#actually it's 25 because it counts as part of the new season but that seem awfully confusing so it stays 24 here

[bronzebluemind]

It’s been 0 weeks since the World Cup finale, 17 weeks to go until sgp and 34 weeks to go until next season.

[easypeasylindyvesey]

I Think it’s Strange We Never Knew: Jimmy Vesey x fem!OC

Summary: After the unforeseen death of Abby’s boyfriend, one of the NHL’s star defenseman and her teammate, she severely struggles with managing her grief. She confides in Jimmy Vesey, who is not only another teammate of hers, but is one of the very few people she has a strong friendship with. That is until that night and the days that followed. Does this life-altering news change the trajectory of their personal perceptions of each other? Or does it entail a chance of crossing boundaries for the risk of moving on?

Word Count (excluding title and heading): 34,491 (whoops)

*(General) Warnings: (foul) language, mentions/discussion of death, suicide attempt (brief, closed door description), eventual confession of feelings, grief, panic attack(s), angst, eventual sexual implications but no smut, age gap

*Note: This story takes place in the future. Abby is 24-25 and Jimmy is 33-35.

APRIL 2027- part 1 (warnings: mention/discussions of death, grief, panic attack, angst, (foul) language)

Burnsville, Minnesota is a beautiful city. So much architecture, so many buildings, there’s literally everything you could have ever imagined. It’s only 15 miles from Minneapolis, so there’s even a greater opportunity to explore the sights. Only I wasn’t here for that.

I stand in front of the hotel mirror in my black halter top and black dress, with my black shoes, and my black purse, and my black, charred heart. Today is Ryan’s wake, and tomorrow is the funeral. His family wanted to wait until the season ended to arrange services so there would be more availability. The flight here did not feel real in any circumstance. God, I wish I could’ve boarded that plane with better reason.

I’ve been to my fair share of wakes and funerals. Actually, that’s a lie. Probably only 2 each. It’s because I’ve never experienced that much death in my life, that much mourning. Not until today. I mean, what are you supposed to converse about with people besides the dead body in front of you? Oh, I forgot. Ryan will be in an open casket. That just makes me even more terrified. I know that reaction is not going to go over well. Luckily, the wake is going to be broken up into groups of people so that the room is not completely bombarded, with family and close friends given the first look.

I never mentioned how terrible my sleep schedule has been these past few weeks. I’m going to bed around midnight, some nights close to 3:00AM, because all I can think about is him. His laugh. His voice. His hands and how they’d gently interlock with mine or hold my face. His continuous yet ridiculous rants. Fucking everything about him. I still can’t shake it. It doesn’t help that I’m living with another man.

Living with Jimmy has not been incredibly challenging. We don’t tend to speak much throughout the day. He knows I want to stay grounded in my solitude, but he always says he’s here if I need him. The sentiment is appreciated, but he needs to stop thinking I’m gonna fall apart in one motion. That already happened. It’s just disintegrating a lot slower than I thought it would. I pass the time by sitting out on the private balcony in my room. Listening to the city sounds somewhat helps, and I can get some fresh air. Maybe look for him in the sky. I haven’t found an earthly sign that he’s trying to communicate with me yet, but I’ll be damned to find one.

The car ride to the wake can be described using my favorite word: quiet. The two of us are sitting in the front of a rental Mercedes Benz, and I gotta say that this car is incredibly sleek. The seats are comfortable, there’s a lot of space, and it’s fast. It’s really cool, to be honest with you. Jimmy’s driving, again, because when does he not in this case? I don’t think he seems to mind it. He’s wearing a light blue button down and black dress pants with matching shoes. He’s gently holding onto the wheel as if he makes too abrupt of a movement, he’s gonna ruin the car somehow. Another thing that I can finally enjoy about the silence is that he’s stopped giving me those secret glances. I think he’s taken the long-awaited hint. For a man with a Harvard degree, you’d think he’d pick up on it faster.

We pull into the funeral home parking lot and back in to a reserved spot. The car gets put in park and Jimmy leans back in his seat, unbuckling his seatbelt before letting out a quick sigh. I see him look up at the moonroof and then back down at the wheel. I shift in my seat to look at him. His face is flushed and his right hand is shaking in its place on the overhead compartment.

“What is it?” I say quietly. I don’t want to freak him out. I already know he is.

He lets out another sigh, only this time it’s ragged. “It’s just a lot,” he breathes.

Now it’s my turn to give him my best puppy dog eyes. “I know,” I reply. “We can stay here for a few minutes. It doesn’t officially start till 1 anyway.”

“Y-Yeah, yeah, that’d be good,” he says, reaching into the cupholder to retrieve his water. I watch him open the cap and swallow 4 times before putting it back on. He’s nervous. But he’s acted so calm prior.

I stare out the main window. It’s been drizzling on and off so far today. I guess Mother Nature really wants to bring the appropriate weather on this type of occasion. At least it’s not pouring, or thundering, or anything like that. I would hate for the sky to have a meltdown today. I’d rather have it come in waves. Slow progression can still anticipate the worst.

I notice strangers making their way into the entrance of the funeral home. That’s when it starts to feel real. They don’t look familiar to me in any way. For all I know, they’re friends and extended family of Ryan’s that I never got the chance to meet, though he talked about them to no end. It was nice being able to hear about people in his life. I guess they meant a lot to him too.

I hear the engine turn off before Jimmy lightly taps my elbow, causing me to flinch. “Sorry,” he says in some form of a hushed whisper.

“It’s okay,” I mutter.

“You ready to go?” he responds.

“Not really,” I reply, “but I don’t think I’ll ever be.”

Jimmy opens up the drivers side door, so I take it as a sign to open up mine. I shut it behind me and he locks the Benz before we walk across the parking lot. The chill in the air did not help my nerves. In fact, it only made my heart feel colder. Currently, there’s no light that would bring it back to life.

He opens the door and lets me go in front of him before shutting it. We make our way to the reception area where we sign in. We’re gestured to a smaller room, I guess to wait in, before we actually go see Ryan. With the exception of Ryan’s family, they’ve only limited 8 guests at a time with 20-25 minute intervals. Given how many doors were closed, we’d be waiting a little while.

Of course the room we walked into was where the team stood, Lavi, the rest of the coaching staff, the equipment manager, everybody. I gotta say, they did a good job at organizing who goes in each room. I would rather be in a room full of familiarity than mystery.

My heart wrenches seeing the team. I haven’t seen them since my birthday celebration. I never ended up going to the mandatory team meetings, never responded in the group chat, never reached out individually. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. But now I’m faced with those incorrect choices when they all stop and look at me.

“Hi,” I say meekly. “It’s, uh, it’s good to see all of you. Sorry I haven’t contacted any of you until now.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lavi replies. “We’re just glad everyone’s here together.”

I nod. “Yeah, uh, me too. Do we know how long until we go in?”

“There’s three rooms of Ryan’s friends and family ahead of us, so I’d say about an hour,” Chris says. “We tried getting in one of those rooms, but I guess they’re putting family first.”

I scoff. “We’re his family,” I mutter. “Bullshit.”

I make my way to an unoccupied chair over near the bar area and sit down to rest my already aching feet. I gotta say the rooms were set up really nicely. There were couches and chairs and a mini TV with a little fridge. It was spacious, but with everyone crammed in this room, I felt claustrophobic. I take a deep breath to control my bubbling frustration.

Quickly, everyone forms little groups to converse with. Yet, here I am on the outside looking in. I don’t think they’re avoiding me intently, more just giving me space. Again, I respect it, but it’s not like I’m gonna throw a hissy fit in this very moment. Or maybe it’s because they’ll know I won’t want to talk. So I pass the time fidgeting with my bracelet. Yeah, I chose to wear it. I guess I can see the ‘R’ as a reminder that he’ll always be linked to me in some sort of way, even if it’s no longer physical.

I watch Jimmy caught up in a conversation with Vinny and Laffy. He seems a lot more relaxed now. His face has returned to a normal color and his hands stopped shaking. Instead, they’re just swaying at his sides. I notice his watch reflect onto the ceiling light. He cracks that tight-lipped smile. It’s crooked, and it’s awkward, but it’s what makes him, well, him. It eases me to know he doesn’t feel restricted the way he did a little bit ago. He doesn’t have anything to release his anxiety, but for all I know, it’s pent-up inside getting ready to burst at any given moment. Jimmy’s always been calm, cool, and collected. There are times where I’ve seen him visibly frustrated and have a little bit of an attitude, but it would last for a short time before he returned to being even-tempered. He’s not the type of guy to yell and raise his voice when he’s upset. You can talk about anything with him and he’ll always listen before responding. He barely interrupts when someone talks and is always looking for a way to help if the person wants it. Sometimes, I really want to pick at his brain, wonder what he thinks, wonder what his true perceptions are of someone. He’s got the words, he’s got the awareness, and he’s got the right way on how to deliver the message. However, I can’t help but think if he has one person that he’s able to talk to about anything and everything. Given the current reality, I’m afraid he’s suppressing himself so that he can be there for others. All I know is that I would not want to be there when, and if, he blows up. I’d be scared.

I keep my distance from him for now. He seems content. I don’t want to disturb it. I feel that I’ve disturbed his life already anyway.

I stand up from the chair and make my way to a more comfortable looking seat, AKA the couch. It’s white with gold specs. It’s really fancy for a funeral home, I must say. I’m afraid to even scuff it up with my shoes, so I refrain from crossing my legs. I just sit there like a frozen statue, waiting for one of my worst nightmares to come true.

Thirty minutes have passed, and conversation is still flowing with the occasional light laughs and quick transition in topics. I’m staring at the door now, waiting for him to walk in, tell everyone it was all a trick and he faked everybody out. I’ll kill him myself before he’d even get the chance to admit it.

[redwineconversation]

Amandine Henry Le Progrès Article (April 25, 2023)

I think when you've been in a relationship for this long, the breakup is always going to be bitter and messy. Both sides feel a deep sense of betrayal akin to heartbreak because of the other's actions.

That being said, there is no outcome where Henry doesn't look like an unprofessional dick in this scenario. Mindblowingly unprofessional from a player who prides herself on being the opposite.

Amandine Henry sidelined due to conflict with Olympique Lyonnais

The 33-year-old midfield, whose contract with Olympique Lyonnais is up end of June, is on sick leave while the club currently refuses to release her to join Angel City. She no longer wishes to play out of fear of injuring herself and compromises her contract with the Californian club. [Le Progres] having reached out, Sonia Bompastor clarifies things.

What is going on with Amandine Henry? The Lyon player, who should have already returned to the field after having injured her knee at the beginning of March, suffered "a little setback in her comeback," Sonia indicated on April 16 in the postgame following the Olympique Lyonnais victory over Paris FC (2-0). That day, the head coach OL Feminin confided that she hoped to have the return of her No. 6 player within the next couple of weeks. Since then, no news.

For cause, as this saga goes beyond the medical aspect. "Amandine was ready to return to the group this week," Sonia Bompastor confessed. The Lyon coach explains the actual complicated situation between the club and the 33-year-old midfield, who is on sick leave two months before the end of her contract. And tells the story from the beginning. In January, during the preseason and bonding camp in Sables d'Olonne. "We discussed her future at that moment. At the time, she had several options: extend with Lyon or go elsewhere. At the end of February, she comes to me and tells me about a project with Los Angeles franchise [Angel City], for a contract of 3 and 1/2 years. She asked me what I thought. I told her it's great, from a sporting pointing of view and as a lifestyle. She seems rather relieved by my reaction," Bompastor remembers.

Bompastor: "I am shooting myself in the foot if I let her leave"

And she continues the story: "Following that, she comes back pretty quickly to see me and tells me that Angel City wants her immediately. She asks me to let her go before the end of the season. I told her that she is an important player, that my team is better with her than without her, and that it was impossible for me to let her and that I wanted to keep her."

Then comes the quarter final in the Coupe de France against Reims, on March 4. Henry injures her knee right at the end of the game. "She came very close to a devastating injury. Everyone was really afraid [of the worse]. Thankfully, only the interior lateral ligament was affected," Bompastor relays. Who, once again solicited by Henry while the latter was rehabbing, maintained her stance. But proposed nevertheless to the player to touch base again after the quarter finals of the Champions League.

Eliminated by Chelsea at the end of March, Lyon is no longer in the running for a European trophy. But the Coupe de France and the league remain to "save" their season. Meaning two significant confrontations against PSG, on May 13 and 21, for which Bompastor is counting on Henry.

It remains to be seen if the emblematic No. 6 will participate. The situation seems to be at a stalemate, no agreement having been reached between the player and Lyon, each refusing to move from their position. Amandine Henry refusing - for the moment - to play, in order to avoid injuring herself and putting her contract with Angel City at risk.

Up to the point of taking the risk of not playing between now and the end of May? And compromise her chances of being part of the list of 23 players chosen by Herve Renard for the upcoming 2023 World Cup? "Obviously I hope things will sort themselves out. As a former player, I understand her from a human perspective. But as a coach, I also have to defend the club's interests. And from a sporting aspect, I cannot let Amandine go: she is always present in the big matchups. I will be shooting myself in the foot if I let her leave," Bompastor concludes.

[huggingkrobus]

Your Voice Makes My Ears Bleed

[ ❥ ] PAIRING: Shane x fem!Reader

»»————-　♡　————-««

[ ❥ ] SYNOPSIS: Shane just wants a night alone at the bar, but God, you just won’t shut up.

»»————-　♡　————-««

[ ❥ ] WORD COUNT: 1.6k

[ ❥ ] WARNINGS: A sprinkle of angst.

[ ❥ ] INCLUDES: Enemies to lovers :0

[ ❥ ] REQUESTED: Yes

[ ❥ ] NOTES: Unedited, read at your own risk (edit: this is part 1 and I cant think of anything to write for part 2 lol help)

»»————-　♡　————-««

“9:25,” read the clock.

Like a hostile reminder: “Hey, you’ve been here for hours. You’re really wasting your life away, aren’t you? God, so pathetic.”

He wished he could smash that clock. Throw it to the ground and stomp on it. Probably get a piece of glass stuck in his shoe, then he’d have to buy new ones. That’s the only reasonable thing he could think of as to why he shouldn’t throw that clock off the wall right then and there: he didn’t have enough spare cash for new shoes.

The black-haired boy sat glass in hand, elbows propped against the familiar hardwood. Glossy and warm, accustomed and preciously glazed. Hundreds of rings sat dried on the shine of the bar. He knew they were all his. No one else ever sat there except him.

Maybe Pam. She came there a lot. Maybe she and Shane could have been friends if they’d talked sooner. Now it’s just weird, feels wrong. They’ve gone so long without talking that it’s just a silent agreement between the two of them to leave it at that. So they do.

Today, Pam got to the Saloon after Shane. Not too long after, but it made him feel bad. He never got there before her. Was it this bad?

It was so late at night that he wasn’t expecting anyone else to pay a visit to the Saloon, but the door creaked open again and, in stepped a taller girl beaming with youth. Some may have even described her as ‘perky.’ In fact, Shane was pretty sure Leah actually had.

“Evening, Gus!” you spoke excitedly. Shane cringed and wondered how anyone could be that way willingly. So bright. It’s 9:30 at night, tone it down.

“Good evening. Can I get you anything?” Gus gave his usual spiel while washing dishes to prepare for closing.

You leaned down onto the bar, tipping your straw hat slightly upward to get a better look at the menu, “Hmm,” you stared, scanning every line before looking back at Gus, “You got any Sashimi tonight?”

Shane rolled his eyes and tried not to scoff loud enough for you to hear him. Sashimi? Why would anyone like something like that? It’s just raw fish, how could something get worse than that?

You must have heard him anyways because when he looked back in your direction to continue eavesdropping, all he saw was your eyes looking at his, eyebrows pinched downward with what was either annoyance or anger. He was too drunk to tell.

“You got something against Sashimi, chicken boy?”

He looked at Gus, trying to avoid any sort of confrontation, but Gus didn’t look back. He was busy working.

“Of course, I have something against Sashimi. It’s raw fish and that’s it. How could anyone ever in their right mind-”

And that’s when he noticed you were laughing. A soft and joyful laugh. He was confused.

“I was kidding, I don’t care. Everyone’s got different opinions, I don’t mind. This isn’t even for me anyway. Pierre has had a Sashimi craving for days now, and I can’t seem to get my hands on the stuff.” You looked at him with what he tried to recognize as a sincere smile. All he felt was embarrassed. You looked back at Gus, “So, you got any Sashimi?”

Gus scrubbed a dirty plate and looked disappointed back at you, “Sorry kiddo. We were selling some last night, seems you missed it,” He paused briefly to turn off the sink and dry his hands, “Thankfully for you, I should be getting some more fish soon if Willy hurries up. That man’s been having a rough season, can’t seem to catch anything lately.” Gus leaned against the bar after speaking.

“Yeah, I heard about that. Real shame. Real early spring isn’t good for fishing I’ve heard. The cold’s going away and the fish don’t know where to go.” Gus nodded slowly in response.

After a brief pause, he spoke up again, “On the subject of fish, tonight’s special is fish taco if you’re interested. Might as well eat something before you leave.”

A smile grew on your face, “That sounds great Gus, I’d love one if you don’t mind.”

Gus turned around to begin preparing the taco, “It’s my job!”

Shane tuned the rest out. Boring conversations about things he doesn’t even pay attention to. He picked out a few keywords like ‘Saloon’, ‘coop’, and ‘video game.’ The cheerful and politeness of it all made him almost sick to the stomach. The word ‘chicken’ really brought him back to focus.

“Coop should be done tomorrow!” you started, “Then I’ll head to Marnie’s for a chicken or two.”

“And these are your first chickens?” Gus asked.

“Yes sir!”

“Shane here is an expert at all things chickens,” Gus pointed slowly at Shane while grilling a fish, “He may not look it, but I assure you he’s the guy to go to when you have questions.”

