#addition out there while i was thinking about it

[awwkie]

Reblogging this version too because it has a lot of stuff I agree with and that I originally wanted to include in my own additions to this post!!!! (at the time I didn't because I didn't want to contradict OP without doing research first, and then never got the time)

I wanted to add that doing defrag is something you only need to worry about if you have an HDD. Most recently bought laptops should have an SSD, and defragmenting is actually advised against for SSDs. If you have an SSD and are experiencing issues, look into TRIMming. On top of that, even in system with an HDD manual defrag isn't as necessary as it used to be, as modern systems usually have built-in tools to automatically defrag once in a while.

I fall kinda in between on the antivirus part. I personally don't run any antivirus (other than windows defender), and it's generally plenty safe as long as you're careful. But if you don't feel confident enough in your ability to recognize what's safe and what isn't, there are several antiviruses that are good enough. Do keep in mind that all of them will slow down your PC to some extent tho. Just don't consider an antivirus something you *need* to have. I know plenty of people that think an antivirus software is something that Has To Be On Every Computer and that's why they have one, but it just isn't. If you aren't tech savvy, I recommend doing some research on antiviruses, and then deciding what's best for you.

Also if you do run into a virus, as long as you have been diligent in backing up your stuff I'd generally just wipe everything out and start with a brand new Windows installation. Installing an antivirus and making it run a scan can and will work in a lot of cases, but considering how much sensitive data we have on our PCs nowadays, better safe than sorry!

The Very Basics of Not Killing Your Computer

AVOID HEAT STRESS

If you have a laptop DO NOT use it on a soft surface like a pillow or on a blanket, it’ll block the vents on your computer and make it get really fucking hot inside.

If you have a desktop you gotta open it up and blow out the dust sometimes.

If you are moving your laptop in a bag turn the laptop off. Don’t put it to sleep, don’t just shut the screen, turn it off, because otherwise it’s in the bag generating heat and there’s nowhere for the heat to go in the bag. OFF. Not sleep. OFF.

DO NOT DROP

Okay I know that should be obvious but drop damage to your hard drive is bad bad news. Be as careful as you can to set your computer gently on flat surfaces; don’t leave it hanging out on a bed where it can get knocked off, don’t set it on the roof of your car. And yes, just dropping it a couple inches can kill your hard drive or totally shatter your screen.

DON’T PUT SHIT ON YOUR KEYBOARD

Look I’ve seen four people ruin their laptops because they had a pen on the keyboard and closed the laptop and it fucked up the screen and the keyboard and it sucks so much and you feel awful after it happens because it’s so avoidable just don’t put things on your keyboard and always check that your laptop is clear before you close it.

PROTECT YOUR PORTS ON YOUR LAPTOP

You’ve only got one power jack and a limited number of other inputs on your computer and if they detach from the motherboard you’re fucked. USB ports get damaged because people use them a lot and eventually it weakens the connection and then they just stop working and it sucks. You can get around this with USB ports by using a USB hub to connect things like your keyboard and mouse.

For your power plug you just gotta be careful. Avoid tripping over the cord at all costs, don’t yank the plug out of the computer. It will SUCK VERY MUCH A LOT if you have to buy a new computer because the power port lost contact with the motherboard.

Don’t move your computer with things plugged into it. Take the power cord off before you put your laptop in the bag, take out the USB mouse dongle, do not travel with little nubby bits sticking out of your computer that can easily get caught or get tweaked or snap off inside of the thing.

(I really can’t emphasize enough that most of the “it will cost more than it’s worth to fix this” laptops I see are because of USB ports and power jacks. People don’t seem to know that this isn’t something that can be fixed easily; a broken power jack is a “remove the motherboard and resoldier components” job, not a “plug a new one in in fifteen minutes” job and most computer repair shops aren’t going to solder things for you and if they DO it’s going to be very expensive)

RESTART YOUR SHIT AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH AND JUST LET THE FUCKING UPDATES RUN

You should probably restart more than once a month but whatever. This is actually something that I consider part of reducing heat stress because when your processor is straining to keep up with all the background bullshit that’s running from a program you opened three weeks ago it’s going to use up resources and get hot and look just restart it once in a while.

Also the updates are almost always okay and safe and generally running updates is a good and secure thing to do (though maybe follow a blog dedicated to the OS you run because if there IS a problem with the updates that blog will probably talk about it before the update gets forced on your computer)

ANTIVIRUS BULLSHIT

Yes you should probably be running an antivirus.

Sophos is free and it’s fine. But don’t pay for it - if you’re using Sophos use the free version.

If you’re looking for something paid and a little more comprehensive I recommend ESET - get the cheap version, renewals cost less than the initial purchase, and feel free to get a multi-year version, the credentials follow your email not the computer so if your computer dies before your license expires you can install the license on a new computer.

DO NOT INSTALL NORTON OR MCAFEE THEY ARE EXPENSIVE BULLSHIT. Kaspersky is whatever. It’s less bullshit than Norton or McAfee but not as good as ESET for about the same cost.

If you think you’ve got a virus run the free version of Malwarebytes and get your shit cleaned.

KEEP LIQUIDS THE FUCK AWAY FROM YOUR COMPUTER

Again this should be obvious and yet. But seriously, just make a rule for yourself that drinks aren’t allowed on the same table as your computer and you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches.

PLUG YOUR COMPUTER INTO A UPS

Okay I fucking hate amazon but here’s a thing you should be using, just search the rest of the internet for “surge protector/UPS” and you’ll find something that isn’t from amazon - APC is a solid brand for this.

Basically you want a fat surge protector that has a little bit of a battery backup and you want to plug your computer (desktop OR laptop) into that instead of into the wall. The benefit of this is twofold:

1) if there’s a power surge the UPS will prevent your computer’s power supply from getting fried and possibly frying parts of your motherboard

2) if there’s a power outage and you’re *at* your computer you’ll have enough time to save what you’re working on before your computer loses power (like, you’ll maybe only have a minute or two on a small UPS but that’s still time to hit CTRL+S and keep from losing work)

At a bare, bare minimum your computer should be plugged into a surge protector but NOT directly into the wall.

BACK YOUR SHIT UP

[we interrupt this yelling for me to tell you that Western Digital has apparently released their new My Passport line and I’m obligated to inform you that you can get a 2.5″ USB 3.0 backup drive with FIVE FUCKING TERABYTES OF STORAGE for $130. Or you can get 4TB for $93. Or you can get 1TB for $53. basically what I’m saying is that it is not only cheap computer season it is also cheap hard drive season.]

[also if you’re getting a backup drive get western digital not seagate seagate fucking sucks and has a much higher failure rate]

Uh, okay, anyway - Do an image backup of your computer every once in a while so that if you get infected or your hard drive dies or whatever you can just restore from backup and move on like nothing happened.

HERE’S HOW TO DO AN IMAGE BACKUP.

SAVE YOURSELF THE WEAR AND TEAR

You know what is cheap? USB Keyboards and USB mice. You know what is not cheap? Fixing the touchpad on a laptop or replacing a laptop keyboard.

Get yourself a USB hub, a USB Keyboard and a USB Mouse (wired or wireless, doesn’t matter) and if you’re using your laptop at home plug *that* into your computer.

Also if your keyboard on your laptop breaks it’s fine just to use a USB keyboard instead I promise; if the screen breaks it’s also usually cheaper and easier to get a used or inexpensive monitor than it is to replace the screen. Your laptop is basically just a very small version of whatever bullshit is going on inside a desktop, if the peripherals break but the core components are fine you can just use it like a desktop.

Unless it’s a piece of shit that doesn’t have any USB ports or video out in which case you got ripped off, friend, demand functionality in your devices I’m sorry.

/rant

[endursent]

WHAT IF astral express sunday would be too nervous to hold readers hand or hugging them bc his brain goes 💥 until he gets used to it and softens up to reader waa 🎉🎉

HES SO SILLY i want him to explode

【 content; sunday x reader , astral express sunday , fluff , character exploration, mild suggestiveness in one section , gn!reader 】

【 note; see sunday mention. NEURON ACTIVATED. i have neglected sunday writing for too long, it's time to sunday post more. 】

【 word count; 1.818 | read on ao3 | masterlist 】

Even after properly defining your relationship as “definitely happening”, Sunday still struggles to adjust to it—not because he doesn’t know what to do specifically, but because he fails to follow through with a lot of it. 

  As soon as he meets your eyes and feels the warmth of your skin at the same time, his brain halts in place like a deer caught in headlights—something about the affection and love in your gaze causes him to freeze, to hesitate and draw back. 

  He wants to enjoy that warmth, he wants to touch your cheek and gaze into your eyes for hours on end, examining every detail of your iris until he has it mapped better than the back of his own hand… but his heart tightens and his arms tingle when he tries. 

  He’s afraid, scared to overstep thresholds whose doors have long since opened wide for his presence. Afraid to take a wrong turn in the endless hallways of his thoughts and what-ifs.

  You don’t push him, you give him time to consider his movement and actions and proceed in the ways he feels comfortable—but you don’t let him pull back too far either. You grasp his hand as it pulls too close to his chest and he swallows when you bring it to yours, you press his palm against your chest and allow him to feel your heartbeat—quickened, excited, yet nervous as well. Sometimes, you’re also nervous. It’s okay to hesitate. 

  Mere moments like brushing his fingers against yours on accident are enough for his head-wings to shoot up into the air. You had simply been reaching for a pistachio in a bowl on a table where you sat with Sunday next to you, and he had coincidentally reached out as well. “A-ah, my apologies,” he pulls his hand back, wings lowering again as one moves halfway up his cheek in a meagre attempt to disguise the dusty red of his cheeks. 

  A small smile tugs on your lips and you take an additional nut to give to him. “It’s okay, here.” He holds his palm open for you to place the pistachio in, but instead of doing so, you peel the shell away with a click and hold it towards his lips. “Open up.”

  Five or so muscles in his face twitch as he leans back, surprised by your sudden approach and the very intimate gesture of trying to feed him—his eyes flicker to the left where Himeko is positively destroying March 7th in a card game, they’re not paying any attention to the two of you at all. 

  Sunday’s lips press together and for a moment you wonder if you might have pushed him a little too far, the red hue of his cheeks deepening as he avoids your eyes… and opens his mouth, just a little—barely enough to fit the small pistachio there.

  Your fingers touch his lips as you manage to set the pistachio on the tip of his tongue hiding only a little behind the bottom row of his teeth, and Sunday thinks he might explode. The way his upper lip lifted a little and a small drop of drool slid under his tongue—thankfully out of sight but definitely not out of mind—when your finger pushed under it to set the nut in his mouth…

  He swallows the pistachio quickly and nervously without chewing it and it almost stops in his throat before he could even realise what he was doing. Sunday might have just perished from embarrassment before the lack of oxygen would kill him were the pistachio to stop in his throat.

  Sunday hasn’t stepped off the Express in a while, he does so rather often, all things considered—usually choosing to at least peek out at the worlds you explore. After all, how can he find himself if he doesn’t look? 

  But he has never experienced a planet like this… you could convince him this is some intergalactically funded horror exhibition if you tried. Long stretches of trees and branches reach into the skies, casting dark shadows on the dull grass that covers the ground as far as one can see. The skies are dark when you hop off the train and practically drag Sunday along.

  He walks close to you, unsure if to reassure himself of your presence among the shadows, or to be ready to give his assistance were you to catch your foot on a root and crash on the ground—you’re walking so fast he can't help but think it’s just a matter of time.

  You feel something touch your thumb and look down, only to see Sunday’s gloved hand retreat. He’s looking ahead and pretending there is nothing strange happening. “Are you scared?” you wonder, tilting your head to get a better look at his face.

  A small frown tugs at his lips, so faint you could barely see it. “Of course not, but I am concerned about us getting lost—do you know where we’re going?” 

  “Kind of,” you sway your hand a little, seeing if you can fish at where he has retracted his to. “Pom-Pom mentioned there a huge city not far from where we dropped down, this world has some real good puddings if I read right.”

  Sunday merely hums in response, following you along. You did finally find the city—high buildings made of darkened wood, but with bright lanterns and strings of lights hanging between buildings to illuminate the streets in a comfortable orange. All the ambiance needs is rain (and for you two be inside a nice café) and it’s perfect.

  The streets, however, are a labyrinth. 

  You get lost only seven minutes after reaching the city, and no matter how you squinted at your phone, you couldn’t wrap your head around the map—and it doesn’t help that despite the darkness, it’s midday, and thus the streets and crowded near shoulder-to-shoulder. This place must be popular despite the gloomy atmosphere. 

  Having almost lost sight of you wandering around trying to get your bearings in the crowd, Sunday gathers his courage and stomps down his thoughts—and takes your hand. 

  You stop where you’re going and turn to look at him. “Hm? Is something wrong?”

  He still avoids your eyes, but his grip is firm. “You’re… still going in the wrong direction.”

  “I am?” you look back down to your phone and tilt it sideways. “Ah! Like this, I get it now… I think.”

  Sunday sighs, stepping closer to you as a person shoulder past your positions—and suddenly the two of you are standing far closer than planned, nearly pressed against the wall of a building that leads to the corner of the street. He can’t stop thinking about your hand against his gloved one, and he also can’t help but notice that your fingers feel cold.

  As you try to figure out the best path towards the mythical pudding, holding your phone out for Sunday to see as well, his fingers and palm engulf yours and try to move some of his heat to you. His thumb rubs over your palm as you speak and the lack of proper reaction from you, yet still laying your hand out to him, helps him find the gesture more natural and comfortable… something he wouldn’t mind indulging in more often. 

  Sunday is a very passive person when it comes to affections, he’s rarely the one to reach out first and needs a bit of a push to even come up with romantic gestures. He considers the time you spend together and the understanding between you to be much more precious and indicative of his affections.

  However, he gets an idea one time from something he saw when scrolling his phone… to leave notes around. Sunday wasn’t sure of it at first—and a little embarrassed that someone else might find them before you do—but gradually began to find it as an easy way to show his attention. 

  Sometimes, the notes have a small message on them (mostly reminding you to sleep more) but other times, there’s no message at all. He came to use it as a ‘I thought of you’ message, where he leaves a blank, small post-it on something. 

  One time you forgot to buy new toothpaste on the Express’ most recent stop and dreaded having to borrow from someone again—until you opened the drawer to fetch your toothbrush and saw a full tube with a small blue post-it on it… now you need to go over to his room and rub his cheeks and thank him for remembering your complaints about always forgetting to buy a new one. 

  Sunday is a surprisingly good caretaker, you caught some sort of cold or flu on a recent trip off the express and have been miserable in bed for days. Up and down, hot and cold, snot-filled and gross on all ends. But he sits down by your bedside and takes your temperature, lays the back of his hand against your heated skin and does all he can to help. 

  One aspect he struggled with was when you got whiny one evening and reached out for a hug…

  While you might mistake his hesitation for disgust, as you are snot-nosed, puffy eyed and half crying from misery—it’s far from what was on his mind. But Sunday feels his chest tighten at the sight of you so miserable, temporary as it is, and he doesn’t have the heart to refuse your embrace. 

  He leans down and lets you wrap your arms around his shoulders, your clammy forehead rubbing into his shirt as he stiffly pats your head and tries to soothe you. “It’s alright… your fever is going down, you’ll be okay soon, just remember to drink the water on the nightstand, okay?” he mumbles by your ear, and the more you nod and thank him for taking care of you, the more his muscles ease and he shifts a bit to lay down with you, allowing you to burrow into the crook of his neck and find comfort in his presence. 

  Sunday rests his chin over your head and rubs your back. “Would you like me to sing for you?”

  You nod into his shoulder and he closes his mouth to hum familiar tunes, the beginning of a familiar song as the vibrations in his chest rumble against you. His voice is soothing, and his singing is surprisingly soft and gentle. 

  As you drift to well-needed sleep, Sunday stays with you until he’s certain you’ve fallen asleep… and then for a while more, just long enough that he can’t imagine tearing himself away from you—or risking waking you up by rising from the bed. Perhaps it’s alright if he stays the night here, after all, he needs to make sure you hydrate through the night.

[takes1]

newest drop was fire bro🙌🔥🔥🔥

oikawa crushing on quiet!reader

ts made me smile. much appreciated ❤️ no smut this time; i'm getting smut fatigue. needed a short palette cleanser. thinking about doing some short form stuff while i work through the pre-january requests.

warnings. none, sfw

details. fem!reader / fluffy, feel-good fic / quiet!reader / oikawa crushing / 'weird'!reader / nerd x popular trope / oikawa is obsessed with you / based off of the 'hi wayne/bye wayne' audio / whipped!oikawa / iwa being a good person / 800 words

links. my masterlist. more haikyuu. my ao3.

"Hi, Tohru," You said, just as you did every day, to turn in your homework to the teacher's desk.

Oikawa was leaning forward, engaged in finishing a hushed story with Iwazumi. But your light, airy tone -void of any old, tired motive- took precedence with no further thought.

"-And then he was-- Hi, (Y/n)."

He perked up in many ways, just in time for you to walk by his desk again. Eyes wider, an uncontrollable smile brightening his former, serious expression- his brow softer, as he twisted to watch you return to your seat.

It was unclear why you felt comfortable enough to be on a first-name basis. Oikawa didn't mind. It distinguished you, like many things did, from the girls who only spoke to him because they were after something.

"The fuck was that?" Iwa searched his expression, finding some kind of emotion, or thought pattern at the very least, that he had never seen on his friend before.

Oikawa turned back around, confused, but not defensive.

"What?"

