#also they’re back in my apartment fixing my bathroom lol

[atopvisenyashill]

it’s crazy to me that once again the most annoying people in the fandom are bitching about how rhaenyra isn’t portrayed as her ~canon character~ of being a girly girl as if rhaenyra did not spend the entire season wearing nothing but pretty dresses and one (1) nuns habit

[jerzwriter]

Thank you for the asks @maritzaldvr I feel like it's a homework assignment, lol. But that's OK - we writers like nothing more than going on and on about our crazy little characters - so thank you! ❤️

From this list.

1 - How would they handle a breakup?

Ooofh. How I hate even thinking of it - they're my forever couple. I think a breakup would be the hardest thing they'd ever have to go through - short of anything happening to one of their girls. They truly love each other, and that wouldn't stop, so there would have to be a very serious reason for the split. It's one of those "I'll love you forever, but we can't be together" events that are just brutally painful. If they didn't have children yet, I don't know if they'd keep in touch - it would be too painful. But they might because they're more open-minded and progressive than most, so they don't think a romantic relationship ending means you have to cut each other off for life. It would be difficult for them to move on and I think anyone else they'd be with in the future would have to understand, they'd never have their complete hearts.

I have written a few AU's with breakups, including Unblemished (which is a favorite of mine). They had a breakup in the AU series Friends* (another one of my favorites) and All in the Past. There are also two WIP AU's that I've really got to get back to, What's Forever For? and Where it Goes From Here. Also, I make no promises in the current AU Mono-Poly. I was going to say I need to write an AU break up - but apparently, I don't lol

13. How do they act when they’re stressed, and what are some things they do to relax?

More below...

It depends on the level of stress. In my HC, they both had a lot of therapy after the chemical attack, so they have learned how to handle a lot. Also, Tobias has a very laid-back attitude, which helps, especially since Casey is prone to anxiety. What do they do to reduce stress? 😏😏😏 Well.... lol You know. lol But in addition to that, I think they also make sure to get rest, exercise, and have frequent massages and pampering to help reduce stress.

But a BIG stressor is another issue - for example, Casey nearly dies after their third baby is born - and Tobias nearly falls apart. He does what he has to for his daughters, but he's hanging on by a string. Fortunately, he has a great group of people around him who help, but it's not pretty.

20. How do they react to getting hurt? Both in the sense of a small injury like a paper cut or a bigger injury.

I think they both blow off minor injuries; I can imagine they get a lot of smaller ones on the job, and they just keep going. I think they're pretty resolute when it comes to bigger injuries, too. They'd react as most people would, but they'd be anxious to fix it and move on - they've got things to do.

41. Are they messy or clean? How do they react to a mess?

I think they are both very neat and don't like it at all when things become messy. However, there is a caveat... Casey's morning routine leaves a big ol mess in the bathroom - make up, skin and hair care, products left all over. She cleans it as soon as she returns from work, but since she and Tobias are not always on the same shift - sometimes he's stuck with the mess and I don't think he loves it. lol That's probably a growing pain when they first live together. Also, with a cat and three daughters, they will have to become a little more accustomed to messes, but they still don't love them - and they will do their best to keep them minimal.

43. What are their eating habits?

Given that they are both doctors, they tend to watch what they eat and follow a healthy diet. That said, they know balance is key, and they indulge in foods they love, too.

47. What is one thing that they’re really good at?

Sex. I mean, sorry, but it's true! lol They're also excellent at communication.

49. How clingy are they? What do they act like?

They're very into PDA, but I don't think they're clingy. To me, clingy means they're at a party, and they can't leave each other's side. They're not like that. They love being together, but not in a toxic way. They'll go talk or interact in different groups, but they'll always be so happy to return to each other.

52. On an average day, what can be found in their pockets?

Hmm. At work? For both, I think you'd find hand sanitizer, lip balm, and maybe tissues. Casey likely has lotion and mints/gum. Tobias, a lollipop or two. I totally see him as having a thing for lollipops.

63. How important is personal hygiene to them? What do they smell like?

Very, very, very important. These two like things neat, they're into their appearances - they are almost always well groomed. Tobias often smells like Tom Ford's Oud Wood. If not, he sounds like his sandalwood body wash. Casey will smell like whatever Bath & Bodyworks scent is her favorite at the moment.

90. Do they drink alcohol? If so, what’s their favorite type of alcohol?

Yes, they do. They will often have a drink to wind down at the end of the night, but only some days. On the weekends, they definitely do some drinking. I imagine Tobias likes some high-end single malt whiskeys, and he has a wine cellar filled with everything from Casey's favorite (Bartenura Moscato) to very pricey vintages. They have beer in the fridge - likely a yummy craft beer - that they will drink during bar-b-ques or while watching sports.

Thanks so much for the asks! :)

[rosiefairlands]

So hi. It is my birthday now, and I suddenly remembered 2 years ago I posted my PokéHeadcanons. This has been in my drafts for two years and I feel like I should post this now to be over with it lol.

So yeah. PokéHeadcanon dump part 2 because why not lol xdxd (Gen 4-5 only because I struggled with Gen 6 lol).

Keep in mind to anyone reading this that these are my own headcanons so don’t take them too seriously aye? Aye.

First of all, ages for the protags & rivals:

Lucas, Dawn, & Barry: 18

Hilbert & Hilda: 20

Cheren: 21

Bianca: 19

N: 23

Nate, Rosa, & Hugh: 17

Lucas is the one keeping the braincell in the Sinnohtrio. While Dawn maybe calm, she’s certainly not sane. Barry is just unhinged as usual though.

While Dawn was the one who became Champion of Sinnoh, Lucas was the one who got transported to Hisui.

Even if Dawn is a sweetheart, she has a certified resting bitch face and she’s quite intimidating. Don’t let that fool you though, she’s still very eager to help you.

Lucas works as Professor Rowan’s assistant, while Dawn is a Pokémon Contest Coordinator.

Despite how others think, Barry gets along completely fine with his dad. They’re both very similar and he’s his idol after all.

Gardenia has a huge fear of ghosts. Fantina knows this, and is slowly encouraging her to face her fears while still trying to not just force her to be friends with her ghost friends.

Fantina has a Gourgeist she’s had with her ever since she moved from Kalos to Sinnoh. It’s not really for battling and just stays at her home and helps with contest stuff. This is the Pokémon that Fantina uses to encourage Gardenia to face her ghost fears.

Candice & Maylene are friends and the both of them get along quite well. Sometimes they both go out shopping when they’re both on their breaks from battling.

Lucian can spend a whole entire day in the library with only miminal bathroom breaks. There are a lot of times where the rest of the Sinnoh League has to physically drag him out.

Not a lot of things can excite Volkner apart from, of course, a good Pokémon Battle and anything with electricity. Flint knows this and always tries to come up with some of the wackiest ways to excite his friend.

On top of this, Volkner & Jasmine get along. They first met when Jasmine was visiting the city’s beach, and Volkner just happen to be there. Jasmine also likes to join in with Flint to excite Volkner sometimes.

Cynthia has a little sister who’s currently studying in the Trainer’s School. She sometimes helps Cynthia with researching history.

Cynthia’s left eye (the eye that’s covered by her hair) is fully white and blind.

Cynthia & Cyrus were “friends” at one point during their childhood. Cynthia accidentally broke a console of hers and Cyrus was a bit known for fixing machines. Neither of them really remember this moment.

Both Hilbert & Hilda don’t really have second jobs and continue to work as Pokémon Trainers. Though Hilbert is more into catching Pokémon than Hilda, who is just her typical battle-centric self.

Unlike those two however, Rosa is an actress in Pokéstar Studios while Nate works part time in the International Police with Looker.

Hilbert is the more serious of the two, stoic yet still showing a kind smile then & there. Hilda is more laid back, though when she’s battling she’ll get a bit more crazy.

Rosa is always in high energy, especially giving her all during acting. And despite his job, Nate is actually pretty laid back and doesn’t take things too seriously.

Bianca got her glasses from Cheren before he became a Gym Leader. Think of it as a parting gift before he moved to Aspertia.

Bianca has a few plush toys of Pokémon back in her room. She really likes them, but she did give one away to Hugh’s sister to cheer her up

Cheren is anemic, which explains why he both had yellowish skin when he was still adventuring and pale skin in the present day.