You glanced back to Shane with what he thought was a scowl in his drunk mind, “I don’t know if he’s the best to go to for advice,” You looked back at Gus to point at Shane, “Look at him,” you attempted to whisper, “I think I got this.”

And he knew that was personal. It’s not like you didn’t know each other. You definitely did. And that’s what made it hurt more. Your history wasn’t good, but it was long. Sophomore year of high school, chemistry class. You sat right next to each other. A copy and paste next to a guy in a stained hoodie. A recipe for disaster.

Your teacher was too dumb to see that this was a bad idea.

You hated him because he talked about chickens too much. He hated you because your lip gloss smelled like cupcakes, and it made him want to throw up. You hated him because his boots always had dirt on them. He hated you because your thousands of pens and highlighters always spilled onto his desk.

We could go on.

It was the little things at first, but they piled up fast. Before Shane met you, he was sure he would never have the heart to kill someone with his own hands, but by the end of the year, he was quite certain he was capable of murder.

You had no reason to hate each other now. Sure, you still wore that lip gloss, and sure, he still talked about chickens too much, but most of the stuff he hated back then had faded, right?

But when you said what you had said he knew you were no different. Old habits die hard, he guessed.

Usually, he would choose to ignore it. But this time he was drunk. And he was very bored. And you looked extra punchable today.

“I’m right here,” he said.

You smiled devilishly, knowing precisely what you were doing, “I know.”

“You think just because I’m a sad drunk you can say stuff like that to me and it won’t affect me,” He stood up from his barstool and drank the rest of whatever alcoholic contraption was in his glass, “You think just because we’ve been doing this for years that it’s still okay? I’ve been trying to change you know,” he moved closer to you, and you backed away as much as you could on a barstool, “Clearly you haven’t. I thought you’d be mature enough by now to have realized that’s not okay. Now that I’m an adult and I’m not okay. We’re not teenagers anymore.” his speech barely slurred, and as he began rounding the corner, he could feel it.

The dizziness kicked in, and he knew it was coming. His stomach churned, and before he could think, he ran out the Saloon door to the closest trash can.

And he vomited. This taste was familiar to him; the sourness that coated his tongue. It was a part of the routine. Get mad at yourself, drink, get mad at the world, drink, vomit, repeat.

His stomach felt empty. He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket and sat on the stairs of the Saloon. The door creaked open behind him, and you sat down next to him.

“Hey.”

He didn’t respond.

“I’m sorry about that. Seriously.”

He didn’t even look at you.

“I didn’t think you’d get that hurt by it.”

He didn’t even want to look at you.

“I mean, you talk about chickens a lot, so I guess it’s pretty obvious you’d get hurt by a comment like that.”

Maybe it was the embarrassment.

“Still, I’m sorry.”

Or maybe it was because he hated you.

“Shane.”

Or maybe it was the sound of your voice.

“Christ, Shane, stop being so childish, why won’t you-”

And so he did the only thing that would shut you up. Maybe if he thought about it more he would realize that after he did it you would talk even more. Thinking ahead wasn’t his forte.

He kissed you. Quickly, only for a few seconds. But he put his lips on yours without thinking and it didn’t feel wrong.

He was the one to break away. He kept a hand cupped on your cheek for a few seconds until you pushed him away to speak.

“Goddamnit Shane, you taste like vomit!” You yelled, standing up from the stairs to walk a few feet away from where he was sitting. You crossed your arms, “Why did you do that? Do you hate my voice that much?”

“Read my mind.”

You rolled your eyes and stormed away, “Jesus Christ, you are insane.”

And so he sat on the cold, concrete stairs. Alone.

He’ll apologize tomorrow.

»»————-　♡　————-««

[ ❥ ] ~ HUGGING KROBUS

[princess-of-riviaa]

Claiming

Pairing: Walter Marshall x Erin Quincy (1st person POV)

Summary: You experience your first heat as a brand new shifter. Walter, being the good alpha he is, helps out his struggling omega.

Warning(s): depictions of animal attack, age gap (Erin is 25, Walter is 38), alcohol use, a bit of angsty Walter, dirty talk, possessiveness

Author’s note: This is my first piece of work I made for the ABO Universe. I hope you guys like it!

Word count: 3,931

Two weeks ago, I’d been on a camping trip with my two step-brothers, Scott and Chris, when my life had forever changed. One second, the hiking trail had been clear and safe; the next, some kind of animal was jumping out of the brush and fighting my breakfast sausage out of my hands. I later learned that the animal had been a wolf, but that realization only came when I had my first Shift three days later.

Though the night had escaped my memories, when I woke up in an unfamiliar mansion to an unfamiliar group of faces the next day, they filled me in on the details. The man in front—tall, with deep brown curls that were almost as distracting as his thick, muscular shape—had told me that I had Shifted the night before and ended up on their doorstep. And yes, Shifters—not werewolves, as most fantasy books called them—were real, Walter informed me during my surprised silence.

Walter Marshall—that was the stunning stranger’s name. He was an Alpha of one of the two packs that lived in this mansion, and I was more than welcome to join them. I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around what had become of myself—and I knew better than to hope that my family would understand—so I accepted the generous offer.

I had been with the pack for three weeks now. Winnie Marshall, Walter’s twin sister, was the Alpha for the mansion’s other pack. Walter had found me first—he had actually been the one to stop me from giving into my animalistic instincts on the night he found me, and had been the one to bring me in from the pouring rain—and technically had claim to me. But, because I hadn’t officially been claimed by him, Winnie argued that she had as much right to me as her brother did. So she took me under her wing. She’d explained everything to me, been there in my moments of panic and embarrassment to assure me that everyone goes through this, and it’s not going to last forever.

The only other two people in the house that were my age were two betas. One of them, a young man named Mike (though everyone called him Mikey), was the center of attention at the mansion, though he surprisingly had his eyes set on the quiet girl who loved books. Her name—I met her last, simply because she’d locked herself in the library for a week-long reading challenge—was Amber Connelly. As the only other beta under the age of thirty, she had an… interesting relationship with Mikey. And by that I mean they were both head over heels for each other, though they only ever bickered, and neither of them seemed aware of the others’ feelings. But they never acted on their feelings, and no one ever expected them to, simply because Mikey was Walter’s Beta, and Amber was Winnie’s, and packs didn’t mix, especially if their was a chance of a Claiming.

Claiming—that was the part of all of this that had intrigued me the most. It started with a bite. One person had to bite their partner directly over the heart, hard enough to leave a scar that would be there forever. In another sense, one wolf had to mark their partner as their territory. It was possessive in every sense of the word, and I couldn’t deny that deep down inside of me, I wanted to share that intimate, lifelong promise with Walter.

It was insane for a number of reasons. Not only had I met the Alpha just a few weeks ago, but I wasn’t even officially in his pack, and a Claiming with an Alpha would make me second-in-command. There were a few steps I would be skipping if that happened. Not to mention that Walter Marshall was the only unclaimed Alpha over the age of thirty-five in the entire city, and there was a reason for that. I didn’t know the details, but I knew it had something to do with his past. Our age was another factor. He was almost 40, while I had just turned 25.

And yet, here I was, wanting his mark anyways. He was quiet and reserved enough to make him mysterious, and that only pulled me in more. In the first week I was there, I found any way I could to talk to him, mainly to thank him for giving me a safe place for this new season of life. But he had disappeared with Andy and Charles Barber—two Beta brothers—for an entire week. Winnie had only said that they were taking care of business on the other side of the city, but when the three men came back, there was a darkness to all of them that told me whatever they had been doing… It hadn’t been fun.

Walter was harder to reach in the days that followed. When I would knock on his office door and ask him if he was able to train me today—something both he and Winnie insisted on their packs doing in their daily routine—he would snap and order me to leave, the sound of his growl following me out the door. He apologized for his behavior three days later, and bought takeout from my favorite restaurant to make it up to me, but I still couldn’t forget that side of him. The side of him that turned his soft blue eyes completely black. The part of him that was all animal, only selfishness and cold edges.

And yet, even after all of that, I still wanted him. I’d lost count of the number of times I’d woken up panting in the middle of the night, rising out of a dream of those blue eyes looking down at me as he fucked my throat, making me gag and cry around his cock. The sound of my own moans had forced me awake before dawn this morning. The memory of Walter’s intense gaze holding my reflection’s as he fucked me in the bathroom had followed me all day.

I was still wound up as I made my way to the game room. The smell of alcohol was strong throughout the house. The packs were celebrating Walter and Winnie’s thirty-eighth birthday tonight, and everyone, it seemed, was intent on getting blackout drunk. There were three kegs in the living room. It took Shifters a lot longer to get drunk, so I wasn’t surprised to find that the kegs were already halfway empty by the time I filled a cup for myself.

But I was surprised to find Walter perched on the roof when I made my way up to my regular hiding spot. He didn’t look over at me when I climbed onto the roof, but he didn’t seem startled when I took a seat beside him, and I knew his Shifter senses had probably heard me before I’d even climbed up the stairs that led up here.

“I see you stole my hiding spot,” I remarked as I took a sip of my beer.

“This way my hiding spot first, actually.” There’s amusement in his eyes as he looks at me out of the corner of his eye, but the amusement is only a cover. I note the darker emotion hiding beneath, and I recognize it instantly. It’s the same thing I’ve been feeling since my first Shift.

Loneliness.

“So technically you stole it from me,” Walter continued, giving me a ghost of a smile.

Though the air was light between us for once, I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “Why are you hiding on your birthday?”

He sighed and looked out at the valley below us. The city lights reflected in his eyes, making the blue in them sparkle. He chugged back the rest of his beer before answering, “I’m thirty-eight tonight.”

“So I’ve heard.” The light tone was clearly forced, but I continued anyways. “Congratulations.”

His long fingers parted thick curls before he clutched the roots of his hair and squeezed, looking frustrated and… defeated. “I’m thirty-eight—and I still don’t have a goddamn mate.”

Oh.

I didn’t know what to do. Part of me was more than ready to say, Take me. Claim me. I’ll be your mate. But I knew that was overstepping. I didn’t know how to comfort him.

“Walter—” I began.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t burden you with this. I think I’ve had a few too many drinks.”

We both knew that was a lie. He was too collected to be drunk. Everything—save for his brutal honesty—screamed completely sober.

“I just…” He went on, then stopped himself.

I put a hand on his arm and had to physically force myself not to lean into the warmth of his body heat. When his blue eyes met mine, I nearly lost control. God, I wanted him. I wanted to ran my hands through his hair; wanted to know the way his moans sounded as he filled me up; wanted to feel his mouth on me—

I shook my head in an attempt to clear my mind. “It’s okay,” I told him. “You can tell me.”

He hesitated.

“You’ve been there for me since I got here,” I pointed out. “It’s only fair that I do the same for you.”

His eyes scanned my face, and I got the feeling that he could see into my soul. It unnerved me as much as it made me want to bear myself to him. He finally said, “You don’t owe me anything, Erin. I was being a good Alpha.”

“You let a stranger into your home,” I argued. “That qualifies as more than simply being a good Alpha. There’s other packs in the city, yet you were the only one who opened your door to me. And you’ve let me stay here when you could have just as easily sent me away. You’re not just a good Alpha, Walter, you’re…” I almost said, you’re everything, but I caught myself.

But the way he looked at me… I had a feeling that he heard what I didn’t say.

“And maybe you think I don’t owe you,” I went on, “but I want to be there for you. I want to give you whatever you need.”

His eyes left my face to stare at the hand I placed on his arm. He reached for it, and at first I thought he was going to push me away, but he simply held my hand between his own. He opened my fingers and stared at my palm as if he was going to tell me my future. A thick, calloused finger traced across the lines on my palm. The touch was simple and gentle, but it made me shiver nonetheless.

“I’m the only Alpha in the city without a mate,” he finally admitted. “That fact has never bothered me before. I always liked being on my old. I thought I was better that way. It was enough always having to keep an eye on Winnie; I never had a want for someone else to look out for.”

“But now…?” I guessed there was a “but” in that sentence.

His focus was locked on his fingers as he traced the outline of my hand. Something about the way his rough skin felt against mine… It made heat stir in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t realize I had started to lean into him until there was just a few inches of space left between us.

“But now,” he finally said, and sighed. “Now I find myself wanting something I don’t know if I can have.”

“A mate?” Why couldn’t he have that?

“You.” He finally met my gaze, just as the words clicked in my mind.

Heat made my cheeks burn bright red as I repeated his words. “M-me? What do you mean?”

“I mean I want you.” His gaze was unapologetic, yet the twist of his mouth… I could tell he was fighting some internal battle. “When I first saw you in that back alley, hiding under that shed from the rain…”

I was silent as he spoke, simply because I’d never heard all the details of what had happened that night, and Walter was the only one with that memory.

“I had Shifted too,” he admitted. “The pack Shifts together on full moons. The Omegas and some of the Betas are less overwhelmed by it if we’re all together. But something had drawn me away from the pack, like some string had pulled me out onto the streets…”

Only once he said something did I realize that I did remember a part of that night. It wasn’t a memory of what had happened, but rather… a feeling I had gotten. Like someone had been calling my name and I had gone in search of them.

“I’d never experienced anything like that before,” Walter continued. “And when I found you, shaking from fear and the cold… I knew I had to do something. The urge to protect you was overbearing. So I brought you home. I told myself it just from the intensity of the Shift that I felt like that, but when you Shifted back the next morning… I knew I couldn’t just let you walk away. So I told you to stay, and I knew that if you had said no, I would have done anything to change your mind.”

“Walter…” My voice was a quiet whisper as my thoughts began to race. “Do you think… That feeling… I felt it too. Is that what…”

“What having a mate feels like?” he guessed.

All I could do was nod. Somehow I already knew the answer, but I needed to hear him say it.

“Maybe.” When his gaze met mine, I realized he looked as lost as I felt. “I couldn’t say one way or another; I’ve never had a mate. But if it is…” He finally dropped my hand, only to cup my face and pull me towards him. “Listen to me, Erin. Even if…” He paused, as if he was struggling to say it out loud, too. “Even if we’re mates, that doesn’t mean you have to choose me. You can walk away. Hell, you can even…” He practically flinched at these words, as if saying them was a physical blow—“You can even choose someone else. Another man. I’m not going to force you into anything.”

I didn’t know what to say. “I think I want another drink.”

Disappointment flashed in his eyes, but it was gone in a blink. He rose to his feet, insisting that he get it for me. I watched him walk away. He took four steps—and froze. His entire back went rigid, too stiff for a human. His Shifter instincts had picked up on something.

I froze, wondering what was happening, what he had picked up on.

But he merely turned to face me again. Slowly. “Erin.”

I tried to sense his source of distress, but I couldn’t pick up on anything. The only thing I picked up on was how that look in his eyes sent heat straight to my core. “What is it, Walter?” I was on my feet and closing the distance between us in a matter of seconds.

“Don’t move!” he practically yelled.

I paused, almost jumping at his volume.

His eyes were wild, frantic, looking like an animal caught in a trap.

“What’s wrong?” I asked again, resisting the urge to reach out to him.

“Do you know what’s happening to you?” Every muscle in his body was taut as he asked the question.

I frowned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He simply said, “You’re going through heat.”

Oh.

Winnie had explained that to me on one of my first days here. She’d said it happens to every female Shifter. Her hormones—particularly the horny ones—exploded, and every male Shifter around her could sense it. Apparently, it drove the males as crazy as the females, though it was dangerous to be an Omega—specifically an unclaimedOmega—around any Alphas while in heat.

That’s why Walter wasn’t moving, wasn’t even breathing: he was trying not to pounce on me and take what he wanted. What we both needed.

All those dreams about him… They finally made sense. I was preparing for my first heat.

Only once he brought it to my attention did I realize just how hot I was. My heart was hammering in my chest, flames boiling beneath my skin, and—god, when had I gotten so wet?

“Walter…” My voice was a high-pitched whine.

“You’ll be okay.” He didn’t sound convincing in the slightest. The look in his eyes matched the relentless ferocity rising in my core.

God, I needed him. “Please…”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “I can’t, Erin. We’re both unclaimed. I won’t be able to control myself—”

I took a step towards him—and practically cried out. The burning in my core—between my legs—it was unbearable. I needed to ease the ache inside of me. My hand moved of its own accord towards my legs, and before I knew it I was touching myself over my jeans.

Walter’s eyes were locked on my hand. “Erin… you’re killing me.”

“Please, Walter,” I begged, my body no longer under my control. “I need you. I can’t breathe—”

That was when he kissed me. He wasn’t the first person I had kissed, but he felt like the first person who mattered. Our mouths molded together and I moved against him in a way that said, I’m choosing this. I’m choosing you.

“God, I can smell you,” he breathed into my neck, his low voice nothing more than a moan. “You’re already wet for me, baby.”

All I could do was moan as he pressed me against his erection. His mouth trailed down my neck, over my clavicle, and stopped over my heart.

“I want you,” I cried out as I ran my hands through his hair. “Mark me, Walter. Please.”

He brought his mouth to my chest, but he didn’t bite me like I expected him to. Instead, he brushed a soft kiss against my skin. I whined as he pulled away and moved me from his lap.

“Did I do something wrong?” I panicked, feeling like an idiot—

“No,” he assured me. “You’re… god, you’re perfect. But I’m not about to fuck you on the roof. I doubt you’ll want the entire neighborhood to hear you moaning for me.”

My face flushed instantly, but I didn’t say anything as he rose to his feet and pulled me inside, not stopping until we were in his room. An Alpha’s room was a place very few people ever saw. It was more intimate than a regular bedroom; it was stepping into his territory, walking onto his turf, and I knew that something had permanently changed between us as I crossed the threshold into the room.

The room was rather simple. A king-sized bed was pressed against the left wall. The crimson sheets were the only color in the room. The right side of the wall had a desk covered in files and papers. Newspaper clippings hung above it, stamped into the wall with thumb tacks. I didn’t have a moment to read what all the papers were about before Walter distracted me.

He arms wrapped around me as he lifted me up in the air. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist. I clung to his shoulders, but he held me easily, as if I weighed no more than a few pounds. The show of pure strength did nothing to help the wet mess between my legs.