"That," Iwa asserted, shortly before he was called to face forward. He muttered, under his breath, "-That look on your face."

Oikawa was left to figure it out, a hint of effort on his brow, for the remainder of class.

Lunch eventually came around. He was still feeling different, and wasn't sure if it was what Iwa pointed out, or not.

In the process of standing to grab his lunch from his bag, and go eat outside like he usually did with his friend, he caught a quick glimpse of you. You were folding another addition to the row of tiny, paper cranes on your desk.

"C'mon," Iwa shouldered his bag.

Oikawa took a step, but lingered a moment longer.

You were sitting alone, but you didn't look sad about it. The seat in front of you was empty.

He filled it, despite Iwa's quiet protests, and sat backwards to watch you. The bench they usually chose to sit at sucked, because it was regularly bombarded with people he didn't know, all trying to talk to him. He usually never got to eat his lunch.

"Hi Tohru," You smiled, choosing not to look at him, in order to focus on your craft.

His reply was a fond sigh, "Hi, (Y/n)."

From here, he had the privilege of finally getting a good look at your face.

There was a sort of mild, unbothered, pleasantness to you. You weren't worried about anything else. You didn't give a damn that he was here, much less that he couldn't take his eyes off of you.

Iwa flicked him, hard, in the back of the head. It was after he shot back upright, rubbing the sore spot, that he realized he had been leaning slowly forward.

"Don't be a dick," Iwa muttered.

The assumption was such a leap in logic that Oikawa had no idea what he meant. You added another crane, that tiny, permanent smile on your pretty face.

He ignored him. Instead, he opted to try talking to you for the first time, "Um- are you going to eat your lunch?"

Still not looking at him, you were tearing off another page-- "I forgot it."

Again, you didn't seem like you minded such a dismal thing. Without much further thought, he grabbed his and set it in your workspace.

This was the only time you would look up at him.

A shudder wracked down his spine, rendering his voice a bit weak, "Yo-u can have mine."

There was some consideration in your eyes, before you pushed it back towards him, and refocused on your paper, "No. You need to eat. Aren't you playing a big match, soon?"

The way you asked made it seem like you weren't looking for an answer.

"Uh-," He did you the liberty of freeing up your desk space again, lunch box in his clammy hands, "Yeah- yeah, we are."

Iwa was getting tired of standing- you heard him shift his weight and sigh. He was still under the assumption that Oikawa was trying to flirt for some useless, and cruel joke.

"You can sit there," You motioned to the desk next to Oikawa.

His inflection was stilted, and his cadence was slow as he, hesitantly, took a seat.

"Thanks..."

It was quiet for a while, aside from the other students chatting from further back in the classroom. Iwa watched his friend face forward and eat slowly, slouched at the shoulders. It was an unusual sight.

Gradually, it dawned on him that this superficial pretty boy -in a rare, natural phenomenon- held a deeply genuine and innocent crush.

When they got up at the ring of the next bell, you were about 20 cranes deep. Oikawa left you, with another wistful stare, to head back to his seat. Though he loved how you didn't need to fill the silence, he wished he could make more conversation with you.

The classroom began filling up again, getting louder, and crowded for the next subject.

He was flitting his pencil between his sluggish fingers, a frown deep and heavy against his knuckles, when you came into view once more.

Another precious moment of hopeful, heart-pounding glee.

You placed a crane on his desk, then straightened it up, "Bye, Tohru."

This time, you waited long enough for him to properly respond, dawning that uncontrollable grin again, "Bye, (Y/n)."

☆VIP☆

@integers @paradoxicalwritings @yuchacco

my masterlist. more haikyuu

[alexrosa13]

What a Lie

Caleb x female!reader

Genre: fluff/suggestive/angst

Warnings: minor writing suggestive content!, reader is the mc, mention of past trauma/mental health problems, Caleb getting slapped (out of love), reader cries... a lot... cause that's how I feel with his comeback

Note: husband came back from the military guys, it was written for the official contest made by L&Ds, if you'll like my work please consider sneaking a peak to my Twitter/X and leaving something behind to boost my chances for the win, thank you <3 (should I write some additional memories later on? expect something hot)

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I feel a little nauseous and my hands are shaking

I guess that means your close by

My throat is getting dry and my heart is racing

I haven't been by your side

In a minute but I think about it sometimes

Even though I know it's not so distant

Oh no, I still wanna reminisce it

Memories of your childhood started flowing down your mind.

The day when you scraped your knee and Caleb took you back home on his back, while trying to calm you down, eventually his ramblings managed to distract you from your cries and a joyful laugh replaced sobs, laughing with tears still lingering in your eyes.

The day when a boy in your school pushed you with succeeded in making you fall and drop all the things previously in your hands. Caleb was close by that day, and noticing the situation rush to your aid, 'threatening' the boy, which almost made him pee his pants, since Caleb was older, and of course that the older kids in school were always scary. After that he helped you gather your things and back at home you thanked him with a bone crushing hug.

Or the day where you were running around with water guns, playing with the other kids in your neighbourhood. By the end of the fun you were both left with wet clothes and hair, but the joy was worth it. Noticing you shaking slightly when the wind blew towards you, he was quick to wrap you in his hoodie and take you home, when you spend the evening playing the games until your granny had to force you two to go to bed.

I think of that night in the park

It was getting dark and we stayed up for hours

What a time, what a time, what a time

You'd cling to my body

Like you wanted it forever

What a time, what a time, what a time

For you and I

What a time, what a time

For you and I

First day of Summer, your teenage years. Right after lunch you two left for a 'short trip' for ice cream, somehow spending the rest of the day walking around, sharing the memories, the one that you made together and those created with and by your friends.

Talks about the future weren't as scary as they will be someday.

Without noticing it the sun has set, your silhouettes visible only because of the street lamps. You were lying on the grass in the park, the area quiet with no one else around. You watched as the fireflies danced in the distance.

"Caleb?" your quiet voice caught the attention of the older boy to you.

"Yes?" his response calm. He heard the hint of the hesitation in your voice.

"Promise to stay with me forever?" your voice broke down, he looked at you, the tears visible in your eyes, threatening to fall down.

"Pipsqueak..." one of his hand went to brush the tear that managed to leave your eye "I promise." he stroked your hair, in a soothing gesture.

None of you knew what the future was planning to throw your way, but both of you believed one thing: that you will stay together, always.

I know we didn't end it like we're supposed to

And now we get a bit tense

I wonder if my mind just leaves out all the bad parts

I know we didn't make sense

I admit it that I think about it sometimes

Even though I know it's not so distant

Oh no, I still wanna reminisce it

Living with the traumatic past wasn't easy. No matter for how long the thoughts of the past events left your mind, they always had a way to remind you of their existence. Never ending cycle.

"It's okay, ssh, it's okay." his gentle voice broke through the sound of your sobs, it was middle of the night, your mind played tricks on you making you mistake what's the reality and what's not.

After about half an hour of silently crying into you pillow your unconscious mind made you walk to his room.

You opened and closed the door silently, he stirred in his bed, clearly not asleep yet and looked your way.

"Pipsqueak?" you looked at him, but your consciousness was closed inside of you, he felt like he was starring at the ghost.

He sat down fast, brushing the covers aside and rushing your way, hiding you in his arms the moment he found himself close enough.

The sobs shook your body with your head falling to snuggle in his neck. The voices in your mind quieting down, leaving only silence behind. The warmth of another human body next to you kept you grounded, making you come back to reality.

You spend minutes, maybe even an hour in his arms, not moving, just listening to his breathing and the beating of his heart. He didn't ask, he just stayed there with you knowing that you needed him, giving you time to calm your thoughts down.

When he noticed your steady breathing and the exhaustion visible on your face he picked you up, carrying you to his bed. He lay down behind you, dropping the covers over you two. One of his arms worked as your pillow, while the second hugged you to him. Slowly you started falling asleep, with a calm mind, last thing that you heard before you doze off was:

"Goodnight pipsqueak." and a gentle kiss on your head.

I think of that night in the park

It was getting dark and we stayed up for hours

What a time, what a time, what a time

You'd cling to my body

Like you wanted it forever

What a time, what a time, what a time

For you and I

What a time, what a time

For you and I

The last night with Caleb home before he had to leave for his aircraft training. You were happy for him, of course you were, but... That didn't help the feeling of sadness that came together with the realization that you won't see him for months to come.

No matter how selfish you wanted to be and keep him with you, you knew how important it was to him, you wouldn't dare to get in the way of his dreams. Shutting down your phone you stood up from your bed, making your way to the room where you always felt the safest. That would change after that room won't have a resident anymore.

You knocked gently on the door, almost sure that he wasn't asleep yet, and your suspicions were confirmed with a quiet 'come in' from the other side of the door.

You grabbed the handle and opened them, they let out a quiet creak.

You noticed that most of his stuff was packed. The messy room that used to be full with various little things now clean and empty. You couldn't help the feeling of your heart tightening up. Finally your eyes meet his, he looked at you expectantly, he probably guessed that you'll visit him tonight, just like you did every time you needed him.

He stayed quiet, waiting for you to say your thoughts, which you did with a shaky voice and your eyes dropping down.

"I'll miss you." you didn't talk about your deep thoughts and problems much, most of the time deciding to stay silent and enjoy the peace that came with the presence of the other. It was also probably because you knew each other so well that you knew what the other was thinking about, no words needed.

"Oh c'mon pipsqueak, I'll be back before you know it. I'll be texting and calling you whenever I can. You won't even notice me gone in between all of your plans and training to become a hunter." he smiled, unbothered. He wasn't worried about your relationship changing for the worse, you two were too close to just forget about each other and start treating the other like a stranger.

Noticing your sulking form he stood up from where he sat on his bed, placing the photo of you and him that he was looking at before you came to him back on the shelf. He walked up to you, grabbing your chin with one of his palms, forcing you to look him in the eye.

"You know; goodbyes are not forever." the smirk on his lips made you scoff. He really couldn't treat that situation seriously, could he?

"So you won't miss me huh? Okay, got it." your voice let out the annoyance you felt at his indifferent demeanor.

"Of course I will, but I know that I'll see you again." his hand went up to mess up your hair, you caught his arm with both of your hands, but because of the sudden movement you stumbled a bit, your body falling his way. Luckily his fast reflexes managed to catch you in time, pulling you close to his body in the process. Your breaths stopped for a moment, your hearts starting to beat faster, none of you wanted to look the other in the eye right now.

The atmosphere in the room changed. Something unspoken lingered in the air. For the first time in forever you wondered what the other was thinking with no clue if your suspicions were right. You didn't know if you should move away, stay in one place or... Move closer..?

You felt his hand gently caressing the back of your neck.

"Tell me you don't want this." he whispered with his head dropping to yours, it was one of those times when you got a reminder of just how tall he is. Your forehead rested on his torso, the words not leaving your mouth.

What did you want?

Uncertainly your hands went up to his face, your palms gently caressing his cheeks. The hand on your neck made you raise your head up, the other one coming to hold your chin, his finger softly tracing your lips.

"Please tell me you don't want this." his voice even quieter than before, the words leaving his mouth with his face centimetres away from yours.

"I don't want to lie." you swallowed nervously, was it really happening?

He looked at you for a moment longer, trying to catch a glimpse of uncertainty in your eyes, finding none his body decided what to do before his mind could.

His lips came to meet yours, slow and gentle at first, but the very moment you reciprocated the affection his hand left your neck to wrap itself around your waist, pulling you even closer to him and deepening the kiss.

You lost track of the time, everything else not important right now, millions of unspoken feelings finding their way onto the surface. You felt a tear tracing your cheek, not even sure when you started crying.

After what felt like seconds, which probably were a couple of minutes, you broke the kiss with the need to breath. You opened your eyes, your gaze finding his, the longing in his eyes will probably stay in your mind forever to remind you of him every time you'll try to fall asleep.

Once more, there was no need for words, both of you knew what the other one thought and wanted, your heavy breathing met the quietness of the night, and in the next second your hands grabbed his t-shirt to pull him back in harshly, his palms matched your fierceness, pulling you by your waist and the back of your head. The noises of heated kisses and quiet moans filled the air, you hugged his neck, standing on your toes to get even closer to him.

You'll miss him so much.

For you and I

For you and I

For you and I

First months without him made you feel so lonely, it felt so weird to not be able to walk up to his room and hug him to sleep, or wake up without him making you breakfast.

He kept his promise, calling and texting you when he could, but that didn't happen often, since rookies were rarely given a time to spend on their phones.

You were staring at the photo of him smiling with the necklace you gifted him perfectly visible, the plushie that he won at the arcade for you when you were teenagers tightly wrapped in your arms.

The night you spent with him months ago still in your head. That man turned your world upside down, changing your attitude towards him drastically. You felt like you were fourteen having a crush on the boy from your class and planning all the things on how to win him over.

Soon he'll be here. Where he belongs, with you.

But until then the memories of him will have to somehow be enough.

You played the voice message he sent you a couple days ago again. The words leaving his mouth were already memorized by you, his voice brought you a sense of calm nothing else could.

He was cruel to leave you for so long after sharing his feelings for you the night of his departure.

But... You were cruel too, letting him have you the night he had to leave, making him leave with the memories of your warmth and comfort, with the memory of your quiet pleads to remember about you and to come back to you, you were so fragile in his arms, the walls you build up around yourself collapsing the moment his skin touched yours underneath the covers, with the moon being the only witness to your love.

What a time, what a time

For you and I

What a time for you and I, yeah

What a time, what a time

For you and I

The tap out ceremony after finishing the training was today, Granny let you go there by yourself, saying something about having a doctor appointment. Caleb will stay at your apartment for the first days, since your rooms in your childhood home are currently in a not really good state.

You were excited and nervous at the same time, your heart threatened to break through your chest with how strong it was beating.

You got there and saw all those people, soldiers, standing in perfect rows, people looking for their kids, siblings, lovers. A lot of noises full of joy could be heard from everywhere around you. Slowly, you walked forward, trying to catch a glimpse of the boy who's been living in your mind rent-free for the past months.

It took you some time, but you finally noticed him. He wasn't facing your way, so he had no way of knowing you were already there. You felt your eyes getting glossy, and your hand went to cover your mouth. You stood there for a moment, finally seeing him in person after what felt like forever spent without him by your side. How much has he changed?

Not letting your thoughts distract you for too long you finally took slow steps his way, walking between the lines of other people waiting for their close ones.

You found yourself right before him, his gaze stayed focused ahead of him, emotionless expression still on his face, waiting for your touch.

You took a moment to admire him. He looked almost nothing like the boy that left, a man now, one could say. Did he change on the inside too? Is he still your Caleb?

With a deep breath you stepped even closer to him, your arms behind your back. Standing now centimetres away from him, your smile widens and finally you shoot up to embrace him in the hug that you needed for months now.

He didn't miss a beat, instantly hugging you back, and picking your body above the ground.

"I told you I'll be back." he said, with his mouth right above your ear. You didn't respond, just hugged him even tighter, letting the gesture speak instead of words.

You were finally home.

I think of that night in the park

It was getting dark and we stayed up for hours

What a lie, what a lie, what a lie

You'd cling to my body

Like you wanted it forever

What a lie, what a lie, what a lie

For you and I

What a lie, what a lie

For you and I

He was right there, the same..? But different...

How could he... After so long...

Your expression gave out the million thoughts stucked in your head.

You started at him, was it really him?

You had enough of crying after that guy, blaming yourself for what happened, that you should go inside of the house with him, or maybe said one sentence more to keep him outside, anything.

And now... It all didn't matter. He was here, changed, but still him.

More tears lingered in your eyes, you felt like you were drowning, couldn't breath, your heart racing. It couldn't be real. He couldn't be real.

He looked at you indifferent, as if not moved at all by the sight of you before him.

You felt your knees giving up, before collapsing under you and sending your body to the ground. But before you could hit the hard floor your body stayed above it, before gently getting lowered down. You heard steps coming closer to you, but your eyes stayed focused on the floor, not really understanding what is happening right now.

You felt a hand holding your chin, making you raise your head and look the man in the eyes. It couldn't be...

"What? You don't recognize me anymore?" his tone cold, was it really the very person who plugged your mind everyday?

"Caleb..?" your voice so quiet that you almost didn't hear it yourself. You saw his gaze soften, more and more tears started filling your eyes. You started at him, not knowing what to do now. You believed he was dead for so long.

"It's me. I'm back." he said, his tone changing for something softer this time, dropping his cold demeanor.

You raised your hand slowly towards his face, he looked at it for a moment, letting you take your time with processing the situation.

But then you did something unexpected...

The sound of a slap echoed in the room, he looked at you in shock. You did not just do that.

"That..." your voice shook, with sadness, but also anger "Is for your 'death'." the last word came out snarky.

"Pipsque-" you pulled him by his uniform's collar crushing your lips with him, he stayed frozen, his eyes widening. He wasn't expecting that. Before he had a chance to reciprocate your angry kiss you already pulled back, pushing him away from yourself.

"And this... Is for your return." tears fell down your face, he stared at you in awe. You weren't crying. Little drops were still making their paths on your face, but there were no sobs, no shaking of your body, not even sadness left in your eyes. There was numbness... But also hope in your gaze. One thing that he wished at this very moment was that he'll manage to make everything okay. He has to make everything okay.

