#also just now realizing i gave him the same boots in both of these oh

[beetle-beep]

more outfits ft. my oc Newt!!! :)

I like the idea of Sun using magnets as "earrings" on his rays hehe

[yrrtyrrtwhenihrrthrrt]

Yanno something I don't think is explored nearly enough? Ambrosius's relationship with the Director, and I'm referring to both versions here because they're both interesting in both similar and different ways

For the movie version (I will talk about the comic version on this post too, don't you worry) first of all my pal @walrus150915 wrote an incredible fic exploring this for the NBB please go read it right fucking now, but moving on from that, Ambrosius arguably saw the Director as his mom, or at least a stand-in for his mom.

She was (or seemed to be) a nurturing but authoritative adult who guided him in the role he was supposed to fill. A lot of people like to write her as an overtly nasty bitch in pre-canon fics, and while I completely get that, let's not forget that Ballister, at the beginning of the movie, found it potentially believable that he was her favorite student. He was dumbfounded and devastated to see she had been the one to frame him, he couldn't believe it and never suspected her for a second. I'll talk more about Ballister's relationship with her in another post, but the point is this is an Oscar-winning actress, people!

Ambrosius had every reason to look up to her and believe she cared about him. And she went from (in his perspective) treating him with patience, kindness, sympathy and respect, to trying to MURDER HIM.

You don't just get over a parental figure doing something like that to you (then oh yeah, promptly fucking d y i n g). The pain, the loss of realizing someone you loved and trusted was never who you thought they were (after he'd been battling those same feelings about Ballister) and never really cared about you as a person, it would be devastatingly traumatic. Like poor guy what the fuck. He had to cope with that WHILST trying to repair his broken relationship Jesus Christ

And that's not even getting INTO the comic version, which I will be getting into now. There's a big difference between the two and I think that's in no small part due to the timeframe. C! Ambro has been under the Director's thumb a full 15 years longer than his counterpart. This gave her time to exert more control over him, and also gave him time to grow more aware of her behavior. M!Ambro and the Director have the relationship of a person and their (non-sexual) groomer, while C!Ambro's relationship with her is more overtly that of a person and their abuser.*

She's regularly seen threatening him, threatening to have his loved one (Ballister) killed if he doesn't obey her thereby forcing him to do things against his will (like murder a child), insulting him, and showing him absolutely zero sympathy or kindness, even when he's seriously harmed. I think Ambrosius would, by this point, know that the Director isn't a good person and that she doesn't love him, but she's had much more time to sink her claws into him.

He's not going to leave her. This life, being the Champion, working for her, it's all he knows, and it's all he has. Where is he going to go, back to Ballister? Ballister hates him (because the Director took measures to isolate Ambrosius from him) and he's worked for the Institution his whole life. He knows the Director is bad, but he still trusts her. This is the devil he knows, at least, so by the time the story takes place he at least feels confident that they have a mutual understanding.

I imagine it took time to get to this point. He saw her as a mentor and spent most of his life desperate for her approval. After the joust, I can only imagine this got worse. She was all he had, and he'd do anything to prove himself worthy of the championship title he knows deep down that he stole. He probably saw her as a real friend for a long time, no matter how obvious she made it that the feeling wasn't mutual, and that he'd have to try ever harder to earn her praise.

What I'm saying is this man spent fifteen years under the boot of his abuser, then after fifteen years of grooming and psychological abuse she threw him in the trash, stripped him of his title and everything he'd worked for, tried to have his lover executed, then fucking died. And NOBODY TALKS ABOUT IT??? HELLOO?????

*this is not to say that M! Ambro's relationship with the Director was not abusive, it was, or that C! Ambro wasn't groomed, he was. Simply that for him, the grooming had more time to develop into overt, recognizable abuse.

[thesharktanksdriver]

Weaving threads of friendship (mostly platonic)

Refer to this post.

As the people requested, Hobie’s partner meeting Miles.

This one is significantly shorter than my last one partially cause I think this is pretty straightforward

From the moment Miles Morales heard of Hobie brown he didn’t know exactly how to feel about him

It happened in passing as he and Gwen had swung through the city

The first time since the collider incident that he had seen her, months of wondering if she was fine

If she and the others had made it back safe

And now as they go around city just like he had hoped if she mentions him

He couldn’t help but feel a twang of panic

Feelings he’s harboured for the blond that had been simmering for a long while coming to a bubbling uproar

Didn’t help as he pushed the subject and got in response that she had apparently been living with him

An ugly seed of envy sprouts it’s way into his gut at that

He can’t help but feel ashamed of it

This was Gwen, of course she found someone. She was the coolest person he knows

Someone who could do ballet while fighting villains

Plus was apart of some kickass band in her dimension

He honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if she was selling out stadiums

And if she wasn’t currently, then he fully expected that for her future

He should feel happy that she found someone

Happy that she was in a good place

Yet it’s hard to ignore that sprouting envy as his emotions are already high enough as it is when seeing her again

It doesn’t help when he meets Hobie though

Having a moment to prove himself and then suddenly having it quite literally dashed open

With a guitar no less

Doesn’t help that he was cool as hell

The studded black leather vest

Spike Mohawk

Doc Martin boots

British accent

Silver gleaming piercings

Miles knew he couldn’t compare to him

And by god did it hurt

From the moment Hobie saw miles he knew knew he’d like the accidental Spider-Man

It might be due to the fact that Miguel did NOT want him apart of the Spider regime

On the fact that him being Spider-Man went against canon

But it also had to do with the fact that he recognized how he looked at Gwen

It’s how Hobie looked at you

Sure, he couldn’t see under the mask but it was very glaringly obvious to Brit

That was the gaze of someone who was in a deep passionate love

Something akin to fizzling fireworks that popped off in the night

Pop rocks exploding on your tongue on a humid day

Sappy romantic shite that he once never thought he’d think of

Until he rapidly found himself staring at you with that same expression

It makes him chuckle a bit thinking back

How glaringly obvious he was with his feelings yet you couldn’t accept the signs

Not until he told you face to face

Good times

With that look he also sees a slight sadness with it as well

Miles occasionally glancing at him and then back to Gwen

The slight bitter taste Miles held in his voice when addressing him

But what…oh

That realization almost makes Hobie burst out in laughter

Poor lad is probably running circles in his head for nothing

He’s definitely gonna have to tell him

One the tour of the HQ Hobie lingers close by to the newbie

Hands on his pockets as Jessica leads to way to Miguel’s sulking area

With the lame and inconveniently slow office floor elevator

A perfect example of capitalism

He pulls Miles aside with an arm around his shoulder, making Mikes give a noise of complaint

Until Hobie pulled out a Polaroid from an inner pocket of his vest

In it was Hobie with another person

Both staring up at the camera as he gave them a kiss

Miles looks to him in confusion

“I thought you and-“

“Gwenivere? Nah mate. S’ just crashin at my place cause home ain’t the best for her right now.”

“And that’s?”

“Yeah, my partner in crime so to say. Should meet them sometime, they’d like ya”

“Really?”

“Gwen won’t stop talking bout you.”

Hobie stifles a laugh at Miles’s face

The look of surprise and Fluster washing over the young lad as he shoots a glance at Gwen

Who all the while remained obvious to his stare as he directs it to the ground once more

Hobie grabs a new piece of tech as he does this

Pocketing it as he did with many other nick-knacks he’d found and swiped

To be fair, if it’s not nailed to the ground real nice then it’s free territory for grabbing

Or well…that’s what he tells others anyways

The piles of scrap pilled up in both his home and your room is a testament to that

As was the prototypes of his own dimension hoping bracelet

When you met Miles you couldn’t help but be extremely excited as the young Spider-Man sat down on Hobie’s worn and old ripped leather couch

Gwen often talked of him

So now seeing him in person is a extremely fun experience especially since he’s awkward in a way that reminds you of your past self

Conversation starts off slow at first

Stuff mostly revolving around his universe

What he liked

Etcetera Etcetera

But what really gets talk happening is when he brings up drawing

In a life in which your surrounded by musically artistic people it’s nice to have someone with a new passion

So it’s safe to say he quickly ends up showing you his sketchbook

Carefully showing you pages of graffiti tags

Mural ideas

And a few that had Gwen that he quickly flipped to a different page

You don’t comment on it but your grin alone tells him what he needs to hear

Speaking of which, Gwen is ecstatic that you get to meet Miles

She would not spot talking about it even before the whole “don’t tell mikes about the spider society” situation happened and was figured out

You definitely tease her a bit about it

And Miles as well

Buts it’s all in good nature

Miles finds you to be down to earth and Hobie’s translator of sorts

He doesn’t at all get British slang or can understand what Hobie is talking about so you help with that

Using an phrases and metaphors work better for his American understanding

He thanks whatever god there is for that cause sometimes he swears Hobie is making up shit just to confuse him

If you show him all the handmade gifts Hobie has made for you he gets a lot of creative inspiration

Especially since he’s always willing to step out of his normal medium

Show him how to make his own custom pins and he’ll return later with at least 15 plus a couple for you and Hobie

Their also really well drawn as well

So it’s a win win for everyone

At some point you secretly ask him to make some potential album cover art for Hobie and he is fucking ecstatic

He’s never done something like that before so he takes to trying it very seriously

Experimenting with styles

Trying new techniques

Eventually he settles down on a mix of graffiti and collage of news paper clippings

Cause apparently to him you both look as if your straight from newspaper clippings mashed together

Gwen can attest to this as well

Hobie ends up fucking loving it

And Gwen, Miles and Pavitr have to deal with the punk being all lovey dovey to you in a way they had never imagined Hobie to be

He’s peppering your face with kisses and swinging you around in a hug

You let out a small yell as he tosses you up and catches you

It’s honestly really sweet

“How did I once find him intimidating?”

“Eh, it’s not much of a surprise to me. You’d be surprised to find out how many Punk people are actually really sweet”

“I think it’s also cause you thought he was dating g-“

He eventually puts you down and pulls them into a hug

That quickly turns into him aggressively messing up their hair

“I take what I said back”

“Hey! Don’t mess with the hair! My beautiful natural hair!”

“Why am I even surprised anymore?”

Safe to say miles has become a new vital part of this group

And you wouldn’t have it any other way

[imonthemoonitsmadeofcheese]

Oolong

Look! Look! Art by @dredgenaves for my story!!!

It was early and many of the market vendors had not opened up their shops, carts, or stalls yet in the rubble of the last city where everyone routinely gathered for commerce. Eris wondered if the Drifter also preferred the lack of people or if his insistence that they come this early to ‘avoid the crowds’ was entirely for her benefit. Probably for her, she realized. A crowd, for him, would simply be a cloak of invisibility.

She reached out and touched a t-shirt, rubbing the cloth between her fingertips, smiling at the softness of it.

“That one? Really?” the Drifter asked her.

“The material feels nice.”

“You uh… don’t see colours the same way, do ya?”

“No. What colour is it?”

He waited a few moments, watching her fondle it, and then leaned in close and whispered in her ear. “Bubblegum pink.”

Eris drew her hand away as though the shirt had bitten her.

He laughed, picked up the shirt, and held it up against her, eyeballing the fit.

Eris gave him a look that could curdle milk…or blood.

“I have limits, Rat, and that is well beyond them.”

He laughed again and turned to the merchant.

“Do you have this, but in black or maybe grey?”

The vendor pointed to a pile of clothing in a barrel on the other side of a table.

Eris heaved an audible sigh of relief.

The Drifter began picking through it. “This might do,” he pulled a couple of pieces into his hand. “We'll want to add in a layer or two.”

“We don't even know if they will fit.”

“Oh these'll fit.” He paid the merchant.

“How do you know?”

He gave her a sideways look with a half smile and licked his lips.

“Hmmm…”

“Oooo…” the Drifter stopped at a spice vendor they were walking past who was just opening up their stall.

Eris found the cacophony of scents overwhelming and wandered past the spices to an area filled with pottery. The elderly pottery vendor looked at her suspiciously. Eris found a selection of chunky looking mugs and began to pick up individual ones to sense their weight and feel how the handles felt against her hands.

“You should get two.” The Drifter’s voice was by her ear.

“I was thinking of it. What colours are these?”

“That one’s green and that one’s blue. Both dark and swirly. They don’t match but they also sorta go together. They look nice.”

“Very well.”

“Smell this.” He shoved a small bag in her face.

She sighed and inhaled. “Oh… that is nice… is it tea?”

“Yup. They said it’s oo-long, whatever the hell that is. Smells fancy.”

Eris smiled. “It is. I like oolong.”

“Well we got some now and if you get mugs we can put it in them and be fancy together.”

Eris took the mugs she’d selected to the nervous pottery vendor and attempted to be non-threatening. He took her glimmer with shaking hands.

“Now, let's find you some boots that don't look like they're for walking on the moon.” Drifter tugged at her elbow.

“Everything about me looks like it's for walking on the moon… Because I spend most of my time walking… on the moon.”

“Yeah well, we ain’t goin’ to the moon which is why we’re getting ya non-moon shit for those rare times when you ain’t on the moon.”

“Hmmm…”

“This place has a bench. Here.” He tossed her a pair of dark brown leather hiking boots. “Try those on.”

“The feet fit,” she said after a few minutes, “...but the calves and ankles are a bit too wide.”

“Really? Let me see.”

He knelt one knee on the ground in front of her and pulled her foot up onto his leg. His hands slid along her calf down next to her ankle. Eris would have sworn his hands were empty, especially since she had felt all his fingers caress her gently, but there was a sudden weight and she felt an object pressed against her ankle. Something several inches long in a leather sheath.

He tightened the boot laces and tied them off with a bow.

“Nah I think that's perfect.”

He pulled her pant leg down to cover the knife.

“Let me see the other one,” he grinned.

“Hmmm…”

She replaced her left foot with her right as he repeated what he had done.

“You just ain't tyin’ it right, Moondust.” He looked up at her with mischievous eyes. “Try that. Walk around a bit. Make sure it feels good.”

He stayed on one knee as she stood and walked from one side of him around to the other. She reached out a hand and brushed her fingertips against the side of his beard. He leaned into her hand like a cat and looked up at her with affection.

“I think you might like being on your knees in front of me,” she said quietly enough so that only he could hear.

He blinked rapidly, looked away from her, and gave a nervous laugh. “Now that’s a dangerous observation for you to make.”

“Hmmm…”

“Boots good, though?” He stood.

“Yes. The additions are… comforting.”

“Ain’t never met a hunter… current… or former… who thought there was such a thing as too many knives.” He winked at her.

The Drifter spent some time talking with the leather worker while he was paying for the boots. They conversed in a language Eris did not understand. The Drifter seemed to be asking for something beyond the boots and the vendor asked a few more questions before they came to an agreement and glimmer exchanged hands.

Eris looked around at the market. More people were arriving now. More vendors were opening up their shops in the rubble. A small child stared at her over a barrel of apples. Eris stared pointedly back. An adult behind the child called it away. A few moments later it returned to stare at her over the apples again. She couldn’t see the face, only dark hair and eyes wide with fascination. No fear. Only inquisitiveness. Eris stared back, one side of her lip quirked up in a small smile.