Cheren can play the violin, something he does to calm him down. Sometimes when he’s in the mood, he’ll bring his violin (that he got from Roxie) to school and he’ll play something for them.

N when he disappeared after BW wrote letters to his sisters Anthea & Concordia to make sure he’s alright.

Hugh’s little sister is named Kala. He would literally burn the world to make sure his sister is happy.

Lenora and her husband has unofficially adopted Cheren as their son. Sometimes they like to visit him and make sure he takes care of himself in school. Cheren doesn’t mind it that much and appreciates their help.

Elesa & Skyla have been best friends ever since they were children. They supported eachother for so long that they’re practically girlfriends.

Burgh loves making art for others and is willing to do so for free if he could. He does commissions for a pretty low price too and he appreciates everyone who commissions him.

Shauntal gets inspirations for her writing from multiple sources, and even her own friends. She especially likes making characters based on the rest of the Elite Four.

Despite stepping down as an Elite Four member and basically moving to Alola, Grimsley still keeps in touch with the rest of the Elite Four and Gym Leaders.

Alder does see the BW gang as his children, even N. He can get very protective of them and he’ll also make a ton of dad jokes in front of them. He’ll try to let Benga hang out with them too which usually ends in many battles.

Iris may be a Champion, but she still is a teen at heart as she loves to hang out with the B2W2 trio and do whatever teens in Unova do. Back when Hilbert was still missing, Cheren and Bianca would watchover them just in case.

If you reached up at this point, congrats! You wasted your time reading my thoughts again. But hey you made me happy just by looking so whatever lmao. Stay tuned in the next two years for gen 6-9 lol.

[ad-hawkeye]

final review on artem's third anniversary card: infinitely better than his second anniversary card (not like that was a hard goal to achieve), but was mind numbingly boring, repetitive, and with some very odd/forced moments.

i expected a lot worse going in. but then again, my bar for lowest was second anni, so you know, i'll take what i can get. my commentary while watching can be found below :,)

time skip?? they’re already moving in and themis law firm already knows about them living together. i guess?

oh the logic for this one is. interesting. mutuals what if we fell into a large cardboard box together

so they fall in the box. with a puppet. and his shirt is caught on the box. so the only solution is to take his shirt off. ok.

okay so. he can take off the sleeves of his shirt. but not get out of the box. this is innovation in storytelling.

oh my god this isn’t even artem’s apartment, this is just a straight up house????

this card is just. extremely boring so far.

i do appreciate the focus on artem's original interests though, like movies and cooking. it was a breath of fresh air.

ok so. mc goes to sleep. after fixing artem’s puppet. thing. and then they somehow end up on the bed together where he then “takes a whiff of her hair”. mc tries to back away saying she’s uncomfortable in the position she’s in (she's like on her knees on the bed), and then artem pulls her back to sniff her again. and then smells cleaning supplies on her. “you cleaned the puppet after fixing them” OKAY?? what did i just read.

on top of this, i need to reiterate how dreadfully boring this card is

okay so. time skip of several months confirmed. i was right. also rosa never talked to artem about why he wanted to move in with her. at all. they did not discuss this. “i have never asked him why he’s suddenly in a rush to move in with me” REALLY???????

the housewarming party is admittedly very sweet. i like this part a lot.

ok so we’re back to artem NOT being bold. i guess. does that mean he goes back to being bold in 4th anniversary

i like the scene where they play a stupid game of testing each other w legal jargon, and then rosa pulls out a phone book of law firms. THATS the kinda stupid shit i want lol

rosa winds up measuring artem for some reason bc she sews things in this card. and then rosa is like hey wanna measure ME in the bathroom ;;;))))) and artem is like sure i guess. then it ends there. out of no where but i'll take rosa being the more bold one anyday.

i. hm. this was an interesting card. it’s infinitely better than second anniversary. there were no steamy scenes imo. which. thank god. but it was boring as sin, had some weird forced parts, and still not rly worth pulling for. but it. is Better than second anniversary. cheers.

[oldsargasso]

WELL. The last ep did not provide any contradictions wrt Kenta getting Kim out of Tony’s, so we are free to continue just assuming it happened LOL. I also think Kenta must have helped Kim get settled in! He did seem more emotionally invested in Red Racing than Tony was, like he protested Tony pulling their funding (and perhaps he’d foolishly hoped that it could have become a venture that Tony cared about more than the trafficking). Benz made an offhand comment in a live about Kenta contacting him to join Red Racing, so I’m just going to tell myself they knew each other before the kidnapping, because that Look said everything. And what an odd shift in dynamic that must be, from having someone show you your new apartment to having them hold a knife to your neck to having them kneel at your feet. 

(screaming about Kim giving Kenta a collar PLEASE)

I’m also going to assume that Kim saw Kenta collapsed by Tony’s body with a bloody knife in his hand, put two-and-two together, quietly crouched by his side and lay a hand on his shoulder. (I can’t stop thinking about Kenta looking like a puppet with his strings cut)

Kim and Winner’s relationship this episode… there’s so much to unpack there. Kim certainly did get his payback for Winner kicking him while he was down. But Winner pointing a gun at North and Sonic is gonna hang between them for a long time, those are Kim’s BABIES! But also the way Winner always folds so deliciously when he’s overpowered, like can him and Dean have matching collars with Kenta? I think Winner and Kim would have a (hate fueled) physical relationship before they develop anything else. They’ve certainly got a LONG way to go.

I think Kenta paid someone to sabotage Babe’s car, and since there was a gap between Kim finding the footage, letting Tony know he knew, and getting kidnapped, he could have informed X-Hunter and they ideally banned that dude. (there are SO many plot holes to patch up ahdjfj) I do think Winner could easily have mentioned Dean as a candidate, yes!

And yeah I agree, it’s WinnerDean + KimKenta in my head. I’ve got a couple different ideas on how the pairs would get tangled up with each other, and I’m trying to weave them together into a cohesive thread.

First of all, I think Kenta and Dean could easily end up doing community service together, and it becomes this weird bonding thing for them? Like they’re both left with their lives in pieces at the end of this crisis, and they end up in the same place. At the start of it, Dean can’t look at Kenta (or anyone really) without glaring at him, while Kenta just radiates sad puppy energy even though is expression is completely flat. But by the end of it, they’ve got this sort of… companionship with each other. (watch me end up writing KentaDean fic once I wrap my head around their complicated emotions)

(And this is where I tie in our WinnerDean poolboy thread) So when Dean gets hurt by Winner, Kenta finds out about it, which means Kim finds out about it. And Kim already has five hundred bones to pick with Winner, which means Winner gets his face slammed against the tile of the diner-bar bathroom and a very harshly worded interrogation of what his intentions are with Dean, which prompts him into actually fixing that situationship this time (because oh, it was in fucking shambles when he had the audacity to offer Dean money).

And it also means that KimKenta start a regular thing of taking Dean out for drinks/coffee, because Kenta cares and Kim realizes Dean doesn’t have anyone looking out for him. And Kim isn’t blind, he sees the looks Dean gives them, especially the wistfulness when Kim has a hand on the back of Kenta’s neck. 

Anyways that’s just a thought! I’m just glad they all survived (no WAY SonicNorth would be killing someone) LMFAO WE MADE IT AND NOW WE HAVE THE MV TO LOOK FORWARD TO.

And no you are definitely not alone in that Winner -> Babe thought! They fucked once years ago and Babe told Winner he was stinky and a bad lay, and Winner basically never got over it.

I am so sorry it's taken me like a week to answer this. I kinda want to just hoard these in my inbox forever honestly

the one real advantage of caring so much about side couples is there's so little to go on we can just make up whatever we want lol. SHUT UP I never even considered that Kenta was the one to contact Kim after Tony choose him for Red Racing. omg. [have I discussed with you the fic I'm very very slowly working on where Kenta collects Kim from the airport when he arrives and they hook up from then because for a long time Kim thinks Kenta is like Tony's super buff but totally regular P.A. leading to delicious betrayal when Kenta pulls the knife] I forgot about Kenta actually arguing about cutting the funding. he's so invested!!

I often think about these events from Kenta's perspective (since we kinda get more of him onscreen) but Kim truly has the wildest journey of everyone in the show. like he's already got a career racing. and then he moves to Thailand for a bunch of money and finds out his new boss (I almost typed owner but um.) is actually in the market of human trafficking and organ trading? and then gets found family'd into a whole new racing team. and the whole time he's just so cool with it?? god I love Kim.