For you and I (For you)

For you and I (For you)

For you and I (For you and I)

For you and I, yeah

[yamneko]

Gathering peoples replies/links so I can find/read the recipes better than trying to scrollll forever on tumblr itself. I did not do video only recipes, or ones that I could not find (Stardew Valley and some other specific books mentioned) I have not gone thru the REBLOG addition recipes, but there's a TON there too

General Tips:

stevviefox If you like ‘crisp’ cookies use baking soda. Cake-ish ones use baking powder and self raising flour. Depending on where you are might want to store the dough in the fridge for a couple of hours to firm up before baking.

pepper-fandom-things Okay I'm a weirdo and for some reason having cold and hard chocolate chips ruins my experience but keeping them out isn't the same. My best solution has been to fuckin shred the chips. So you get the taste without the chunk of cold chocolate. It's like a chocolate chip *flavored* cookie with nothing shady about it

dustin-but-gayer Whatever you do; add 1 heaping tsp of cinnamon and half to 2/3 tsp of nutmeg to the dry mix (if it's a 2 cup of flour recipe, alter as needed)

A lot of people recommended the toll house recipe

https://www.verybestbaking.com/toll-house/recipes/original-nestle-toll-house-chocolate-chip-cookies/

tiruvenkadu yeah, this is the one i use, but two caveats: one, make sure the butter is, in fact, softened. two, use a bit less than teo and a quarter cups of flour - you’ll get cookies that crisp up just perfectly.

whoknowsyourfuture Use the nestle recipe, but double it except for the butter and chocolate chips. Use one bag of chips or equivalent, and 3 sticks of butter instead of 4(I think that's the correct proportion, I'm at work rn). I usually also add an extra cup to cup and a half of flour, makes dense, tall cookies. For flatter, crispier cookies, after whatever the recipe calls for in flour, gradually add until dough is moldable but still clings to hands. The version with more flour should not stick to your hands at all.

leadhelmetcosmonaut The recipe on the chocolate chips packet is good but if you add some cinnamon it becomes even better

estrellami-1 My family does the nestle toll house recipe BUT equal parts brown sugar & white sugar. It makes them a tad more molasses-y and REALLY good :)

Gemma Stafford Recipes https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/cookie-recipes/ (no specific one given, and it looks like there's several CCC ones even)

ding-dong-dumbass Gemma Stafford's recipes are ones that I have never had trouble with, across two different countries, with their individual standards of production and QA for the ingredients. I call them idiotproof because even *I* can make them without any trouble. I'd 100% recommend scaling up the giant single serve cookie recipe, but she's also got a master recipe you can fiddle around with to make it your own.

https://www.seriouseats.com/food-lab-best-chocolate-chip-cookie-step-by-step-slideshow

The two hour version in this recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4CyhQqAPpk (the other two are the top comment in the video)

2-Hour Chocolate Chip Cookies (Makes 8-10 cookies) PREP TIME: 1 HOUR COOK TIME: 15 MINUTES TOTAL TIME: 195 MINUTES INGREDIENTS

½ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup light brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

4 ounces milk or semi-sweet chocolate chunks

4 ounces dark chocolate chunks

PREPARATION

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the granulated and brown sugar, salt, and butter until a paste forms with no lumps.

2. Whisk in the egg and vanilla, beating until light ribbons fall off the whisk and remain for a short while before dissolving.

3. Sift in the flour and baking soda, then fold with a spatula until just incorporated. (Be careful not to overmix, which will cause the gluten in the flour to toughen, resulting in cakier cookies).

4. Fold in the milk and dark chocolate chunks.

5. Chill the dough for 2 hours, or, for a more intense toffee-like flavor and deeper color, overnight. The longer the dough rests, the more complex its flavor will be.

6. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

7. Using a 2½-ounce ice cream scoop or a ⅓ cup measure, scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 4 inches (10 cm) of space between each cookie and 2 inches (5 cm) of space from the edges of the pan so that the cookies can spread evenly. A half sheet pan should fit no more than 6 cookies.

8. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges have started to lightly brown. Let cool completely before serving. 9. Enjoy!

https://kickassbaker.com/jacques-torres-chocolate-chip-cookies/

https://hostthetoast.com/best-chewy-cafe-style-chocolate-chip-cookies/#tasty-recipes-9463-jump-target

bizexuals https://hostthetoast.com/best-chewy-cafe-style-chocolate-chip-cookies/#tasty-recipes-9463-jump-target this is my absolute favorite. i love a huge, chewy & soft cookie. just do me a favor & brown the butter (i usually add an extra half stick to make up for the water loss & make sure i have 6oz of brown butter at the end, adding a tbsp or more of regular melted butter if my estimate was off)

http://artofdessert.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-ultimate-chocolate-chip-cookie.html?m=1

courageousteapot http://artofdessert.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-ultimate-chocolate-chip-cookie.html?m=1 Fantastic even if you don't have allergies (uses cream cheese instead of eggs). I use 3 cups chocolate chips instead of 2, and use milk chocolate chips if I'm feeling fancy. These are so good they cause problems, like my boss calling me over the holidays to ask me to make some for her family (uh... No).

https://sugarspunrun.com/worst-chocolate-chip-cookies/

https://joyfoodsunshine.com/the-most-amazing-chocolate-chip-cookies/

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10813/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/

https://www.hersheyland.ca/en_ca/recipes/original-chipits-cookies-recipe.html (I think this is the OG one recommended)

Recipes just given:

alyssdecoeur • Mix together in a bowl: o 250g flour o ½ baking powder little bag in France, should be about 5g order (the baking powder likes to be mixed directly with the flour) o 125g sugar (demerara is better for this recipe. I personally always have a couple of vanilla beans in my sugar jar for more taste) o some cinnamon o 100g chocolate chips: if you can get your hands on “Nestle dessert” baking chocolate and cut up your own chocolate chips, it will be way better. I found out that cutting my own chocolate chips with UK chocolate does not work as well because the baking chocolate I have found is rubbish. Maybe pre-made chocolate chips would work? • Melt 125g salted butter (microwave), wait for it to cool a bit and add 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of honey. • Add the wet mix to the dry mix and mix it with your hands (very important, it does not work properly with a spoon/fork/whisk) until you have a moist dough (do not overmix), refrain from eating all your cookie dough, and cook chunks at 180°C until they feel right

books-and-hot-drinks 200g butter, 120g sugar, 60g oatmeal, 250g flour, 1 egg, 100g chocolate (or more), mix everything, rest 30 min in fridge, bake 20 min at 175°C

zeromidnight Yes! I like to make it with peanut butter chips or butterscotch chips for variation. 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoons hot water 1/4 teaspoon of salt 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 to 2 cup chips of choice

riley-rogue This is the recipe I use. I like really soft cookies so that's how these will turn out. I've also tried it with butterscotch morsels instead of chocolate and that was honestly the best batch I've made. Also, when you pull them out of the oven they will be very fragile. so try not to touch or move them until they set after a few minutes :) 16 tbs of salted butter 1 cup of white sugar 1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar 2 tsp of vanilla extract 2 eggs 3 cups of flour 1 tsp of baking soda 1/2 tsp of salt 1 cup of chocolate chips -Preheat oven to 350. -Mix sifted flour, baking soda, and salt together. -In separate bowl, melt butter then mix with both sifted sugars until creamy. -Add vanilla and eggs then mix gently. -Add dry to wet ingredients and mix together until crumbly dough forms. -Bake for 11 minutes and 30 seconds

no-one-s-writing 2 1/4 cupsof ap flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp 3/4 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoonvanilla 3 cups chocolate chips 1 teaspoon finely ground coffee Cream together butter and sugars. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and coffee. Add flour, salt, and baking soda Bake for 7~ minutes at 350 I also like throwing them into cupcake tins with piece of chocolate in the center no-one-s-writing 2 1/4 cupsof ap flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp 3/4 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoonvanilla 3 cups chocolate chips 1 teaspoon finely ground coffee Cream together butter and sugars. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and coffee. Add flour, salt, and baking soda Bake for 7~ minutes at 350 I also like throwing them into cupcake tins with piece of chocolate in the center

strawberryapplesauce13 this is mine-1 stick of butter and melt and mix with 6 tbsp of brown and white sugar, 1/2 tsp of vanilla and an egg. mix 1 cup and 2 tbp of flour with 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt in another bowl. add dry to wet and add 3/4 cup choc. chips, freeze for 10 minutes and use an ice cream scoop to make them into balls. bake for 13 minutes and enjoy :))

anyone got a good chocolate chip cookie recipe? i trust yall significantly more than browsing internet recipes

[mareastrorum]

Been chewing more on how C3 wound up here. What’s throwing me is the strange shift from the cast’s unflinching “yes, and” game in C2 to a misplaced feeling that they need to choose correctly in C3.

I want to be clear here that this isn’t a criticism post because I genuinely don’t know what’s happening here. It’s just odd behaviors that seem to signal a problem, and I don’t know what solution would resolve it. I’m not going to be so presumptuous as to hypothesize about any cast member’s thoughts.

In the Cooldown for C3E118 (and offhandedly previously), Laura and Ashley expressed some nervousness about making big decisions because they’re worried about making the “wrong” choice. Without more, that attitude alone would explain much of the party’s indecisiveness about key campaign questions. After all, their characters are the two Ruidusborn of most interest to the campaign villains, and other characters (especially Orym, Laudna, and Ashton) have insisted that Imogen and Fearne take the lead on Predathos.

But this isn’t a story in a vacuum. C2 got completely derailed multiple times. The Mighty Nein decided to steal a pirate ship and leave the continent the campaign was set on; shortly after they returned, they decided to reopen a collapsed tunnel to go the opposite side of the continent; then Caleb returned the Luxon Beacon and made themselves heroes of an enemy nation instantly. That’s not even getting into the fact that Molly died before the Nein got to Shadycreek Run (which absolutely would have been all about his backstory) or that Twiggy left an incredible magical artifact that wasn’t supposed to be given to the Nein. Each time, Matt adjusted and made it work. Granted, C2 was more of a sandbox campaign, but Matt demonstrated his flexibility as a DM time and again.

Like, as a general rule of thumb, DMs shouldn’t offer options that would torpedo the campaign. It’s rational to avoid situations that have a genuine possibility of undercutting the game. Matt has been DMing for a long time; he’s done a very good job of finding ways to make the campaign work regardless of the decisions the players make. Even when players do something directly against the signals he threw out (like Ashton trying to absorb a second shard despite consistent, dire warnings that it would kill him), he works with the players to come to a reasonable solution (Ashton survived but the shard wouldn’t take, and he got some character moments out of the failure). We, the audience, know Matt is good at pivoting when he needs to.

In addition to taking the players’ curveballs like a champ, Matt also takes big swings for the sake of the story. In C1, Matt broke his biggest city with a dragon invasion, then made a new god leading an undead titan to go stomp out the world’s oldest civilization. In C2, he let the players go off the map whenever and still made the digression relevant to their character arcs every time. Not to be parasocial, but if we can figure out that that Matt can handle this sort of thing, the players certainly have a better feel for it than us.

So what is going on in C3? We know Matt isn’t scared of breaking Exandria or destroying the pantheon: he set that possibility in motion as the default ending if the players did nothing. CR literally did a mini series about the start of the end of the world with EXU Calamity. Laura and Ashley were also in Downfall and making big choices between the gods and mortals. Breaking stuff is what they do!

Where did this idea that there’s a “wrong” choice come from? That type of thinking kills a lot of great improv, and the whole point of the “yes, and” exercise is to shake it off. While it’s incredibly obvious to say not to think that way, the real issue is sorting out why that mentality has taken hold at all. That’s a problem no amount of fan discussion is going to resolve.

[seoulmatez]

𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓎

rin’s routine takes a turn when a stray cat inserts itself into the equations.

itoshi rin x reader ﾉ sfw ﾉ fluff ﾉ allusions to abandonment issues

There’s a cat that follows Rin on his walk home from practice.

The first time, he simply took notice. A small bundle of black fur seemed to curve at every turn he made, stopping every time he paused. Its light eyes almost glowed in the darkness accompanying dusk. And, as if the creature knew it was time to part ways, it didn’t bother following Rin to the door of his apartment.

The second time caught Rin by surprise. Did the stray remember him? The walk was much the same, Rin leading the way while the cat acted as his shadow. Maybe the man tricked himself into thinking so, but it felt like the cat met his eye every time he looked over his shoulder to check if it was in tow.

This time, Rin crouched down to pet it. His hand hovered tentatively over its head, waiting for some adverse reaction to his proximity—a hiss, or perhaps it would dart off. But it didn’t come. He gently scratched the cat’s head. It purred, leaning into his touch.

The days that followed were much the same—Rin’s initial surprise at his companion’s return, his hesitancy to reach out for fear of an unpleasant reaction, the short moment of comfort the both of them shared before Rin had to go inside. They grew on each other with each scheduled meeting. The cat began to walk closer—beside the man instead of behind him. Rin left a little earlier in the morning to pick up treats for his new friend.

Rin has lost track of how long this has been going on. What he has taken note of, though, is how the cat no longer lingers at the start of the pathway leading to his apartment—it has taken to joining him at the door.

Yours and Rin’s schedules don’t always align the best. It makes taking advantage of the days the both of you are free a given and today happens to be one of those days. It’s bright and early and with the bag of pastries you picked up in hand, you make your way to Rin’s apartment.

“Knock knock,” you verbalize in addition to tapping your knuckles against his door.

You only have to wait a moment before his voice sounds from the other side. “It’s open.”

With his invitation, you turn the doorknob and let yourself inside. As you kick off your shoes at the doorway, you catch sight of Rin lying on the couch. The piece of furniture isn’t quite long enough given his height, so his legs are propped up on the arm. It’s enough to make you chuckle under your breath. Rin doesn’t seem to mind you finding humor in the situation. He simply offers you a lazy wave and a, “Hey.”

“Good morning,” you greet him with a smile. You hold up the paper bag in your hand. “I brought breakfast.”

Rin hums in satisfaction before getting up to join you in the kitchen. You’re just about to set everything on the counter when something beats you to the spot. It’s black and furry and entirely unexpected—so much so that you flinch, clutching the bag to your chest. “Oh!”

You can hear Rin sigh behind you, though, when he appears beside you, he doesn’t look nearly as startled as you do. He picks up what you now realize is a cat from in front of you, holding it up in the air level with his face. “I told you, you’re not allowed on the counters.”

Two pairs of eyes—one aquamarine, the other a pale green—stare at each other in silence. Rin almost looks as if he’s expecting a response and he earns one in the form of an innocent meow.

Rin’s eyes narrow. “Stay off the counters.”

“When did you get a cat?” You suppose you should have noticed sooner. Now that you’re paying attention, there are signs all over the place—the food and water bowls placed on a mat that you walked past to get into the kitchen, the cat tower tucked away in the corner of the living room just a few feet away from the couch Rin was lounging on, there’s even a feather wand toy under the coffee table.

He finally puts the cat down on the floor. Despite being released, it doesn’t wander far. “Last week. She kept following me home.”

“Cute…” The thought of this darling trailing behind Rin during his commute is almost too adorable for you to handle. You kneel down to get a better look at her. She’s idly licking her fur like she’s grown bored of this conversation. You look up at Rin. “What’s her name?”

“She doesn’t have one.”

“Huh?” You stand up once more, frowning in confusion. “How do you get her attention then?”

He shrugs. “I don’t need to. She’s always nearby anyway.”

He doesn’t tell you that he’s pondered the idea of naming her but shied away. It’s better this way—not getting too attached and making things too real. Because if it’s real, that means she can leave him—cast him aside—too.

“She needs a name, Rin,” you tell him, finally setting down the bag from the bakery and pulling out its contents. You shoot him a smile. “We can come up with one while we eat.”

Movement from the corner of your eye catches your attention. Your gaze falls to the floor to find the cat rubbing against Rin’s leg.

Your smile widens. “See, she likes the idea.”

He’s still wary but he considers it for a moment, his stare never straying from your face. He reminds himself that you’re very real—standing right in front of him, close enough to touch. You’re real and you’ve stuck around. That should be all the evidence he needs.

“Fine,” Rin concedes. 

He glances down at the cat he took in. Strangely enough, her presence since the start has had an impact on Rin, made him feel a little less lonely.

He supposes she deserves a name.

manon here ( ≧ᗜ≦) thanks for reading! if u enjoyed, reblogs are greatly appreciated!

[flightyalrighty]

Hey you got an advices for a newbie who thinks about doing commissions? :>

And did you have any bad experiences? (You don't have to answer if it is too private)

I won't go into detail for any bad commission experiences, but I can at least tell you what I learned from em in the form of the advice you asked for:

PRICING! When figuring out pricing, ask yourself the following:

What is an hour of my work worth? This question helps you avoid underselling yourself aka selling under minimum wage. You're definitely worth more than that. $20 is a pretty good starting point for folks who aren't too confident in their own stuff.

How long does it take to complete an art piece? Create one sample of every type of commission you want to sell. Time yourself when you make them. Whatever amount of time it takes to create each piece multiplied by the hourly wage you've set for yourself is going to be your base price for each thing ($20 x 2 hours for a full body sketch = $40). You can also use the samples you've made to help advertise in your commission post and show your potential clients what it is they can expect from you!

How should I charge for add-ons? Once again, figure how long something takes, and shoot for something that seems both fair for you and the client. For extra characters or something like a background, for example, I charge an extra 50% of the base price.

PROBLEMATIC CLIENTS! Got a client that doesn't know what they actually want? Too wishy washy? Too nitpicky? There's a solution! Offer a limited amount of revisions. I offer two free ones, personally. Once the client is out of revisions, I charge them 20% for each additional revision, and I MAKE SURE THEY CAN SEE THAT ON THE FORM THEY FILL OUT. That way, clients are encouraged to get their WHOLE idea in order before going to you. No one wants to be charged extra for a mistake they made, after all -- And it's definitely their mistake if they leave out any details they later deem important and want you to fix.