“You frightening children?” The Drifter teased her, pulled gently at her elbow.

“No. They are not afraid.” Eris turned to follow him. “I appreciate naked curiosity. It is so much more refreshing than fear.”

A lone Eliksni was setting up a stall slightly apart from the others, pulling out bolts of cloth and placing them on a table. The Drifter tugged Eris’ elbow again and walked over to converse with the cloth merchant in fluent Eliksni. Eris followed, impressed.

She was able to understand the essence of what they were saying but her Eliksni was mostly gathered from reading books with Eido and what she’d picked up fighting Fallen on the moon. The alien language flowed from the Drifter’s lips and hands as naturally as the unknown human language had before with the boot vendor. He asked specifically about colours first, and then softness, elasticity, flexibility, absorbency. The merchant’s bottom two hands pulled out a bolt of cloth while the top two gesticulated regarding the craftsmanship of the weaving and the materials used.

“Hey, Moondust, touch this one for me, will ya?”

She reached over and fondled the cloth. It felt soothing, light, yet strong. The texture was instantly pleasing to her. She gave the merchant a small smile.

“Yes,” she said quietly but firmly.

A portion of the cloth was cut and folded. Drifter asked about the price. The merchant pointed to Eris and asked a question she did not follow. The Drifter nodded. The merchant raised all four of its hands in refusal. The Drifter insisted and suggested a price. The merchant shook his head and protested. Drifter put a small bag of glimmer on the table. Nods of respect were exchanged. The Eliksni looked toward Eris, bowed deeply, and spoke much more slowly. “Thank you,” he said in his own language, and then he switched to theirs, “...thank you. Eido told us. It is… great honour… thank you…”

They both gave the merchant a small bow in respect before turning away.

“What has Eido been telling people?” Eris asked him quietly as they walked toward several stalls containing fresh vegetables.

“It seems the scribe of the House of Light may have informed them how one of their allies took the wind outta the sails of not one, but two hive gods, at great personal risk to herself, and lived.”

“Hmmm… The Eliksni material feels delightful. What is it for?”

“Your eyes. What you have now is all rough and scratchy. I seen where it chafes. This is light enough it can go underneath between what you have now and yer skin. Won’t look different at all, but it’ll be soothing on your face. Feel nice. I ain’t telling you to hide or not hide your eyes. That’s a you decision. Nor am I telling you what to wear, on your eyes or otherwise. But… you should get to feel nice… if and when you want to.”

She took his hand and squeezed it.

The sounds of the market were beginning to pick up, voices all around were increasing: negotiations, call-outs, the occasional shouting. Eris found it all very overwhelming. Outside of combat, she was never around this many people at once. Her pulse quickened. The Drifter was a central point of calm for her in the swirling noise, but the noise was increasing. She gripped his hand tighter. He looked over at her, concerned.

“It is loud,” she explained.

He nodded and pulled them into an alley and around a corner, which helped to cut the noise.

“Thank you.”

“I think we got everything we need at this point and the day has now fully started so it’s only going to get louder. Shall we bug outta here and go tell Sherlock Mamma-bear we’re running off so she does not hunt us down and nova bomb our camp out of concern for our wellbein’?”

“Yes.”

“All right. Back alleys and shortcuts will be quieter on our way back.” He took both her hands in his as he started walking backwards, slightly bouncing on his toes. “This is my bag, Moondust. Allow me give ya a quick tour of the sketchy side of town.”

His eyes sparkled in glee as she laughed and followed him down the alley.

This is the first in a series I wrote on Ao3 called Embers and Stars (aka Eris and the Drifter go camping and then there is violence). FYI a few of the later sections have some nsfw happyfunsexytimes but those sections are clearly marked with skip links for anyone who isn't into that but wants to still read the stories.

[babygirl-diaz]

For The Hope Of It All

The universe was playing three-dimensional chess with Buck, while Buck was still trying to figure out the rules of checkers and losing miserably. That’s why he was currently nursing the same bottle of beer in his hands like it was a wounded comrade. Figuratively kicking himself in the head wasn’t enough- he should have brought steel-toed boots to this pity party. Not only did he commit a symphony of fouls today while playing basketball, but he also sent Eddie flying through the basketball hoop. Okay, maybe not, but he did cause Eddie to trip and fall. Tripping Tommy, now that was a plan. Tommy was trying to steal Eddie away with his shiny helicopters and even shinier smile. Buck groaned and buried his head in his hands, “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” he muttered. “Now Eddie will never ever talk to you again and you will die alone in this loft.” 

As Buck continued his one-man comedy show of muttering, groaning, and kicking himself on the head, the doorbell rang. He wasn’t ready to entertain anyone right now so he yelled, “Go away!” at the door. 

“Not gonna happen, pal, not until I get a heartfelt apology. A beer. And maybe a foot massage. And hopefully my lost shoe.”   

Buck’s heart sank when he realized it was Eddie on the other side of the door. Great. Just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse, the universe played its hand- that was poker not chess, right?  With a sigh that could rival the wind, Buck dragged himself out of the chair and went to the door, where he found Eddie giving him an unamused look, that looked like a cross between a disappointed father (a look Buck was very much acquainted with) and a slightly annoyed babysitter. 

“H-hey, Eddie,” Buck greeted him with an awkward wave of his hand. 

Eddie’s response was nonexistent. Instead, he limped past Buck into the living room. He put his hands on his hips and let out a deep sigh as Buck slowly closed the door behind him, trying to avoid Eddie’s wrath.

“You’re like a human-size wrecking ball, you know that?” Eddie finally said, turning to glare at Buck. 

With a dramatic sigh, Buck made his way over to his friend and stood in front of him. “Look, I’m sorry about what-” 

“No, shut up!” Eddie interrupted, holding out up hand like a traffic cop. “I’m gonna do the talking and you’re gonna do the listening.” 

Buck could just nod in response. He was going to get hell from Eddie today. He just knew it. 

“Right,” Eddie said, nodding in satisfaction. “I’m sorry about today. I know you didn’t mean to trip me up.” 

That’s not what Buck was expecting. “Ed-”

“I told you to shut up!” Eddie chastised him again. “But everything you’ve been doing this week-” he paused and shook his head. “-you’re a grown man, Buck, we both are. If you had a problem with me, you should have come to me and talked about it.” 

“I didn’t- I don’t have a problem with you.” Buck mustered the courage to retort, despite the death stare Eddie was shooting his way. 

“Okay, then what was today about?” Eddie asked. 

"Today was the day I discovered my hidden talent for making myself look like a complete idiot,” Buck replied.

Eddie’s features softened and he cracked a small smile. “That you do,” he said jokingly. “But why?” 

With a sigh, Buck confessed, "I was jealous."

Eddie seemed taken aback by that. “Jealous? Of what?” 

Buck's face twisted into a comical grimace. "Of you and Tommy!"

Eddie gave Buck a bewildered look, his eyebrows creased in confusion. "What? Why?"

“Isn’t it obvious? I don’t like you spending time with him,” Buck tried to explain. 

Confusion turned to realization as Eddie’s face softened once again. “Oh.” 

“Yeah, oh,” Buck looked down at his hands and found them far more interesting all of a sudden. 

Eddie's voice trembled as he spoke, his hand resting gently on Buck's shoulder. "Evan," he said.. "You are more than my best friend. You are my confidant, the person I trust with my life. When things go to shit, you’re the one I run to for support and when things go right, you’re the first person I want to share it with. Hell, I ‘ve made you the legal guardian of my kid in case something happened to me because I know you will always love him like he was your own." He paused and chased Buck’s eyes to make him look at him. “You’re irreplaceable, Evan. Never doubt that.”

Buck listened intently to Eddie's words. He couldn’t believe it. "Eddie," he began, eager to respond. 

“How many times do I have to tell you to shut up?”

“Maybe you should make me,” Buck challenged him without even thinking about it

Eddie looked visibly taken aback by that and Buck was about to laugh it off but then he decided to be brave.

“What?” Eddie asked

“The real reason I am jealous of Tommy is because I thought he might whisk you away and I may never get to tell you what I really felt about you.”

With a gulp, Eddie's Adam's apple bobbed up and down. “What- what do you feel about me?”. 

With a simple phrase, Buck professed his love: "I love you."

Eddie's breath audibly caught in his throat, he removed his hand from Buck’s shoulder, and his expression indicated that he was mentally processing what Buck had just said. “Y- you love me?” 

Buck immediately missed his touch and looked down at his own hands, “I do.” 

“Since when?” 

Buck’s head snapped up and he said, “Since the time you told me I could have your back any day.” 

“That was when we first met…” Eddie pointed out like he couldn’t quite believe what Buck was saying. 

Buck affirmed with a nod. “It was. I’ve been in love with you since.”

Buck felt a pang of longing when Eddie retreated from him. Eddie rubbed his face, a contemplative expression crossed his features, “I don’t know what to make of that, Buck.” 

“You don’t have to make anything of it,” Buck assured him, although his heart was breaking. “You could just ignore what I said and we could go on pretending that I never said that.” 

Eddie nodded and said nothing. He took another step back before turning on his heel to leave. 

Buck wanted to let out an agonizing cry. He didn’t know what he had expected. Maybe he thought they would have a chance. But he was oh so wrong. 

“See you around, Eddie,” Buck said after him, his voice tinged with sorrow. 

In a sudden shift, Eddie halted. Buck heard him take a deep breath before he returned. This time with determination written all over his face, which Buck initially interpreted as a sign of an imminent punch. But much to his surprise, Eddie grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him forward, initiating a passionate kiss. Buck let out a surprised sound and kissed Eddie back. The kiss turned heated pretty quick and Buck slipped his tongue inside Eddie’s mouth and mapped it out. He kept walking Eddie backward until Eddie’s back hit the wall. As they kissed, Buck's mind raced with conflicting thoughts, oscillating between exhilaration ("Holy shit, we're kissing!") and apprehension ("Holy shit, he might come to his senses and walk away soon.")

Buck moved away from Eddie’s lips and kissed along his jawline before burying his face into Eddie’s neck. He pulled Eddie close and experimentally thrust against him, causing the other man to moan. 

But then the haze lifted and Eddie moaned before gently pushing at Buck’s chest. “Buck, Buck, stop-” he rasped. 

Buck stopped and pulled away to look at Eddie. Their foreheads pressed together as he released a series of short, shallow breaths. "I thought you wanted this..."

“I don’t know,” Eddie admitted, clutching onto Buck’s shirt. 

Buck nodded and pulled away. “Are you and Marisol still together?” He asked. 

“No,” Eddie replied. “We broke up a week ago.” 

Buck said nothing to that. He instead turned around to leave. 

“Buck?” Eddie called out to him, sounding so vulnerable that it almost broke Buck’s heart. 

Buck got to the stairs and turned around to look at Eddie. “If you want you can come upstairs with me,, or the decision is up to you.” He shrugged. 

Eddie looked conflicted. He bit his lips and looked between Buck and the door like he was trying to figure out what to do. 

When he looked at Buck again, Buck raised an eyebrow, “Well?” 

Eddie smiled and rolled his eyes before moving towards the stairs. “I can’t go up there,” he said, pointing at his leg. 

Buck got the message and leaned down to pick Eddie up in his arms. Eddie may have let out a little squeak before he wrapped his arms around Buck’s neck. Buck smirked and carefully carried him up the stairs. “What did you even have for lunch?” He teased. 

“You’re an asshole,” Eddie told him and rolled his eyes. 

***

As the morning sun peeked through the blinds, Buck's eyes fluttered open. He glanced beside him and saw Eddie, sleeping soundly. A tender smile spread across Buck's face as he admired Eddie's peaceful state. He couldn’t believe that the man he loved was finally in his bed. He propped his head up on his hand and took in Eddie’s features. His hair was a mess from where Buck at pulled them the previous night. His lips were swollen from how hard Buck had kissed him. There was a look of contentment on his face with his mouth slightly agape as he snored softly. Buck’s eyes traveled further down to Eddie’s nipples. The nubs were red and swollen from how much attention Buck had given them. If Buck pulled back the sheets, he would probably see how his cum still leaking out of Eddie. They had established that they were both clean and wanted to really go for the title this time. 

Don’t be such a creep, Buck. Buck told himself as he continued to admire Eddie. His Eddie. 

“Were you watching me sleep?” Eddie’s amused voice brought Buck out of his thoughts. Eddie’s voice was also heavy with sleep which started to get Buck hard all over again. 

“I- I kinda was, I guess,” Buck replied and scratched the back of his head. 

“Of course you were, creep,” Eddie teased him again and looked over at him. “Like what you see?” His voice turned seductive. 

“More than you’ll know,” Buck replied and rolled on top of Eddie, pinning him to the bed again and kissing him. 

“You’re making me breakfast after this,” Eddie told him. 

“Maybe in an hour… or two,” Buck replied, kissing him again. 

[mewkwota]

Geo stellar/ Saito Subaru

You also asked for Neku Sakuraba, who I know appeared in Kingdom Hearts, but I have nothing much to say about him strongly. Seems cool. I guess?

We'll just focus on Geo for this.

Send Me a Character

And I will tell you my:

First impression Seems cute. I wasn't rotted by the mindset of the Internet during my introduction to Star Force, so I easily accepted Geo as "oh look another new Mega Man". I can't even remember how we came across him. One day my brother got SF1, and that was about it.

I was also thrown off to see that he can smile so big once my brother got to SF2, but y'know, it is good for him.

Impression now I may not have as much of a deep and personal connection with Geo as I do for Hub, but I am still quite fond of him.

A word I find myself using a lot with him is "soft". I think about it a lot whenever drawing or when brainstorming concepts with him.

I'm sure a big part of why I see him like that is because Geo is a pure human. That deviates so far from any previous Mega Man but I think that's actually very interesting. It adds a sort of vulnerability compared to the others that makes me think, "What will do you, soft human, in this tougher world?", "How much will you change?".

Favorite moment Whenever Geo's visor is obscured it looks so cool. I also think in doing so, it hides a part of him being human, perhaps I am overthinking it but something about that is kinda cool.

Idea for a story There is a theme going on here. Obviously. I'm usually able to find key concepts to work around when I invest that much into a character.

This would have occurred early into Geo's entry into OSS, so he's only just met the twins-- not knowing they are twins just yet. One night, while Lan is asleep, Hub decides to ask Geo a sudden question, "What's it like to be human?".

I actually drew something that was meant to start this comic off but gave up afterwards because my energy vanished. Gee, I wonder which one that was.

Unpopular opinion I like his SF1 form more. Seeing Omega-Xis clearly reminds me they're both one part of the same whole. The two-headed Mega Man.

Random Note: I never realized how neat it is to play as Geo in VRChat. Just having Omega-Xis chilling there as my other arm makes me feel less lonely.

Favorite relationship It's a super basic crossover, but I love the interactions shown between Geo and the Hikari twins in OSS. He fits right in. :>

Favorite headcanon Those boots of his are like weighted gear in DBZ. If Geo can't get beeg and stronge like his dad, those will have to do.