(listen if anyone deserves a collar it's Kenta and if anyone deserves to collar someone it's Kim)

the fact that no-one went over to Kenta after that…DEVASTATING. I haven't been able to rewatch the episode yet - I want to watch the whole series from the beginning - but that being the last we see of Kenta is the second worst thing the show has done. (first worst is Dean not even getting MENTIONED in the final episode I cannot live like this) but it's okay because we know that during the race at the end Kenta was sitting in the stands supporting his boyfriend 😌 had a handmade sign and everything 😌

Winner pointing a gun at North and Sonic but also going "but first: are you two…y'know…" I love him so much he's so terrible. he was SO PATHETIC at the end of that encounter. and NOT DEAD just injured. North and Sonic are KIM'S BABIES!!! (in another universe what a fun ship the three of them would be unfortunately my heart cannot go there. I think they have fun together for a little while though.) I especially love that Kim got another chance to be a badass.

oooh I have so many Thoughts about collars. like for Kenta it's 100% ownership (at least 15% of my brain is just constantly going "he's a loyal dog a LOYAL DOG") I feel like he wants to wear it all the time. a conscious reminder that he's not on his own. Winner does not want a collar. why would he want one! I think it plays well with the still-antagonistic relationship he and Kim have. Winner gets a collar more as a reminder: "behave or else" (perhaps a leash and muzzle to reinforce the message) and then Dean, hm. part ownership/belonging, part 'look how pretty you look in it' you know? I will refrain from going on about what each collar looks like lol. also Kim should get a physical symbol as well. maybe a pretty necklace, perhaps with three pendants/charms or something.

I GOTTA GO READ THE FIC YOU JUST POSTED AJSHFAJGFIA. I still haven't read the pacific rim au either because I want to devote my whole brain to it. but yes. YES TO EVERYTHING ALL OF THAT!! community service as a gateway to a happy poly relationship. the system works. not Dean's wistful little looks :(((

I love poolboy Dean :( screaming at Kim slamming Winner's head into the wall. it's what he deserves 😌 I just love how emotionally clueless Winner is. like it never even occurs to him that other people might have Feelings because he's spent a long time not acknowledging his own. he's not a narcissist he's just oblivious. it's an interesting dichotomy because Winner has a high self-esteem, he loves himself, yet it never occurs to him that other people might like (love??) him. his immaturity after Tony appointed him Kenta's replacement is such a lovely character detail. for him the events of the show are basically an opportunity for him to play-act as a bad guy, because he's got the secure foundation of his rich family. he's been the star of Red Racing for years(?), he's popular, he's talented. and the contrast of him v. Kim, who's got much the same background is so fun.

WHERE IS THE MV. I NEED IT. I NEED TO WATCH IT FIVE HUNDRED TIMES AND BE SUPER NORMAL ABOUT EVERYTHING IN IT.

ETA: I automatically put this in my queue instead of just posting it lol BUT now I can add. forgot to talk about the start of the polycule beyond kentakim + winnerdean. although I love your ideas and would like you to tell me 5 million words of them. I have been Thinking about Kim/Dean where Dean serves his community service and he repents and is absolved by Babe (Way gets to take the easy way out :|) and rejoins x hunter BUT not as a driver, just working in the garage. and he's like mad at Kim for taking his place but at the same time Kim doesn't have the History the others do with Dean, so Kim's actually the one Dean finds himself hanging out with the most. and then it leads to hooking up (it's great) and the tentative start of a relationship. and then Pete comes round like "I found this 🤨" and hands over Kenta. and then Kim has a new project to focus on and Dean is NOT JEALOUS but he is, Kim doesn't want him anymore, it's very tragic. perhaps he goes out and has ill-advised revenge sex with Winner (it's great) and comes back to Kim like "what do you think about that huh!" and Kim's like. "hot." and it carries on from there.

[hannahhasafact]

Kumoricon 2023 recap for myself just because (yes I know it’s been a week now):

Barely finished my Imelda cosplay in time (like think the day of) which felt wild because I spent so much goddamn time on it and truly thought I was going to finish it earlier 😭

This was the first time I can remember that I’ve ever had a cosplay where I was told I looked beautiful? Like I’ve gotten “Oh you’re adorable!” a lot but I got a few “You look beautiful” and that’s just wild

Like a lot of people didn’t know what my cosplay was and I still got compliments, which never happens if they don’t know what my cosplay is. So that’s wild!

Also people were just super nice??? And that was nice

I am frustrated with myself though because I got superglue on the middle of the dress coat towards the end of the day (a fellow ballroom staff person stepped on my skirt when I went to the bathroom and I tried to quick fix it… superglue never works for me I s2g it doesn’t matter how long I hold the thing on for) Also the escalator scratched a big ol scratch in my heels which sucks but like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I was so worn down by ballroom staff stuff??? Which feels weird because a lot of it was not physical (for me) but I still got tired? Which feels lame on my part because like I know I helped in ways but I feel like I wasn’t helpful enough 🫠 but who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (I helped by having a baby look at a picture of a cat on my phone lol)

I absolutely could not wear my heels on day two oh my GOD I forgot how much my Handler/Sophie Bikes shoes hurt. I wore flats p much all day on day two which doesn’t fit the cosplay but listen I am old and a lot of those floors are cement and terrible in the convention center

People were also very nice about my Sylvia cosplay (but also seemed nervous to interact with me? lol)

I’m annoyed with myself because I didn’t look at the schedule at ALL and I ended up not planning my time well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ the only two panels I wanted to go to clashed with work/having to be a responsible adult and take care of my kitty 😭 and look obviously Bijou above me having a silly time at a con but also man what a bummer. Next year gotta actually take a look at the schedule and plan. (Though tbh I’m annoyed that the panels I wanted to go to were all in the evening like wtf man who starts a panel at 5:30PM)

Having my bike this year was a godsend oh my GOD it was so nice to be able to bike to the convention center and back most of the weekend 🚲 like obviously I couldn’t bike in my Imelda cosplay but the rest of the weekend? Easy to bike back and forth. So extremely helpful. I’m sure it was very funny to see me in a SpyXFamily cosplay biking to the convention center (a parking guy said he liked my hat as I biked by lol)

Wore my Yuuri Katsuki cosplay for the last day of con which always makes me laugh because I just look like… a kind of sloppy guy but clearly SOMETHING is going on because it’s very obvious I’m wearing a wig 😆 but holy heck I swear this is the most recognition I’ve gotten for my Yuuri cosplay ever???

For reference: a very tired nerd lol

I spent way more at con than I was expecting? But then again I did buy two manga which definitely upped my “money spent at con” amount and I had a little bit of money saved up specifically for con. Also I’m so obsessed with the fact that more and more cons/markets are selling wax melts???? I use wax melts a lot and I got some from Mizu Crafts that smell SO GOOD. I’ve been melting the Kiss Kiss Fall in Love one and my apartment smells like a bouquet of roses it’s so nice (also if they’re on tumblr and see this for some reason I’m so sorry I was kind of a mess and knocked something over I was really tired and I know you were nice about it but I still felt bad)

Right after con I had to go home and get ready for a murder mystery dinner party wedding reception for my cousin and proceeded to drink too much wine and eat really good food (I’m sure the exhaustion did not help)

I didn’t catch covid but oof I think I did get some con crud for sure. I would also say it was probably the combo of not sleeping enough/not eating well/wearing bad support and carrying stuff all weekend but oh my god my body has been recuperating this week. All I did on Thursday was play video games and yesterday I cleaned my apartment and wow wow wow did I need that. (Though playing video games all day Thursday did not help my sore back lol)

I’m probably going to move out of this apartment this year because reasons but like… god it’s so convenient to be so close to the convention center. (And no way will I be able to afford a place in such a good location if I move but here we are). It’s just like… I wish I was rich so I didn’t have to worry about my housing stuff all the time.