THE AFOREMENTIONED FORM TO BE FILLED! I used Google Forms, personally. It makes your little business look a bit more professional AND it helps you keep track of multiple projects at once, while prompting the clients to give you the info you specifically need (like reference images). It's good!

BE PROFESSIONAL! You're more likely to get repeat customers if you maintain a professional customer service attitude while handling clients, and deliver your work as promptly as you can. Delivering work PROMPTLY is definitely something you need to imagine me circling and underlining. Please do your best to not take, like, a year? To complete a commission? It's a really bad look. Treat it like homework. Give yourself your own little due date to work with.

While we're on that! DEFINITELY send your clients WIPs while you work! Showing that you're making progress is a great way to get feedback from the client before it's too late to change anything, PLUS it keeps their mind at ease about the possibility of you potentially taking their money and running.

KEEP YOURSELF SAFE! Speaking of taking money and running, set up a system that works when it comes to charging clients and delivering the goods. I have been burned in the past and have learned from this. Some artists charge their clients upfront before delivering anything at all. Personally, I'm not a fan of this, because then it leaves the client open to feeling uneasy about possibly getting scammed. Obviously I'm not a scammer, but to lift the weight of that possibility on the minds of my clients, I charge half upfront and half upon completion. This way, I already have SOME money so the client isn't gonna "dine-and-dash" me, and the client, likewise, is holding the other half of the pay in a friendly self-imposed hostage situation. I do recommend this!

I also use Paypal to INVOICE my clients. This way, I have full control over the nature of what I'm charging and can avoid the client accidentally (or maliciously) sending a payment with something in there meant to get my Paypal account shut down. DO NOT WRITE JOKES ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE CHARGING YOUR CLIENT FOR. DO NOT GET YOURSELF IN TROUBLE FOR SOMETHING STUPID.

And this is all the advice I currently have on me! I hope it helps!

[rivalsispunk]

Beneath The Surface (Chapter 2 of ongoing series When We’re Alone)

Best friend’s dad!Declan O’Hara, boss!Declan O’Hara x AFAB reader

Series summary: Journalist Declan O’Hara is in need of a personal assistant as his Corinium career skyrockets, and his daughter Taggie has the perfect candidate: her best friend. What seemingly starts as a professional relationship soon snowballs into something both Declan and reader were never expecting and are no longer able to deny.

Warnings: 18+ MDNI, (eventual) smut, cursing, age gap romance (reader is a few years older than Taggie), mention of male appendages (IYKYK), more warnings added per chapter

Word count: 3.6k

Chapter summary: Declan grapples with the risk of hiring you while you grapple with whether or not you're good enough. Once the verdict is in, you both realise you may have jumped in feet first a little too hastily.

A/N: Things are heating up in more ways than one and I am soooo ready for you guys to meet the silently unhinged Declan... Oh, and in this universe, Declan did end up interviewing Margaret Thatcher. Also not entirely proofread so may be some mistakes. Happy reading!

© rivalsispunk please do not steal, copy, or translate any of my work onto other platforms!

Chapter Two: Beneath The Surface

“A promise of secrecy was of course very dutifully given, but it could not be kept without difficulty; for the curiosity excited by his long absence burst forth in such very direct questions on his return as required some ingenuity to evade, and he was at the same time exercising great self-denial, for he was longing to publish his prosperous love.”

You’ve spent the last half hour reading, then rereading, the same page of Pride and Prejudice, your creature-comfort book since you were a young teenager. Normally, you’d be able to recite the passage from memory by now, but your mind has been elsewhere than focussed on the words in front of you. It’s been over a week since your interview with Declan and you’ve heard nothing. Zilch. Nada. For days, your brain has been stuck in a constant loop of questions you’ve no answers for.

Why hasn’t he called? 

Why haven’t you heard anything? 

Did he find someone better?

That last one has been the most burning question of them all, coupled with the memory of Declan’s gravelly voice telling you, I’d be lucky to have ya.

So, why hasn’t he called?

It’s not lost on you that you sound more like a needy girl hanging out for a guy after a date than someone waiting to hear back about a job you weren’t even sure you wanted until the moment you were sat in his office. But you do want it.

The job, that is.

Taggie was none the wiser, too. She’d told you her father had barely given her an inkling of where his head was at, and that he remained suspiciously mum on the outcome of the interviews he’d had in the days succeeding yours. “I think he’s just been busy,” she countered, mentioning that Declan had been on edge in the lead up and preparation for his televised interview with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. You were well aware, and knew how much the opportunity meant to him, so you’d made a conscious effort to stay away from The Priory, as not to overwhelm Declan or put any additional pressure on him to make a decision about the assistant position. Instead, you’d met Taggie in town for afternoon tea on the days she wasn’t preparing for an event, or a meal at Bar Sinister when time called for a catch up. But the Thatcher interview was days ago now — a roaring success with both viewers and ratings — and you were getting restless for news.

Slamming your worn out copy of Pride and Prejudice shut, you reach for the phone by your bedside and dial your best friend for what feels like the fiftieth time this week. You’ve called The Priory so often in recent days that she doesn’t even say hello when she answers.

“Still no word yet,” she sighs down the line. “He’s in an awful mood tonight, though. Went straight up to his office when he got home, refused dinner. I think Mummy being away is getting to him.”

You hum in agreement, not that you have any real insight on the matter. “I’m sure he’s fine, Tag. Probably tired of putting up with that Tony Baddingam’s shit. I told you what a right arse he was to your dad when I was there, didn’t you?”

“You did. Honestly, I didn’t think about anyone else at Corinium when I suggested you work for Daddy. It’s one thing for you to be under him, but to be at the beck and call of Lord Baddingham, too?” You practically hear Tag shudder down the line. “Makes me feel ill the way he treats the women who work for him.”

You push aside any runaway thoughts elicited by Taggie’s mention of you under Declan and shrug. “It’s fine, Tag. I’ve dealt with enough Baddinghams in my time to know to tread carefully.” You pull the phone cable taut and pluck it with your finger. “Besides, I don’t think I’ve got the job anyway. I should have heard by now.”

In the room above Taggie, Declan stubs out his cigarette, reclining in his office chair as he listens to his daughter’s voice reverberate through the house. One final plume of smoke emerges from the pile of ashes and butts that have accumulated in the tray over the last twenty-four hours. He ought to be prepping for his next TV interview, a fairly benign chat with a local farmer who has grand plans for the land on the outskirts of the Cotswolds. A piece of cake, he’d told Tony earlier today when he was asked how his preparation was coming. However, he’d flicked through his notes and research God knows how many times this evening, yet couldn’t recall one lick of fact about his upcoming subject. Instead, he’d spent hours — no, days — agonising over whether he should hire you. His producer, Cameron Cook, was breathing down his neck for him to hire someone so he was spread less thin, but it’s not an easy task. On paper, you’re the perfect choice. Hell, in reality, you’re the perfect choice. Still, he prayed that one of the interviewees after you would prove better candidates (and notably male), but no one measured up to you. Sure, they were intelligent. Passionate, somewhat. But then there was you; intelligent and passionate, and looking far too delectable in that bloody skirt that belongs to his fucking wife. Yes, his wife — that’s if she still even wants to be called that — who’s been gone for weeks without as much as a phone call or letter to the house. Their son, Patrick, had mentioned that she’d phoned a couple of weeks ago to inform him she was back in the city, but spared their university-bound child the details of her whereabouts. Declan loves Maud, despite her shortcomings — of which there are many — but he couldn’t help but resent his wife for her absence, and moreover, for the constant dull ache that had been burdening his cock since seeing her skirt on you. He rationalised that if Maud was here, he wouldn’t be up at night thinking obscene thoughts about his daughter’s best friend who had showed up to his office all smiles and curves in his wife’s long-forgotten hand-me-downs. Every time Declan closes his eyes he sees the shallow dimple that adorns your left cheek. He gets random flashbacks of that black lace bra he imagines holds perfect breasts, if he just allows his mind to wander.

He flexes his hand in an attempt to rid it of the itch that’s been daring him to relieve himself ever since you left his Corinium office. There have been countless instances over the last week where he wondered if he just gave in — just a little, just a stroke, something, anything — that the ache will go away. But there’s a bigger part of him that’s afraid that once he starts, he won’t be able to stop, and then how will he ever be able to face you again? Face Taggie again, knowing the pure filth that’s taken him over in the moments when he’s alone?

Cameron had demanded that afternoon that he chooses someone to pick up his slack by the weekend so help her God or she’ll stick him with an intern with more boobs for brains, and he knows — he knows — he can’t be stuck with someone with the same level IQ as a stale loaf of bread. He’d combust. So, against his better judgement, he decides as he lights yet another cigarette, that he’ll offer you the job as his assistant.

So help him God.

The phone rang just after half seven as you took your first bite of marmite toast. “Do you want the good news or the best news first?” You wince at Taggie’s chirpiness so early in the morning.

“Umm, best ‘til last,” you option. “Good news first.”

“Well, I’m making shepherd’s pie for dinner and you’re coming over.”

“Alright,” you giggle. “And the other news?”

“We’re celebrating.”

“Celebrating you making shepherd’s pie?”

“No, you nitwit! We’re celebrating you! You got the job! Daddy just told me on his way out this morning.”

Your chair whines against the floorboards of your flat as you shoot to your feet. “I got the job?”

“You got the job!” Taggie shrieks down the line. “Daddy said he was going to phone you when he gets to the office but I couldn’t wait to tell you myself. I know you’ve been anxious waiting to hear back.”

“Oh, Tag, I can’t believe it! I really thought he’d found someone more suited,” you express, cheeks pinching with a grin.

“He said he was very impressed with you,” your friend continues, voice laced with pride. “He also suggested we go shopping for some new officewear.”

“So, he hated my outfit, is what you’re saying.” Him and everybody else at that bloody station.

“No, it’s not that. I think him seeing you in Mummy’s clothes freaked him out a little, is all,” Taggie confesses. “He’s been a bit all over the shop since she’s been gone and I suppose when it comes to her, out of sight, out of mind is best.”

You think back to Declan spluttering his tea everywhere during your interview, and his little explosion afterwards. It makes sense that he doesn’t wanted be reminded of the woman who stepped out on him. You were just glad his reaction wasn’t to something you had done.

You and Taggie chat for a few minutes more about potential shopping destinations and your plans for the day before she rushes through a goodbye, eager to get to the market to pick up groceries for your celebratory meal. An hour later, Declan calls.

“Morning, it’s Declan,” he says, words stifled by the cigarette between his lips. “Declan O’Hara.”

You bite down a smile at the unnecessary clarification. You do the same to thwart your enthusiasm at finally receiving his call. “Hiya. It’s nice to hear from you. How’re you this morning, Declan?”

“Yeah, good, good. Tony’s riding my arse as per usual but other than that, good.” Silence reigns as you wait for Declan to relay the good news. After a moment, he clears his throat like he just remembered you’re on the other end of the line. “Look, I don’t have long, but I wanted to give you a bell to let you know the assistant job is yours. If you want it.”

Although you were already aware of the job offer, you do a happy jig in your kitchen. “Yes, thank you! Of course, I accept.”

“Great. Does Monday work as a start date?”

“Absolutely. I’ll be there. Thank you, Declan.”

“Welcome. Chat soon.”

The line goes dead not second later, and while you’re still overcome with excitement about the new job, your chat with your new boss seemed off. Declan seemed off. Far removed from the chatty, friendly man you sat across from at Corinium just days ago. But like he said, Tony was on his back. He’s probably just… tense.

It becomes clear to Declan as he watches you and Taggie move seamlessly around the kitchen while clearing up after dinner that you’re effervescent. Far more than he’s ever noticed, in all the times you’ve visited his daughter over the recent months, and it bothers him. He hated how his pulse quickened at the sight of you on his doorstep two hours earlier, David Bowie T-shirt peeking out from beneath your checkered coat. If you were at least the tiniest bit irksome or slow-witted or just plain dull, he’d be able to reckon with the fact that his reaction to you was purely chemical. Just another man taken by a young woman’s good looks. But then again, if he found you any of those things, he wouldn’t dare allow you anywhere near his work, near his research. Nor would he be impressed with his daughter adopting a friend as such, either. 

Your laughter trills, egged on by the celebratory champagne Taggie had provided, and Declan catches the tailend of his daughter flinging a handful of dishsoap suds in your direction. You were a good girl, a good friend, being there for Taggie in the last few months. Always willing to lend a hand, or an ear, certainly a shoulder to cry on more than Declan liked to think about or admit. But you were just that: a girl. A girl who was now his assistant. He’ll be damned if he were to become another man at Corinium taking advantage of that power imbalance, which is why he replaces his glass of bubbles with a whiskey and retires to his office after supper, pressing a kiss to his daughter’s forehead as he goes.

You decide to sleepover at The Priory after consuming a few too many glasses of champagne for it be considered safe to drive home. Although, sleepover may be too generous of a word because you’ve barely slept a wink since sinking into bed beside Taggie over an hour ago. Your friend, however, had no trouble drifting off, only to start snoring so loudly the whole bed vibrates. You’ve already tried covering your head with a pillow and the counting backwards from one hundred trick to coax yourself to sleep, but it’s no use. You slide out from under the poppy-printed covers and tip-toe downstairs in a sweater hanging on the back of Taggie’s bedroom door. You’re swimming in the woollen brown garment. It falls to mid-thigh and is sleeves are at least half an arm-length too long, but it keeps the chill at bay when you swing open The Priory’s back door. You slide on a pair of Wellington boots that sit on the doormat and step out into the biting air. In it, the inches of skin between the hem of the sweater and your long socks prickle with goosebumps, and your breath forms a fog under the soft glow of fairy lights leftover from a garden party the O’Hara’s hosted in the summer. Somewhere in the distance, a owl twoos and foxes rustle through shrubbery. When you lived in the city, the nights were overrun with sirens and drunken hooligans singing football chants down the alleyways and other racket that made it very difficult to hear yourself think. Meanwhile, out here, in the countryside, you could just be.

“Nice sweater.”

“Fuck!” The sudden verbiage shocks your shoulders to your ears. There’s no mistaking that voice, yet you have to scan the area to see where the Irish lilt is stemming from. It’s not until you hear the swish of water that you realise he’s in the hot tub that’s tucked away from the courtyard, his silhouette barely visible against the night. “Declan. You gave me a fright.”

“Sorry,” he croaks. “Can’t sleep?”

You shake your head. “Taggie’s snoring like a freight train.”

As your eyes adjust to the dark, you just catch Declan’s moustache quirk with a lazy smile. “Just like her mother.”

The comment coaxes you closer to the tub, waiting for Declan to elaborate, but whatever story he might’ve spieled evaporates with the steam from the water. The heated pool was just another of Maud’s extravagant buys, and Declan hated the addition when it showed up in a delivery van, during summer, of all seasons, because he knew it would be forgotten about in a matter of days once she’d found something new to obsess over. There was always something with Maud. If it wasn’t an extravagant purchase to distract herself with, it was a lover, and if it wasn’t a lover, it was a trip far, far away from the Cotswolds. Her recent truancy being case in point.

There’s hardly any light in this corner of the yard, aside from a small golden glimmer beneath the hot tub surface, but it’s enough for you to take in Declan’s form. He’s lax, whiskey in hand, with his head reclined against the lip of the pool. You notice the thick smattering of chest hair across the breadth of his torso, dark and unruly. The few men you’ve ever been with have been around your age, either trimmed or unable to grow body hair where its desired. But then again, they were just boys in the scheme of things. Declan has always been so fucking manly. His already dark hair black with water, pushed away from his face like he’s slicked it back with his hands. It hasn’t stopped miniscule curls frizzing to fruition at his temples. Declan takes a sip of the amber liquid in his glass.

“If I’m being honest, I thought you’d be a tad more excited when I spoke to you this morning.” The subject change surprises you.

“Oh, trust me, I was! But–“

“But Taggie had already broken the news to you by then, hadn’t she?”

You look down at your feet, not wanting to give your friend away, but Declan knows his daughter has a hard time keeping a lid on her excitement. “It’s alright,” he chuckles. “She means well.”

“She’s a good friend. They’re hard to come by.”

You’re telling me, Declan thinks, taking a one-handed inventory of his own close companions.

The frosty air hugs you and your toes seize under its bite, even through your socks and boots. “Do you mind?” You point to the hot tub. It takes a moment for it to click in Declan’s brain that you’re asking if you can join him. It would be rude for him to say no. Stupid for him to say yes. Instead, he gives a non-commital shrug and whispers Lord, help me into his glass. Over its rim, he watches you perch on the edge of the tub to while you toe off your wellies. They land with a thud on the pavement and you giggle to yourself, oops, when one ricochets into a nearby shrub. Muscles zip up the back of your leg when you peel off your socks, and Declan has to force himself to look away when the hem of your sweater — no, his sweater, one of many Taggie had stolen away — rides dangerously high on your thighs as you swing your legs over the lip of the heated pool. He’s thankful that only one of the lights below the surface is in working order because his prick rouses when a satisfied hum seeps from you as your feet kiss the warm surface. Declan’s jaw ticks. The devil on his shoulder probes that you’re purposely torturing him and his conscious bites back that he’s a sleazy bastard for thinking as much. You’re not doing anything. You’re just here.

Get a grip on yourself, O’Hara, he scolds, and chases it with a swig of whiskey he only hopes will burn away the filthy thoughts you manage to conjure for him.

