prob not gonna be in this season either lol bc that was his line not tori's

oh my god auntie diane didn't know (or at least not officially bc i know sarah was gushing over charlie)

bro and nick came out to her just like that....... my baby boy I'm so proud of him

"you know me" "I do" oh I BET y'all do

"I'll be good" "not too good tho" OOHHHHHH AYEEEEEEEEEE

I know in the comics they've only been dating for a year and I know they're probably at MOST late 20s but please can we have a nathan/youssef wedding in s4 (at least just a mention)

STOP DARCY'S GRANDMA IS SO WHOLESOME please don't be transphobic

not sahar saying she's unsurprised about imogen's high drama grade skfjdkfk y'all are gonna be the messiest gfs

oh darcy baby

ALL NINES??????

OXBRIDGE PREP GROUP AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA LETS FUCKIN GO TARA

"exams mean nothing" oh tori baby

omg nick did terrible at math he's so relatable I love him

oh wait he passed math. is it obvious I'm not english lmao

"NEVER IN DOUBT" oh uncle rick you'll always be famous

god please let charlie go to menorca with nick's family next year please

oh that's not great

NOT A SHIRTLESS SELFIE NICHOLAS YOU WHORE

oh isaac youll get used to this don't worry (yes worry)

OH HELLO JACK MADDOX

"you're abandoning me again" god every time tori speaks it tugs at my heartstrings

"I don't wanna see mum" and she accepts it.... greatest big sister in the world bro

oh char

CATCH PLANES NOT FEELINGS LMFAOOOOOOO IMOGEN I LOVE YOU

OH AUNTIE DIANE IS A PSYCHIATRIST LETS GOOOOOOO TEAM PSYCH

oh nick baby talk to her she's about the single most qualified person you could be talking about this to

oh I love you darcy's grandma you're so cute

darcy giving away her skirts..... or should I say THEIR SKIRTS. LET'S GO NB DARCY

oh tori

oh tori no

oh my god tori no

bro tori is breaking my heart CAN WE GET MICHAEL HERE WE NEED SUNSHINE

TAO NOOOOOOOOOO

"I wish I'd sat still" oh no

bro this show is gonna fuck me up

Isaac being worried about charlie 😭 also isaac being annoyed is SO ME I'd be smacking them left and right like wow

NOT ELLE COPYING TAO'S "RRRUDE"

ISAAC WENT TO CHECK ON CHARLIE what the fuck no one appreciates isaac enough what the fuck

oh they're watching a movie :( bffs :(

I love them so much your honor

also where are imogen and sahar I miss them :(

oh my GOD TORI IS ON TUMBLR

HER BEST FRIENDS HER BROTHER I LOVE YOU TORIIII

I know this season probably kills any solitaire adaptation hopes but I would have loved to see solitaire :(

omg julio IS here and being horrible at cooking!

OH MY GOD SHES LOOKING AT HIS LAPTOP

TORI'S TEXTING NICK OH MY H OD

tori 🤝 nick -> being charlie's #1 stans

OH MY GOD SHE SAID ILY

BRO THATS SO CUTEEEEEEEEEE I LOVE THEM

oh my god that's so horrifying

god you can *feel* his anxiety

I'm preemptively crying don't mind me

I was right to start preemptively crying that was *so* bad oh my god

bro charlie's face how he can't contain the tears i

im not gonna cope well with any of this

oh god im literally *sobbing*

my cat heard me sobbing, started kneading on my legs for like a few seconds and then left lmao skfkskfldkf tjsgs not good none of this is great

there's no way that was the ending

they just had me sobbing my eyes out and were like "ok time for a break" ok THANKS

please give both joe and kit like a thousand emmys

[starlitangels]

WIP Wednesday!

@romirola put out an open tag for WIP Wednesday so I'm going to participate

I'm continuing the Open Tag! If you wanna do it, go for it! Show me what you got! But I will prod at @zozo-01 @gingerbreadmonsters and @pinksparkl to see if they have anything they're working on and might be willing to share? (No pressure, friends!)

Y'all remember my "(Still) Not a Tank" pair of one-shots (the race/role swap AU)? Yeah... I'm trying to finish Part 3! Have a taste!

—

Sam stared for just a moment. “Didn’t think you’d just… be on my kitchen counter, darlin’,” he said.

They chuckled, kicking their boots slightly where they dangled. “Thought it’d be better than just lingering on the porch for your Neighborhood Watch to call the unempowered cops on me. Dunno if you’ve noticed this, but I like dark clothes. People tend to think that’s… suspicious.”

“How long you been waitin’ here?”

“Since right after sundown.”

Sam blinked several times. “That was near two hours ago.”

They shrugged. “Didn’t know when you’d get back. Figured I’d get over here as soon as I could.”

“... Why?”

They stared at him, their silver eyes reflecting like a cat’s off the half-light peeking through the shutters from outside. “You… you said you wanted to see me again.”

“I did say that. I did—do—want to see you again.”

That earned a one-shoulder shrug. “I’m not used to… people… wanting to see me. I’m used to being… tolerated.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better… I’m not used to… someone else bein’ so… eager to visit me.”

They looked away, turning their eyes down onto the hardwood floor. Biting their lower lip like they were trying to force down a smile. Sam caught the points of their fangs digging deeper than the rest of their teeth. He heard them say something, but didn’t catch any words.

“What was that?” he asked. Am I already that old that my hearin’s goin’? Or are they just that quiet?

They cleared their throat. “Nothing. Sorry.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” They kept not meeting his gaze. “Anyway. What did you want to see me for? Just a social visit? Or am I due for a one-day follow up?”

Sam snorted. “Smartass,” he said.

They smirked—and it grew broader the second Sam’s heart kicked faster in response. “Is that why you wanted to see me? Get your blood racing a little faster?” They finally met his gaze and bit their tongue between their fangs on one side.

“You’re a nightmare.”

“Your heart’s still racing.”

“Even if—” Sam sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re too young for me.”

“Like, five years max is not ‘too young,’ cowboy,” they remarked, leaning back on their hands on the counter. Entire body on display. Sam forced himself to only hold focus on their eyes, not drink in the rest of the sight. The tank top showing off scarred, muscled arms, jeans too tight to comfortably run in—Stop, Collins.

“Two,” he corrected.

They smiled. “Even better.”

“No—dar—Tank—”

Their eyebrow raised. “‘Tank’?” they quoted. “Thought you figured that nickname was stupid or something.”

“Look. You’re in your mid-twenties.”

“No, I’m not.” Their fangs slid out defensively. A growl was low in their throat. “I’m tired of people treating me like a child because I was turned in my mid-twenties!”

“I’m not tryna—”

“Then let’s be honest with each other. We’re adults. No dancing around like idiot teenagers.”

He had to admire how bold and blunt they were, if nothing else.

He took a deep breath. “Alright.”

[loquaciousquark]

4-Sided Dive Highlights - Critical Role C3 up to E52 (Mar. 22, 2023)

I will catch up with these if it kills me. No fluff tonight, only hard-hitting facts! Tonight's guests: Liam, Marisha, Taliesin, and Ashley. We open with a recap from the previous episode where the broom was murdered while the lights were out. A montage shows us all the times we featured Broomy on the show. Rest in peace, bristles. The rest of the opening is an in media res discussion about pickles and a Kentucky vodka/Koolaid/pickle juice horror. Ashley wins host and the script lampshades the irregular show schedule along with the chaos of the show at this point. Broomy gets a moment of silence and we are introduced to his replacement, Moppo.

What the Fuck is Up With That? We start with a discussion of creating Nana Morri. Ashley reminds us that the birdhouse her mom made (which looked like a hag hut) was a big inspiration for the character. The double-face situation and the ET neck were all Matt. Ashley did know she had two heads before everyone else; she sent him a whole doc of ideas at the start (tree house, creepy Swiss Family Robinson, Fearne's menagerie, beauty from a distance but creepy up close), and Matt came back and extrapolated upon it. Ashley loves the idea of all Fearne's wildshape animals being misfit idiots all the way down.

How did everyone feel about the Fey Realm? Orym was sad they had to leave so soon. Ashton loved the rule of chaos. Laudna loved Grandma and how creepy everyone was; Marisha loved the idea of having two heads to take over the work. (I haven't fully caught up in my show watch and I miss Laudna so much!)

Everyone thinks the break-in with the portable hole usage was fantastic. Everyone wants to know about the Fey creature riding the dragon.

Dani sometimes sends them lore updates during games: "y'all, that item is literally sitting on the table in front of you, that just happened an hour ago." Neat!

How did the Apogee Solstice go? Marisha: "medium." Matt said they went right down the middle, could have gone better and could have gone way worse. Ashley felt completely paralyzed by indecision; Marisha was proud she stuck to destroying the power sources. They wish they could have done more with their previous campaign characters.

Marisha felt like she was in a fugue state when Beau showed up; Liam was devastated he couldn't roll better. Ashley was really struggling against her personal desire to get them out of chains ASAP. Liam loved the "sweet sweet irony of Caleb being collared y Aeor tech." He was really excited about the idea of destroying Otohan's backback, frustrated in the moment with his rolls, and then on review still felt like he'd made the right decision pursuing that for his character.

Marisha was convinced she was going to watch at least one of her characters die. Liam short-circuited and couldn't talk for half an hour after the episode, and almost everyone (except Sam & Travis) couldn't sleep that night.

Liam had completely closed the door on Vax in his head. He never expected to see him again after the wedding. To have him show up now both flabbergasted Liam and blew him away with the recontextualized attack on Keyleth in Orym's backstory. Both Marisha & Liam kept looking back and seeing seeds that Vax might show up later having been planted very early in the story. "It's not the first time Keyleth's been attacked. Fuck!"

Would they be okay if either of their characters are dead? Yes, they trust Matt. Marisha would prefer Keyleth to die over Beau; Beau has more to do, and Keyleth's biggest fear was always "being the last leaf on the tree."

Liam always felt that VM was a complete, closed story, while M9 was more a chapter in those characters' lives. He feels they're often going to come together over the years.

Ashley felt she was too timid in the Apogee attack. She wishes she could take a second shot at it. Marisha was mentally tracking Keyleth's HP for the whole fight and panicked when she realized how close she was to death.

Liam loves the challenge of taking the straight man role (similar to Keyleth in C1), except EVERYONE is Grog. Everyone thinks Deanna and FRIDA will be a calming influence.

Ashley loves Aabria's range and ability to jump from comedic to serious on a dime. Christian is incredible and brings energy to the table.

Liam is jealous he doesn't get to play with them. Marisha laughs that every time she sits back and just watches the show, she's like, "damn, this is good." She never realized how much Travis has been emoting this season since she sits next to them. Ashley loves watching people perform and be at the top of their game.

The Tower of Inquiry! What has been your favorite scene not involving your character? Ash: Laudna & Imogen & the breaking rock. Tal: Chetney getting dark with the shopkeeper. Liam: Fearne & Chet sexual tension scene. Marisha: Chetney calling bullshit on Delilah, Fearne as a quokka.