Walter walked us to the bed and lied me down on my back. He hovered over me but didn’t move to touch me. The longing and lust in his eyes was so vibrant, so undeniable, that I writher beneath him.

But his tone was calm as he said, “I need to ask you again. Is this what you want, Erin?”

“So much,” I breathed before pulling him against me.

His thigh moved between my legs, and he deepened the kiss as his leg pressed tightly against my core, applying pressure where I needed it most. Though our hands ran along each other’s bodies in a hungry frenzy, he kissed me differently than he had on the roof. It wasn’t rushed or desperate this time, but rather deep and slow and just as sensual. My toes curled.

I cried out as his mouth moved to my ear. He nipped at my earlobe—an action that sent shivers through my body—before whispering, “What is it, baby girl? What do you want? My fingers?”

I writhed against him.

“My mouth?”

Oh, fuck.

“Both?”

A wanton moan escaped me before I could stop it.

“Or are you already too desperate? That’s what it smells like to me. My little omega’s falling apart and I haven’t even touched you yet. You’re already desperate for me to fill your aching cunt, aren’t you, baby girl?”

His tone was different than I’d ever heard it. He spoke in a low, husky voice, and his tone was teasing but demanding at the same time. It made me dizzy.

“Already forgotten your words, omega? Has the heat gotten to your brain?” He buried his face in the crook of my neck and rubbed his nose along the skin below my ear. He was scenting me. “Or is it your Alpha who’s gotten to you?”

Instead of answering, I clawed at his clothes desperately, trying to undress him in my lustful haze. He allowed me to take his shirt off, though he undid his pants himself. His body… how was he even more impressive naked? I took one look at those sculpted muscles, at the dark swirls of hair that covered his chest and stomach, and knew that that was the kind of body that put the gods to shame. His cock bounced against his stomach as he stepped out of his underwear. It was thick and long, and as I watched the red, aching tip release pre-cum, I wondered how I could possibly fit his girth inside of me.

“My turn,” he breathed before moving to hover over me again.

One minute I was clad in my shorts and t-shirt, and the neck my clothes were in shreds on the floor. Walter’s hungry gaze made note of every inch of skin I beared for him, and I was too fucked out to feel self-conscious.

“Fuck me, Alpha,” I begged. “I need you inside of me!”

He growled before spreading my legs and pressing his length against my core. Our lips met just as he pushed inside me, and my nails dug into his shoulder at the burst of pleasure that ripped from me. His mouth was on my chest a second later, and as he kneaded my breasts in his hands, his teeth cut into the skin over my heart.

Claiming me.

...

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[burnedbyshoto]

shinsou and the very terrible, horrible, no good, very bad shift

— You, a new sidekick, screw up a case for a Pro Hero Shinsou, and he demands compensation.

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pairing: older!shinsou hitoshi x younger fem!reader

warnings: age gap (shinsou 25, reader 18), nsfw, 18+, pwp, DEGRADATION, power imbalance, spanking, marking, cursing, shinsou is a major asshole, mindbreak, sorta subspace, happy ending for shinsou, depending on person unhappy ending for reader, public sex, dubcon because of power imbalance

word count: 3,892

a/n: happy halloween. this is mean degradation imo like I thought ive done degradation but this made all those look like praise kink. be careful and click out if its too much

kinktober day 20 main kink: degradation | kinktober masterlist

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How you ever forgot that as a high school hero-in-training student, you were a big fish in a tiny pond was beyond you. Well, to be quite honest, you never thought yourself to be a big fish, to begin with.

You were eighteen, a few months from turning nineteen and had just graduated from the hero course over at UA. That in itself was a huge accomplishment, one that you should take with bubbling pride and joy, but to be quite honest, having such a big name attached to you only made you nervous. To tell the truth, you often wondered just why a hero within the top 50 even scouted you to work as an intern with them and then offer you a position as a sidekick as soon as you entered your third year. Still, it seemed to be a common predicament with BMI Hero: FatGum.

Today was your first day on the job, no longer a student part of a hero work-study, but as a physical, government paid hero — a fickle sidekick! You shuddered as you slipped on the shoes to your outfit, your teeth gnawing at your bottom lip as you made your way out of the locker room, ready to report to your first assignment.

FatGum agency was quite a lovely place, loud and warm, being the first two adjectives you thought of when you first joined their ranks. It did wonders for your self-esteem, and seeing newly turned Pro Hero Suneater, who apparently was a million times more of a nervous mess than you were, made you feel oddly in good hands.

But still, nothing could keep you from the shock that ran through your body when FatGum proudly thrust forward a patrol route for you to follow.

“Alright, pipsqueak,” FatGum jovially spoke, his eyes closed while he smiled. “This is your route for the day! It should take about an hour to get through unless anything happens! You’ll go on the route every three hours, and in between those patrols, it’s the same paper system as before! Good luck out there, y/h/n, you got this!”

“Oh my god, no, I do not?!” you spluttered, hands shaking wildly as you went through the folder Fat had so quickly presented. “What if I die?!”

“You’ll be fine. Remember how Deku and Ground Zero complimented you the other day?”

“Yeah!” you exclaim, your face burning with your shame as you remembered that confrontation. “But that only happened because Deku is a living saint, and I spilled my noodles all over him and Ground Zero! Ground Zero was also, by the way, forced to compliment me by Deku! And all he said was that my combat skills were absolutely shitty but not as shitty as he thought they would be!”

“Ah yes, I remember Red Riot discussing how his friend was less than inept at expressing his gratitude,” FatGum hummed in memory, although that dumb, proud smile never left his face. “If I remember correctly, that means he has great respect for you!”

You made a dying noise at the back of your throat.

“But Deku doesn’t lie! He speaks honestly, so all his compliments were definitely true. Now, y/h/n, let's get through this day together, ne?”

You didn’t agree, but that wouldn’t stop him from throwing you out to the streets, your heart hammering in your throat as you walked through the path he used to take you on every day. Your smile was shaky and wobbly as the people you recognized waved and cheered you on. They were all excited to see you on your own. 

However, they did point out that you were here an entire hour earlier than usual, but hey! That’s what happened when you went from being a student to trying to function as an adult!

“You’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay,” you chanted as you passed by the spookiest alleyway on your patrol.

The hour-long patrol was almost done if your watch wasn’t lying to you: a full patrol and not a single instance of needing to help. Well, you had assisted some people in carrying groceries and holding a child as a mother shopped for dinner that night, but there were no altercations, nothing out of the ordinary. 

You marched through the alleyway, your fists in a shaky clenched grip as cold, nervous sweat dripped down your neck.

You were okay, you are okay, you will be okay.

“Nothing to be afraid of! Just a normal, average, no villains insight day!” you spoke to yourself, your body shaking as you pass an opening in the alleyway, and you turn your head to look and freeze.

“Alright, and I don’t want fucking nobody hearing goddamn shit about this drug, got it?!” a man with a quirk that made him look like a blowfish snapped.

Six men stood in the alleyway, all with tall, massive, threatening vibes. You didn’t make a single noise; you knew that for a fact, but their gazes still fell on you the moment the man stopped speaking. A horrible, stupid movie cliche that happened too often in hero life.

Your life probably flashed before your eyes at that single moment, your body and mind instinctively moving to call the heroes before realizing that you were the hero now. What do you do?! What could you do?! Drugs?! Did they have drugs?!

Panicking greatly, you watched their mouths move, but you couldn’t hear them as you took in their faces in a blur. Before you knew it, your mind shut down, and your body took over. You weren’t sure what it was. If you were way stronger than the entire group or if you just had an untapped potential that burst open right now, because you blinked and suddenly there were all thrown onto the floor, busted and bloody and tied up.

You… you did it?!

“Oh my god!” you exclaimed, your hands rising to your mouth as you looked at each and every one of their smushed, dirty faces. “I WON?! I won, oh my god, I won — wait?!”

You stepped over to the purple-haired man on the floor, his mouth stuffed with a cloth fabric you probably shoved in there at some point.

“M-Mindjack-sensei?!” you cried, your excitement of betting this drug handoff simmering off immediately. “W-What are you doing? Were you gonna stop this drug handoff? I — oh my god, let me get this off!” You scrambled to get the restraints off of Shinsou, unaware of the way the other captured men glared at Shinsou, utterly shocked and betrayed as you cleared him.

“Thank you for the capture, y/h/n!” a police officer congratulated you as you freed Shinsou, and you smiled, nodding your head. “Is it just four of them?”

You froze.

You had counted six men at first, and with Shinsou recovered, that made five men.

“I didn’t… I lost one of them?” you deflated, all sense of confidence draining you as Shinsou remained on the floor.

“Ah,” the police officer grimaced, his head shaking before he paused and looked up at you with a halfhearted smile. “Well, you still did good work! We’ll see what drug they were talking about, and if it’s nothing too crazy, they’ll be good to go!”

“Yeah, of course,” you smile weakly, feeling ready to cry as you hold onto your wrist.

“But, uh, who’s the guy on the ground?” he nodded towards Shinsou, who was looking entirely pissed off and ready to bite like some cornered, raging animal.

“Oh, Mindjack!” you respond, hands motioning toward one of the other older Pro Heroes you looked up to. 

The police officer stared at Shinsou, an unconvinced look on his face.

“I thought he was… ah, well, old? And didn’t he have black hair?” he muttered before shrugging. You didn’t manage to stutter out your knowledge of the older man with black hair being Eraserhead because he was long gone already, fingers pressed to his radio, chatting with his HQ.

Breathing out a nervous sigh, you turned to Shinsou with a shy and fully apologetic smile. “I am so sorry for hurting you! Are you okay?” you asked, your eyes scanning the older heroes' stance, unable to read anything but annoyance radiating from his body. 

“No, I’m not okay, actually,” Shinsou spat, his face finally looking up from the floor, and you felt your throat run thick at the rage and anger simmering from his face. 

“W-Wha—” you stammer, taking a step back, overwhelmed.

“You just fucking ruined six months of undercover work,” he seethed, his feet moving to stalk towards you. You found yourself stumbling backward, looking everywhere but at him. You can feel your balance giving; the cold filth of the alleyway wall your saving grace as his fingers grabbed your jaw, forcing you to face him. His purple eyes black in his fury. “I don’t think you realized just how badly you fucked up?! You stupid fucking child!”

A wash of ice-cold realization flooded through you, the horror of what you knew you just did completely dawning on you as tears sprung in your eyes. You felt nauseous, utterly sick to your stomach because this seasoned Pro Hero definitely had shit to do, and you practically shat all over it.

“I am so sorry,” you whimper, pain shooting through you just slightly at the grip he has on your chin. “I am so so sorry, i-is there anything that I c-can do?! How can I-I fix it?!”

“You think I need help from some crybaby?” Shinsou snapped, thoroughly unimpressed by you, his eyes narrowing further. You didn’t even realize you were crying already. 

“I-I’m useful, I promise!” you cry a bit more, your body struggling as the older hero trapped you against the wall, his face glowering down at you with the intensity of a million suns. “I-I’m a sidekick over a-at Fatgum’s agency, but, oh fuck, I’m so sorry! I’ll do anything you ask of me!”

There’s a looming silence, a heavy tension as his eyes drop from your eyes to your parted wet lips. He’s much taller than you, and you can feel every heavy breath expelling on your face. 

“You think a pathetic, worthless little sidekick is able to do anything for me?” Shinsou snapped, his eyes narrowing as he loomed even closer. “A pathetic fucking bitch like you? I don’t think you can give me even a simple fucking action that would prove your worth.”

The words are hot embers on your ears, making your jaw drop, and your body trembles at the simple degradation. You feel your tears hot on your cheeks, your parted lips invaded by his dirt-covered fingers as he pressed onto your tongue. It had to be the shock of it, the reality of the hot, hard dick pressing into your stomach and the way he was staring at you like some piece of fucking meat, but you gagged around his fingers.

“Why am I not fucking surprised, you goddamn fucking whore,” he sneered, his fingers shoving faster into your mouth, pressing dangerously hard against your tongue, trying to get you to gag and choke around his fingers. “You fucking sure you’re a fucking sidekick? Look at you, pathetic, stupid, crying like a baby in an alleyway? You’re a hero, aren’t you? Fucking save yourself from this, you fucking bitch.”

You violently shake, your hands finding themselves tethered to his shirt, your head shaking nonetheless.

“Oh, you don’t want to save yourself?” He coos, his expression turning the slightest bit amused, maybe a bit possessive, but it lasts a second. You blink, and anger has replaced the amusement, red streaking in his vision. “Why the fuck not?”

“B-Because,” you strangle, your tongue flat against your mouth, your throat instinctively opening and closing against his fingers. “I said I’ll do anything y-you wanted!”

There’s another pause, and you wait pressed against the wall, your chest heaving with your anxiety and weird turned-on state. Shinsou was a Pro Hero, someone who was eight years older than you, someone you had respected since you were in grade school. Yet, here you were, looking nothing more than a slab of meat to him, a hole for him to abuse in his anger because you had fucked up.

“Oh, you stupid fucking slut,” he laughed, his teethed bared into a feral smirk. “You want this, huh. You want to please me any way I see fucking fit, fucking perfect. Turn around.”

There’s no room to argue or think; he turns you around without a second's notice. His hand shoving your chest into the wall, and you cry at the discomfort. He grabs your ass, pushing you uncomfortably into an arched position as he tears your pants down from your legs.

 “You’re a worthless fucking cumdump. Not even noon yet, and I’m going use your fucking body however I see fit.” Shinsou promises, fingers raking down your supple ass. Nails tearing into your skin, fingers slapping your covered cunt. “You worthless fucking slut, dirty fucking whore, already goddamn wet.”

“I’m n-not wet!” you cry, hips spasming against his rough hold, and slaps to your aching cunt. You know it’s a lie, you know that clear as day, but it doesn’t keep you from lying. Doesn’t stop you from shivering when he pinches at the cloth of your panties and removes them from your sopping wet folds.

“You think I don’t know if you’re wet or not?” Shinsou growled in warning, his fingers pinching together your soaked folds. An action that makes you cry loudly, the sharp pain too much for you. “You think I’m some fucking idiot?”

“N-No!” you cry, his fingers shifting to where your throbbing entrance is and his other hand going to your mouth, once again claiming your lips as his nails purposefully impose pain on your heated cunt. 

“You must think that since you’re lying to me,” he snaps, his mouth pressed to your ear, his hot breaths making your eyes roll to the back of your head. You want to speak up, say something, but his fingers are fucking your mouth, keeping you from speaking back. “But again, you aren’t fucking worth anything, are you? You’re not fucking anything.”

Those words whip against your skin, making you twist in his arms, hot tears pushing past your eyes again as you cry.

“Oh, you don’t like that?” Shinsou comments, his fingers pinching and pulling your tongue, and his hips begin to grind his hot, burning flesh into your ass. “Well, you better stop fucking crying because I’m not gonna stop until I’m fucking done — until I’m fucking relieved. This isn’t about you; this is for me. You aren’t shit, fucking worthless piece of shit whore.”

You sob into the brick wall, the tears unable to be stopped, unable to clear as his fingers that were scraping at your folds begin to fuck you at the same time as he fingers your mouth faster. The sensation of being outside, finger fucked in an alleyway by a Pro Hero you admired and respected beyond comparison, made you tremble with want and need. His cruel, completely degrading words a warm fire in your belly and against your skin. 

The sounds of the wet caverns he was currently fucking begin to echo in the wall, his throbbing cock grinding against your ass. It’s a sensation that makes you cry with need, your ass shifting back to feel him more, to get more from the contact he’s giving you.

“Of course some screwup like you likes this shit,” Shinsou grunted, his fingers fishing and rubbing against the spongy warmth of your walls, fingers scraping ever so gently against the velvetiness. You spasm against his touch, your whiney, pleasure-filled noises filling up the alleyway almost as loudly as the choking and the squelching of your pussy.

His hands suddenly leave your mouth, and you’re heaving at the deserted feeling in your mouth. You whip your head around, trying to see just why he had abandoned your mouth, desperate to please him more in any way he saw fit. But instead, you’re met with the sicky coldness of your saliva spread across your face. Almost instantly drying against your face as your still tear-soaked eyes looked into his dark ones.

“Don’t look so fucking sad, stupid cockslut,” Shinsou snapped, his hand that had been fucking your cunt abandoning your warmth and meeting your face. You whined, unable to come up with words as he spreads your slick against your face. A shiver wrecks your spine, a pathetic whimper at the smell, and the feel of the warm thickness of your slick. “You wanted this, fucking asked me to wreck your worthless holes.”

“I-I’m not sad,” you try to defend yourself, your body shaking as you feel the heated warmth of his cock suddenly between the curves of your ass. It presses heavily onto you, skin twitching and throbbing with its emitting warmth and simmering heat. 

Shinsou pauses, his eyes deadly and threatening as he glares at you. Unamusement heavy in his gaze, his mouth set in a small, teeth-baring snarl. “Then why the fuck are you crying? You think you deserve to be crying right now? No. You fucking worthless slut, you don’t. You ruined my damn shift, my damn case, I should be the one fucking crying. Your pathetic ass is worthless and tried to make my life the same, and that won’t fucking fly.”

The words tighten at your throat, your body trembling as tears continue to flow. His words are white-hot against your skin, and although it hurts to hear it, your cunt clenches in response, slicking even more.

His hand comes down suddenly onto your ass. The slap sharp and stinging, echoing loudly against the alleyway walls as you scream in pain. It throbs, your back contorting as you try to stretch the skin that makes you ache. But Shinsou spanks your ass again, without warning, his hand unmerciful against your soft, swelling flesh. You yelp again.

He spanks again, and again, and again. Each echoing action sending your voice screaming, counting them without even being told, succumbed to him and his every action and thought without needing to be. He spanks you until your ass feels raw and bloody, the bruises undoubtedly forming as he pinches the folds of your dripping cunt.