But yeah! That was con. I’m still tired but that’s more because last night I went to bed after midnight and still woke up at 7:30AM lol

[kissingchoso]

𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐄 | 𝐘𝐔𝐔𝐓𝐀 𝐎𝐊𝐊𝐎𝐓𝐒𝐔

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: Psuedo-brother!Yuuta x Psuedo-Sister!Reader; found family AU

𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒: In which your brother asks you to have a little faith in him. His methods on the other hand…they’re a bit unorthodox.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: 18+ content, DARK CONTENT, IN*C3ST, naive reader, Yuuta takes advantage of her loyalty to him, coercion, dubcon, manipulation, slight dry humping, oral (f. receiving), male masturbation, getting cummed on

𝐀/𝐍: this was used to break me out of my writing runt lol. also my first time writing for yuuta, pls be nice to me. i’ve decided not to tag the most obvious trigger so I BEG OF YOU TO READ THE WARNINGS BEFORE THE WORK ITSELF

You’ve looked up to Yuuta the first day he held his hand out to you. Abandoned by a cruel world all because you could see curses. You’ve witnessed them kill time and time again but whenever you intervene, it seems that death continues to shroud your good deeds. 

Your old home tossed you out, forcing you to be on your own. 

It had been eight months since you felt the warmth of another person until he saved you. In all of his glory, Yuuta came to your aid just when you thought no one else would. He held your shaking form for hours after vanquishing the demon that dared harm you. Soft hands cradled your form close to him, taking you to his makeshift home. 

It was but a small studio apartment. Bed tucked away in a corner with a functioning kitchen and a square table in the middle of the room. There were two doors located right next to each other, hinting for a bathroom and a closet/storage of sorts. He was so kind to let you in, let you have a seat at his dining table as he fixed you up a warm cup of tea.

His kindness extends far beyond from what you remember. He’s awkward but a true gentleman. Stutters when accidentally catches a glimpse of your naked body coming out of the shower but he’ll ensure to tuck you in at night when the weather drops and the heater isn’t as strong as it should be. 

“Stay with me,” Yuuta asks you one morning over a hot breakfast he’s prepared. You had been with him for a few days after the incident, allowing him to dote on you while you got a hold of your bearings. “Based off of what you’ve told me... you have no where else to go. And I myself- well I necessarily don’t see myself heading back to Tokyo for a while. Either way, we can be of great use to each other.”

“Yuu-”

“Don’t think of me being a strange man. Just consider me an- your older brother! Brothers help their sisters, right?” He’s breathing hard now.

Chest rising and falling all too quickly, eyes wide and his hands...oh? When did they cover yours? They’re shaking as they hold yours, calloused fingers intertwining with yours. Surely this can’t be too bad, right? This is the same man who saved your life and cared for you right after. 

Because of him, you’re not sleeping in a wet alleyway, going hungry. Being here would benefit the both of you, as long as you can pull your weight in the end. Without considering your options too heavy, you nod, signing off whatever dignity you had to him.

~

You’ve lived with Yuuta for over a month now and things are going... surprisingly okay. Your strength had returned and you offered to help around the home while he was gone for the day. 

He’d come back to a freshly cleaned location and an easy meal you managed to cook in the time he’d be gone. Seeing that grateful look, that beautiful smile- it was worth all the effort you’d put in. Finally, someone who would not look at you like a disgrace.

He started to be a lot more affectionate with you. He’d kiss your forehead goodnight nowadays, hold your hand whenever you two went out together, even went as far to squeeze your waist and come up behind you whenever he found you in the kitchen. It never bothered you in the slightest. You hadn’t grown up with siblings and your parents never had the chance to properly educate you on the world of intimacy. 

You’d welcome his ministrations with an open heart. 

Maybe that was your first mistake. 

The night was like any other. Yuuta returned home from a long day of his secretive job (you could’ve sworn he was secretly working with individuals who commissioned him for the extermination of curses, but he’d never elaborate much with you) and you prepared him a loving meal to settle him in. When he sat down and looked at the steaming plate of chicken curry and rice you set down for him, he gave you the most grateful expression you’d ever seen.

“Thank you sister. You don’t understand how much I appreciate this,” he rested his head on your side, tilting his head to deliver small pecks against your clothed abdomen. You merely shooed him off of you, telling him that he needs to eat and clean up first before anything else. 

Yuuta listened to you, eating in mouthfuls that makes him look like he’s been starved this whole time. Afterwards, he’s leaving his plate in the sink and approaching you seated on the bed. You looked up from the magazine you were reading, ready to scold him to get his ass in the bath but his next actions make you freeze.

Your brother lays atop of your form, hips pushed between your legs and face buried in your neck. He hums your name and you wriggle from beneath him, trying to get the man off of you. “Yuu, wait-” you feel something hard pressed against the inside of your thigh. 

What the hell?

You can feel the deliverance of a few pecks against your neck, Yuuta slowly but surely mapping out the surface with just his lips and a bit of teeth. He doesn’t respond when you fall for his name, simply capturing your flailing hands in his and holding them next to your head. He pulls off of your neck only to transfer his lips onto yours. 

They’re all chaste and filled with curiosity. Yuuta whimpers from above you, pressing his lips against yours deeper. 

Should this be happening? Should you let Yuuta kiss you when he’s clearly not thinking straight? Your heart tugs when the answer isn’t coming up anytime soon. 

Eventually, you give way to his ministrations when you realize he’s not letting up. Slowly moving your lips against his to explore the waters you’ve found yourself in. Yuuta makes a noise from above you and you do your best to ignore the way he suddenly jolts his hips forward, grounding his pelvis into yours. He pulls off your lips not too long after, lips swollen and pupils formed in the shape of hearts.

“My sweet sister,” Yuuta sighs, subconsciously rocking his hips against yours.

“Yuu, is this- we’ve never tried this before. Is this okay?” You wish your voice didn’t tremble. 

He gives you that same boyish smile that got you into this mess in the first place. “Yeah, of course. Of course! God, I wish I could have kissed you under better circumstances but...you- you’ve been so good to me since I took you off the street.”

Yuuta groans when his dick grinds perfectly against your aching pussy, squeezing his hands around yours. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a sweet girl such as yourself before, no.”

A series of more grinding ensues and you can feel a thick vein through layers of clothes catch against your clit, causing your own body to tremble at the delicious sensation. Maybe dipping your head below these scary waters isn’t as bad as you may seem. It’s not like it’s necessarily cold- just unfamiliar. 

That’s how you and Yuuta were before you two met. Now, you can’t imagine a life without him. Surely, you can find it in your heart to lay off the hesitant thoughts circulating your mind.

You were about to submit. Three seconds more and you would have claimed his mouth again until he opens his big mouth and startles you out of your stupor.

“Can I suck your pussy? Please say yes. Please please please,” he pants, cheeks flushed beyond red. 

“Wha-?”

His eyes widen at your frightened state, silently cursing himself for being too forward with you. He can feel control slipping between his fingers but he could not forgive himself if he hurt you by the end of this. Yuuta needed that trust to come back again.

“I-It’ll feel good, I promise. I know you’ll like it. Don’t you get a tingly sensation when we take a bath together? Or when I give you pretty clothes to try on? Because I know I do, so surely you must retain that same feeling as well. Please, let me show you.”

Yuuta releases the both of your hands so he can adjust where his body lays- now in between your legs. He’s gently pushing up the night gown that you so often wear to bed, pleasantly sighing at the white cotton panties that stare back at him. 

“Don’t worry little sister, I won’t hurt you. You can trust me. You always can,” he sighs, delivering kiss after kiss from your stomach all the way down to the seamline of your panties. 

You don’t pick up a fight when he slides the fabric down all the way past your legs nor do you say anything when when he shoves them into the back pocket of his trousers. Yuuta leans back down so he’s level with your pussy, burying his nose between your folds just so that he can...smell? He sighs when buried right between your face, already maneuvering your thighs so that they come above his sturdy shoulders.

In the next moment, the man is dragging his tongue along your weeping cunt, letting out a pained whine from the noise he makes. “I knew you were wet,” he mumbles against your clit before his lips loop around the small ball.

Your back arches off of the bed when he does this, hands now finding purchase into the sheets beneath you as your older brother eats your pussy for the very first time. You never thought Yuuta would do this to you, and look so happy when doing it. His eyes are closed and he expertly directs his tongue around all parts of your weeping cunt. 

“Yuu-nii,” you whine from above, subconsciously grinding up against his face. The black haired sorcerer simply hums against your labia, dipping his head further into your sweetness.

You don’t even realize when his hips pick up the bad habit of grinding again, but this time it’s against the bed. He ruts his hips like a fucking dog, making the bed squeak but your mind doesn’t think about the sudden noise. His hands are too preoccupied with hastily shoving enough of his bottoms out of the way so his raw cock could be the one rubbing against the exposed sheets. All you could focus on was not losing your mind the more Yuuta flicks his tongue back and forth against your sensitive clit.