Liam pulls again: What surprises have you discovered about your character? Tal: what punk in Exandria means for Ashton: "life's not fair, and you either believe that it's not fair because life is chaos or you believe life's not fair because there's a bunch of interventionist assholes above you who have decided that you don't get to be a winner. Is is it a world where there are winners and losers, or is it in a world where there are interventionist gods?"

Both Ashley & Marisha love Laudna's relationship with Ashton. Ashton brings up parallels Laudna wants to deny: "she really wanted to be past this." "Right! It's--how fucking dare you be past this? How dare you!" "Exactly!" Ashton chooses not to believe Laudna is past it, because otherwise that means it's a thing you can get past, which means Ashton is wrong, which is impossible. "It's amazing the way [Ashton] is obviously projecting."

Liam goes to Zephra a lot in his mind palace. He never expected how much he was going to think about Orym's dead family and wondering if they would meet again. He has synthetic memories of interactions of Orym and Will, Orym's mother...

Tal has enormous portions of Whitestone fastidiously mapped out in his head: he knows the library, the gardens, the clock tower, and the ruins to the east. He can walk there and back in his mind's eye.

Ashley has learned that she really enjoys making everyone else cringe, ahaha. She loves when she can feel Laura looking over in concern. Everyone LOVED her stealing Ira's spyglass. Everyone lists off Travis's tics that tell Ashley she's on the verge of going too far.

Character's daily routines? Every night, Laudna gets out her little house and tucks in the dolls and puts them to bed properly. "Pate has to die every night." Everyone adores Pate peeling his ribs open. Ashton's routine is medicinal chronic pain management and deciding every night whether he's going to get drunker or get angry tonight. Both Dani & Tal talk a little about their personal struggles with chronic pain and enjoying seeing Ashton learn to deal with it.

Favorite spell or class feature? Laudna: Form of Dread. Fearne: Sleight of Hand.

The Deep Dive! Orym feels completely played as regards Keyleth & the Apogee. Everyone agrees there were lots of failsafes to make sure Keyleth showed up even if he hadn't reached out.

Ashley is very curious to see how magic has been affected by the solstice, but she's more panicking that Orym is gone and she's off the leash (ha!).

Laudna will always be there to validate Imogen's feelings; it's okay to have these thoughts and questions about what if the Ruby Vanguard is right, examining whether the relationship with the gods is healthy or cyclical abuse. However, "we can all sit here and do a nice big thought experiment about what the world would be like without gods, but that thought experiment doesn't necessarily include all of the consequences of the Ruby Vanguard's plan...which is a world without gods, not necessarily a bad thing. Unleashing a god-eating-elder-old-one-type being, maybe a bad idea. Worse." Liam talks about how these people killed a bunch of people precious to him. Dani reminds us that the god haters killed Laudna and a god-lover (Pike) brought her back. "You can't deny the existence of the gods. All you can do is be really resentful of them." They're manipulative if you choose to take the cynical point of view; Caduceus, for example, takes the complete opposite viewpoint. Taliesin had to sit down and build a discrete theology for Clay.

Whenever Marisha and Taliesin's characters have conversations in game, she always thinks of things she wishes she'd said or phrased differently. Ashton really struggled with watching Laudna go through what he did, except with the support of so many friends. "Oh, fuck you!" It's an unhealthy, jealous anger. Liam loves the jealousies, the petty faults. Ashton probably does know abandonment more than anyone else in the party, but both Marisha & Laudna were affronted at his claim that he knew loneliness better than her.

Orym is worried about Dorian & everything going on in Tal'Dorei.

Fearne is terrified of Ludinus. Seeing what he did to Sumal put a lot of fear into her, which was a new experience for her.

For about five minutes, both Liam & Marisha had all three characters sharing a map. Laura had said something about how Marisha's characters keep showing up: "Well, I habitually keep making characters that have an issue not working and just won't retire, so they just keep doing things, and maybe that speaks more about me than it does anybody else! Everyone else lets their characters rest and go to sleep, and I don't! I don't know why I'm like this!" It felt personal, but also representative of eight years of work building up the company and the world and the family. It hit everyone very hard and made them emotional.

Ashton is conscious that their abilities are a metaphor. Ashton does not know how his abilities work, but if he doesn't understand them, then neither does your enemy. He counts on being unpredictable. He's scared to death that he cares about Laudna.

Liam: "the three strange witches, their three bodyguards, and a robot." Orym would killed the halfling who surrendered but would have regretted it. Ashton took the locket because he believed this was not a dad who had something to lose; this was a dad who had lost something. "This was not an orphan being made." Ashton does not feel good about it, but there's no second guessing.

Ira is a regular old schmo to Fearne, which is a word I've never written in my life. Laudna is very taken by his confidence.

Laudna HATES not knowing where Laudna is. She loves having Pate with her all the time. If Imogen had been there during the dreams, she would have just held her hands.

Tal: FCG thinks he's dangerous because he's going to turn on everyone. Actually, FCG is dangerous because he's going to keep running headfirst into danger and everyone else is going to try to save them. "It's a monstrously selfish robot." How will FCG deal with someone eventually getting hurt in their defense? That they keep volunteering themselves for dangerous/painful tasks is a selfish sort of martyrdom.

One day with your character? Orym: gym, ballet. Ashton: concert. Laudna: taxidermy class. Fearne: Disneyland.

What would your room in Caleb's tower look like? Fearne's room would just be her own room but more expanded. Ashton: a mid 90s 16-yo kid's room. Caleb would have everyone's rooms connected. Marisha: Children's Museum in St. Louis.

What moments made you really feel you were in Exandria? Tal: the trudge through the snow with Lucien. That was the most he ever felt like Clay. Liam: going to Rexxentrum with the rain and griffin riders and arriving at the church and shattering the stained glass windows. Marisha: the jungle backstory conversation with Liam with the lighting cues and projections and the fireflies and the rain; having everything green and lush in her head really cemented the moment. Ash: descending on Aeor and realizing how old everything was. Liam: the Matron arriving on the steps at the end of C1. Taliesin: "I can't remember what I had for breakfast yesterday and I remember every fucking moment of that day."

Favorite movie genre? Laudna: regency romance. Orym: Crouching Tiger, Errol Flynn. Fearne: soap operas. Ash: documentaries.

Post-Break Shenanigans: "Moving Out" on the Switch. I love silly little games like this and yet this one doesn't scratch the itch at all!

Orym understands Imogen's waffling about the Ruby Vanguard; he knows she wants a relationship with her mother. "It's a simple solution to a pretty complicated problem, though."

Ashton thinks Jiana Hexum is what he deserves. "I know a supervillain" is what he has to offer the group.

Fearne loved that Nana Morri came to her rescue, but just doesn't want her to get hurt.

Laudna loved the Fey Realm. She wishes they could have spent more time there. Liam wants the beating-heart topiary collection. Tal wants a mug.

Tal will drip out what happened with the kenku over the next five years. Ha! There's so much crosstalk; even with captions, this is awful, haha.

Fearne knows her position with the Ruidusborn means she might have been used as part of this plot. She's not excited about it, but it's such a complex problem that she's going to wait and see what happens. Fearne would be the least helpful in a move.

Laudna both misses Pate and his ability to heal her to full hit points. Everyone marvels at Matt's ability to rhyme off the cuff.

Orym is marvelling that the Wildmother finds him important enough to give him a sword. "I'm a real boy!"

The post-credits scene has an evil voiceover telling Ashley that she has no idea what's coming. Ominous!

ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO. Let's ride this train until the wheels come off!

[justabigassnerd]

The Perfect Gift

Pairing - Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw x Mitchell!reader

Word count - 3,144

Warnings - mentions of Goose & Carole so a smidge of angst but mostly wholesome Christmas fluff!!

Song - The Perfect Gift by Joshua Bassett

Summary - Rooster is determined to make this the perfect Christmas ever. Only problem? He can't find the perfect gift

A/N - Happy Christmas y'all! I rise from the dead once more to provide a Christmas fic for y'all! I love this song so much it's definitely one of my top Christmas songs and it's definitely a song that could work with Rooster. Anyways I'll stop rambling and let y'all get on and read. As per y'all, please send in requests, feedback and enjoy!!!

In the run-up to Christmas, Rooster had been worrying his ass off about what to get you. You’d been together a couple of years now and he was beginning to run out of ideas on what to get you, especially because you didn’t show much interest in anything. Despite it not being your first Christmas together, he still wanted it to be perfect. He even enlisted the help of your dad, Maverick in finding a gift, dragging him around countless malls and shops to try and find the perfect gift for you. It was the first Christmas since Rooster had allowed Maverick back into his life since cutting him out when he pulled his application to the naval academy so Rooster wanted to utilise having Maverick around and recruited him to help him hunt for presents since he knew Hangman would’ve rather done two hundred push-ups than help Rooster with his dilemma.

“Bradley, you know she doesn’t care about what you get her. Christmas is special because you’re getting to spend time together. She cares more about getting to spend time with you than any gift.” Maverick had said as Rooster dragged him into yet another jewellery shop to look at what they had to offer.

“I care about that too. But I want this to be perfect. I love her so much and I don’t know what to get her when she’s already the perfect gift.” Rooster said, and the second those words left his mouth his eyes widened, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do.

“I got it! Okay, I’ve just had the best idea I got some work to do. But I need you to help me out.” Rooster says quickly, gesturing for Maverick to follow him and as the two men walked out of the shop, Rooster began to explain his plan.

When it came to Christmas, Rooster’s gift for you was finally complete but as it reached Christmas Eve, he began to second guess himself and began to wonder if you’d like the gift or not. He constantly put himself under a lot of pressure and you always reassured him that you’d love it no matter what.

“Bradley, honey, you could get me an empty box and I’d still love it because it was from you.” You said sweetly as you pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, helping him to calm down enough to lie beside you in your shared bed as you snuggle into his side. As you always did, you rested your head on his chest and found yourself being lulled to sleep by Rooster’s steady heartbeat while his hand made its way to your head, messing with your hair and helping to drive you closer to sleep. However, despite how much sleep had taken a hold of you, you managed to mutter out one last ‘I love you’ before giving in to the clutches of sleep as a smile made its way across Rooster’s face.

“I love you more, sweetheart.”

The next morning, Rooster was awoken by you nuzzling closer to him for warmth as the duvet clearly did very little to provide you with warmth and Rooster, as always, accepted the opportunity for more cuddles, especially on Christmas morning. Rooster smiled to himself as you cuddled as close as humanly possible to him, you’d always said that Rooster was your own personal heater, and he never doubted your words for a second since more often than not he’d wake up with you half on top of him trying to maintain warmth. But you’d never catch him complaining about it. He wrapped both his arms around you and embraced you fully, pressing kisses to the top of your head as you begin to stir slightly. You clung tighter to him as you began to blink your eyes open, squinting at the light at first before your eyes adapted. Once you had woken up you looked up at Rooster, a tired yet happy smile on your face.

“Good morning baby.” You whisper as Rooster leans down to press a gentle kiss to your lips in greeting.