“Stick your ass out more,” he growls, tugging at the fold, making you stumble. The cock pressing onto the split of your ass feels heavy, and you twitch at the seeping pre-cum dripping onto your muscled rim. The bricks scratch at your face, and you find your ass wiggling out further from the wall, your back arched more as the cold wall sings through the clothes on your breast. “I’m not gonna put more fucking effort into fucking a goddamn worthless bitch than I should.”

And with that, your ass perfectly exposed for him to use and fuck. His throbbing cock presses through your pussy and slams all the way into you.

There were many pains you were used to as an aspiring hero. You were used to being punched, kicked, stabbed, thrown about, etc. Each of those pains were something you had been taught to make feel better, each pain demonstrated to you so that it wouldn’t be the thing that took you out. But there was no training for the way that his thick cock pressed through your impossibly tight entrance. There was no pain that could relate to the white fire of your rapidly fluttering entrance that was trying too hard to keep up with his slamming thick cock.

“IT HURTS!” you shriek, body twisting, tears flooding your cheeks as you feel weak in the legs. Body moments from falling. “It hurts so much! Please! It hurts!”

“Oh? It hurts? It's supposed to fucking hurt you fucking idiot, fucking whore,” Shinsou snapped in return, his hips firing into even faster than before. His massive body practically caving onto you as his cock rockets into you. Unforgiving, relentless, and with the drive to make him cum. Your vision swirls and spins as the pain reaches its peak, your mouth opening, your voice no longer working. But oh, how the saliva dripped from your mouth as his hands abandoned your waist to grab onto your stretched cheeks. He held onto your cheeks like some gag, slamming your head into his chest so your dazed eyes could stare up at him as his menacing gaze bore down on you. “You think this was supposed to make you feel good? I don’t give a shit if you cum. This is for me. I’m not fucking stopping until I’m done using you, so shut the fuck up.”

Your whimper is soft, no longer able to keep up with the pleasure your body begins to reach as the pain becomes one of pure bliss. Your eyes crossing as every thrust of his welcomed cock drives you further and further up the wall. The squelching of your meeting sexes almost sounds like a nursery rhyme. A pleasant noise that makes you giggle deliriously as Shinsou continues to degrade you continues to spout how insignificant you are.

“Your only purpose in your shit life is to be my fucking cumdump, fucking bitch, do you understand me?” Shinsou spat, his thrusting becoming barbaric, stammering in his power and speed. You laugh, your head nodding as you stare up at him with loving eyes, the drool and tears on your face trailing down your throat, soaking your uniform. “Tell me what your purpose is?”

“To be your cumdump!” you laugh, elation bubbling in your chest, fluttering deep around your cunt until you felt Shinsou’s teeth sink into your throat.

The feeling of hot, sticky cum expelling into your cunt feels like blistering euphoria, his heavy, rough breathing on your skin, making you moan softly. Your own orgasm hits, much softer, much more controlled than his as your walls clamp down like a vice around him. Your orgasm is warm, sounding deep within you that you almost didn’t realize you were dropped to the floor.

A soft, pitiful moan sounds from your lip, your eyes focused on Shinsou, who’s shoving his limp cock back into his pants, but his eyes are on the skyline.

“I-I’m sorry for messing up your… your case,” you rasp on the floor. 

Shinsou shifts on his feet, his gaze lingering longer onto the skyline before finally setting onto you. The anger seems to have disappeared, a look of slight boredom but the excitement in his eyes as he leans down over you. You feel breathless when his mouth presses against yours in a short, chaste kiss.

“I think you just helped me keep my cover, slut; maybe you do have some worth,” he laughed against your mouth.

He leaves you there, your body going limp and blackness taking over the moment he disappears.

[scabopolis]

lv au week, day 2: super heroes

Title: superbloom Fandom: Veronica Mars Rating: PG-13 for content, R for swears (Veronica writes in her feelings journal and really lets those swears go) Pairing: Logan Echolls/Veronica Mars Other Characters: Mentions of Mac and Meg Additional Tags: Secret identity (again?! what?), unnecessary epistolary literature (does a journal count as epistolary?), half-baked world building, a vague understanding of superhero lore Word Count: ~1,075 Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7

***

Again, written solely because @cubbiegirl and @marshmellowbobcat are earth angels. I even added a title this time so that MB doesn’t have to come up with one. 

Why did I write this as Veronica’s journal? Mostly because it’s a style which seems to be a fanfic right of passage and I haven’t tried it so...here we are.  

I probably owe a lot to other superhero universes and their world building (as in, referring to them as ‘supers’ ala The Incredibles). What are the full extent of Logan and Veronica’s powers? *shrug emoji*

***

Date: February 15 Tracked a low-level Kane agent to a tourist trap bistro in downtown San Diego. Place was packed. Is this the new thing? Shitty men forget to make Valentine’s Day reservations, so they make them for the day after? 

Thought I had the guy but when I mistimed my pulse he metamorphosed into a cockroach and scurried away. 

Best part of the night was the chocolate mousse I got to-go. Despite appearances within, the food wasn’t too bad. 

Date: February 17 Caught up to Cockroach. Real name is Abel Koontz. Slimy guy tried to escape again, but Mac outfitted me with a souped up Morph Choke as backup — emphasis on the choke. Gonna need to recalibrate that a bit, Mackenzie. 

Bonus! Forgot it was laundry day, so had to wear my backup uni. Next time I run into Meg out in the field I’ll have to ask her if she can see my underwear through it. 

Date: February 18 Finally got around to watching season two of The Boys. Where do they get this shit? 

If Piznarski brings up forming some sort of super team for the 7-millionth time at the summit this year, I’m siccing Clayton on him.

Date: February 21 Got into a fight with Mac. Technically my fault. 

I faded while in public, and look, I get it. 

Being detected while living as my alter would be bad. BUT!! Being forced to interact with my ex as he is on a date with a woman who legitimately looks like she could be my doppelganger is very bad. 

Date: February 22 Clarified with Mac: me fading in public did not worry her. Me tripping Leo on purpose as I faded was apparently a problem.

Date: February 24 Cockroach stood me up.

Date: February 25 For all that is good and holy if another fucking cocky cowboy of a super moves to Neptune, I am going to lose my shit. This newest one? Got in my way as I attempted to track Kane, Jr into a warehouse. Fucking Smirky McCowboy stepped in my way and assured me I didn’t want to follow. Something about a dozen armed guards with guns aimed at the door. MAYBE THAT WAS MY PLAN!

(Because, of course the guy ripped a powers page right out of Superman’s book and has x-ray vision.)

(And, his uni? Not hard to tell when a super has money. They’re always the worst.)

Date: February 28 Ran into Smirky McCowboy again. This time outside of a poker game hosted by a real estate developer with connections to Kane. Smirky said it was a coincidence. 

Still no sign of Cockroach. 

Date: March 2 FUCKING HELL. He beat me to it. AGAIN! How is he doing this? 

Date: March 4 Smirky’s name is apparently Logan. Which I learned because I was getting coffee at Willow Grove (just minding my business while covertly eavesdropping on previously mentioned real estate developer) when some guy sat at my table. Unprompted. Uninvited. UNWELCOME.  

Mask or no mask, THAT SMIRK. 

The more concerning thing is that his x-ray vision apparently sees through the skeletal enhancements Mac wired into my mask, meaning he ID’d me right away. 

Date: March 5 Why do they keep coming here? Doesn’t New York have more crime? Go there!

Mac says it’s my fault for busting the Fitzpatricks, outing Kane as the sociopath he is, and helping all those kids find their lost dogs. 

Okay, she only mentioned the first two, but I think the third has value. 

The point is! these hangers-on need to find their own territory.  

Date: March 6 Mac traced at least 70 arrests to Smirky in the Los Angeles area alone. I hate him.

Date: March 10 If he scoops another one of my cases…

Date: March 11 He calls me Supergirl. 

He calls me Supergirl and I want to punch him. 

Mac says Cockroach’s tracker is still active but the signal is being blocked.

Date: March 13 Saw Meg today. She took down her own parents. Fucking savage. God, I love her. She flew me up to American Plaza and we drank champagne to celebrate.  

Oh! And good news! She says my backup uni isn’t see through. 

Date: March 13 Woke up with this terrifying thought: can smirky see through my uni? 

He wouldn’t...right? I mean...he’s an asshole but I don’t think he’s a creep. 

Date: March 16 I punched him. 

Not for the underwear thing! He swears he’s never looked and I weirdly believe him. 

And I didn’t punch him as much as he walked into a pulse. Yes, fine. 

I maybe purposefully put up the pulse to see if his x-ray vision could detect it. But I didn’t tell him to walk into it. 

(He can’t detect it, btw. I did it a second time just to be sure.)

Date: March 18 Found Cockroach. Or, I guess I should say Koontz. He washed up on Dog Beach as his alter. 

Mac said it could be a coincidence but we both know that’s not true. 

Date: March 19 Did I do this? Did I get Cockroach killed? 

Date: March 19 Logan has very good alcohol. 

Date: March 20 Hangovers. Bad. 

Date: March 20 Logan makes very good pancakes. 

Date: March 21 Logan has seen me drunk, which means Logan must be destroyed. 

Date: March 22 In a certain light, the smirk isn’t so bad. 

Date: March 23 Oh god. 

Date: March 24 Oh god.

Do I like him?

Date: March 25 I hate myself. I’m a giant cliché. I apologize to all women supers everywhere. 

Logan swears he can’t see past the new enhancements Mac made to my uni.

He also asked me to dinner. Was tempted to 1) fade, and 2) run away, but I did neither. 

Date: March 26 Adding insult to injury, Smirky McCowboy really knows how to kiss.

Date: March 27 Mac says I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. 

Actually, what she said was that neither he nor I are all that pleasant to be around so we might be meant for each other. 

Date: March 28 He really knows how to do some other things, too. 

Date: March 29 Logan got me a present: surveillance footage of Kane’s mysterious second-in-command with Koontz the night before he was found.

He’s been upgraded to not the absolute worst. 

Date: March 29 To be perfectly clear: we are not a super team. 

Date: March 30 Logan and I are on surveillance detail tonight. 

Maybe I can convince him to stop for some chocolate mousse. 

[blissful-independence]

Code Lyoko: REvision

I just finished binge watching Code Lyoko on Netflix recently to relive my childhood & forgot how cool of a show it was! While it is an awesome story, some things couldn't stop bugging me that didn't line up. So I revised in a short format the entire series in a way that follows a proper timeline plus what I would've added for the show. I hope y'all like it!

Word Count: 3.3k

Characters

Lyoko Warriors

Jeremie Belpois

Date of birth: 22 February

Age:

Season 1-2: 13-14

Season 3-4: 14-15

Height: 163 cm/ 5’4

Birthplace: Ville de Clichy, France

Family:

Daphne Belpois- Mom

Michel Belpois- Dad

School: Kadic Academy

Grade:

Season 1-2: 4th year (FR)/8th grade (US)/Year 9 (UK)

Season 3-4: 3rd year (FR)/9th grade (US)/Year 10 (UK)

Yumi Ishiyama

Date of birth: 27 October

Age:

Season 1-2: 14-15

Season 3-4: 15-16

Height: 165/ 5’5

Birthplace: Kyoto, Kansai, Japan

Family:

Hiroki Ishiyama-Brother

Akiko Ishiyama-Mother

Takeho Ishiyama-Father

School: Kadic Academy

Grade:

Season 1-2: 3rd year (FR)/9th grade (US)/Year 10 (UK)

Season 3-4: 2nd year (FR)/10th grade (US)/Year 11(UK)

Ulrich Stern

Date of birth: 13 January

Age:

Season 1-2: 13-14

Season 3-4: 14-15

Height: 173 cm/ 5’8

Birthplace: Berlin, Germany

Family

Christoph Stern- Estranged father

Emilia Stern-Estranged mother

School: Kadic Academy

Grade:

Season 1-2: 4th year (FR)/8th grade (US)/Year 9 (UK)

Season 3-4: 3rd year (FR)/9th grade (US)/Year 10 (UK)

Odd Della Robbia:

Date of birth: 1st April

Age:

Season 1-2: 13-14

Season 3-4: 14-15

Height: 160 cm/ 5’4

Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Family:

Adele Della Robbia-1st oldest sister

Pauline Della Robbia-2nd oldest sister

Elizabeth Della Robbia-3rd oldest sister

Marie Della Robbia-4th oldest sister

Louise Della Robbia- 5th oldest sister

Mary Elizabeth Della Robbia- Mother

David Della Robbia- Father

School: Kadic Academy

Grade:

Season 1-2: 4th year (FR)/8th grade (US)/Year 9 (UK)

Season 3-4: 3rd year (FR)/9th grade (US)/Year 10 (UK)

Aelita Schaeffer/Hopper/Stones

Date of birth: 25 September

Age:

Season 1-2: 12-13

Season 3-4: 13-14

Height: 160 cm/ 5’2

Birthplace: Zurich, Switzerland

Family:

Franz Hopper-Father

Anthea Schaeffer-mother

School: Kadic Academy

Grade:

Season 2: 4th year (FR)/8th grade(US)/Year 9(UK)

Season 3-4: 3rd year (FR)/9th grade (US)/Year 10 (UK)

William Dunbar

Date of birth: 11 December

Age:

Season 2: 14-15

Season 3-4: 15-16

Height: 175 cm/5’9

Birthplace: Edinburgh, Scotland

Family:

Thomas Dunbar-Father

Fiona Dunbar-mother

School: Kadic Academy

Grade:

Season 2: 3rd year (FR)/9th grade(US)/Year 10(UK)

Season 3-4: 2nd year (FR)/10th grade (US)/Year 11(UK)

Kadic Academy Students

Elisabeth (Sissi) Delmas

Date of birth:17 May

Age:

Season 1-2: 13-14

Season 3-4: 14-15

Height: 163 cm/ 5’4

Birthplace: Paris, France

School: Kadic Academy

Grade:

Season 1-2: 4th year (FR)/8th grade (US)/Year 9 (UK)

Season 3-4: 3rd year (FR)/9th grade (US)/Year 10 (UK)

Patrick Belpois

Date of birth: 22 August

Age:

Season 4: 14-15

Height: 168 cm/ 5’6

Birthplace: Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

School: Kadic Academy

Grade:

Season 4: 3rd year (FR)/9th grade (US)/Year 10 (UK)

Viktoria Klein

Date of birth: 14 February

Age:

Season 1-2: 13-14

Height: 163 cm/ 5’4

Birthplace: Munich, Bavaria, Germany

School: Kadic Academy

Grade:

Season 1-2: 4th year (FR)/8th grade (US)/Year 9 (UK)

Nicholas Poliakoff

Date of birth: 8 July

Age:

Season 1-2: 13-14

Season 3-4: 14-15

Height: 173 cm/ 5’8

Birthplace: Saint Petersburg, Russia

Grade:

Season 1-2: 4th year (FR)/8th grade (US)/Year 9 (UK)

Season 3-4: 3rd year (FR)/9th grade (US)/Year 10 (UK)

Herb Pichon

Date of birth: 20 November

Age:

Season 1-2: 12-13

Season 3-4: 13-14

Height: 163 cm/ 5’4

Birthplace: Paris, France

Grade:

Season 1-2: 4th year (FR)/8th grade (US)/Year 9 (UK)

Season 3-4: 3rd year (FR)/9th grade (US)/Year 10 (UK)

Season 1

1x01: X.A.N.A Awakens Part 1 & 2

Similar to the original episode in the 3rd season

Jeremie meets Ulrich because of a biology project in Ms. Hertz’s class.

Odd gets introduced as the new overseas student by Jim.

Odd is partnered with Jeremie and Ulrich due to there already being an even number of students.

Yumi’s first year as a student at Kadic is explained when she meets Ulrich at the Pencak Silat class taught by Jim.

This is the explanation for why she doesn’t have friends & why people confuse her for Chinese.

Parallel to the episode, Ulrich and Odd discover the supercomputer and ‘Maya’ when helping Jeremie with his robots suddenly attacking him.

Odd eagerly volunteers to be virtualized first to Lyoko to meet ‘Maya’ following Ulrich when Odd is in trouble.

The boys agree to help ‘Maya’ and try to turn off the supercomputer the following day.

Odd notices Ulrich staring at Yumi while on campus, pushing him to talk to her even if he doesn’t know what happened in martial arts class.

Ulrich apologizes to Yumi for being standoff-ish & wants to continue practicing together.

Sissi gets jealous and follows them around, causing her to get caught in a XANA trap.

This is how she sees the supercomputer leading to the first return to the past.

The group promises to keep everything between them and help Aelita.

Keynotes for S1 storyline

The main goal is to bring back Aelita from Loyko.

Jeremie learns how Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi can feel phantom pains after being devirtualized on Lyoko.

Ulrich learns Yumi moved from Japan just the year prior.

Yumi introduces the boys to her parents and little brother since she has a good relationship with Mr. & Mrs. Ishiyama.

The boys learn how Hiroki is an intelligent kid while mischievous, something Odd takes note of when they hang out.

Due to both their somewhat poor communication skills, Ulrich and Yumi dance around the fact they both like each other.

Ulrich does end up having a girlfriend in S1, a blonde German girl named Viktoria.

Yumi represses her feeling once seeing Ulrich happy with someone.

Sissi and Yumi get into a fight when Sissi threatens Ulrich with exposing his journal to everyone.

A page having details of Ulrich’s feelings about both Viktoria and Yumi.

Jeremie struggles with the balance of Lyoko and the real world, forgetting about his parents to the point they drive to Kadic for a wellness check.  

Odd develops a secret crush on Aelita as time gets closer to materializing her.

The warriors learn about Ulrich’s estranged relationship with his family when Kadic hosts a Family Day. Ulrich is the only one from the group to not have a family member visit.

Mr. & Mrs. Ishiyama has sympathy towards Ulrich and wants to know what goes on with him in his schooling like a parent, even advising on how to help his grades.

Two of Odd’s sisters, Adele and Pauline, come for Family Day.