It’s your first time so of course you feel the tightening sensation all too soon. You attempt to warn him, claim that “I-I can feel something coming!” 

Yuuta simply doubles in his effort, doing all that he can to make you.... do what?! Pee yourself? That would be too embarrassing and you’d never live past that truth but your brother simply does not care. And he definitely doesn’t want you to hold back.

He pulls against your pussy once more to speak again. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Trust me. If you let it go, you’ll feel really good. Your bro promises.” 

You have no other choice but to trust it, right? Don’t fight the urge to scream when his tongue slides inside of you and his nose is the one stimulating your clit. Don’t hold back when your jaw goes slack and your body seizes against his ministrations. You’ve never felt something so powerful pass through you before.

It feels as if the biggest bully of a curse slammed you through four buildings with no room to breathe. Black starts flash in your eyesight and your eyes flutter the more your orgasm comes and goes. Yuuta makes sure to make it last long as possible until you’re no longer crushing his skull with your thighs and your noises have transformed into something more pained. 

He pulls of then, surveying the mess he’s just made. “Fuck.” He moans, suddenly sitting back up to his knees and shuffling close to you again. 

When your vision clears, you make out your brother above you once more, one arm extended to hold himself up while the other is...moving? You look down to see what the big deal is about until you notice his dick wrapped up by his hand. It’s hard and the tip is leaking this clear liquid you’ve never seen before. It droops down onto your quivering pussy.

When Yuuta moans again, it’s your name falling from his lips. His wrist twist at the base of his cock and he grunts out “sister!” until you’re making out a splat! sound. His dick releases this white liquid, the consistency thick and heavy when it lands on your night gown and bits of exposed flesh. 

Is this what a man releases when he’s...finished? 

Yuuta collapses on top of you, not caring if his cum stains both of your clothing. His face is buried back into your shoulder, trying to catch his breath despite the constricting and sweaty area. He holds your hands again, body slumping deeper into yours.

“I love you, [Name].” Is all Yuuta says before resuming his heavy breaths.

It’s the first time he’s ever said that to you. You...Do you feel the same after tonight? 

“Thank you...?” you whimper unsure.

© This work was created by: @kissingchoso​ . Do not share, repost, or recommend on any other platform without consent from the author.

[catch-the-wind]

when reader is sick hc's

finally posting writing here so true

n e ways okay so i’m brainrotting about the genshin charas taking care of their s/o’s when they’re sick 🥺 and now i'm feeling sick, sigh

ohm and sulien ambros belong to @teyvattherapist! they're such good chara's, i know i'm writing them here but i deffo recommend reading up on them

okay here u go, have some hc's that are kinda sorta long and by that i mean 2.5k- i haven't proofread this bc it's 4am and im going to BED but if i write for any other chara's i'll post a second part <3 mwah

tags: gn!reader, diluc x reader, kaeya x reader, jean x reader, lisa x reader, albedo x reader, dainsleif x reader, tartaglia x reader, ohm ambros x reader, sulien ambros x reader, soft bean hours

diluc

is not working or traveling when his partner is sick

absolutely makes them soup and hot tea and drinks

he’s trying to make them food but he’s not the best cook so he’s asking adelinde for help

absolutely asks jean, barbara, and ohm for help while his partner is sleeping but he’s so awkward LMAO

was absolutely frantic the first day he found out his partner was sick tho, he made them come over to the winery so they could sleep there and he can take care of them <3

absolutely lied about what room was his so they slept in his bed

“hmm this guest room is so furnished diluc are all your rooms like this” and no, no they are not, this room is his, bestie

diluc slept on a sofa in his bedroom and did work on the table that was supposed to be for flowers. kinda stressed over abyss order locations but was more worried ab his partner being okay so he was distracted

he just put the flowers on his nightstand for his partner to see when they woke up <3

gives his partner forehead kisses because they won’t let him kiss them on the lips and he gives them the gentlest cheek kisses while they sleep

also gives his partner his clothes to wear <3

cuddles them and reads to them when they’re awake and TEMPLE KISSES OH MY GOD

kaeya comes over because he’s worried his brother and his brother’s s/o haven’t been seen in a little while

n e way, diluc gets sick after his partner gets better and they nursed each other back to health

kaeya

like diluc, he took off work so he could take care of his s/o i,mediately after he found out they were sick

wouldn’t force them to stay at his place tho, he’d probably let them recover in their own place

but he might make them go to the kof hq or the cathedral just so they can be taken care of by a proper healer

he absolutely soothes their fevers and stuff w cryo and also the man can heal himself w his elem skill ofc he can fix someone if he tries hard enough <3

he gives kisses no matter how much his partner says not to but he’ll also give them butterfly kisses so it’s soft moments too~ sigh, ur too cute alberich

asks ohm and barbara and albedo and lisa for potions and such to help his partner feel better but he’s really lowkey so he doesn’t seem SUPER worried

he just hates seeing his partner not feeling so well </3

refreshes his partner’s vase of flowers at their bedside every day

brings home work so he can watch over his partner. he can’t cook super well either so he asks for help and brings stuff home from good hunter too

jean was okay to let kaeya off of work and diluc would never admit it (man practically swore everyone to secrecy smh) but he helped take up some of kaeya’s duties in his stead

and kae, the alcoholic, didn’t even drink while his partner was sick bc he was lowkey worried they would need his help w smth and he didn’t want to be drunk just in case <3

many cuddles despite protests of getting him sick <3

jean

absolutely uses her healer skills to make her partner feel better

panicked when they were still sick and thought it was her fault </3 she asked barbara and ohm for help and they just told jean to relax a bit bc her partner was sick and it wasn’t going to be a quick fix

wanted to take off work but didn’t, so she just brought her work with her

kaeya and ohm very kindly took up her other duties where she had to leave so she could be w her partner

her partner is staying in the kof hq where they get access to ohm and barbara comes to visit <3 but also so that jean can sleep comfortably enough close by bc you cannot tell me this woman does not sometimes sleep in her office or the library and barely makes it to the kof dormitories sometimes

she’s so worried the entire time, she’s probably got a few gray hairs and a new frown line smh

she has clothes that aren’t her work clothes???? it’s so foreign seeing her in stuff like pajamas. you didn’t even know jean owned pajamas

jean sets them up in her bed at home (yeah she has a place outside of the kof hq??? it’s surprising) but it’s a big bed so they can rest and she’ll have the lamp on her side on while she sits up and does work

absolutely dotes on them. she’s good at making foods that make them feel better, she’s just a good healer that way <3

albedo, klee, venti, kaeya, lisa, and ohm all come over to check on jean and co and make sure everyone is doing okay <3 lots of food brought

if jean was asked to sing to her partner normally, she probably wouldn’t bc she’d probably get embarrassed but i think she probably sounds v good and venti would give her his lyre to try out a musical instrument too. but also she’d read to her partner and they’d probably fall asleep together uwu

lisa

works part time hours at the library so she can go visit her s/o

probably asks them to stay at the kof hq for easier access to medical assistance and plus she’s almost always there