“Good morning, and Merry Christmas.” Rooster replies once the two of you have parted for air.

“Merry Christmas to you too.” You say with a smile before attempting to get up only to be stopped by Rooster’s strong arms tightening around you and pulling you back into his side as you laugh.

“Bradley, we have to get up.” You manage to say through your laughter as Rooster buries his face in your shoulder and tugs the duvet right up to your shoulders.

“Nope. It’s Christmas so I think we deserve some cuddles in bed if you ask me.” He mumbles, his voice muffled by your shirt as he moves to pepper kisses along your neck and jawline.

“Okay, we can cuddle for a bit, but we do have to be at dad and Penny’s for lunch like we promised.” You say, giving in to your boyfriend’s request almost instantly.

“You mean you promised Mav we’d be there.” Rooster retorts jokingly as you roll your eyes in response.

“It’s the first Christmas since you two made up. Christmas doesn’t need to be split up anymore because my boyfriend refuses to be within five feet of my dad.” You say with a raised eyebrow as Rooster pulls away slightly, sitting up and avoiding your eyes out of embarrassment.

“Oh, Bradley I’m sorry that was a bad joke. I’m over the moon that you and dad are getting along, really, I am. It makes me so happy you two are getting on. It means I don’t have to spend time with one or the other on days like this. I get to be with both of you.” You say, sitting up, cupping Rooster’s face gently, and lifting it so his eyes meet yours.

“I’m sorry, baby.” You apologise once more, leaning forward to rest your forehead against his.

“I’m sorry too. My anger towards Mav put you in a bad situation. And I’m so sorry for it.” Rooster then apologises, making you lean further into him, so your lips connect.

“You don’t need to apologise. I understand. How about we both stop apologising and cuddle for a bit more before getting up, hmm?” You offer, watching as a smile crosses your boyfriend’s beautiful face once more before wrapping his arms around you and flopping back against the mattress with you laying atop his chest as you both laugh. The two of you lie in bed, enjoying each other’s embrace for a few minutes before you decide it’s time you should get up and start the day. You get up first as Rooster pouts, with you pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

“I’m going for a shower. I won’t be gone forever, pretty boy.” You say before disappearing into the bathroom and the familiar sound of the shower running starts as Rooster lies in bed, going over how the gift he has could go down with you. He tries to keep his mind from running by focusing on the humming he hears coming from the bathroom and takes some deep breaths. Before he knew it, you had emerged from the bathroom, allowing him to get showered while you got changed. When he’d finished his shower and got changed, he joined you downstairs where you were pouring both him and yourself a cup of coffee as well as preparing breakfast. Rooster helped to finish breakfast which the two of you ate before taking your coffee cups into the living room where the Christmas tree was sat waiting with gifts underneath from each other and your fellow aviators. You decided to open the gifts from Dagger Squad first, laughing to each other when Rooster continually unwrapped more and more Hawaiian shirts to add to his never-ending collection of them. You unwrapped a variety of different items from each aviator and the two of you sent a message to each of your friends thanking them for their gifts before you move on to gifts from each other. You got Rooster a few different gifts, some of his favourite aftershave, and a new book of sheet music to play on the piano. But your final gift was a special one. You gave Rooster a Hawaiian shirt that was a carbon copy of the one his dad used to wear. You knew his original one had gotten lost in a move and Rooster had been beyond devastated so you spoke with your dad, who found a picture of Goose with his bright blue Hawaiian shirt on and the two of you were able to track down a similar shirt.

When it came to Rooster’s turn, he was sweating buckets when he handed you the first couple of gifts. He and Mav had been able to track down a few small things you’d like before he got to the main present. He got you perfume and a new pair of earrings before he told you to close your eyes so he could run upstairs to grab something. When you opened your eyes at his request you saw him sat in front of you with his guitar in hand.

“I’m going to be honest. Getting you something this year was the hardest it’s ever been because I wanted everything to be so perfect for you and so I kind of wrote a song because how could I find a perfect gift when the perfect gift is you?” Rooster says, making you smile widely as he begins to strum on his guitar and sing.

As Rooster began to sing, every lyric of his song brought memories of your relationship into your head. The first kiss the two of you shared under the night sky after Rooster took you out on a date. Holding Rooster as he sobbed when he found out your dad pulled his papers. He was initially angry at you too until you managed to calm him down and convince him of your innocence. You remembered being there by his side as your dad walked into the room the day of your first training session for the uranium mission, holding his hand to soothe him as your dad took over from Cyclone. You remembered every little detail about Bradley Bradshaw that you loved. The scars on his face that you loved to kiss. His sandy-coloured hair that you loved to run your hands through. His gorgeous singing voice that could overpower every patron of the Hard Deck when singing ‘Great Balls of Fire’. How he was the most badass aviator but was the sweetest guy when the two of you were at home. How he made you feel loved and protected. He was your best friend, and you were grateful you were able to love a man like Bradley Bradshaw.

When he finished his song, you wiped the tears you hadn’t realised had fallen down your cheeks and clapped as Rooster gave you a sheepish smile before putting his guitar to the side just in time for you to launch into his arms for a hug and a kiss.

“Did you like it?” He asks nervously when you pull away.

“Was the fact I tackled you into a hug and kissed you like there’s no tomorrow not a good enough answer? I loved it, baby.” You say, wiping the remainder of your tears before moving to sit opposite Rooster.

“I’m glad you liked it. You actually have one more present. I put it in the tree.” Rooster says as you stand up from where you were sat on the floor and start searching the tree but not seeing any sign of the present he’s talking about.

“Bradley I can’t see anything. What’s this all about?” You say, eyes still scouring the tree until your eyes land on a piece of paper nestled in amongst the pine needles. You grab it and open it carefully seeing the words ‘turn around’ written on it and you do as the paper says, folding it back up to ask Rooster what was going on before you gasped, dropping the paper at the sight before you. Rooster was on one knee with a small velvet box in his hands, a gorgeous ring settled inside as more happy tears began to well in your eyes.

“y/n Mitchell. You’ve been my best friend my whole life and I’m the luckiest guy in the world to get to call you, my girlfriend. But I’d be even luckier if I got to call you, my wife. You’ve been with me through thick and thin and there’s no one else on this world I can imagine spending the rest of my life with other than you. Will you marry me?” He asks, making you nod repeatedly before words were finally able to escape your mouth.

“Yes! Yes, of course, I’ll marry you!” You exclaim happily as Rooster stands up to pull you into an embrace hugging you tightly before your lips crash with his. Both of you were smiling too much so the kiss became two smiles pressed together but you were both so happy you couldn’t stop smiling. When you pulled away, Rooster took your left hand in his own and slipped the ring on your finger, grinning. You stared at the ring in awe before a spark of realisation overcame you.

“Is this… your mum's ring?” You ask cautiously, remembering when you were younger, and you’d see this ring shining on Carole’s hand. That and her wedding ring being a way to keep Goose with her.

“Yeah. She gave it to me before she died. She said to use it when I met the right girl. But between you and me I think she wanted it to be you from the get-go.” Rooster admits, both of you smiling as you look back at the ring. You knew that Goose and Carole were watching over their son and that they were probably cheering like they were watching a football game when he proposed.

“We should probably head to Mav’s, huh? Tell him the good news?” Rooster then says, smiling knowingly as you quirk an eyebrow.

“Something tells me you and dad were in on this together?” You ask as you grab the gifts for your dad, Penny, and Amelia before putting on your shoes and heading out to the Bronco.

“I did most of the work. He just gave me his permission to propose to you.” Rooster says as he climbs into the car, starting the engine and beginning the drive to your dad’s house. When you arrive you and Rooster grab the gifts and knock on the door to be greeted by your dad who throws the door open.

“I take it from the fact that the two of you arrived together everything went well?” Your dad asks, looking over at Rooster as he nods, lifting your connected hands and showing the ring glistening on your finger.

“Congratulations you two. I couldn’t be happier.” Your dad then says, bringing you into the house before engulfing you in a tight hug.

“Thank you, dad.” You whisper as he hugs you tighter.

“I’m so happy for you sweetheart. You deserve the best and Bradley is the only man I trust to provide you with nothing but the best.” He replies, making you laugh lightly against his shoulder before you pull away.

“Come on. Let’s tell Penny and Amelia the good news.” Rooster then says, gathering up the presents you had put down so you could hug Maverick and heading into the living room to join the two.

"We heard you in the hall. Congratulations you two!" Penny says happily as Amelia grins.

“There goes the surprise then. Merry Christmas you two.” You and Rooster greet as you settle down on the sofa, handing each gift to their respective person and watching as they unwrap them. When the gifts have been exchanged Penny and Amelia turn to you.

“Let us see the ring, y/n.” Amelia all but begs, both of them leaning closer when you extend your hand towards them so they could get a closer look at the ring.

“Oh, it’s gorgeous, y/n.” Penny gushes, admiring the ring as Rooster winds his arm around your waist, pressing a kiss to your cheek.

“Not as gorgeous as her.” Rooster shamelessly flirts as Amelia groans and Maverick slaps his hands on his thighs and stands up.

“And just for that disgustingly cute comment. You’re on dinner duty with me. Come on in the kitchen.” He says, gesturing for Rooster to follow him into the kitchen while you stay in the living room with Penny and Amelia to have a catch-up.

“She’s lucky to have you, you know.” Maverick’s voice cuts through the quietly playing Christmas music in the kitchen as Rooster looks up from where he was peeling potatoes.

“I’m the lucky one.” Rooster replies with a laugh as he hears you telling the two in the living room how the proposal happened.

“Goose and Carole always had a bet going that you two would end up together. I was against it because I hated the thought of my little girl dating anyone, but I was very wrong. There’s no one better for her than you.” Maverick then says, memories of his old friends coming to the surface as he remembers him and Goose watching the two of you one day as you toddled around on the beach when Goose made the offhand comment that he was sure the two of you would end up together in your future.

“I miss them so much. I just wish they could be here.” Rooster manages to say after a brief silence. Thinking about how much he wants his parents to see him get married to the woman he loves most in the world.

“I miss them too, kid. But I know they are so proud of you. You were their world Bradley, so I know they’ve been cheering you on every step of your journey. I want them to be at your wedding just as much as you do but I know they’ll be there in spirit. They’re still with us.” Maverick says, turning to face the man soon to become his son-in-law. Rooster nods at his words with misty eyes and Maverick wastes no time bringing him into a hug which Rooster welcomes. When he pulled away, he thanked Maverick quietly and wiped his eyes of any potential tears before hearing your laughter coming from the other room, which brought a smile to his face. He was already so excited about getting to call you, his fiancée. But what he couldn’t wait for was to be able to introduce you to people as Mrs Bradshaw. His wife.

[sassykattery]

A Divine Triad, Pt. 6

Welcome, welcome readers. This is Part 6 of "A Divine Triad."

I feel the need to address this on this part: if I catch you in my notifications without an age on your blog or you are a minor, I will block you immediately.

Anyway! I don't think y'all are ready for this part. It's super long so hold tight!

