#What Happens if You Don’t Activate Windows 10

[fulltulips]

bed chem - l.dh ; part o n e

description: what happens when you finally come face to face with the one and only notorious playboy!haechan...? you can't help but wonder your bed chem with him.

pairing: lee haechan x fem reader

genres: fluff, smut, college au

warnings: alcohol and smoking mentions, pet names, kissing, vulgarities, suggestive sexual activities, drunk mentions, reader uses her/she pronouns

author's note:

hihii !! this is my first ever post... so please be nice and I hope you enjoy this ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ♡ recently i’ve been listening to short n sweet album !! and i love bed chem sooooooo much ˘͈ᵕ˘͈ so i got the idea of writing this fic !! do lmk if you guys might want a entire series of short n sweet with other members hehe

location: home

“come onnnn y/n! i promised the dreamies i would be there at the party at mark’s houseee!” renjun whined as he tugged on your cherry patterned silk pyjamas.

“okay…go then?? i don’t understand why i would have to go with you??” you lazily said as you continued watching bridgerton without sparing renjun a glance.

“because you’re my best friend? and plus the dreamies have been wanting to meet my housemate for so long!”

ever since college began a year ago, renjun was in search of a place to stay in and luckily then you were in search of a housemate.

it was awkward in the beginning to say the least…

you had never lived with a boy your entire life until college but luckily renjun was the nicest guy ever, you guys instantly clicked and became great friends.

well renjun could’ve stayed with his dreamies friends that you’ve never met but renjun claims it’s too dirty and messy to live with 6 other boys.

you wouldn’t even dare to imagine the chaos…

“okay but what’s in it for me if i go?” you sighed, finally turning over to look at renjun.

“you’ll finally step out of the house and interact like a normal social functioning human?” renjun sarcastically replied giving the most “duhh” face.

although that was sarcastic, it was true… you hadn’t stepped out of the house since the semester break had began last week.

you’ve just been lazing at home with the same routine everyday.

you woke up in the late afternoons, ate lunch, binged watch your favourite shows till midnight before you finally ate your dinner and continued watching shows till you fell asleep.

the only person you communicated in the past week was only renjun but he was always out and about.

a huge difference between the two of you…

you were definitely comfortable but upon hearing renjun’s statement made you realise just how much you’ve been living like a cavewoman…

“fine! i’ll go with you… ONLY because i cant keep living like a cavewoman…” you finally stood up from the couch and got to your room to change and get ready.

“10minutes is all you get y/n!” renjun yelled.

pfft… 10minutes? in his dreams…

20 minutes later

“y/n! YOU MUST MAKE HASTE!!” renjun yelled.

(bridgerton reference hehe)

“i’m ready!! geez calm down renjun” you walked out of your room in a sheer white babydoll dress as you finished touching up on your lip tint .

“gosh i could fly back and forth between korea and china and you still wouldn’t have finished getting ready” renjun joked erupting laughter from both of you.

⋆. 𐙚 ˚

location: mark’s house, at the party

the moment renjun and you had arrived at the party…

my oh my… you could feel the bass vibrations of the music through your ears and the ground.

it was obvious this is mark’s house.

with vibrant neon flashing lights shined and lighted up the house as the lights peeked it’s way out of the windows giving the dark neighbourhood some sort of lighting.

you couldn’t imagine how badly your eyes were gonna hurt the moment you stepped into the party.

“hey! renjun you’re finally came!” a pretty boy with the biggest grin welcomed renjun.

“i would’ve been here earlier if miss given 10 minutes didn’t take so long…” renjun complained.

man… this dude won’t ever let this slide anymore…

“oh? she’s your housemate? you didn’t tell me she’s this beautiful? hi ! i’m na jaemin nice to meet you” jaemin introduced himself with sparkles in his eyes.

warmth crept up your cheeks as you’ve never had someone directly compliment you like this.

“hi…? im y/n… nice to meet you?” you shyly greeted back feeling nervous while jaemin held the most intense eye contact with you while you were mess looking everywhere but jaemin in the eye.

“you’re so cute like a tiny bear! gosh i would keep you in my pockets if i could!!” jaemin grinned and patted your head.

you could feel even more warmth rushing up this time round.

“okay jaems i don’t need you flirting with my housemate. my house is the last place i need you to be in” renjun rolled his eyes as jaemin held his hands up as if he was surrendering.

you chuckled lightly loving their friendship banter.

“let’s go find the others they’re waiting! come on little bear” jaemin told renjun as he slung his arm around your shoulders.

although it felt weird having a arm around your shoulder with a random dude you just met… it made the party felt less taunting honestly.

squeezing pass a body of strangers was the worst feeling ever but having jaemin’s arm to guide you made you felt safer while you could smell the beer coming from jaemin’s breath.

“alright guys! meet y/n! she is renjun’s housemate” jaemin stopped in front a place with a couch and a few beanbags placed with 4 other boys there.

you shyly waved at them

“hi!! im chenle nice to finally meet you!! ya! jisung quick say hi” chenle excitedly nudged this tall guy sat beside him which you assumed to be jisung.

“hi im jisung…” he muttered

“don’t worry about jisung he’s quite shy with new people” jaemin whispered to you as he stood beside you.

“hi jisung! nice to meet you” you mustered the friendliest greeting you could give and waved at jisung which he returned.

“hi y/n ! im jeno” jeno introduced as he smiled forming crescent moons gathering attention to the beautifully placed mole beneath his eye.

“ayo wassup im mark! you can mark me in your hea-”

“ok that’s enough mark!!” everyone interrupted mark’s introduction.

“aw dude i was hoping to say it once tonight” mark sulked as he took another sip from his red cup.

you couldn’t help but laugh at their silliness.

“wait where’s haechan hyung?” jisung questioned.

“probably sucking off a girl’s face or smoking right now” renjun said like it was the most natural thing ever.

“whatever he’ll find his way back later. come sit y/n !! do you want a drink? i can get it for you”chenle said as he patted the empty seat on the couch beside you.

“oh that’s okay i can get it myself! does anyone want anything from the kitchen?” you smiled appreciating the offer from chenle before you asked the group.

everyone shook their heads with some saying thanks.

⋆. 𐙚 ˚

you squeezed past the bodies of strangers again with random turns and passes until you finally found the kitchen.

but of course… another obstacle was in your way…

like a literal obstacle.

two humans making out in-front of the fridge making it impossible to get your drink.

you coughed lightly in hopes of getting their attention…

nothing.

“excuse me…?” you softly said.

still nothing.

“uhm hi… if you could just excuse me-” you said as you tapped the guy’s shoulders.

“what?” he scoffed, rolled his eyes before he finally faced you.

‘i was in a sheer dress the day that we met’

you felt the world stopped.

the music tuned out and you could feel your breathe stolen away.

you were faced with a guy with beautiful honey skin and a pair of the softest brown eyes despite the heavy smudged eyeliner.

he had beauty marks on his face that formed constellations.

he towered over you allowing his scent to engulf you. it was mix of woody scent, alcohol and cigarettes.

he stood tall as he dressed in in a black singlet and jeans with a classic black leather jacket over his shoulders.

the girl he made out with was long gone, it was just the two of you staring at each other in the kitchen.

it was safe to say you were attracted to this man in-front of you knowing well he screamed bad news.

the longer he stood and looked at you, his eyes softened.

you stood in-front of him, doe eyed, full of innocence in your white sheer dress and your pink pouty lips.

“fuck…” he thought in his head.

the same you thought. from just his appearance you could feel wetness pooling in your pink laced thongs.

you couldn’t help but wondered what was your bed chem with him.

he was the complete opposite of you, he embodied bad news, he was dark and mysterious, like a thunderstorm.

but you were different, you were alluring, you were like a breeze in a garden on spring day, like a breath of fresh air.

“cat got your tongue love?” he finally broke the silence.

“huh..oh.. uhm i just wanted to get a drink from the fridge sir?” you stuttered as you looked down at the ground barely gathering any courage to speak up.

weirdly the endearment felt so smooth when he called you as if he has always called you in that your entire life.

he found you so adoring.

but the way you said sir, made him felt something in him stir.

“did you just call me sir?” he questioned feeling intrigued.

“well… i don’t know your name” you finally looked up at him.

“don’t go around calling any guy sir randomly love. you don’t know what it does.” he leaned forward closing the distance between both your faces as he cups your face in his rough hand.

what a hypocrite this man was calling you love…

you could smell the mix of alcohol and cigarettes in his breath, which you usually hate but somehow you didn’t mind when it was with him.

“yo hyuck! finally i found you come be my beer pong partner- oh? y/n you finally met haechan!”

‘we were both in a rush we talked for a sec’

‘your friend hit me up so we could connect’

oh… so he’s renjun’s friend… haechan… haechan… hyuck?

haechan removed his hand from your cheeks, somehow you felt sad from the loss of comforting warmth from him.

“haechan this is y/n! she’s renjun’s housemate” mark staggered his way over to you and swinging his arm across your shoulders clearly losing his senses to alcohol soon.

“alright let’s get going beer pong championship achiever” haechan rolled his eyes as he removed mark’s arm from your shoulders.

“lessgooooooo!” mark excitedly exclaimed as he exited the kitchen to the beer pong table.

“i’ll see you around love” he patted your head with a smirk on his face and left with a wink.

blush crept up to your cheeks, you could feel yourself physically feeling hotter.

you quickly got your drink from the fridge and left to sit on the couch with the rest of the dreamies.

⋆. 𐙚 ˚

but the whole night you couldn’t help but let your eyes wander towards haechan standing at the beer pong table.

with the occasional glances and winks haechan would give you was not safe for your heart.

there was no denying you found haechan attractive.

but how could it be when you just met him?

“y/n? you good? you’ve been staring at haechan?” chenle questioned.

you’ve been exposed.

“oh? no i wasn’t… i think i’m just tired i tend to usually blank out” what in the stupidest excuse.

“aite it’s time to head back stoned y/n! let’s goooo” renjun stood up from the beanbag and walked towards the door.

“whaaaaat we just met stay longer little bear!” jaemin whined with rosy cheeks and eyes that were barely focusing on you anymore.

“sorry guys it’s late i should head back now… we can hang out sometime soon again tho” you suggested with a smile on your face.

jeno smiled and gave a okay sign with his hands before he waved bye.

before you could even step out of the house, a hand grabs your wrist.

you turned to find haechan holding onto you.

“leaving so soon love?” he cocked his eyebrow as he bent down to reach your height, making both of you face to face now.

you stumbled back a little, shock from the barely existent distance between the two of you.

haechan’s hands found it’s way behind your waist supporting you from tripping. you felt your breathe hitched from the contact.

his hands were warm but the silver rings he had on gave a cold touch to your waist. you love his touch, you craved for it and wished to be held by him as long as you can.

you couldn’t help but wonder how his touch would feel all around your body, playing with your tits as his other hand fingers you making you cum all over his fingers.

and watching him lick your cum all off his fingers and your pussy.

“i bet we would have really good bed chem…” you thought to yourself.

as you looked into his eyes this time, it held softness and sincerity different from when you had first met. you could feel his hot breath against you while you were quite literally holding onto your breath.

he smelled so good, you just wanted to be around him all day but you had to remind yourself, you had just met.

“yea it’s getting late and renjun’s already waiting so…”

“before you go…” he hands you his phone with his keypad on display.

you looked at him with questions in your eyes.

“what’s your phone number love? i need to keep in contact with you don’t i?” haechan chuckles as he jokingly uses his finger to push your forehead.

he looks so good smiling, like a bright sun on a cloudy day.

“oh! you could get it from renjun tho…” you said while keying in your phone number on his phone.

“if i get it from renjun, i wouldn’t have a chance to talk to you right now don’t i? and i wouldn’t be able to give you this.”

“huh? give wha-” suddenly you felt a pair of warm lips on your forehead.

“goodnight sweet dreams love. get home safe, text me when you’re home” he smiles and ruffles your hair.

oh haechan… what are you doing to my heart…

[prentissluvr]

motel room, 10:00 p.m. — sam winchester

cw : gn!reader, hurt/comfort, fluff, injury mentions, feelings of guilt, pet names (honey), 545 words. requested ! for my 800 followers event [ open ] .

summary : sam feels guilty that he accidentally got you hurt during a hunt.

MOVED BLOGS TO @sammyluvr !! no longer active on this blog! all fics can be found there!

“it’s not your fault, sam,” you murmur softly. he’s kneeling at your feet, on the ugly patterned motel room rug, and carefully cleaning the gash on your stomach. it stings, and when he can afford to, he holds your hand tenderly. your other hand rests on his shoulder, squeezing when you need to.

your calves rest against the edge of the mattress, and sam’s face is guilty.

“it is, though, honey. and i know that. you know it, too,” he counters, voice revealing how upset he is. it was a choice he made that got you hurt.

“but it’s okay,” you press. “everything’s okay. i’m okay. it happens. we all get hurt sometimes and there’s no way for us to predict everything that will happen. neither of us knew what would happen. and it’s really not that bad.”

he looks up at you with a pained expression and sorry eyes. “i still don’t like it,” he shakes his head. “you still got hurt. that’s not nothing.”

you bring your hand from his shoulder and smooth it gently over the side of his head. “i know it’s not nothing,” you whisper. he feels the way you do when he gets hurt, even just a little, only worse because he’s blaming himself. “but it’s still okay. i know… i know you worry that something… worse might have happened, but it didn’t. i know you’re scared of getting me hurt, but we can’t focus on that, and you know it. we know what we’re doing, but accidents happen. and that’s okay.”

sam sighs heavily, hanging his head for a moment. he presses a light kiss to your left knee. “i know,” he breathes out, not quite wanting to let himself off the hook, but knowing that you dislike when he blames himself for anything. he places gauze over the cut, carefully securing it there with medical tape. his steady hands, gentle touch, and calloused fingertips are always a welcome, familiar sensation as they press into the skin of your torso. 

when he’s done, he doesn’t stand, but takes hold of your hand and places the other over your clothed knee. you don’t move either, just squeeze his hand and make no attempt to pull your shirt back on.

it’s ten p.m. and dark outside. the thick curtains are mostly closed, but leave a small open slit to reveal the night sky and dark parking lot outside. the moon was visible through that opening half an hour ago, but you two were still in the car then. you had watched it through the window, and it followed you to the motel.

“i’m okay,” you murmur again, always for his benefit. “i promise. c’mon.” you slip to the very edge of the bed and tug at his hand lightly.

he stands as you urge him to, keeping your hand in his and shifting the other to firmly hold your hip as a support while he brings you up to stand with him. sam looks at you with soft eyes that silently ask your intentions.

“you go shower and then help me get cleaned up without getting this wet, alright?” you gently instruct, voice hushed. sometimes sam needs quiet and gentle, and you’re the person that gives it to him.

[avaf00rd]

Fridge

Little shits pt 2

Kyra Cooney cross x teen!reader (platonic)

actually finished this shockingly quick. (Not proof read). Submitting it now and going to sleep. So it’s bad.

I had a Leah fic that was pretty good but then half didn’t save in the draft. And rewriting is the worst. I’ll try to get back into it tomorrow if I can promise.

Enjoy bbys

——————————————-

“shit.” Kyra blankly said as she made a huge dent in the mcfoord new fridge. Don’t ask how.

“How the fuck did you manage that!” You exclaimed checking out the massive mark left right in the middle of the fridge.

You and Kyra had been in Baylor against Katie and Caitlin for a few weeks now. It was hilarious to all of you. You were also all getting great content for the Arsenal new YouTube channel where different players would do vlogs of game days and other activities.

“Ok everyone Kyra just broke the fridge” you sighed running your palm over your forehead looking back into the camera

“It’s not definitely broken. We can just undo it” she said. You grabbed the camera to point it towards her raising one eyebrow.

“It’s as big as a bowling ball” you said. Kyra turned to you and the camera with a blank expression.

“I say we grab the toilet plunger.” Before quickly getting up to find it.

“If I were Katie I would rather have massive dent on my fridge then have the fridge smell like my own shit.” You sighed as u sat down on the stool. You two were truly truly fucked this time. Some of your pranks included putting pictures of drunk Caitlin all around every second cubby at the training grounds. This round it was slightly lighter by super gluing the lids to their foods in the fridge. Lame right? Kyra somehow managed to pick up a random pot and accidentally charge it straight into the fridge. You forgot about the camera as you were lost in thought thinking about how badly you fucked up this time. Brand new fridge for their brand new place. It was over.

“Ok no plunge but I did some googling. We just need an ice cube” you guys were the definition of blind leading the blind. So of course you grabbed an ice cube and placed it on the large dent 10 times its size. “Is it working” Kyra asked holding the camera towards you and the ice cube. You slowly turned your head around to face her wiht a blank expression reading no you fucking idiot.

A knock on the door made you both share a look of panic. “The pantry” Kyra pointed intending that you just run away from this problem.

“No dumb ass” you said before getting up and walking to the door. You were nearly 100% it wasn’t Caitlin and Katie as you walked the hallway before twisting the handle.

“Hey tiny” Leah said in surprise to find you here.

“Hey Leah”

“What on earth are you doing here” she questioned

“We need your help” you said hopefully. Kyra peaking around the corner to be seen with a sad smile and a nod. Leah slightly chuckled before following you down the hall. Where you stood from afar with Kyra pointing to the fridge. Leah just bursted out laughing.

“Shit you did this” she chuckled checking it out.

“Yes what do we do!” You slightly yelled. Kyra still in shock from what happened.

“Don’t worry about it. They might be mad but Katie was telling me a new fridge and oven was arriving so it doesn’t really matter-“

“This is the new fridge!” Kyra exclaimed

Leah jaw slightly fell “you’ve truly done it again children”

“Leah please answer. What do we do?” You asked desperate for help.

“We wait until they get home” she said softly before filling up a cup of water for herself and sitting at the dining room table on her phone.

You waited around 20 minutes doing nothing. Kyra on her phone, probably researching how to fix it. And you now just sitting next to Leah looking out the window. It might not seem like a big deal. But a brand new expensive fridge, with a possible non-fixable problem was defiantly a big deal to your young minds. You just had a plan in your mind. Offer to pay to fix it. If you can’t fix it. You and Kyra will go halves on a replacement. Kyra tried to rebuttal when you brought up that plan, but quickly shut up when she realised it was the only option.

This was amusing to Leah. The panic in your faces made her laugh. The whole team was just waiting for something to go terribly wrong.

“Let me get this straight you were trying to superglue all of their food? Aha! That’s good” Leah exclaimed with a goofiness in her voice. You and Kyra just sat their blankly. Kyra soon chuckling at the thought of how this whole situation is kind of funny.

A rattle of keys on the front door made your heart completely stop. “Oh hey Leah. And girls. Oh shit what did you do” Caitlin asked with a smirk on her face kind of ready to see the next prank. Just so she could then plot her next one.

“Ok ok so” you put your hands on both their chests before they could walk much further. “We were doing a light hearted prank right. Then we made a mistake. Dear Kyra here-“

“-we both made a mistake ok! We are very very sorry and we will pay for this.” Kyra said. You both stood in front of the three older girls with your hands behind your backs. Apologising like a five year old who just stole lollies.