[katyspersonal]

Continuation of the previous post about SOTE adventures from today! (More like the end)

1) So, after finally trying to fight on Torrent and beating Tree Sentinel very quickly without even getting hit myself, I've gotten a BRILLIANT IDEA to try and battle Gaius like this too. That was really pointless. In fact, I just spent the next hour pushing for it and not getting further than reducing his HP to like 60%... Because you know, doing the same thing over and over and OVER hoping that this time the result will be different is definition of insanity. XD

2) Eventually I gave up and tried something else. In this case, to relocate my stats; I have 80 Int as sorcery user, but here it was useless, so I relocated these stats and some extra in those I needed more.

So, uh... Good news: turned out that Int reduces magic damage, so my 80 Int was crucial for surviving his attacks. Bad news: I wasted 2 Larval Tears to learn this lesson. 🤡🤡🤡

3) I tried to do more stuff and the very last thing I tried was to give Mimic Tear Morgott's blade to spam fire attacks, while I have shield and stab him with Scarlet Rot. I've already noticed that fire was dealing much more damage, but by that time @jarognieva whom I asked for help answered me!! So, we cooperated!

4) .....

Turned out that she forgot to change her name from МАМКА ТВОЯ)))0)0)0)0) АХАХПЖПЛАОП

(It says 'your mum' XDDDD)

5) Jara also confirmed that this boss WAS weak to fire and holy, so that sealed the deal with Morgott's blade! I legit didn't have a better fire skill weapon on hands.

6) We made a great attempt at first, she is very strong with holy attacks! We only lost because earlier I relocated all flasks to Crimson, so I ran out of skill and could not use it again because I didn't have any Cerulean (🤡🤡🤡)

7) BUT WE WOOONNN OH MAN WE WON

(Damn, how does Messmer keep attracting so many friends? I read it as both them being cursed and being close with THE war person (Radahn) were important here)

@jarognieva YOU ARE SUPER HELPFUL HOW DO YOU EVEN DO THAT GDHYGGHTGFH AAAA I WAS SUFFERING FOR GOOD HOUR AND MORE ON THIS BOSS!!!!!! POWER OF FRIENDSHIP BITCHES!!!

(Also it was the second time we started to aggressively smash jump button after beating the boss XD It should become the running gag now! Or should I say..... the jumping gag? *gets shot*)

8) I was ready to go for the day since it is late and I need to cherish what little sleep I can have, so for the last instance I decided to go and check new stuff at Enia's!

Not much to add here, though seems like it would be a good spell for my random surprise Faith build moments! Though two overlapping stalks repeating the Erdtree pattern did remind me of that overlapping serpents symbol from previous post.

I was JUST questioning what weapon would actually WORK while I am fighting on Torrent! Thank you king xd

So he invented that cool sorcery while trying to prove Radahn that he was a better sorcerer!

9) Interestingly enough, first at Enia's I only could find Gaius head, chest and arm pieces but not the leg one!

I wondered if something was wrong with that! The description did mention that he was one with his boar after all! My assumption was that simply his set was not going to have the legs piece, but... it did!

10) So, outside of the area where we battled him, surprisingly there was an ALBINAURIC WOMAN! Just a normal one, riding a wolf and all!

And she dropped... this:

Ohhhh boy. So Albinaurics can't wear boots and pants, now? Oh boy. Well, I told that Loretta was likely not an Albinauric, but the girls didn't believe me. 🌛 This feels like it confirms this! Like I said, she is oddly similar to Dung Eater in cosplaying the species she is protecting vghhggh What a realization....

11) So Albinaurics were pretty much servants for Carians (like Pidiya), and Rykard straight up tortured them, so that makes the fact that one was like an older brother for Radahn interesting..? Perhaps, a glimpse on the "kinder former self" of Radahn that presumably was "lost" to war-mongering (if not some corruption due to wrestling with the Stars)? If Miquella yearning for younger version of Radahn (as far as I got spoilered) is any indication?

12) Another one for that type of talismans is also found nearby:

13) The reward at the end was 5 Scadutree Fragments! Yaaay!!! All scattered near 'Scadutree Chalice'. What an object 🤔

_____________

So yeah, a lot of optional stuff was tackled today! It is so satisfying to finally adapt to a hard boss and defeat them, really. For real, Soulsborne games do not need difficulty selection.

[mandrakebrew]

Common Ground

Pairing: Sk.ull Fa.ce x Dr Palmer Words: 1,445 Rating: General Content Warning: oc x canon

Summary: The XO finally decides to take the doctor up on their invitation to visit them.

Skull Face wasn’t actually sure if he’d come and visit like Dr Palmer suggested. Yet, here he was, knocking on their office door at lunchtime. He had put it off for a while, but he kept finding the book they gave him sitting in his suit pocket. The constant reminder of the doctor had sparked his curiosity, so he had gone and done some digging on them. Phoenix Palmer had actually changed both their first and last name. They told him they needed to take the job to get away. From what, though?

Palmer also made no comment on his skin, other than questioning him about his accelerated healing. Though the XO figured that since they saw him before he woke up, they could school their response to whatever they needed. That was another reason he had put off visiting them. They’d seen almost, if not all, of him.

“Come in,” A familiar voice called through the door.

When he entered, he saw the doctor had their back to him, putting away some files into a file cabinet. Their eyes widened when they turned and saw him.

“Oh, hello.” It’s most likely because he never actually stood up the last time they spoke, but it’s only now they realize just how tall the XO is. Combined with his outfit, a black suit paired with a black cowboy hat and boots, he commands attention. Of course he wasn’t wearing that in the jungle.

“Hello, Doctor.” He walked inside, shutting the door behind him. They didn’t seem very pleased to see him.

“I was starting to wonder if you were going to visit me.” They sat down behind their desk and gestured to the chair across from them.

“I’ve been busy.” Not a complete lie. Skull Face sat down in the armchair.

“Ah, understandable. How’ve you been? No pain or anything since your surgery?” They wanted to make sure they hadn’t missed any pieces of debris. He was actually supposed to come in for a follow-up once they returned to the United States, but he didn’t show up. Maybe because of how fast his body healed, he didn’t feel the need, or maybe he had an aversion to hospitals, which wasn’t uncommon. Though a part of them worried he may have been avoiding them due to them asking about his skin. So they made a mental note to not bring it up unless absolutely necessary.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Ah, good to hear.”

Neither knew what to say after that. Silence stretching to a point of discomfort. Thankfully, Palmer speaks up, “Did you like the book I gave you?”

“I did.” He pulled the book from his pocket and leaned forward to hand it back to them.

“Oh, you can keep it, since you liked it.”

He pulls back, “Alright then.”

“I wasn’t crazy about it myself. Though the ending was interesting. How the protagonist’s role was reversed when viewed from the vampire’s perspective. That’s it though. I mean, don’t you find it strange that Ruth slept with Neville when she knew he killed her husband?”

“Yes, that part was odd to me, too.”

“Like, he killed your husband. You shouldn’t be helping him. Much less fucking him!”

“Maybe she never actually cared for her husband?” Skull Face suggested.

“Oh maybe. Maybe he was a scumbag to her, and Neville unintentionally did her a favor.” However, Palmer had an inkling it was just a sexist writing.

“You read a lot of vampire stories, Doctor?”

What? How did he- Oh. They winced when they remembered their brief outburst of excitement the last time they talked. “I do. There’s something alluring about them, I think.” They’d always liked monsters of all sorts. Something that they had bonded over with a coworker, Dr Clark.

Palmer could relate to being othered by society. They wondered if the man sitting across from them felt the same.

“What was that other book you had?” Skull Face asked.

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

The name alone conjures very unpleasant thoughts, and he must have made a face or something, because the doctor is now smiling at him.

“Afraid of parasites or something, Commander?” It’s only a second or so before horror dawns on their face. “Oh, I am so sorry, Commander. I didn’t mean to- I didn’t mean to be rude.”

His knee-jerk response is to be furious at them. Mocking him about his- Wait, he never told them. Did they find out somewhere else? When they quickly apologize, he’s still not sure. It could very well be they are apologizing for being so causal with a superior.

He waves his hand in the air, as if brushing away their words, “I’ll let it slide.”

“Thank you.” The tension eases in their body, but they quickly hurry the conversation along. “Do you read horror often?”

“I haven’t had much opportunity.”

His answer made them wonder what kind of life he had lived until now. They had looked into how Hungary was involved in WWII. He had said he wasn’t in Hungary for very long. Which made Palmer assume he fled the conflict. Then they realized how stupid that assumption was. Not a man with scars. Not a man who worked for the SAS and now the CIA. “So, what do you read?”

“What makes you read at all?”

“You just seem the type. Also, you read the book I gave you.”

They weren’t wrong. He did read when he could get his hands on a book. He worked alone most of the time, and a book helped pass the time. “I see. History, science, or philosophy usually.”

“Oh, I read a lot of science myself, mostly biology and medicine.” Even as a child, their favorite kind of book was nonfiction. The only fiction able to pull them away from learning about the world was xenofiction and their beloved horror stories. While they had been meaning to read more philosophy, history more often than not put them to sleep.

It didn’t surprise Skull Face that they read medical books. Which reminded him of something he wanted to ask. “Aren’t you a bit young to be a surgeon?” A trauma surgeon at that. The person sitting across from him didn’t look much older than him, if at all, and he was only in his twenties.

“I’m practicing without a license, don’t tell anyone.” They smiled and winked at the commander.

When he just reacted with a furrowed brow, they broke into a quiet laugh. “I skipped grades growing up and got into university early. Someone in the CIA noticed and got me a job.” After that, Major Zero took notice of them, and picked them to work under his XO. “How old are you, anyway?” Palmer asks.

Skull Face’s answer left Palmer taken aback. They were the same age? His demeanor had led them to believe he was so much older. Then again, growing up in Hungary, he probably never knew a day of peace in his life. Forced to grow up way too fast.

“Glad to see I’m not the only overachiever here.” They say.

He huffs at that, “Not like I had a choice in the matter.”

“Oh?”

“You said you had no choice in taking this job, did you not? We can only choose how we act, not the circumstances we’re in.”

“And those choices are often hard, too.”

“If we’re left any choice at all.”

Palmer nodded. When put that way, it seemed they had more in common with Skull Face than they first thought.

When they glanced up at the clock, it said it was two already. “Damn. Sorry, I gotta cut this short.”

He turned and looked at the clock as well. “Ah. No problem, Doctor.”

Skull Face stood to leave, and Palmer walked him to the door. “Feel free to visit again. I’m always free at lunch.” It was good he visited at lunch. He actually got them to stop working. Palmer still hadn’t eaten anything, but it was a step in the right direction.

Instead of giving a vague answer like last time, he impulsively said he would visit. Skull Face was a bit surprised at himself. Though it wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy his visit. In truth, the closest thing he had to a friend was Major Zero. Maybe he was hoping he could have something similar with Palmer.

Hope, there it was again. He’d lived his life as a ghost for so long. It had been hardwired into him to stay away from people, both physically and emotionally. Still, that little spark of humanity remained. It was human nature to want to connect with people, after all.

[calamitaswrath]

Lucia plays Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn: Part 3 Chapter 12

Okay, I have played ahead way too much now, so. . . time to catch up on these play journals. I'll also really need to recall my memories for this one, cause the first part of this chapter I began around Christmas, and only ended it after Christmas.

Pelleas is really insistent on continuing the war. Back in the moment that really seemed like it was a clear sign of blackmail going on, but I guess I was a bit off on that.

Blood pacts! I actually read about Pelleas being in a contract with Begnion before starting this chapter, but this was super out of context and I thought it was just a regular contract of sorts. But also, with that concept introduced, my mind immediately went to Naesala, because he needs to have a reason for betraying the alliance.

Since I was streaming basically every chapter for my friend at this point and voice acted all the characters, the flashback scene with Lekain and Pelleas also made it clear to me that I needed to give Lekain a more serious voice. Previously, I had voiced him while holding my nose shut and making him sound a bit ridiculous, but his showing here convinced me that I needed to take him more seriously. Legit got goosebumps reading the story about him introducing the blood pact.

Now I can also see why Micaiah would get roped into some war crimes. . . buying time to find a way to break the blood pact. Good drama, this.

As for base conversations: the one with Pelleas and Micaiah. I've seen some people ship the two, and I can definitely see the basis for it. I'm getting a bit too yuri-brained (for hopefully obvious reasons) to really be for it myself, but I can admit that they'd be cute together.

Conversation with Tauroneo - short and sweet. Looking back though it really is a shame that he never really got to talk much with Ike, considering that he was supposedly a friend of Gawain's. But uhhhh, boots! I already had something in mind for those.

Conversation with Nolan - it's just nice to see him get some screentime again. I can already confidently say that the whole Dawn Brigade is woefully underdeveloped, so I'm glad to see it being acknowledged that Nolan realizes that something is going, but that he sticks with the others anyway.

And the final base conversation with Nico and his mother. . . ooof. Really drive the severity of the situation home, why don't you. Some good lines from Micaiah there, too.

Anyway - I got boots, and I still got the Celerity skill from one Tormod. And in these battle preparations I decided to be really fuckin' funny, and I just gave both of them to Micaiah. 10 movement Micaiah isn't real and she can't hurt you, you might think, but oh boy think again!!

Onto to the battle. That's a lot of enemies here, jeez. And it's acknowledged in-story, too, with talks about actual strategies here, which is neat.

I didn't see any battle conversations with Sigrun, Tanith or Kieran, cause they were just way too out there to conceivably reach. I did read over them on the Wiki's script though, and. . . well, more of the same, more of the pain. It's really nice to see though that even a more comic relief character like Kieran can have a serious conversation with Zihark about this being a battle that none of them really wants.

After the battle - I know that the soldiers are meant to be pouring oil down the valley, but with the way the in-game models make it look, it. . . really just looked more like they were vomiting to me. Thankfully that didn't really detract from the scene that followed.

Tibarn being really ruthless here, jeez. That's what it's like to be on the opposite side of the alliance, I suppose.

I would say that everything winds down a bit after this, but it really doesn't. Shit's fucked, it seems. Ominous dragon conversations - let's be real by this point it's obvious that Almedha is one - Rafiel shocked that Micaiah is on the opposite side of the war, Pelleas finding a way to "break" the blood pact, and an ominous conversation with Zelgius and someone else.

[zephfair]

GO-FHMR Chapter 2

Still ridiculously fluffy AU. Still will have a syrupy happy ending; the “villain” is not forever. Still trying to fit in Hallmark tropes. Still rated G. Will eventually be Gansey/Ronan and potentially Ronan/Gansey/Adam, IF they cooperate. Oh heck, even if it’s OOC, I really want that ot3.

For now the true pairing is Gansey/Henrietta always and forever, amen.

Chapter 1

Unfortunately, Gansey’s heart and mind couldn’t relax. He took a shower and got into the surprisingly comfortable bed—after he turned around the flock of ceramic roosters that clustered on the dresser staring toward the bed.

He couldn’t block the guilt of avoidance any longer and finally turned on his phone. There were texts from both of his parents and Helen, but nothing from Adam. No surprise, he’d be busy until the wee hours with work and he always said he had to give himself and Gansey time to cool off after one of their “disagreements.”