Let's go.

CW: MC is poly and afab. she/her pronouns are used. suggestive speech before smut scene. This part is pure smut, and smut scenes start with a pink asterisk (*): threesome, unprotected sex, explicit description of male and female genitalia, fingering, squirting, orgasm denial, daddy doms, oral [m! and f! receiving and giving], spitroast, creampie, use of names: daddy, good girl

themes: DiavoloxMCxLucifer, sex, romance,

Again, ageless and minors DNI or get blocked.

18+ only

Enjoy the show~

Masterlist

"Well, what do we have here?" a voice called from the direction of the door, the sound of a lock turning behind it.

You stiffened immediately, knowing the sound of that voice.

"I remember saying to let her rest, did I not, Lucifer?" Diavolo inquired.

Lucifer broke from the kiss and relinquished you. He stared at you with his eyes half-lidded, still full of lust and need for you. In his mind, he was trying to calm himself down, thinking of stringing up any of his brothers to distract from how you looked pushed up against a wall and his body only moments ago.

After several seconds, Lucifer stood to the side and both of you looked at Diavolo.

Diavolo stood in front of the closed bedroom door with his arms crossed. He didn't look or sound angry, per se, just surprised. He walked over to where you and Lucifer were standing, stopping right in front of you, facing you, with Lucifer still to the side, facing Diavolo.

Diavolo continued, "Are you feeling better?" You nodded. "Good, I'm glad," he said.

Without warning, Diavolo then pushed you back into the wall, just as Lucifer had, and started fiercely kissing you as well. Your eyes went wide at the prince's sudden moves, and you couldn't help but side-eye Lucifer, who looked at you with mild shock, but, if your imagination wasn't playing tricks on you, you also saw traces of desire from watching you.

Diavolo's hands made their way to cupping your jaw, now sending his tongue to invade your mouth, wildly lapping at your lips and running across your teeth. He tasted like fresh Demonus, and it was rather enjoyable, so your eyes closed as you melted into him. Your hands dug into his bare waist, and you could feel both of your heartbeats thundering wildly against each other's chests.

Finally, Diavolo released your lips and gazed into your eyes, with his hands now on your waist, he spoke, "It's really unfair to keep her all to yourself like that, Lucifer."

Lucifer remained silent, unsure of whether to answer. It was hard to peel your eyes away from Diavolo's penetrating gaze.

"My guests and I were starting to miss her, so I wanted to see for myself that she was alright. Though, given how frenzied you were when you left, Lucifer, I'm not surprised to find you like this." He finally turned his head to look at the Avatar of Pride, with a smirk. "Though, had I been as close as you were to her, I may have been too."

You watched in mild confusion and shock during the silent exchange of glances between the two demons.

Lucifer finally responded, not backing down, "Well, if she wasn't such a tease." His gaze shifted down to you. "Dancing like that, it was like she was begging for me to take her," he said with a smirk.

"Indeed, she was rather enamoring. I could hardly focus on what I was talking about. All I could think about was getting her back in my arms," Diavolo mused, looking back at you as well.

Your mouth was agape, and your eyes kept flickering back and forth between the demons, unable to register what was going on here. They're joking right now, right? Right? you thought. But there was something rather exciting about the exchange, too.

"And that scent she was emitting, I'm sure there wasn't a demon there who didn't want her," Lucifer purred.

Diavolo's chuckle vibrated against your body as he was still pressed up against you. "Intoxicating, was it not?" he asked.

"Still is, it looks like she's enjoying this," Lucifer replied.

Diavolo pulled you from the wall and then positioned you to face Lucifer, with putting himself behind you.

"I guess we could share," Diavolo said into your ear. Lucifer grabbed one of your hands and pulled it up to his lips to kiss your knuckles.

"I suppose, if she's willing," Lucifer concurred. Diavolo grazed his fingertips against your bare shoulders, causing you to shiver.

Diavolo continued, "How about it? What do you want?" he whispered into your ear.

You swallowed thickly. "Wh-what about the ball..." you squeaked out.

Diavolo chuckled, "Barbatos will see everyone out. I did tell him if I didn't return to do so."

Lucifer kissed his way up your arm and stopped, "So, what do you want?"

*"Both of you, I want both of you," you whispered. Your heart felt like it stopped when the words left your lips.

Lucifer smirked at you and continued his ministrations on your arm and made his way to your collarbone, up your neck, and finally landed on your lips. Diavolo's hands were busy slowly unzipping the back of your dress as he kissed your shoulder blades. Once it was unzipped, it fell down in a puddle at your feet.

Admiring you, Diavolo whispered in your ear, "So stunning." Lucifer broke your kiss and let his eyes wander down the front of you.

"I couldn't agree more, she's perfect," Lucifer purred. He helped you step out of your gown and kicked it aside. "Though, I'd like a full view," he added.

He turned you around to face Diavolo. Diavolo immediately captured your lips with his, hungrily tasting you and attacking your tongue with his, running his hands up and down your arms. Lucifer planted kisses down your spine and knelt down to tug at your black lace panties, letting them fall to your feet. He stood again, pressing himself into your back, and found that spot on the back of your neck that drove you wild, attacking it with his tongue and teeth, all while unhooking your bra and tossing it.

You moaned into Diavolo's mouth at the sensations on your neck, feeling the ache in your core only wind up tighter, like a spring that's ready to pop. You couldn't let yourself think too much about what was happening, because if you did, you knew your rational mind would tell you to run. But everything felt so good, their touch made your heart and body sing in unison.

Diavolo pulled away from your lips, and to your surprise when you opened your eyes, he was in his regular form. He walked backwards toward the bed, taking your hand to follow. Sitting on the mattress, he turned you around and pulled you onto his lap, your legs spread to hook around his to face and expose yourself to the demon approaching you. Lucifer was also now in his regular form. He removed his coat and gloves, rolling up his shirt sleeves. He bent down to you and made out with you while Diavolo's hand slowly worked its way to your dripping sex. When his fingers grazed your vulva, you jolted, unprepared for the electricity you felt.

Diavolo's fingers slipped into your folds, gently rubbing circles into your clit. Moaning into Lucifer's mouth, your hips bucked forward into Diavolo's hand.

Though technically none of their moves were new for you, having the both of them worship your body like this at the same time was other-worldly.

Lucifer pulled away and held his face in front of yours. Almost as though he read your thoughts, he said, "Do you like us both worshipping you? Both of us making you moan and feel good?" You nodded. Diavolo's teeth grazed your ear lobe as his slipped two fingers into your entrance. Gasping, your eyes started to close as your pleasure mounted and you turned your head.

Growling, Diavolo said, "I can tell she does, she's so wet. We must have really worked her up."

Then, Lucifer grabbed your chin and pulled it up and demanded, "Look at me while you're being fingered. I want to see your pretty eyes."

You opened your eyes and stared straight into Lucifer's crimson ones. It was hard to keep your focus, when all you wanted was to hide your embarrassment.

"Don't be shy now, dove, you're beautiful," Lucifer cooed. His praise heightened your arousal, and Diavolo was now hitting that sweet spot inside of you with his digits. You started panting and rolling into the pleasure you felt. Diavolo's free hand snatched your hip to keep you still, as you were grinding against his erection and driving him wild.

"Are you going to cum?" Diavolo whispered, feeling your walls clenching down and your legs tightening. You nodded. Diavolo looked to Lucifer, "Should we let her?"

Lucifer smirked and looked at you. "I don't know, I'm not sure she deserves to just yet," he mused.

"Please," you whimpered, as Diavolo slightly retreated from that spongey spot in your core, teasing you and holding that orgasm just out of your reach while his thumb barely grazed your clit.

"Please what?" Diavolo growled.

This time a whine escaped your lips, "Please Daddy, I want to cum."

Lucifer grabbed your jaw firmly, bending over to bring his face right in front of yours again. "Oh? You call him Daddy too, do you?"

Your eyes widened and when he released your jaw you stammered, "No- I- wait."

"Is that right? I'm afraid there can only be one," Diavolo purred into your ear, biting your lobe harder.

"So, who is it, dove? Who's your Daddy?" Lucifer asked, his tone slightly menacing but also teasing. It felt like whole your body was on aflame from embarrassment and arousal. You simply shook your head, unable to answer. Diavolo tutted you in your ear.

"I think we should make her wait, see if she can be a good girl for us," Lucifer growled, glaring at you for your mistep. You whimpered as Diavolo's fingers slipped from you, denying your release.

Diavolo unhooked your legs and helped you off his lap to stand; you were wobbly from being so close to your orgasm, and it was hard to keep your knees from buckling. He stood behind you and took off his coat, tie, and shirt. You heard the unbuckling of his belt and felt him brush against you as he removed his trousers and underwear.

Turning you around, Diavolo pulled you back onto the bed with him. He was fully reclined, and you were on your knees, bent at the hips. You saw his hard cock, and without hesitation he took your hand and placed it on his throbbing member. He hissed as you grasped it, and his hand shot to your head, gently pulling it down. Getting the hint, you bowed your head and slowly took the head of his cock into your warm, wet mouth. A moan escaped his lips, and he watched as you continued lowering your mouth down his shaft, taking in as much as you could.

Behind you, Lucifer disrobed as well. He stood at the edge of the bed, just an inch away from your ass that was stuck out in the air, just for him to grab a hold of and knead with his strong hands. This made you moan onto Diavolo's cock, the vibrations sending bursts of pleasure to him. Diavolo grabbed the top of your head to hang on to as your mouth worked him over, creating a deliriously wonderful suction, bobbing your head up and down.

To your surprise, Lucifer began playing with your pussy, rubbing your clit just how you like it. Your body quivered with pleasure as he pushed onto that sensitive bud, causing you to lunge forward, but his free hand gripped your hip to pull you back into place. Suddenly, he slipped a finger into your core, working up a fast pace, and then adding a second finger not long after, still rubbing your clit with the other hand. Your cunt made the most delicious noises as he finger-fucked you.

Seeing tears streaming down your face and you starting to gag, Diavolo pulled you off his cock to breathe, seeing spit running down your chin and how your eyes were glazed over, he smiled at how sweet you looked. Lucifer deepened his ministrations and reached that sweet spot again, and you moaned out your appreciation for it.

"Hmm, have you been a good girl yet?" Diavolo asked. You nodded furiously at him.

"Yes, I want to be a good girl, I'll do anything," you pleaded.

"I think she's earned this one, don't you think?" Diavolo inquired. Lucifer responded by pressing harder into your g-spot, furiously ramming his fingers into it, and you sputtered at the intensity of the shocks you felt from it. Your moans turned to sobs in an instant, and all you could say was "Please" over and over. In a sweet voice, Diavolo commanded you, "Cum for us."

He held your head up as your core took the pummeling of Lucifer's fingers. In seconds, your pleas turned into mindless screams as your release sank its teeth into you, unfurling every stretch of your mind that still remained coherent. Your cunt made sickeningly wet noise as you squirted, and you were quiet as a silent scream took hold, unable to voice anything. Lucifer slowed his pace, gently withdrew his drenched fingers from you, and you fell limp onto Diavolo, panting.