“Huh” Katie said confused towards the girls, while Caitlin walked into the kitchen to put her bags down.

“Kyra Cooney cross!” There was a yell across the flat. A somewhat fuming Caitlin voice coming from the source. Katie quickly following to see.

“It wasn’t just me!” Kyra quickly defended in panic.

“You did this!” You said to Kyra . Then looking at the two other girls

“I’m gonna head” Leah waved before leaving behind all of you.

“I’ll pay to get it fixed. Even though I didn’t do it” you said to them. Mumbling the last part, targeted towards Kyra.

“Bet your ass you guys will” Katie said

“This is new” Caitlin said looking at the fridge

“That we both know. And we are very very very very sorry a million times” Kyra said pointing between the two of you. You just nodded next to her.

“Sleep with one eye open. Next one will be serious” Katie said smirking. Plotting her next prank.

“You two can go” Caitlin waved you and the 21 year old off. Kyra nodded quickly zooming down the halls.

“Send me your bank details!” You said before walking out. Forgetting the camera on the bench. You went to grab it before heading out again.

“Bye gooners!” You said. Before turning the camera to Kyra who was waiting for the elevator next to you. Who turned around and poking her tongue out.

[daydreams-after-dark]

What's your fanfic fantasy? part 1

↳ tag list: open

Chapter Contents.

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6 // Part 7 // Part 8 // Part 9 // Part 10 // Part 11 // Part 12 // Part 13 // Part 14 //

Pairing: fem reader + Chan + Jisung

This is an AU story about Chan bringing your fantasies to life... but what happens when boyfriends Chan and Han fall in love with you?

Chapter Summary: You're enjoying a drink with Chan until he starts asking about the smut you read.

Warnings: This first installment has no sex (but the next is fully sex including a threesome!) but talks about sexually explicit content, fantasies, references to sex and masturbation, explicit language, eventual threesome in next installment.

You sit on the leather lounge really confused about how the conversation ended up here.

“So… “ Chan starts, “do you enjoy reading them?” he smirks as he asks this.

He is such a cheeky bastard.

He isn't talking about stories in the media, or news articles, or interviews. Nope. He is talking about erotic fan fiction. Smut. About him. About him and his rock band SKZ. And that you've been reading it.

You have known Chan for a long time. Years now. You'd met on a creative project. You're musicians, and have often worked creatively together on and off for a few years. You were so excited when Chan invited you to his holiday/work retreat to work on a new project with him and a few of the guys from the band for a couple of weeks.

You're staying in a beautiful holiday home, more like a mansion really, on the coast overlooking the ocean. It’s a sight to die for.

Chan loved to work. He worked all day. He worked well into the night. He worked all the time actually. A workaholic. You wonder if you would get to let your hair down, and just hang out, which usually ends up with you bantering and laughing together for hours.

You didn’t have to wonder for long. It's your first day here, and it hasn’t taken long before you've hit “banter territory”. In fact it has now moved beyond “banter territory” and into some unknown, and quite frankly scary, uncharted territory, and you don’t have a map for this particular terrain.

Even though nothing has ever happened between you and Chan, and likely never will, you often seem to end up flirting. Hinting at things in a fun, non serious way. But never taking it further (although your mind has drifted much further than you'd ever admit).

Chan’s a safe flirt. Which means he makes you feel safe enough to push the envelope without a sense of awkwardness or feeling a need to take action or follow through. You seem to just prick tease really.

It’s just fun and games right? Right? It was always… cheeky and lighthearted and absolutely never serious.

Until now.

You feel flustered and a little sweaty. You try to shift in your seat to get more comfortable and to ease the sense of your legs feeling like your circulation has been cut off, but the leather couch is sticking to your legs. You shouldn’t have worn a mini skirt. A uneasiness builds up inside of you.

You pick up your sparkling water from the leather upholstered chaise-slash-coffee table and take a big sip, biding your time before you answer.

You're sitting in one of the living areas that that has a big floor to ceiling window that takes advantage of the ocean view. It’s getting dark out there now.

Chan sits on a second leather coach to your right where he is waiting for you to speak. You bring your attention back to his question “do you enjoy reading them?”

You'd been talking about the fandom and some of the thirst tweets and naughty edits that are out there about his rock band SKZ, and somehow the conversation escalated into how you had read some of the fan made fiction about the group.

You wish you hadn’t even mentioned that you read smut. Why did you do that? You were only going to tease him about the situations, positions and activities that he and his band members have been involved in, fictitiously of course.

Unfortunately for you the teasing hasn’t had the desired effect, and the tables have been turned on you. Instead of making him go red, or teasing him about it, and having a giggle - in the safe zone of “banter territory” - you were the one blushing while his expression had turned dark and devious.

You look him in the eyes to see if you can read his thoughts.

He is still waiting for your answer.

He is still smirking at you. Fuck. This is so awkward.

“Well …?” he raises an eyebow. “do you enjoy reading them?” he repeats himself. You actually have to answer him then? What the fuck do you say?

You're not quite sure whether to give a lighthearted response and shift the conversation to something more… vanilla, or match him with the dark, sinister vibe. Or, you could just be honest and nonchalant, and act like it’s no big deal. Yeah you might go with that. You're an adult after all.

“Well, yeah I do actually.” you say matter-of-factly, completely disregarding the dark look in his eyes. You think you've come off calm and unaffected by his energy, but on the inside you're burning up with embarrassment, or is it shame? Or something else?

You want to hide. You realise you're holding your breath and you do your best to exhale gently and calmly.

Chan puts his drink down, a simple coke, on the coffee table-chaise and sits back on the leather couch. His skinny ripped jeans are so very tight and his legs are parted a little bit too wide for polite chit chat. How fucking rude! He’s playing games with you.

It surprises you when you a feel dull ache in your core. You want to be pissed off at his confidence, not turned on. Why does this dark energy seem so alluring? This isn’t the Chan you're used to, and you have a feeling this situation is going to become less polite by the minute. You're not sure how it’s going to pan out, but you're terrified. Or are you? You can’t quite tell if this is terror or anticipation, or - arousal?

He brings a hand to his chin as though deep in thought, rubbing his fingers against his lips, and not taking his eyes off you for even a second. Then he nods his head as if he has just made a decision with himself. Is he is having as much inner dialogue as you are right now?

“Tell me more?” He coaxes, his voice is low and deep.

Tell him more? Shit. What are you supposed to say? That you lay in bed reading about how he and his best friends suck each other off and rail each other in the ass? And then you touch yourself over it as you imagine you're there actually watching it? Or that you imagine each of them inside of you while the others watch?

Is that what he wants to hear?

You cross your legs hoping the tension will go away, but all it does is intensify the feeling.

No, absolutely not. This is too far. You can’t tell him more. You won’t tell him. It’d be too… vulnerable. Intimate. You shake your head.

“No,” you start. “I don’t think we should keep talking about this.” You sigh and look at him pleadingly. But the look in his eyes tell you he isn’t going to let this slide. And part of you doesn’t want him to either. If you're honest, you're scared, embarrassed and want to run and hide, but part of you does want to tell him, to confess to him, see his reaction. What would he say? What would he do? You wanted to know. You needed to know.

Despite your resolve to say nothing, you open your mouth ready to blurt it all out anyway.

“You’re right.” Chan cuts you off, and some of that darkness shifts from his eyes. He grins his cheeky fucking grin at you and you feel that sense of kindness and friendliness he has return just a little bit.

But..

Your heart sinks. Why do you feel disappointed?

“It’s none of my business what you enjoy reading”. He chuckles filling his glass up with more coke. “I didn’t mean to make you feel awkward. We can change the subject.” Chan leans forward to peer closer to you, the room has gotten so dark and only a few lamp lights are illuminating the room in a soft glow.

“I’m sorry.” he says with pleading eyes. “I was just curious, you know?” He leans back again. “This is kind of an area that I don’t know anything about you in”.

“Chan,” you exasperate, “It’s normal for people to not know other people’s fantasies!”

You clasp your hand over your mouth. You've said too much.

“Fantasies? No one mentioned fantasies.” He’s caught you out. Chan’s devious eyes are back but it’s coupled with a devious grin too. Doubly dangerous. “Hmm..” he pretends to ponder “so let me get this straight. You read the dirty fiction and then fantasize about it happening to you? Or,” he takes a sip of his drink. “you make up your own little scenarios of my boys filling you up and fucking you senseless?”

“Chan!” You're shocked at how accurate his accusation actually is. And equally shocked how your body is responding. You're thankful it’s dark because you're pretty sure your nipples are rock hard. You're also thankful he is hasn’t outrightly asked if you fantasize about him.

So much for changing the subject.

“Do you?” he knows he almost has you admitting everything to him.

You tip your head back and let out a sigh.

“Fine. I’ll tell you more. Then you can fucking stop being so pushy and move on.”

Chan claps his hands together excitedly. “Right then”, he says and excitedly shuffles over a little closer to you. You feel like you should get him some god damned popcorn.

“You’re right. I read the stories, I touch myself, and I imagine my own scenarios.” You flail your hand around in some weird gesture and try to keep the explanation as minimal as possible, surely he doesn’t need to know actual details.

Chan waits for you to elaborate. Apparently he does need to know more details.

You roll your eyes. “And yes, I imagine them filling me up and fucking me senseless." you finish.

He looks satisfied that you've admitted it, and proud too, like his boys had actually had sex with you and that it was somehow thanks to him. “Except..” you start. What are you doing?

Chan looks at you curiously. “Except? Except what?”

You hesitate but decide to continue. “Except, even though he is so fucking hot and he’s the best drummer I’ve seen, and so very sexy, and his lips are just delicious, no matter how hard I try, and even though I want to so badly, I can’t seem to envision Jisung inside of me!” you confess.

Oh my god, what did you just say?

You look to Chan to see what his reaction is. He looks amused but mildly distracted. His gaze keeps shifting over your shoulder ever so slightly even though his attention and words are directed at you.

“So what you are saying is,” he focuses his eyes back on you. “that you can’t picture Jisung fucking you?” He smirks and leans back against the back of the couch resuming the confident lazy posture he had earlier.

You swear he’s hard, his pants seem a little too tight and you can see a bulge protruding, fighting against his pants. But it’s too dark to really tell, and perhaps your imagination is getting the better of you. You wonder what it would feel like to straddle his lap and grind against him, to make him harder and to relieve this tension building up in your body.

“Do you want to?” Chan jolts you back to reality, his attention is one hundred percent back on you, but something feels off.

“Huh?” You stare blankly, taking your eyes off the bulge in his pants.

“Do you want to be able to imagine Jisung fucking you?” he repeats casually, but dead serious.

Do you want to imagine Jisung fucking you? You consider what might be the thing getting in the way of you being able to picture it. Is it that he seems so young and fun that you can’t see him taking charge and being aggressive, and maybe that’s what you're into? You can’t really put your finger on it. All you know is you do want to imagine Jisung inside of you, fucking you. Well yeah, of course. Who wouldn’t? How was admitting it to Chan going to help?

“Yes,” you declare anyway. Really! What are you doing?  “and it’s so fucking annoying.” you add. Your throat is so dry, but elsewhere you're beginning to feel a little wet.

Amusement washes over Chan’s face and his eyes dart over your shoulder again.

You swallow hard even though your throat feels like a hard lump, but before you can do or say anything, Chan leans in close to your ear. His breath is hot against your neck and cheek. Fuck he’s close. Fuck he smells good.

You hold your breath waiting for Chan to speak. He lingers for what feels like forever.

“Jisung thinks that’s so fucking annoying too.” It was barely a whisper. He pulls away from your ear and gestures behind you. “Don’t you, Jisung?”

Your heart suddenly pounds so hard you think it’s going to fling out of your chest. Your jaw drops and dread begins to take over you. You feel hot and dizzy. You snap your head in the direction of Chan’s gaze only to be met with Jisung standing in the doorway. The dread intensifies and you're filled with shame. You want to hide.

Fuck.

↳ tag list: open

@rylea08 @channieandhisgoonsquad @noellllslut @itsseohannbin @weareapackofstrays @kangnina @3rachasdomesticbanana @palindrome969 @xxkissesforchanniexx @chuuchuu1224 @fun-fanfics @wolfennracha @rhonnie23 @jisunglyricist @strayywayy @rixenluv sorry if you’ve been tagged again, I am having issues to tagging again.

[lovdlydaz]

DEVIL BY THE WINDOW.

incubus!soobin x black!afab!reader

“he’s whispering ‘give up, don’t you put up a fight.’ said the devil by the window.”

warnings: talks of religious, demon activity, hardcore smut, desperate reader, pet names, spitting, p in v, unprotected but reader can’t get pregnant cuz demon, oral (f receiving), dirty talk, choking kink, begging, dacryphilia, creampie, just enjoy

a/n: here is pt. 1, and this is pt. 2. pt. 3 will be right after this one, so please enjoy! love you guys ♡

you woke up with a start, it was the middle of the night and you could only feel throbbing all throughout your body. it was so hot, it was a constant pain that made your head spin and your legs twitch. you couldn’t exactly pinpoint the exact location of the pain, but you just know it was so damn hot in the room that it felt like you were in a desert.

you get up from the bed and go to the bathroom, pulling down your panties and a large string of vaginal discharge/cum is pulled from your pussy. you gasp softly, putting a finger there and letting out a desperate moan as you accidentally grazed your clit. you were so overstimulated, you never remembered having a wet dream nor touching yourself before you went to sleep. but your pussy was red hot, and it confused the living shit out of you.

then came the hardcore throbbing that was prevalent to come whenever you felt like this. you whined to yourself as your hands flew to your clit, trying to soothe the flaming hot feeling between your legs. you rubbed at a fast pace since you had work in the morning, and you weren’t trying to be late to the work that gave you more money than any job you had ever did. and you enjoyed the job since you made many friends there and ever are friendly with your boss.

so, your hands went extremely fast, and you could feel an orgasm come on, but after 10 minutes of straight fast rubbing it never came. you were so confused, but frustrated. you needed to cum, you were so desperate that you grabbed a vibrator from your drawer, turning it on the highest level and pressing it against your clit. you keened from the sudden and immense amount of pleasure, it was stimulating you just right but that knot would just get tighter and tighter. you wanted to cry, what the fuck was happening to your body?

you were on your bed for almost an hour, pressing the toy against yourself and crying from pure frustration. you let out pathetic sobs and moans, tears rolling down your face because you couldn’t cum. you didn’t understand what was happening, you were so sick of this but you knew the throbbing wouldn’t go away until you came.

that was until you heard it—another three raps at the window. you were in a daze but you quickly rolled some underwear on, going to your window and opening it. you had just gotten it fixed so you didn’t need it to be broken again. then your eyes fell onto him—the demon.

at least… you thought it was your demon.

but instead, you were greeted by a 6’1 incubus with darker red skin, shorter horns but bigger wings and a much longer and thicker tail. you were scared, you didn’t know who this demon was because it definitely was not yeonjun. you cowered on the bed, accidentally rubbing your clit just right through your lace panties and causing you to let out an involuntary noise.

the incubus smirked down at you, not moving but closing the window behind him. “calm down honey, i’m not gonna hurt you,” he softly spoke to you, making you ease up just a little since his tone was kind enough to convince you. you uncovered yourself, and you were in a tank top and underwear. your boobs were close to flopping out of the tank top, and the incubus took very good notice of this. however, he stayed in his spot, trying to get you fully relaxed before he made a move.

“so, yeonjun-ah really put that spell on you huh?” he asked, making you look at him confused. then he realized that you didn’t know, and he just chuckled. “okay so, you know the incubus you met yesterday? that was yeonjun, and he sort of did this thing where he… kinda put a spell on you so that you couldn’t cum from anyone else—even yourself. so if you woke up with any throbbing down there and haven’t been able to cum, blame him.” he spoke with such a causal tone, but you were flabbergasted. but one question also riddled the back of your mind that you had to voice.

“if… i-if he put this… spell on me and… i can’t please myself… then how will i be able to get off?” you asked with a shaky tone, making soobin step forward just a little as to not make you cower away. “well… that’s what i was about to explain. since yeonnie wanted to ‘claim you’, he put a spell on you that won’t be able to be stopped until he comes back and gets you off himself. and us incubi have a certain time period that we can be on earth, his is 5 days and mine is 3 days and 2 hours,” he smiled, only throwing you off more. “so, he has to wait 5 days until he can come back onto earth, and even at that it has to be in the dead of night, like i am right now. so, all of his friends that he trusts more than anything—aka me and 3 others— are going to take care of you until he is able to get you off himself. got all that princess?”

you were dazed the whole time he was talking, only feeling the throbbing in your panties from how deep his voice sounded. yeonjun’s voice was deep, but it had a velvety sweetness to it that didn’t make you react how you were with soobin. soobin’s voice was deep yet soft, and tickles your eardrums exactly how you didn’t want them to be tickled right now. because all you could do was rub your legs together, feeling more frustrated tears roll down your face from the feeling.

the incubus took notice and appeared right in front of you, making you move back and hide yourself behind pillows. “w—woah! i don’t even know your name—yeonjun introduced himself to me before he even touched my bed!” you exclaimed, getting as far away from him as you could. the leader chuckled and looked down at you, getting on his knees and staring at your frightened form. “alright, if you insist princess.”