“You got another one of them?” When he faces you again, you’re pointing at the glass that’s fogged up in his sweaty palm.

“The champagne not enough for ya?”

You roll your eyes. “If you don’t want to share, just say so.”

“You can’t handle this.”

“Are you really going to sit there and tell a girl what she can and can’t handle?” you press, eyes locked in on his. “You’d be surprised what I can handle, Declan.” You don’t mean for it to sound so provocative, but challenging him has set your whole body ablaze. For good measure, you quirk an eyebrow at Declan, and the subtle move has his cock doing the same in the confines of his striped swim shorts. Without another word, Declan floats across the hot tub to where you’re seated and presses his glass into your hand. You offer a thank you in the form of a gentle smile before pressing your full, blush lips to the rim. Tilting the glass to the sky, you can feel Declan’s heavy gaze on you, watching. Waiting. You allow your eyes to fall shut as the bitter prickle of the whiskey waves over your tongue, so you don’t see him slide a hand to the back of his neck. His nails dig crecsents into the skin there, both as punishment for and distraction from the fact his mind is trekking to dark places where your lips are pressed somewhere far more sinister. He can’t keep his eyes off you while you drain what’s left of the whiskey, your eyes fluttering open when you realise there’s nothing left.

“I told you I could handle it,” you tell Declan, ignoring the slight burn that stings at the back of your throat. You both reach your hand into the small space between you, fingers grazing as you pass the glass back to Declan. 

The air between the two of you is charged. You wouldn’t be surprised if someone lit a match and the whole world went up in flames taking the pair of you with it. That same pained look that took Declan’s expression over during your interview rears its head again. Before you get the opportunity to put a name to it, a door creaks in the distance and your name echoes into the night.

“Are you out there?”

Taggie.

Taggie.

There’s a flurry of movement as Declan slides to the opposite side of the hot tub again and you all but catapult yourself onto the pavement as if you’d been caught redhanded. Doing what, you weren’t entirely sure, but you were certain it wasn’t a good look. You yank your socks over your damp feet, followed by the wellies and make a start for where the kitchen light illuminates your friend in the doorway.

“There you are!” she sighs, almost relieved, when you meet her at the step. “You alright? I thought you might’ve driven home after all.” “God, no. I’m fine! Just…” you glance over your shoulder to where the blaze of a cigarette burns in the darkness. “Just getting some air.”

Loved writing this chapter, and things are just getting started!! Reblog, share, comment: it all means the world to me!! <3

Previous chapters: Chapter 1: The Interview

[pickyourpoisonandevolve]

Stars in Her Eyes

Part 2 here

Do you ever have thoughts that are absolute bangers, then realize “man I wish I was a better writer.” Anywho, brain worms, back again, Price is fighting self doubt about decisions in the field. Reader is fighting self doubts of ability and also a head ouchie. This was the compulsory preface my brain forces me to write before I can write the cool sex stuff. Metaphorical dinner before dessert. Big inspired by @beloveds-embrace , particularly the designationless!reader.

—

The blood today was excessive, to say the least. Bad intel, having to navigate this lab in the middle of nowhere Russia by foot in real time. Casualties. Thankfully the other side took more. And thankfully, none on the team, although the injuries were plenty. You were all very cognizant of the mental load needed to be a soldier but some days were easier than others. This one was the worst in a while.

Price and you were clearing a section of the building, warehouse by the looks of it. Doors locked leading to it, just to be met with rockets having eaten away at the walls like rats on the other side. Basically just outside, you thought to yourself, looking at the edges of concrete leading to treeline. Already beating yourself up about things outside of your control, Price sensed a distance in you. He felt it before you did half the time, although you’d never tell him that. “Head in the game, sergeant.” He pushed out.

You were a “great addition” to the 141, so sayeth official mission reports and calls to Laswell. Focused, fast, malleable in the field. But distant sometimes when out of the field. Not quite reclusive, like your lieutenant, but just distant. You were funny, sometimes even extroverted when you wanted to be. But something pulled you back, like a hand down a long hallway, snatching you into a dark room. Locked away and the key long gone.

Prices bite in his voice brought you back momentarily. “Hey, I said get in the fucking—“ A door blasts open and enemies filter through, a large man grabbing you amidst the motion, bringing you close to the edge of the floor that fell away to empty space, a few floors of nothing and the Siberian wilderness. Patting yourself down for a knife with one hand, and defending from being choked out with another, you start half in, half out mentally. Fighting should have been your priority, but the disappointment in Prices voice had you a little fractured. “I’m fucking this up, they won’t want me anymore, please don’t get rid of me, you’re the only—“

Price fighting through the rest of them, took cover as he saw you struggle. If you weren’t so distracted this would be one of the moments you’d love to watch him in. “A real flow state” Gaz called it once, as he moved as fluid as the wind. No wasted motion, a knife here, a bullet there. Propelled purely by the sake of making sure his team was okay. But you had his heart pounding. More than usual anyways. A half dozen men down, you stab at your assailants neck as Price makes it to you.

A double misfire in decision making, you think. As you stab at the man’s carotid arteries, Price heard more footsteps approaching. You just heard blood rushing and doubts. You just saw Prices angry face push you back into the void, hoping to god the snow and dead body behind you would break your fall. Your eyes would haunt him for a while. A broken “No” laying on his ears as he turned back.

—

Soap stayed quiet, keeping his eyes on his captain. Price was tearing through the now silent building, kicking doors in and scanning everything. Price reached them in a sorry state, covered in other people’s blood and moving as if he stopped he would die. “Lost ‘er in the east wing, need to get ‘er.” The rest of the team a little shaken by his lack of composure.

“Why the hell would she still be there?” Ghost fussed, making his way through hallways with the rest of the team.

“This part of the building was locked down tight. Seemed like they were protecting something, before Marakov damn near tore the fucking place down from the outside.” Gaz relayed. “She’s either there or in the woods shooting bears.”

Reaching the door to the wing, Price crowbarred it so fast, Ghost thought he threw his shoulder out. Wind and snow blasted down the corridor, as they filtered into the… room? Floor level hallway straight to the outdoors? Broken racking and file cabinets littered the floor, alongside snow and other detritus. Gaz noticed the bullet holes and gashes in the steel door. Someone tried to leave, but was unsuccessful. Sweeping the area they moved with purpose, until Price heard you first. Sniffling and singing, voice shaky. Coming around a corner to the view from the lower level this time, he saw you two. A large Russian, face down and bloodied in the snow. A missing jacket. A trail of various pieces of gear, and lastly you, curled up in a corner. Blood coming down your face from your hairline.

Their collective hearts broke at the sight, but only Ghost noticed his captains hands shaking. You were humming and singing a tune to yourself, rocking and rubbing your own chest, eyes unfocused watching the treeline.

“You are my sunshine

My only sunshine

You make me happy

When skies are gray

You’ll never know dear

How much I love you

Please don’t take

My sunshine away”

Without a word, your team got to work. Gaz and Soap called for evac, thanking god there was enough flat ground for the heli to land next to the building. Ghost went back to secure the door to other visitors, giving Price some privacy to approach you.

He put a hand on your shoulder, as you jumped. A secret he held close to his heart was how much he enjoyed looking in your eyes. Like those fancy pictures the satellites take. Dark at first glance but always more to see the longer you look. Like stars were born in them. But all he could see now was the dark. No lights present in the deep space. A concussion very present however. And, confusion. Then hurt. Whatever knife he didn’t know he had in his chest twisted as you spoke. “You threw me away, I’m—“ A gasp of air as you fought to navigate the fractured thoughts. His eyebrows twisted as he tried to understand. “It’s not like last time, like home. I belong here, with you all. I… I’m. I earned it this time. Please don’t leave me here.”

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t, no tears sweetheart. What are you talking about, who’s throwing you away?” He choked out as he snatched you into his chest, fingers gingerly holding your scalp and his lips whispering into your hairline, fighting tears of his own. “I would never throw you away, love. I’m so sorry, I needed you safe. I… I needed you safe.”

The other three approached slowly, wind preventing them from hearing the interaction. Price saw you shift to look behind him as he composed himself. Standing up slowly he turned to the team. “Evac in 10. How is she?” Soap asked kneeling next to you, taking your hand in his.

“Concussion from the fall, cuts and bruises. Fighting hypothermia.” He replied, voice rougher than usual. “Take it easy, not sure she knows where she is right now.”

As the heli landed, hands grabbed and led you gently, a seatbelt around your waist and pats comforting you. Most eyes were closed on the ride back, trying to get some rest after a nightmare of a day. John’s eyes stayed on the horizon.

[darkwitchoferie]

Train Ride

Summary: You start off as just Chan’s beloved girlfriend and end up in bed with all the members.

A/N: This is an expansion of a little oneshot I wrote on Tumblr. Link here. It is specifically an expansion on each of the scenarios in the oneshot, and maybe an additional chapter or two after that. Also, timing wise, this story does take place in the spring/summer. Seungmin’s chapter involves a baseball game and that’s a specific season. So, in case you wonder why anybody’s hair doesn’t reflect their current styles – that’s why. There are, at the moment, 8 planned chapters. That could change.

Also, for you - @skzficpriv for your comment on the original oneshot and therefore the encouragement to actually finish writing these out. Thank you darling!

This post contains sexual content, read at your own discretion.

General cw/tw for the whole fic, not just this chapter: talks of consensual somnophilia, free-use reader, unprotected p in v sex, vaginal sex, talk of and thoughts of sexual fantasies, anal sex between members, oral (m & f receiving), exhibition/voyeurism (thought not actually in public), polyamory, multi-partner sex, established relationship between Chan x fem Reader as well as between Han x Lee Know. 2nd person POV (you/your). I think that's all, might need to add more later.

Chan tossed the wet cloth he’d used to clean you and himself into the hamper then lay back down beside you, tugging you over so you could curl comfortably into his side. He chuckled at your feeble protests at being moved, which stopped as soon as you felt the warmth of his bare skin against yours again. You burrowed in, pressing your face to his side.

On a yawn you muttered, “Wish we’d invite the boys to play with me,” before going limp as you faded into sleep.

Chan froze, looking down at your sleeping face. Surely you didn’t mean what he thought he heard? You couldn’t possibly mean that you wanted the rest of the group to join you two in your bed. Right? He thought about shaking you awake and asking, but knew that was pointless, you wouldn’t be any more coherent until after a full night’s sleep. He tried to calm his mind, reassured that he’d be able to ask about it tomorrow, and eventually fell asleep.

He woke up later than he intended the next morning. Quietly rushing around, so as not to wake you before you needed to be up, he didn’t even remember what you’d whispered until he was walking into the JYPE building and caught sight of Felix and Seungmin walking ahead of him. He stopped in his tracks in the lobby, your sleepy words playing on a loop in his head as he watched his two friends head for the elevators, unaware that he was behind them. He shook himself out of it when one of the company’s security guards tapped him on the shoulder. He thanked the man, saying something about not sleeping well, and made his way up to the recording studio he was expected in.

On his way up, he thought over his reaction, both just then in the lobby and the night before. If he’d been posed a hypothetical question like, how do you think you’d react if your girlfriend said she wanted your friend to fuck her – his immediate reaction would’ve been to say he’d hate the idea. He was possessive of you, everyone knew it. But that wasn’t the way he’d reacted to your words. Instead he was … interested might be too strong a word, but definitely intrigued. He resolved to compartmentalize it in his mind and focus on work until he could talk to you about it.

That lasted for maybe an hour. Until Minho groaned in frustration at getting the English wrong again and Chan’s mind immediately, and without conscious decision, jumped to wondering if he’d make similar noises while fucking you. That single thought started the spiral for him. After that his mind wander and he started to wonder more. What would Hyunjin’s face look like when he sank into your cunt? Did Changbin have as much of a thing for tits as Chan suspected he did? Would Felix's voice go deep or into his higher pitches?

And what about you? Would you make the same noises if Jeongin was the one fucking you as you did when it was him? Would you whine the same way for Seungmin? Who would be whinier – you or Jisung? He was absolutely sure Jisung was loud during sex and now, he was allowing himself to wonder exactly what sounds he and the others would make.

Now that he was thinking these thoughts, he was also recalling every interaction you’d had with the other members recently. How Jeongin’s eyes trailed after you when you walked around their apartment. Or how Jisung’s and Felix’s hugs lingered, something he’d always chalked up to both boys being tactile people to begin with. How Changbin’s hands slid just a little too close to your boobs when he hugged you from behind without actually touching them. Or how Hyunjin always insisted you were the best pose model for whatever he was working on and that he needed an otherwise empty room to focus. The way Minho would look at you sometimes and how similar it was to the way he looked at Jisung and they all knew the pair of them were sleeping together, despite not officially being a couple. How Seungmin didn’t even pretend to shy away from your touch if you happened to be sitting beside him during group gatherings. Or a million other things that he was suddenly looking at in a different light that made him wonder.

He had never really thought about defining his sexuality. You’d asked him about it once and he said he was attracted to people, not their gender. But he had admitted to you that, at the time you got together, he had a bit more experience with guys than with girls, which he’d chalked up to being a trainee throughout puberty. But he’d never allowed himself to delve too deeply into any attraction he might feel for his members, fearing it would make him awkward around them. Now though? Now it seemed that your half-asleep comment had lifted a lid off a box in his mind and all sorts of thoughts were tumbling out.

When they stopped for lunch, he made the seven of them leave ahead of him, playing it off as wanting some privacy to call you. The truth was, with his thoughts spiraling into the territory they were, he was hard. Very hard, and there was no way he could stand up from the desk and it not be obvious. He took several deep breaths, screwing his eyes shut, clenching his hands into fists, and tried to will away his boner. Eventually, he called Hannah and that helped instantly, putting him back on an even keel.

Then came dance practice in the afternoon and that put his mind right back in the gutter. Any body roll or anything that looked even vaguely like a hip thrust had him internally struggling with new images. Once, he excused himself to the bathroom and had to take care of his problem before it became too evident. Or at least, he hoped it hadn’t been noticeable.

The day ended earlier than usual, owing to Hyunjin and Felix both having separate photoshoots. While normally, Chan would take advantage of the early end and head back into the recording studio, maybe with Jisung and Changbin, maybe without them, this time he headed straight for your apartment.

“Channie!” You grinned up at him from behind your computer set up in the living room. One of the best perks, to your mind, about working from home was the ability to move your set up out into the living room or kitchen, or really anywhere that wasn’t your home office for a scenery change. “Everything okay?” You could tell immediately that something had your boyfriend edgy. Hopefully everything had gone well at the company.

“Yeah, everything’s okay. Almost done for the day?” He nodded at your computer.

“Just about. I was gonna make a pizza, do you want to pop it into the oven while I finish up?”

“Yeah, baby girl. That sounds perfect.” He pressed a kiss to the top of your head as he walked by. He paced the length of your kitchen and back again as he waited, first for the oven to heat, then the pizza to cook. He could hear you working on your computer and didn’t want to interrupt, but he really needed to deal with everything that had been going on in his head all day. Now, surrounded by the familiarity of your apartment, nothing changed. He was still thinking about his friends and wondering how you’d look pinned under Changbin, riding Seungmin, or bent over for Minho.

By the time the pizza was done and you were shutting down your work laptop, he still hadn’t decided if he should just ask you about it, or if he needed to fuck you first, to at least get himself somewhat under control so you could have this conversation. He heard you packing away your set up and taking it into your home office, so he sliced up the pizza and brought two plates out into the living room.

“Thank you, baby,” you grinned at him, sitting beside him and snuggling into his side while you both ate.

Normally, your proximity like this would calm Chan, no matter what kind of day he’d had. You’d snuggle into his side, and he’d relax back into the couch cushions. Not this day. The fingers on his free hand tapped incessantly against your shoulder or the back of the couch. He kept shifting around and could not say at all what show you’d put on the tv.

You waited, somewhat patiently, sure he’d tell you what was going on after a while. Meanwhile, Chan was wondering how the hell to even bring it up. Eventually, you got tired of waiting. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

You sat up to look directly at him. “You’re edgy, babe. Like you get when something’s bugging you. What is it?”

“It’s not…. It’s about what you said last night, before you fell asleep.” At your puzzled look, he said, “You don’t remember?”

“Channie baby, I’m lucky I remembered my own name by the time you were done with me last night.” Smug, Chan grinned and puffed up his chest. “You’re going to have to remind me what I said.” You grinned, playfully rolling your eyes at his smug grin.

“You said, um…. You said you wished we’d invited the guys over so they could play with you too.” Your mind raced. The pair of you had talked about fantasies before, but you’d never voiced that thought out loud, afraid of how Chan would react. Would he think differently of you? If you denied it, would he even believe you? Was he disgusted by you? Or would he think you had or would be willing to cheat on him? Maybe he’d just get really possessive and fuck you into the couch and afterwards you could both pretend you’d never said anything.

Your thoughts were racing so fast that you didn’t realize the time for denial had passed. At least until Chan says, “Baby girl? Did you mean it?”

“I, uh… no?” You tried denying it, but no one would believe a denial that came out sounding that unsure.

“I think you did. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it all day, baby. Do you know how hard it’s been to get any work done today with these thoughts?” With your terrible denial, Chan grew bolder. You looked away from his face, biting the edge of your thumbnail out of nervousness. When you looked down, you noticed the bulge in his pants. Your eyes widened and shot back up to his face. “Do you have any clue how hard it’s been, all day?” He asked, pressing a palm against his clothed dick. “Hearing Minho groaning into the mic? Seeing Hyunjin roll his hips and wondering….” He trailed off, eyes darkening as he realized that your mind had immediately followed his train of thought and now you were thinking all the same things he’d been thinking.