Gansey shot off generic texts to his family members. He’d only told them that he and Adam wouldn’t make dinner and he was leaving immediately for Henrietta. He didn’t elaborate, just let them know he’d arrived safely.

Then he tossed and turned until midnight. He finally got up and drank a glass of water from the bathroom and tried to blame his insomnia on the stress and the huge meal he’d consumed.

After propping himself up on the pillows, he gave in and turned on the TV, heading right to channel 79. Sure enough, there was another Christmas movie playing, and even though he’d started it somewhere in the middle, Gansey had no trouble following along with the so-called plot.

When the next movie started, Gansey woke his phone, searched Hallmark movie tropes, and was relieved to discover that he wasn’t the only who realized the stories hit all the same beats, had similar plots etc.

But that didn’t explain why they were so damn satisfying.

Watching the heroine leave a “bad” situation and have a meet-cute with a conventionally attractive man who then helped her/helped the small town/helped her discover the “true meaning” of the holidays—well, Gansey suddenly understood why escapist media was so popular.

The current hero was carefully groomed with scruff, wore denim and flannel and one of those jackets with the sherpa lining and work boots, and drove an unnecessarily large pickup truck. He somehow also ran the town bakery even though there were only a few scenes that took place in the kitchen. But he brought treats to the town meetings where the heroine was trying to pitch her big-city company’s idea to knock down the town’s cabins and build high-rise condos.

None of it made financial sense and Gansey would have happily torn it to shreds with well-thought-out reasoning, but the way the hero looked at the heroine while they squabbled about how the vacation condos would destroy the integrity of the town, while he took her dancing at a holiday street fair, while he hugged her at the public meeting in front of her company’s investors and CEO/boyfriend, there was a longing that appealed to him.

Being with Adam was nothing like this. In fact, being with Adam was nothing like previous relationships which was why he’d been blind-sided at first. He’d dated women exclusively up to the moment he and Adam had been on the fourth hour of an all-nighter, studying for finals the end of their freshman year at Harvard. They’d both been exhausted and giddy with it, running on energy drinks and gas station burritos, and one sarcastic comment from Adam made them both burst out laughing. Gansey had leaned into him, the man he thought was his best friend, the one he was most himself with, the one who argued with him and kept him always on his toes, and Adam had kissed him.

He’d immediately pulled back and apologized. Gansey remembered brushing his thumb against his own lips, wondering what had just happened but knowing that he wanted it to happen again. And so he’d told Adam that, and Adam had obliged.

Their relationship had never been exactly easy. They were both stubborn and adamant and had a way of seeing things only from their own perspectives, influenced by their own personal histories. Gansey had known that right from the beginning.

He’d also known that Adam had some other self-defeating qualities, particularly when the lies he’d cloaked himself in came tumbling down after finals. Although Adam lost most of the friends he’d made his freshman year, Gansey hadn’t quit him.

He more than anyone understood about reinventing oneself. He’d just been lucky enough not to get caught when he faked it.

Now watching a ridiculous TV movie, Gansey couldn’t stop analyzing himself and Adam.

Adam was kind. Adam was ruthless.

Adam was handy. Adam was ambitious.

Adam was thrifty. Adam was cold.

Adam was unknowable. Adam was lovable.

When they’d kissed, Adam had been starving. When Adam’s lies had caught up to him, Gansey had stood proudly at his side, because he’d thought he understood Adam at some deeper level than anyone else. Now, he was second-guessing all of it.

He blew his nose messily and curled up as another movie began.

Gansey woke up after a few hours of restless sleep somehow feeling worse than before he’d slept. His body ached, his head hurt, his nose was congested, his eyes were red. Another shower didn’t help.

But he made it to breakfast, dismayed to realize that he was nearly an hour after the time Patty had told him. Although he apologized and argued that he didn’t need anything, please don’t go to anymore trouble, Patty had sat him down at the kitchen table again and fried him some bacon and eggs then threw some bread in the cast-iron skillet as well.

“I can’t thank you enough,” Gansey stared down at the plate and felt his arteries begin to harden.

“You need good food to make yourself feel good,” Patty explained as she poured him a mug of coffee roughly the size of his head. Although it wasn’t his usual artisanal blend, hand-ground, and put through a French press, Gansey took it with grabby hands and drank it with a deep sigh, the drink of the gods hitting him in all the ways he needed.

Patty chuckled and started talking while he started eating. He was mopping up the last bit of egg with the final bite of bread when he realized Patty had asked him a direct question.

“My plans for today? I really hadn’t thought about it yet. I suppose I should head over to the library and get started on my research right away.”

“Oh, you don’t need to jump into your work yet, do ya? It’s still the holiday, take some time to rest and relax.”

Gansey hid his tiny sad smile behind his coffee mug. “Ma’am, I don’t think I’ve rested or relaxed in my life.”

Patty refilled his mug. “Well you might have some trouble getting into anything today anyway. You might not take a day off, but around here, today is still considered Thanksgiving, and I don’t even know if the library is open. I do know that everybody and their brother is going to be out shopping since it’s Black Friday. If you don’t like crowds, you might want to stay away from the mall or Walmart today.”

“That’s right, I’d totally forgotten.” All the goodwill from the grease and caffeine slid right out of Gansey. He’d forgotten how small towns operated and the bother that Black Friday would cause. “You’re right. I may have to wait until Monday to get any real work done.”

“Well don’t make it sound like such a bad thing! You said you’d lived here in Henrietta before. Maybe you can get reacquainted with us. And you definitely don’t want to miss tonight, everyone will be there.”

“What’s tonight?”

“Only the best night of the year!” Patty magically produced a flyer from somewhere. “The town has a special tree-lighting ceremony every Black Friday, right at the little park down the street from the courthouse. They shut down the street and all the local restaurants are there. They offer soup-tasting and sweets and just about anything you want. Now, it’s not the Christmas market they started a couple of years ago. But there’s lots of food and music from the high school bands and then everybody watches them light up the big Christmas tree. It’s even on TV every year!”

“That sounds lovely,” Gansey lied, the thought of the crowds making him feel sick.

“And just about everybody that comes back home for Thanksgiving is there so you can see friends and their kids you haven’t seen in years!”

Patty continued on about the wonders of light-up night, but Gansey excused himself as soon as he could. He needed to get out for a while and even driving through crowded streets was better than this.

He started the Range Rover and took the next exit to “downtown” Henrietta. Patty was right—some things had changed drastically since he’d lived there at Aglionby. Some of the streets were blocked off, so he ended up circling out further from the center of town.

Many of the old buildings looked the same, only with different signs on the shops. There were more fast food and national retail stores on the outskirts of town than he remembered. Those were all very busy from the shoppers.

He was unsurprised to be able to pull across the street and park from the entrance of Aglionby Academy. He had an urge to walk around campus which looked like it hadn’t changed or been updated at all, but the gate was securely locked.

Gansey remembered the surprise from his parents when he’d asked to attend Aglionby for his sophomore year of high school. He’d spent the year before studying in Wales and England, a bygone time that he now remembered fondly. That was back when he’d been caught in the grip of an obsession with the Welsh king Owen Glendower, when he’d sworn that the myth was real and he could find proof that the legend of Glendower had extended to the rural Virginian countryside.

His parents then were still obliging him, giving in to his demands and whims because they still felt guilt about him nearly dying from his severe allergic reaction to bee stings. They let him travel and follow his heart’s desire and immerse himself in his weird fantasies and obsessions.

They were probably relieved when his next wish for Aglionby seemed so normal. They happily enrolled him and he was soon on his way to living in the dorms. School was school, but Gansey soon found out it was harder to get around in rural Virginia than it had been in England, and he couldn’t get to the sites that interested him because he wasn’t old enough to drive yet.

If you had that, man, just think of everywhere we could go! And how fast we’d go! Gansey heard the excited voice in his memories as clear as the day it had happened. His best friend and he were riding their bikes through Henrietta one Saturday when they’d seen the bright orange, black-striped classic Camaro in a driveway and stopped to drool over it.

Gansey had never wanted something so much in his life, but the proud owner wasn’t about to talk to some teenage boys about it, not even Aglionby boys.

Gansey smiled at the memory and wished for an instant that he’d been able to buy and drive that car. He couldn’t help but feel like his life would’ve been much different if he’d been driving that Camaro.

And his best friend, well, he hadn’t thought about him in years either. Another loner who’d been ostracized by most of the Aglionby crowd because he didn’t live in the dorms, but he and Gansey had bonded over mythology and adventure and music. They’d had sleepovers at his home outside Henrietta and they’d been inseparable that year.

They’d promised repeatedly to keep in touch after his father exploded and pointed at Gansey’s low grades and distractions as the reason to finally snap his parents out of their permissiveness and move Gansey back to a military prep school outside D.C. where they could closely monitor his behavior through the rest of high school and right into the Ivy League.

As usually happened at that age, the busyness and pressures of daily life had pushed out his long-distance best friend, and correspondence had dwindled by the time Gansey started his miserable junior year.

The thoughts of those happy days kept a smile on Gansey’s face as he pulled away and continued driving around the area. The afternoon slipped past in pleasant memories of his time there, and he pulled over several times to make notes of things he remembered wanting to study then and new lines of pursuit and how they could be linked together.

He looked up at the neon sign of the building whose parking lot he��d stopped at and realized it was Nino’s—his favorite place to eat off campus. He didn’t think twice, just turned off the SUV and went in.

It wasn’t as busy as it could have been, thanks to most people eating Thanksgiving leftovers at home. As he waited for his pizza, he looked at the rowdy diners. It was easy to tell some of the teens were definitely townies enjoying a day off school to hang out with friends while others were certainly Aglionby boys with big egos and bigger attitudes and giant chips on their shoulders.

He even found himself looking around for the waitress they’d always had back then. She’d been one of the prettiest girls he’d ever seen, but it was her unique style that was so vastly different from anyone he’d ever met. His best friend had always made fun of him for his crush, and the girl had never shown any interest in him, but it made Gansey smile thinking of how awkward he’d been trying to get her attention and work up the courage to ask her on a date, even while his best friend mocked him.

Are you shitting me? That’s the kind of girl you like?! She’s the size of hobbit and her dress looks like a lamp!

Then he remembered it’d been more than thirteen years and she’d been his age, and she probably wasn’t working at Nino’s anymore. He ate his pizza and drank his sweet tea in silence, then left a hundred percent tip for the current high school server.

He stopped at the gas station, filled up and bought a couple bags of snacks to take back to the bed and breakfast.

Patty accosted him as he tried to sneak back to his room. “You ready for the light-up night? You’d better put on another layer. It’s gonna get colder now that the sun’s goin’ down.”

Gansey tried to make polite excuses then firmer excuses then somehow found himself pulling on his favorite cashmere sweater over the polo shirt he’d been wearing. Patty was more satisfied once he’d zipped up his suede jacket and donned a hat and pair of gloves.

Then she’d bustled him into the backseat of their minivan and let Shorty drive them into town. He did stealthily unzip the jacket in a rare show of defiance and plan to ditch the hat as soon as he was out of sight of Patty.

He didn’t have to wait long. Shorty dropped them off as near as he could to the action then left to find parking. Patty made Gansey agree to meet her back at the spot in two hours. Then she abandoned him to find a group of her church lady friends.

Gansey wandered down the street, glancing at the vendors, spurning their advances to buy a wristband to benefit a local charity that would gain him access to the various food offerings.

Gansey had to admit that Henrietta was putting its best foot forward for the evening. They’d decorated the downtown’s lamp posts with wreaths and white lights. Most of the businesses had decorations and lights lining their windows. It did feel festive, and Gansey admired the spirit behind it.

Even the people seemed unnaturally friendly and polite, talking and laughing, apologizing as they bumped into each other, shrilly shouting names as they recognized old friends, letting children run helter-skelter through the crowd.

Gansey definitely didn’t feel that spirit. He finally got to the wide intersection where the town’s Christmas tree stood. It was a huge and beautiful spruce even without the lights twinkling yet. The crowd was milling thicker as light-up time drew nearer.

Gansey winced when the high school brass section started playing something that might have been a Christmas carol right beside him.

He hurried to the other side of the street, away from the squawking trumpets, and was lured in by a drinks stand for a weak cup of coffee.

Gansey had just enough time to think that it did feel nice to warm his hands when he ran right into a brick wall and the nice warmness felt less nice as the hot liquid saturated his sweater and shirt.

Then he realized that it wasn’t a wall that he’d collided with and was in fact a big man dressed all in black with as much holiday spirit as the Grinch—only with a lot more muscles.

“Dick,” a low, gravelly voice growled down at him. Gansey hid his wince from the cold voice as well as the chill of lukewarm coffee soaking through his cashmere, and most probably, the black shirt of the brick wall/man he ran into.

“There’s no need to resort to name-calling. I was about to apologize for spilling on you,” Gansey said, pulling himself straighter but it only brought the man’s stubbly Adam’s apple and chin into focus.

“Fuck, no, that’s not—” then a softer voice—a tone that brought back memories of green fields, the smell of hay and cattle, the tug of a boyish hand in his, days filled with laughter—warmed him in an instant when it said, “Gansey? Is that really you?”

Gansey looked up further into light blue eyes framed with thick black lashes. He’d have recognized those eyes even if he hadn’t spent the day wallowing in memories.

“Ronan Lynch? Is that you?”

Then Gansey found himself wrapped in those big arms and up in the air in the most enthusiastic hug he’d ever received. He couldn’t help but laugh and slap the leather-clad back in delight.

“I don’t fucking believe it. Gansey!”

Gansey found himself back on his feet as Ronan set him down, and he grabbed Ronan’s biceps to keep his balance as the crowd surged around them. A microphone shrilled feedback then someone started speaking, but Gansey couldn’t pay attention. His attention was fully locked onto the man who also hadn’t let go of his waist.

Ronan had certainly grown into the kind of body his teenage height and gawkiness had hinted at, and his face had lost all traces of baby fat, displaying sharp cheekbones and a jawline Gansey could’ve cut himself on. But his eyes had softened into a look that Gansey could still see in his memories, and his smile was wide and heartfelt, an expression that somehow Gansey knew wasn’t his usual.

Ronan’s eyes were flickering over him the same way, and Gansey really hoped he wasn’t disappointed by what he saw.

Then Ronan’s big hands squeezed his waist and he laughed. “What the hell, man! What are you doing here?!”

“Visiting Henrietta, but what are you doing <i>here</i>?” Gansey didn’t think Ronan looked like he belonged at a family-friendly community event, unless it was to act as a thug or bodyguard.

“Gotta make sure they don’t fuck up the lighting,” Ronan said which only gave Gansey another hundred questions. “Are you here with someone?”

“No, no one, I’m here in town by myself.”

“Come on then, over here.” Ronan stepped closer and slid his hand down to Gansey’s lower back to guide him through the crowd. It made Gansey shiver in a way that was definitely not from the clammy spill on his sweater. “Oh shit, I forgot. Can I get you another drink? Sorry about running into you and making you lose it.”

“No, it’s fine, really Lynch. I was about to apologize to you for spilling coffee all over you.”