“my name is choi soobin, and i am over 100+ years old. i am an incubus and close friends with yeonjun. and apparently i’m the only one who knows how demon shit works, or else i wouldn’t be here right now if yeonjun surely knew. anything else you want to know?”soobin asked, tilting his head to the side as his dark red eyes stared deep into your e/c eyes. you were so riddled with so many different emotions, you didn’t know what to think right now.

you shyly shook your head, gulping down a glob of spit that was threatening to leave your mouth because of how needy you were right now. you wanted to feel the sweet pleasure of release, and he was talking way too much for you. you knew what you needed, and he needed to give it to you.

so, you looked up at him, big doe-y eyes glossed over with tears and lust. that made his mind turn, and he was more than fueled from the arousal you were emitting from your body. he licked his lips, getting a little closer to you and you relaxed a ton, putting the pillow down and openly spreading your legs. you didn’t know what came over you, why you were spreading your legs for a demon, an incubus of all demons at that. you weren’t a virgin, but you hadn’t had sex in a while. so this was a little scary, and you didn’t even know what you were getting yourself into.

soobin noticed this and placed a heavy hand on your thigh, sharp nails accidentally digging into the fatty meat of your inner legs and causing you to let out a sickeningly sweet moan. the demon’s reaction was to coo at you, scratching your thigh again and making you moan again. why were you so sensitive? what were these hellspawns doing to you? you really dug yourself deep with this one, but you couldn’t turn back now.

so, you gripped his arm, staring up at him with a quivering lip. “p—please… please stop teasing soobin,” you choked, clenching and unclenching around nothing. “it hurts so bad, please make me feel better,” you begged with a shivering tone, making soobin’s mind turn with so many things to do with you and to you.

meanwhile yeonjun was on the other side, thick cock in hand as he looked at the two of you. he was focusing on you mainly, and your voice was so pretty… he enjoyed hearing you be so submissive with his best friend, but he really was getting envious of soobin right now. he needed to hear you badly, but this would suffice for now.

the taller demon grabbed your hips and pinned them down to the bed, grabbing your panties and pulling them off. “your wish is my command, darling.” he purred in your ear, kissing your cheek and making your body heat up even more. you then felt your panties get ripped off your body, the noise causing you to gasp from shock. but your shock was quickly gone once you felt a thick finger run against your folds, forcing out a loud cry of pleasure to emit from you. you rolled your needy hips up into his, eyes rolling back from pure pleasure.

he noticed how sensitive you were and chuckled, looking down at you with devious eyes. “poor thing… want me to punish yeonjun once i get back to hell for making you suffer like this?” he cooed to you, a strong nod from you being all he needed to rub your clit softly. the pressure was enough to make you whimper desperately, rutting your hips against him like a wild animal. he giggled, rubbing it a little faster and sticking his long tongue out to circle around your hole.

your eyes rolled back, his tongue was all you needed to release yourself all over his mouth, moaning the loudest you ever had. he slurped up all your nectar, and you tasted so sweet. he licked his lips and pressed his tongue all over your folds, licking up all he could and causing you to go into overstimulation. but you genuinely could care less, because the throbbing wasn’t going away. you whined, it felt like you were a bitch in heat, and you technically were one.

soobin took his tongue off your pussy and tasted everything he could, smiling. “yeonjun is missing out…” he mumbled to himself, to which the demon on the other side clearly picked up, and only fisted himself harder. you were a mess, that orgasm took a lot out of you but you weren’t done. you whined like a little puppy, staring up at your owner begging for a treat. he stared back down at you and smirked, pulling back to grab his clothes and make them disappear into thin air. his hard cock throbbed with impatience, which only made yours beat right out of your core.

he stared you down, licking his lips more and more as he watched over your form. you were so pretty, so perfect and just a wonderful girl. he now knew why yeonjun was in love with you, you were stunning. “what is your limit?” he asked, holding his cock in his hand as he spoke. you had to think for a second, because you had dildos of all sizes and lengths, but there was one you always used that made you cum effortlessly. it was about 7.5 inches length and 6.7 inches wide. it went all the way to your cervix and gave you good orgasms, so you decided to go with that. “uhm… 7 inches? but i think i can take more…” you mumbled.

“how’s about 10?” he leered, softly stroking his cock, waiting for your shocked face. your jaw dropped and you just stared at him, the smirk on his face never leaving even as you thought about it. “i-i… i don’t kno—“ “never hurts to try, yeah?” he breathed out, grabbing your legs and pulling them towards his hips. he pushed your hips down completely, forcing them to stay on the bed as he lined up his length to your hole. “but first, i need to prep you hun. mind cumming on my fingers a few times princess?” he asked, not waiting for a response as he shoved two thick fingers inside your weeping cunt.

you gasped, then let out the most pornographic moan you ever had. it didn’t hurt at all, your wetness mixed with his spit was more than enough lube to make this as painless as possible. he also retracted his claws back, so he could rub into your g-spot without hurting you. your eyes rolled back as he abused your pleasure spot, moaning and gasping out into the air as another feeling of combustion was close to releasing.

soobin was getting fed plenty by your reactions and your pleasure, making his fatty cock throb between your legs from your noises. he didn’t understand why yeonjun would try to gatekeep a girl like you, it was mean, really. he was being such an asshole for this, he would get him back for this. he couldn’t think straight, and this normally didn’t happen to him. he was a demon of lust, but your pure unadulterated desire and innocence was making his head swirl.

he was making his fingers go faster inside you, curling and digging straight into the spot that made your back arch and your noises increase in volume. “s-soobin— soobin ‘m close—“ you gasped, only to feel him pull his fingers out so harshly. that alone almost made you cum, but you needed more pleasure. much more.

“no cumming yet princess, i take back what i said— you can’t cum on my fingers, only my dick,” he panted, using your slick to wet up his manhood. you watched in pure awe as the large red stick throbbed in his hand, feeling yourself throb even more just watching him. he was mesmerizing, how did all of these demons you met look so fucking hot? it was like everything you could ever want in a man physically, they were just beautiful.

soobin finished up his lubing and pushed his head against your hole, staring at you the whole time. your eyes were begging him, and so was your body. it was curling up into his cock, trying to get it deeper inside you. he chuckled and held your legs up, rubbing his head against your entrance before pushing his length inside, making you arch your back more and wiggle him in closer. your eyes look so blown out with lust, you looked so pretty.

once his full length was inside it had you panting, you had never felt so full before and it made you feel like such a whore. but, you loved this feeling, and he could tell how much you loved it. “never felt this full huh princess? doesn’t it feel good?” he cooed, a pathetic whine escaping your lips from the sweet pleasure coursing through your veins. you were drenching his cock, you wanted so much more and he would give you everything and more.

he started to move softly inside you, biting his lip at your tight heat. you whimpered loudly, that enough was to make you lose your mind. gasping and gripping at the sheets your eyes turned glossy and filled with dew. you couldn’t stop the noises from escaping you, genuinely and feverishly letting more and more noise out. you felt like he was sucking the soul out of you, genuinely and frankly. he was making you feel so good, and your orgasm was coming much faster than you expected.

he could feel you getting tighter around him, chuckling as he went a little faster inside you. you came right then and there, crying out in pleasure as he fucked you through your orgasm. your right boob had fallen out of your tank top, making soobin reach out to touch it and roll the nipple in between his fingers. you moaned again, you couldn’t stop moaning, this was all too much. you could feel the tears roll down your face yet again, but this time from pure pleasure, no frustration. you were getting what you wanted and you could feel your throbbing start to ease, and you couldn’t be happier.

he was making you feel so good, you wondered what the fuck you were missing out on with sex. having him inside you made you delirious with lust, he was rubbing your g-spot effortlessly, made you writhe and keen with pleasure, everything was so much for you. he put a hand to your cheek and smiled softly, never stopping his hips. “you can take it, can’t you pretty baby? you’re doing so well for me, and i’m so close love… can you give me one more?” he coaxed you through this, helping you keep yourself steady as he pounded deep inside your weeping cunt.

yeonjun had came about 2 times already, funny little thing about the spell was that also your pleasure was also his pleasure. whatever pleasure you felt, he felt it but 10x worse. so he had used his human-like toy to please himself once his hand didn’t do much for him. he groaned and whimpered as the toy slid around his cock, imagining it was your pussy instead of some stupid toy. he felt really fucking good however, since you were feeling even better.

soobin growled as he gave it to you harder, making the wind knock out of you but you didn’t want him to stop. a thick hand wrapped around your throat, causing air to leave your lungs even more. you loved it, the circulation cutting off in your brain was making you numb, feeling your orgasm come faster and tighter. you choked out moans, tears rolling down your face and only fueling him more.

“ah—agh— s-soo— choi,” you breathed out, hearing his last name fall from your lips made gears turn in his brain, and in just a few minutes he was cumming deep inside you. his hand let go of your throat and held onto your thighs, biting into them as he shoved himself as deep a he could into you. you moaned loudly as you came around him yet again, twitching and spasming wildly due to the overwhelming pleasure. it was too much for you, way too much but now the feeling stopped.

yeonjun came deep inside the toy with a loud whiny moan, eyes rolling back in pleasure. that was the hardest he had came ever, it was a lot for him. he was pooped, pulling his softening cock out of the toy and flopping onto the bed, sighing heavily. soobin pulled out of you and pressed his hand against his chest, making his clothes reappear. though honestly he only had one a grey shirt and joggers. your clothes however, he just left you there in only your tank top. your panties were ripped on the floor and, while he could’ve just mended them back together with magic, the sight of you all fucked out and panting was more than enough for him.

you panted softly, looking up at soobin as he started to climb out of the window. you reached a hand out and tried to grab him, making him smile and go back to you. he held your hand and stared down at you, his skin was red hot as well. “princess, you know i have to go right? i’m a demon from the depths of hell, i can’t stay here for long,” he whispered to you, making you whine. he sighed and pressed a soft kiss to your forehead, making it form a small mark that was barely noticeable but also looked like a beautiful birth mark.

“there, now you’ll keep a piece of me on you forever. now goodbye y/n, see you in 3 days baby.” he smiled, letting go of your hand and waving, going to the window and disappearing into thin air.

you watched him leave and sighed, closing your eyes and falling straight asleep.

back in hell soobin came in through the door, yeonjun on the couch playing on his phone. “so… did you enjoy the show?” he asked, yeonjun staring up at him before smiling. “yes i did, thanks a lot soobin,” he spoke, giving the taller a hug and giggling softly. “also… hope you don’t mind, but i might’ve marked her a little…” he mumbled, making yeonjun pull away from him and stare up at him.

“WHAT?!”

© gg 2023. dividers were made by me. do not steal, use, or repost my work without my consent. reblogging/interaction is welcomed.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

So long, farewell; until we meet again.

This is the concluding story to the corresponding blog event, A Fellow in Need is a Friend Indeed. ahyduaysovfva SORRY IF THIS IS SHORT, I wanted to wrap it up quickly so I can scream more about Halloween--

Please note, I was not able to respond to all interaction requests, as many were sent after the submission period, disregarded rules, or simply did not catch my interest 💦 Apologies!

Be Honest with Me.

Strange posters had started to crop up all over NRC. Few at first, but they became more numerous over the week, culminating in clusters of them stamped in the cafeteria and rows lining every hallway.

They were colorful and glittery, proclaiming of a great, once-in-a-lifetime show coming to campus. The stars, a traveling fox and cat duo. Immediately, the culprits were clear.

“You used the library printers for THIS?!” Raven demanded of them, thrusting a flyer she had torn down in Fellow’s face.

“It was free!”

“Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should!” She slapped a hand over the words plastered on the page. “kume c the greatist sho? You can’t make these claims—they haven’t been reviewed and approved by the proper authorities! And there's spelling errors all over!"

“Oh, calm down!” He poked her square in the forehead. “See, this is why you should come to our show. It’ll really teach ya how to live a little, laugh a little.”

"Wh-What...!!" Raven collected herself, then shot Fellow her fiercest glare. “Do you even have a venue or a stage crew secured for your performance…? How do you intend on putting on a show when there's been no planning put into this event?"

He held up a finger, shushing her. "You ever heard of a diversion, kid? You don’t need fancy stuff to have fun.”

"What is that supposed to mean?"

His grim was a wolfish invitation. "Come on to the theater and you'll see for yourself."

... I came.

Raven scanned the courtyard. Several students had gathered, spanning all seven dormitories. A few had posters in hand, and some of the Ignihyde boys had even come prepared with light sticks.

No stage was set, no decorations set up.

No fanfare at all.

I wonder what this grand show is going to be.

Raven folded her arms and leaned back against the trunk of an apple tree. Peering through the leaves, she could make out the final blips of sunlight. Golden, touched with pinks, oranges, and reds.

5 minutes.

10 minutes.

20.

40.

An hour and a half.

Mob students fidgeted, double checking the time on their phones, on the flyers. The sunset bobbed, then drowned in darkness. Warm colors bled into black, the stars popping into view.

Raven frowned.

No show.

Had Fellow written the time down incorrectly? Was he running late, perhaps too caught up in his own preparations? Did something happen to postpone...

“You ever heard of a diversion, kid?“

A diversion. An activity that keeps the mind from being too serious. Recreation, pastime. Neither of those definitions.

A distraction. Divert attention to one thing. and you won’t be paying attention to another.

Raven's thoughts skidded to a halt.

Wait a minute.

"If we're all here..." she said out loud, "then who's back at the dorms watching our things?"

All heads in the courtyard snapped to her. Realization and horror were etched into the students' expressions. They tore off for the Hall of Mirrors, pushing and shoving each other to be first through the doors.

Raven raced for her own abode.

The highest room in the tallest tower. Up a long flight of stairs, two steps at a time. Behind the ancient wooden door, in that dusty attic was--

She barreled inside, panting heavily. Her lungs burned, as if lit on fire. Left, right--her eyes darted around the room, searching for signs of disruption.

Paper, ink smears books puled high. The usual clutter, nothing missing from its place.

But the windows were open, and a brisk breeze weaving itself through her curtains, setting them fluttering. She rushed over, leaning out and staring down. The branches of a nearby tree opened to the window, and the angle at which the roof was slanted would allow for an easy slide if one was daring enough to try.

Did he and Gidel-san really just…?!

Raven pinched the bridge of her nose.

Why the distraction if they haven’t taken anything while everyone was away?

She paced her room, reexamined everything. Counted the books, checked the corner where Fellow and Gidel had holed up.

Nothing.

Raven shuffled to her writing desk, a finger taped to her chin.

What happened here…?

Then she saw it.

A book, sticking out from under her chair.

Raven crouched down and retrieved it. The cover, dented. The story, about a boy who never wanted to grow up.

Second star to the right and straight on till morning…

What she had been reading the day she had bumped into the two.

Raven flipped through the novel, stopping on a page flagged by a neon sticky note. Scrawled in messy handwriting was a short message.

Thanks for having us, kid.

Back on the road.

Talk soon, stay safe.

- Fellow

(What she assumed was Gidel’s signature followed, though it resembled scribbles more than letters.)

Raven held the note to her chest. Her ribcage constricted, squeezing her heart. They’re out there. Back on the run from their pursuers.

The last piece of the puzzle clicked into place. Mental gates swung open, as if finally unlocked by a skeleton key.

The diversion. It was to keep people anyone from knowing where and when they’d gone. No witnesses, no information to be leaked, no one put in danger if the wrong crowd comes along sniffing for them.

Raven chuckled, laying her arms on her windowsill as she looked out at the campus. The moon was high up, casting a silvery veil over the shadows that slithered in the dark. Almost protective, in a way.

“… Well, what do you know? I guess he still has it in him to be honest every once in a while.”

[youngbounty]

I don’t think it should be a hot take when I say that Jonathan Kent should never have aged up. This isn’t about who is shipping whom, because I’d be genuinely surprised if even JonJay fans disagreed with me on this.

Let’s actually consider this: if Jon had not been aged up, how would any of his storylines and adventures have changed overall? Sure, yes, there would be a few tweaks, but would Jon’s age have prevented the events of The Legion of Super Heroes, Superman Son of Kal El, Dark Crisis and storylines afterwards. I dare even say it would have made those storylines and Jon’s character so much better.

Let’s go on this rabbit trail here for a second. Even if you liked Son of Kal El and maybe even shipped JonJay. If Jon had never aged up, stayed on Earth age 10, maybe grew to be 11 and met Jay at that point in time, it can go two ways: either Jay would be written the same age as Jon (11 years old) or Jay would still be 18ish and Jon would just have a one-sided crush on an older guy. Either way, the idea would have been more interesting in exploring Jon’s sexuality at a time when he’s just starting puberty. Because he’s young, it would have given room for Jon to grow and develop. Even the Teen Titans under Damian explored his sexuality despite his crush being terrible imo. First love’s are likely to work better if the character is still a child or minor.

The problem comes down to Jon aging up to seven years in a few days. His character is now a shell of what he once was. Jon was already strong and developing. He was becoming his own little person separate from Superman. Hell, if we’re going to talk about making Jon diverse, he was already diverse and dealing with discrimination for being a mixed Kryptonian and human. He was hunted down by a Kryptonian clone of his dad to eliminate any “human impurities.” He was tricked and betrayed by his own hometown, who used alien cow’s milk to “protect him” from needing to be Superboy and as a result had hindered his powers from activating. Evil Tim’s Batman hunted him down to kill him because his human and Kryptonian genetics clashed hard enough for Jon to create a solar flare that was capable of destroying a part of the world. These are issues Jon deals with that are the equivalent of what children of mixed races go through such as health conditions, their own being skeptical of them because of the other half of their race from both sides and often being belittled for being a “half-breed.” Until Jon was aged up, he had to be checked by Batman himself because the Fortress of Solitude and regular human doctors weren’t capable of checking a half Kryptonian and Human child. Then, Jon got aged up and his health concerns and the discrimination conflicts from his own were thrown right out the window.

My point is that Jon’s character arc and conflicts were thrown out the window the moment he aged up. Sure, there are some good comics with Jon here and there like Tom King’s Super Sons’ Adventures in Babysitting, but for the most part, Jon’s character has been reduced to a clone of Superman. Whatever happened to Jon’s personality that came from his mother like his stubbornness, tamper and sassiness? Whatever happened to that Jon that led a bunch of demon dogs he rescued to save his parents? Whatever happened to the boy that went Emo over accidentally frying his pet cat to ashes?

I guess Jonathan Kent truly died in that volcano when he was sucked into a wormhole.

[dfortrafalgar]

I'm Losing You

Having a family isn't always as easy as fairy tales make it seem.

Warnings: i'm going to say it on every chapter. READ THE WARNINGS ON CHAPTER 1!!!!!

Also, I am officially opening up a tag list for readers who are interested in updates. If you are interested, either respond to a chapter, DM me, or send an ask and I will add you to the list.

I'm eventually going to make a masterlist for this fic, but that won't be until it's completely finished.

Taglist: @phsycochan

Chapter 4

[Prev] [Next]

Saturday morning.

Law was woken up at 3:30 AM from his hospital pager calling him in as quickly as possible for an active aortic aneurysm.  You had woken up from how quickly he jumped out of bed, but fell back asleep just as rapidly, getting to sleep in as you had weekends off.  When you did wake up, however, you were nervous.

You were tracking.  

You were supposed to get your period 10 days ago.

Bepo didn’t seem to need to go out that urgently, so you quickly fed him before retreating to the bathroom, digging through the medicine drawers for your abundance of at-home pregnancy tests that Law insisted on keeping.  Your hands were shaking as you unboxed the familiar white stick before performing the test.

You washed your hands and waited for the test to come back.

You wanted to leave and make yourself breakfast, anything to distract you from the turmoil of waiting, but your feet simply refused to move from their spot.  The only sound in your head was the pounding of your own heart, the only reminder that you were even still alive.

One minute passed.

Then two minutes.

Then three.

Was the world still turning?  Were you still breathing?

You blinked once.  Then twice.

You reached a shaky hand forward and picked up the test, gazing at the result window.

—

Law remained on call, but was able to return home after the aneurysm operation.  He opened the door to see you standing there, a bright smile on your face.  He had barely taken off his jacket when you thrust a white stick in his face.

His stomach dropped.

“Law…” you whispered, your face growing more and more excited.

“It’s…” he uttered back, golden eyes wide with exasperation.

Two thin red lines displayed in the result window.

You barely had time to register his reaction when Law scooped you off of your feet, spinning you in his arms.  You squealed at the sensation, gripping his shoulders tightly as Bepo sprung to his feet and barked at the display.  You were placed back down, Law stabilizing you by your arms.  His cheeks were flushed, his eyes blown wide.

“It’s actually… is it actually…?” he asked, winded.  Even he could barely believe his eyes.

“It’s positive, Law…” you whispered back, your own disbelief was palpable, but your joy was radiating from your body in waves.  You flung your arms around his neck, laughing into his shoulder.  Law held you around your hips, the smile on his face comparable to his smiles from your wedding night.

It was positive.

It was positive.