“You’d… I mean, you’re not upset? That I’ve thought about them, like that?” You asked in a small voice, still somewhat unsure of exactly where this conversation was headed.

Your bed, it turned out, was where the conversation was headed. Chan had gripped your hips, pulling you onto his lap and hungrily kissing you without another word. He’d damn near torn your shirt trying to get it off as quickly as possible before groaning when he realized you hadn’t bothered with a bra that morning. You arched into him as he closed his lips around one nipple, teasing the other with his fingers.

When you started to roll your hips against the bulge in his pants, he’d stood up with you in his arms and swiftly strode to your bedroom, tossing you onto the bed and following right behind you. He didn’t give you time to get your bearings or get situated before he was tugging off your lounge pants and panties. His lips were back to roaming on your neck and chest as his hands smoothed up your thighs, pushing them apart so he could slot himself comfortably between them.

You’d gone from nervous to turned on so quickly that you were struggling to keep up with him, eventually just giving in and letting yourself feel his fingers, lips, and tongue, rather than try to keep track of exactly where your boyfriend’s roaming hands were. Until you felt the pad of his thumb pressing against your clit. You gasped, arching and trying to press yourself harder against that single digit.

“Aw, is baby girl needy?” he teased.

“Channie, please.”

He grinned, leaning down to nip at your collar bone. “You have to do something for me though.”

“Anything,” you agreed, desperate to have him. He pulled completely away from you and you whined. Then you looked over and saw he was standing so he could strip himself. As soon as his boxers were kicked off, you reached for him, pulling him back to you by his wrist.

He claimed your lips in a hungry kiss, right hand sliding down your tummy, over your hip, and covering your pussy. With less gentleness than usual, he dipped first one, then two fingers into you. He didn’t spend much time prepping you, just thrusting his fingers into you a few times before deciding he couldn’t wait anymore. But as wet and turned on as you were, you had no problems stretching to accept him.

He bottomed out inside you, your legs wrapped around his hips, him propped up on his hands and leaning over you. Before he started moving, he said, “You have to tell me what you’ve thought of.” At your blank look, he elaborated. “You’ve thought about my friends. Tell me what you’ve thought about. You said you wanted them to play with you, but I’m sure you have details.”

You groaned, partly embarrassed to be having this conversation but mostly because that was when he started to move. He started off with long, slow thrusts, letting you feel every inch of him dragging through your walls. You knew he’d been turned on by his own thoughts, but part of you was still nervous how he’d react to your fantasies.

“Promise you won’t be mad?”

“How could I possibly be mad at you?” he countered.

It took you a while, between your moans and gasps, but you finally told him your favorite fantasies. “I want them to use me,” you started off. “Whenever they want. Like when I’m wearing the necklace you bought me so you can fuck me whenever, wherever. I wanna do that for them too.” You gasped, arching against a particularly hard thrust. “Let them fuck me when I’m asleep after a long day like you do. Or – oh God – call me to the dance studio or recording studio ‘cause something’s not going right so you’re all stressed.” You dug your nails into Chan’s back as he leaned down and bit your neck, sucking a deep purple mark into the skin there. “Wanna cock warm Lixie while he’s gaming or Minnie while he’s reading. Be passed around to everybody during movie night. Wanna ride Bin’s thigh after a workout, when he’s still all sweaty. Let Hyune paint me naked or paint on me, then fuck him.”

As Chan’s thrusts got rougher, it got harder to speak, but you kept going at his insistence. “Wanna – ah – wanna sit on Ji’s face. Suck on Innie’s fingers while he fucks me. Let Minho bend me over the balcony fence so I have to be real quiet.”

Chan had your legs bent up so your knees were at your chest when you finally clenched around him, orgasm rushing through you. Every scenario you gave him, brought him closer to his own orgasm and he followed right behind you, the warmth of his cum flooding into you. He brought your legs down, gently massaging your thighs as you both worked to catch your breath.

With a burst of courage, probably encouraged by how he’d reacted to everything else so far, you decided to tell him one final fantasy. But still, you wrapped your legs around his hips to hold him to you, just in case. “I’d be happy with all that, and more. But I’d like to date them too, if they wanted.” You got quieter as you spoke, suddenly afraid that he might think you thought he wasn’t enough for you.

Chan shifted against you, not moving away, just shifting so he could look up at your face. “I wondered, earlier today, and probably before if I’m being really honest, about kissing them. Think I’d like kissing Lix or maybe Hyune the most. Well, no, maybe most is wrong.” He sighed, shifting again and resting his head between your boobs before he continued. “Point is, I know you love me. I love you too.” He kissed the side of your boob. “But I am totally okay with one or both of us dating one or a couple or all of them.”

You relaxed your legs, letting them drop to either side of his hips. Then started gently carding your fingers through his sweaty hair.

A short while later, as you were cleaning up in the shower, Chan asked, “So, would you want to try to see how many of your fantasies we can bring to life?”

[mooshedts]

traitors s3 ep5 thoughts/full on rambles i talk way too much about this

- i know i said they'd kick tyler out the clique for being the only person whose name doesn't start with L but i actually didn’t expect that.

- and it was such a clique as well i'm glad leanne and leon (he really tried not to get involved bless him) saw sense.

- also dan's eyerolls are the funniest thing ever he's defo becoming one of my favourites.

- i do feel bad for him though because minah's basically the only one he trusts and it's highkey reminding me of molly and harry from s2. if the traitors recruit again he'd be a really good choice (mostly because i can't deal with these divas going against each other).

- i really thought anna was going to accept the recruitment offer since she's quite impulsive and headstrong but i'm glad she saw their motives. if i was a faithful i would not have given them the satisfaction.

- the two new additions are going complete opposite tactics i feel like alexander has slipped COMPLETELY under the radar while fozia's getting quite involved which is honestly such a queen move but it's putting her on the chopping block straight away.

- the heat is probably going to be on linda tomorrow because people already thought it was either her or lisa and now that lisa's revealed she's a priest i doubt people will suspect her.

- but i think linda's getting a bit better at being a traitor and actually contributing her own ideas.

- i swear each season gets more and more dramatic because not only is everyone so mean this season but they keep crying as well. no hate but it's surprising me how emotional they're getting.

- less dire news but how do we feel about queen diane on uncloaked tonighttt?

[justmeinadaze]

Secrets Underneath Part 11 (Steddie X Plus Size Y/N)

Warnings: Older (Mid thirties) Sugar Daddies Steve and Eddie/ Young (Early to mid 20s) Baby Fem Plus Size Reader, SMUT, dp, light dirty talk

ANGST *lands a plane with angsty batons while dancing on a angsty runway*

Reader confronts Gina, their ex is definitely a narcissist and utilizes those behaviors so may be slightly triggering (its brief, she does gaslight a few times but the boys stop it), mentions of an addition to their dynamic with Gina (a girl being "offered", all consensual), brief mentions of alcohol and drugs

Miscommunication causes the boys to jump to a conclusion, Guys confront Gina and it's glorious <3.

Mentions of insecurities including the age difference, readers size, etc. (its more both parties worried the other could have 'better')

Word Count: 6968

Series Here/ Donate to Me :)

You smile down at Eddie as he finishes buckling the red high heel strap around your ankle, finishing the ensemble you changed into when you three got to Steve’s office. Feeling the warmth of your eyes on him, the metalhead smirks as his palm runs along your calf as he gently kisses your skin. 

“You look so beautiful, sweetheart.”

“Thank you, baby.”, you beam as he bounces to his feet and kisses your lips. 

“Are you sure you want to do this, Y/N?”, the mogul asked from his place beside you.

“I’m positive. I’m not afraid of her and I’m definitely not the timid girl she seems to believe I am.” Even as he nods, you notice the trepidation in his face and you reach out to grab his chin, bringing his mouth to your own. “I’m going to be ok, Steve.”

“You don’t know her like we do, honey.”

“I know she hurt you. That’s all I need to know.”

“If at any point you feel uncomfortable or we think this situation is no longer safe—”

“Eddie! Guys!”, you giggle. “Trust me…like I trust you.”

***

“Hm. I see you still won’t allow her to talk to me without you two present.”, Gina sneered as she slammed her bag down in the chair between you both.

“It’s not that they won’t allow me to talk to you but more that they won’t allow you to hurt me. Granted, I keep telling them you don’t scare me but…”, you smile as you cross your legs and lean back. “I wouldn’t bother talking to them, they won’t answer.”

“Then they can leave.”

“They could but they aren’t. Now, this is the only time I’m agreeing to this so what did you want to talk to me about so badly?”

Their ex huffs as she folds her arms and glares your way. 

“I’ve been trying to protect you but I see that doesn’t matter. They’ve already brainwashed you.”, she sighs before finally taking a seat. “Y/N, I’m not a bad woman. You have no idea what I’ve been through…what I went through when it came to them.”

“Tell me.”, you reply in a calm tone. “Tell me everything, please. If they are as bad as you say, I want to know. I don’t want to be with someone who’s going to hurt me. I already went down that road with my own ex and I won’t do it again.”

Your voice is still confident but both men can hear the slight wavering behind it that makes them want to collect you in their arms but they remain still. 

“When I met them, my family and I were going through a lot. My mom lost this huge contract at a studio. I was trying to break out in the acting business—”

“Gina, honey, is there a point?”

As she squints her eyes to glare your way, you can practically see the wheels in her head turning as she sits up straighter and crosses her own legs. 

She’s starting to enjoy herself. 

“I think I’m starting to see why they attracted to you.”, she grins. “My point is I was low and they could smell it. Men like them always can. They seek us out to use us and mold us to be who they want. If we step out of line for one second…” As she chokes down a sob, you notice Eddie shift in his chair. 

“No. That doesn’t work on me. Now, this is the last chance I’m giving you. There are no lawyers, no cameras, no fans… Tell me the truth. Why did you want to talk to me?”

As she rises to her feet, Steve does the same as your hand flies up to stop him, signaling for him to not move and that you were alright. Gina giggles as she shakes her head and gestures towards him. 

“That’s why. You want the truth, little girl? Here it is. The men you’re dating and the men that I dated were different. People talked down to me all the time, called me a whore and shamed me…Steve never once stood up to defend me like he does with you. That necklace you’re wearing? Eddie was protective over it, saying it was one of his favorites. He’d never even think to give me something like that. Do you know what I got?

‘Yeah, baby, you want surgery? Sure he’s 10 grand. Oh, you want to come to the event with us? Here’s money for a new dress and a ring. People are talking shit about you? Fuck you, don’t bring us into that.’”

“So your complaint is they gave you things?”

“I deserved to be treated like a queen and they made it seem like a fucking hassle! Add in that I just wanted them to tell me how fucking beautiful I was instead of just throwing money at me.”

“You wanted the best of both worlds. ‘Shut up and give me money but also tell me I’m perfect as I am.’ Tell me, was all of this before or after you called Eddie trailer trash? How about when  they would take you to dinner and you wouldn’t show? Or maybe it was before you cheated on them constantly before getting caught.”

“Roman treats me better than they ever did.”, she hissed. “He treats me like a fucking queen.”

“Then leave them alone and focus your attention on your king.”

Gina smirks as she shakes her head. 

“Wow, boys, you really found a loyal one here. I imagine that’s why you picked one so young, easier to brainwash. That’s not new for them by the way. If you go through their dating history I’m probably the closest to their age. Tell me…did they ever tell you about Jade?”, she sings, her smile widening when they sit up straighter. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t. They were probably too wasted to remember her. Oh wait…didn’t we spend multiple evenings with her?”

“Get. To. The. POINT. Jesus, you’re worse than my students.”

“She was their toy. This young, thin blond hair with blue eyes for them to use. Sometimes it got to the point where even I got jealous.”

A conversation the three of you had flashes through your eyes and she sees it.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Look, you don’t have to pander to me, ok? I know now this whole anonymity thing is ruined and you’d rather be with someone more suited to your lifestyle.”

“Define ‘our lifestyle’.”

“For you, Mr. Harrington, I imagine some blond girl with big tits who comes from money and can squeeze her itty-bitty body into the most expensive dress your money can buy. For bad boy Mr. Munson, I see you with more or less the same but she’s cool like Janis Joplin.”

“It wasn’t cheating or anything. Jade agreed to be free use when she came over and I allowed it. She was more of…what they were into…”, Gina murmurs almost like a snake as her words penetrate your heart. “THAT’S why I suggested they got with you since you’re the exact opposite…of not only me but her—”

“That’s it. I’m sorry, honey, but I’m ending this. Get out of my office.”, Steve commands in a strong tone that makes her giddy as she giggles. 

“You see, Y/N? You would think he would deny it but the first thing he says is he wants me gone. Why? Because it’s true?”

“No because I’m not going to sit there and let you hurt her—”

“ME hurt HER? You’ve got some fucking nerve!”

“You think I don’t know that there are a ton of other women they could be with?”, you reply, your voice barely above a whisper. “A girl like the one you described or even someone their own age who actually understands the celebrity scene like you. Someone who knows how to give interviews or looks ‘perfect’ in one of those expensive dresses that cost more than my fucking salary!

I’m poor, chunky, and sometimes my brain skips a beat but thankfully I know I’m a good person and I would never put anyone through what you have with them. You, Gina, are a mean, sad small person who has to bring people down to be happy. You couldn’t just leave, no. You had to hurt them and twist the knife for good measure because you’re fucking selfish. I feel sorry for you, I really do. I hope one day you find peace but I assure you, you aren’t going to get it by destroying them.”

Your heels click across the floor as you grab your bag and powerwalk out the door towards the elevator with Eddie hot on your heels. 

“When we come back, Gina, I want you gone.”, Steve growls as follows after his friend who he finds sighing with his hands on his hips as his head hung. “Where is she?”

“She said she needed a moment to think and then shoved me away from the elevator door.”

“Fuck…I knew this was a bad idea…”

###################

That night you stayed in a hotel using your own money so they wouldn’t come looking. Your phone blew up most of the night with them just trying to find you. 

“Y/N, baby, answer the phone, please.”

“At least respond with a thumbs up or something and tell us your safe.”

“Sweetheart, we’re really worried…”

“We love you, honey, so much.”

You talked yourself out of it multiple times before opening your work laptop you always had with you and opening up Google. 

“Eddie Munson+ Steve Harrington + Gina Frost”

Many links and images flew up on your screen of the three of them together. They both were a bit younger but even you could tell something within their faces seemed off. Steve’s nose was scrunched in laughter like he always did when he was happy but it seemed over exaggerated. You imagined the bourbon in his hand played a part.

There were a few pictures of Eddie with half-lidded eyes and his sexy smirk with Gina on his lap kissing his neck but his normally expressive irises seemed clouded over like he wasn’t entirely present. 

These weren’t the same men you met and fell in love with.

A lot of the photos with them alone, everyone including Gina appeared incredibly uptight, almost as if whatever they were doing was a chore. In an image of Steve standing next to some other men in suits, he was barely smiling as he kept his hands in his pockets. There was a video with Corroded Coffin at a movie premiere and Eddie stuck out his tongue for the camera making people laugh but when the moment passed his lips formed into a thin line as his eyes shifted absently at the chaos around him. 

Gina waved to paparazzi like a queen but when she stopped focusing on them her face fell as she kept her eyes downcast towards the floor. 

A suggestion box caught your eye that read “Other people who may be similar” and a certain name stood out. 

Jade Hillard.

She was exactly how their ex described her; a tall, slim, young lady with blond hair and piercing blue eyes that practically radiated through the image of her. In every picture of her she was wearing a short skirt or something so tight you were surprised she didn’t pop out of the garment.

There weren’t any pictures you could really find that you would describe as scandalous or anything when it came to them and her. Most of them seemed like posed photos as she giggled up at Steve at an event or beamed at a camera with Eddie’s arm behind her back.

You knew you should let it go…

Talk to them about her first when you went back home…

“Hey Jade. You may not know me but I’m Y/N and I’m dating Eddie and Steve…”

##############

You barely slept that evening, checking out and returning to the apartment at 6am on the dot.  Steve was still wearing his clothes from yesterday as he slept on the armchair in the living room with his phone flat on his chest while Eddie was outside smoking a cigarette. 

As soon as he saw you, he tossed it over the edge and powerwalked back inside. 

“Hey. Where have you been? We’ve been so worried about you, baby.”, he practically panted as he hurled questions your way causing Steve to jerk awake and rub his hands over his face. 

“I’m ok. I’m just really exhausted. Can we talk later?”, you sigh as you place your stuff down and drag your feet towards the bedroom before collapsing on the mattress. 

“Yeah, sweetheart. We can talk later. Can I get you into some comfy clothes?” When you nod, he quickly removes your dress and takes the shirt his friend hands him to pull over your head. 

“Fuck. I need to charge my phone—”

“I’ll get it, honey.”, Steve murmured as he headed back towards the living room to grab your things. 

“We missed you, sweetheart. It was weird not having you here.”, he coos as he tenderly kisses your forehead. 

“Someone’s calling you, Y/N.”, the mogul announces from the doorway, his broad frame filling the area.

“Who is it? I can call them back later.”, you sigh dismissively.

“The ID says ‘Unknown’ but the phone number belongs to Jade Hillard.” Your eyes flick to his firey ones as Eddie’s heavy exhale fills your ears. “You should take it. She’s always pretty busy so you should feel special that she got back to you so quickly.”