Ronan’s grin down at him was almost as mischievous as Gansey remembered. “Nah, that’s definitely not the worst thing that’s been on me today. Come over here.”

Gansey spared a thought to wonder where Ronan was taking him, somewhere behind the stage and behind the tree out of view of most of the onlookers. There were still enough people that Ronan kept his hand on Gansey’s back, and that was pretty much all Gansey could focus on. That and the sudden thought that Ronan was probably taking him to meet his wife and children and Gansey had better get himself together.

In fact, Ronan was headed toward a canopy overshadowing the doorway of a closed insurance office, and when the crowd gave way, there was indeed a very petite, beautiful young woman grimacing at them.

“You are never going to believe who I just ran into, literally,” Ronan started but the woman interrupted him.

“Dammit Lynch, you bastard, I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“What the hell do you want now?”

“Not me, you irresponsible asshat. The mayor,” she jerked her chin toward the stage. “Said there’s something wrong with the main cord.”

Ronan threw his head back and swore with such vigor and originality that Gansey was vaguely impressed.

“Yeah, tell that to him,” she said dryly. “Now get out there and do your worst.”

“You know I will,” Ronan promised. He patted Gansey’s chest then let his hand press there a long moment that made Gansey aware of his own fluttering heart. “You stay here and don’t you dare take off until I get back,” he warned Gansey then turned to the woman. “You sit on him if he tries to escape, although knowing you two, you both might like that too much.”

“So now I’m an accomplice in one of your felonies. Again. Thanks Lynch,” the woman said.

Ronan blew a kiss at them and stalked off. Gansey turned and watched him go, walking around the base of the giant tree and disappearing into the foliage.

He turned back to his new companion when she snorted loudly. “So that’s how it is,” she said, giving him a look up and down that was no less searching than Ronan’s had been but much, much more judgmental.

Gansey tried to gather his wits. “I’m Gansey, an old friend, and you are Lynch’s... er...”

“Oh no, I’m in no way Lynch’s anything at all,” she argued immediately.

Something about the obstinate look on her face and the way she stood up for herself combined with the hair and the delicate features… Gansey gaped at her in shock. “Oh my Lord, it’s you. From Nino’s. Jane.”

Yes, the glare from under the eyebrows was thoroughly familiar and still made Gansey feel like she was looking down on him, even if he had almost a foot of height on her.

“So you can remember who served you that abomination of a pizza you used to order, but you’ve still got the wrong name,” she said.

“No, that’s what Lynch and I used to call you. Because you had such a unique name. Blue. But we thought Jane went along with my name because Dick and Jane … and Lynch always teased me because I had such a crush on you,” he finished weakly in view of her expression.

Blue sniffed loudly enough to be heard over the microphones on stage. “I remember. And I vividly remember the day you called me a prostitute.”

“I never did!”

“Ronan and I still talk about it.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Gansey rubbed at his forehead until he noticed that Blue was grinning at him, a grin that reminded him of Ronan which reminded him— Gansey’s surge of jealousy was hot and unexpected and he wasn’t sure which one he was most jealous of.

“So you and Lynch are just dating?”

“No! Lynch and I are in no way at all together like that. Why do people insist on shipping us? You should know better anyways,” she added with another snarky grin.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he admitted and her grin turned to a frown.

“You mean, you don’t—”

Whatever she was going to say was cut off when the crowd started a loud countdown together at TEN. They were at FOUR when Ronan slid up beside Gansey rather closer than he needed to. He leaned in front of him and fist-bumped Blue as the crowd hit ONE and the Christmas tree lit up.

The crowd cheered and applauded, and Gansey found himself smiling and clapping along. The multitude of lights split the darkness of the night and gave the massive tree an ethereal glow that made it appear even larger.

“Oh, it’s just beautiful,” he said.

“It’s dead,” Blue said.

“It can be both,” Ronan said and threw an arm around Gansey’s shoulders.

The crowd had started to sing “O Christmas Tree” and Ronan swayed them a little in time with the music.

When the song ended, Gansey actually heard part of the speech which included a “great big thanks to Lynch Farm of Singers Falls for the amazing tree, as always!”

“Lynch Farm?” He looked over at Ronan who shrugged, a little embarrassed.

“I turned part of the property into a Christmas tree farm. Sargent makes sure it’s sustainable and ecologically friendly and all that shit.”

Gansey looked from one to the other. “How extraordinary! That the two of you work together.”

“I met her in high school,” Ronan said then added. “Got expelled from Aglionby junior year. I started at Mountain View and recognized the teeny-tiny waitress from Nino’s. Thought she was being bullied and I stepped in, but turned out she won the fight.”

“Damn right I did,” Blue said. “But your Dick here and I already got caught up.”

Ronan squeezed the arm he still had around Gansey’s shoulders. “Heh, remember that time you called her—”

“I never called her a prostitute!”

Gansey’s voice must have been louder than he planned because a couple people nearby turned to look at them. Ronan just burst out laughing until even Blue joined him.

“I missed you, man,” Ronan said in a low voice in his ear, just for the two of them.

“I missed you too, Lynch,” Gansey returned with utter sincerity.

“You should come out to the farm.”

“This is a bad time,” Blue warned.

“It’s just a crazy-ass time,” Ronan corrected. “This is the busiest weekend of the year. Come out tomorrow and join the madness.”

“I’d love to,” Gansey said, finding that it was true even as he said it.

“Awesome,” Ronan let go of him and then started some kind of strange dance, touching his chest, butt and thighs and then again but faster. Blue rolled her eyes at him then dug Ronan’s phone out of her purse. “Sargent, you asshole, thanks.”

“You’re going to lose that thing one of these days,” she warned.

Ronan handed the phone to Gansey, expecting him to know what to do. Gansey dutifully put in his information and texted himself.

Ronan accepted the phone back and promised, “I’ll send you the address. I’m assuming you remember the general area.”

“I could never forget the Barns. It’s such a magical place. Are you running things for your family now?”

Ronan’s smile slipped briefly. “We’ll talk tomorrow. When the whole damn town isn���t around.”

“Sounds good,” Gansey smiled up at him and Ronan’s face returned to the same soft look it had before. “What a marvelous coincidence running into you like this, Lynch.”

“Isn’t it?” Ronan said. Blue snorted to their side but they ignored her. “You’ll really come out tomorrow?”

“Absolutely. I can’t wait. Only, I must get going now. The proprietress of the bed and breakfast will be waiting to take me back.”

“Ha, Patty? Tell her I’ll throw her tree in the chipper and give her nothing but stems and twigs if she doesn’t treat you like a king.”

Gansey chuckled. “I’ll leave the threats to you. And I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait,” Ronan said.

Gansey looked over at Blue and included her in his smile. “It was lovely to see you again too, Blue. I hope I’ll see you tomorrow as well.”

“If I’m not fast enough,” she responded but Gansey knew she was only joking.

His trip back through the crowd was much different as he allowed the flow to carry him along. He knew he was still smiling but the people around him were smiling too so he didn’t think he stood out.

It wasn’t until he joined Patty at the meeting point that she noticed the difference. “Why Gansey, you are beaming! I told you’d have a good time!”

“I ran into an old friend. Old friends,” he corrected himself.

“Why, that’s wonderful! Are you getting together with them later?”

“Yes. I’m actually going to visit him, them, tomorrow. At Lynch Farm.”

“Oh my, do you know Ronan?”

“Yes, that’s right. He was my best friend when I went to Aglionby. We ran into each other by the tree.”

Patty sighed. “He’s a good boy, that one, for all that he wants to make himself out to be bad. He’s done more than all right for himself. It’s a shame for everything he’s been through.”

“Really? What’s that?”

Patty filled him in about the Lynch family tragedy on the ride back to the B&B. Gansey was shocked and horrified that Niall had been killed right there in the driveway where he and Ronan had pushed and shoved each other in a race to see who would reach the porch first. And poor Aurora who’d collapsed the day of Niall’s funeral and never woken again.

No wonder Ronan had left Aglionby, Gansey thought. He’d had no idea that anything so disastrous had happened to his friend. No wonder Ronan never got back in touch with him. He couldn’t imagine what he’d been going through.

Well, Gansey hadn’t been there for him then, but he could reunite their friendship now. If Ronan wanted to. And it seemed like he had wanted.

“Ronan has made the farm into something good, and he’s always part of the community events, for all his complaining and griping. We all know it’s just the way he is.”

“That’s really impressive,” Gansey said. “I’m so sorry he’s been through all that heartbreak, but I do hope he’s doing well now. He looked like he is.”

Patty turned as far around as she could to meet Gansey’s eyes. “He is a good boy,” she repeated. “And now all he needs is another good boy to keep him company out on that farm. Where he lives all alone.”

The implications swirled through Gansey as he caught on to what she was saying. “Oh, I don’t… I mean, I didn’t… that’s not why I…”

He could see Patty’s smile in the dim streetlight. “Just something to think about,” she said while Shorty muttered her name.

Gansey looked away when his phone buzzed with a text.

Great to see you dick. Heres the address don’t dress up so fancy, we’ll get you dirty

Gansey couldn’t help but grin again. His mood was so warm and bright that even the next text could only dampen it, not quite extinguish it.

The text was from Adam: your stuff will be here whenever you get back unless you want it sooner, please advise.

CHAPTER 3

[maybeamiles]

Characters that made me realize I was trans

You ever just wanna make a comprehensive list of everyone that gave you gender envy from a young age? Yeah me too.

So here it is! A list of every character that made me realize I was trans, starting from when I was a little kid!

No. 1 - Aravis from The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

Okay, weird racism in this book aside, the amount I loved Aravis was probably the first indicator that I was not cisgender. I thought she was so cool for dressing up as a boy and rejecting traditional femininity and being so "not-like-other-girls" (i also had a big not-like-other-girls phase around the time I read this, go figure). Of course, she is cisgender, and seems to fall into a *slightly* more traditional role by the end of the book, but this isn't about C.S. Lewis' gender stuff and more on the fact that I related very heavily to Aravis and the fact that she didn't fit in with other girls, because I also felt the same way.

Her male co-star Shasta also gave me gender envy so between them both it's no wonder 9-year-old me loved this book.

No. 2 - Deryn/Dylan Sharp from Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Once again it's the girl-dressing-up-as-a-boy-to-fuck-with-gender-rules trope! Only this time, Deryn Sharp is actually treated like a man by her male co-star, Alek (up until he figures out that Dylan is actually Deryn, but then he's quite supportive of her gender fuckery). Deryn, like Aravis, doesn't actually feel any gender dysphoria. Her gender fuckery is a means to pursue her passion for air travel via joining the army. This does get fucked up by the last book and she ends up needing to leave the army, but we don't actually see how she presents herself when in non-millitary society so I will headcannon that she remains quite butch.

I thought Deryn was the coolest when I was 13, and even wound up copying her way of saying "barking spiders" for a bit. And her and Alek's romantic relationship was peak goals for me, probably because it begins while Deryn still presents masc.

No. 3/4 - Link, from TLOZ: Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild

So, the Links! Let's talk about the Links!

Twilight was the first male character I remember projecting myself onto. So much so that I did not ship him and midna OR him and Illia (and didn't really like illia's quest), not because they didn't have chemistry but because I am very homosexual and did not like the idea of my self-insert being with a girl. Now, do cis girls project themselves onto male character? Idk but I'm not cis and this is something I did so *shrug*

I've lumped these two together because Zelda was a sort of twofer for me. I played Twilight Princess and then a couple years later played BOTW and began discovering what transgender people were. At the time I ID'd as nonbinary, and my Zelda obsession grew with my understanding of "shit I'm not cis." (I even named myself after a Zelda character for a bit). The links were my first *conscious* experience of gender envy, and hold a special place in my heart for it.

No. 5 - Aether from Genshin Impact

Last, but CERTAINLY not least, is the man, the myth, the legend, Aether Genshin Impact. And there is a STORY behind this guy's inclusion.

See, by the time I started playing genshin, I had long since accepted that I was not a girl. I called myself nonbinary, and thought I was okay with simply "not being a girl" and was fine doing what I saw all the other nonbinary people doing (binders, no testosterone, vaugely masc clothes, etc).

Then I booted up genshin impact, and had to pick between Aether and Lumine. And I still remember the "oh shit" moment I had when I realized that the default I expected to fall into would not make me happy. I had expected myself to pick Lumine, because I had previously thought that I was more comfortable with femininity than masculinity. I realized that I didn't just want "genderless." I wanted masculine. And I had this guy to thank for helping me come to that realization.

Anyways that's not all the characters that gave me gender envy or really even my entire "here's how I knew I was trans" but they are the most influential ones to me.

[iloveyourmommorethanyou]

ENCOUNTER~

Summary: you go out with Jisung and his friends at the club, when you make an unforgettable encounter.

TW: mention of alcohol, smoking and kissing.

10PM~

"Shit" you say, realizing that Jisung was going to come pick you up in only half an hour and that you’ve already been scrolling for two hours on tiktok..

You got up in a swift motion, rushing to your bathroom.

Before anything, you obviously turned on some tunes, because that’s the only way to put you in the right mood to go out. So you quickly turned on your hot girl music, feeling the beat of "the color violet" by Tony Lanez starting.

After rushing for about 15 minutes, you managed to get yourself looking pretty hot, at least you thought. You did your usual base, with a dark eyeliner look, which made you look fierce and mysterious, exactly the vibe you like to give off when going out, cause fuck it right? It’s so fun to be anyone you want for one night.

You quickly just gave your hair a brush, because it was already styled from the night before, but just a little tangled. You then rushed to your closet, stressing over what to wear. "Fuck, I should’ve thought about this earlier."

You throw a bunch of stuff you thought could work on your bed in a hurry. You go through everything and try to think of an outfit. You eventually just put something on: your trusty low waisted baggy jeans, with a lace tank top, a big buckled belt, high heeled black boots, a cute necklace, hoops, and finally you grabbed a leather jacket to throw on because it was getting rather cool outside at this hour.

*phone ringing

"Shit, Jisung" yo pick up your phone and answer. "Hello?" You say. "Hey I’m here." He says as you hear his loud music in the back. " shit okay ill be there in a minute." "Bitch don’t make me wait now!" He almost screams. "Hahha I’ll be right there"

You quickly spray perfume on your neck, collarbone and wrists. Then you throw the essentials into a red shoulder bag: the lipstick you currently had on, you phone, keys, wallet, cigarettes, and a lighter ofc.

You run to your fridge, and grab a Red Bull out, knowing you’ll need it before going out. Because god knows the nights tend to escalate with Jisung. You keep that in your hands, and run out the door.

…

As you walk outside your apartment building, you see Jisung, vining to music in his car, not noticing you. You laugh, then eventually knock on the window to signal him to open the door.

"Heyyy!" You both say, hugging. " damn girl you look HOTTT!" Jisung says immediately. "Oh thank you so much. " you smile. " you look hot too hannie." You say analyzing his outfit, basically the same black button down he’d often wear to go out, and black dress pants. "Okay let’s goo!!"

11:00 PM

You and Jisung eventually make it to the club after stopping a couple of times to go pick up his other friends. You didn’t know them all, but most of them.