Diavolo pulled you up to him, cradling you against him. "You did so well, my love" he whispered, kissing your forehead. When you were a bit more coherent, he tipped up your chin to look at him. "Do you want to stop? Just tell us and we will," he said.

You blinked. "No... I want more," you replied. "I want more of you both." Not exactly sure where your sudden confidence was coming from, you tried to commit to it before your bravery dissipated.

Detaching from Diavolo, you sat up and came back to the edge of the bed, facing Lucifer. Standing upright on your knees, you pulled him down for a kiss, and his arms wrapped around your waist as he returned the kiss softly, almost like an apology for being so rough.

Pulling away, you started kissing down his jaw and neck, which elicited a groan from him. You shuffled back as you continued planting kisses down his chest and torso, bent at the hip on your knees. When you finally reached his groin, you gave searing kisses everywhere but where he desperately wanted to feel you the most.

Behind you, Diavolo rolled onto his back and slid himself underneath you and began to return the favor you gave him by working his tongue into your folds, and he used his hands to massage your thighs and ass, whichever he saw fit to grab.

Finally having enough of the teasing, Lucifer grabbed your chin and stared down at you, looking just a tad menacing. Looking up into his beautiful face, you grabbed his cock in one hand, stroking it slowly. He groaned again but kept his eyes locked on yours as you sent your tongue to lick the length of his dick. How pretty you looked to him when you did that while moaning out your pleasure; it drove him wild.

"Hm, this has got to go," he mused while quickly removing the dozens of pins in your hair. Your hair came tumbling down and he grabbed a hold of it into his fist while you wrapped your mouth around the head of his cock. His hips bucked forward, sending more of his length into your sweet mouth, causing both of you to moan.

Diavolo had started fingering you while still lapping at your drenched pussy, and you were being worked up again, setting up for another orgasm. His fingering caused you to start bucking forward, and Lucifer rolled his hips in sync with you to fuck your face. His head rolled back in pleasure, and his hand squeezed, tightening his hold on your head. Your sob was muffled around his dick, fighting your gag reflex as he relentlessly railed into your mouth.

Your walls were tightening on Diavolo's fingers, it was getting harder and harder to focus on working Lucifer's cock. Lucifer looked back down at you, seeing what a mess you were, gagging on him. He withdrew from your mouth to let you breathe and stroked himself while he watched you. Your moans were hitching and bordering on sobs, and he could see how your thighs were trembling as the crushing weight of your release was about drop onto you.

Once you caught your breath, he fed you his cock once more, thrusting faster than before. He wanted to cum with you. You used your hand stroke him simultaneously with sucking his length, working him up. For Lucifer, seeing you beneath him like that, lips luxuriously rolling up and down his cock, you looking up at him, it was his weakness. He ordinarily wanted to be the one giving instead of receiving, but the way you wanted to please him in equal measure made him melt.

Diavolo used his fingers to incessantly rub into your sweet g-spot, and it was all over for you. With a muffled moan, you chased your release with rocking your hips into his fingers. Your eyes rolled back, and your thighs tightened up around Diavolo's head, trapping him. He vigorously lapped up your cum, moaning his approval of your deliciousness. Reality melted before you, and Lucifer felt you shudder along with your hand grasping his length harder. He gave your mouth just a few more thrusts before pulling away to release onto your neck and chest, watching the drops of his warm load rolling down your chest.

He knelt down to the floor to be face-to-face with you and gave you a series of soft kisses and sweet praises.

"You've been a very good girl for us, you're so perfect and beautiful. I love you so much, my little dove," he whispered on your lips. He cleaned up your chest for you and continued peppering you with kisses.

Beneath you, Diavolo slid out from under you and rolled himself to sit on his knees, directly behind your ass as you were still bent at the hip on your knees. He rubbed the head of his cock up and down your folds, getting himself wet with your juices. You whimpered into Lucifer's mouth, knowing what was about to come. Diavolo slipped into your dripping entrance and leaned over you to grab your arms, which you limply gave, and he pulled you up so your back was flush with his chest. His lips grazed your ear, hot breath tickling your scalp, "My turn," he huffed. He bent your arms back and hooked his arms through, effectively pinning you in place.

Lucifer knelt onto the bed in front of you, upright on his knees, and kissed you softly, kneading your breasts. Diavolo was slowly and smoothly rocking his hips into you and resorted to kissing that sweet spot on the back of your neck, which made you try to lurch forward, but Diavolo's hold on you kept you in place.

The stimulation from each demon swirled together into a symphony of bliss that you were subjugated to, and you didn't fight it. Every nerve, every inch of skin, was on fire; but not a roaring fire, it was a simmering glow of the coals as they would when they begin to heat up slowly, the small fires dancing on every nerve ending.

Rather than tensing up, your body relaxed into the pleasure, letting it slowly build in your core. A smile crossed your lips as your head lolled back onto Diavolo's shoulder, eyes closed. He kissed your cheek and jaw, admiring your dreamy expression. Lucifer saw this as well, and kissed down your neck and chest, gently sucking and scraping his teeth against your soft skin. He dropped down to one of your breasts and took a nipple into his mouth. A lewd moan escaped your smiling lips, more joyous and appreciative, contrary to the unfiltered screams from before.

Diavolo purred into your ear, "My, it seems we hit the sweet spot for you, haven't we?"

"Y-Yes," you said breathlessly.

Continuing, Diavolo said, "Is this what you've always wanted? For both of us to make love to you? To worship you like the goddess you are?"

You turned your head toward him, still laying back on his shoulder. He stole kisses from you as he continued to slowly rub his cock into your glorious pussy. He was savoring you just as much, memorizing how gorgeous you look in such a state of heavenly delight. Diavolo loved that they could make you look this way.

Groaning into your mouth, Diavolo reveled at your walls starting to clamp down on his cock and picked up his pace slightly. He broke the kiss and returned to your ear. "I love you so much, I just want to make you feel good, my darling. I want to feel you cum on my cock" he murmured. The fires burning across your body grew hotter, coinciding with the escalation of your moans.

Lucifer came back up and continued to make out with you, his tongue swirling around yours. In efforts to push you over that edge you were nearing, his hand snuck down to your clit and began rubbing circles around it, and his other hand continued massaging one of your breasts. Diavolo dove back down to the spot on your neck and sucked hard, even sinking his teeth into your skin, and the pain just mixed in with the unbridled pleasure you felt.

In a moment, that was it, your finale began. Your core felt as though it had been twisting and twisting for so long, the pressure becoming almost insurmountable. The combinations of their ministrations created the final chord in the song that was your pleasure. A supernova of euphoria exploded with in you, and you trembled beneath the weight of its crash.

Your face scrunched up and contorted into that of an orgasm so intense you pushed back into Diavolo, but of course he stood firm, being the wall that you needed.

Lucifer pulled away from the kiss and simply watched you, totally captivated by how your body handled the intensity of your high. To see you feel that good made his chest tighten and heart squeeze. He hadn't seen anything more beautiful in all his years. You tried opening your eyes, seeing his sparkling ones gazing upon you, but your eyes screwed shut again as another wave hit.

Diavolo couldn't contain himself, seeing you writhe like that against his body with his cock inside you. He could see part of your face, and how angelic you looked under the enslavement of your orgasm, drove him into his own state of bliss, and he fully sheathed himself inside of you. His cock throbbed as ropes of cum shot out into your spasming cunt. He moaned and huffed into your neck. It seemed like your release was drawing out his as well, it felt like eons before the haze of his pleasure faded, but you were still riding your shockwaves.

Your mind had melted into nothing, no thoughts or concepts crossed it. The racks of ecstasy slowed, fading feelings of pleasure turning into pure exhaustion. Your gasps were evened out and returning to normal. Completely letting go of yourself, you slumped against Diavolo's hold. It was too much to even open your eyes or speak. They took that as a sign of your satisfaction and resignation.

Diavolo pulled out of you and gently released your arms. He softly guided your limp frame to lay down on the bed, Lucifer helping to bring up the covers over you. Both demons crawled in after you, laying on either side of you. The three of you laid there in complete bliss, satisfied with yourselves and each other. Your body refused any correspondence to move, so you allowed yourself to fall into slumber.

Thank you for reading~ <3

Posted by sassykattery. Do not repost. Likes and reblogs appreciated!

Masterlist

[royaltyoon]

GUN X FEM!READER

Fatherly love

[A/N]

Can we just pretend that that's not yenna but guns kid ? :]

This is like half fic and half headcanons

"we need to talk." You quivered out, fidgeting with your fingers. Gun looked at you from behind his shades, leaning cross-armed at the door frame.

He had a stoic face on but anxiousness creeped within at the sight of your antsy behaviour, it wasn't like you to act like this. Especially avoiding eye contact, you never did that.

He nodded slightly, gesturing you to continue. "I-i don't know how- how to tell you." Your arms aimlessly flailed, trying to find a way to express your words, but it only showed how much of a mess your current state was.

Loss of words, another thing you never did. Gun was almost certain where this conversation was heading, his chest clenched tight as he braced himself for what was ahead.

"Gun, i-im pregnant."

"......."

That was definitely not what gun was expecting. He just froze in place, his brain still trying to register your words. It felt too out of place, too sudden.

"it's yours, I'm carrying your child."

The two of you had been together for a good while now, but y'all never had the talk about children, it was way to early and unpredictable.

"are you sure you're pregnant?" Gun finally moved from his place.

It wasn't the reaction you where hoping for, well you couldn't really be sure what to expect from him at such a topic in the first place. But you wished for a positive response, and this wasn't looking very 'positivey'

You nod your head, gnawing at your bottom lip, hoping you could keep your emotions together.

"Do you want to keep it?"

You're heart dropped, ever since you came to know you were pregnant, not even once did the thought cross your mind. It will be difficult, for sure. It'll be stressful, definitely. But you couldn't destroy someone's life before it even began.

Gun didn't know how to feel, he didn't know if this was good news or bad. His mind couldn't interpret the situation, it refused to come to a conclusion. So he wanted to know how you felt about it all, though, he could've framed his questions better.

"I want to keep it." You could almost taste the blood in your mouth, pressing the flesh of your lip between your teeth had always been a habbit when nervous, but this was another level of anxiety.

"okay."

"What?"

"we'll keep the baby, if that's what you want."

Gun didn't feel the weight of the situation, it barely even hit him. He was going to be a dad, but it didn't seem like that big of a deal to him.

It was just a small human being who will grow up in his house. What's so joyful about it all? People are born every second of the day. And this child will be just one of those.

————

Though he was all indifferent about the pregnancy, he did take efforts to make sure you and the baby were well taken care of.

He had a special OB personally called for you everytime you needed a check up or updates. He made sure all the food you had was pregnancy safe, if not, he would take up the task to research and make you the meal himself.

He went as far as to quit smoking, at least temporarily. If he ever did light a cigar, it was no less than a mile away from home.