“How do you know I—”

“Because she hates Gina, baby.”, the rockstar answers for him in a defeated tone.

Steve’s feet smack loudly against the hard wood as he shoves your phone in your face. 

“Answer it.”

Doing as he commands, you take the device and he moves out of the way as you scoot past him to head onto the patio. 

“Hello?”

“Hey. Is this Y/N? I’m Jade. You, uh, obviously know that. I’m sorry. I’m a little nervous. I’ve been dodging Gina’s lawyers for months.”

“Yeah? I know how you feel.” She giggles at your sarcasm and you can’t help but be slightly surprised at how calming her tone is. “I just had some questions…”

“I can imagine. I hope you know everything Gina says is a lie. If it’s not she’s real good at twisting the truth. That’s part of the reason I left our dynamic.”

“What was that exactly?”

“This is going to sound so bad.”, she sighs with a shaky breath before continuing. “Gina…offered me to them… I mean it isn’t how it sounds! Gina and I were friends before she ever met them. I was in a bad place a few years ago and she fueled that. We did drugs and got drunk almost every night. When she met Eddie and Steve, they were a perfect contrast. They were gentlemen and always so sweet especially Eddie.”

“He wears his emotions on his sleeve.”

“From what he told me, he gets that from his mom.” You hear her smile and you do the same. “Steve always wanted to make sure I was comfortable and happy. Even before our thing… Gina and I would go out to dinner and he would pay for us both. One night he got tickets to a basketball game and made sure it was floor side by the exit so I could leave if I needed to. Because of something personal, sometimes I get anxious in crowds so I like to be near an exit so I can get to an open space.”

“Did he do that run on sentence thing with you when he was in his ‘I’ll handle it’ mode?”

Jade giggles as she agrees. 

“Oh, all the time. I, um, I hated the way she treated them. Even when they were just friends, she belittled them and used them constantly. It got worse when they entered a relationship. One night while we were drunk Gina told me how they liked to play in bed. Said that she loved being a ‘pain in the ass’ to rile them up. Sometimes the three of them would have bruises and she would tell me it was from the night before ‘making Daddy angry’. 

Even to me it was more than just brat behavior but…it wasn’t my place to say anything, you know? Anyway, she suggested I join the dynamic. I be the calm to her storm. While they were rough with her, they could make love to me and be gentle. They hated the idea but I told them I was fine with it if they were.

I moved in for a time and agreed to be free use. That’s when—”

“I know what that means, Jade. I’m a subby girl so I know the lingo.”

Your words seem to comfort her as she breathily laughs. 

“Good to know. Y/N, they were so kind and attentive. They always checked in and took care of me.”

“How long did you have your…arrangement?”

“Um, about three months. Gina started getting jealous and taking that out on us. She would scream, throw stuff, and say just the meanest things. One night, they came home drunk and upset saying that she had been flirting with some asshole that was half her age right in front of them. Normally when we were intimate, it was in our bedrooms or when Gina wasn’t there but that night…they fucked me in the living room where she would see when she came home…

Instead of flipping out like she had been…she sat on the opposite couch and watched…at that moment their attention focused on her and how riled up she was. That night they made me a pawn and I refused to do that. A couple of days later, I packed my bags and suggested they come with me. Get away from Gina and her toxicity…they said no so I left.

Cleaned up my act and got sober—”

“That’s amazing.”

“Thank you. I’ve been in a steady relationship for the past year and my modeling career has really taken off. As soon as I got her out of my life everything got better.”

“Jade…do you know why they wouldn’t tell me about you?”

“When I heard about Gina’s lawsuit, I reached out to them and begged them to keep my name out of the public eye since things are going so well. I didn’t want to be dragged into her mess again. They said of course and actually helped me pay for a lawyer to send hers some kind of document stating she’d keep my information confidential. They agreed but that doesn’t stop her from trying to change my mind. Is that how you found out about us? The case.”

“No. I, um, agreed to meet with Gina… I guess I thought it would help them if I showed her how much they don’t care about her anymore. That’s the only reason she’s doing this…to make them angry and hurt them.”

“You’re not wrong but, honey, your mistake was thinking she can be reasoned with. Unfortunately, they will need see this through to the end. Thankfully, it seems, they have you to be there with them. Y/N, I may not have known them for long but I’ve never seen them smile the way they do with you. I see their posts about you and I’m just so elated that they found someone who genuinely has their best interest in mind.”

“Thank you for calling me and talking to me. I really appreciate it, Jade, and your secrets are safe with me.”

After the two of you said your goodbyes, you exhaled as you leaned back against the chair you had been sitting in, closing your eyes as the last 24 hours swam through your mind. 

##################

You awoke a few hours later curled up in bed with a blanket snuggled tightly over you. 

Autopilot seemed to move you as you swung your legs over the mattress and headed towards the living room where they were both sitting on the sofa with a bottle of beer in their hands. 

Normally, they went outside to smoke but today remained in the middle of the apartment, flicking ash into an empty bottle pushed between the couch cushions.

Of course, Steve was the first to speak, his voice gravelly and filled with a pain you had never heard from him before. 

“I can help you, um, find a new apartment if you want and we…we don’t mind making those payments for you. I want you somewhere safe. Not that cubby you used to live in.”

“What are you talking about?”, you murmur, trying to control your emotions as your heart broke. 

Since you sat down they hadn’t looked at you once and it was killing you. The little girl headspace was kicking at the preverbal door, desperate for her Daddies to tell her everything was alright but you knew you needed to remain in control. 

“You don’t have to tell us, sweetheart. We’ll still take care of you. We still love you and that’s never going to change no matter where you are.” Eddie’s tone was just as shaky as his friends and you felt the little girl kick your heart within. 

“Am…am I going somewhere?”

“Don’t. Don’t play that game with us, alright? It’s best if we just…rip the fucking Band-Aid.”, the mogul scolded making you jump as you curl into yourself. 

You were a strong woman. 

You were strong when you left your family to follow the man you loved to New York. You were strong when the two of you broke up. You were strong after a string of dates constantly left you lonely and heartbroken. You were strong when they hurt you and you went back home. You were strong during the whispers at your expense of people inputting their opinions into your relationship. 

You were a strong woman. 

But right now…you didn’t want to be…so you let the little girl take over. 

Your head hung as you rose to your feet.

“I’m sorry I reached out to her. You…you said I could g-google information and I… I just wanted to see pictures of you and Gina…get an image i-in my head and her name popped up…”

“Did you get a good image? Fucking idiots fucking around with a narcist who only cares about herself?”, Eddie growled more so at himself than at you. “Just go, Y/N.”

Your lips quivered as a cascade of tears began to fall down your cheeks.

“Please…don’t…don’t leave me.” At your words, their heads snapped in your direction as their confused eyes scanned you over. “I love you both so much…I didn’t mean to… cross a boundary or…I’m sorry. I’m so…so…sorry.”

The rockstar immediately rose to his feet, tossing his vices to the side as he collected you in his arms and pressed your head into his chest. Your fingers gripped the back of his shirt as if it was the only thing keeping him close to you as you broke.

“We…we thought you were going to leave us…”, Eddie whispered, his eyes closing as he felt your head shake. “Fuck, baby. We are so sorry.”

Abruptly, Steve rose to his feet and powerwalked to the closet to grab his coat by the front door before lightly pushing his friend back so he could cup your face. 

“Do you think you can handle staying here for the next couple of hours without us?” As your lip pouted out and your hand covered the one he had on your cheek, he firmly nodded, kissing your forehead. “Ok, go put on pants and grab your coat. You’re coming with us.”

“W-Where are we going?”

“Go on, honey, we’ll wait right here for you.”

***

When you came back from changing, Eddie’s face had now matched Steve’s determination telling you whatever the mogul had planned, the rockstar was now up to speed. 

The entire car ride to your unknown destination, Eddie kept a protective arm around your shoulders while the other man held your hand, occasionally kissing the back as he tossed you a soft smile. 

Steve was now in a particular headspace of his own as you noticed his eyes fleeting into the void of the floorboard. He was in business mode and running through multiple different scenarios in his head as he mentally explored the outcome. 

After a while, the car pulled up to a large mansion style home and they thanked the driver as they climbed out. Steve paused to grab his briefcase before focusing his attention on you. 

“I want you to do me favor now, baby, ok?”

“O-Okay.”

“Hey, look at me.”, he cooed in his soft Daddy tone that told you he was about to handle everything, whatever that may be. “This time, I want you to let us do the talking. No matter what happens. You trust us to take care of you, right?”

“Yes…”

“Everything’s ok, sweetheart. You’re safe.”, Eddie comforted as he intertwined his fingers with yours. “Don’t let go of my hand. Steve’s gonna take care of the logistics and I’m gonna look after you.”

As you nod, the front door of the house swings open as a shirtless Roman leans in the doorway.

“Well, what do I owe the pleasure to have the famous Edward Munson and Steven Harrington on MY doorstep. And is that the sexy Y/N I’m seeing?”

You wrap your free arm around the metalhead’s as both boys stand up straighter and Steve invites himself into the other man’s home, pushing past him. 

“Excuse me, little boy. The grownups need to have a conversation.”

He spots Gina immediately and startles her as he throws papers down on the glass table in front of her, knocking some of the drugs she was snorting to the floor. 

“The fuck, Steven?”

“Sorry. I know you’re having your usual breakfast of Vodka and blow but this couldn’t wait.”, he replied sarcastically causing her to huff in annoyance as she grabs the document he thew at her. 

“It’s too fucking early and I’m not reading all this—”

“No need to. It’s been introduced before a few months ago but you and your lawyer rejected it. It’s the new deal that says we pay you a lump sum and in return the three of us stay away from each other. No appeals, no you trying to sue us again for something higher, nothing. Take it or leave it.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”, Roman sighs sarcastically as he fully enters the living room. “That’s bullshit. You owe her—”

“After everything she put us and the people around her through she’s lucky to be getting anything. Now, fuck off, Roman.”

“Excuse me!?”

The football player crowds Steve’s space who doesn’t even falter as he puffs out his chest and takes a step forward. 

“Try me. I’m not in the mood and I may be an ‘old man’ but I’m pretty sure I can lay your ass out.”

“I’d like to see you try.” The mogul shrugs as Eddie places himself beside his friend with equally angry eyes filled with intent. “I’ll be in the other room if you need me.”, he grumbles towards Gina before backing away and disappearing down the hall. 

“This is the thing you introduced a few months ago? Let me guess. Right around the time you met her?” As she gestured towards you, Steve side stepped blocking you from her view. “Ah I’m guessing our last conversation didn’t go as well as the three of you hoped.”

“No, it went about as Eddie and I expected it to be. You got to us, her, and with your powers of bitchiness somehow pulled Jade in as well.”

“Oh.”, she cooed obnoxiously as she rose to her feet. “You actually got ahold of Jade? How did that conversation go, Y/N? I’ve been trying to talk to her for months.”

“No. You don’t speak to her. You had your chance and exploited it.”, Eddie answered protectively as his grip on you tightened. 

“After watching her break down in front of us, I had an epiphany. Well, not so much an epiphany but more of an increased rage I didn’t know could ever exist. This is all a fucking game for you, Gina. We played it for a long, LONG time. Even when we were together and for the longest time, I thought we were the losers. But we have her now and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you hurt her. So…”

Steve lowers his voice as he steps forward and digs into his jacket pocket for a pen. 

“Sign the document and we’ll be on our way.”

“And if I don’t?”, she challenges as her eyes glare up to lock with his. 

“Then we and our lawyers will come at you with everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, we have. This entire time we’ve been respectful but you made the mistake of coming after something we care deeply about.” He stops to gesture your way. “We will take every penny, house, and asset you have till you have nothing. You wanted to play with our lives, we can do the same. I wonder how Roman would feel when a moving truck comes in to remove all this Godey shit from our house.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”, she hissed.

“Try me.”

“You’re really going to let him talk to me this way, Eddie?”, she whined as she backed away from Steve in faux shock. “You were always the one with the heart.”

“Yeah, well, now she has it.”, the rockstar beams as he jostles your hand to show her he means you. “Dude! We can finally get me that D&D room I always wanted.”, he teases as he smacks his friend’s arm with his free palm. 

Steve continues to stare at their ex as he clicks the pen and hands it to her. 

After slamming your body dramatically onto her sofa, she snatches the pen from his grasp and signs all the areas on the document she is required to sign. 

“Good move.”, he praises as Steve collects his things and all too casually stalks towards the front door with you both following behind. “Our lawyers will call yours on Monday, Gina!”

################

The sheets surrounding your three were damp with sweat as you clung to Eddie’s hair and shoulder as he slowly thrust his hips, grunting against your mouth as he pushed his cock deep into your core. Steve’s fingers dug into your lower belly as his lips sucked into your neck while he pushed his dick into your behind.

The trail of disregarded clothes and things knocked over from the front door to the bedroom told a story of desperate men needing to please the woman they loved. They passed you back and forth like a Goddess on the alter and you were in heaven. 

Steve devoured your pussy atop the kitchen counter before Eddie fucked you on the dining room table. The beer bottles near the couch knocked over as Steve bent you over the arm, pushing it forward as he pumped his hips. Unable to focus on anything but each other Eddie guided you to floor of the hallway where he ate you out till you were trembling and pulling at his arms desperate to feel him against you. 

Somehow you made it to the bed where time seemed to disappear and all that mattered was them. 

“P-Please…fuck…Daddy I’m…I’m gonna cum. Fuck, it feels too good.”

“I know, baby. One more. Give Daddy one more.”, Eddie pleaded as his forehead pressed against yours, his damp bangs mingling with your equally wet skin. 

Your nails dug into his flesh as you panted and your face scrunched in pleasure as the coil snapped. His own fingers threaded through your hair and pulled slightly as a mixture of a whine and grunt left his lips as he filled you up. 

“Goddamn it.”

Steve was uncharacteristically quiet as his large palm glided up to hold your breast and he chased his final release. 

“Cum…cum for me, Daddy, please.”

Pulling you flush to his sweaty chest; he rolled his hips as his lips found yours and your tongues danced till he whimpered at the feeling of his seed coating your insides. 

“Slow, slow.”, you whispered as they carefully pulled out and laid on their back trying to catch their breathes. 

After a few moments, Eddie rolled out of bed and you listened as he started a bath before the mogul followed, lifting you in his arms to carry you to the bathroom. You sat there quietly with your chin on your knees as you absorbed the sounds of them changing the sheets and picking up the clothes around the apartment. 

When their feet shuffled back onto the tile, you made room for them and they silently took their places in the tub with you. You allowed them to clean you and waited patiently for them to clean themselves before anyone said a word. 

This time it was you.

“Your lawyers drew up that deal after you started talking to me?”

Eddie nodded but he realized then that you couldn’t see him. 

“Yeah, after that first night at the hotel. We knew even then that you were special.”

“But we should admit that part of it was for selfish reasons.”, Steve added. “We wanted to get her out of our lives and hide our past with her as quickly as possible.”

You close your eyes as you exhale, breathing out the last couple of days as you feel their own irises scan you over. 

“Its because she brought up how Jade looked, isn’t it?”, the mogul asked causing you to sit up and look at him with utter confusion. “Why you left the meeting and disappeared.” 

“Young, thin, blond, big tits…’the best your money can buy’.”, Eddie recites.

“Yeah…she…she hit a nerve. I…I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you two and that scares me sometimes. My…brain gets in the way…especially on low days.”

“Would it help if we told you we understand? You’re so different than anyone we ever met and…somedays…OUR insecurities get in the way.”

“We’ve been making jokes, you know, but we are aware that we are older than you. When Roman was flirting with you, I didn’t just see him but every other young man that could do something better than we could.”, Steve relayed as his eyes glanced off into the distance of the room. “Make you laugh harder, smile more, not…hurt you as much as we have…”

When his gaze shifted your way, he panicked slightly as a tear slid down your cheek and he took hold of your hands, craning his neck to meet your eyeline.

“I’m so sorry, baby, that for even just a second, we made you think we didn’t want you in our lives. We…we should have talked to you first…we…”

“We thought that…like Jade…you would want to leave because of our chaotic relationship with Gina now that you got a bit of taste of how she is plus talking to Jade.”, Eddie added as he pulled you closer to his chest. “We were just so scared…we were preparing for what we thought was inevitable. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“Why…why did you think I would leave? You told me everything about your ex. Why would Jade be the tipping point? She had nothing but nice things to say about you.”

They glanced towards each other and you felt their chests deflate in what seemed like…relief? What surprised you though was when Steve turned his head away from you and hastily rose to grab a towel. 

“Come on, honey. L-Let’s get you in bed. It’s cold outside and—” When you stood up as well, he kept trying to avoid your eyeline till you cupped his cheeks in your hands and forced him to look at you. You realized then that he was trying to stop tears of his own. “I thought I hurt her. WE thought… We’ve never talked about that last night she was here…with her I mean.”

“Gina had been dangling some twenty-year-old in front of us for the four thousandth time. She was wasted and actually pushed past just flirting to full on making out with him against the wall at a party.”, Eddie continued sullenly as they dried your body and theirs.

The rockstar lifted you in his arms, placing you on the new, cool clean sheets and pulled one of their shirts over your head with a clean pair of shorts. You were always slightly amazed at the detail they took when it came to taking care of you after you played. Of course, they bathed and cleaned you but Steve would take the extra time to rub moisturizer along your legs and arms causing you to hum lightly as his strong palms massaged your skin. 

Eddie would sit behind you and as carefully as possible brush out your hair, cursing lightly under his breath if he happened to snag a knot that gently tugged your head back. Afterwards, he would run his fingers through it the way you did with him eliciting a soft, comfortable sigh as you curled into his chest behind you.