“Law… what do we do now?” you asked, still gripping the test.  You couldn’t tear your eyes away from the two thin red lines on the display, as if you were still coming to terms with reality.  You were pregnant.

“I… I honestly don’t know…” he responded, equally dumbstruck.  

You both had sex around three times within the past two weeks, so it definitely happened some time then.  Regardless, you beamed.  “I just… can’t believe it.  Almost eight months…”

Law pulled you toward the couch in your shared living area, sitting you down next to him and holding you close.  There were so many words he wanted to say, so many expressions of sheer delight and excitement at the sudden success of your shared efforts, but all he managed to say was, “I’m gonna be a dad…”

You laughed, both out of nerves and elation as you added, “I’m gonna be a mom…”

The two of you stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before bursting into a shared fit of giggles.  Bepo hopped up onto the couch next to you, shoving his head into your shoulder and forcing you to turn your attention to him to pet and kiss his head.

“Bepo, you’re gonna be a big brother!” you cheered.  The dog’s pink tongue was hanging out of his muzzle, like he was smiling just as bright as you and Law were.

Law wanted to shout it from the rooftops.  He wanted the entire universe to know.  But for your sake, and for the sake of Bepo’s sensitive ears, he kept his words contained within the walls of your apartment.

“We did it…”

[sunshine-theseus]

Lego House | Aggie Beever-Jones x Reader

Words: 3.8k Summary: 2 years together basically means forever, no matter what happens. inspired by Ed Sheeran’s ‘Lego House’ Warnings: injury, you guys know I don’t stick to actual events so, slightly suggestive maybe? this is for me but also kinda for @perfectpersuasion because they seemed really excited about it

“Headphones?”

“Check.”

“Chargers?”

“Check.”

“Passport?”

“Double check.”

“Then why am I 100% sure it’s still in your top draw?” I dramatically reach across to my bag to prove that my passport is in fact packed safely in the secret pocket that I designated purely to the piece of identification.

But it’s empty, and I have to bashfully turn back to Aggie to admit it isn’t where it’s supposed to be. She only gives me a pointed look and I’m standing up and dragging my feet behind me to grab the passport from my bedside table draw.

“I swear I put it in there Ags. Last night after training.”

“Well it’s a good thing we’re doing the checklist. It happens every time, you forget something.” Once I slide the small book into my bag I drop back down onto our couch, leaning into my girlfriend. She wraps her arms around me, and I bury my head in her neck, feeling the regretful late-night yesterday setting in.

“Come on we’ve got to be boarding the bus in an hour and who knows how long it’ll take us to get there.”

~~~~~

Naturally Aggie and I sit next to each other on the bus and/or the plane when the team travels for matches. We usually take a spot toward the back, or wherever is least populated or energetic, so that we can just be there together. Our hands are almost always interlocked and I’m usually leaning on her shoulder as we talk about our play or whatever interesting things going on.

“I’m nervous.” I whisper in her ear as we begin the decent into Gothenburg.

“Everyone underestimates us because we’re young, so when you get on that pitch, either starting or as a sub, you show them you belong at Chelsea, and that we belong in the Champions League. Okay?” When she looks at me to confirm my answer I lean forward, pressing a small kiss to her lips.

A flash goes off in the corner of my eye and I turn to find Zecira holding the media crew camera.

“The fans are going to love that.” Smiling a toothy grin, she turns to someone else, leaving us be.

-

The dark December sky encourages the cold and the light dusting of snow that begins to cover the tarmac. I wrap an arm around Aggie’s as we wheel our bags into the airport, trying not to fall face first on the slippery surface.

The warmth inside is welcomed as we are guided past the large crowds and onto the bus. Once again, I take my spot beside Aggie, behind Jessie and Niamh who were talking about Jessie’s new favourite tea. A calmness settles over everyone as Emma announces who’s rooming with who, which we all basically already know. 9 times out of 10 it’s the person currently sitting next to us.

Opening the door to our room brings great relief as I flop onto the bed closest to the window. Despite the two queen sized beds on either side of the room, it was inevitable that I’d end up curled up in my girlfriend’s arms as we huddle under the blankets, the other bed left untouched. This also usually meant that our room was the one to come to for activities, an extra bed meaning more space.

Aggie stands staring out the window, the city spanning across the horizon as the sun begins the set, the blue barely beginning to fade into purples and pinks. Old buildings and the river that runs through the architecture draw her eye as I stand behind her, taking in the way her body rises as she breathes, and the twitch in her lips as she spots something she finds beautiful, a certain spark in her eye. One that’s always there when she looks at me, hard to ignore.

“Did you bring your camera?” I ask as I slot in beside her. A hum in answer suffices as we take in the moment.

“We’re really here. Together.” I press kisses to her shoulder.

“Stamford Bridge is one thing but, we’re playing in the fucking Champions League. We’re not sat on the bench forever, we actually get minutes, not matter how little.”

“And we’re going to fucking win tomorrow’s match. Consider it an extra anniversary present.” Aggie chuckles and I feel the butterflies that burst to life in my stomach every time I look at her.

My mind drifts to the real present that sits carefully in a compartment of my bag for our anniversary tomorrow. My mum insisted it was perfect for Aggie and despite my hesitancy, I had to agree.

“We should head down for dinner.” Aggie leans down to kiss me before we leave.

~~~~~

Emma gave us a few hours to explore the city in the morning before we had to begin training and warming up for tonight's match. Jessie, Niamh and Zecira join us in the foyer, and we start our journey through the Swedish city, Zecira eager to introduce us to her country's traditions.

Not long into the walk, we stumble upon a small café on a terrace. We slide into a table and order our respective drinks, Aggie additionally getting a kardemummabröd, cardamom bread, for us to share. Niamh refuses to be apart of the picture that I take of the group at the table, but I manage to convince her to smile for the camera as we head back down onto the street.

The group splits into 2 after that. Aggie and I leave to seek out some flowers and a quiet spot to spend time together for our anniversary, while the others head back to the hotel, desperate to stay warm, although Jessie doesn’t seem to mind the cold winds.

“Look! They have red carnations!” Aggie is the one to point out the flower stand, full of red and green, that holds bunches of my favourite flower.

When the shop owner sees our linked hands, she smiles, the corner of her eyes wrinkling as they light up.

“For free.” She pushes Aggie’s hand away as she tries to pay for the red carnations.

“Love is enough payment.” I slip some money onto the bench as we leave, heading to an empty but rather beautiful park across the road.

“Happy anniversary.” I press a kiss to her cheek as I hand her the small bag. Inquisitively, she opens it and the box that sits on the bottom, revealing the gift.

“It’s a family ring. Handed down through a bunch of generations. The oldest kid gets it to give to their partner, the one they and the family think is the one. The person they’ll spend the rest of their life with, who makes them the best them.” I explain the origins as I take the ring from the box and slip it onto her hand. The gold band holds a small, encrusted peridot gem and fits perfectly on Aggie’s hand.

“Thank you. I love it.” Her voice is soft and watery, and her cheeks flame red when she looks at me. I can only imagine the love that adorns my face as I look at her. I’m about to kiss her when she has a moment of realisation.

“I left your gift in the fucking room.” The sweet moment is broken as she throws her head back and groans, and I can’t help but let out a hearty laugh.

“It’s okay.” I place a hand on top of the one she has on my thigh.

“Nooo we won’t have time when we get back, you’ll have to wait until tonight and that’s unfair.”

“I don’t even expect gifts Ags, just you and me. Plus, you got me my flowers. My favourite flowers from my favourite person. Sounds pretty good to me.”

“I’m your favourite person yeah?”

“Mmhm.” Her finger links through the thin gold chain that hangs around my neck.

“Show me then.” Her voice is raspy and deep as she pulls me forward by the necklace until our lips meet. It’s a hot and heavy kiss considering where we are, but I reciprocate it none-the-less.

I go to pull away, but she pulls me back in and I end up on her lap as we make out on the park bench. Her hands grip my thighs and mine hold the back of her head… Until we remember we’re on a park bench.

“That was kinda hot. Definitely a good make up present.” I smile down at her as our foreheads rest against each other.

“Emma’s going to kill us if we don’t head back soon…” Aggie is adamant that we begin walking to the hotel so we’re not late, so we walk hand in hand through the cold, barely arriving in time.

-

Training and warm up went well. The schedule was easy to adapt to and we weren’t pushing excessively as to waste energy before the match.

In saying that, we were up 2-1 when I got subbed on in the 60th minute, replacing Lj who wasn’t feeling all too well at half time. I felt good and energised, ready to make my second UWCL appearance.

Sam and I were gelling well together as we often did, making passes and taking shots on goal, only to be blocked by the Hacken keeper. It was a hard game but we were winning.

Aggie gets subbed on in the 68th minute, along with Jessie. The ball rarely makes it back past us, Erin often making a run with the ball toward us. Eventually Aggie passes me the ball and I try to gage my surroundings. Sam is offside, passing back to Aggie would be a mistake, Jessie’s surrounded. Erin has a clear path and shot of the goal.

I begin to run, and right as the ball connects with my foot, flying toward Erin, a body knocks against mine and my knee buckles. Nothing feels real as I fall to the floor, a loud pop filling my ears as pain radiates through my knee. I let out a blood curdling scream, but it isn’t heard over the cheering of Chelsea fans as Erin hits the ball into the goal.

I toss around on the grass, holding my leg and slamming a hand repeatedly against the ground as I sob and wale, waiting for someone to notice. It’s Sophie who places a hand on my back and yells for the ref, who then yells for the medics.

Aggie drops down in front of me as we wait, and I try and reach for her hand. The task finds itself to be difficult as my own hand shakes and my vision is blurred by tears.

“It’s- it’s my ACL.” A loud sob slips from my lips despite my attempt to hold it back.

“You don’t kn-”

“I know it Ags. I know it is I swear.”

“Okay, okay. It’ll be okay. The medics are here to look at it okay?” I nod as their hands grasp my leg, asking whether certain movements hurt or not.

It’s when I see them wave for the orange stretcher that things feel real again. Like everything was happening in slow motion until that moment. And I begin to cry again, my head now resting in Aggie’s lap as she runs a hand through my hair.

Every movement hurts as they transfer me from the ground to the stretcher, and I try not to scream out. A couple of the girls walk alongside me until the sideline, where Aggie grabs my hand and kisses me.

“I’ll come see you as soon as I can, okay?” I nod and watch as she runs back onto the pitch, her head turning every few steps to look at me, worry set in her eyes.

Turns out ‘as soon as I can’ would be much later. The medics had decided that instead of waiting until tomorrow or until we were back in England for a scan, it’d be best to go straight to the hospital. So we did.

Despite the usual wait to receive scan results, I’m sent back to the hall to wait for them. While waiting for the radiographer to call my name, Emma messages me asking if I wanted the team there. I decline the offer, knowing the girls would be exhausted after the last game of 2023 and would just want to sleep.

That doesn’t stop Aggie showing up.

I can hear the pounding of shoes hitting the linoleum ground, someone clearly running, but I don’t give it much thought as I scroll mindless on my phone. When she crouches in front of me, hands on my thigh to keep herself balanced, I have to try not to show how relieved I am. I knew what the results would be but hearing it makes it all the more real and I needed my girlfriend to hold my hand.

“Did we win?” a soft chuckle fills the air, and she nods as I put my phone in my pocket.

“3-1, because of your pass to Erin.”

“Oh, that’s good.” I’m aware of the glum look on my face as Aggie sits on the ground in front of me, allowing me to braid her hair repeatedly as we talk, waiting for the results.

“Ms L/n?” Aggie is quick to stand and turn to face the doctor while I struggle with the crutches.

“We know you already know what’s wrong but, to confirm, you’ve ruptured your anterior cruciate ligament in your right knee. You’ll be referred to a doctor and surgeon in England so you can arrange the surgery as soon as possible once you get home. I’m terribly sorry.” she leaves us with a woeful smile and the only thing I have to stop me from spiralling is Aggie’s hand on my shoulder.

“You’ll get through this. We will get through this. I’ll be there every step of the way. So will the girls. And if you fall down, I’ll pick you back up.” She kisses me on the forehead, and we begin the walk out to the parking lot, waiting for someone to pick us up.

-

Most people are asleep or relaxing in their rooms or the meal room by the time we get back to the hotel. Emma gives me a hug but doesn’t encourage us to stay or talk to anyone, knowing I’ll want to be alone with Aggie for a while.

“Getting on the plane tomorrow is going to be a challenge.” I try to laugh off the thought of all the normal activities that won’t be easy anymore as I shift onto my side of the bed.

“I’ll carry you, bridal style.” With that, Aggie hands me a gift, the gift she forgot on our date earlier in the day.

The box is rather heavy, and when I take off the lid, I find a photo album. It’s hard not to smile at the photo of us kissing that’s stuck to the cover.

“A page for every day we’ve spent together. For every day I’ve loved you.” I flick through the pages, reading some of the notes around the photos.

“This is why you take a photo of us every day?”

“I also just love capturing your beauty.” I pull her close to me and kiss her.

“I love you so much.”