Maybe his mind was finally wrapping around the fact that this was his child. You'd often catch him staring at the sonography pictures of the growing fetus.

He went on a another level of protective when the gender of the baby was revealed. It was a girl. His girl.

If you ever went out for a walk, gun would protest even leaving the house, but there's only so much arguing you can do with a pregnant female. But he always came along.

After the 7 month mark, he made sure you were in his sight at all times, you spend a second more in the bathroom, gun would be knocking until he gets confirmation you're okay.

He had read that pregnancies can be dangerous, and he wasn't planning on loosing you this early. He didn't know how he felt about his child, maybe it was an obligation to look after the baby because he was the reason you were pregnant. So he didn't know if he worried about the child or no.

————

It was the absolute worst timing, gun was sure the universe hated him. The one time, the only time he left you alone in the past 2 months and you go into labor.

He was seated in a room with the other ten geniuses when he got your text, he shot up from his chair and immediately bolted for the door. Without even giving an explanation to his sudden departure. They all had a vague idea of what was going on.

Goo followed guns action and left the room, running straight to the parking. He knew gun was too much of a fool to even think of taking the car, he was sure the man was running on his feet all the way to the hospital.

Goo was fond of you, he even considered you as his friend. And he didn't hate the idea of being an uncle, he'd be the bad example for the kid that no one could get rid off.

So goo promised himself to be less of a dick towards gun, only till the child was born. So he was not restricted from meeting the child.

"hey asshole! Get in!" He slows down the car to match guns speed. For the first time in his life gun was happy to see goo's face. Maybe the only time too.

---

Gun sat on one of the seats in front of your room, elbows propped on his knees and his face displaying a straight face. What emotion was he supposed to feel when his beloved was giving birth to his daughter? Gun didn't know.

He was a little annoyed though, goo walked restlessly all over the place. Now he just hoped that the blonde wasn't here.

"are you the father?" A nurse walked out the room and gun immediately heard crying. The wierd feeling rose in his chest, the good kind of weird. That was his daughter, his own daughter.

"yeah"

The nurse guided him in the room, only him though, not goo. The blonde almost shed tears at that.

Another nurse carefully passed a bundle of crying mess to gun. "we'll give you both some time." They muttered and left.

Gun just stared at the crying figure in his hands. "She's small." He thought out loud, looking at her small fists balled up. She struggled her small legs a little, squirming inside the cloth wrapped around her. Her tiny fingers stretched out to grab whatever came first, she clung onto her dad's shirt.

Gun breathed out a small laugh "I'm a dad."

It finally hit him, this was a living breathing thing that he created, it belonged to him. He was her dad. It was his baby and it was absolutely beautiful. He couldn't explain in words what emotions went through him but he just knew, he loved that little kid in his arms.

You looked at him, this sight was so rare for you, even if you had been with him for a long time. He smiled, the smile reaching his eyes, creasing at the end. Cresent moon eyes that had a glint in them, adoring his child.

"she looks like me." He said looking at you. "She does."

Well she had her mom's eyes, but gun would fight anyone who said the kid didn't look like him, he really would.

It had been a while when goo was finally allowed to enter the room, "where's the baby?" He said looking at the empty cradle.

His eyes roamed around the room to see gun holding her in his arms. He signalled goo to keep quite, "they're both sleeping." He whispered, bringing his attention back to the asleep toddler, gently brushing the tip of his finger on her cheek.

Gun had been holding her ever since the nurse gave her to him. He couldn't even feel his arms anymore, but he didn't want the lay her down just yet.

"she's cute." The blonde whispered

"she is." Gun nods. "Do you wanna hold her?"

"are you really going to let me?"

"no."

".....they why did you ask?"

"common courtesy" gun shrugs.

"come on, I'm her uncle."

"and I'm her dad."

[honey-tea-and-cookies]

Omggg ur amazing your cap Venus post is 🔥🔥🔥 beautiful! I want to ask, what would he like the obvious and more subtle signs that a cap Venus likes u? Can u go into details 😍

Also bonus question if you feel like answering this as well ( but no pressure honey) how would cap venuses feel about someone fiery?

Awww thank you very much! Some of this is just reiterating or providing more detail on what I said in the other post, but I did add some more don't worry. Yes I can absolutely answer these questions :)

Signs A Capricorn Venus Likes You

- They make fun of you. I DO NOT CONDONE BULLYING, and I don't mean being outright nasty. I just mean things like affectionately calling you an idiot if you trip over, or sarcastically saying "good on ya" if your food spills onto your shirt. Light teasing for little things that don't matter and won't upset you, ya know? If they do manage to upset you thought they would PROFUSELY apologise. Very respectful :)

- If you guys aren't good friends before they catch feelings, then more than likely they will not talk to you. Simply because you make them nervous and they really don't want to say something wrong. If you talk to them, they will definitely become super flustered. It would be cute, if not for the fact that you can't understand a single thing they are saying. They will eventually manage to stutter out a few words, but it will not come off as they want it to. For example, once a guy I liked asked me if I agreed with him on a topic he knew I was very passionate about. My reaction was so blush horrendously and spend about 30 seconds trying to say yes, and the actual sentence that came out was "Yeah, um. Yes you're right. You're amazing you always know what you're talking about". I've never wanted the ground to swallow me up more. Cap Venus's HATE when stuff like this happens, because they want you to think of them as smart and whatnot. Looking like a babbling idiot does NOT show you the side of them they want you to see.

- Always jump at the chance to help you out. You need a pen? Here's mine, keep it! You don't know what to write for that last paragraph? Here is my essay and I'll walk you through my exact thought process so you can change it to suit you. Anything you need, they will do it. Even if it conveniences them, or makes life harder for them. They would rather lose a couple hours of sleep than have you believe they are unreliable or untrustworthy.

- They start asking you about your future plans. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Do you want children? If so, when? How many? It seems like they are interviewing you, and they don't mean to! They just want a firm grasp on where you are in life, and if your lifestyles work well if they were to pursue you. Cap Venus doesn't half-ass relationships. If they make the commitment to be in a relationship with you, that is a partnership. They want to know if it'll work if y'all were to get serious.

- They start including you in their future plans. If they're going on a trip and plan for you to come too. If they are graduating soon, and plan for you to be there. Smaller things too, like planning what to make for dinner and they buy stuff to make YOUR favourite. They see you as a part of their life and their future, so you need to be included in the plans!

- They take care of things for you. Maybe they'll water your plants, or buy you milk when you run out, or bring in your mail or do your dishes. Little things to make your life easier. They just want to see you happy and relaxed! Safety, trust and security is most important to them. For them, doing these little things for you is how they show you can rely on them and trust them.

- They buy you lil things! Obviously this only works if they have the money and means to do so. If there's a new book you've really wanted and they see it while they're out, they'll buy it for you. If you are out together and you want a smoothie, they'll buy one for you. They'll go clothes shopping with you. All little stuff like that! Probably won't be big things because these guys are not about big romantic gestures, but (as I said before) they'll do little things to make your life easier and better.

- They share their music taste with you. Idk but it's a big thing I've noticed with Cap Venus?? They are generally insecure or particular with music and are oddly defensive about it. They are embarrassed about it really easy lol, they're so scared of getting judged about it?? So if they show you their playlists or their Spotify Wrapped or whatever, FEEL VERY LUCKY. If they make you a playlist, idk what to tell you man. You've won!

- They let you look after them. Cap Venus takes care of everyone, all the time. They deserve a break tbh. They never let anyone do anything for them, both because they are too nice but also it makes them uncomfortable. They need to feel put together and in control, and if you're looking after them, how can they can be?? I assure you Cap Venus, you are still strong and in control and valuable if you accept help or care. Even if their mindset isn't true, and it IS okay to accept love and help, they often really struggle to do that. They see it as weakness. So if a Cap Venus allows you to care and look after them, they trust you entirely. If a Cap Venus lets you hold them as they cry, and let's you take care of them and be tender with them, they ARE in love with you. Trust me friend, you are their no.1 person :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Now, for the second question:

Does Capricorn Venus Like Fiery People?

Well I think it depends on the rest of their placements. However, long story short, yes! It's like the whole 'opposites attract' thing. They don't like fire because they can typically be quite 'go with the flow' and 'unpredictable'. These are all traits that Capricorn (Venus or otherwise) HATE. They do admire fire for their hard work, loyalty, and tenacity though. Fire placements like Leo would be best, because they are not as 'scary' for Capricorn as the others, but they still have the spirit that Cap admires so much. Personally, as a Capricorn Venus, I really like fiery people. They are funny and force me to relax. They are so loving and reassure me of myself like no other. I also love that I can help them with the things in life they might struggle with or find 'boring'. Cap Venus and fiery people are generally good at different things, so as long as they are similar in other ways that matter, they can go together very well :)

Thank you so much for sending this in! I hope this answered your questions. I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful day. Sending you all lots of love <33

[planetsano]

everyone finds out you two are dating.

SYNOPSIS: Class 1A find out you're in a relationship with some of your favorite MHA boys.

TAGS: established relationships, secretly dating, social media, making out, date night, sitting on kirishima's lap, fluff, slice of life.

CHARACTERS: bakugou katsuki, eijirou kirishima, todoroki shoto, kaminari denki, izuku midoriya

— bakugou

Everyone finds out you two are dating when he accidentally posts a video of you captioned, "this idiot 🧡", on his snapchat story.

It was a Saturday night and you both decided that it would be nice to spend the night in enjoying each other's company. Obviously you told your friends that you would be busy studying but in reality you were actually with each other.

You were on his bed wearing one of his ridiculously oversized hoodies. Admittedly, he thought you looked cute. You had sweater paws like c'mon. He wanted to save the memory.

(Contrast to popular belief, Bakugou is capable of being a cute boyfriend sometimes. He's just rough around the edges, ya'know?)

When you looked up from your switch you saw your boyfriend recording you with a smirk on his face.

"Stop, I look ugly." You whined and hid your face behind your handheld game.

"No, you don't. Shut up." He scoffed.

"Make me." You stuck your tongue out and flipped him off.

"What do you want anyway, stinky?" You asked resuming your animal crossing gameplay.

"Show me your shitty island." He said.

"Really?!" You looked up at him again with your face lit up in excitement.

"Sike, no." He deadpanned behind the camera.

"I hate you!" You whined & jumped on him starting a play fight. The video was cut with a shaky camera & couple of your giggles.

After about maybe a minute of roughhousing, Bakugou's phone started to blow up with texts, snaps, and facetime calls.

"Someone's popular." You said while looking up at him. He pinned you down easily since he had a physical strength advantage over you.

You were curious as to why his phone was blowing up so suddenly but you were too entertained by squeezing his surprisingly squishy cheeks.

While you did that, Bakugou grabbed his phone. The facial recognition automatically unlocking it for him.

"The fuck?" Was all he said scrolling through all the notifications. He was confused.

One text in particular out of 64 unread stood out to him. It was from "Mina 👽", and it said:

"No but really, did you mean to post (Name) on your story? 💀🤚🏾 I knew you guys were going to date at some point!!"