The wind suddenly howled and the power flickered before going out. 

“Fuck me.”, the metalhead murmured as he grabbed a pair of boxers and disappeared out into the living room. 

“We left her there at the party and came home searching for Jade. We never wanted to make her uncomfortable or… like… she was just another thing in our apartment.” While Steve continued the story, Eddie returned with some of the candles you had bought for the home and began lighting each one around the room.

“But that night we fucked her in the living room knowing at some point Gina would walk in and get pissed. She was always so jealous of Jade, even before she suggested we bring her into the dynamic. I never understood it—”

“It was another way to control you…all three of you…From what she told me, Jade was at a low point in her life and Gina seemed to break you guys down to get there as well…”

The mogul nodded as if to agree, petting your head and turning towards their closet to get clothes of his own like his friend who was now donning a long sleeve shirt.

“She did come home but she didn’t flip out. She just sat there and grinned this wicked smile, I’ll never forget…”, Eddie sighed as he sat beside you and crossed his legs. “Jade called out our safe word and hid in your room the rest of the night. We tried to do some aftercare to make sure she was ok but she insisted she just wanted to be alone. The next morning, she had her bags packed and asked us to go with her. We said no.”

“Why?”

“We… loved Gina… it’s so hard to explain but she was like a drug. That type of toxicity when you’re already low… Plus, like we said, baby, we weren’t good men. We always regretted the way we treated her that night.”

“How long were you with her after Jade left?”

“A few months. Things got worse after that including her debut with quarterback fuckhead.”, Steve growled lightly causing a little laugh to leave your lips, the sound making their eyes gleam with more relief. 

“Sorry. You just…you sounded your age there. I’m sure there are better comebacks than ‘quarterback fuckhead.”, you giggle.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Not all of us got our degree in English.”, he teased, smirking as he sat down in front of you. 

“I never notice your age by the way.”, you smile. “Or your money or anything like that. You don’t…have to be insecure. I know that’s hypocritical but…I’m just saying.” A thumb lightly caressed your cheek as the mogul leaned down to kiss your lips. “Except when you say things like fuckhead because that can’t go ignored—”

They both laugh as you grin and are pushed backwards onto the mattress under the covers between them. 

“I’m sorry, Y/N, about what you’ve experienced these past couple of days.”, Eddie murmured against your lips after gently kissing them and resting his head beside yours. 

“It’s ok. I forgive you.”

“It’s not ok but we’re going to make it up to you. You deserve the best, honey.”, Steve cooed as his fingers traced along your skin as they watched your eyes flutter closed. “Now that the worst part of our lives is gone, we want to focus our attention on spending the rest of our lives with the best thing that’s ever happened to us.”, he whispered.  

“Finding you.”, the rockstar follows as each boy gives each other a knowing look. 

##################

@aol19 @paradisepoisons  @paleidiot @dashingdeb16

@lilaclazer @joannamuns9n @thwippyparker @emotionaldreamer

@aactuaaltraash @alastorssimp @mygirlchaos @starksbabie @imagine-all-the-imagines @myherometalhead @overlycaffinatedqueer-blog @twirls827 @clonewifey49 @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes

[wrenaspun]

hennike and her little duckling smaurent spending time together!

This became more of a Hennike centric fic SORRY but Laurent does make an appearance !! She does spend time with him !! -

Hennike was very newly married when she first fell pregnant. The signs became apparent only a handful of weeks after the ceremony, and the tests that the old physician had her take proved her snooping cousin Julia right, which was galling.

“I told you,” said Julia smugly. “I’m never wrong. Some Women — ” the capitalisation was audible “ — always Know.” She patted Hennike’s cheek. “My mother always said you had the best hips in the family.”

Later, Hennike would look at Auguste and find it impossible that he should have come out of her, that he could be of her blood. Even while he was in her belly he had only really been Aleron’s. Julia insisted on predicting smugly that it would be a boy, because she was carrying so low, and then to a lesser extent he became Vere’s, the hoped-for heir, loved before he was anything more than a cluster of cells.

For a long time, at the start of the pregnancy, Hennike’s stomach felt oddly divorced from the rest of her, a separate compartment for an object which had been misplaced inside her and which its true owner was waiting impatiently to retrieve. Then, as the physicality of pregnancy made itself known, it became impossible to consider any part of her as separate. Her whole body ached and throbbed and grew swollen, and she began to feel like she was the compartment, that the compartment-ness of her stomach had expanded to encompass the rest of her until she was transformed into a vessel for the future of Vere. She ate healthily and slept regular hours because that was good for the baby. She took light exercise for the baby and avoided stress for the baby. Aleron spoke about the baby as though it were here and his wife as though she was somewhere far away. Well, she thought, when she remembered to think, her mother had said this would happen. Her mother had said: for nine months, you will be more than yourself. It was nine months she had to live through. Her mother had had four children, but only three pregnancies; Hennike’s older brothers were twins. She thought more than usual about the fact that twins ran in her family, even after the physician assured her that she was only carrying one.

It was such a relief when the baby came out of her that it was almost like love, right away. Then it really was love — she wasn’t heartless. Auguste was such a sweet, good-natured baby that it was impossible not to adore him. He conquered waves of nursemaids and scores of servants with his gummy, sunshiney smile. Even Aleron was sometimes seen smiling down at him, bouncing him on one hip, letting the royal regalia be drooled on.

Auguste was so ceaselessly healthy that Aleron made only the occasional desultory effort in Hennike’s bed, which suited her just fine. One of her maidservants offered, quietly, to procure an herb that was commonly taken in the south to prevent pregnancies; the king’s brother had recently managed to open a new trade route to Bazal. Hennike brewed the tisane for herself without a pang of guilt.

When Auguste was five, it was thought that a sibling might be a good addition to the royal line; but it never took. The same when Auguste was nine. Hennike quashed the desire to send Julia a stupid letter. The court was vaguely discontented, but Auguste’s boisterous misadventures in the marble halls made sure that never took, either. Hennike peacefully let him smash several old Kemptian vases and the court was cheerful for months about his liveliness.

When Auguste was eleven, it happened again. Hennike, thirty-five, had not seen it coming; neither she nor Aleron had been making much effort; but there you had it. The pregnancy was different because Hennike was different; easier to remain herself, but harder in every other way. She no longer had a young woman’s body: she was sorer, sicker, more swollen. It was another nine months that she had to live through. Auguste was terribly sweet to her, bringing her little pastries that soothed her stomach and fresh-cut fruit that made her sick again.

But it was worth it. Laurent was Hennike’s, entirely Hennike’s from the top of his downy head to the tips of his perfect shell-pink toes. This, she thought, was a baby she had made deliberately, so it made a certain kind of sense that he was less perfect than the older brother she had not played any part in. Laurent was not frail, but he was smaller and more delicate than Auguste had been. He could scream more in one night than sunshine-personified Auguste had in a whole month. His smiles were very rare, only given begrudgingly, and his default expression was a wicked frown which was almost enough to send his poor nurses running. Auguste had been indiscriminately happy with the gifts which had been sent to him by foreign embassies; Laurent developed a particular attachment to a Vaskian horse-toy and spurned the rest, refusing to touch them, sulking savagely if his horse was taken away even briefly, even just to be cleaned. He was so fussy, and Auguste such an indulgent older brother, that after a few months he wouldn’t sleep unless he was walked around for half an hour first in Auguste’s arms.

It was not the done thing, but Hennike loved to hold him in her arms and sleep, the weight of him pressing down into her chest. Aleron did not know what to do with this strange and decidedly opinionated new baby; he was not easy, the way Auguste had been easy. But he had such a martial light in his eyes that from the very beginning, Hennike was sure he would achieve anything he wanted.

[themsource]

Adding onto this: Wildwood is definitely the more heavily used reference! While there is Bay Head Beach, NJ which is popular for collecting Sea Glass, it's the now defunct and non-existent Sportland Pier in Wildwood, NJ which was used heavily for the lore.

When you type in: GLASS SHARD BEACH on thisisnotawebsitedotcom (the book of bill supplementary website) you get this image

And if you reverse google search it, brings you to a flicker account that uploaded this image back in 2013 along with photos from surrounding boardwalk attractions

There is also this website if you do a deep dive into Sportland! Which includes an additional photo of the Hell Hole as an advertisement (and some of the ride itself if you look) and the outside of Dr. Blood's House of Horror attraction that could be another ref for in the comics.

Unfortunately the pier is no longer around as it used to be back when it opened and operated from the 1950s and is now a big go-cart track.

Interestingly, (according to a few youtube videos and comments) by 1983/1984 (I've seen varying accounts on the year dates), Sportland Pier was purchased and closed with the rides left on the pier to slowly rot away before being taken down. (Except for Dr. Blood's House of Horror which was apparently still up in the early 2000s before being torn down.)

Approximately 1-2 years after Ford got thrown into the portal if you go by the show date. (I know there's debate on this but the same year being in the bunker seals it for me as we all can conclude Ford was the last one in there that used it before Dipper and Mabel rediscovered the bunker - Ford was in such paranoia and a known chronicler, I honestly believe July 4th 1982 is the last date he tracked before poofing)

I think it's fascinating how these things all connect to each other. I'd honestly be interested in hearing a few stories from Alex about his Grandpa Stan (who Grunkle Stan is based off of) and how he was and the life he lived during his time.

It goes to show how much of a personal passion project Gravity Falls was and still is to have so many details that are still coming out even years later. I personally would've loved to visit an attraction site like Sportland had been.

I am just now realizing the carnival in the Stan twin kids comic is based off a real area called Asbury Park

(ffffffffuuuuccc... I got a long ways into an answer and it disappeared. Let's try this again!)

OKAY. Sorry, Anon, you get the info-dump!

I think that the Carnival in the Lost Legends comic is likely not based on a standing attraction, but rather on the kind of seasonal carnivals that would visit resort towns in the summer. The Freak Show is set up in a tent, and doesn't seem like a permanent attraction to me.

Overall, I think that Glass Shard Beach is a combination of several different resort towns along the NJ and MD shore. I don't think it's actually based on one in particular, but borrows elements from several. Alex Hirsch commented, I think, on going to Ocean City, MD when he was a kid? (That’s my recollection, although I can’t find a quote right now?) I'm not sure whether any of the board artists or background artists may have had their own memories of particular Jersey shore towns; or whether they were just googling for references and came up with a grab-bag.

But let's go over the probable inspirations for Glass Shard Beach!

First, a visual reminder:

So, Glass Shard Beach has an amusement pier that sticks out into the ocean, perpendicular to the beach.  I... am not really sure what’s going on with the lighthouse.

See, from Asbury Park on south, all of the barrier islands / resort towns are flat as a pancake.  But GSB has always had hill and cliff elements to it -- like the cave in which they find the Stan o’ War, or the cliff shown in the comic.  And the lighthouse is clearly sitting up on a hill (it’s not ON the pier, but  beyond it).  If that is found anywhere along the Jersey shore, it would be to in the north. (I’ll get to that more soon.)

I have to read this as the shoreline curving out to the north beyond the pier, and the lighthouse is located up there.

Anyway.  On to the contenders!

Asbury Park, NJ:

Asbury Park does have an amusement park along the beach/boardwalk, but not on the pier sticking out into the ocean.  That is occupied by a building, the Pavilion.

Seaside Heights, NJ:

South of Asbury Park, this is the one with the big amusement pier, Casino Pier, that sticks out into the ocean:

The pier is shorter in the final pic (and I don’t know if the ferris wheel has actually been turned 90 degrees, or if that’s a trick of the angles in other photography), because Superstorm Sandy did a number on this pier a few years ago. You might have seen some of the photos of the wreckage of the roller-coaster, as it was very photogenic.

Wildwood, NJ:

ALSO has a big amusement pier that sticks way out (if not actually into the water; I don’t know, maybe when the tide is higher?), with the big ferris wheel providing a focal point.

Another thing people often point to for Wildwood is the famous Haunted House:

And even more tellingly, the Dante’s Dungeon attraction on Morey Pier:

Compare in the Lost Legends comic:

Ocean City, MD:

It’s not really the same kind of “sticks out into the ocean” amusement pier.  But, the boardwalk in Ocean City MD does have its own famous Haunted House attraction:

Here’s a look at how all of these relate to each other:

(Seaside Heights is located on the coast due east of Toms River. And, not pictured, Ocean City MD to the south, across Delaware Bay.)

I can understand why some folks want to point to the ultra-kitschy resort towns like Wildwood as a “location” for Glass Shard Beach.  Me, I’ve always figured it was located in the north -- possibly north of Asbury Park. 

First, because of the discussion above about how you can’t get cliffs on the barrier islands in the south.  And second, because of the strong north-NJ/New Yorker accents of Ma and Pa Pines, and Stan.  Once you get south of around Toms River, that accent really starts to fade.  Long Beach Island, in the middle there (marked Beach Haven) is the dividing line between where New Yorkers came for the summer, and where Philadelphians came.  So because of the Pines’ accent, I figured they must be from the north.

But Glass Shard Beach definitely has to be on a barrier island, because:

This COULD be a sunrise.  But:

If this is a sunset (which it has to be), then their swing-set must be on a playground located on the bay, not the ocean.  To get a sunset over the water in NJ, you’ve got to be on one of those barrier island bays. (The dock with the Stan o’ War makes more sense on the bay, as well.)

Anyway, we’re getting kind of far afield of the original ask, there!  But yeah -- I don’t think the Carnival in Lost Legends was based on a specific attraction in a specific town.  I think it was based more on the vibes a lot of the boardwalk-town resorts had.  But I DO think the Wildwood Dante’s Dungeon inspired the HELL attraction!

[poorlittleyaoyao]

I am enjoying all of the thoughts. Here's a random scenario for you: Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue swap places. They have all of their original experiences up through the end of the Sunshot Campaign, but for whatever reason (mind-wiping? alternate-universe hopping? who knows) they don't waste any time trying to switch back. NMJ just has to Deal with being the newly-legitimized second son of the Jin, JGY just has to Deal with being a sect leader with the whole saber thing hanging over him. Who do you think would be most successful in their new role? Who would have the worst time?

Oooh, there was a poll awhile back posing this question (@qiu-yan was it one of yours?), and everyone responding had such solid reasoning for whatever choices they picked! Because neither of them is enjoying this.

For who is most successful, it's JGY, no contest. JGY doesn't have a background in saber cultivation, but he was born to manage and can handle logistics like a champ. In novel canon, he has field experience with the Nie that he can combine with day-to-day experience sect with the Jin; n CQL canon, he already has experience overseeing day-to-day sect business in the Unclean Realm itself. Easy! He'll just delegate all the saber stuff to someone more qualified! Meanwhile, NMJ does not have the skills set that JGY deploys in Jinlintai at allllllll. He doesn't have experience in negotiating with a superior (let alone a superior who doesn't respect him), he doesn't prioritize fine details, and he cannot (WILL not!) fawn. While JGY was learning customer service, NMJ studied the blade! He is AT BEST going to be too blunt and at worst going to throw hands.

For who is having the worst time, neither of them is doing great! From a physical standpoint, they'd both have a moment of "damn, you live like this?" as NMJ boggles at how long JGY's body takes to heal and JGY wonders how he hell NMJ built up so much resentment in his body. (A popular NMJ headcanon is that Baxia is a semi-sentient entity screaming at him 24/7 to fuel his bloodlust, and I do enjoy that, but it's also not actually in the text anywhere, so I am leaving that out. Ditto for JGY having lingering pain from injuries sustained in his fall.)

From a mental standpoint, if JGY is aware that NMJ is puttering around in his body, he is LOSING IT. It's his own personal "horse loose in a hospital" scenario. Not only might NMJ ruin all of JGY's standing within Jinlintai by being less-than-deferential, there are also THE SECRET CRIMES to consider. If this switch happens after JGY is entrenched as his father's fixer, NMJ could stumble upon the Jinlintai Murder Basement! He could reveal all of JGY's crimes! And even if he didn't, if JGS or whoever else deemed NMJ-in-JGY's body a nuisance, they might straight-up kill him rather than just dismissing him because JGY knows too much. After all, everyone saw what he did to his last two bosses! If QS and JRS exist, what about their safety? What about his legacy? What about his mother's wish? Any merit he achieves as NMJ will be credited to NMJ, not to him, and he would haaaaate thattttt.

Now, NMJ is also having a bad time, because not being accustomed to the kind of treatment JGY receives has made him ill-equipped to process it. Witnessing and being the recipient of so much injustice but not being able to do anything about it would be profoundly upsetting for him. He'd be even more upset if he found out about the crimes. His options for seeking justice are very limited! He could stab JGS and XY and then die himself, but even if he was successful, JGY's spirit would live on in NMJ's body to do who-knows-what. If QS and JRS exist, extended exposure to one or both of them could make him feel conflicted about all of the above, which would make him even MORE frustrated with the situation.

(Neither of them is bringing LXC into this.)

Bad times all around!

(Additional components of this scenario to consider: NMJ in JGY's body having to hang out with XY, and XY thinking his attempts to kill him are just fun enrichment. NHS figuring out something's up and (after assuring himself of NMJ's safety) using this as an opportunity to request soooo many budget items, pleeeeease san-ge? pleeease? SMS figuring out something's up because Lianfang-zun Would Not Fucking Say That and personally taking the initiative to get them to switch back. QS figuring out something's up because A-Yao Would Not Fucking Say That and also the specific way in which he is now refusing to sleep with her feels different.)