“cutie” but worried and very 🥺 (pleading emoji)

makes soup and potions and reads to her partner until they fall asleep

also super playful omg she’s still got a smile on and is full of affection while she walks her fingers up her partner’s arm to their face so she can cup their cheek

she’ll make her partner laugh and smile and blush even when they’re sick, but she makes them laugh until they cough sometimes and immediately feels so bad

jean, barbara, kaeya, albedo and ohm all come to visit with different foods and soups and medicines and such

klee comes knocking and gives lisa some good fisherman’s toast and asks lisa’s s/o if they want to hug dodoco b/c that always makes klee feel better

purple roses galore, lisa has them in her partner’s room and they’ve got a potion to make the. uh. sniffer? to make the sniffer feel better. don’t ask me how, idk but she would find a way to make them physically feel better with flowers

reads to her partner ofc, and she tells them stories ab her own life and time at sumeru sans the crazies

worried looks when her s/o is sleeping but also the softest smiles when they wake up pls-

albedo

cutest lil frown on his face when he finds out his partner is sick

immediately they are taken home and he’s testing to confirm what’s wrong w them and what he can do to speed up their recovery

he’s more distracted than usual at work but he’s coming over to your place all the time w what paperwork he can do

also sketches his partner while they don’t know. he’s got lots of beautiful candids of his partner sleeping, looking out the window, falling asleep, reading, even drinking water. he’s made the most mundane things look captivating

kaeya and ohm come to check on albedo when he doesn’t show up for work after a few days and it’s bc he’s taking care of his s/o with food and soup and alchemical potions and shit. and when kae and ohm come in, they find his partner opening the door wrapped in a blanket while albedo is asleep cuddling the pillow they left bc he stayed up the night before making soup and reading to them

klee has camped out on his partner’s couch, she helps w the cooking too~ she absolutely lets them hug dodoco and gives them a treasure to feel better too LOL

many kisses from klee and albedo, and they also go out to get treats for albedo’s partner too

domestic albedo cooking in his partner’s kitchen and for once it isn’t some alchemical potion that he might blow up the stove with

tartaglia

takes off work entirely but BOY OH BOY is he stir crazy smh

brings his partner to his apartment to rest <3

he’s so worried ab his s/o that he makes all the sick ppl food the first day, orders from wanmin restaurant when his partner wants smth different, and also gets toys and such to entertain them otherwise

also reads to his partner but, again, he gets stir crazy after a while

absolutely does workouts and katas in the living room and phew shirtless tartaglia working out? gets the heart rate up for sure ahem

rushes to his partner tho omg- need soup? water? a trip to the bathroom? another blanket? he goes to them the MOMENT he hears them moving around. absolutely dotes on them <3

his family knows ab his partner and he’s probably written letters ab them being sick~ his family sent snezhnayan herbs and flowers and medicines and such

zhongli comes around because he wants sugar daddy!tartaglia with tea and medicine from bubu pharmacy. hu tao is in tow with well wishes and a “hope i don’t find you at work!” which is. a little worrying because aren’t you just a little sick-

many kisses from tartaglia because he is Needy and he’ll absolutely get sick from cuddling his partner while they sleep

also he’ll probably just like. envelop his partner while they sleep. they’re all cuddled into him and he’s actually so warm it’s nice bc they’re cold w a fever and he’s living for comforting them

he’s so worried tho, he’s got the frowny face and he’s so adorable but he just doesn’t want his partner to feel sick

dainsleif

the man camps in ruins, he’s going to his partner’s house smh

he doesn’t go into the church either LOL so expect him in his partner’s home making dinner and doing their grocery shopping thanks

he would get ohm and barbara to come over tho <3 “fix them please” but also “how can i fix them”

is so dead set on making sure his partner takes their medicine at the right times, he’s so soft for them and them alone

cooks soup and old recipes he barely remembers from khaenri’ah. he doesn’t really get sick, so he doesn’t remember these ones too clearly. deffo brings back old memories he’d long forgotten

reads to his partner and tells them old stories of how the world used to be, his travels, gives them the gossip on a certain khaenri’ahn but doesn’t give away the name

ohm comes over with medicine and lollipops bc dain is so unlikely to go to the cathedral to get barbara smh

but also dain, so self-sufficient, is unlikely to want to ask for help, so ohm just goes to help anyway

dain with the old khaenri’ahn lullabies and tucking his partner into his arms and singing quietly while he holds them and rocks them to sleep

dain is immortal, he’s giving his partner kisses bc “i’m immortal, ofc i won’t get sick”

he got sick

but his s/o nursed him back to health and then there were smooches the end

ohm ambros

the doctor with his ill lover oh my god

he’s frowny, he’s taking care of his partner at his home in springvale and his home clinic is open to everyone else. but everyone knows his partner is the first priority LOL

kaeya and albedo come over to see if ohm is okay or if his house needs to be checked up on. they’re wondering if he went on a last-minute expedition to sumeru and didnt tell them

diluc comes over too, he’s just checking up on his best friend but he’s also stealing a cherry lollipop smh. he heard from kae that ohm’s partner is sick tho, so he brings some soup and good food over from adelinde. he also brings some of his own specialty food tho, the once upon a time in mondstadt <3

sulien sending letters to his big brother to see if his brother’s s/o is okay

ohm is also just super protective of his partner, there are not many people who come into his life who he loves and lets in in the first place. he’s absolutely trying to heal them with his own vitality, so their recovery is much shorter than initially expected

barbara also comes over w jean to check up on ohm and co, complete w a goody basket of soup, a teddy bear, flowers, and books

ohm reading to his partner <3 he’s got such a soothing voice even if his accent is wack LMAO. he’s reading stories and even his paperwork because just his presence is comforting

he puts his hands on his partner’s forehead to soothe the fever goodbye

ohm will not sing for his s/o simply bc he doesn’t think he sounds v good. and he probably doesn’t but it would be so cute to hear him try and please ohm? 🥺

n e way i want smooches idc if i’m sick KISS ME OHM AMBROS

sulien ambros

when he finds out his partner is sick, the man blinks like twice and then suggests so calmly that they go to his apartment in liyue

man does not sleep normally, he’s just going to nurse his partner back to health and read during their recovery. fruit tart can cover his duties for him <3

sulien cooks for his partner tho, he’s making soup and stuff and getting medicine from bubu’s pharmacy. he’s also picking up books on the way home but some of them are to be read to his partner so it’s okay-

like tartaglia, sulien works out while his partner rests and goes to them if he hears them moving around. he’s reading to his partner and not so frowny, but the slightest furrow of this man’s brow is already such a big expression of his concern <3

sends letters to ohm asking for advice ab how to help his partner feel better. ohm just sends a letter back with “i’m coming” and shows up within the day LMAO

reads to his partner, and the monotony of his voice is soothing and lulls them to sleep. he just looks at them affectionately (well affectionate for him) and presses a kiss to their forehead before finishing the story on his own and in his head

tartagalicious comes over and brings food, flowers and a teddy bear with some of sandrone’s paperwork but he sends a smile to sulien’s partner with some well wishes

scara comes over too just to visit and check to see where sandrone is, but scara is a grumpy bean so he just says “feel better” all brooding and like it’s a command to one of the fatui subordinates LOL

sulien like ohm uses his cold hands to soothe his partner’s fever and also gives them forehead kisses <3

Edit: a link to part 2

[yoichichi]

Intern!Eren HC

warning(s): none

a/n: some Intern!Eren HC based off my CEO!Levi x secretary!reader post you can read here <- if you’d like :) I got one person requesting it in my inbox and that’s all I needed LOL :) I’d love to hear from you guys in my inbox! Hope you enjoy <3 I’m also gonna be posting more characters from this ~universe so feel free to send in thoughts or ideas !

FIRST OFF HES SO STUPID LIKE PLS

I’m sorry but hear me out:

He’s very intelligent, right. He was well composed in his interview to be an intern, his resume was wonderfully organized full of all kinds of references and experience, he can hold a corporate conversation like nobody’s business, and he’s definitely got this natural charm working for him

But this man can’t work a photo copier for the life of him 😭

He doesn’t know the difference between business casual & smart casual (tbh who tf does)

He is always joking with boss Levi at the WORST times

He’s AWFUL at finding things pls

Someone will tell him to go grab more printer paper from the cabinets in the break room and he’ll just go and stand in there like 🧍

“Cabinets, cabinets... okayyy what one.”

^he definitely talks to himself like that ALL the time but more on that later

But anyways he’ll be searching through all the cabinets and just,,, not see it and he’d start freaking out like oh fuck they’re gonna fire me cause my dumbass can’t find the fuckin printer paper

He’d just come back like

“Um, uh, Miss Parker I couldn’t find the printer paper🧍.”

She’s an older lady in the advertising department of the company that just finds him so endearing pls

so she goes and just opens the first cupboard he looked in and hands it to him like “here sweetie, make sure to open your eyes next time.”

She’s so sweet but poor baby is so red and embarrassed 😭

It’s even worse when she asks him to load it and he just - breaks it

he accidentally pulled too hard trying to open the paper compartment and ripped one of the plastic front pieces off and is just holding it in his hand like 😰

He jus tapes it on w scotch tape and bolts out of the room once it’s loaded and then blames it on Jean when Levi asks why the hell the printer in the front office is broken

“Yeah no I have no idea sir, I think it might’ve been Jean, I mean I saw him in here last buttt, yeah no I really don’t know sorry!”