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

— midoriya

This man Midoriya is terrible at secrets. So it didn't surprise you when he accidentally spilled the tea about your relationship.

It all started when Uraraka, Momo, Iida and Todoroki asked him if he wanted to join them for dinner that night. Apparently they were treating themselves to something fancy.

"I'm sorry guys. I can't. I have a date with (Name) tonight." Midoriya doesn't even give what he said a second thought.

Everyone literally stops. "Date? 🤨"

"Yeah. I have a date... with...." Realization hits. "You know what? I've really gotta go guys! See ya!" This boy tries to run but they stop him so fast.

They have so many questions. The main being when exactly did you guys become an official thing and why didn't they know about it.

Midoriya tells them that he's not sure if he feels comfortable without you being there to answer all the questions they have since they weren't even supposed to know to begin with.

They're all understanding and don't push him any further. He's already embarrassed enough. The most important thing is that they're happy for the both of you.

Now the only thing on Midoriya's mind was how to tell you he told half the friend group you two are dating over dinner.

— todoroki

You both really thought no one would catch you guys sharing a "quick" makeout session in the kitchen area.

It was risky to begin with because it was like 9pm on a weekend and more than half the class was still awake roaming around the building.

But honestly, neither of you could help it. You were at that point in the relationship where you just couldn't keep your hands off of each other.

Plus that little adrenaline and dopamine you got from pulling little stunts like this made it all the more fun. It was you guys' little secret. It was fun.

You were sat on the kitchen counter with Todoroki standing between your legs. His hands were placed on your thighs mindlessly kneading at them while your arms were lazily draped around his neck.

"Sho, I really wanna kiss.." You said softly.

"The others might come in soon, love." His voice was so smooth. He really didn't want to tell you no but you guys were already pushing it in this position.

"Just one tiny little kiss?" You gestured the words tiny and little with your thumb and pointer finger. "Pretty please?" You pouted playfully and batted your eyelashes at him.

Todoroki mentally sighed in defeat. He just couldn't say no to you.

With that you two shared a simple kiss, then another just a little longer... and the last kiss turned into a full blown makeout. You didn't know how much time passed before you both heard a forced cough.

You guys pulled away and looked at this kitchen area's entrance to see Denki, Kirishima, Tokoyami and Asui.

Denki: "Care to tell us when UA became Love Island?"

Kirishima: "Aw, come on guys. The counter?"

— kirishima

Honestly, this pairing is bold because you two fully outted yourselves out willingly.

1A decided to have a movie night in the common area one Friday night. It would be some fun considering training and classes were particularly hard that week. It would be nice to blow off some steam and goof off.

You were a little late coming down from your room because you had to finish up some important papers your work study requested.

When you finally got down to the common room, everyone had already claimed their seats.

Kirishima sat at the end of one couch and the spot next to him was already taken :(

Through 1A's chaos and chatter, you locked eyes with him and pouted subtly.

Just when you were about to sit on one of the empty pillows on the floor, Kirishima beckoned you over with his head and patted his thighs.

He gives you a wide toothy grin when he sees you walk your cute self right over to him to plop yourself right on his lap.

"Hey." He looks up at you with a goofy smile while he wraps one of his arms around your waist.

"Hi." You smiled at him and ran your fingers through his hair. He had it down which was your absolute favorite. You guys didn't even notice the chatter die down until

"Um.. are you guys dating?" Midoriya asked carefully. The whole room silently thanking him for being the one to ask.

"Huh? Oh yeah, totally! I'm her/his/their man!" Kirishima smiled widely and gave a triumphant fist in the air.

*cue Denki, Mina, Sero, & Bakugou angry (but supportive ❤️) at you guys for not telling them*

— denki

Okay, this one is pretty funny.

Behind closed doors, Denki made it a habit to quickly kiss your lips before you two part ways. For example, when he leaves your dorm to sneak back to his, he gives you a quick peck before he leaves.

Everyone engaged in their own separate conversations waiting for class to begin.

Denki was sitting on your desk while you sat normally in your chair. Mina, Sero, Kirishima and Bakugou were gathered around holding a conversation about the homework that was due today and how it was harder than usual.

"Alright, everyone to your seats." Aizawa said as he walked into the classroom. Everyone audibly sighed and sulked back to their seats.

"I'll see you after class, babe." Denki as he leaned down to give you a quick kiss on the lips.

Now...

It only registered until after he pulled away from you that he kissed you in front of everyone.

You guys just stared at each other like "😀"

1A: 🤨🧐🤭

Aizawa: 🧍🏻🗿

"I don't care what you guys do outside of class.. but PDA isn't allowed in the classroom."

Yes, Aizawa put y'all on blast and if you weren't already embrassed, you are now.

© all content belongs to rekiri 2021. do not modify or repost.

[barrysmanbun]

Rafe Headcanons

A/n: I did about an hour and a half of excessive research just to find out what day and time Rafe could have been born to have the Big Three I headcanon him having so y'all better show some love. (October 30th, 2001 at 1:00am)

~~

Rafe doesn't understand poetry. It doesn't make him feel things. It isn't special to him.

He's the kind of guy to say "that's homophobic" to things he doesn't like.

"No, I won't get you a beer, get one for yourself" "that's homophobic"

Rafe dropped out of college because he secretly didn't want to be a business major like his dad always pushed for him to be. He wanted to be a veterinarian.

Rafe has a special soft spot for animals. Small, fluffy and cute: Rafe will protect them at all costs and does not fuck with animals. If he finds out you're an animal abuser he will kill you or at least make you wish you were dead.

He takes golf very seriously and "has it all down to a science"

Rafe can rap. Not very good but he can. 😂

Rafe knows his whole astrology chart because when Wheezie went through her astrology phase he's the only one in the family who would listen to her ramble on about the signs, their placements and what they all meant. He's a Scorpio sun, Aries moon, Leo Rising. Wheezie wasn't surprised at all when she found out.

Being born October 30th (at 1am, thanks Wheezie) means he had a lot of Halloween themed birthday parties growing up and while it was fun getting to dress up and have everyone else dress up for your birthday as a kid the older he got the more tired of it he got and the more he wanted his birthday celebration and his Halloween celebrations to be separate. Halloween is still his favorite holiday, though.

In the fourth grade he got a Valentine's Day card from every single girl in his class, and he still brings it up as evidence that he's more of a ladies man than Topper and Kelce.

Every once in a while he'll steal one or two of Sarah's nail polishes and will paint his nails before immediately removing it. He thinks he manages to return the nail polish before Sarah even knows it's gone but Sarah knows.

Sarah and Rafe used to be extremely close as kids. Up until Rafe was 11 he was extremely protective of his sister and the two of them were thick as thieves. As he started to make more guy friends and spend less time with his sister they started to drift apart. Once he was old enough to realize his father's behavior was favoritism he blamed it on Sarah and that completely ruined whatever relationship they still had.

His mother used to collect wildflowers and keep them in a vase n the dining table. Every once in a while he catches himself doing the same thing without even thinking about it.

Rafe always wanted to be close with Rose but he stopped himself from being close to her because he didn't want his mom to think he was replacing her.

Because of Wheezie's constant, ever-changing interests, Rafe knows almost everything to know about the Kardashians, prepping for the apocalypse, and the anatomy of medieval castles.

Rafe used to do lots of research on how to calm his anger. A few things that are obvious that stuck with him are a healthy diet, exercise and smoking weed. Something he keeps to himself though is origami. He tried it for shits and giggles, not thinking it would work, but now he does it every time he can feel himself starting to get worked up. He even bought the special, patterned papers to make the origami with.

Rafe is a cat person. Of course, he loves all animals, but cats are his favorite. His second and third favorite animals are turtles and orcas.

~~

Tags:

@pogueslandia

[dumbdemonslayertexts]

Heads and Tails

Pairing: Baji Keisuki × black!fem reader

Warnings: fighting, allusions to gang affiliation

Summary: Baji meeting his little boo in highschool. If a real plot finds its way in here it will totally be by accident lol

Sorry if there's typos I proofread 100times and still don't catch shit AND I WAS TIRED OF KEEPING Y'ALL WAITING 😭😭😭‼️

"fuck y'all want?"

the mini-clique hadn't even stopped in front of you when you asked and they hardly needed. both you and your friend could sense the attitudes rolling off them, even if the nasty crimps and sneers on their faces didn't give them away.

"nobody's even looking at you, new girl."

"did i even say anything to you? mind your business, i'm here to talk to her."

"i don't give a motherfuck, she with me!"

the argument was intensifying. more attention, louder voices, and business about the corridor being dull as it were now, it drew attention. but as the tension started throwing more sparks, you could see more than one engine revving in the opposing group. you weren't having that shit. not with your friend being the focus of their idiotic, misplaced ire. you could care less what verbal threats they wanted to throw, there was one point you wanted driven home-- and one point only.

"i don't give a fuck what problem you got; if more than one of y'all touch her, i'm beatin' every one'a y'all ass."

even with your assistance, you were outnumbered by one. but you didn't care, as you said. the only purpose served with their advantage was to piss you off further, these girls being weak enough to gang up on one tiny thing like her. and over jealousy, to make it worse.

you'd hoped she would agree with the suggestion you'd wordlessly given to leave it and walk away, but there was only so much of their jeering and insults that she could take. all because she had captured the admiration of one of their crushes. something she could not even control.

you would support her if she wanted to end this clownery. if she wanted to fight, you wouldn't interfere-- in fact, you were proud that she was ready to square up. but you'd be damned if you let these girls jump her. they knew who to try and use their gang up tactics on, too. that was all too clear. she was almost ridiculously small, and harmless to the eye; she was quiet and kept to herself, never once bothering with any of these girls. but she was a cute, tiny thing, and her appeal to their desired male counterparts was now making her a target. you weren't having the bullshit today. this was your best and only friend in this stupid school being ganged up on.

they didn't take kindly to your boldness, and for a moment, their venom landed on you-- all yelled over each other and trying their best to be intimidating. truthfully, the whiteout buzz of adrenaline was already heating you up--ringing in your ears and fuzzing your hearing, but you kept your voice level.

"jump in if you want to, you heard what the fuck i said," you reiterated between their combating voices, "jump in if you want to."

you hadn't expected them to heed you-- your naivete had vanished far too long ago to retain that sort of hope. but the speed at which the frontman of the three lunged at your friend was instantaneous. you hadn't even finished the sentence before the brawl broke out.

and the reality of the fight starting hadn't even settled before another set of hands flying in her direction drove you into action.

in a show of mercy, however, you only shoved the second girl instead of swinging. you knew your strength and experience would far outweigh any of the three to go all out at the start of things. in fact, once you saw how she flew and fell from your well aimed weight, you were almost convinced to keep yourself at a calm, half-wattage; the little newborn bully went sliding even further than you had intended. but then you felt the sudden grip of manicured nails claw into your scalp, the pain and burn of your hair being ripped out raw from the root. and it sucked you into an entire out of body experience that landed you years in the past.

you'd only felt your hair pulled out like that once before, and the replicate of that sensation in present almost triggered you into the memory of that first time. the first fight you were in.

the tears streaming down your face while you tried to fight yourself free from that hawk's grip, the presence of family shouting at either side and at your back, yet hearing no tones of sympathy or pity. no caring at all from even one. their hollers were fresh in your ears as if all of them were there right then. yelling instruction, believing themselves to be supportive when all they did was amplify your embarrassment and fear.