Sissi doesn’t leave Ulrich alone until it makes Victoria dump Ulrich towards the end of the season.

Yumi is a shoulder for Ulrich to lean on.

When Aelita is finally materialized and done safely with her ability to attend school in S2, Yumi can see Odd’s crush but promises to keep it between them.

Season 2

2x01

On Aelita’s first day enrolled in Kadic Academy for the spring semester, she is linked to Ulrich’s cousin instead of Odd’s.

As everyone comes back from winter vacation, Ulrich notices a new student in Yumi’s class named William.

Hearing from Odd through the grapevine of William, Ulrich isn’t a fan right away especially seeing how close William appears when speaking to Yumi.

Ulrich tries to not be jealous but can’t help it as Yumi seems to be enjoying herself when speaking to William.

Viktoria talks to Ulrich again to catch up, making Yumi internally jump to conclusions.

While in class, Odd asks Aelita to join him to take Kiwi out during lunch.

This confuses Ulrich & (especially) Jeremie, but Aelita agrees to have a breath of fresh air.

During lunch, Yumi introduces William to Ulrich and Jeremie but asks where Odd and Aelita are.

William jokes about Odd and Aelita being a secret couple.

Jeremie doesn’t find this funny and storms to the library.

Ulrich takes this as William being a rude person, a green light to being vocal on his dislike towards him, then follows Jeremie to the library.

Yumi doesn’t appreciate Ulrich’s attitude, following William for lunch.

Aelita and Odd come across an abandoned house called “The Hermitage” and enter the forest.

Aelita feels intense deja vu, suddenly having unknown flashbacks in the building.

Odd finds the place creepy, especially when discovering what looks like a little girl’s room.

Xana. Return to the past. Yumi and Ulrich reunite on a bench during the lunch period.

Yumi tells Ulrich about Odd’s crush on Aelita

Ulrich is surprised but also should’ve seen it coming after thinking

She understands Ulrich’s coldness towards William after the comment.

Ulrich says he’ll be better at biting his tongue and won’t tell Jeremie about Odd’s crush.

Aelita is back in the forest alone, standing in front of The Hermitage.

Keynotes for S2 storyline

Aelita is determined to discover her connection to The Hermitage with or without Jeremie’s help.

Aelita has been rewarded a scholarship to attend Kadic Academy.

William’s backstory of hot-headed comes more to light, specifically with Ulrich in physical activities.

Ulrich tries his best to not let William get the best of him, knowing it will blow up in his face if he does.

Yumi struggles with feeling homesick & out of place from being far away from Japan.

Sissi tries to mess with Yumi’s head about Ulrich and Aelita’s about Jeremie.

Viktoria tries to be friends with Yumi but can’t due to Sissi’s words.

Odd learns to become more mature to better himself after events blow in his face with Aelita.

Aelita is trying her best to be oblivious to Odd’s feelings as she has never been in this situation.

Odd actually does give something to Aelita for Valentine’s Day

Ulrich gives Yumi a necklace

Yumi helps give Aelita as much advice as possible, knowing she is also in the same boat since William came to Kadic.

Ulrich gives Odd advice to back off Aelita because he knows how much Jeremie likes her.

Jeremie finds all of Aelita’s personal information on Franz Hopper’s CDs.

When Odd tries to move on from Aelita, he ends up making regressing back to immaturity with girls as a ‘casanova.’

Xana takes control of the ‘return to the past’ program, causing the gang not to use it in S2.

Jeremie teaches Ulrich how to use the supercomputer first in simple terms for basic things.

Ulrich’s father surprises Ulrich and meets his friends, showing a strong dislike for Yumi, which causes a stronger refit between the two.

Odd tells Jeremie his feelings for Aelita after her almost dying on Lyoko.

There is ambiguity on what Jeremie does with this information.

When it is the end of the year & time for everyone to go home, Aelita stays with Yumi for the over month-long summer break.

Viktoria tells Ulrich she isn’t coming back to Kadic after this year. She also tells Ulrich to go for it with Yumi.

Ulrich decides to spend most of the break with Jeremie in France instead of going back to Germany.

Season 3

3x01

The Warriors come back to Kadic from their summer break, where luckily, Xana hasn’t done anything to harm Earth. A note Aelita takes as Xana, knowing they were apart without a trace.

The Warrior’s all meet in the courtyard as they wait for their new class schedules.

During the break, Jeremie reprogrammed the Return To The Past and added new programs to the supercomputer.  

A new additive is Odd, gaining unlimited laser arrows and flexibility similar to a cat.

Jeremie asks Odd if they could speak in private, going to a bench away from the others.

The two talk about their mutual crush on Aelita and promise to not let it get between them as friends.

Jeremie asks if Odd really likes Aelita and is surprised to hear an honest, genuine response from him for once.

While everyone is waiting under the arches, William comes up at Yumi, eager to catch up after the break.

Ulrich remains distant to William after the constant back and forth, which William has no problem with.

Yumi can see the discomfort from Ulrich and excuses the two of them to another part of the campus.

Sissi catches Ulrich & Yumi holding hands ‘demands’ an explanation but doesn’t actually get one.

After returning back from the core of Lyoko, the talk about adding a fifth member is first brought up.

Keynotes for S3 storyline

Outfit changes for everyone to start the new school year.

Yumi changes her from black all around to a pink skirt, black tights, and a thin long sleeve skull top.

Aelita’s outfit is an updated version of what she was wearing when virtualized on Lyoko. A purple heart baby T-shirt with black shorts and pink tights plus lace-up boots.

Odd is lowkey with his acts of kindness to Aelita.

Ulrich’s mother, Emilia, comes to visit, where she catches Ulrich and Yumi together under a tree. Emilia doesn’t like Yumi right away.

Emilia and Ulrich argue about their distance as if it was only Ulrich who caused it.

Ulrich states how he’s the kid and shouldn’t be reaching out all the time to his parents.

Jeremie and Aelita show Yumi and Odd how to use the supercomputer after a mission where Jeremie cannot use it.

William is initiated as a Lyoko Warrior in the middle of the season.

Yumi is highly vocal against it the whole time because she doesn’t trust him.

Odd and Ulrich help train William to be a better fighter but notice his cocky attitude never changing even after a few Lyoko trips.

Aelita gains the power of foreshadowing instead of Odd getting it back.

Yumi is honest about her feelings to Ulrich after he doesn’t return at all from a mission.

He gets frozen in Xana’s dome.

They finally get together.

Ulrich teaches Hiroki and Johnny how to approach girls respectfully.

Aelita and Jeremie have growing tension from Jeremie’s repetitive stubborn overprotectiveness.

Odd and Aelita grow closer as they expand their creative passion for music.

Jeremie becomes jealous of Odd and Aelita spending time together only to make it worse with Aelita.

William takes Yumi and Ulrich’s new relationship way too hard. He becomes irresponsible when on Lyoko resulting in him getting caught by the Scyphozoa.

Aelita blames herself for William as she hazily saw the mission leading in that direction.

Season 4

4x01

Following Lyoko getting destroyed by Xana, the warriors are on high alert of anything on Earth.

Aelita is the one to find what Franz Hopper sent to the supercomputer to help reprogram Lyoko.

Jeremie and Aelita set up Sector Five and the forest sector first before other parts of Lyoko.

Jeremie improves Yumi’s telepathic ability and gives everyone super sprint instead of only Ulrich. (Aelita with flying)

When on Lyoko to find William, they see he can mimic what Jeremie programmed, such as

His version of flying like Aelita

Getting an over bike like Ulrich

Throw his sword like Yumi’s fans

William devirtualizes all of the warriors

The Warriors think of a plan to handle William the next day.

Yumi and Hiroki get into an argument about Yumi’s diary getting lost.

Hiroki stole it to give gossip for Milly but had it fallen out of his backpack.  

Ulrich tries to help find it, knowing his situation with Sissi last year.

Hiroki gets caught in a Xana trap that smacks him unconscious, causing Yumi to panic for her brother.

Yumi stays on Earth with her parents while the others go to Lyoko to deactivate the tower.

After the return to the past, Jeremie begins looking for a temporary solution for William’s absence.

Yumi, Ulrich, and Hiroki go out for ice cream as all is forgiven.

Yumi tells Ulrich she’ll one day show him what she wrote before they got together.

Ulrich promises to do the same.

Keynotes for S4 storyline

The William Clone is programmed to have adaptive sensors, making him somewhat normal to the unknown person.

Odd’s parents and older sister Marie come visit Odd to watch his short film.

Marie gives Odd advice for his love triangle dilemma.

When it is time for the week of Christmas break, the Warriors find a way to spend the holiday with Yumi to be all together.

Ulrich and Yumi almost break up from a misunderstanding by Xana disguising themselves as each other.

Xana-Ulrich creates an argument with Yumi while Xana-Yumi kisses another classmate.

Odd mischievously submits Aelita’s mix CD for the Subdigitals audition when she cannot make it.

Aelita is grateful to Odd when she is picked as a finalist.

Odd gets kicked out of the group for showing the new exchange student Brynja the factory.

Once back into the group (called on by Jeremie), Aelita and Odd get into an argument that lasts longer than any Yumi and Ulrich fight.

Jeremie is the mediator for Aelita and Odd, telling the two to be honest with each other.

Odd tells Aelita he likes her finally, and Aelita says she doesn’t know her feelings. Jeremie tells her it’s okay if she likes Odd back.

Aelita needs time to think, and the boys give her as much space as she needs.

Jeremie’s cousin Patrick enrolls at Kadic permanently, allowing the two to grow closer as family.

Patrick helps Jeremie come out of his shell a little bit, and in return, Jeremie tells Patrick about Lyoko.

Patrick promises to keep it a secret and thinks Lyoko is insane when sent to be part of ‘Return To The Past’.

William comes back a little bit before the last episode.

Yumi and William have a conversation where he apologizes for his actions on Lyoko and reacting horribly to her and Ulrich’s relationship.

William does a whole apology tour with the Warriors about his carelessness that led to getting trapped by Xana.

Odd and Ulrich are verbal about their distrust for William, especially to his face.

As Aelita finishes destroying Xana and comes back to Earth, Odd is the one to catch her as she cries for the loss of her father.

Series Finale

With Xana now destroyed thanks to the power of Franz Hopper’s sacrifice, the warriors must now turn off the supercomputer as there is no real purpose anymore. To Yumi’s surprise, the rest of the warriors are hesitant to turn it off. Yumi gets upset when everyone but her vote to not turn off the supercomputer and is quite confused by it.

Yumi distances herself from the rest of the group, not wanting to hear what their excuses are.

In an irritated voice due to Yumi being stubborn, Ulrich says he likes being a hero who feels unstoppable. He doesn’t get that feeling on Earth where he struggles in school with parents who are hardly present in his life.

Yumi says encouraging words about how Ulrich is a great person on Earth who cares for his friends and others.

Jeremi tells Patrick and Aelita how he is scared of turning back into a loner after shutting Lyoko off.

Patrick tells Jeremie he shouldn’t worry about that because the Warriors are all really close.

Aelita says they have a bond that can’t be broken even if they all live in different countries.

While in gym class, Aelita asks Odd why he didn’t want the supercomputer to be shut off.

Odd doesn’t want to turn it off then begin to miss it, but he knows it is for the best.

William tells Jeremie they need to shut the computer down after everything that’s happened bad to him.

Yumi apologizes for her stubbornness and hears out everyone's reasoning for not wanting to say goodbye to Lyoko yet.

Aelita talks to Odd about what they could be like in the future.

They never fully say out loud what happens, and there are no hard feelings from Jeremie.

One last hiccup from Sissi resulted in the last return to the past by Jeremie and Patrick. Aelita and Odd are sitting together on one bench while Yumi and Ulrich are under a tree.

[keeptheotherone]

Mecation: Day 1 

Thursday

I once read social media described as an indulgence of the fantasy that others are interested in the details of our lives. I’m indulging in that fantasy this week by blogging about my Mecation under the guise of travel blogging ;)

If you follow me in even the most casual way, you know I’m a nurse. While I’ve enjoyed the vast majority of my 23 years as such, I don’t recommend it during a pandemic. The last 18 months have been the second-worst mental health period of my life, demoted to that position not because of the mildness of my symptoms but simply because at 15 I didn’t have the experience or perspective to realize my life was not, in fact, ruined forever.

COVID increased my personal vulnerability as a high-risk patient and made my job immensely more difficult in countless ways both small and large, but the worst part of the pandemic for me (so far) is it took away all my coping mechanisms precisely when I needed them most. Massage, pedicures, dinner out with friends, travel ... all gone practically overnight. Pre-COVID I travelled all the time--home to my parents’, long weekends by myself (Mecation!), annual visits to BFFs, conferences, tourism, the beach, my birthday, writing trips, international trips ... I always had at least one trip in the works, usually one booked and one (or more!) in the planning stages. 

When COVID started, all my close friends and family except for two lived out of state. One of those two was out of town but close enough to get together, but the other was a few hours’ drive away. I’m single and live alone; it was the most isolated I’ve ever been in my whole life. 

With my bestest friends over 500 miles away, I still feel that way sometimes. I haven’t seen them in a year. If it weren’t for COVID, it would only be 7 or 8 months (I’ve gone every January or February since ... forever). Then again, if it weren’t for COVID, I wouldn’t have been there last September; one had been hospitalized and I needed to see she was all right with my own two eyeballs. I expect it will be at least another 7 or 8 months before we get together again, bringing the total to about 20 months. One year we saw each other 5 times in 9 months, our personal best since college. 

I was alone on Christmas. Oh, I’ve spent December 25th on my own before; I’m a nurse. I’ve worked the night of the 24th or the 25th (or both), or whatever combination that didn’t leave enough time off to drive home. But I’ve never spent the Christmas season without my parents. Sometimes the week before, sometimes the week after, sometimes at my place instead of home, but always together. But last Christmas COVID was raging, the vaccines had just come out but were only available to first responders (I got mine on the 23rd), and my elderly parents didn’t feel safe to travel. So I spent Christmas without family.

Travel was not just a break from my daily routine and the stress of nursing; in many ways, the biggest benefit travel made to my mental and emotional health was giving me something to look forward to.  Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” and ohhh, I was so heartsick last year! Not being able to travel meant I couldn’t visit my best friends of almost 25 years (more than half my life!). Not being able to travel meant I couldn’t lean on my dad or be hugged by my mom. Not being able to travel--and not knowing when I could travel--left this gaping hole in my future, and I had nothing to fill it with. 

I tell you this not to throw a pity party but to explain the significance of the trip I’m on right now. It is only my third this year: my dad and I spent a week in the mountains in February (my depression and anxiety was so bad then that was treatment, not vacation), I took a friend to the beach over my birthday, and now I’m a couple hours from home at a nice spa hotel. (I’m not counting my nephew’s graduation, which was emotionally challenging for multiple reasons, or helping a friend move from Florida. Moving is never fun.)

I started planning this trip in the spring ... May, maybe? You know, after the vaccine rolled out to everyone and case counts were dropping and it looked like we were gonna lick this thing and have a quasi-normal summer by the Fourth of July (yes, I’m American. That date is a proper noun here.). I had switched jobs in November (don’t ask) and gone on mental health leave December 29th, so I felt I owed it to my unit to put in about six months of work before taking any significant time off, especially since I came back at 24 hours instead of 36. That meant September.

I knew what I wanted to do: 4 or 5 days at an all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean. I’d been before and loved the freedom of not worrying about every little expenditure (what can I say, I’m cheap), and a few days of Vitamin Sea sounded perfect.

Then came Delta.

All right, maybe going out of the country isn’t the best idea, I thought. Don’t want to end up with expensive reservations and then your destination closes to Americans, or you make it to your chosen island but can’t get back home. But I didn’t want to fly (ugh, airports!), I didn’t want to drive (rest stops and restaurants and gas stations), and while I thought about taking the train, it didn’t seem much of an improvement (and maybe a downgrade) on flying.

Then a friend mentioned a sleeper car, and I thought yes! That could work! I’ve never been to New England, I want to go to Boston, that area of the country has low case rates and the highest vaccination rates, this has potential! 

Then I looked at the CDC map. There were only four states that didn’t have high transmission at that time (early August, I think; I’d had to wait for confirmation that my time off had been approved): Michigan, Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire. All four had substantial rates of transmission. Hardly ideal, but one thing I’ve learned this year is sometimes you have to make compromises to protect your mental health. It is true it doesn’t matter if you’re happy if you’re dead; it is also true it doesn’t matter if you’re safe if you want to kill yourself. (I’m not suicidal, I am receiving treatment, don’t anybody panic.)

So, now I’ve settled on Maine or New Hampshire by train via sleeper car (Michigan is too far for a 4-5 day trip and RI--meh). Well, as I got deeper into planning, turned out Maine or NH were awfully far too. Far enough I would have to overnight in a major city, which pretty much defeated the purpose of isolating in a sleeper car. Then I found out there were no sleeper cars on either train route.

So, now vacation is 5 weeks away and I’m back at square one. The Deep South, Texas, and Florida are imploding. Pediatric cases are rising--kids are sicker and make up a higher percentage of cases than they did last year. Scuttlebutt from my ICU colleagues is it’s bad--17/30 MICU beds are COVID and they’re all vented. SICU is being nicknamed “the ECMO unit.” The hospital has 18(!) ECMO machines and 12 are in use; the float nurse who tells us that didn’t even know we had 12 because she’s never seen that many in use at one time. Hospital-wide our numbers are equivalent to early February (we peaked in January). There were six--SIX--pediatric rapid responses in one day. 

And I’m going to travel.

It’s a big deal ... a big accomplishment, really, because of what it says about how I’m successfully managing my anxiety. April 1 was the first time I’d been inside a grocery store in more than a year ... and that wasn’t my idea. It was late April or May before I was comfortable eating in restaurants, even with the falling case count at the time. I’m still not sure if I’m managing my anxiety or reacting to the pressure by going to the opposite extreme (I have a history of that), but I know I’m less stressed, less anxious, have fewer obsessive thoughts, fewer physical symptoms, and am learning to live with this disease. 