There was Changbin, you knew him from school, him and Jisung often did music together. Then there was Felix, that you also knew, he was also your friend. But there was also a guy named Minho, you didn’t really know him, appart from the fact that Jisung was always at his place…

The girl to guy ratio in the car was highly unbalanced, but you were fine with it, since you knew almost all of them, and two of your girlfriends were already at the club anyway.

"Alright yall, we’re here." Jisung said, pulling into the parking lot. "Yeah!! Lets go " Changbin said, hyped. You all got out of the car and walked over to the club. Jisung and the others were going in already, but you were feeling a little stressed and agitated from the VERY social context you were about to go into.

"Hey guys, I’m just gonna take some air a little here before going in, I’ll meet you guys." You said, separating with them. Jisung understood what you were gonna do, and went in with the others.

You walked over to the side of the building, we’re no one was, and sighed. Leaning on the brick wall, you took out a cigarette and your lighter. This was gonna calm you right?

The light from the lighter illuminating your eyes, your brows furrowed, concentrated. You didn’t notice the man who was now also leaning on the same wall, only a meter away.

You took a drag, eyes closed, and only realized he was there, when you took the cigarette back between your fingers. He’s looking at you. Weird. You nod to say hi, then take another drag. The guy took a cigarette out from its packaging. Obviously he was also here for the same reason. He looked at you again, like you had something he wanted. "Do you have light? " he asked. Oh, you thought, of course, he just wanted something to light his cigarette. "Huh yeah." You reach in your pocket to grab your lighter and hand it to him. He thanks you politely. He places the cigarette between his full lips, and bringing his left hand out in front of it to block the wind. You couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was. Brows furrowed just like yours were moments ago, you thought it probably looked sexier on him than it ever did on you. Once he lit it, he kept it there for a moment, between his lips, giving back the lighter. "Thanks"he repeats. You both lean back on the wall.

You were so in your head. You couldn’t help but to interiorly freak out over him. Why was he here, he could’ve gone anywhere else to smoke, and why was he so hot?!!?!

"Are you here with anyone? " the handsome guy asks, clearly bored. "Huh, yeah I came with some friends." You smile, dusting off the ash on the ground. "Cool, me too, I’m actually meeting them here." He added. "Cool" you simply say, thinking for a moment. "Wait but why aren’t you inside with them if you came here with them?" He asks, curious. "Oh well, I just wanted to have a moment for myself before putting myself into a very social environment.." you said, embarrassed, but truthfull. He giggled, dusted off the ash off his cigarette, then spoke again. " yeah, I get that, I’d say I’m doing the exact same thing. " " but you know, I’d be lying if I didn’t add the fact that I’m also just a bit of a going out smoker." You both laugh. "What do you mean by that?" You ask. "Like, I’m not the biggest smoker but, I do enjoy it a lot when I go out." He explained. "Yeah, me too." You smile. " It’s beneficial in many ways haha." You state. "Yeah? Like what?" He asks. "Like, it helps with social anxiety, plus it looks hot and mysterious." You say honestly. "Hahah, you do look hot and mysterious." He smirks, looking right at you. "Hmm, it’s also a great way to flirt, especially for you. " He laughs.

You toss your bud on the floor, crushing it with your boot. You smiled at him, getting up to head in. "Maybe I’ll see you inside", you say before leaving. "Yeah." He smirks.

"Ill just look for the hot and mysterious girl."

11:30 PM

When you went in, Jisung and the others were sitting around on a couch that circled around a table. "Heyyy!!"

They created you, clearly already under the influence. "Here, take a shot! " the encouraged.

Changbin poured some vodka into a shot glass, obviously spilling a little bit on the table. When you were about to take it. Minho shouted: "make a wish!" You laughed, what is this, a birthday cake? "Say it out loud tho" "and something for tonight!" Jisung added.

You thought to yourself for a moment. There was something you kinda wished would happen tonight.. "I wanna make out with someone!" You said loudly. Everyone laughed and watched your reaction as you took the shot.

Jisung put his arm around you. "I knew you’d say that." "That’s why I invited a friend of mine that I think you’d like." He said.

"What?! Jisung!" You were kinda pissed that he didn’t tell you beforehand. Knowing you’d be more nervous now.

"Don’t worry y/n, he’s a chill guy." "And he’s super hot." He insisted.

You sighed. "Alright."

"Oh, actually here he is." Jisung said noticing the guy coming over to the table.

When you looked back to where everyone was looking, you froze. It was him.

He seemed just as surprised as you.

"Hey Hyunjin! " "man it’s been so long." The guys got up to great him.

"Hey this is Hyunjin, the guys I was telling you about." Jisung said.

Hyunjin’s surprised expression quickly turned into a soft smirk. He held his hand out to you. "Hello"

You looked at him deeply. 'Hey" you shook hands.

You than smiled as well. "You guys know each other?" Felix asked.

"No no, I’m just surprised that Jisung is best friends with such a hot and mysterious person." He said smirking once again.

You laughed.

It was thrilling. Playing around like this. Only the two of you knew.

"Okay then. I think that the two who just arrive should take a shot." Seungmin said, handing one to each of you.

You looked up at Hyunjin, bringing your shot up to his in order to cheers. He looked back, and smiled shyly. You both tapped it down on the table, then bottoms up!

00:00

Midnight strikes. The vibe of the club suddenly shifts. It’s time for the real shit. I was never there by the weekend starts playing. "Oh shit" you couldn’t stand there anymore.

You couldn’t even think anymore. You grab Hyunjin’s wrist. He looked confused. "Come on we have to dance to this one."you drag him out of the booth and make way to the dance floor.

Hyunjin’s POV:

I was just sipping on my drink when the girl I met earlier grabbed my wrist. Why? I was so surprised. "Come on, we have to dance to this one." She said. God she was hot. I couldn’t help to let her lead me where she wanted to go. She was dragging me to the dance floor. Then she suddenly stopped and turned around. She smiled at me, swaying her hips from side to side to the rhythm.

God she looked good. The club lights hitting all the right spots, form her curves to her eyes. I was completely mesmerized.

"Come on, dance. " She had to say to get me out of my transe. I unfroze and started to match her pace.

She looked impressed. Then she inched closer to me, wrapping her arms around my head, resting them on my shoulders. "You’re good." She says.

"You’re pretty good yourself." I state, wrapping my arms around her waist. She smiled, eyes still locked with mine.

"I never got your name?" I say, desperately wanting to put a name on the girl I was currently under the spell of.

"Y/n." She says. I smile, satisfied with the sound of it. It summed you up perfectly. "I love It."

"Don’t forget it now." She states.

"I don’t think I could ever. " I couldn’t help but inch closer and closer to her, wanting her to feel everything I was in this moment.

She simply chuckles, and suddenly turns around.

I quickly understand her sudden action when she starts moving her hips again, back facing me. I place my hands on her hips, guiding her. Slowly but surely, our bodies inched closer, until I was pressed against her, head tilted in the crook of her neck.

Y/n’s POV:

My actions were clearly driven by alcohol at this point, and I knew with how blurred my vision was. But somehow I was completely in control of my body, I just simply had a lot more guts.

As I swayed from side to side, his hands on my hips, I closed my eyes, enjoying the moment. The music echoed in my ears. I could feel his slow breathing against my neck. Wow. His presence flooded me. I felt so connected. Attracted. I couldn’t let go.

We kept dancing for a while. Clearly it was a skill we both shared. Which was making people look. There’s something about two hot people looking hot together, and that’s exactly what you guys were.

Sweaty and out of breath, Hyunjin pulled you in to tell you something. " wanna go out for a smoke?" You could feel his smirk against your skin.

You pulled back and nodded.

1:00AM

Hyunjin followed you out the club, wiping away his sweat.

"Wow, that was a work out huh?" You exhaled.

He laughed, in agreement.

"You looked really good out there." He clarifies.

"Thanks. You too." You shy away and walk towards the same walk you first met.

Hyunjin pulls out a cigarette. He was in the same outfit, same position as when you first met him, but this time with slightly wet hair, and an even more lustful look in his eyes.

"Hey you want a light?" He says. You notice he has YOUR lighter.. "what?! Wait, how did you get that?!?" You ask surprised.

"Relax, i took it from your pocket while we were dancing. " he explains.

"Okay?" So you’re stealing from me now?" You asked still confused.

"No!" "I mean, yeah.. but it’s just because I thought I should light it for you." He said, before taking the cigarette he had in his hand and placing it between your lips.

You let him put it there. He then flicked the lighter open, placing the flame under the tip. You understood why he wanted to do that when you saw him staring at you.

"Thanks" you say smirking.

He smiles then does the same for himself.

"You know, I’m glad I met you tonight." He says.

"Yeah me too." You respond.

"I really feel like we’re alike in a way."

"Oh really? How so? " you ask.

"Well, we both like to smoke in social contexts, we like dancing, we’re both a bit socially anxious, and we’re super hot."

"You think I’m hot?" You say smiling.

"Well.. yeah" he shyly says.

You chuckle getting closer to him.

"What do you find hot?" You ask.

He looks down at you with poisonous eyes. "Everything." He states.

You laugh and look away. When you place you gaze back on his, you say: " can you be a bit clearer for me baby?"

He doesn’t speak for a moment. "Your lips. " he says softly.

"What about them?" You raise your eyebrows, acting like you don’t know what he wants.

"I really want them on mine." He says.

"You’d want that?" You say, inching closer.

He nods quietly. Still locking eyes with you, adding to the tension between the two of you.

"Then I should give you what you want." You continue.

Lips inches away. You stop moving for a second, to tease him.

An attempt that soon failed when Hyunjin impatiently took your face between his hands, closing the gap between you.

His lips were soft. He pecked your lips a couple of times before softly hitting at your bottom lip for permission to deepen the kiss. You slightly open your mouth, letting his tongue in. The kiss was passionate and needy. Your hands gripped on his brown locks, earning a soft moan from him. You smiled into the kiss, acknowledging the effect you had on him. But the way he grabbed your ass quickly humbled you down, when a moan escaped your lips. He had the same effect on you.

He didn’t know but,

Your wish was granted.

[lordkingsmith]

Okay, I saw the blurb reference for ask, and now I GOTTA, just because: Matt Cook + All of his OC babies~ (we all know WHY)

lol yes we know why. I was debating whether or not I cover Matt dear, so thanks for deciding for me XD

canon children:

none that we know of

OC Children:

Kimberly Hart:

Kelson Hart. Aged 21. Older Twin brother to Kira Hart. Kim’s a single parent, raised her kids mostly on the run after Matthew died when they were four, but she and Matt never got married. More of a friends with benefits thing, off and on until she got pregnant with twins. Kelson has nothing to do with his family. Intergalactic diplomat at 21. Does not live on earth, but shows up every Christmas. He is not associated with any color. He blames power rangers for a lot of his family and planet problems actually. He loves his mom and sister and family, but he can’t bypass their glaringly massive differences in opinions.

Kira, aged 21, younger twin sister to Kelson, green ranger on SPD B Team. She’s often her brothers body guard when he’s on earth for official business, but they bicker constantly when they actually speak to each other outside of work. He blames the power rangers for everything, she thinks he’s an idiot. The reason Kim was on the run in the first place was an unreformed Zedd heard about the kids and as Matt used to work for him, decided those kids were his, actually. As payment. Matt died killing Zedd. That wasn’t power rangers fault, that was Zedd’s fault.

Billy Cranston;

When Billy loses his ranger status and goes to work for Grace, Matt is also there as the green ranger. Billy keeps his distance for a while; the guy is more or less a massive dick. Especially over something that wasn’t Billy’s fault. Billy’s also not taking pot shots at his friends or Zordon over it with Matt. They start dating after the War, and Matt’s final betrayal. More because he finally wore Billy down, but Billy had a good time hanging out with him again. And then both of them had the rude realization at the same time of “I am attracted to this man-fuck he noticed-oh he’s into it” which snowballed. They adopted one kid, and had another via help from alien technology mixed with a little magic. Nora, aged 26, is a professional hockey player. Matt decided he was going to support her sport even if it wasn’t his sport. Billy quickly developed a love of hockey at one of her events when she was little. Mostly because this game is ridiculous. Though he does worry about her on the ice. A lot. They adopted her when she was five, and she’s loud and enthusiastic and very rarely is she ever sad or genuinely upset. Her opinion on things is mostly “be friendly at it or challenge it to a fight” and generally speaking the options work enough she’s never needed to figure out other plans of action. She met her wife during a game. She’s from an opposing team. Nora gave her a concussion; she knocked Nora’s front teeth out. This was par for the course and they bonded in hospital. Billy’s still trying to figure out HOW. Matt thinks it’s hilarious. Is the green dragon ranger. She is legitimately feared by most and can solve most problems without suiting up. The threat is enough.

Their other child is Abner. He’s socially transitioning, he’s 18. He wants to be a writer. He and his sister have a very loving if slightly antagonistic relationship. When Abner came out to her, Nora’s response was “well now you don’t need to steal my clothes. Give them back” which lead to an argument but not the one Abner was expecting. They negotiated the clothing situation. Abner’s not giving back a pair of boots; they look way too good on him. Matt and Billy both support him. Matt sometimes slips up with name, however he’s quick to correct himself. Billy helped Abner choose his name, and was the first person he came out to. Abner is a little self conscious about his looks, and about his public image. More in regards to if he’s going to make his family look bad. Like Matt he tends to brood and focus on negative details way too much. Like Billy he tends to strive for perfection and his vocabulary makes it hard for people to understand him.

Eugene Skullovitch;

Matt dives head first into the villain persona, and is happily doing so. He's thriving. Until he's forced into an ultimatum; save Bulk and Skull from certain death by the hands of Goldar, or vanquish the Solar Rangers. Against his better judgment, he saves Bulk and Skull. Skull, unfortunately for timing wise, had said he'd kiss whoever saved their lives minutes before Matt saved them. He's a man of his word, but he also punched him in the mouth immediately after. Matt's confused as hell. So instead of chasing after Kim, begins chasing after Skull because what was THAT. This leads to a very weird redemption arc because Matt has realized 2 things; he likes being kissed by Skull and he does not want Skull mad at him anymore. Cut to fifteen years later; they've got a kid of their own and no actual idea how they got there really. But, they're happy, don't hate each other's guts, their kid's thriving, it's all good. The entire empire of evil absolutely hates them though and Matt somehow managed to get himself on the shit list of Thor. As long as he doesn't go out while it's thunderstorming he should be fine.

Their son is ten, his name is Jude Cook. Jude is one of the weirdly luckiest kids alive. He's survived an insane amount of attempts on his life, falls, kidnappings, and things he should otherwise not survive. His parents have stopped asking how. Loki helped give them a son, which is partly why Thor's pissed, so they've at this point accepted demigod baby is just gonna do what a demigod baby do. It's probably for the best. Spike's his older brother, and is training with Loki to be some sort of spirit of shapeshifting mischief. They both love causing mild trouble. Like Skull, Jude's got a fear of flying which makes things a little interesting. Skull's got his sons and his partner on a very very strict promise; if the shenanigans could cause an enemy of something power, walk away. Walk far away. Neptune exists. We don't want to get on the bad side of Neptune.

in a tangential version, Billy coparents with the two, and studies demigod ten year old, and deals with the Norse gods being in his business. At the very least nobody's been sucked into Ares' prison jar, so that's good.