"i know you ain't just let that lil bitch knock you down! get your ass up off the ground--" you heard to your left, wanting to flinch from the emphasis that was popped between every other word, fist to palm. you sobbed, straining to lift yourself onto your wobbling knees to appease him, foolishly believing it would earn the help you were desperate for. but all you were rewarded with was a change of tune: now less slighted, but barked with the same aggression. "there you go! stand on them toes! stand on them muhfuckin toes; don't let her get you on the ground nan notha' time, blood!"

you could tell she'd meant to pull you to the ground with that lunge into your hair. and she nearly had-- you were bent down so far from her dead weight that she was almost sat on the floor. but that voice was crystal clear inside your skull, demanding you remain on your feet. in your struggle to lessen the tension on your ripping hair, you'd grabbed onto the girl so tightly that you gripped even her bra straps underneath her uniform. and in an upheaval of your adrenaline and thigh muscles, you slung your weight backward so forcefully that you yanked her up with you.

every move was made in the thick haze of your body's raging fight response. nothing was clear besides your anger. your vision was strobed, and dizzyingly vibrant, almost fringed at the edges with prismic color. you could feel yourself flush with blazing heat and the pumping of your heart was so intense that you nearly could not feel your body. but it knew--you knew-- instinctively, and as soon as you were relatively upright, to drive the girl forward with the remaining momentum and a forceful shove. you did, until you felt the jolt of her back hitting the wall of the hallway.

blood. they all called you that. none of them even used your name.

it didn't motivate you. how couldn't they know that it didn't serve any inspiration to you at all? it terrified you. being shouted at so sharply only scared you (albeit being into doing as they said, when they said it); the entire time you hoped they would snap from this monsterousness and save you like a sibling should have. that hope was held in vain. you could tell with each sloppy hit to your face and heavy tug on your pretty bows that they yet continued to allow.

"get up under that ass, blood!" the yelling at your right side amplified. "let her pull hair, you motherfuckin' swing on that bitch! get up under her ass!"

the pain at each follicle being torn out of your head was making you livid. beyond wording. on top of it, she held you with so tight a grip that your neck was rendered motionless. so you were blinded, head down and forced to keep your sight to the pairs of shoes below you both.

the rage it caused you just made you swing harder.

one hand still latched onto her shirt, you brought up a single fist, standing far enough back from the girl as to put the force into your punches that you wanted. you threw hammers. not even gauging where her head or face would be, you swung blind until you felt the thick knocks you knew too well as knuckle against skull. this girl had no clue how to fucking fight and it only pissed you off more. she thrashed her head to dodge your punches, only making them more evenly distributed to her temple, her eye, her nose, her chin, her cheek, her mouth, her forehead.

you'd landed those seven before she even thought to land a few of her own licks, vertically sending her own fist to the juncture between your shoulder blades a good few times.

but by the time her drive was gone, your head snapped back like a ragdoll. a new set of nails embedded themselves in your coils, relieving the first, and you were brought successfully to your back and onto the ground at last.

so you hadn't shoved quite enough sense into the first one, you could see.

you were weak back then. all those years ago. you couldn't understand why they would scream at you what to do so harshly--even throw threats if you didn't complete their pointers.

"on god, we're letting her beat the fuck out you if you'ont whoop her ass. you better act like you know where the fuck you from, don't play that shit!"

the force of striking the floor only registered in a muted form-- dull and suspended, like someone punching you under water. the overflow of adrenaline was to thank, you could only figure. and you didn't do it for long before lividity surged over you in a new wave.

the girl on top of you now chose to continue yanking. your head was sure to be sore for the next few days now, as violently as she was wringing your neck in every direction she could. the voiced around you were all in an uproar... over what, you still couldn't be sure. but the fact that two of the girls' attention was on you meant that they hadn't ganged up on your bestie. that was enough to at least clear your head from worry that would be bound to distract you.

your next move was as unexpected as every other thusfar, but you used her hair pulling to your advantage, hearing that voice at your back from your childhood swearing that if you didn't put forth the effort in beating her, then you would bear the brunt of all she had to give without a care from any of them. your teeth flashed in a snarl. even as numb and heavy as your arms were getting, the weight of exhaustion bearing down on you now, you gripped her wrists where they were entangled in your hair, lurching your body onto its side with every ounce of your weight. you needed to, until you could prop yourself onto your knees.

once you had, you flipped yourself with almost the last of your strength, making your positions switch. now you were atop of your shovee, despite your hair still being shredded from the scalp. the leverage, you used how you could, and you fed uppercuts, jabs, hooks, every punch you could into the space underneath you, striking at everything solid that your aching knuckles could find while she kicked and flailed to slip herself free.

you were so winded by the time you felt her fingers pried from your head, so out of breath by the time you saw her dragged away that you were nearly drunk. you gave the responsible party hell for it on top of it all: clinging to the girl with vengeance burning you, she in mid-air and forced to take the last of your weakened blows until they'd finally separated you. whether it had been faculty or fellow students that finally broke it up, you weren't sure.

you were sure, however, that you saw none of the others now. the mass of bodies that had accumulated around the five of you had now swallowed the rest, leaving you a panting heap, half folded onto yourself in the middle of the floor.

the students remaining must have seen the hellfire blazing behind your wide eyes when you couldn't spot your companion. the second it looked like you were about to lift yourself onto your feet, dozens were yelling that she was good, a few coming to stand over you as a guard. dozens more still were blocking the rest of the hall from you, all but making a human wall of themselves to close you off from even the sight of your opponents.

by all accounts, you'd beaten those girls' ass. but you felt, then, too weakened to even stand and look for your girl after fighting only two, that you'd pathetically lost.

"ne."

you heard a voice far deeper than you would've expected to at your side. the commotion had begun to fizzle, teachers herding students in a hush to be on their way home were all around you.

you, however, remained on your knees, stretched out like a kitten fresh from a nap to search for your phone and keys. they'd been strewn about during the fight, and like an idiot, you hadn't accounted for either happening.

when you averted your attention, your gaze fell on a boy squatting down at your side. his elbows lay on his knees, arms splayed in front of him while he got a closer look at your post-brawl disheveled state. his hair was jet black, long and in a low ponytail. and his eye was on you with a studious intensity that put you at unease.

"how many brothers you got?"

your jaw fell. no one had known anything about your brothers at this school, or in all of Japan at all. no one aside from you and your mom. you'd moved here, moved completely across the globe to escape them and the ramifications of the lifestyle they chose. and this boy had figured it out so easily? what in the hell did you let slip? how could he have possibly heard it, even if you had?

"... three..." you answered. even with the fight over, it was as if all of them were still surrounding you. you could hear their voices directly in your ear. sense their unyeilding pressure on you to keep up their reputation. you answered him, but that was all you said.

apparently, it was all he required, too, as you saw his mouth turn up into a smirk then that revealed two vampiric canines. that same, deep and hefty voice let out a chuckle. but you were still clueless until he spoke again.

"you fight like it."

it only occurred to you then to sit up, yourself. still confused, you sat back on your ankles, still wondering what this boy wanted from you, and what about you having brothers delighted him so much. but before you could ask him about it, he turned his chin away.

you watched, still struck mute as he tugged something at his shoulder. his shirt had straps with buttons at the shoulders---- a type that was against the school dress code. there was something he'd secured in it for holding, that he now pulled at with his teeth until the button popped free.

"hn," he hummed with it still in his mouth, before slinging it to you from his bite's hold.

it landed in your lap, and you could finally see that it was a hair tie. after a dumb blink or two, you looked up at him again, not knowing what to say. but he filled in the gaps for you smoothly.

"y'needed that." he pointed out, "keep one on ya from now on; don't brawl like you got short hair."

with that, he stood up, giving you a last, humoured glance before taking off with that same low chuckle. biting your lip, you closed the memento in your throbbing fist, still as baffled as before as you watched him disappear.

part 2 ▷▷

[fandomjoy]

So, the Quantum Leap podcasts have been doing a lot of interviews lately with the writers/producers/showrunners of QL22, and they have been SO enlightening.

The particularly good ones have been: Quantum Leap Podcast - Dean Georgaris; Fate's Wide Wheel - Dean Georgaris, Drew Lindo, Benjamin Raab & Deric A. Hughes. You can find all of the episodes on the QLP and FWW YouTube channels.

Most important takeaways from these interviews:

Everyone on the creative team is a fan of the original show. Everyone respects and honors what came before. Even those who came to the sequel with no real knowledge besides general awareness, like Benjamin Raab (who did catch himself up after getting the job). On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have people like Deric A. Hughes, the other half of the Raab/Hughes writing duo, who is a SUPER DUPER MAJOR fan of the OG from back when it was airing. So he's one of those fandom "elders" for QL, and listening to him go on about how much he loves the show and how important it's been to honor it in the sequel... Well, I mean, the show has shown time and again, every episode, that it acknowledges and respects what came before. But it was so fun to watch one of the writers just GUSH over the OG.

Now that QL22 is guaranteed a second season (they're already breaking stories for it; no break between the end of season 1 and beginning of season 2 for makers of the show), they've been given the greenlight from NBC to just go ALL OUT. Make brave choices. Go just as deep as the OG on social issues and then go further.

Pretty sure episode 112 is gonna be a MAJOR turning point for this show. From what I know based on casting calls, who is writing, and hints gleaned from these interviews... I am expecting some fantastic stuff!

Basically, y'all are missing out if you're not watching the Quantum Leap sequel; it just keeps getting better and better with every episode and this back half of the season has already given us two excellent episodes and the rest sound like they're gonna be AMAZEBALLS!

Episode 111 is a time-loop/Leap-loop episode. Episode 112 will tackle trans athletes in high school sports. Episode 113 is directed by Deborah Pratt herself!!!

Oh, and if you love Al Calavicci, you will love this show. Janis Calavicci is such an intriguing, multi-layered character, and based on things said in the aforementioned interviews, there are some very interesting things to come with that character. Also, Georgina Reilly is just absolutely PERFECT casting. She's a perfect mix of Al and Beth, both in looks and in personality.

OH, and I'm expecting us to finally hear more about other legacy characters, based on things said in the interviews, particularly in the Ben Raab & Deric Hughes interview. Let's just say that everyone working on this show knows that Janis is not the only offspring of Al or Sam; it's not being ignored - it just hasn't come up yet.

Honestly, please just do yourselves a favor and go watch all the aforementioned interviews. I've already been sold on this show since it was announced, and I legit didn't think I could get more excited about it than I already am, but these interviews just... they really hit home just how amazing and exciting it is to have new Quantum Leap to look forward to!!!