“Not as much as I love you.”

~~~~~

I ended up having my surgery on Christmas day. Aggie and my family had planned on having a big day together, opening presents and having a feed, and I felt guilty taking the joy away. There wasn’t really any other choice. Aggie held me the night before as I cried. Our bed felt like the only safe place, even in our apartment, so that’s usually where I stayed. The increase in rain felt very fitting for how I’d been feeling.

Once everyone started coming back from the Christmas break, our place became more lively. I still used a singular crutch just in case, but for the most part I could put solid weight on my leg again, which meant I was able to do more activities with the team. We would hold game nights and/or movie nights once a week and occasionally I’d cook a Sunday roast.

Eventually Aggie began to take me to training. I wasn’t able to do anything, but I enjoyed watching the girls and just being in the environment again. It also made me happy watching Aggie play, it was when she looked the most carefree, despite others claiming that was when she was with me.

Aggie hadn’t left my side. Helping me shower and do the exercises for my knee. She always made sure I was entertained and asked if I needed help. Most of our spare time together was spent with me wrapped in her arms, watching a shitty tv show or talking.

“What did the doc say?”

“The ligament is looking good. They still think I’m on track for getting back in the gym in May, test out that anti-gravity treadmill.”

“And you got the team physio check up tomorrow yeah?” I hum as I adjust myself in her arms, head slotting into the crook of her neck.

I was having weekly check-ups with the Chelsea medical team and my own physio, which made it rather nerve wracking, wondering if one would feel the same as the other. If we weren’t all on the same page, my recovery time could be pushed further back. The team physio check up was the last one to confirm that I’d be allowed to start training and building stamina back up next month.

-

When I arrived at Cobham in the training kit, I felt really good. Some of the girls who pulled up at the same time as us were screaming across the car park and wishing me luck in my first session back.

I knew I’d be stuck in the gym for at least 2 months before I was allowed back on the pitch. Even then it’d be another couple of months before I was properly training with the team again, but this was the first step, and nothing could take that joy from me.

The girls started their mornings off in the gym, which meant they were cheering me on and helping me as the trainers gave me exercises to do. Aggie spends most of the hour doing the exercises alongside me, only leaving to complete something mandatory or to get us more water.

“You don’t have to Ags. You should focus on your training.”

“I promised I’d be here every step of the way. I’ll do it all for you.” She locks the leg extension and gives me a hand to help me up.

“Now onto the anti-gravity machine. First time huh?” she gently bumps me with her shoulder as I get ready to step into the chamber before Lily, my designated trainer, enables the ‘anti-gravity.’

“Oh this feels weird.” The way my body lifts with every step eases the pressure on my knee as I start to get used to it.

“Look at you! This is so cool.” Aggie doesn’t stop smiling as she watches me, some of the other girls occasionally making their way over to watch.

-

As predicted, 2 months later I begin training on the pitch. It felt lonely, watching the girls and being so close to joining them, yet so far. But I knew I was nearly there. Lily helped me with building up speed and getting used to the feel of the boots and grass again. Then came shooting practice; standing, getting passed a ball, and shooting. Eventually we added the training mannequins and Lily played goalkeeper as I manoeuvre around the pitch and obstacles.

Aggie likes to join us at lunch or sometimes gets excused by Emma to help me.

“Aggiiiie. I’m supposed to have the ball you’re supposed to just block me.”

“You gotta fight for the ball or take it off someone at some point.” Her cheeks are that beautiful pink as she grins at me.

“I hate you.” I puff out as I try to catch my breath.

“I’m wounded.” A hand falls to her heart before she approaches me, the ball still at her feet, and she leans in for a kiss.

“Nuh uh you’re being mean.”

“No I am not! Please one kiss.”

“Fine.” As she closes her eyes again and leans in, I swipe the ball from underneath her and start to run to the goal.

“What the fuck!?”

“Get better babe!” I take a shot around Lily, although not very hard considering her lack of goalkeeper training, and watch as it slots into the back of the net.

-

“73 minutes in and number 10 Lauren James is being subbed off! Who for? It’s Y/n L/n making her first appearance of the 24/25 season after rupturing her ACL in the Champion’s League in December last year. Her first game in 326 days at a sold-out Stamford Bridge! And who else is there to walk with her onto the pitch, if not her girlfriend and one of Chelsea’s star strikers, Aggie Beever Jones. Today is a great day for it.”

I try not to cry as Aggie takes my hand, making my way to my position. The cheer from the crowd as I jog on is deafening and I clap back at them before the ref blows the whistle.

Not long into play, Aggie makes a run forward, and I find a clear space between players near the goal and call for the ball. She kicks it and it soars through the air, making contact with my head as I jump. The net ripples as it skims passed the Arsenal keeper, and I’m making a run for Aggie to celebrate.

“First game back and you scored! Let’s fucking go!” she grabs me by my face and pulls me in. The kiss is unexpected but welcome in celebration.

We win 4-0, and Aggie and I find ourselves tangled up in our sheets, tracing patterns on each other’s bare skin as we whisper messages of love and adoration for the other.

“I’d do anything for you.”

“You did everything for me.”

Y/N_L/N

Y/N_L/N: this is a thank you letter to the one who’s stood by me for 3 years. who’s loved and cared for me when I didn’t think anyone would. a year ago today I ruptured my ACL, on our anniversary, and in the year since then we’ve only grown stronger, loved each other harder, fallen deeper. i'd do it all for you, like you did for me

---------

Beth and Viv’s new doco on their ACL journey really helped me with writing this. Obviously not everyone’s journey is the same so I tried to make it as different as I could with ruining it all together. I hope they’re proud of the doc because it’s really going to help people, and hopefully encourage more funding in researching the ACL injuries in women’s football and help with creating boots designed for women, so it lowers the risk of injuries like ACLs.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I'm Late, I know

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Feb 2024 Wk 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

The Sign (Sat YT) ep 12fin - we waiting 2 weeks I guess? Bah.

Pit Babe (Fri iQIYI) ep 13fin - I wasn't impressed by the last ep at all. Trash watch happened here.

My final thoughts:

Based on alittlebixth's omegaverse novel #พิษเบ๊บ’ set in the world of car racing omegaverse. Thailand brought us the world's first omegaverse BL but then failed to lean into the courage of its a/b/o convictions by not emphasizing the difference between our world & theirs, adding & subtracting characters & allegiances + a weak ending. With earnest performances, enthusiastic sex scenes, a fantastic side couple, and some delightful scenery chewing - the actors tried… poor things. It's just the story failed both them and their parent genre. Frankly? I just wanted it to be more outrageous and trashy, since I never expected it to be good. Instead, it was just… meh. 7/10

(Imma remind all the newbies that this is not unprecedented from me with hugely popular BL.)

Cooking Crush (Sun YT) ep 10 of 12 - I like it but there’s a high % of this show that doesn’t interest me. Anything to do with the side couple, or the friend group, or the cooking competition drives me into a comatose state of UGH. That means that in this episode, I paid attention to about 5 minutes worth. 

For Him (Thurs iQIYI) ep 11 of 12 - I'm ready for this to be done. I think they were trying to be this year's Big Dragon, but they just aren't good enough. I really didn’t need a third couple.

City of Stars (Fri iQIYI) ep 2 of 12 - I'm warming up to FueangKrom a bit. It’s cute. I am finding the pacing interesting. That pacing might be bad, but right now it’s simply different. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Love For Love's Sake (Korea Weds iQIYI) 5-6 of 8 - I still love this show a lot, but this 2 ep installment felt a little disjointed. I’m not sure if that’s the narrative structure or the subs. The captions are shockingly bad for a KBL and I don’t have enough Korean to make up for their clear failings. 

Although I Love You and You AKA Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - Oh the return of the manic pixie dream ex. This is all very high school drama for purportedly grown-up adults. But them both being jealous and then kissing was sweet.  

AntiReset (Taiwan Fri Viki/Gaga) ep 3 of 10 - They remain adorable and the sunshine robot is very sweet. But it is a little slow. 

Perfect Propose (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 3 of 6 - I prefer the episodes when we get more of them onscreen together. But this was fine. 

Happy Ending (Korea Tues YT) 3fin - The ending disappointed me (are you surprised?). What can I say, not Strongberry's best as far as I’m concerned. High school besties that many could be sweethearts. I don’t like an ending that’s left up in the air. 6/10

It's Done but...

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - will binge when I have any spare time. 2024 is crazy busy for me so far.

The Servant and the Young Master - from Vietnam, it's on YouTube. I will give it a try when I have a window of time.

Began Beginning (Myanmar YouTube) - A Burmese BL? @heretherebedork vouched for it, so I will give it a watch.

It's Airing But...

[NO INTERNATIONAL] Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube) ep 3 of 12 - yeah Japan put the smack down on our boys. Sadness. You can use a VPN if you like. Read all about it here.

Ossans Love Season 2 (Japan Gaga) - 5 years later, will anything have changed? This is Japan so… probubly not. I won't be watching this. I disliked Season one and actively hated the follow ups. No thank you.

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 14 eps - Dear Playboyy, it's not you, it’s me… I hate you. You’re about as deep (and as palatable) as a shot glass of cum. While I'm sure you’re someone’s kink, you're my weakest link. Goodbye. I DNFed this at ep 5. Frankly I'm impressed with myself for getting that far.

7 Days Before Valentine (Weds WeTV) 12 eps - Gave me Luminous Solution vibes. It finished, is it worth it?

Dead Friend Forever (Thai Sat iQIYI) 12 eps - finished, horror, supposed to be very philosophical, I think I'll give it a go.

Time the series (Tue Gaga/YT) 10 eps - dropped it at ep 4.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting Up

2/16 My Strawberry Film (Japan Gaga) - not quite sure how much BL this one is, because... Japan, but we shall see.

2/17 A Secretly Love (Thai WeTV) - Khonprot, a third-year head hazer of the engineering faculty, has a secret crush on Pluem, a tsundere fourth-year head hazer. Over the years, he's seen Pluem cycle through many girlfriends. Recently, after a public breakup, however, Khonprot thinks maybe a boy has a chance. Unless this is really good I probably won't I hate the WeTV interface...

Still Coming in Feb

2/24 Unknown (Taiwan Youku) 12 eps - Older brother tough guy criminal breadwinner looks after his sister and defacto adopted little brother. Little bother falls in love with him and is sent away after a stolen kiss. But when he comes back…

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

We gotta talk about LFLS this week. Look at Korea go!

Talking about a dead fish kiss, how meta! This will end up on one of my best of the year moments. I could not have been more gobsmacked.

Also something rarely directly addressed, particularly for same-sex firsts.

And then, a claiming trope, a personal favorite of mine.

Thank you Korea!

I just love them. (Pit Babe)

(Last week)

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Shadows Entwined: part 11

BatmanVsTmnt!Leonardo x sidekick!reader

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 / Part 12 Part 13 Bonus (18+)

A/N: I bet ya all have been waiting for what is about to happen, but it is still not over yeeeeeet💙😉

Warnings: Fighting, breaking of bones, if you have seen the movie you know what happens, just with a little extra.

The reader and the turtles are 19.

Baxter Stockman connected the last few wires, plucking the machine together, the Cloud Seeder making noises as it started to warm up. The scientist turned fly mutant then turned towards the people below him inside of Ace Chemicals’ main building, his arms up in the air as he gave the speech he had been preparing for several weeks now.

“Gentleman!”, he started. “Ninjas all around… murders… I’m pleased to announce that the venom slash ooze hybrid is complete. The Cloud Seeder is ready to launch”.

Shredder turned towards Ra’s al Ghul with his always angry eyes, narrowed in almost spite for the Demon’s Head.

“Then it is done, Ra’s”, Shredder said, his voice muffled by the metal mask that covered his mouth, his distaste for the leader of the League of Assassins thick as he spoke, bubbling over into pure hatred and anger. “The Foot has completed its obligations to you. I will expect no more delays in giving me the Lazarus Pit!”

Ra’s sighed, annoyed with Shredder’s continued demands of the pit, just like he had done at Arkham the other night as they sought out Joker. It was already becoming an old story. Ra’s suddenly understood very well why Kraang wasn’t there to help Shredder out with their plans. Maybe that was why Shredder came to Ra’s in the first place. Or maybe it was his age. Ra’s could really feel the 650 something age difference between the two.

“Over eager as always”, Ra’s sighed, side eyeing the ninja and the blades on his gloves. He then turned his attention back towards Baxter Stockman, giving him a firm command to “activate the machine”, making the fly turn towards him. “It’s time for the city to reward to its primal nature and destroy itself”.

Shredder knew very well what that meant. No Lazarus Pit before Ra’s knew the machine was working.

“Do as the man says”, Shredder growled at Stockman.

“Yes sir!”, Stockman said, turning back towards the Cloud Seeder with a small laugh. Though the fly had several times wondered about his status as a hostage, he could not deny the excitement of trying out his machine. It was fine being a hostage, as long as he got to try out his newest creation. His small wings carried him to the machine, turning it on with a small beep, lights and screens turning on with small sounds as the Cloud Seeder gained life.

“Ah”, Ra’s sighed in delight, watching as the machine woke up from its slumber. “And now nothing can stand in my way”.

But like so many villains often did, Ra’s spoke too soon, the Foot Ninjas and assassins turning to the wall in confusion, at the sound of rapidly approaching motors.

With no hesitation, Leo broke through the wall with the Turtle Van, sending bricks flying everywhere. You, still on the back of Raph’s motorcycle, came flying through the window alongside Batgirl, sending glass shards across the room. The Batmobile broke through the window just above the door, shatting the group of Foot Ninjas that stood in its way. Emerging from your vehicles, you and your Bat family stood alongside the turtles, staring down the big crowd of villains.

“So much for your distraction”, Shredder said to Ra’s, knowing very well that he was beginning to push his buttons.

Donnie’s eyes quickly scanned the machine in front of them, no confusion about what it was that he was looking at.

“That’s it”, he said, referring to the Cloud Seeder. “We have to shut it off before it launches”.

“You’re too late, detective!”, Ra’s called out, smirking at Batman as Foot ninjas and assassins gathered around him. “Gotham will fall and be born anew”.

“We don’t have much time”, Batman said, his eyes never leaving Ra’s. “Let’s take him down”. And as if that had been a call for war, all of you jumped into action, fighting and making your way through ninjas and assassins. Leo swung his katana at whatever enemy came close, followed by Robin that jumped and kicked them so hard that they fell to the ground without a sound. Mikey’s nunchucks sounded loudly whenever they came into contact with his opponents faces, just as loudly as the sound of Batman’s knuckles against jaws. Donnie’s bo staff knocked people out, while Raph jumped an unsuspecting assassin, at the same time as Batgirl’s motorcycle roared as her front wheel connected with a Foot ninja’s face. You too fought the best you could, using everything your father had ever taught you. But you did find yourself unprepared at moments, ducking quickly before a blade was able to grace your skin.

Shredder and Ra’s watched calmly as you all fought. Evenever one of their men fell, several more came to take their place, keeping you all busy. Almost too busy. You had a hard time keeping up. Whenever you dodged one punch, you were soon met by another, keeping you turning, running, jumping and ducking, almost out of breath. You stumbled, the blade of an assassin making its way towards you, and for a moment you thought that it was it. This would be the moment you would die. But before the blade could touch the surface of your skin, another sharp shinny one came into view, deflecting it, followed by a flash of green and blue, a pair of beautiful blue eyes looking your way for a moment, making sure you were okay. Leo.

It was not hard for Leo to emobile the assassin, with Donnie coming to his aid, helping his older brother clear the way, before both of them brought out their grappling hooks. In a swift move, Leo brought his arm around you, pressing you to his side, before letting the grappling hook pull you both to his desired destination. The scaffolding, high above ground, not far from where Shredder and Ra’s were standing. Leo dropped you off behind him, making sure you were covered by his shell, before Donnie came to his side, followed by Batman that took a spot between them, all three staring down the two villains.

“Shut off the Cloud Seeder”, your father commanded the two turtles, almost not acknowledging you behind Leo. But he knew you were there. You knew your father too well. There was no way he hadn’t seen Leo bring you with him. “Shredder is mine”.

“I think you forgot how our last encounter played out”, Shredder said, reminding you of what your father had told you. The things that had happened inside of Wayne Enterprise, while you had stayed outside, watching the turtles and Penguin go at it on another roof. But there was no time for you to tell your father. You wanted him to be careful, and not let Shredder come too close again. But before you could even utter a word, he and Shredder were off, fighting on the scaffolding.

Before you could even fully register your father’s absence in the chaos, Leo turned towards you, his pretty eyes catching yours.

“You wait here, (Y/N)”, he said in a demand, before he and Donnie were off, using their grappling hooks to get past Shredder and Batman, landing not far from the Cloud Seeder. And Ra’s al Ghul.

“Typical”, the Demon’s Head spoke. “Batman sends children to do his work for him. Perhaps another must die to teach him the folly of his ways”. Ra’s pulled off his cape, letting it fall to the ground. Leo and Donnie exchanged glances, before Ra’s came at them with a sudden move, causing both of them to jump back. You gasped, covering your mouth with your hands.

On the ground the others continued their fight against the men of Shredder and Ra’s al Ghul, with Robin having turned his attention towards Baxter Stockman, only for Stockman to throw up before Robin even got to him.

You jumped from side to side, unsure what to do. You couldn’t just stay back here and do nothing. There was no way. Especially not with all the narrow misses Ra’s pulled on Leo and Donnie. And it was with the sudden push of Leo, that sent him colliding with the scaffolding that brought you into action, using your grappling hook the same way he and his brother had.

You landed next to Donnie watching Ra’s with narrow eyes, ignoring Donnie’s confused look.

“But you have no weapons”, Donnie said, throwing a quick worried look over his shoulder at Leo who still wasn’t up from the ground.

“Don’t worry about it”, you said, knocking your wrists together, hearing the echo of the metal inside of them.

“It’s almost a pity”, you heard Ra’s snicker as he swung his blade one more time, making you and Donnie jump back. “So many children that must die today”.

You were ready to jump back in, but before you had the chance, Donnie did, still angry from what Ra’s had done to Leo. But Donnie was met with a kick to his plastron, making him fall to his knees for a moment. Ra’s swung his blade at him, but Donnie managed to catch with his bo staff, the point of Ra’s sword poking through the middle of wood. In the short moment Donnie stared at it, still in shock from what had happened, Ra’s grabbed his forearm and threw it over the railing, before bringing his foot down upon it with full force. Donnie yelled out in pain as his bone broke, falling onto his broken arm, between the pieces of his broken staff.

Ra’s looked at his work with a small smile, before pushing Donnie off the scaffolding with his foot, sending the mutant plumaging towards the earth below.

“Donnie!”, Leo called out, making you aware that Leo now sat up. But in the short time you looked away, Ra’s had turned his attention towards you, making you take a few steps back, terror clear in your eyes. “No!”Leo called out again, flashbacks from Arkham Asylum flooding his mind. His brothers laying dead on the floor of the boiler room, and the fear in your eyes.

Ra’s swung his sword at you, and you shield yourself with your gloves, the metal inside of them making the sharp edge bounce off. Ra’s roared in annoyance, before kicking you with his foot, making you fall to the ground. The vision of you on the ground, crying out in fear was very clear in Leo’s head. He could not let it happen.

With a battle roar Leo rose from the ground and jumped at Ra’s. Ra’s turned at the last moment, their blades clashing together.

“Get away from her”, Leo growled as the sky light broke above you, the Cloud Seeder launching with Donnie hanging off of it with his good arm, while Mikey frantically tried to turn it off.

Ra’s laughed when he caught on to what was happening. Young love was never hard to spot. He had seen it from the moment Leo safed you on the floor below and brought you with him, and when you selflessly jumped into action, with nothing but your metal gloves to protect you.

“Then be her hero and make me”, Ra’s laughed pushing Leo off, before swinging his sword at you once more. You ducked and rolled out of the way from two more blows, before Leo was on him once again.

“I have to admit”, Ra’s said through the clashes of blades, clearly very amused. “This is very interesting. A turtle and a human. How did you expect that to work?” Leo did not answer however, but swung at him once more. “You think I’m trying to make a fool of you? Well, I’m not. You seem like a smart child, and therefore you may know how impossible it sounds. But the Cloud Seeder could be your key to be together. It could turn her into anything. A bat, a wolf. Maybe even a turtle”. But Leo did not listen. He knew what Ra’s was trying to do. Make him unsure. Make him question. Make him hesitate. But Leo did none of those things, especially not with you, your family and his brothers’ lives on the line. He felt anger, the same kind of anger he had felt in Arkham, and it was controlling him.