*Bonus Poly of Billy Cranston, Matt Cook, and Eugene Skullovitch has all above children mentioned. They live in a large house, Eugene's a famous rockstar and restaurant chain owner, and they actually use every room in said house. In this version they met via Matt asking the only person he knew with experience in bdsm for some help with his newly realized kinks; Skull's payment was pizza nights and then Billy got dragged in because he was certain Matt was abusing Skull, but realized it was fine, actually. And fun.

Tommy Oliver;

Tommy and Matt did not really like each other at the beginning. Matt blames Tommy for so so much, but can't do anything about it, and Tommy's missing Dragon Green something terrible and dealing with massive amounts of PTSD for related but different reasons than Matt. Rita trapped them together in a gladitorial area of the Dark Dimension, and Tommy and Matt managed to talk to each other and get into an understanding. When they started dating, it was actually Grace who saw an opportunity, not Rita. But it’d be three more years before she could enact the plan. She didn’t tell Terona, and she was intending to eventually get every coin as well, for a full set.

Verdun Cook is 24, he’s the green dragon ranger, and he’s never met his dads. He’s a top agent for protection of earth. He thinks his parents gave him up to Grace. They think he died in infancy, an unfortunate complication in how he was made. They also think the dragon dagger was destroyed as well, around the same time. When parents and son finally meet, Tommy and Matt are furious. Billy’s furious. Terona's furious. He got Verdun to Tommy and Matt when he found out, even. Everyone’s furious. Matt and Tommy have Verdun live with them to acclimate to civilian life, and get used to being a person. His entire life has been as a weapon; he’s trying to very rapidly learn how to be human. It’s not like he was a success in the program either; the plan was a whole team of legacy rangers in their parents Colors, and he was the only one they could get.

Currently the only people allowed to mess with Tommy and Matt’s DNA is Billy and the Aquitarans and, hilariously, Zedd. He only made a clone. He was very transparent about what he was intending for the clone. Tommy knows where the clone is. He DIDN’T know where his son was, that he was alive, what Grace was intending or what he was doing. He and Matt are in agreement; If they had to chose they’d choose Zedd with their DNA.

When they thought their biological son had died; they adopted. Ricky is fifteen, not associated with a color, and is trying to get used to this with along with their dads. Ricky really is trying to be nice as well, but his overenthusiasm and attempts at bonding are often coming off too strong and borderline antagonistic. He doesn't mean to be. But the bright side is Ricky’s got someone to hang out with. And better yet, Verdun knows nothing about video games, pop culture, or really anything. So. Who wants to watch Star Wars? Ricky's got mixed feelings about his brother, but they're ranging from sad to excited, there's nothing jealousy related. Their dads are awesome, and he's sad Verdun never got to grow up with their dads. And he's excited to be able to have fun with his brother. Ricky is very excitable, and works on the school newspaper. He does volleyball, and has goals to be valedictorian when he graduates. Friendly, upbeat, can sometimes take things too far, but he tries to make those moments right.

They’re all making up for lost time with Verdun. It’s long overdue. At least both kids get along.

Trini Kwan;

Trini smacked sense into him after the upteenth pity party. She also forced him to come along for a mission in space with the Solar Rangers. He wanted to be let in on the whole thing? Fine! They could do that! Welcome to space Matt, everyone you meet is going to die or kill you! Have fun!

After, he put the dagger up, and he and Trini actually talked about what happened on the moon. She also retired from being a ranger, and they focused on taking a page from Bulk and Skull; being helpful as civilians. Matt asked Trini to marry him, and Trini said no. They made a game of it for a few years before she finally did say yes, when they were both financially stable.

They have Minh, and do foster parenting. Currently fostering JJ Oliver, due to unforeseen events leading to both Tommy and Kat unable to care for their kid for the time being. It’s hard being s foster family, but it’s nice being able to see the kids go back to their parents or move on to hopefully better situations. Matt’s at peace, and Trini is too. Trini is a plane mechanic; Matt is a fireman.

Zack Taylor;

During everything Zack and Matt were friends with benefits, though Matt tended to use Zack as an emotional scapegoat as well. Zack finally had enough after a bit, and told Matt either he got his head out of his ass or they weren’t continuing. He was serious, too, and Matt got left in the lurch for a little while before actually looking at himself long and hard and deciding whether or not his grudge was worth losing Zack again. It wasn’t. His parents loved Zack, Kira loved Zack, and most importantly he loved Zack. He came out to his parents and family, and then put in the effort to get over himself to get Zack back. One daughter by surrogate parent, and Matt owes Kim big time. She’s made it clear though. This was for Zack. He gets this, and accepts he and Kim are probably never even going to be friends. His and Zack’s daughter is Layla Cook-Taylor. Layla is sixteen, tiny firecracker of positivity. She has her low moments, but she’s never down for long. She likes swimming and playing guitar. She dances with Zack in dance classes and Matt adores her so so much. She’s frank and earnest and tries her best. She doesn’t give up easily if ever. White ranger. Saba loves her, too. Yes Matt has gotten in arguments with the uppity dagger why do you ask?

Jason Lee Scott;

Getting with Jason felt a little like leaning how to breathe again. Jason came home and Matt quickly got into sparring with him every weekend, like old times. It devolved into a lot of pent up rage related sex. And then all of that was gone…and there were two angry hurt teenagers who didn’t know how to be healthy about love or sex. Cut to fifteen years later, Jason’s a mechanic, Matt’s an accountant. And nothings changed. In between then and now, Jason had a kid. He doesn’t remember who the mother was, and anyway Diego Scott was left on his porch basically. He’s four. Matt likes the way Diego likes piggy backs. And dinosaurs and zombies. Matt likes how whole he feels with Jason and Diego. It’s pretty late in life, but he’s willing to make a go of this, if Jason is willing. And so far, he is. Diego keeps the two on their toes, being ready to get into the thick of everything and anything. But he's four, that's typical, and he's Jason's. And Matt thinks the kid's the best.

Sharkie;

Surprisingly the two manage to click and gel together really well. Three kids, two boys and a girl. Lexie Cook aged 24, Gavin Cook aged 19, and Quincy Cook, aged 17. Sharkie and Matt bonded over being left behind by their friends, though Sharkie doesn’t have any ill will to Bulk or Skull. Stuff happens. The first time he morphed he did it to impress Sharkie and she laughed in his face. He then spent the rest of his life trying to impress her, and stumbled into becoming a better person in the process.

Lexie Cook works as a radio host for a popular music station. She has a popular segment where she runs down the monster of that week and ranks it’s strengths and weaknesses and how to avoid it while putting out a prediction for the next week’s. She does this in between her music playlist, and she’s been right in her predictions a few times. Starts and ends her show saying hi or goodbye to her parents. She has a huge sweet tooth and will do anything for sweets. Lately her brother Gavin's been Off, so she's been adding him in the hi and goodbye, and a 'hang in there bud' as well. not associated with a color

Quincy “Flea” Cook is one of the punks at school, and one of the comedy duo. He's antagonistic to the 'goody twerps' Matt just knows is the power rangers, and neither he nor Sharkie really know if they should step in or just let this play out. Currently letting it play out. Quincy’s grown a lot since the current team's shown up, and he's gotten braver, less self serving, and a lot more noble. Matt's just made sure he's well aware he needs to get out of a situation if buildings are falling. No exceptions. He can grab the person closest to him but he is staying out of the area. Sharkie is making sure he also knows when to stop antagonizing, and know who and what all monsters are. Quincy is in love with art but he's got a Reputation. He's gotten a reputation for being spraypainting sides of buildings. His murals are always well done, but with a sense of humor, and often calling out the villains. Something's up with his older brother though, so he's been trying to figure out what. not associated with a color

Gavin Cook's currently working for the villains. Mind controlled, he's not really even interested in power rangers, normally. Evil ranger sixth ranger, he's been living with a roommate since he was eighteen in an apartment near his parents house and sister's apartment (the reasoning being this is his first try at being properly independent, and if he needs help they're near him to assist if need be). They don't spend enough time with him to know anything other than he's not acting right. Quincy's actively trying to figure out what's wrong though, and Gavin's dreading the day he's going to be told to attack his own family members. He's the villainous Maximum Ranger, and he's waiting for the good rangers to free him and his roommate so he can get back to not caring about power rangers. and hug his family. and go get therapy because yea...he needs to Unpack This. When not a mindcontrolled villain, Gavin's pretty chill. He lets Quincy hang out to get away from their parents, and usually is playing music while watching his brother. He really doesn't give a damn about power rangers, could care less. Matt was one, and that's fine, he's not anymore and Gavin doesn't care about the legacy. He works at the local coffeeshop, which is where the good rangers love hanging out. He hates spying on them, he used to love the atmosphere, and he knows his dad and his job is why he's currently here. All his parents know is he went missing for a week and came back, well, off. They're there when he asks for help, the kicker being, right now Gavin literally cannot.

(maximum is a shade of green)

Marleau Eskin;

He got with her in high school to get back at his former friends and ex girlfriend. It was a joke, turns out he’s the joke. But he and Marcel don’t talk to Marleau anymore. Matt’s a sports reporter, and Marcel’s a professional esport gamer in his late 20’s. Matt sees his kid on the weekends for weekly lunches and check ins. Had to take a second when Marcel said he’d started dating Minh Kwan. Had to decide if the anger was worth it. It wasn’t. He’s not talking to the group still, but Marcel’s got his blessing, and he's fine with Marcel seeing Minh. That has to count for something. Matt was able to prove without a shadow of a doubt that Marleau was a negligent parent, and had left their kid in frankly dangerous situations when he was young. Marcel broke his arm left alone at a park, and Matt was never more happy or enraged. But, it lead to Marcel being genuinely happy as the son of a single parent, so Matt's happy to let him live his life. Also somewhat relieved Minh or her family heard the last name 'Cook' and is still letting this happen. Marcel is not associated with a color.

Stan Skullovitch;

They were kidnapped together and replaced with putties. They were tortured together, and formed a trauma bond. Stan had enough sense to say 'no' to a relationship with someone who 1) hated his brother and 2) was still in highschool. However they kept running into each other over the years. When they did get together, it was when Matt had his head out of his ass a little, and was in a stable job. Stan was a singer at a lounge, and the trauma attraction had settled into a healthier flavor. Everyone's got their opinions on the two getting together but it seems okay right now? Rita as Mystic Mother used magic to give them a child because as Matt pointed out in a confrontation with her; she kind of owed them big time. Ulysses "Bones" Skullovitch is twelve, and kind of a natural wanderer. It's not unusual for him to leave the house at dawn and come back around dinner time with all sorts of things in his pockets. He's not loud, but he's not shy. Prefers watching than acting, though will step up if need be. Stan finds it hard to not worry about him, but Spike and Spike's friends keep an eye on Bones while keeping their distance. He's alright, he's just the kind of person that likes being by himself playing. However he might be getting some friends, and Matt's starting to wonder if power rangers is a genetic thing. Bones will be a red ranger when old enough.

Violet Arias;

she slapped him. Then yelled at him, then apologized because his cheek was swelling and her nail had accidentally caused a cut on his eyelid. He had to wear an eye bandage for two weeks and she gave him flowers. Then he apologized for, well. everything. After that they started dating, balancing his ranger status with school and her trying to be okay with it. They've been in hiding with their kids since Zedd put a price on Matt's head. Myrtle and Tyrian are fifteen and ten, respectively. They don't know their dad was a green ranger and still is when called to be so, Matt's not going to put them in danger over this. As much as he can help, anyway.

Myrtle Arias plays the trumpet in the school marching band. She's extremely good at coded cyphers, and wants to be the president of the united states one day. She's also on the chess team. She has no opinions on the power rangers or the monsters that seem to constantly show up. She's just trying to get through school without being shoved in a locker. Hard to connect to her dad, who was a popular kid, so it's easier to talk to and connect to her mom. is not associated with a color.

Tyrian Arias learned his name's the actual name for the color royal purple (named after the snails whose shells are used for the pigments) and decided he was going to make this his entire personality. He is a ten year old sixth ranger, he is not hiding this. His only saving grace is that he is constantly telling so many tall tales his parents aren't entirely sure if he's telling the truth (and if he is there will be WORDS with whoever gave him Purple), and everyone else thinks he's just an exceptionally imaginitve kid. Matt is...hoping the extra excitable new ranger is not, in fact, his son. However, deep down he knows it's Tyrian and he's freaking out.

-

if there's others I'm not thinking of or missed, please let me know :)

[falcqns]

tw doug being a ableitest meanie

it had been a long and rough day, first you were 2 minutes late due to traffic which caused your T.O, Tim to be mad at you for not being on time. thankfully Lucy, your other T.O was there and was able to calm him down. the day started rather normal besides the incident with Tim. following Tim and Lucy's orders while they test you on what to do in certain situations. the end of the day seem to come slow but you know you did something right today when you heard Tim tell you "nice job today, boot" and then the echo of Lucy playfully slapping him and saying "they have a name. you did a great job today Y/N, we're proud." after hearing both Lucy and Tim's words you started happy stimming not caring who was watching. Lucy then hugged you, and Tim patted your shoulder which signaled that your day was over and you can go home. which made you even more happy knowing you'd be able to slip into little space soon. as you're walking to your car you hear someone's footsteps beside you. out of the corner of your eye you notice it's Doug, which causes you to pick up your pace. Doug had been messing with you for a while but you had been too scared to tell your T.O's incase they thought you were being a baby about it. "Y/N!" Doug calls, you ignore him. "Y/N! I'm talking to you" he says and grabs your shoulder. "Please just leave me alone. I just wanna go home Doug." you say. "Jeez no need to be so rude, I just have a question" he replies. "What?" you say, thinking if you respond to his question he'll actually leave you alone. "That thing you were doing with your hands when you were talking to Bradford and Chen, what's that called?" he wonders. "What do you mean?" you question back, genuinely curious as to what he meant. "You were like flapping your hands and shit, while also like jumping up and down when they praised you." he states. "Oh that's called stimming. I do it when I-" you try to respond realizing you had been happy stimming earlier and didn't know at the time. Your response is cut short when Doug cuts you off, "They actually gave it a name?? I mean I guess they name everything that's weird these days. I'd expect it out of a baby but not a full grown adult." "It's n-not weird. I-It's normal." you try to defend yourself while feeling tears pile up in your eyes because yet again, Doug chose you to pick on. "Aw, is the little baby gonna cry? It is weird Y/N. Just as weird as being in love with your two T.O's." he says as he shoves your shoulder. "Have a goodnight!" he states as he walks off. you stand there for a moment trying not to cry but what pushes you over edge is when you realize that some point in the conversation with Doug you'd slipped into little space.