So, here I sit at a marble-topped 5-foot-wide desk in my queen/queen hotel room at the end of a productive and enjoyable day. I slept in, completed the big goal of this weekend’s to-do list that I honestly thought would take several days, unpacked and organized my room (I arrived yesterday evening), reorganized my Favorites Bar and Bookmarks on my Mac, had an 80-minute aromatherapy massage, enjoyed a shower in the spa afterwards and even blow-dried my hair(!) before wandering around for a while to get the lay of the land and get some steps in (this place is huge!). Then I changed clothes and took myself out to dinner for my favorite food, Italian. 

That’s me in the picture up top, all dressed up :) Actually, I probably look pretty normal to y’all; like most people with depression, my personal hygiene sunk to new lows in the last year and a half, and as a low-maintenance person to begin with, that’s saying a lot. I bought that necklace as a bridesmaid and am not sure I’ve worn it since; this spring was her 10th anniversary. Yesterday I took out the cat-shaped earrings Dad gave me for Christmas. (Yes, they were gross. Yes, I cleaned them. Yes, I’m wearing them again now.) Just wearing a nice top, fixing my hair (no ponytail or claw-clip bun, my staples), and adding jewelry was a big deal ... especially since “no one” was going to see me. I did it just for me, to make myself feel good. And I did. (That’s another small pleasure COVID took away from me--lip gloss. If I wore any makeup at all, it was lipstick or gloss. Utterly pointless when you’re masked whenever you’re in public.)

I took my laptop to dinner and edited a couple chapters of my new Charlie/Amy fic (previewed during #ktoo turns 10), ran a couple errands, and headed back to the hotel since I don’t like to be out late by myself in an unfamiliar city. Forgot I put my receipt envelope in the backseat pocket and reorganized the glove compartment looking for it, then gathered a bunch of returns into a bag in the trunk. Hung out writing in the lobby until my Mac threatened to die, came upstairs and tidied up, put on my jammies, and talked to you guys :) 

[borisbubbles]

ESC2021 Preshow: 20. Estonia

Uku Suviste - “The lucky one”

Semi 2, #02

Going through the motions of 2021′s shitty NF season, it was a given that the critical mass of the “2020 returnees” competing the selections in these would win them hands down. 

So given how much i DISLIKED the offensively boring abomination “What love is”, and how PAINFULLY inevitable Uku’s victory in a decent Eesti Laul (um spoiler for NF corner?) seemed to be, It’s actually a shock I ended up liking Uku? But I do, lol and I’m not apologizing, sorry boos. 

In fact, I was rooting for Uku to win EL as soon as I saw his performance in the semi. “The lucky one”, which suffered from Aggressive Autotune + Forgettable Melody (we need a name for this. I propose Roxen Syndrome?), is legit good live and harps back to the (admittedly better) “Pretty Little Liar”, and that’s good enough for me. 

Of course, I am aware of the obvious ~*SOULLESS HIMBOT FROM THE DREAM FACTORY*~ label attached to this this entry (written by Uku and something called “Sharon Vaughn” are we certain this person isn’t just Kontopoulos in drag?), don’t worry. I rank him twentieth, not seventh. 

Fortunately, Uku is a mandroid from the SAME sweatshop that gave us Lucie Jones a few years back - in other words omfg he’s barely functional. 😍 Droning robot turned incompetent DRAMA KING <333333 The amount of EFFORT that needs to be thrown in to keep a ~pretence of competence~ is the most tangible in the backing vocals, which trail Uku’s like a shadow and STILL his voicecracks come through at key intervals <3

😍😍😍😍😍

The pathos of Uku throwing in high votes he cannot sing and then his voice breaking over the strain each time, gets me, okay? He doesn’t need a crystal ball to show me, baby it’s clear that you don’t know him :SOB:.  So dramatic, so inept, so unintetionally comedic, so Uku <3 

In other news, this lockdown had better end soon because with each passing day I feel like I’m turning further into a cat lady. 

ps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYXNeYXUmEQ&loop=0  😍😍😍

NF Corner - Eesti Laul 2021

Finally a decent Eesti Laul, lol. I wish I could say it was good, but it had one of the weirdest semi split’s I’ve ever seen. EL’s first Semi was without exaggeration the WORST show in the entire season, and the second was a contender for the BEST one across all NFs???? I suppose EXTREME Evil and EXTREME Good balance each other out in blistering adequacy? 

Anyway, I’ll now proceed to ignore Koit and Egert and Karl Killing and Hans and all the other bad (non-Linna/non-Kéa) entries from semi 1, and proceed to an NF Corner composed ENTIRELY of semi 2 songs :-)

Jüri Pootsmann - “Magus Melanhoolia”

It was between Sissi and Jüri for the Token Superfinalist Contender slot on this list, and Jüri is infinitely more notable. Sorry, Sis ur time (to win Eesti Laul?) will come once you figure out to write good music :(

Anyway, what can I even say about Jüri because lmfao what a baffling entry. Registered BARITONE JÜRI POOTSMANN coming back with a an experimental lounge jazz song that is song almost entirely in falsetto. 😍 The camera angles <3 the fact that this already INCREDEBLY short song includes 10 seconds of Jüri standing on the stage looking bored <3 what a fucking baffling entry, I have no opinions, only exclamations of surprise. 

REDEL - “Tarttu”

I HAAAATED “Tarttu” on first listen. 😂😂😂😂 but seriously though, this is downright epic. The UNPLUGGED Meiekündimees MADNESS of it all, now condenced into a equally nonsensical song that is basically like “X is a wooden town but NONE OF THEM ARE AS WOODEN TOWNY AS TARTTU. *incoherent kazoo noises*” 😍😍😍 Once got the chorus stuck in my head at the zoo as I was watching the penguins getting fed and it was one of the most bizarre synesthesic experiences I’ve ever had lmfao <3

Gram-of-Fun - “Lost in a dance”

If you’re wondering what the sort of music I listen to Eurovision is like - this is it. INCREDIBLY good and addictive and EMOTIONALLY tangible 80s New Wave is my fucking jam, can we have entries like this in EVERY selection from here on out? WELL DONE Kristel... on composing this wonderful song, less so on the Kazka-esque vocals that caused it to tragically NQ in the semi. 🙄 Still, BRING THEM BACK (and restrict Kristel to a songwriter only role, plz.)

Gram-of-Fun were my fave, but because they NQ’d somebody else had to fill their shoes in the finale. I’ll now reveal who it was

Kadri Voorand - “Energy”

IT WAS HARD DECIDING BETWEEN SUURED TÜDRÜKUD AND KADRI THOUGH. But given that Charlotte Perelli is guaranteed to appear in Sweden’s NF corner (um is she? :counts on fingers: Clara, Evas, Dotter... ehh sure I’m committed now I guess), it would be best NOT to post Dagmar & Kaire as they fucking clown her lol <3 But their song WAS pretty antiquated schlager...

Kadri otoh... absolutely breaks all records for me by delivering a unicorn: an entertaining stripped-down piano ballad. For the most part because she has incredible emotional delivery that serves personality on a fucking pyrotechnical level, like onn-stop “Loudmouthed Oaf Energy” in the form of a introspective jazz ballad <3 Can you imagine Estonia actually picking this? They could have come left-handside. 

But will Uku do well? :o

Predicted Journey - Estonia

He won’t come top 10, if that’s what you mean by “well”.😂 If you mean “qualify for the Grand Final” then... potentially? Semi 2 is less of a crapshoot than the first semifinal however. At this stage, it’s pretty much “okay, so these twelve acts can qualify... but which ten will?”.

Fortunately for Uku, he is one of aforementionned twelve possible qualifiers. (the others are: san marino, czech rep, greece, moldova, iceland, serbia, albania, bulgaria, finland, switzerland and denmark). UNfortunately for Uku, he’s one of the candidates for the two NQ slots inside that group of twelve.

The problem with Estonia is that their entry is a televote-friendly ballad, stuck in a really televote-UNfriendly slot (#02), in a semi where the jury vote will very likely put them outside the top 10. If we add in a dark stage and Uku’s shaky vocals, they don’t look particularly secure. 

However, I also think Estonia can qualify relatively easily because “televote-friendly ballad” is a unique niche inside that semi; the other ballads (Switzerland is NOT a ballad), won’t be getting many votes and Uku’s appeal as a handsome man with a dramatic song will make him stand out in spite of his spot in the running order, as LONG AS his vocal delivery (or that of the prerecorded backing vocals) remains adequate enough. If not, he’ll be swiftly forgotten and NQ.

Another thing that can cause Uku to qualify is if at least two others of the twelve underwhelm (my money for that would be on Albania, Denmark, San Marino and/or Czech Rep), making Uku the lucky one as he’ll ascend in the ensuing powercreep.

At any rate, it’s really difficult to gauge how well Uku would do since I haven’t really thought about the other BL qualifiers’ odds enough. His televote should be strong enough to avoid bottom 3, I think, and I think it’s safe to say he won’t come top five. Between those values, pffffew, who can possibly tell? I’m not burning my fingers on that. 

Projected placements > Qualifier Tier: Borderline > Semifinal: 6th-14th (out of 17) > Grand Final: 17th-22nd (out of 26)

THE RANKING

01. 02. 03. 04. 05. 06. 07. 08. 09. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. ESTONIA - Uku Suviste - “The lucky one” 21. FINLAND - Blind Channel - “Dark side” 22. AZERBAIJAN - Efendi - “Mata Hari” 23. the NETHERLANDS - Jeangu Macrooy - “Birth of a new age” 24. CZECH REPUBLIC - Benny Christo - “Omaga” 25. DENMARK - Fyr og Flamme - “Øve os på hinanden” 26. SLOVENIA - Ana Soklič - “Amen” 27. SWITZERLAND - Gjon’s Tears - “Tout l’Univers” 28. ROMANIA - Roxen - “Amnesia” 29. SERBIA - Huricane - “Loco loco” 30. POLAND - Rafał - “The ride” 31. ISRAEL - Eden Alene - “Set me free” 32. GEORGIA - Tornike Kipiani - “You” 33. PORTUGAL - The Black Mamba - “Love is on my side” 34. SPAIN - Blas Cantó - “Voy a quedarme” 35. NORWAY - Tix - “Fallen Angel” 36. CYPRUS - Elena Tsagrinou - “El Diablo” 37. AUSTRIA - Vincent Bueno - “Amen” 38. NORTH MACEDONIA - Vasil - “Here I stand” 39. GERMANY - Jendrik - “I don’t feel hate”

[carnationcreation]

Can you write a Reggie x reader fic where reader was a part of the band in the 1995 and didn't die with the guys but then by some unfortunate accident, like a car accident or a drunk driver, dies a few months later and has been a ghost for 25 years and know modern slang and stuff? If Caleb could know her but not own her soul because she's superstitious and he reminds her of the fae that would be awesome! Sorry for the long ask and if you don't have the time to write it it's fine.

TITLE: Back for you (JATP Reggie x reader)

✌🏻Masterlist Taglist, Requests, and Works in progress!

Prompt/summary:  Reader dies after the boys and finds them in 2020 after years of being on her own.

Word Count: 1,595

Authors note: I’ve done car accidents in like 3 of my other fics so I decided to spice it up a little bit. Sorry if this isn’t exactly what you wanted, you can always ask if I an rewrite it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wish I could’ve done something to stop them that night. 

My life was cut so short, all because of a stupid hotdog. All I wanted in life was to belong somewhere and I finally had that with the band. They had dragged me out to that street dog stand before our biggest show at the Orpheum. Fortunately (but unfortunately) I only had time to take a bite or two of my food before I remembered Bobby and I had to unload the rest of the merch before call time.

I barely made it to the door.

I spent 6 days in the hospital, but the boys died that night. When I saw my body laying on the hospital bed with my family surrounding me I broke down. I still wonder why this happened.

I spent months wandering around LA, doing small jobs for other ghosts in exchange for food I could actually eat. I stole books and snuck into movies to pass my time while I waited to see if I would crossover to... anywhere. Isn’t that’s what ghosts do?

I had so many questions other than that. Why am I still here? Where were the boys? Were they together? If they were, why wasn’t I with them?

Some of those were answered when Caleb found me outside the Orpheum.

“If you shake my hand, I can help you. You can perform at my club for thousands of legends. You’ll get the best foods, equipment, clothes. All that if you just come with me.” 

The offer was tempting. I had always wanted to be known as an artist but something didn’t sit right with me. Maybe it was the look on his eye, or the fact I ran into a ghost boy earlier that week with the same symbol on his wrist, regardless I turned it down. Claiming I wanted to explore the world a little more before I settle down. And with that I left.

For the next 20 years I wandered around the US. Poofing only could take me so far, and I could only do it to places I’m familiar with. Eventually with time and power I had gained from being in this realm I managed to open up a shop. Only ghosts could see it of course but everyone was welcome to come and spend time there with me. I gathered books from all over and let people trade them out on the various shelves that spread throughout the room.

The entryway was located in the same alleyway the backstage door to the Orpheum was. Some might say it’s morbid to live right near the spot you died but I say it’s only closure. Closure to the short life I got to live.

The only thing I ask from my patrons is a drink or a song. Once that’s paid they’re allowed to stay as long as they’d like and are free to come and go as they please as long as they make that payment every time they come back.

It made the time a lot less lonely, I spent so much time searching for where the boys could’ve possibly ended up that I forgot I needed to focus on myself for a while. 

Willie came by every once in a while, mostly to stop in for a drink and listen to some music.

“The weirdest thing happened the other day (Y/n),” he sat down at the bar as I wiped down my equipment, “I ran into a boy that’s been in the black room for 25 years!”

I had heard of the infamous black room where some souls went until it was their time to come here to our realm, “25? That’s crazy.”

“I know! And he said he and his friends died eating hotdogs,” Willie laughed and my hands froze.

“What?”

“Yeah I know it’s crazy.”

I took a deep breath, “Willie, what’d you say his name was?”

“Uh... Alex,” he said, the look on his face expressed concern, “Did you know him?”

“Willie, I need to know where you saw him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I searched all over our old neighborhoods, the school, even our old spots where we would busk or get gigs to play. I turned up empty handed, no sign of the boys anywhere and I was starting to get worried. 

What if Caleb got to them?

No, I can’t think like that. They may not be the smartest group of boys I’ve ever met but they do have some common sense. Or, at least I hope they still did.

It felt like the band happened so long ago, but if they’ve been in the black room for all this time then they probably don’t realize how much time had passed.

Finally I went to the last place I hadn’t checked, Caleb’s club.

I changed my outfit into an elegant dress with a cloak on top. May seem strange now but in Caleb’s place it wouldn’t look anymore out of place than a flapper from the 20′s. I tried my best not to look suspicious considering I wasn’t even a member to Caleb’s cult and was technically direct competition to his business he had going on. I learned quickly from Willie that if he didn’t find any use for you he would exchange your soul for more power. I wasn’t about to let that happen to my boys.

It wasn’t long until I found them stuffing their faces with food at the center table. He must be trying to convince them to join him.

“Guys,” I said, I pulled my cloak down to reveal myself, “It’s time to go.”

“(Y/n)?” they said confused.

“No time to explain. Outside. Now.”

I pulled Luke and Reggie by their collars away from the food as Alex followed close behind. Luckily I got them out before anyone noticed.

“What’s going on? Where have you been all this time?” Reggie asked.

I sighed, “I’ve been here. Traveling and making a place for people like us to go to instead of Caleb’s club.”

“What’s wrong with Caleb’s club?” Luke said.

“Once you join you can’t leave,” I said, “Caleb owns all those poor peoples souls. Once he’s done with them then he exchanges them for power.”

The boys eyes went wide as they looked down at their wrists.

“Oh god, he marked you didn’t he?”

They all nodded and held out their wrists showing the glowing purple tattoo.

“I’ll find a way to reverse it I promise. I just need some time.”

Luke finally saw the time, “Crap, we’re late for Julie’s dance.”

The boys Alex and Luke poofed away but Reggie turned to me, “It’s so good to see you again, I missed you.”

“Who’s Julie?” I asked.

“Our new band members.”

I frowned and swallowed hard.

Reggie laughed before leaning forward to place a kiss on my cheek, “Don’t worry, she could never replace you.”

I smiled and felt my heart hammer in my chest.

“Come find us later. The old garage we used to practice in.”

“I gotta get back to my place. I got customers to serve.”

“Where is it?” he asked.

I smiled, “The alleyway behind the Orpheum. I don’t think Julie can come in cause she’s a lifer but you guys can’t miss it.”

“Awesome,” he smiled, “We’ll be back for you okay?”

“Okay. Now go play at that dance,” I grinned as he placed another kiss on my cheek and turned to poof away with the boys.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I went back to the garage to wait. I enjoyed how much it had changed over the years as I walked around. Eventually I sat down at the piano and began to play some of the sheet music that was still there, Julie must’ve left it.

“You still got it.”

“AHHH!” I startled and almost fell off the bench.

“Woah woah, sorry,” Reggie chuckled, “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Well you did Reginald.”

He rolled his eyes, “Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“You’re place. I wanna see it,” he said, holding out his hand to me.

I smiled and took it before poofing out of the room and into my cafe.

“(Y/n)!” I heard some of my regulars cheer. I waved before walking behind the bar to refill drinks for people. Reggie turned in a circle to admire all of the old art and instruments I had hung up everywhere.

“So anyone can come and go?”

I giggled, “If they’re dead then yeah. Haven’t had any lifers wander in yet.”

He smiled and took a seat, “How long did it take to make all of this?”

“Considering how draining it was and how much magic I had to use, probably about 4 or 5 years.”

He sighed, “And I wasn’t here for any of it.”

“That’s not your fault,” I said as I placed my hand on top of his.

“This doesn’t make any sense. Why did I go there while you’ve been here all this time?” he asked.