Ra’s, seemingly too caught up in his own perceived brilliance, did not notice you launch at him, kicking at one of his feet, making him stumble. Leo, still blinded by anger, jumped at him once more, but Ra’s caught him in the last moment, before throwing him off the scaffolding and down towards the floor below. You called out for Leo as he landed on the ground with all the wind blown out of him, dropping one of his katanas on the way down. Ra’s turned his attention towards you, smiling menacingly as gave you a hard kick to your side, causing you to roll up on the ground, whimpering at the pain. He then grabbed a hold of the railing, ready to jump over, sending you one last evil smile.

“Time to get rid of that turtle lover of yours”, he said, before acceding to the floor, where Leo was slowly getting up, resting his weight of the katana he still had in hand, watching as Ra’s landed on his other one. The memories from Arkham still flooded Leo’s head. His brothers, you, all of it. But then he remembered your father’s words.

“Your anger won’t help your brothers, and it won’t save (Y/N). You have to focus”.

Taking in a deep breath, Leo got off the ground as Ra’s came closer, his blade still proudly in his hand. On the scaffolding above, Leo could hear you whimper and see your eyes as you watched them below you. Leo calmed his breath, watching as Ra’s got closer, grabbing firmly around the katana in his hand.

Whatever Ra’s had expected, it wasn’t the sudden newfound speed that Leo came in with, clashing his katana with his sword in several swift moves. Ra’s was taken aback, taking several steps back with each blow, but then struggling to do so when Leo stepped on his foot. You watched in awe as Leo managed to swing Ra’s sword out of his hand, sending it flying up into the air, before it landed into the floor several meters away. But Ra’s wasn’t done, continuing to fight without a weapon, kicking and punching at a dodging Leo.

Leo then jumped, swinging his katana down upon Ra’s. But to your surprise, Ra’s caught Leo’s blade between his hands before breaking it in half. Leo stumbled in shock, before Ra’s sucker punched him in the face, sending him flying backwards, the sight making your insides hurt more than they already did.

Ra’s went to get his sword, before pointing it at Leo, who was still struggling on the ground, all while you watched in fear.

“How?”, Leo asked, still not fully having processed what just had happened. Ra’s chuckled.

“Foolish child”, he chuckled. “I’m hundreds of years old, and have trained with the greatest teachers in history. How could you possibly-”.

Ra’s was suddenly cut off as Leo’s foot kicked up between his legs, hitting him where the sun was not supposed to shine, and definitely no foot either. Ra’s fell to his knees, cupping his manhood while Leo got up with a backflip.

“Oh yeah?”, Leo asked, finding the scene before him very amusing. “Well, I’m 19, and I learned this from a rat”. Leo did a series of small punches and pokes to Ra’s upper body, before the leader of the League of Assassins fell unconscious to the ground, dust flying up around him.

“Leo!”, you called out from above, crawling towards the edge of the scaffolding. “Catch me!” And without question Leo did so, holding arms open for you, catching you as you fell down from above making sure not to touch you where Ra’s had kicked you.

Both you and Leo wanted to ask each other if you were okay, but neither of you did so. You could not help yourselves. As relief rushed over you both, there was nothing that stopped your lips from crashing together in a passionate kiss. For a moment the two of you forgot where you were or what was happening, letting nothing but the feeling of each other's lips play out in your mind. Finally, after so many hours of wondering, Leo was finally able to feel them against his. Soft and warm. It was only his first kiss and his was already feeling himself becoming addicted. He already dreaded the moment he would have to let go of them again.

Leo leaned his head further to the right, deepening the kiss, until both of you had to pull away for air, staring into each other’s eyes, fighting the smiles that was playing at the corners of your lips, and the urges to go for another kiss. Leo’s lips felt cold now, and there was nothing he would rather do, than warm them up with yours one more time. But now was not the time. As much as he wished it was, he could not stand around and continue to kiss you, even if it was very tempting.

“Come on”, Leo said, forcing himself to let you go in order to take your hand, pulling you with him towards the stairs. “Let’s help your father”.

[eretzyisrael]

BY JEHAD AL-SAFTAWI

The two-story construction site was surrounded by a wall and two gates. And every night we were all in the apartment at our family building, where the door closes and locks at 10 p.m. without fail. “No one comes or goes after 10,” my mother told Um Yazid.

The next day I went to the construction site with my mother and Hamza. After a quick look around, we saw nothing amiss. But when we examined the site more closely, we found several concrete slabs in the area under the interior staircase, each about 1.5-ft. long. We also found an area with newly moved soil to the right of our house and the wall surrounding it.

My brother Hamza and I dug a depth of 1.5 ft. in that soil as our mother looked on. We would soon hit a metal gate, sealed with a lock. We had no idea what it was or why it was there. Hamza and I quickly covered the area with soil again and went directly to our neighbor’s house.

Ahead of our visit, Um Yazid told us that every few nights she would look out the windows of her four-story building at the wall surrounding our house and see the arrival of a medium transport vehicle. People would exit the van and hang a large piece of plastic tarp to obscure what they were doing. They would hear sounds of loading and unloading and feel the vibrations of digging coming from the empty piece of land behind our houses. She suspected someone was digging a tunnel.

The day after we inspected the house, Um Yazid called to say that the men had returned in the night. My mother didn’t want me to go, but I put on my clothes and headed alone to the unfinished home. When I reached the iron door of the house, I began to hear the movement of people inside the house. I knocked on the door. A masked person opened the door and asked me to step back a bit. Then he closed the door behind him and asked who I was. I defiantly told him that I am the owner of the house. “Who are you?” I asked.

Meeting masked men is something we are used to in different aspects of Gazan life. We argued. I told him my uncle, who was a member of Hamas and prosecutor in its government, would stop them from building a tunnel. The masked man insisted they would continue as they pleased. He said I should not be afraid and that this would just be a small closed room to remain buried underground. No one can enter or exit. He said that only in the case of an Israeli ground invasion in this area and the displacement of residents would these rooms be used to supply weapons.

“We don’t want to live above a stockpile of weapons,” I told him, just before he forced me to leave.

Construction continued, and Um Yazid continued to report to us about late night activity. Hamza and I visited every few weeks, always finding the same gate, never sure what we could do, or what was really happening behind it. Our uncle assured us we had nothing to fear. 

[cattimeswithjellie]

Stream Recap GoodTimesWithScar, 06-23-24

((A note to readers: I am going to spoil the cause of Scar’s audio issues right away because knowing what is going on is going to be very helpful to you in understanding and visualizing the chaos that is about to unfold. Just before going live, Scar attempted to tweet his Going Live message but had a hard time getting the URL to work. In the process, he somehow opened a new browser window that ended up having three tabs that were all running instances of his stream. This window became minimized and Scar didn’t notice it because he had a browser window already up. Scar’s OBS has a setting on it that plays desktop audio, and his microphone noise gate only works up to a certain volume of sound, after which it assumes you mean to be making that noise and broadcasts it (this is a theory). So what you have to picture is that every time Scar says something, it gets echoed several times a second later by the three hidden stream tabs. That desktop audio gets picked up as well and reflected again and again, but will eventually fade off after a few loops, softer each time. If Scar continues speaking, though, and especially if he yells or makes a loud noise, the microphone’s pickup will grab hold of it and the echoes will actually become louder until the result is an overwhelming cacophony of whatever noises have happened in the last thirty seconds. It’s really quite something. For a more coherent narrative of the first forty minutes of the stream, you can also visit the stream recap for ZombieCleo’s 6/23 stream.))

8:30 Scar’s starting stream is still on, but the starting music ends. Sub notifications are active and it is curious how the chime keeps going off even when there is no matching sub message appearing on the screen. Chat does not notice. Before this point, stream audio was apparently normal.

9:05 Scar opens the stream on studio view and welcomes everyone to the stream. About five seconds in, his greeting begins echoing overtop his words, It echoes again, and again, and again, growing gradually louder. Scar looks perplexed, then alarmed, then starts yelling almost inaudibly under the massive swell of “WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME, AND WELCOME TO THE STREAM EVERYBODY.” A chatter instantly identifies that Scar has a stream open, but Chat is moving extremely quickly with this kind of exciting situation. The echoes are getting more crackly and lower quality but also louder as they move further from the source audio. “What is happening?” Scar mouths. The echoes finally die away.

10:22 “I don’t know what just happened!” Scar cries plaintively, then puts his hands over his mouth as the new phrase starts repeating just as quickly. Chat is both deafened and incredibly amused. Because Scar was not as loud this time, the echo dies away much more quickly. Scar looks from his setup to his chat screen, ideas clearly filling his head. “If I say anything it just repeats!” he says as fast as he can, then gives into the natural urge to beatbox into an audio loop. The new phrase and the “oontz oontz oontz” begins echoing, and Scar layers more beatboxing on top of it. Chat thinks Jono and/or Cub will have fun with this. Once that echo dies, Scar makes several false starts to say something, clearly not knowing what to do. The false starts begin echoing as well, and he just gives up. He doesn’t know what to do or say, because whenever he says anything it goes crazy! This cry also echoes. Scar is getting better at timing his voice so the loops are, at least, somewhat shorter.

11:55 “Impulse where are you, I need you!” Scar cries to the heavens. ((Impulse is the go-to guy for many of the Hermits when it comes to sound tech issues.)) The echoes mock him ceaselessly and in vain. Impulse is not online. Scar puts his head in his hand and laughs. This one was loud enough that it gets much louder before it dies off. Many chatters are now suggesting the multiple-open-tabs theory. A dono activates text-to-voice, that also triggers the echo sequence. Chat has no way of contacting Impulse, but they do begin soliciting help from Ren and Cleo, who are also streaming. It is unclear what sort of help they can provide, but they both become aware of the situation pretty quickly.

13:30 Scar rests his face on his palm and lets the stream echo. Right now it is mostly “Scar enters his DC phase” from the dono message with the faint echo of “Impulse where are you, I need you!” far below. Chatters are begging him to close his windows/browser and check his microphone settings, but Chat is also going too fast to read most of the time. Scar gives up and sings the Catdog song. Everything is unintelligble chaos. The headphone chatters regret their life choices.

14:30 Silence. Scar mouths “I don’t know what’s going on.” Chat has a lot of ideas but are still moving too fast to read. He repeats the words in a whisper, which echoes and fades. He realizes he is looping ASMR now and makes several more noises, then whimpers “I don’t know what to do! Help please, somebody!” It echoes. He starts talking fast and loud, with predictable results.

17:00 Scar goes all in on Catdog. It gets loud really fast. Chat is both grooving and suffering. ((It should be noted that through this entire audio issue, Scar is averaging 2.8k viewers.)) He waits for everything to quiet down, then says “Well hello there, and welcome to the wonderful world of CATDOG!” The echo is _horrifying._

19:20 Ren’s voice becomes audible on the stream, saying something about how he’s heard Scar is having mic issues and has come to help him. Scar is still in studio view, so this is the first indication that he is already on the Hermitcraft server. Scar calls out to ask if Ren is there and if he’s come to save him. Scar asks chat why sometimes it gets louder and sometimes it trails off. Chat tries to tell him he is muted in game. Ren begins singing an improvised version of Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire with lyrics about audio problems. ((Ren and his chat are watching Scar’s stream live and so can see and hear what is going on even though most of the audio nonsense is not actually going out on the server.)) Scar sings along and switches to game view. He is on his zoo train and Ren is standing in front of him, wearing his GigaCorp skin and taxi pants. ((The recapper’s child comes along at this point and asks what the heck the recapper is watching, because the sound is just that atrocious.))

20:30 Ren is playing that Scar has a Gigacorp microphone and he is Gigacorp technical support chat. He sings another song, this time Linkin Park’s Crawling In My Skin with the lyrics “Burning in my ears, this mic is echoing, Chat asked me to come and help you, but there is nothing I can be doing. The echoing inside me, is burning my brain! The pain, of my earholes… Maybe you should just restart your computer, that might fix it! Just saaaaying, the paaaaain in my earholes.” He says “Good talk,” and flies away, leaving the song getting louder and more horrifying behind him.

23:10 The audio mayhem finally subsides, so Scar immediately goes to find Cleo for additional mayhem. ((Cleo has a stream rule against talking about what other streamers are up to and has temporarily banned the word “Scar” in their chat at this point, but has nonetheless been made very aware that Scar is on his way and hell is riding with him.)) He finds Cleo at their base. The first thing Cleo says is a cheerful “Hi!” at exactly the tone and pitch that will echo endlessly. Scar can’t figure out how to unmute himself to the server, so she continues to talk in an increasingly incoherent loop. It gets really, really loud. Sensing chaos, Ren returns and starts singing the Burning In My Ears song again.

25:40 Scar flies away, trying to clear the echo buffer. He comes back just in time to hear Cleo yelling “What do they expect me to do?” and Ren say “This feels like a fever dream,” which form the basis of the new echo loop. Ren sings Eminem’s “My Name is” song with lyrics of his own devising. Scar flies away again. He figures out how to unmute and flies back yelling “Help me!” Ren yells “He’s back for more!” and begins hepfully beatboxing. Chat is still making valiant efforts to tech support Scar, who stopped paying attention a very long time ago. Cleo is talking and laughing in the background.

28:00 Scar makes additional communications efforts, all of them similarly useless. He and Ren sing a song about Mr. Kirkland and his four-pound pie, which seems to be a song Scar made up about the virtues of the Costco chocolate-peanut butter pie. Cleo has been trying to pass along some tech-support tips but is quickly drowned out. She joins in the song.

30:15 Scar does something that abruptly cuts the audio chaos. There is a moment of silence, then Ren and Cleo begin talking and looping. The audio is full of Cleo’s intention to eat a sour jellybean. Scar yells “It’s getting worse!” and flies away. He thinks he is onto something, so he lands on a tree and begins playing with his settings.

31:30 Scar changes something in his settings which completely fixes the problem from Chat’s POV. Scar sounds totally normal, no looping. He himself is still getting one echo over his headset. Chat celebrates wildly as Scar interacts with the echo that only he can hear, paying it compliments and having a conversation. He insists he’s going to have a burial ritual for his headset later on in the day and complains that everything in his life is broken. He is not sure how he got things almost fixed but not fixed and decides he will try unmuting, and muting another source.

32:40 Chat’s moment of peace is over. The echo comes back, everything is unfixed again. Scar does not appear to have realized at any point that Chat’s audio was fixed or that he was the only one still getting echo, but now everyone is echoing again. Scar sighs heavily, a sound that repeats again and again as he flies back to Ren and Cleo. Now game sounds are also in the echo mix. Scar flies away again.

33:50 Scar mutes and makes the loop stop. Everything is fixed to chat. He still has the echo for himself. He is still talking to a voice no one else can hear. He mouths something to chat. He unfixes it again. He flies back to Ren and Cleo, who sing Bohemian Rhapsody to him. It immediately becomes overwhelmingly loud. ((It’s much nicer on Ren and Cleo’s streams.)) Scar has given up. His fingers are off the keyboad and he is slumped with his head in one hand. Cleo manages to get through the din to tell him that they are sending tech support photos and information from their partner via Discord. This is ill-timed because it means that they are tabbed out and Ren is absolutely not paying attention as a Drowned sneaks up and murders Scar before he can straighten up and get his hands back on the keys.

36:10 Scar respawns in the zoo train with the echoes of his ignominious demise ringing in everyone’s ears. Chat, at least, thinks this is very funny. Because Scar was yelling his way through his death, it is the sort of echo that gets louder as it goes on, until his screams are nearly deafening as he flies back to Cleo’s base. Scar looks about as done as it is possible for one man to be.

37:10 All the noise stops. “I muted it,” Scar whispers to chat. No echo. He tells Chat that he’s going to get his stuff and then he’s going to look at the troubleshooting info. He tries to follow some of the troubleshooting info and immediately unfixes everything again. Chat didn’t even have time to celebrate. Scar muses that it seems like he’s getting multiple sources repeating themselves. He thinks he’s on the right track, but he needs to get his stuff back first. He returns to Ren and Cleo and asks for his things. Ren is wearing the Poe Poe hat. It looks good on him, but he tosses it back, then starts in with Sandstorm by Darude, a whole new audio hellscape especially once Scar starts throwing in rockets.

39:40 Cleo tells Scar that he is awesome, and that is funny that it’s Ren being the menace today, when usually it is Scar. She asks Ren when he thinks Scar will mute them. Scar asks for more compliments instead. He mutes again. He’s back down to one echo. Chat has no echo. There is no game sound. Scar gets a thoughtful look on his face. Game sound comes back. Cleo reminds Ren that they are trying to be nice to Scar, even though it is difficult. Ren doesn’t know from being nice, he is trying to make loop tracks here. “Oh, this is your Woodstock, got it,” Cleo jokes. “What about wood?” Scar asks, and immediately regrets everything as it begins looping back on him. Cleo is amazed that he recognizes what he just said, Scar says yes, because it is playing back to him over and over. Cleo is amazed and sees the potential of Scar’s conscience being simply “Play back every out of pocket thing he says”.

41:50 Cleo gives Scar more advice, he drops back down to one echo and no in-game sound or voices audible to chat. He moans an “Oh no.” He tells Ren to keep going with what he’s doing and unfixes everything in time for chat to hear Ren’s rendition of the “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck” chant. He is dancing. Scar is firing rockets. Everything is echoing. It is chaos.

43:30 Everything stops. Scar admits that he may have figured out what is wrong. If someone were to have three open sources of their own stream running in the background, would that be enough to cause this? Cleo pointed out that was literally the first thing they asked. Chat is melting down with YES and laughter. Laughing, Cleo yells at him as he tries to explain that he had a second set of tabs behind his main tabs and that secret second set of tabs had three extremely sneaky instances of his stream that he’d accidentally created while trying to do a Go Live tweet.

44:40 Ren tells Scar, very sincerely, that he is easily in Ren’s top ten favorite humans. Scar cannot hear him because his headphones have taken this opportunity to fall apart again. Ren types it in the chat instead. Scar realizes that Ren’s mic is quieted in his audio mix and tells him that he is pumping him up. Cleo says Ren does not need pumping up, Ren comes fully inflated at all times. Chat has a lot of feelings about that phrasing. Scar tells everyone that this has never happened before. Cleo says at least they know what the problem was: ineptitude!

((I will not be recapping the next section because it is functionally the exact same as what I already recapped in this section of Cleo’s 6/23 stream. It’s a very long but entertaining podcast-style conversation that eventually encompasses Joe and Cub as well as they discuss Scar’s headphones, Ren’s traumatic boarding school memories, Scar’s history as an archer and whether or not Scar may have helped himself to a “layaway” plan at Cleo’s book shop after he fell into some lava and lost all his stuff again. Eventually the topic turns to possible identities for the Ore Snatcher, and after a long run-through that provides no concrete evidence or conclusions, they all fly over to the armor trim shop.

1:55:50 Scar follows the others to the armor trim shop, taking several potshots as he goes. He pulls out his Poe Poe horn and begins playing it to signify that this is the official Chief Investigator on an official Investigatory Visit. He is immediately distracted by a Wandering Trader who has blocks he wants, including gilded blackstone miniblocks. The others are already inside though, so he follows them into the shop. Ren thinks the redstone looks very scary, but Joe knows enough to be pretty sure that most of the blocks in the circuitry would be easy to replace so long as the machine was not presently active.

1:57:10 Cleo groans as they look at the armor stand work, which Doc spent a long time on because he has alienated his best source of armor stand sculpture work. Some of the statue postures are pretty tortured, especially under the hood, and nothing is locked. Joe and Scar cheerfully tell Cleo to go ahead and fix it, Doc definitely won’t mind somebody messing with his stuff, especially in this shop! Cleo begins working on the armor stands, declaring confidently that Doc won’t even know.

1:57:20 It occurs to Scar to ask if the shop is even open yet. The machine seems complete, but there’s no obvious mechanism by which to buy anything. Joe chooses to deliberately misinterpret the question and points out that of course it is open, look how easy it is to walk in and out of the wide open portal! Cub lays down several magma blocks in the doorway, presumably to prank Joe, but Joe has already gone back inside. As Ren checks the redstone for more missing blocks, Cub takes down the magma blocks he placed, thus triggering the alarm and jumpscaring everyone. The Hermits do not know exactly what set off the alarm. (Ren has helped with testing for the alarm and should know that blocks breaking set off the machine, but he presumably did not see or hear Cub break the blocks.)

1:57:50 Ren warns the others not to go down into the circuits, there’s an alarm system. Scar peers into the guts of the machine and catches a glimpse of said system. “It’s a Warden, what the heck!” he yells. Chat is already gleefully predicting how mad Doc is going to be about all this nonsense. Scar is reduced to sputtering, Cleo is cackling. Ren proudly announces that he has been killed by this Warden before. Ren tells them that the Warden is coming up the stairs now and they’d better leave before there is chaos. Just as he says that, the whole world goes dark. The Hermits make a run for it.