"what am i gonna do now?" you mumble out loud as you slide down the wall. when yet again you hear footsteps, curling into a ball as you think it's Doug coming back but you're proven wrong when you hear "Boot?" and "Y/N" from Tim and Lucy at the same time. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be gone by now." Tim speaks. you only sniffle in response. after your very little response you feel Lucy sit down beside you and her motion for Tim to take your other side. "What's wrong Y/N?" Lucy works up the courage to ask. That's when you break and start sobbing and giving out "sorries" like you owed them to your T.O's. Lucy then realizes through your slurred speech that you're a little and mouth that to Tim. Tim, figuring they're not going to get much information from you while your little and crying goes to check the cameras and tells Lucy comfort you. while alone Lucy asks if she can pull you into her lap, in which you nod. she starts whispering comforting words to you when Tim comes back. "So what happened?" Lucy mouths over your shoulder. Tim crouches beside you two and tells Lucy what he saw while looking you in the eyes, he ends with "Isn't that right little one?" and you slowly nod. Lucy then makes a bold move and says, "Tim I don't want to leave them alone after today. Can we take them home?" and then looks down at you "If that's okay with you of course little one." you sleepily nod into Lucy's shoulder while Tim kisses her check as a way of saying yes. As they got into the car with you Lucy sat beside you and on the way to their house you fell asleep on her shoulder. little did you know, they would be talking about how you've been their missing piece all along and how they would plan to ask you out tomorrow morning after they explained everything.

AHHHHHHHHH THIS IS SO CHTE I LOVE IT

[imonthemoonitsmadeofcheese]

Oolong

In which Eris and the Drifter go shopping in the last city.

Art by @dredgenaves

Link to the story on Ao3 if you prefer to read it there

It was early and many of the market vendors had not opened up their shops, carts, or stalls yet in the rubble of the last city where everyone routinely gathered for commerce. Eris wondered if the Drifter also preferred the lack of people or if his insistence that they come this early to ‘avoid the crowds’ was entirely for her benefit. Probably for her, she realized. A crowd, for him, would simply be a cloak of invisibility.

She reached out and touched a t-shirt, rubbing the cloth between her fingertips, smiling at the softness of it.

“That one? Really?” the Drifter asked her.

“The material feels nice.”

“You uh… don’t see colours the same way, do ya?”

“No. What colour is it?”

He waited a few moments, watching her fondle it, and then leaned in close and whispered in her ear. “Bubblegum pink.”

Eris drew her hand away as though the shirt had bitten her.

He laughed, picked up the shirt, and held it up against her, eyeballing the fit.

Eris gave him a look that could curdle milk…or blood.

“I have limits, Rat, and that is well beyond them.”

He laughed again and turned to the merchant.

“Do you have this, but in black or maybe grey?”

The vendor pointed to a pile of clothing in a barrel on the other side of a table.

Eris heaved an audible sigh of relief.

The Drifter began picking through it. “This might do,” he pulled a couple of pieces into his hand. “We'll want to add in a layer or two.”

“We don't even know if they will fit.”

“Oh these'll fit.” He paid the merchant.

“How do you know?”

He gave her a sideways look with a half smile and licked his lips.

“Hmmm…”

“Oooo…” the Drifter stopped at a spice vendor they were walking past who was just opening up their stall.

Eris found the cacophony of scents overwhelming and wandered past the spices to an area filled with pottery. The elderly pottery vendor looked at her suspiciously. Eris found a selection of chunky looking mugs and began to pick up individual ones to sense their weight and feel how the handles felt against her hands.

“You should get two.” The Drifter’s voice was by her ear.

“I was thinking of it. What colours are these?”

“That one’s green and that one’s blue. Both dark and swirly. They don’t match but they also sorta go together. They look nice.”

“Very well.”

“Smell this.” He shoved a small bag in her face.

She sighed and inhaled. “Oh… that is nice… is it tea?”

“Yup. They said it’s oo-long, whatever the hell that is. Smells fancy.”

Eris smiled. “It is. I like oolong.”

“Well we got some now and if you get mugs we can put it in them and be fancy together.”

Eris took the mugs she’d selected to the nervous pottery vendor and attempted to be non-threatening. He took her glimmer with shaking hands.

“Now, let's find you some boots that don't look like they're for walking on the moon.” Drifter tugged at her elbow.

“Everything about me looks like it's for walking on the moon… Because I spend most of my time walking… on the moon.”

“Yeah well, we ain’t goin’ to the moon which is why we’re getting ya non-moon shit for those rare times when you ain’t on the moon.”

“Hmmm…”

“This place has a bench. Here.” He tossed her a pair of dark brown leather hiking boots. “Try those on.”

“The feet fit,” she said after a few minutes, “...but the calves and ankles are a bit too wide.”

“Really? Let me see.”

He knelt one knee on the ground in front of her and pulled her foot up onto his leg. His hands slid along her calf down next to her ankle. Eris would have sworn his hands were empty, especially since she had felt all his fingers caress her gently, but there was a sudden weight and she felt an object pressed against her ankle. Something several inches long in a leather sheath.

He tightened the boot laces and tied them off with a bow.

“Nah I think that's perfect.”

He pulled her pant leg down to cover the knife.

“Let me see the other one,” he grinned.

“Hmmm…”

She replaced her left foot with her right as he repeated what he had done.

“You just ain't tyin’ it right, Moondust.” He looked up at her with mischievous eyes. “Try that. Walk around a bit. Make sure it feels good.”

He stayed on one knee as she stood and walked from one side of him around to the other. She reached out a hand and brushed her fingertips against the side of his beard. He leaned into her hand like a cat and looked up at her with affection.

“I think you might like being on your knees in front of me,” she said quietly enough so that only he could hear.

He blinked rapidly, looked away from her, and gave a nervous laugh. “Now that’s a dangerous observation for you to make.”

“Hmmm…”

“Boots good, though?” He stood.

“Yes. The additions are… comforting.”

“Ain’t never met a hunter… current… or former… who thought there was such a thing as too many knives.” He winked at her.

The Drifter spent some time talking with the leather worker while he was paying for the boots. They conversed in a language Eris did not understand. The Drifter seemed to be asking for something beyond the boots and the vendor asked a few more questions before they came to an agreement and glimmer exchanged hands.

Eris looked around at the market. More people were arriving now. More vendors were opening up their shops in the rubble. A small child stared at her over a barrel of apples. Eris stared pointedly back. An adult behind the child called it away. A few moments later it returned to stare at her over the apples again. She couldn’t see the face, only dark hair and eyes wide with fascination. No fear. Only inquisitiveness. Eris stared back, one side of her lip quirked up in a small smile.

“You frightening children?” The Drifter teased her, pulled gently at her elbow.

“No. They are not afraid.” Eris turned to follow him. “I appreciate naked curiosity. It is so much more refreshing than fear.”

A lone Eliksni was setting up a stall slightly apart from the others, pulling out bolts of cloth and placing them on a table. The Drifter tugged Eris’ elbow again and walked over to converse with the cloth merchant in fluent Eliksni. Eris followed, impressed.

She was able to understand the essence of what they were saying but her Eliksni was mostly gathered from reading books with Eido and what she’d picked up fighting Fallen on the moon. The alien language flowed from the Drifter’s lips and hands as naturally as the unknown human language had before with the boot vendor. He asked specifically about colours first, and then softness, elasticity, flexibility, absorbency. The merchant’s bottom two hands pulled out a bolt of cloth while the top two gesticulated regarding the craftsmanship of the weaving and the materials used.

“Hey, Moondust, touch this one for me, will ya?”

She reached over and fondled the cloth. It felt soothing, light, yet strong. The texture was instantly pleasing to her. She gave the merchant a small smile.

“Yes,” she said quietly but firmly.

A portion of the cloth was cut and folded. Drifter asked about the price. The merchant pointed to Eris and asked a question she did not follow. The Drifter nodded. The merchant raised all four of its hands in refusal. The Drifter insisted and suggested a price. The merchant shook his head and protested. Drifter put a small bag of glimmer on the table. Nods of respect were exchanged. The Eliksni looked toward Eris, bowed deeply, and spoke much more slowly. “Thank you,” he said in his own language, and then he switched to theirs, “...thank you. Eido told us. It is… great honour… thank you…”

They both gave the merchant a small bow in respect before turning away.

“What has Eido been telling people?” Eris asked him quietly as they walked toward several stalls containing fresh vegetables.

“It seems the scribe of the House of Light may have informed them how one of their allies took the wind outta the sails of not one, but two hive gods, at great personal risk to herself, and lived.”

“Hmmm… The Eliksni material feels delightful. What is it for?”

“Your eyes. What you have now is all rough and scratchy. I seen where it chafes. This is light enough it can go underneath between what you have now and yer skin. Won’t look different at all, but it’ll be soothing on your face. Feel nice. I ain’t telling you to hide or not hide your eyes. That’s a you decision. Nor am I telling you what to wear, on your eyes or otherwise. But… you should get to feel nice… if and when you want to.”

She took his hand and squeezed it.

The sounds of the market were beginning to pick up, voices all around were increasing: negotiations, call-outs, the occasional shouting. Eris found it all very overwhelming. Outside of combat, she was never around this many people at once. Her pulse quickened. The Drifter was a central point of calm for her in the swirling noise, but the noise was increasing. She gripped his hand tighter. He looked over at her, concerned.

“It is loud,” she explained.

He nodded and pulled them into an alley and around a corner, which helped to cut the noise.

“Thank you.”

“I think we got everything we need at this point and the day has now fully started so it’s only going to get louder. Shall we bug outta here and go tell Sherlock Mamma-bear we’re running off so she does not hunt us down and nova bomb our camp out of concern for our wellbein’?”

“Yes.”

“All right. Back alleys and shortcuts will be quieter on our way back.” He took both her hands in his as he started walking backwards, slightly bouncing on his toes. “This is my bag, Moondust. Allow me give ya a quick tour of the sketchy side of town.”

His eyes sparkled in glee as she laughed and followed him down the alley.

This story is part of a series I wrote on Ao3 called Embers and Stars. While there are some individual stories rated Mature and/or Explicit for containing happy fun sexy times, those are set up with skip links so that if you prefer not to read that type of content you can still enjoy the story.

[justyouraverageanonbloghere]

Soul Owner

To be honest with you my life wasn't one worth complaining about, but it sure wasn't one I was crazy with having. Growing up in a small town where hardly anything new happens. Same old shit, same old different day.

Oh? Me? I'm just another closted gay kid in the sticks. I was from the city but when my mom fell for this farmer guy, I was forced to move out here. Nowadays I just spend my days in the town because my new step-dad kicks me out of my room all the time. While I was walking down the very small networked streets, I couldn't help but just go to the nearest alleyway to take my anger out on a few bags of trash. I was wearing steel toe boots so at least my feet were somewhat protected should there be glass or metal.

I wasn't angry at my mom for wanting to live her life in happiness. I was angry that I was forced to be a part of a community that would immediately lynch me if word got out that I was gay.

As I took my anger out on the trash, one happened to split open. And there among the garbage was this crazy looking necklace that could've came out of a movie. Normally I don't mess with stuff like that but I couldn't help but take it and put it on. Next thing I realize is that my body becomes intangible and I was practically hovering slightly in the air. I was practically a spirit now!

Throughout the day I was partaking in mischief throughout the town. Making dishes float in the diner and coffee pouring itself in a cup, writing stupid shit on foggy mirrors in the barber ships, whispering during the church sermons, oh I was going the whole nine yards! But during my spree of causing fear, I saw the one man who was the target of my wet dreams and fantasies. His name is Ryan and he was walking around town waiting on his friends. No doubt he was completely unaware of the havoc I was causing.

For clarification, Ryan was as idiotic as he was muscular. Poor thing was too dumb to understand things like bigotry or racism or even to see when someone was making passes at him. He was just nice to everyone. It honestly blew my mind how someone that hot can be so idiotic and nice. As such I would touch myself many of nights to the thought of him being in a relationship with me. To be cuddled and held in those beefy arms and spoiled by a man with no mean bone in his body. But then the wet dreams of me getting railed by a certain bone in his body also intrigued me. However, I realized recently he's planning on leaving to go to college in L.A. in a couple of days. How he managed to do something as go to college was beyond me. But I was both happy for him but envious that he was leaving this static shithole.

Using my newfound abilities, I made some trash fall in the alleyway so he could walk towards the source. And just like a moth to a flame, he did just that. I didn't want to scare him but I wanted to use these new abilities to just be close to him. To take in his scent one last time and see him from a closer angle before he was gone forever. As he looked at the trash bag, I gave a deep inhale to take in his cologne while seeing those rippling muscles hidden behind his thin blue shirt. What I wasn't expecting was to get so lost in his scent that I didn't realize he got up and ran into me.

Everything was black for a bit until my eyes opened. I was looking the opposite direction but I didn't feel light anymore. I felt incredibly heavy. That's when I realized that I must've entered Ryan's body when he walked into me. I was shocked but I couldn't do anything to show it. I was just a passenger in Ryan's body. At first I didn't think much about it since I could just hitch a ride in Ryan to live life alongside of him, but soon my thoughts were replaced with a new idea.

Why hitch a ride as Ryan when I can BE Ryan??

These thoughts must've held more power than I thought because Ryan stopped in his tracks and noticed his cock beginning to tent in his shorts. He shrugged and was going to continue walking until I willed his feet to stop. No. The Ryan who walks out of that alleyway will be me!

My emotions caused his confusion to form a cocky grin as he peeled off his shirt. He began to feel his muscles and kiss his biceps as I continued to force my soul as the owner of his body. As he was busy worshipping himself, I started forcing myself into his brain by thrusting my essence inside. This caused Ryan to moan as he began to get more cocky over his appearance. With each thrust of my essence, my personality, my mannerisms, it would all send ineffable pleasure to his system.

His moans picked up as he massaged his massive pecs and played with those perky nipples of his as I gained full control of his brain.

"Fuck this towb. Glad I'm leaving all these stupid asses behind." He laughed.

That made me hard. Not once have I ever heard Ryan swear. My personality and everything else was merging with his own. But it looks like I'm the dominant aspect in this fusion. With my newfound influence, I had his soul expose itself to me in which I devoured it and merged with it. This process caused Ryan to grip his head and keel over. I was overtaking everything that he was as my soul spread itself throughout his body. I would've expected Ryan to shout and plead but instead he was moaning and laughing. Looks like my influence really infected him.

With one final push, Ryan stood up and let out a mighty roar as his muscles contracted all at once and relaxed as his cock released ropes of cum in his underwear from all the pleasure. His face was one of apathy before he smirked.

"Hello world." I say in my new deep voice.

I look down to see my heaving muscles and laugh.

"Fuck. I really did it."

I started stroking my still hard cock through my shorts until I fired another massive load inside, and just to test my strength I ripped my underwear off from my mighty legs and started eating the massive load caught within.

"Fuck yes . . . so good . ." I groan out as I feast.

I tossed my shredded underwear into a trashcan once I was done and walked out to the main street. There my now flaccid monster was hitting my legs and my shorts with each step I took. I sat at a bench to test something out. As I tried my hardest to focus on separating from Ryan, I couldn't. It seems I'm permanently fused to him.

"Fine by me." I laugh as I get up from the bench and start heading back to Ryan's place so I can pack and leave this one horse town in my dust.