Queue Eren speed walking to the bathroom so he can collect himself abdjdjajdjf

But on the note of breaking things it’s totally happened more than once

I STRONGLY HC this mf as being clumsy a lil like he just never fully got used to his height after he had his growth spurt

So he has a habit of tripping over himself or hitting his head on cabinets and such

This also means long arms accidentally knocking these over 😭

His first day he reached across his lil intern desk adjacent to Jeans to answer the phone and just completely knocked off his stapler and it kinda came apart

So once he was done with the call he was like no biggie I can fix this :)

And then he spent the next 20 minutes trying to figure out how the hell to put it back together

Levi happened upon him at his desk with google up on his computer, “how to put together stapler”, and he was fiddling with it in his lap and Levi was just 🤨

Eren was so embarrassed and went beet red

But as soon as Jean started chuckling Levi was like “well help him? I’d rather not have a broken stapler and besides, it’d give you two idiots something to do.”

So of course jean was like ok 🙄 but now him and eren have been arguing and BOTH been trying to fix it for another 10 minutes

Levi comes over to check on them and he’s so disappointed he’s just like “give me the fucking stapler” and puts the pieces back together and hands it to eren like 😐.

But yeah, Eren has a tendency to break things LOL

Ok back to mans talking to himself

He can be forgetful when it comes to tasks he needs to do so you’ll often find him walking around the office muttering things to himself like “phone, phone. Listen to the voicemail on the phone.”

And sometimes he’ll sing it to himself instead of speaking it cause it he finds it keeps him entertained ��🤲🏼

He also has a bad habit of just humming at his desk period

Jean absolutely hates it, especially when the songs Eren’s humming get stuck in Jeans head LMAO

Levi implied he was proud of Erens work ~once and he almost cried, he had to excuse himself and Miss Parker thought he was gonna throw up

One time Levi joked about long hair not being dress code and immediately had to take it back before Eren and Jean had a crisis at their desk

But even with his little quirks and shenanigans he takes his internship very seriously and is highly knowledgeable about the core responsibilities of the job, which is definitely a reason Levi accepted his application in the first place

Eren is so punctual it’s insane, he hasn’t missed a single day at his internship and has never been more than a minute late

And he’s so cute always asking Levi what he could do better at the end of his day or if there’s anything else he needs from him

At some point Levi had to ask him to only ask it once a week cause he has other things to worry about too 😭

But Levi did admire his determination to improve

Eren may be a little silly but he’ll be damned if he’s gonna lose this internship <3

————————

Eeeeek okok so this is officially a part of my CEO!levi universe LMAO any work that is based in this will be tagged appropriately! I’m also thinking of posting a pt.2 to this with reader 😏! Lemme know if you guys are interested! I’ll be having some more works come out with other aot boys in this universe too :)! Anyways yes I’d love any and all thoughts <3

requests are open

-🐇out

taglist: @plutowrites @armins-futon @peachysimp (if you’d like to be added to aot, hq, mha, or a mixture of those jus lemme know!)

[marigoldwitch]

So, my parents are moving here in February…

My mom is worried about my health (with the mold situation in our apartment) and has asked my partner and I to move into a place with them. We’d split the rent 50/50. She said it would just be until we found something of our own that we could afford, and this way we could save some more money (since living with them would be cheaper than what we pay now).

My partner is fine with the idea. He hates this place and would rather live in a tent, if it had a bathroom lol, than live here one more day. So we’re strongly considering the idea. I just don’t know. The only experience I have living with my parents wasn’t that great and the idea of going back to that place (mentally) doesn’t seem like a healthy choice. But staying here any longer than we need to also doesn’t seem like a healthy choice (physically).

My partner keeps reminding me that it wouldn’t be forever. It would just be until we found something affordable for ourselves. But then I start to worry about whether or not my parents will be able to afford the rent once we leave and are no longer paying half. My dad is retiring early (that’s why they’re moving here) and so they’ll be on a fixed income, that’s only a little more than half of what he currently makes.

Of course I have until the middle of next month to decide what I want to do. The one good thing about living with my parents is I’ve never had to hide who I am, as it relates to my witchcraft practices. My mom actually loves all my “witchy stuff” as she puts it lol. So I can still practice. Although they have a small dog, so I won’t be able to use any incense or defusers. Which is fine with me.

Idk. Idk. Idk. Lol.

[delos-mio]

Out Of The Woods - college!AU - PART 3

A/N: I’m partial to this chapter, but perhaps that’s just me. I’ve not gotten a lot of feedback on this series sooooo idk if I’m just sharing it for me at this point lol but I’m having fun and that’s what matters, right?! Anyways I’m always around for thoughts, feelings, questions!

Only an essay, a few chapters of reading, and a couple shifts at work separated you from your hang out with Nikolai. You found yourself wondering what he was up to, what made him smile that day, what he’d look like on top of you now. That last one tended to linger a minute before you violently shook it from your head. You hardly knew each other anymore, not to mention you had a boyfriend- you couldn’t let yourself start to fantasize about him like that. But he was so sweet and gentle, so sassy and smart. It didn’t hurt that he was still painfully handsome either.

You were sitting at work, more or less twiddling your thumbs, when you felt a buzzing against the white countertop of the receptionist desk you sat behind. When you looked at the screen, an unknown number appeared. You unlocked your phone and opened your texts. Seeing the first line preview made your heart leap into your throat immediately.

N: Hey it’s Nik. Just thought you should have my number too :)

Y: Hey there you glad you didn’t lose that paper

N: I could never! What are you up to?

Y: Just at work, pretty slow today so I’m kinda bored

N: Hopefully I can keep you a little company. Where do you work?

Y: John Richard Salon- it’s that one downtown across from that hot dog place

N: Oh yeah! Seen it a million times. Do you do hair? Is that a secret talent of yours?

Y: God no lol I’d be horrible at it. I don’t have the dexterity for it. I’m just their receptionist

N: “Just” please I’m sure you’re their best employee

You stopped to roll your eyes, but also couldn’t stop the heat from rising on your cheeks.

N: Do you like it?

Y: It’s pretty good for a low responsibility job- it pays the bills too so I’m not complaining

N: That always helps

Your name had been called from off to your side, making your head snap up and you locked eyes with Deja, who was easily your favorite coworker. “And just what has you smiling like an idiot? Hm?” she asked with a smirk and leaned across the counter from you.

“Remember that guy I was telling you about from the party?”

“Oh yeah, the one you fucked in high school?” she teased.

You let out a long sigh. “Well, he just texted me. We’re supposed to hang out on Friday,” you said confidently, raising your chin in her direction to show her there was nothing of consequence going on between you and Nikolai.

“Hang out. Is that what they’re calling it these days?” Deja looked at you with a raised eyebrow and you could only respond with a look of your own.

“Oh my god, shut up,” you laughed. “Seriously. We haven’t hung out in years and it’s nice to have someone to hang out with who knows me. And wants to hang out with me,” you added under your breath.

“Don’t tell me Matt is back on his bullshit…”

You simply raised your thumb and index finger just slightly apart, squinting at the space between them.

As you were catching her up on the last week, John walked over and flipped over the open sign, locking the glass door in front of him. You took that as your sign to help clean up so you could get out of there as soon as possible. The girls all pitched in, sweeping up the few stray clumps of hair on the old wooden floor and wiped down all the counters for the morning.

While you were on the bus for the short ride back to your apartment, you suddenly remembered the conversation you were having with Nikolai before you closed up shop. You cursed under your breath and pulled out your phone again, quickly thumbing a message back.

Y: Sorry! I got caught up closing

N: No sorry needed, you were at work after all

Y: lol I suppose that’s true. They don’t pay me to sit around and look pretty

N: They should

Y: Oh god lol stop

N: Have I told you that I’m really looking forward to Friday?

Y: No but I’m looking forward to it too

You had since made it home and crawled into bed, happy to finally be off your feet and talking to the boy who disarmed you with a single smile. For the next few hours, the two of you texted back and forth, mostly about classes and work, but you couldn’t stop yourself from occasionally flirting with Nikolai. You really needed to work on actively not doing that, but you allowed yourself one last evening of toying with him. When the clock rolled over to 1am, the lids of your eyes were beginning to grow heavy and a long yawn escaped from your lips.

Y: I think I’m going to fall asleep on you I’m sorry

N: Holy shit I didn’t realize it was so late

N: I should get to bed too. I have a presentation in the morning

Y: Don’t let me keep you up!