“None of this makes any sense Reggie. Maybe it’s because you guys died together and I died afterwards or something. Regardless you’re here now. I’m just so glad I found you guys. Maybe once we find a way to release you guys from Caleb, you guys can help me run this place. I need to solid gigs to play on weekdays.”

He smiled before lifting my hand to his lips and pressing a gentle kiss to my knuckles making my face grow hot.

���Of course, I always told you you couldn’t get rid of me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[ffamranxii]

I’m only about halfway through Meteor Garden so I’ll save my major comparisons to Boys Over Flowers for the end, but I’d really like to get out my thoughts as of episode 25.

This is Shancai, and she is our protagonist. She is literal sunshine in human form and she deserves SO MUCH BETTER than what she’s getting. Seriously, she needs to tell every single character in this show to fuck off and then get the hell out of Shanghai. She’s been assaulted, insulted, harassed, kidnapped, demeaned, and had absolutely everyone in this show tell her “Oh Si’s just a total dickbag because he loves you” and “you’re just unsure because you’re in love.” No, Si’s a dickbag because he’s the fucking devil and she’s unsure because she’s been forced into an abusive relationship due to her inability to just say no and Si’s inability to take a fucking hint. At this point I’m watching the series to see if she makes it the fuck out alive.

This is the F4, (l-r) Si, Lei, Meizuo, and Ximen. Si has some serious anger issues that apparently stem from his father passing away and no one loving him enough, which I guess gives him the reason to be a passive aggressive asshole and beat the fuck out of random guys. Body count so far: 2. He’s also literally assaulted Shancai four times as of episode 25, once within the first episode (which is when Shancai should’ve noped the fuck out of there but of course did not, because women’s autonomy and safety mean nothing in this show.) I understand that a huge part of the Hana Yori Dango franchise is Tsubasa/Junpyo/Si learning to be an actual human being and deal with his emotions, but Si is disturbing close to his manga counterpart, and manga Tsubasa almost got Tsukushi killed, on purpose, within the first ten chapters. That being said, when he’s with his friends he does have some good moments and does grow, but he seriously needs to leave Shancai alone. 

Lei is who I thought I would ship Shancai with, since I shipped his Korean counterpart with her Korean counterpart hardcore in Boys Over Flowers -- but I was wrong. Lei is not a great person. He’s cold and distant and extremely hung up over his childhood love Jing, who he’s only slightly nicer to. He follows Jing to Paris, and when they break up he uses Shancai not just to get over Jing but to pull some weird passive aggressive stunt over on Si. In fact, Si and Lei seem to have this really bizarre, sadistic sexual tension between them and have more chemistry than Shancai does with either of them. I’d root for that ship.

Meizuo is not at all what I was expecting. So far everyone follows their Korean counterparts really well -- except Meizuo, who is nothing like Woobin. Meizuo might as well be an entirely different character, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Also unlike Woobin, he gets his own storyline apparently with Caina, which looks promising. Meizuo is arguably my favorite Meteor Garden F4 member because he dresses like he fishes every piece of clothing from the trash and I scream “what the FUCK are you wearing” at least once an episode. He’s also the sassiest.

Ximen is just a slightly more manipulative Yijung, which I kind of like. He also seems to have a dangerous side to him that the Korean adaption gave to Woobin -- it’s implied that he and Si have beat up people in the past together. His relationship with Xiaoyou is, I think, the only fucking healthy one in the entire show so far; he’s extremely sweet, attentive, and caring towards her, even though he’s a dick and a troll to his friends (though to be fair, Meizuo and Lei also troll Si at every opportunity, which is hilarious) and enables Si’s behavior towards Shancai and passive aggressively shames her when she tries to stand up for herself. I’m wondering if his relationship with Xiaoyou will pan out like that, or if it’ll be super cute and storybook like Yijung’s was with Gaeul.

Shancai has actual friends in this adaption, holy shit. Xiaoyou is the Meteor Garden counterpart to Gaeul so we’ve seen her before. She’s very cute and kitschy, and at times is one of Shancai’s only supporters (though she also hardcore Shancai/Si and tells Shancai multiple times “you’re just in love” when Shancai voices her very valid concerns about the man, which is worrying because Xiaoyou also doesn’t make good choices when it comes to romance.) Li Zheng (middle) and Qinghe (right) don’t exist in Boys Over Flowers and therefore are completely new to me (but not to the franchise, as they have Hana Yori Dango counterparts). Li Zheng has a massive inferiority complex that isn’t entirely undeserved in the beginning, as Shancai (accidentally) leaves her humiliated in the rain and unable to get into a big party. She almost ruins Shancai’s life by getting her drunk, sending her home with a strange guy, and posting pictures of them in bed together all over the internet -- and Shancai, for some bizarre reason, fucking forgives her, because she is a literal saint and we do not deserve her. After that stunt, however, Li Zheng seems to be a pretty decent friend, but like everyone else in this show is completely unreliable when it comes to giving Shancai dating advice. 

Qinghe and I were homies for a while, because he is THE ONLY GODDAMN PERSON who continually sees Si for the asshole he is and calls him out on it, and the F4 treat him pretty badly, using him a lot as a replaceable member for when they kick Si out (for all of five minutes) for being a little too unbearable. However, by episode 25 he’s fully into Nice Guy mode, and hates Si not because he’s a douche but because Si is dating Shancai. Dude went from Shancai’s best friend to one step away from being an incel and I am mourning the loss hard. 

Here we have the one-offs, who I expected to play a much bigger role than they actually are. We have Tian Ye, who also is brand new to me having not existed in the Korean adaption. He’s a chef at a restaurant Shancai works in (before Si chases her away from it) and he’s the only goddamn person in this entire series so far who likes Shancai and hasn’t treated her badly. He actually tells Si to gtfo out of his restaurant and stands up to him for Shancai more than once. I loved him so much and I am so sad to see him go, but the reemergence of his ex(?) fiancee makes me hopeful he’ll show up again too.

Xiaozi is the girl Si’s mother tries to arrange for him to marry, and I was SO EXCITED for her because I LOVED her counterpart in Boys Over Flowers... but Meteor Garden has left me very disappointed indeed. She’s extremely wishy-washy about Si, saying first that she hates him and won’t marry him and doesn’t want anything to do with him and then in the same episode deciding that they’re going to date before their marriage and asking Shancai for advice. I really liked her for the first half of that episode and I feel like they just completely fucked up her character.

Jing is Lei’s childhood friend and ex girlfriend, and the only other person who is unconditionally nice to Shancai -- with the caveat that she’s a horrible cunt to Lei. At first all seems well. They seem to be very loving and in a committed relationship, but the more times she appears (and we have the chance to get to know her a lot better in 25 episodes than we did Seohyun in 40 something), the more it becomes clear that she’s only leading Lei on and doesn’t truly return his affections. She resurfaces in their lives just to drop a bomb on them -- “Hey I’m going to Paris and never coming back and also disowning myself from my family, okay bye!” -- and Lei actually drops everything in his entire life to go after her. The flashback we get of them in Paris is supposed to be cute, I think, with soft lighting and dreamy atmosphere, but it actually just shows Jing neglecting Lei to the point of cruelty until he decides he’s had enough and leaves. While we had almost an entire season before Seohyun announced her marriage to some Parisian dude, Jing does the same within the first fourth of 48 episodes, and it paints her in a horrible light. She destroyed Lei and doesn’t even feel bad about it, and we haven’t heard from her since.

These three don’t have character posters and that’s a damn shame. I must say, Si’s sister Zhuang (left) is JUST as badass as Junhee, and takes absolutely no shit from her brother -- but she isn’t here for very long. I think we saw her for, what?, two? three episodes? Junhee didn’t play a huge part in many episodes in Boys Over Flowers but she was still there a lot in the background, usually making quips at Junpyo or arguing with their mother. I hope Zhuang comes back. 

Caina is a character who’s new to me and I think I’m enjoying her a lot. She was introduced in the same arc as Tian Ye, which makes sense as she is (and maybe no longer?) his fiancee through an arranged marriage. While the F4 were all congratulating Shancai for doing well in the cooking competition, Meizuo just sat there a little starstuck and talked about hooking up with Caina the entire time. WELL SHE COMES BACK in episode 24(or is it 23?) TO MY IMMENSE SHOCK, and apparently is into trash chic because she immediately jumps into a little arc with him. What concerns me though is how her extremely low alcohol tolerance, her blackout drunkenness around men, and her blackout-induced injuries are all treated as comedy. Meizuo and some creep fight over her for two entire episodes, and each time ends with her eating pavement and waking up hungover and extremely beat up from it. This show makes me fear for the safety of women in China, since Caina’s predicament is played for laughs. Also, what happened to Tian Ye?? 

And finally, there’s THIS BITCH. Si and Zhuang’s mother. She even looks like Zhuang (which means in-universe Si looks like his father, which is extra heartbreaking as his father is dead), and she is the biggest cunt I’ve had the delight to watch. I hate this bitch like I hate Dolores Umbridge. I thought Junpyo’s mom was bad but Si’s mom is ten thousand times worse. She’s cold and cruel and looks to humiliate Shancai whenever she can, and even her own son and Mrs Yu too. She’s literally just Umbridge as a mom except she doesn’t physically abuse her children. She’s the only person I can say I’m almost okay with being made more terrible than before, because the mom was always supposed to be horrible.

All in all, Meteor Garden should be subtitled “Everyone In This Show Is A Terrible Human Being, Except Shancai Who Can Do No Wrong.” And normally I enjoy shows about terrible people but this one isn’t a comedy like It’s Always Sunny or The Office. This is supposed to be some great epic love story between Shancai and Si and all I see is a girl who feels like she can’t voice her own opinion and tell a guy to back off, and a guy with rage issues who won’t back the fuck off. 

I mean, I’m finishing the series, but... it’s definitely a challenge. At least the soundtrack is popping.

[catboymingi]

birthday boy

navi/masterlist

pairing: hongjoong x reader

genre: fluff

word count: 1.7k

warnings: just a little language + threats of kicks to the kneecaps

a/n: inspired by me finishing an assignment i had a week for in like two hours because i wanted to write for this gem’s birthday

sadly, responsibilities don’t stop just because it’s your boyfriend’s birthday. but maybe your boyfriend’s birthday can aid as a motivation to get your work done and over with so you can finally smother him in love

it was your boyfriend’s birthday, but sadly, it was also exam season, and even more sadly did your boyfriend care about your grades more than you did. so you were banned from going out with him, even though you wanted nothing more than that, because he knew you were far from finished with an essay that for some reason unbeknownst to everyone in the course made up more than half of your grade. he told you that you’d have a lot more chances to celebrate with him, but you most definitely did not have a lot more chances to do this essay, and while you hated to admit it he had a point. hongjoong had offered to stay home with you, spending a chill birthday with his head in your lap while you were happily - or not so happily - typing away on your laptop, but this time it had been you who banned him from doing that. it was his birthday and he was going to have fun, and if you had to make his group of rowdies drag him out of your shared apartment by the ears then you would.

“but i want to spend my birthday with you!”, he’d whined out, but you remained hard. no way would you let him stay home with you on his birthday.

“too bad, the boys are already on their way and they have orders to not let you leave until you’ve had the time of your life.”

he was convinced it was impossible to have the time of his life without you there, but you were unrelenting, and when mingi did almost drag him by the hair he finally gave in, sending you a last pouty glance before he left with his friends.

while your love was (hopefully - if not you’d beat all seven boys’ asses) having a good time you found yourself staring at the damned screen that kept you from spending his birthday with him, cursing the hell machine and especially cursing the course and the teacher, but then your attitude shifted towards one of determined concentration, because if you managed to get the basics done today you’d maybe get to spend at least a little time with the birthday boy. your fingers tapped away high-speed, most likely faster than you’d ever typed before. now you had something that was actually worth finishing the essay for, and it surprised you how great of a motivation a badly sung karaoke duet with your darling and mocktails that very much tasted like mocktails rather than a decent drink but that you’d still get at least three of could be.

when you managed to get the entire thirteen pages first draft done in the span of roughly twelve hours you realised just how much of a motivation your boyfriend was, because when you’d started for the day your essay pretty much looked like that one spongebob episode where all that was written on the paper was ‘the’ in a fancy font. you’d already read a lot of literature (spent way more time on it than you’d like to admit), so it was just to put your thoughts into words, and the complete lack of distraction along with being so absolutely in love with your boy and wanting to spend his birthday with him had suddenly turned you into some kind of super genius writing machine. not that you’d complain, though, because it was now nine thirty in the evening and you knew that if you hurried to get ready you’d be able to join the boys for at least a little fun. so you messaged seonghwa, threatening him with a kick to the kneecaps if he told hongjoong that you were coming, and asked him where they were so you could come join them. he told you and promised to keep the boys there until you arrived, “and if i have to chain them to the chairs”, which you knew he actually would if push came to shove because he knew how much his friend had wanted you there for his birthday and he wasn’t going to ruin that opportunity just because they’d already left the lousy karaoke bar.

//

seonghwa had kept his promise, much to his kneecaps’ pleasure, and it was easy to spot the group of loud boys as soon as you entered the karaoke bar. currently mingi and jongho were dueting, a combination you’d only ever see on nights like these where all shame was discarded and mingi no longer worried about being a bad singer. not that he was, but compared to his friends he barely sang, so he seemed a little shy about doing it when it was serious environments where people would judge. now, however, he was happily singing along to some rock song you probably knew but couldn’t name, with the rest of the boys taking the role of unofficial groupies. they hadn’t spotted you yet, but when you let out a loud cheer at some high note that jongho hit flawlessly and that mingi decided to turn into a low note the youngest noticed that someone new had entered, a smile spreading when he saw it was you. mingi was the next to realise, most likely because of his height and the advantage of being on the stage, reacting less calmly than his friend and letting out a cheer himself. that got the other boys’ attention, and you couldn’t wait to kiss your boyfriend when you saw the surprised smile on his face. you were glad you hadn’t worn heels, because the floor was somewhat slippery and you walked faster than would have been responsible if your shoes hadn’t been flat.

“happy birthday, my favourite”, kiss, “best”, kiss, “most amazing”, kiss, “perfect”, kiss, “absolutely adorable”, kiss, “boyfriend.”

you could tell your actions embarrassed him just a little, increasing when yunho groaned out that he felt so incredibly single right now. he quickly recovered, though, asking the question that you knew would come sooner or later, considering the reason why you hadn’t been able to spend the entire day with him.

“but your essay?” you could see that your love hoped you hadn’t neglected studying just to spend time with him, but even though you loved him to no end you’d never do that, if only for the fact that he’d never let you.

“i got the first draft done today, so i’ll beta read and touch up on it the next few days.”

his eyes were wide in surprise again, because you’d been working on the first draft for so long now that he didn’t even remember when you first started (though you’d admittedly mainly read the literature and procrastinated), and now you’d finished it in a single day.

“you know how i can be when i want to spend time with you. especially on your birthday”, you laughed at his expression, and he grinned at you because he certainly did know. the first birthday you’d spent with him you had coerced him to wear a suit through what could only be described as loving blackmail, and you’d put on your prom dress, because even though you were only going to a lousy karaoke bar with his friends - much like today - you’d told him that the day had to be special and you had to look special and he just hadn’t been able to say no to you, especially not when you’d threatened him with kiss withdrawal. then, the second birthday he’d spent with you, you’d baked him a several storey cake, refusing to let him help you even though you were hopeless at baking, instead coercing his friends into helping you with much less loving blackmail and threats of kicks to the kneecaps - your favourite threat, he’d noticed. seonghwa had been the main one to help because he was the only one patient enough to stay in the kitchen with you through all four storeys - a number you’d chosen because hongjoong liked the number four and was also turning 24 so naturally, the cake had to have four storeys. now he was turning 25 and you’d finished a task you’d been working on for about two weeks now in a single day because you wanted to see him. really, he adored you and how much you obviously loved him.

“i know”, he confirmed before leaning in to kiss you, doing so for longer than his friends appreciated, “and i love you for that.”

“i love you more.” dare to disagree, your eyes told him, and he knew that today he would definitely be the loser of “i love you most, no take backs”, so he didn’t even try.

“love me enough for a duet?”, he asked instead, though he already knew the answer would be yes. of course the answer would be yes.

his - both of your - friends cheered for you when you sang the cheesiest love song one could think of, because hongjoong had wanted to make you flustered with the choice of song, only to get flustered himself when you sang it at him in total sincerity. mingi was his choice of shelter once the song was over, and both you and the boys laughed at that, though without any malice. it was a perfect night, it really was, from the moment you’d gotten to the bar to the moment you said goodbye to the others and went home with him, hands intertwined the entire way.

it was still perfect when you changed into your pyjamas - or what you decided to call such, sweatpants for him and one of his shirts for you - and laid down together, his head on your chest because he was the birthday boy and the birthday boy was the one to get held, pressing gentle kisses to the top of his head and being repaid with somewhat awkwardly placed kisses to your chest over his shirt. and it couldn’t get more perfect when you told him you loved him and he told you he loved you, too, and that he was so happy he’d gotten to spend at least part of his birthday with you, because without you it didn’t feel like a real one. and it deserved an oscar for the cheesiest scene when you fell asleep completely intertwined, heartbeats in sync and the moon casting a soft light onto both of your sleeping forms.

[maticide666]

my eurovision top 39 songs (finally)

anyway i finally got my top 39 completed. under a read more because it can get kinda long with the commentary i added klfdja;sflk (and by that i mean VERY long, maybe a wall of text if i have a lot to say about the song.)

none of this takes rehearsals into account.

basically, 39-37 i don't like, 36-35 are meh, 34-25 are decent, 24-18 are good, 17-12 i enjoy listening to a lot, 11-4 i love, and I would pay for votes for top 3 if i could.

39. Azerbaijan - Efendi - Mata Hari - Honestly, I kinda want to like this song. The instrumentation is nice, especially with the Azeri instruments. Efendi's vocals are ok during the verses. However, her vocals during the MA-MA-MA-MATA HARI part makes this song utterly unlistenable for me. It is just so distracting and ear-grating. Not great for my sensitive ears. And that is without taking anything else into account.