1:59:00 The Hermits regroup on the grass outside the shop. Ren points out that if the Warden is going to get out and wreck Doc’s shop it should be on a video and not a stream, because the content would be much better. Scar’s just glad he already finished his shop so he won’t have to listen to the alarm until Doc comes to turn it off. Cub and Scar worry about the Wandering Trader, but there is no sign of the Warden so far. Cleo is not afraid of wardens. Cub and Scar think about investigating, but the sound is terrible. Joe goes straight in but only stays for a moment. Scar shoots at him anyway. The Hermits wonder what triggered the alarm. Chat knows and informs Scar that it was Cub’s fault. Cleo realizes it is going to be _so easy_ to annoy Doc and is thrilled to death. Scar wonders how anybody is supposed to pay for anything if nobody can get their wallet out in the shop.

2:01:10 Joe returns and Cub decides he’s going in. Scar is having Decked Out flashbacks. Cub says in chat that it’s fine. Cleo and Ren never got far enough down into Decked Out to be scared of wardens. Cub returns and proudly declares that he got blasted. The hermits discuss whether they should leave signs explaining what happened or just leave the alarm running and Doc wondering what happened. Cleo points out that now The Glitcher can do whatever they want. The other Hermits have not heard the name “The Glitcher” before (except Scar has and has forgotten.) Cleo thinks The Glitcher is a very Cub name. Scar gets out his Darth Vader breathing horn to attempt to intimidate Cub into an immediate confession. It is super-ineffective. Cub accuses Scar and Grian based on history. Ren plays Etho’s “What’s going on” horn.

2:04:20 Ren sums up that the group has been at it for an hour and fifteen minutes and are literally no closer to determining the identity of the Ore Snatcher. Scar points out that at least they found there’s a warden in the trim shop. It seems bad for business. Cleo doesn’t think Doc cares about business and it’s all about the drama. Cub makes a little show of not remembering the name “Glitcher” and asks if they left a sign. Scar gets Chat to send him one. Ren suggests the possibility of a copycat. He wants to put up a sign that suggests a new villain on the scene, for the “rascal energy.” Scar suggest Wells and/or Hypno, but they haven’t been around. Ren thinks the new fake villain could be “The Pincer,” but he can’t put up the sign himself because he is Doc’s husband. Cleo is happy to do it. Scar insists that he is the investigator and can’t allow this to happen, but is effectively powerless after Cleo, too, proves impervious to the power of Darth Vader Breathing.

2:07:30 Cleo and Ren approach the sand pile to create sign-based mischief. Grian signs in. Chat sends Scar a message with the Glitcher$ sign, Scar remembers it now. Ren and Cleo return, arguing because Cleo thinks “The Pincher” is dumb and won’t put it on the sign. Scar is affronted remembering that Doc thought he was the culprit because the sign was misspelled. He objects to being accused just because he’s “the dumbest one in the crew.” He is paying so much attention to Doc’s accusations, in fact, that he misses Joe mentioning that there is another sign up there that looks like it comes from Scar (that Joe put there.) The Hermits retreat from the sand pile because the noise is terrible. Cleo says she would feel bad about winding Doc up, except he completely deserves it. Ren agrees that even though he is Doc’s husband, he has to admit that a price must be paid for pig murder. Cleo hears “price” and remembers it’s time to spread a little bribery around. Ren tries to double-dip and winds up getting Joe accused of diamond-snatching and chased away by Cleo. He deserves it though because he actually does steal Scar’s diamonds while Scar is distracted by his Chat.

2:09:40 Scar asks why his Chat is convinced Big Salmon is the culprit. He doesn’t even know what that means. As he looks around, he catches sight of a very tiny figure far away, hopping up the side of the sand pile near the goat statue. It disappears before he can zoom in. Scar says he swears he just saw Grian, except Grian’s not even online. The others tell him that Grian is indeed online. Scar flies over to the shop to investigate, but Grian has disappeared. He was not near to the door and so probably could not have gotten into the shop, but where he did go is a mystery. Scar blankets the shop with Darth Vader Breathing, just in case.

2:10:40 Scar returns to the others and reports no luck. Cleo thinks Grian is absolutely the perfect fit for this crime. Ren objects and says Grian wouldn’t incriminate himself in front of four Hermits, Cleo says that is exactly something Grian would do if he thought he could get away with it. Ren sees the sign Joe put up on Scar’s behalf and everyone is confused and suspicious until Joe scolds them all for not paying attention to the fact that he told them he was putting up that sign ten minutes ago.

2:12:20 Cleo sighs and says she loves it when a plan comes together, she just wishes it were hers. The others give her weird looks for that and say that if she doesn’t want to be perceived as the villain, maybe she should say fewer villainous things and possibly praise the villain a little bit less. Cleo says that whoever did it is awesome, but that she would’ve told everyone if she’d done it. Joe points out that he just told everyone he was putting a sign up and got ignored, so Cleo could easily have told everyone and nobody remembered. Cleo tells Joe that it is different because people listen to Cleo. Joe is not so sure about that. Scar brings up the Big Salmon thing again and Cleo reminds him that all the Hermits present know it was not Beef because of Reasons that she very clearly is not sharing with the Chats. ((This is one day before Beef announced publicly that he and his partner are expecting a baby in October, making him way too busy and preoccupied to be doing much in the way of Glitchering.))

2:14:00 General consensus is that whatever feud happened between Big Wood and Big Salmon, it is old news now anyway. Salmon lives peacefully in the hourglass, after all. Chat is convinced by Cleo’s certainty and no longer thinks it is Beef. Ren and Scar both know it’s not Mumbo, but they wish it were. Cleo and Joe would like it to be Joe. Everyone names one suspect (Cleo names Cub, Cub names Scar, Joe names False, Ren names Joel, Grian does not answer). Scar thanks them and tells them that was entirely unhelpful. Next step is to get a search warrant and look through everyone’s storage. Doc can look through his storage. Cleo laughs at the idea that turning up some deepslate diamond ore in someone’s storage room would prove anything. A chatter says Xisuma, Cleo is super unconvinced, Scar is also not enthusiastic.

2:17:40 Joe says that his favorite best-ever theory is that the SciCraft folks are allied with Doc’s partner Karin to steal the diamonds via Karin accessing Doc’s account. Everyone thinks that idea is very funny. Ren asks if that means Karin needs to come to court and testify. Karin may or may not have a Minecraft account. Scar muses that his brother would absolutely do something like this. One of Ren’s chatters says that, as a wife, they would totally do that. Cleo jokes that this was all a ploy to jumpstart Karin’s YouTube career. Joe thinks it would be an amazing Hermitcraft spinoff, Karin and Mrs. T and Lizzie, but they’re thieves… Ren thinks it might be Lizzie pranking Joel by pranking Doc. That’s a little complex, though. Cleo accuses “Everyone else’s spouses” and says next seasons somebody needs to have their spouse start pranking. Joe warns that now that Cleo has said this, Joe’s fiance Badgerspanner is going to demand to be allowed to do it. Chat pops up with the name “Desperate Hermitwives,” which Scar thinks is very funny. Ren adds “The Real Housewives of Hermitcraft.

2:21:20 Ren has a Bdubs theory: The best way to create business for your brand new courthouse is to create a huge story arc that involves crimes and gets Hermits suing. There is a brief argument over whether court cases cost anything (tips are welcome, according to Bdubs, and there’s definitely been some bribing involved.) Cub points out that the police stand to benefit from an increase in crime. Scar protests that he is the judiciary! Cleo laughs and says of course cops cannot be corrupt. In any case, Scar goes on, he touched Doc’s boring machine, he blew it up, he banged it too hard, and he’s not interested in banging Doc’s redstone anymore.

2:23:20 There is a long moment of silence. Cleo says she is leaving, that it’s been lovely, they should do this again never. Cleo, Cub and Joe leave. Scar confesses to Ren that he’d said the worst thing he could think of to get rid of the others, and it worked! Ren is impressed. Chat is impressed, once they stop losing their minds over what he said in the first place. Ren and Scar have a conversation about who might really be the Ore Snatcher and who is playing “third impostor.” ((Third impostor is Scar’s favorite way to play Among Us, someone who is not a real impostor but who plays like they are in order to sow chaos and confusion.)) Ren makes a reference to the movie The Usual Suspects that Scar does not understand, but it boils down to “the best place to hide is in plain sight.”

2:25:00 Scar and Ren proceed to have the same conversation the large group had earlier about who is a suspect and who is not. They come to no conclusions and eventually realize they have wasted half a Sunday on accomplishing nothing. Grian says in game chat that it’s pretty obvious but then immediately logs out. Joe flies past, right to the door of the armor trim shop and logs out midair. Ren finds this behavior wildly suspicious and accuses Scar of being the worst poe poe for not noticing. Scar admits he’s not very good at being Poe Poe, but he works hard.

2:30:00 Scar tells Ren that he really did have plans today, but the echo threw him off right from the jump. Ren agrees, but the echoing thing was really way too much fun. He is already nostalgic about the fantastic amount of noise that was generated. Scar says again that he can’t be the Glitcher because is so busy, with wheelchair appointments, surgery appointments, and trying to build the Poe Poe HQ. They decide to go look at the new build. Ren tells Scar that he believes Scar is innocent. Chat asks if Scar is okay. Scar says he hopes to be okay by the end of next week. ((Scar has an upcoming surgery scheduled to correct issues in his implanted feeding tube that are causing illness and pain.)) Chat notes that Joe logged out and on quickly again, suspicious behavior!

2:32:00 Scar is too tired to be an investigator, he’d rather be the third impostor, but a good impostor would be making lists of potential suspects (or rascals, as Ren calls them). Ren encourages Scar to start an investigation board with red strings and stuff. He tells the Chat to make one for Scar. Scar shows Ren the countdown clock but won’t let him look at the redstone. He promises Ren that the redstone is definitely doing things, even though he hasn’t decided what he is counting down to yet. Ren suggests eliminating any store that took less than five minutes to build. Scar agrees that’s a good idea and he will run it past Permit Officer Grian, who is a different character than Regular Grian. Now that the POE HQ is done, it’s time to enforce some laws. Chat agrees too, nearly unanimously.

2:36:30 Ren and Scar explore the SD and look at how the pop-up shops are taking up beautiful prime real estate. They definitely need to go. A chatter asks if Keralis has been considered as Ore Snatcher. Ren says Keralis just isn’t enough of a rascal. Thinking about Keralis makes them think of the crab rave though, so they go to see it at Keralis’ base. Cleo made the little crabs a while ago, but now Cub has added the crab rave music and it is pretty great. They spend some time appreciating K’s base, which is gorgeous. Scar wants more airport, but it looks like Keralis does have plans for more of an airstrip. They see the birch forest in the distance and start talking trees. The number and quality of custom trees this season is amazing. Scar is self-conscious because he’s having so much trouble making a redwood tree. Ren admits that his custom trees are actually just copies of Scar’s custom trees, and he’s sure Scar will get it right.

2:41:30 Ren learns that Scar has never seen The Mummy. He is appalled. Chat is appalled. Scar gets really confused when Ren gets confused about whether The Rock was in The Mummy (he was) and also is confused about who The Rock is (Dwayne Johnson). They get super-distracted talking about the movie The Rock, which they both love. Scar had to watch it in secret because his mom thought he was too young. Scar has not seen True Lies, but now he remembers The Mummy, so that’s something. He has not seen The Whale, and Ren has not seen House of Dragons. They talk about how expensive streaming services are. They agree not to talk about VPNs on stream, then do talk about it, but just a little bit. Ren canceled most of his streaming services a few months ago because they were so expensive. YouTube Premium is Ren’s favorite stream service.

2:49:00 The inevitable happens and Scar and Ren start talking about Star Wars. In chat, Grian advises Ren to flee for his life. Scar protests that Ren loves Star Wars and wants to talk about it. Grian is deeply unconvinced, especially when Ren reluctantly admits that it’s 11pm and he does need to sleep. But… he’ll stay just a bit longer. They run around Keralis’ base, looking for a bed and talking about Star Wars. Grian realizes he’s getting sucked in via stream sniping and logs out immediately.

3:01:20 Star Wars talk continues, Hermit Podcast style. Grian logs back in. He has clearly continued his stream sniping and wants to say something about the Jedi wookie. They encourage him to speak his truth. Star Wars talk continues. Grian’s hatred of Star Wars talk has suffered a severe credibility blow, even though he logs off again.

3:25:00 A brief detour out of Star Wars and into Dune. Scar talks about storytelling in Hollywood and the lack of innovation for a few minutes. Some Disney ranting, and a discussion about how sometimes it’s okay to scare kids. It’s good for them. Time to talk about old Disney movies from the golden age of animation. Scar reveals he’s never seen The Land Before Time. Chat is _so_ upset. Ren talks about how he lost his dad when he was six, and cartoon movies that had sadness and loss helped him come to terms with it. It’s important not to take that kind of thing out. The deeper stories and lessons aren’t really there so much anymore and it hollows out the films.

3:40:30 Ren admits that it is almost midnight now and he really does need to go to bed. Scar laughs and agrees that Grian is probably out there somewhere screaming at him to go to bed. Scar compliments the way Ren talks, always interesting and with good things to say. When Ren talks, people listen. Chat loves Ren and the Ren and Scar podcast. Scar promises he’s going to watch Dune. Ren is happy until he realizes that Scar, who does not have access to a TV, will be watching on his iPad. Ren thinks that is criminal. He nearly swears. Scar adds that he will be using airpods. Ren is so sad. Scar holds forth for a minute about how Airpods are just not as good as a headset with a jack. Ren points out that there is also a difference between an iPad and a cinema screen. Scar laughs. They do a bit of old-man complaining about how movies don’t look good on computer screens. Ren asks if Scar really doesn’t have a TV in his house. Scar explains that it’s inconvenient, either he’s stuck in his wheelchair or he has to go through the entire process of transferring to a chair or couch, getting strapped in there, it’s a whole thing. His headphones fall off mid-description. Ren suggests he could stay in his wheelchair, get a blanket, get some popcorn, wait, no popcorn, and just enjoy the film. Scar points out some more logistical concerns involving bathroom breaks and says it’s much easier to watch in bed on the iPad. Ren admits he is a hypocrite, he watched Hermitcraft videos on his phone in bed. (Chat feels very seen.) They talk about the high price of iPads. Chat calls Scar an iPad kid, to his protests. Ren is mad that his old tablet is bricked because of lack of software updates. They agree that should be illegal.

At least they get to live in Minecraft, where things are nice.

3:47:40 Ren really needs to go to bed. For real this time. Scar follows him back to his base, still talking until Ren insists that he stop talking and go away or he will never get any sleep. Scar flies back to the train and thanks subs and donos. He did not get everything (anything) done that he planned to this stream, but he will probably try and stream tomorrow as well. Surgery is definitely planned for next week and hopefully a little less intense than originally planned. If things go well, it will not be under general anesthetic and that should keep him out of the ICU. The surgery itself is not such a big deal, but the sedation is the issue. Hopefully this surgery will correct what was done wrong in 2021 and 2022.

3:51:20 A chatter donates $100 for Scar to buy some new headphones and let the old ones go to the farm. Scar promises that this is the last time Chat will see the old headphones. They’re getting buried in the backyard. He’s just weirdly sentimental about a few things. The sunglasses he lost last year and these headphones. But it is time. Scar’s goal is to get the surgery done and then get the new wheelchair (which he has finally been measured for). It will be smaller, lighter and more comfortable. Chatters send in dono messages of love and support. They also have opinions on movies.

3:56:00 Scar reassures Chat that this surgery will not be like last time when he was out for months. This surgery is much smaller. A chatter sends a dono message with train talk. Scar is enthusiastic about train talk. He reminds Chat that he lives near a real-life permit office and shows off the dig progress on Magic Mountain. Every scrap of dirt has been removed and saved for later. Beyond IRL things, Scar has to do the POE HQ interior, Doc’s investigation, landscape the area around the train, and add the caboose, which will be floated in on balloons. The mini-mountain needs to come down and Magic Mountain needs to be dug out. The zoo must be built and Scar has several shops to build. He has so much to do! Some chatters mention the Jellie plushie and Scar admits inflation has made it really hard to make merch. Anything good costs so much money these days!

4:00:00 A chatter asks for names for their dark oak forest. Scar throws it open to the Chat, who are full of ideas. Scar likes “Mythwood.” He shares one last thought: Universal’s Monsters Land is so cool. Scar is very happy about it and thinks it is great. He switches back to studio view, says this is probably the weirdest stream he’s ever done, and that he hopes to do more streams this week. Nobody Scar knows is streaming so he doesn’t raid, just ends his stream.

[fruitless-vain]

Oooooookay here comes the rant post

What happened: jacks old coworker had a series of unfortunate events happen that resulted in them being homeless and jobless. We offered a place to stay first month rent free while they get a job, $200 a month after the fact just to cover absolutely bare bones basics so they can save up and move out quickly. Started out with him putting on a great people pleasing act and quickly turned in to a nightmare.

Ye animal related rant list:

Given explicit instructions not to do xyz with Yoshis because she is a service dog that cannot get in to these bad habits. One moment I see him telling her to eat something off the floor, I pick up the item and politely tell him she’s not allowed to do that since scavenging while she’s on the job at a restaurant would get us kicked out. I reward her for not eating the thing, turn my back for two minutes just to hear him whispering “eat it, take it, you can have it” once again encouraging her to eat off the floor

Initially I was letting her follow him downstairs, whatever, dudes going through a bad time and a happy dog makes anyone better. Until I learned he had been feeding her HUGE doses of food off his plate I’m talking larger than her entire meal and was feeding things that are outright toxic for dogs. I only found that out because Yoshi would throw up in the middle of the night for seemingly no reason. Asked him and sure as shit feeding her toxic things.

Repeatedly got in the way of Yoshi retrieving medications as well as actively trying to distract her while she was doing DPT for a medical episode.

On the first day I told him it’s hormone season for the parrots they are aggressive and sensitive right now please just ignore them, don’t interact with them at all, it will make things so much worse and someone will get bit. A couple days later he taunts Newt by wagging his fingers in front of him deliberately trying to set him off, I immediately tell him to stop in a very stern sharp tone, he blatantly ignores me, I have to raise my voice to get this grown ass man to stop harassing Newt. This disregard resulted in Newt flipping so bad he is now totally unhandleable I have to wear bulky headphones a loose sweater and a hood because he will launch to bite anyone to moves right now. Thanks for that genius.

Explained how scents will kill the birds, please smoke outside away from any open windows, wash your hands// air off before going near the bird room so the smoke residual doesn’t kill my pets. Does a mostly okay job at smoking away from windows, for whatever reason thinks smoking outside open doors is fine though? No attempt to ensure he doesn’t reek of cigarette before going down near the bird room. No effort not to kill my animals.

All my animals are clean and well maintained to the best extent an animal can be. He will pet sham then immediately make a snarky statement about him being gross or having to wash his hands now bc gross, smell his hands and huff away to wash his hands before resuming something dramatically. Just don’t pet him then? He’s a dog.

Finances:

We paid for everything for the first chunk with 0 need for payback because we wanted to help him out. Get some new clothes, the basic hygiene stuff, cover one tank of gas so he can hand out resumes. A startup base to get back on your feet with. Anything past that point that he asks for from us was agreed upon to be paid back whenever possible. He owes us over $1000 currently and has paid us $10 to take off of that debt. It’s been two months, he got a job within the first week. The only other payment has been the $200 rent agreed upon for the second month. Anything else he has ever “attempted” to pay us back with he would ask for it back within 8 hours.

Which wouldn’t be the biggest issue if not for the fact that: he has gone out drinking at bars every weekend, got a new girlfriend and has been buying her stuff/ giving her gas money/ paying her bills just for funsies, he started eating out and refusing to make food with the Free Stuff We Supply. He has the money to spend and pay us back. He just won’t.

Wasting, Everything. He showers twice a day every day. Our water bill has gone up $150 on his water usage alone. He will make a huge plate of food then just leave it sitting out all night and throw it away. He will cook 6 eggs at a time for himself then not finish it consistently. Make Less Next Time or USE THE FRIDGE.

He leaves every single light on and I don’t mean oops I left it on when I came upstairs and forgot. I mean he will leave at night to go to the bar and leave four lights on, the computer running and everything on high to go out for 4-6 hours. I am now acting like the parent of a child having to listen for his car driving away to go down the stairs and shut everything off god forbid my hydro bill pay the price and the birds be stuck with lights blaring keeping them awake.