38. Estonia - Uku Suviste - The Lucky One - For some reason reminds me of a boring modern country song. Bland af. At least the melody of the chorus is nice.

37. Cyprus - Elena Tsagrinou - El Diablo - Discount Lady Gaga at the best points of this song. Feels like three songs at once. Also, the lyrics seem like they just went all "What Spanish-sounding words sound spicy? Taco? Tamale? Mamacita?" As a Spanish speaker and as someone of Mexican descent who enjoys those foods, this annoys the living shit out of me. At least I can make El Diablo/Fallen Angel memes out of this. (Honestly, I don't mind the gratuitous Spanish with the words El Diablo.) Also, this song got real old real quick.

36. Slovenia - Ana Soklič - Amen - The gospel vibe is nice, but there is just too much Christianity in it for me to enjoy this song. Sorry, Ana.

35. Moldova - Natalia Gordienko - Sugar - Sounds like a sugary version of Siren Song by MARUV. Kinda boring, but enjoyable in the right circumstances.

34. Georgia - Tornike Kipiani - You - Good to listen to when mind feels blank. At first I kinda liked this song, but nowadays this song has lost its charm. This won't sound out of place alongside boring 70s slow classic rock songs.

33. Austria - Vincent Bueno - Amen - Not something I would listen to regularly, but still nice. For me, easily the biggest downgrade from 2020.

32. Greece - Stefania - Last Dance - Pleasant to listen to, not much else.

31. Portugal - The Black Mamba - Love Is On My Side - Good song, but not my cup of tea. Unfortunately, some great songs have to be near the bottom of my ranking.

30. Germany - Jendrik - I Don't Feel Hate - A fun song to listen to. The novelty wears off after a while. The feel good vibes and ukulele are nice.

29. Israel - Eden Alene - Set Me Free - the song release version was bland and boring, but the revamp. Now THAT is good stuff. The song doesn't seem so empty anymore. I miss the key change from the original, though.

28. Spain - Blas Cantó - Voy A Quedarme - A very emotional and beautiful song from Spain. Again, not usually my cup of tea. However, the melody somehow gives me a nostalgic vibe.

27. North Macedonia - Vasil - Here I Stand - DAMN Vasil has a lovely voice. Nice that he's showing it off here. Too slow of a song for me to enjoy regularly, though.

26. Albania - Anxhela Peristeri - Karma - I don't have much to say other than this song is nice.

25. Bulgaria - VICTORIA - Growing Up Is Getting Old - Pleasant to listen to, but depending on my mood I think this is a beautiful song but not my cup of tea or a complete snoozefest.

24. Serbia - Hurricane - Loco Loco - Fun song, but it feels like something is lacking, and I can't quite put my finger on it.

23. San Marino - Senhit - Adrenalina - Once the initial hype from Flo Rida being on the song died down, this became another typical Eurovision bop.

22. Sweden - Tusse - Voices - At first I thought the song was completely unremarkable and couldn't understand how this won Melodifestivalen. Nowadays it's a nice song to chill to. I gotta respect a perfect televote score from the national final.

21. Ireland - Lesley Roy - MAPS - nice.

20. Croatia - Albina - Tick Tock - Grew on me slightly. Shoutout for including a verse in Croatian.

19. Switzerland - Gjon's Tears - Tout l'Univers - Another grower for me. Doesn't hit as hard as his song from last year, but I dig it.

18. France - Barbara Pravi - Voilà - Lovely chanson right here. I wish it didn't take forever to pick up, though. I was about to completely give up on this song in the middle of my first listen. I'm glad I didn't.

17. Belgium - Hooverphonic - The Wrong Place - Classy. Not much else to say.

16. Ukraine - Go-A - Shum - I'd definitely go rave to this song. I kept finding this song hard to rank due to the white voice. I couldn't decide if I absolutely adored it or if I found it grating. Maybe I just wasn't feeling well when I first thought about it.

15. Lithuania - The Roop - Discoteque - Lots of fun, doesn't have the charm that On Fire had last year. I would dance to this song.

14. Poland - RAFAŁ - The Ride - I actually kinda like this song???? Even with Rafal's vocals??? I know he has political controversies, but I can't help but think this song is nice. A better, less controversial singer would benefit this song, though. I'm not counting the revamp just yet since it was released too recently.

13. Latvia - Samanta Tīna - The Moon Is Rising - This song gives me nostalgic mid to late 2000s hip hop vibes. The guitars in this song are lovely.

12. Romania - ROXEN - Amnesia - Definitely something that can put me in a trance if I'm in the right mood.

11. Czechia - Benny Cristo - omaga - Nice, catchy, I would dance to this.

10. Malta - Destiny - Je Me Casse - Damn, Destiny has a lovely voice! And the song itself is wonderful. I'm not a fan of the amount of Swedish talent being used instead of Maltese talent, but I really do enjoy listening to this.

9. Denmark - Fyr og Flamme - Øve Os På Hinanden - another really fun song! This really grew on me. Nowadays if I want to listen to a Eurovision song, this is one of the first songs I think of.

8. The Netherlands - Jeangu Macrooy - Birth of a New Age - I can vibe with this. You can hear the passion in this song. I wish I could let my body do the talking right now, but y'all can't see that with just a tumblr text post.

7. Russia - Manizha - Russian Woman - I was NOT expecting this to come out of Russia when it won the national final. I wasn't expecting to like this either. The message is great, the instrumental is great, everything about this is brilliant.

6. United Kingdom - James Newman - Embers - A funky song. I LOVE James's voice. Massive upgrade from last year in my opinion. I'm a sucker for brass in an upbeat song. Unfortunately, I have had the staging kinda spoiled and I am VERY skeptical about this coming out of bottom five. I'm done with the BBC.

5. Australia - Montaigne - Technicolour - There is a Lot happening in this song and I am all in for it. I'm kinda terrible at parsing lyrics, but it's a non-issue when I can follow Montaigne's voice and forget about the lyrics. Ironically enough, it's Montaigne's voice that also worries me this Eurovision season - mostly whether she was able to pull off her live on tape performance off.

4. Iceland - Daði og Gagnamagnið - 10 Years - I didn't think Daði could pull it off against this year, but he did it. I like this just a little more than Think About Things, which was my favorite song last year. I'm still a little gutted that this pandemic robbed him of a probable victory, but I've made peace with it. I still need to learn the dance moves, though.

3. Italy - Måneskin - Zitti E Buoni - FUCK YEAH A KICKASS ROCK SONG IN EUROVISION! This song gave me massive rock en español vibes on my fist listen, and honestly this is something I would bang my head to if I had the same body I did when I was 15.

2. Norway - TIX - Fallen Angel - I was not expecting to like this song much, let alone becoming THIS obsessed with TIX. In fact, he wasn't even on my radar for winning MGP. I listened to Ut Av Mørket for the first time and thought something like 'this is boring af, but at least it's in Norwegian'. And then he changed it to English, which I wasn't a fan of at first. And then one day the lyrics clicked - especially with my own struggles with mental illness. To this day this is one of only two Eurovision songs to actually make me cry. Even now he still isn't my MGP winner (that honor goes to JORN), but he has definitely won my heart.

1. Finland - Blind Channel - Dark Side - To say that this song kicks ass would be an understatement for me. This song has just the right mix of rock, pop, and even metal. Ever since I found out that this song would be in the national final, I knew that it would be my favorite this whole Eurovision season regardless of who won UMK. Yes, my jaw dropped when I saw the lead Blind Channel had in UMK. I literally cancelled my plans to watch the MGP final live because of these guys. I am not disappointed. Even Måneskin couldn't bring these guys down in my ranking. And while the lyrics might be a bit iffy, they did get me through rough times. I hope these guys are able to bring rock music back like they want to. But for now, I will give them my (useless tbh) douze points.

[soulofsalt]

fanfiction recommendations

NONE OF THESE ARE MINE, THEY ARE SIMPLY FICS I’VE READ AND LOVED

Arthur Kirkland:

Something Old

TimeTraveler! Reader. Reader-insert. Complete (14 chapters). Kinda slow burn?

Deadass one of the best fics I’ve EVER read. It can be read as a romance novel, you don’t really have to know who Arthur Kirkland is. It could be considered an original work.

Bakugou Katsuki

Crimson Snow

Reader-insert. Fantasy AU + Fairy Tale AU. Complete (4 chapters).

We all know the story of Little Red Riding Hood. But all stories, especially ones passed through spoken word, can change with time. This is the true story of a girl who wandered into the forest, wearing a cloak white as snow, and left on the back of a beast with a crimson cape trailing behind her.(Shifter!Bakugou Katsuki x Reader)

Billy Hargrove:

Baby, You’re a Haunted House

Reader-insert. Set on Stranger Things season 2 and 3. Complete (11 chapters).

You grew up in the lab along with Kali and Jane. When Kali escapes the lab, you manage to escape with her. When Jane finds the two of you, you're not sure what to make of her. You think she's going to be like Kali, but Jane manages to surprise you. You decide to go back to Hawkins with her when she leaves to save her friends and manage to find your way to the kind of life you've wanted all along.

Dabi:

Favored by Fate

Dragon!Dabi x Gender-Neutral Water Sprite!Reader. Reader-insert. One shot. Modern Fantasy AU.

This one was SO GOOD. I love fantasy AUs and I love even more modern fantasy ones. I’d be willing to pay the author real money for more of this.

Your boss has a business meeting at the annual fall festival, and you’re lucky that he’s given you the night off to explore on your own. Running into a masked stranger was not part of your plans for the evening, but it turns out the two of you share a common goal, and you can work together to reach it. Maybe fate is on your side.

Dracula:

Distorted Lullabies

Reader-insert. Incomplete but ongoing (19 chapters). Slow burn. Really slow burn.

Literally the only fanfiction I’m really following. It’s simply amazing. 

Count Dracula finds himself in the 21st century, 2020, after over a century of slumber. While still adapting to this new era, he meets Reader, a beautiful and witty lawyer working for Renfield's firm. While she seems resistant to his charms, the Count is adamant in winning her over. She just might make an excellent candidate as his bride. But will she withstand the change?

Eren Jaeger

Broken Bird

Reader-insert. Set on season 1. Complete (25 chapters). Slow Burn. Enemies to Friends to Lovers.

This was SO GOOD. I cried happy tears istg you NEED to read this. Everything about this fan fiction is amazing: the plot, the characters, the writing... Kudos to @larkspyrr

"You're more than just a thief. Promise me you'll see the stars. "You escaped from a life of crime in the Undercity and saw the worst that humanity has to offer. To keep an old promise, you join the military in the hopes of redeeming yourself and earning the life you've always wanted in the Military Police.But then you meet Eren Jaeger.

Light Yagami:

Ruling Child

Original Female Character. Incomplete but ongoing (18 chapters). Slow burn + Friends to lovers.

I’m not the biggest Light Yagami fan (let’s just say he’s not exactly my favorite character), but I’m really liking this fic so far.

Sienna Mason dies in a motorcycle accident, after the driver dies of an inexplicable heart attack. Wryly, she thinks of her favourite manga, Death Note, as her eyes close for the last time. While Sienna Mason's story ends there, Kimiko Yamada's is beginning—but how does she retain Sienna's memories? Kimiko realises that she's reborn into an alternate universe—and it's Death Note's.

Marley Trio (Annie, Reiner and Bertholdt)

It Takes a Lot out of You

Reader-insert. Incomplete but ongoing (11 chapters). Platonic relationships.

THIS IS AMAZING. I literally read it on a single day because of how beautifully written this is. I started reading thinking it was going to be about polyamory, but what I found was actually so much better. I’m not really someone into non-romance fanfiction, but this is one of the most beautiful things I’ve read, so my kudos to @invertedphantasmagoria

—living, that is.

Original Works

xenophobia: fear of unknown

Reader-insert. Complete (6 chapters). Monster/Human romance + Kinda Slow Burn(?)

I really liked this one and read it all in one sitting!! A warning though, chapters 5 and 6 have NSFW content, in case you’re not comfortable with it :)

family friends ask you to babysit their son, zach, but the night becomes increasingly disturbing from unnatural occurrences playing out by an imaginary friend he insists is real.

[itsnothingofinterest]

One’s Justice 3: extra advanced roster prediction

Whelp, the new My Hero season has begun in full. And sooner or later, that’s gonna mean another video game; because these things are kind of predictable that way.

So predictable that I though it’d be funny to see if I can’t guess the entirety of the roster before the game is even announced. It’s honestly pretty easy given the next few arcs, what this game franchise seems to got for, and how the last one was made.

So before I need to give any spoiler warnings, let’s get started with some raw numbers: My first and possibly most bold prediction is that OJ3 will cover the 5 arcs following Overhaul. That sounds like a lot until you remember that the first 3 of those were the Remedial Course, Gentle Criminal, & Endeavour arc; 1 fight each, if not just a cut scene or something. And all but 1 character needed for all of them are already in OJ2. Really the main bulk will be the 2 main arcs of season 5; each of which contain content One’s Justice games tend to really like, so I think they’ll both get covered.

Speaking of characters in the last game, that brings us to cut & new characters (again, just in terms of raw numbers). Now One’s Justice 2 was somewhat lazily made; the kind of game recycling so many assets that it was basically a $60 expansion pack. Safe bet; we’re assuming the same for OJ3 here. And while that has it’s downsides, one upside is; no cut characters.

Additionally, I imagine they’ll at least try to one-up themselves from last time, which added in 18 characters to the base roster (20 if you count ported over DLC), by adding in 24/25 characters here (30/31 if you count DLC from OJ2). Which is good because that’s about how many new characters they’ll need for the arcs I’m predicting to be covered (mostly for the next arc in the anime).

And that about concludes spoiler free discussions. Spoilers below for, as far as I know, the entirety of season 5 as we get into who the new characters will be.

So, I imagine the bulk of new characters will actually be Class 1B students, and that’s because of the JT arc’s set up. The JT arc is set up as 5 4V4 matches; all of which the game is gonna want to include since each has at least 1 fan favourite. One’s Justice games feature matches in terms of 3V3 fights (at a maximum, but we can assume they’ll want to make each match as busy as possible), so that means we’ll need 3 1B students for each match, for a total of 15. We already have Tetsutetsu & Kendo from OJ2′s DLC, so that means 13 new students.

(And before anyone mentions the set up of the last match, that one kind of had 2 parts to it, and we already have enough 1A students in that match from OJ2 to allow both to be properly game-ified.)

Those 13 1B students will be the 3 most fitting for a fighting game from each match (and how a long a character lasted would also factor):

Ibara - Quirk:Vines - Hero name:Vine

Shishida - Quirk:Beast - Hero name:Gevaudan 

Hiryu - Quirk:Scales - Hero name: Dragon Shroud

Kinoko - Quirk:Mushroom - Hero name: Shemage

Manga - Quirk:Comic - Hero name: Comicman

Honenuki - Quirk:Softening - Hero name: Mudman

Pony - Quirk:Horn Canon - Hero name:Rocketti

Tokage - Quirk:Lizard Tail Splitter - Hero name:Lizardy

Kamakiri - Quirk:Razor Sharp - Hero name: Jack Mantis

Bondo - Quirk:Cemedine - Hero name:Plamo

Monoma - Quirk:Copy - Hero name: Phantom Thief

Yanagi - Quirk:Poltergeist - Hero name: Emily

Kodai - Quirk:Size - Hero name: Rule

With apologize to Welding guy, Control the colour black guy, and Punches twice guy; but they just don’t seem like they’d fit in a fighting game.

Speaking of, we should get to Class 1A’s new additions. Surprisingly, only 13 have made it in by OJ2, so not only should we add more, we need to for the same reason we included 3 1B students per match; to get at least 3 per side. So looking at these match ups, We’ll need to include

Either Hagekure or Aoyama, and my money’s on Aoyama after he got his time in the spotlight in season 4. (Also he too works better as a fighting game character.)

Either Ojiro or Shoji; and again I’m betting on Shoji just because he’s a bit more interesting; both as a conceptual fighter and a character overall.

And either Sero or Sato, and here I’m betting on office-Spiderman over candy-Hulk. Good luck Sero.

But wait, there are 2 more additions form the JT arc we’ll need in this game.

Fan favourite Shinsou finally makes his big debut as a hero student, and gets not 1 but 2 fights; one of which is the closing fight for the arc against Midoriya. This boy was never not getting in.

And lastly, we need yet another new Midoriya, since not only did he get his Delta Gear, but also Black Whip.

And boy that only leaves us with 6 characters left. Luckily that’s all we need for the last arc being covered; MVA, containing both sufficient villain content and a proper climax to match OJ1′s ending with All For One or OJ2 ending with Overhaul. And to get here, we need just 6 villains.

First, we’re actually going back to include the High End Nomu Hood so the game can properly do the Endeavor arc.

Next, the last core member of the League, Spinner, finally needs to be included. Especially since MVA is his first real chance to shine (in more ways than one).

Curious also needs to be included so Toga has someone to fight. (Maybe alongside Twice since he never actually fougth Skeptic, and these games will sometimes alter scenarios into proper matches like that.)

For the same reason, we can include Geten so Dabi (and possibly Compress) has someone to properly fight.

Lastly from the MLA, we’ve got to include Redestro to close out the arc and to fight against as Shigaraki (with Spinner as back-up, i hope).

But that’s not actually the last villain total; because the conclusion to MVA really a new Shigaraki too, what with his impressive display of power post-liberation. Also, we are probably getting a new Midoriya; so why not, right?

And that about sums up what’s required for these arcs to be covered. There may still be a slot open, two if we’re lucky, for an additional fan favourite like Mirko; but these first 24 are the safe bets for One’s Justice 3 to properly get through and fighting game-ify everything up until the next big final boss of the anime; Shigaraki vs Redestro, in addition to including proper amounts of hero & villain content. With the possibly exception of who, precisely, among the students would be included; these are all super safe bets.