We are flat broke right now, we have run ourselves dry, we made it very clear that past the first batch of purchases we got for him his expenses were his responsibility. He has asked for gas money every week since the start. He will make up some story about his car just burning through gas “it must be broke !” “Just filled it now sure how this happened???” For the first bit we went along with it adding it to list he owes us for but it quickly became a clear habit so we stopped. IMMEDIATELY started guilt tripped and being manipulative about it. Sending pictures of a car on E on the road after we said no, going “well where’d that 10$ I gave you go?????” Being super pushy and not taking No I don’t have money to give You as an answer.

Keeps wanting to do the grocery shop with this undertone of “I want to do the shop without you there so I can over buy things we don’t need and you’ll have to foot the bill for it” constantly mentioning things like expensive meats he wants to eat, buying excess of things we already have in the house, brands and things we cannot afford. Initially I interpreted his offers as kind like oh this is a hard task for me he wants to help! But this one day he was supposed to do it but we were out of pizza sauce and I was literally in the middle of prepping the dough so I just ran out and did it. He was So Mad that he didn’t get to do it like sir? Wtf was so important about groceries that I’ve foiled your plans here? What the HELL were you going to do?

Jack also smokes, if you buy x amount of cartons you get them cheaper so they were going to buy x amount and split the bill together. Dude smoked like 5/6 cartons all by himself. To add to this I have found his cigarettes all over my front yard from him smoking in his car and throwing it in to the grass, also some left at the side door instead of the ashtray that’s right the fuck there. On top of that half of these are still like full cigarettes? Just completely wasting shit that’s already a chaotic price for a habit he certainly can’t afford.

Habits:

We’ve had alcohol sitting in our house since our wedding. We don’t drink much but every now and then we celebrate something and have a nice night together. It’s nice having the booze sitting there for those random times we can have some fun without spending any money cause it’s already here. He drank a full bottle of vodka, rum, gin, kahlua, and wine within the second week of being here. It was all gone in a night.

He is incapable of flushing his own toilet. Every morning after he leaves for work I have to do the round shutting off the lights and discovered that he just leaves his shit to ferment all day long. There is piss splash all along the seat and surrounding floor. It reeks like a porta potty. It’s fucking disgusting.

Lies about it every tiny little thing, pretended I just didn’t buy two chocolate bars I mustve only gotten one and that’s why only one is in the pantry now. I found the wrapper on the floor of his room for that bar. Says he’s staying in this weekend doesn’t want to go out drinking can’t afford it then immediately goes out. Says he has no money for gas he can’t be doing anything then goes to drive to a fro around town for no reason other than to just drive.

Gotta love the casual bragging about all the “chores” he’s done so we should be grateful (he washed his own frying pan he used and the whole house needed to know about it)

Weaponized incompetence. Ohh I didn’t know the dishwasher was clean! There’s a giant sign on the front that says clean. Deliberately messing up cookies he wanted to make four times for his coworkers so that I would have to do it for him (that didn’t work, enjoy bringing gross cookies in, magically he made them perfectly the next time)

My all time favourite of “I think I’ll do X!” And then standing in the kitchen staring at me waiting for me to get up and do it for him. Boy does he every huff and puff when I do not move and just go “enjoy” when he starts asking 20 questions back to back to trigger me to just do it myself it’ll be easier I instead just go “idk” “try asking google”. Suddenly he’s capable of doing the thing with no further questions.

Claims to be a neat freak, will make an underhanded comment about dog fur or a bird poop on the couch or some other very small not a big deal thing then fails to even keep his bedroom clean. I have had to clean up sticky coffee spills from the hallway, deep clean the stair he covered in mud and clay, his room has no visible floor, need I mention the state of that bathroom again? Neat freak my ass you just want to complain and talk shit without sounding rude?

Dramatic gagging sounds whenever he sees a bird poop. Pretended to “help” by picking up a dog poop (which we didn’t ask him to do it’s our dog we’ll clean it) and then dramatically fake vomiting the entire time until one of us walked over took the bag from him and did it. Our dogs are on raw, the poops are small and have very minimal smell. No one asked him to do this if you were truly this bothered by poop you would just not. You just wanted to make a scene. About how Gross our animals are cause that seems to be all you do in a day.

Keeps going out the side door to smoke in the middle of the night then not locking the door when he comes back in.

Goes out every night drinking then spends all day bitching about not getting enough sleep

OH MY GOD I can only take Advil for my migraines bc of my heart medication. We have Tylenol for everyone else. HE TOOK THE ENTIRE BOTTLE OF ADVIL IN ONE FUCKING NIGHT. So I’ve been stuck with debilitating pain and no pain relief because it’s expensive as fuck. The bottle of Tylenol was also half chugged down by the next weekend. We will not be buying more.

Any and all leftovers I have from cooking for myself and Jack (I cook meals for all of us if he’s home but if he’s not I won’t bc who knows what time he’ll show up) he just eats without even asking. Most of the time the leftovers are for my flare up days so I can eat when I’m in pain. He’s been told this. He doesn’t care. If there is food pre made he will consume all of it it doesn’t matter if it’s way too much for one person to eat. He’ll just leave it out all night for a week to rot in the basement. Otherwise the only thing he will cook for himself is eggs. Expensive. We no longer buy eggs he can buy his own to feed that expensive diet choice.

Common sense not to use metal on things like frying pans and baking sheets. I inform him of this anyways, do not cut directly on my pizza pans. It will make them rust and no longer be non stick. These are new. Don’t damage them. He was supposed to be home for home made pizza, didn’t show until like 2am. I left cooking instructions with the dough pre set up for him just need to put on toppings bake and serve. I left a note saying “do NOT cut on tray” he cut on the tray. This was the second time. Both trays are permanently damaged. My notes were found in the oven burnt. Thanks for the fire hazard.

Complains about there being insects in the basement (there’s the occasional spider and we’ve had some rain so the occasional little wood bug is piping up the escape the rain) it just needs to dry and they’ll be gone. It’s a basement. There’s gonna be some spiders n shit. Bitched about there being ants. I’ve never had ants in this house anywhere, lo and behold leaving his food out all over the damn room attracted them. Told him this fact. He goes no it couldn’t possibly be that and demands to use chemicals (bird death so NO). Eventually got him to bring up his dishes and BEHOLD the ants are all gone.

Bitched about it being cold in the basement, (it’s warm enough for my tropical parrots?) we bought a second space heater for him. Yet he doesn’t use the spare blankets down there at all, still complains about it being cold. It’s the pit of summer. I’m not turning the central heating on??? Use the damn blankets????? Move the space heater closer to you????? Close your bedroom door??????????? This space heater has been left too close to flammable objects on no less than four occasions so far. It’s like he wants my house to burn down.

He kept wanting to be involved and help the house so we were having a bbq and asked him to pick up some small things we needed like a case of beer and some buns. He left and never showed back up. He then ate the leftovers of five burger patties and seven hotdogs which we were hoping to eat after pride all in one sitting for breakfast.

Ah yes, continuously eating the last of something and informing no one that it’s gone. Had no pickles for the bbq cause he ate them without telling anyone, numerous times I’ve been ready to do something just to find out there’s no cheese in the fridge bc he failed to notice it used the last of it and replace it with one we have in the freezer, eating all the prepped ingredients and putting empty containers in the fridge. It’s not hard to tell someone something is getting low, add it to the list, write it down, or literally anything other than eat the last of it and make it someone else’s problem later

Anywho this whole setup is shit, if we don’t get money by his next check we’ll be cutting ties and telling him to find a new place by the end of the month. This is getting ridiculous. Every day he’s asking for money while talking down to us and talking shit about our pets or our home all the while making no effort to pay what’s owed.

[gogogodzilla]

𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟼, 𝟸𝟶𝟹𝟷, 𝙰𝙼 𝟶𝟷:𝟹𝟼:𝟸𝟾

Summary: What appears to be a series of robberies escalates and brings you closer than you'd like to both Cyberlife and Gavin masterlist ✩ ao3 ✩ wattpad ✩ previous chapter ✩ next chapter ✩

Your days start and end with Gavin Reed. Well, your work days at least. You’re free of him most weeknights unless he gets called in, which is exactly what’s happening tonight.

“Damn, sweetheart. How much does Cyberlife pay you?” Gavin asks as he looks up at your apartment building through his front windshield. 

“Enough,” you grunt as you hop into his car.

He rolls his eyes, “So, you’re filthy rich. Good to know.” 

The radio plays in a low hum as Gavin navigates through the Detroit city streets. He taps impatiently on the wheel. 

“So, what do we know?” Gavin grumbles, his eyes darting between the road and you. 

You pull out a datapad that you received a few days into your partnership with Gavin, thanks to the DPD. You scan over the case file one, forcing your tired eyes to focus. 

“It’s strange. For the past few weeks, the perp has just been targeting convenience stores. It’s quite a jump to target a Cyberlife warehouse,” you sigh as your brows furrow. 

Gavin rubs the side of his face, “They’re escalating, that’s for damn sure.” 

“Do you think it’s more than one person?” 

He thinks for a moment, “Has to be. There’s no way just one person can pull this off.” 

“Maybe it’s an initiation of some sort? The convenience stores were just a test and this is the real thing.” 

“That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?” Gavin raises a brow as he looks at you out of the corner of his eye. 

You hum, “Maybe, but we have to consider all of our options. We’re no closer to catching whoever did this than we were two weeks ago.” 

“Wow, Doc, I had no idea that we were making absolutely no progress in this case, thank you for this enlightening information,” he quipped, rolling his eyes. 

You resist the urge to smack him upside the head and choose to look out the window instead. Minutes pass by in tense silence and before you know it, Gavin is pulling up to the warehouse. The scene is lit up by the flashing lights of various other police cars, and Gavin parks in an unoccupied spot. You wordlessly exit the car, and the scene buzzes with activity. Various officers are scouring the scene for evidence or talking to the guards on duty tonight. 

“Let’s start inside, we can work our way out from there,” Gavin suggests as he leads you inside the warehouse. 

You scan the inside of the warehouse— various crates are opened with their lids thrown to the side with a trail leading to the exit on the far side of the warehouse. 

Gavin leads you to another officer, a young woman with short brown hair. “Chen, what the fuck happened here?” 

Officer Chen sighs, “The bastards were in and out like damn ghosts. The security footage is all scrambled. we’re trying to work through it, but it’s gonna take time.” She holds out her hand to you, “Tina Chen, I don’t believe we’ve met.” 

You take her hand and introduce yourself, giving her a grim smile. “What did they take?” you ask as you survey the scene once again. 

She looks at the datapad she had in her spare hand, “Mostly just parts. They were in and out in less than 10 minutes, so they must’ve known what they wanted and where to look.” 

“Thanks, Tina. We’re gonna take a look around,” Gavin sighs and Tina nods her goodbye. 

As you walk away you pull Gavin to the side.  “This doesn’t look good for me, Reed. We’re in charge of finding these people, and now they’ve directly targeted Cyberlife,” you hiss as your heart begins to pound in your chest. 

Gavin’s eyebrows furrow and he raises his hands, “Whoa, calm down, sweetheart.” 

“Calm down? The perp went from robbing convenience stores to a high-stakes operation against Cyberlife, and you want me to calm down?” you question, the pitch of your voice rising with each passing second.

“If anyone’s going to be targeted by Cyberlife, it’ll be me. All you’re supposed to do is watch, remember?” he assures as he places a hand on your shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze, ensuring you’re looking at him. “Take a deep breath, and calm the fuck down, sweetheart.” 

You take a few deep breaths and run a shaky hand through your hair, forcing yourself to save your freak-out for later. “I’ll check with the representative from Cyberlife, and see exactly what was taken. If we know what they were looking for, maybe we can figure out the motive,” you utter, collecting your thoughts. 

Gavin nods, giving you a once-over. “Alright, I’ll talk with some other officers, and see if I can figure out the point of entry and exit.” 

“Come find me when you’re done,” you instruct and Gavin nods once again. He turns on his heel and joins a group of officers on the other side of the warehouse. 

You seek out the most professional-looking person at the crime scene, who happens to be a woman wearing a pantsuit and a Cyberlife badge talking to a police officer. Her back is facing you, but she turns her head as you approach. Your steps falter as you’re face-to-face with the coworker who sent you to Charlie’s on your first day at Cyberlife. She dismisses the officer she’s talking to with a wave of her hand, and a smug look graces her features. 

“Well, well, look at who decided to finally show up. I was worried when I didn’t see you at the office for a few days, but then Graff told me about this little project of yours,” she sneers and places a hand on her hip.

You press your lips into a thin line, “Hello, Emily, great to see you as always.” 

“What do you want, anyways? Shouldn’t you be gallivanting around the crime scene with your boy toy instead of bothering me?” 

“Officer Reed is one of the leading officers on this case, and I happen to be his partner,” you grit out. You pause for a moment, taking a few breaths before continuing, “Regardless, I need to know specifically what parts the perps took.” You ignore the way your cheeks heat at her insinuation. She rolls her eyes but takes a look at her datapad. You’re slightly surprised she’s willing to indulge you, and you attempt to mask the way your eyebrows raise in response. 

“Looks like they were targeting specific components— high-end biocomponents and advanced processors. Not your run-of-the-mill parts, and definitely not cheap.” 

You can’t help the automatic tilt of your head as your thoughts begin to race. Android parts usually sell for a decent amount of money, so anyone lucky enough to sneak into the warehouse normally wouldn’t be picky. They could make a decent payday no matter what they chose. This perp was different, though. Maybe it isn’t about the money? 

“Hello?” Emily calls as she waves a hand in front of your face, bringing you abruptly back to reality.

You blink rapidly for a moment before looking over at her. “Thanks for your help,” you murmur before walking away. 

You can’t help the flare of annoyance at Emily’s attitude that comes over you as you walk away, but you shove it aside for another time. You have a case to solve, and you’ll have plenty of time to ruminate about it later.

Gavin’s waiting for you by the time you finish your chat with Emily, and he looks up at you as you return,  a questioning look at your obvious change in demeanor. 

“What’d you learn?” he questions warily. 

“They targeted specific and expensive parts. I’m starting to think that this was an inside job.” 

“What?”

“Think about it,” you huff, “the perps knew what parts were the most expensive, and they knew exactly which crates to find them in.” 

Gavin scans the surrounding area, and you’re right. Only a few select crates show evidence of tampering. 

He rubs his chin, “That’s what Brooks mentioned. Some of the stuff in here costs an arm and a leg, but they didn’t even touch it. Not to mention the security system.” He pauses for a moment, lost in thought. “It isn’t about the money, then. The perp is doing something else with the stolen parts.”

“Exactly.” 

You can’t help but feel a small surge of pride as Gavin easily follows your train of thought. Maybe he isn’t as lousy as a cop as you suspected. 

“Maybe this isn’t related to the convenience store robberies? I mean, this is Detroit. We’re not exactly short on crime here.” 

You frown, not fully convinced. “Maybe… I still think we need more evidence.” 

Gavin sighs, “We can regroup in the morning, but, for now, I think we got all we can.” 

You nod and he leads you back to his patrol car. Officers have slowly started to filter out of the warehouse, leaving the two of you and a few stragglers. 

You crank the heat as soon as you get comfortable in Gavin’s car. You hold your hands up to the vent for a few moments before relaxing back in your seat, exhaustion finally catching up to you. 

Gavin begins driving you back to your apartment and a comfortable silence falls over the two of you. You watch as the cityscape passes by, neon lights of various buildings brighten the night sky. 

Gavin clears his throat, “What happened between you and that Cyberlife chick? You didn’t seem completely thrilled to be talking to her.” 

You raise a brow, “Were you watching me, Officer Reed?” 

You grin as he sputters for a moment. 

“It’s my job to be observant; besides, the look you had on your face when you met back up with me wasn’t exactly friendly,” he defends himself, his gaze glued on the road. You sneak a glance at him in the light of the passing streetlights. You could’ve sworn you saw a tinge of red dusting his cheeks. 

You shrug, “She’s the one who tricked me into going to Charlie’s. We haven’t really gotten along since.” 

You decide to keep Emily’s comment about Gavin being your “boy toy” to yourself. At least for now, you can save yourself a little bit of embarrassment. 

Gavin hums in acknowledgment but says nothing. 

“What? No quip about me having to interact with the equivalent of a high school bully,” you joke, attempting to ease the tension that had settled over the car. 

He chuckles, “No, just can’t say what I want to say.” 

You raise a brow, your grin widening as you tease him. “Don’t worry, this is a safe space.” 

Gavin huffs out a laugh in response, and before you can urge him anymore he pulls up to your apartment building. 

“Do you want me to walk you up? It’s late and dark out,” Gavin questions, looking around the desolate parking lot. He avoids your gaze as you hop out of his car. 

Your apartment building has one of the most well-lit parking lots in Detroit, and you furrow your brows for a moment. 

“No, I think I can make it. Thanks, though,” you can’t help the smile that graces your features. 

You’re about to shut the door when Gavin calls your name. You hold onto the door frame and bend down to look at him. 

“Just, uh… fuck,” he grunts and runs a hand down his face. He looks down at the center console before meeting your eyes for the first time since you left the warehouse, “That chick sending you to that bar is the reason we met, so, I dunno… Maybe don’t be so pissed at her for that.” 

You tilt your head to the side, giving him a small smile. 

“Goodnight, Gavin,” you say softly before shutting the door behind you. 

Warmth floods your chest, and you’re nearly giddy as you ride the elevator up to your apartment. As you lay in bed, you replay that moment in your head. 

Maybe being partners won’t be so bad. 

[omniwhore]

Ways to trick yourself to Go Outside

@thelostones-world asked about some ways to battle the AuDHD urge to stay in cave tm nd get the delicious outdoor stimulation

I decided to do a full blown post in hopes that it might help others, so here’s a few suggestions for

when you don’t wanna go out but know it would make you feel better

- ✨splish splosh water on face✨

In effort to feel less dissociated nd foggy and more in touch with your body and needs, I recommend something that helps me come back into my body - go to the bathroom and splash your face with cold/room temperature water.

Additionally you can put on a skin cream or moisturizer to further ground yourself nd reconnect with feeling physically present in your body.

This should help you feel more ready to spring into action!

- 🌤️open window sniff the air🌤️

One way to trick myself into being excited abt leaving the apartment nd going outside is to open a window and just,,, stare outside, feel the sunshine or the wind on your skin, smell the fresh air, listen to the hum nd sounds that are suddenly that much closer....

It helps me remember the good feeling of being outside and feeling so happy and stimulated and grounded. Then I just remind myself that more of this is only a couple steps away!

- 👚prepare an outfit in advance👚

Another way to trick yourself into being more amenable to leaving the house is to take time the day prior to prepare the outfit you’ll wear.

Aim for whatever you’d like to prioritize - comfort/safety, your favorite style that you want to show off, something you've been waiting for an excuse to wear, or something that reminds you of the location you want to visit.

(ie. goblincore outfit for a walk in the park, cottagecore outfit for a farmer's market, academia outfit for a library visit or a café study/art/reading session etc.)

Having an outfit already put together that you can just slip into gives your brain less opportunities to chicken out - and can help you get hyped up for whatever you're about to go do!

- 🌸gamify your outings🌸

Give yourself a mission (instead of writing down "go for a walk" in your planner, write "go on foot to {location} and back" or "walk outside for {n} minutes" or "collect 5 fallen leaves").

Boom! Now your brain won't get overwhelmed by ohmygod there’s so many things I could be doing what about we just abandon it altogether???

You have a mission to focus on. And when you're done, it's up to you whether you wanna keep going or whether you wanna head back home. For me, even a 10 or 15 min walk can make a big difference if I haven't been out for days.

- 📒plan things ahead of time📒

I always found meticulous planning vry comforting for my autistic side. It makes it significantly easier to psych myself up for something involving leaving the house if I let myself know that it's happening at least three days in advance.

Think about sitting down with a planner or a plain notebook, or your phone calendar (so handy! can include pings, map routes, and any additional info u might need to complete the mission!) and brainstorming some activities you'd like to do outdoors!

- 💚make plans with others💚

Hanging out with your friends in person if you can is a great way to make yourself show up, and is generally super good for your brain!

Idk about you, but if I told a friend I’m gonna be there at 5, I am gonna be there at god damned 5!!!

- 🎟️purchase tickets for events🎟️

Check facebook, reddit or whatever neighborhood (online) space you can come by for free or affordable events in your area!

Whether the goal is to be around people nd feel less anxious/alienated, or to just feed your brain some delicious stimulation at the museum or a pop up market, purchasing a ticket for an event can hold you more accountable to show up!

(Again recommend sitting down and planning at least 3 days ahead as to not have a meltdown abt the stress of figuring out the logistics)