N: But darling that’s all I want ;)

N: Sweet dreams- I’ll see you Friday

Y: Goodnight Nik

-----

Friday finally came and you were nervous as you fixed your hair one last time in the wide bathroom mirror. You opted for tight jeans, a pretty low cut tank, and a zip up hoodie. There was no way you were going to just hang out at his house looking like you were ready for the club, but you still wanted to remind Nikolai that you were cute. Genya had already left for the night, so you weren’t able to have a second set of eyes give your outfit the final approval; you could really use the reassurance right about now. As you casually boosted your chest one more time, there was a light knock at the front door. You opened it to Nikolai in a skin-tight tee for your school and a light canvas jacket. His hair was perfectly disheveled and his jeans clung tight to his thick thighs. You caught him giving you a long onceover before giving you a wide smile.

“You look amazing,” he breathed out, pulling you in for a tight embrace. You let your hands wander over his broad back, exploring the pull of his muscles under his jacket.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” you smirked as you pulled apart. You locked up behind you and let Nikolai walk you downstairs and out to his car.

“Pizza?” he asked, one hand low on your back, the other gesturing vaguely you assumed in the direction of the car.

“I thought you’d never ask,” you smiled from ear to ear. Immediately, you could see the tension leave Nikolai’s shoulders. As you stepped foot into the parking lot, the sky decided it was the perfect time to open up and unleashed a sheet of rain unlike any you’d had so far this fall. You yelped as it began to pour, throwing your hood over your head. Nikolai acted quickly and threw off his jacket, holding it high above your head to keep you dry as you both splashed quickly to his car. This gesture made your heart swell; you were starting to think Nikolai may be a real lift knight in shining armor. He opened your door and made sure you were out of the rain before joining you and whipping his soaked coat in the backseat. You were both laughing at the situation and he was visibly relieved that you took the whole hiccup in stride. “Let’s get fucking dry ,” you laughed and he needed no further request to set off in the direction of his apartment.

Nikolai actually didn’t live too far from you, you realized when he pulled up across the street from the brown duplex. It was still raining when you parked and you again sprinted to the front porch in a desperate attempt to stay a little dry. When you got close to the door, you realized that it was a lot louder inside than you thought it would be. Nikolai must have noticed too because his jaw immediately set, irritation flashing behind his hazel eyes.

“Fucking Aleks,” he muttered under his breath before pushing the door open. A large party was taking place, unbeknownst to Nikolai. There were people passing in front of them, a lively game of beer pong in process, and more than one person going through their cupboards. Nikolai gestured for you to head inside and he slammed the door shut behind him. “Do you mind waiting here for just one second? I have to talk to Aleks quick,” he asked quietly into your ear, his hand resting on the side of your face. You nodded and he gave you a small smile before setting off for the kitchen. Aleks was laughing against the fridge with a couple other guys, barely registering it when Nikolai was standing in front of him, arms crossed tight over his chest.

“Dude! I thought you said you were going to the baseball house!” Nikolai scolded.

“Nikolai! I’m so glad you’re here, man. No, we decided to have people over here instead. We’re always at the baseball house,” Aleks smiled, giving Nikolai a friendly punch to his shoulder; Nikolai didn’t budge an inch.

“I kinda had plans here tonight, remember?” he said through gritted teeth, giving a small nod back towards where you stood. Aleks’s face dropped as it all came back to him.

“I am so sorry man, I totally forgot.”

“Obviously,” Nikolai scoffed.

“I mean it. It slipped my mind. I’m really sorry dude.” It was hard for Nikolai to stay mad at Aleks for long, if at all. You saw Aleks give Nikolai a long hug, evidently sorting out whatever disagreement they just had. Nikolai made his way back to you, a little less high strung.

“C’mon,” he said and took your hand, leading you around the corner to a short hallway. He led you into a room and quietly shut the door behind you. The first thing that struck you was all of the maps and works in progress strewn across his desk and hanging on the walls. You walked around in awe and marveled at Nikolai’s decor. He had numerous prints of classic paintings and frescoes, almost all of them related to myths or historical events.

“Nikolai, this is amazing! It’s so,” your head was spinning as you looked at all of his art, “it’s incredible.” You turned back to him and he was right behind you, an amused smile pulling at his lips.

“I’m so sorry. I thought we’d be able to come and spend some time together without 80 other people.” He looked genuinely upset that he couldn’t follow through with his plan of having dinner and talking all night on the couch.

“Hey, it’s ok. We can still hang out. Why don’t we make an appearance, play a game of beer pong or whatever, and then we can watch a movie in here or something?” you offered. Nikolai’s face lifted a little at that and he lightly squeezed your hand, nodding his head in agreement. “I gotta get out of this hoodie, though. It’s fucking soaking,” you laughed.

You shed the wet garment and hung it carefully on the back of one of the chairs near you. Nikolai had changed out of his wet shirt as well; he must have moved in the blink of an eye because you didn’t even notice him switch clothes. When you looked at him again, his gaze was fixed on you, his expression hard to read. “What is it?” you finally asked with a nervous laugh as punctuation.

“You’re so pretty,” he said with a small smile. You looked down at yourself- your hair was a complete rat's nest, shirt and jeans soaked through, and though you hadn’t looked in a mirror you could feel your makeup was a mess too. And here he was, arguably the most handsome man you’d ever met, lost for words as you stood in front of him. You bit down on your bottom lip and shook your head before taking him by the hand and leading him back into the party.

Nikolai grabbed each of you a drink and you wandered together to the beer pong table where Aleks was taking his last shot with his partner. Aleks grinned when he saw the two of you walk up and declared he was playing you next after he ‘kicked their ass’. He sunk the last shot and whooped loudly, high-fiving with his partner. Nikolai took his place on the opposite end of the table with you and re-racked the cups.

“Sorry I’m about to embarrass you in front of your date, Nik,” Aleks smirked arrogantly. Nikolai only bounced the light ball against the table top, catching it swiftly on the back of his long fingers. He repeated the trick, unbothered by Aleks and his shit talking, also not correcting him that you were not in fact on a date.

“We’ll just see about that,” he laughed as his first shot sank directly into the front cup. You giggled with him and took a shot of your own, somehow making another shot. You’d played a few times before, but you didn’t consider yourself skilled by any means- certainly not as skilled as these boys. Nikolai was so proud of you, he threw his arm over your shoulder and pulled you into his side. “Good luck, man.”

Aleks was frustrated as his winning streak began to slip through his fingers. Nikolai was clearly the better player, which was making Aleks crazy, though he had also had about five more drinks than Nikolai. You only made one more shot after your beginner’s luck, but Nikolai didn’t mind at all. He happily carried your team and took care of the remaining cups, always encouraging you when you made a lousy toss. Before long, Nikolai was flicking his wrists high over his head like he was making a free throw and sinking the winning shot. The small crowd around the table cheered and Aleks grumpily crossed his arms. Nikolai gathered you in his arms and lifted you easily off the ground, spinning you with him as you celebrated your very first beer pong victory, all thanks to Nikolai.

“Better luck next time!” you taunted sarcastically and Aleks finally gave you a small smile. The next team in line took your spot and you slid back into the crowd undetected and back to Nikolai’s room. “I didn’t know you were good at every sport,” you teased before taking a seat on the edge of his bed.

“Is beer pong really a sport?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. He walked over to stand in front of you and ran his hand over your finally drying hair. “Movie time?”

“Yes,” you replied simply, possibly a little too quickly. Nikolai smiled at you before walking over to his bed. He pulled back the covers and crawled onto his side of the bed, patting the spot next to him, inviting you in. He had chosen some movie to put on evidently, but you truthfully didn’t notice what. You flicked off the lights and jumped in next to him with a smile. Nikolai laid out on his back and you curled up comfortably on his chest.

“I had a really good time tonight, rain storm and surprise party and all,” he said, his voice low in your ear.

“Me too,” you said with a smile, still distracted by the art on his walls. “What inspired your decor choices?”

Nikolai turned his head to look at the picture of the Minotaur over his desk. “As you know, I’m a history major,” he started. “My concentration is in classical studies, specifically the Hellenistic period.” He rolled his neck to face you again. “That’s actually my favorite myth.”

“You know, for being a creative writing major, my Greek mythology is a little rusty,” you prompted, leveling your most charming smile at Nikolai.

“Would you like me to regale you with the tale?” he asked with a dramatic flourish.

“I’m all ears, Mr. Lantsov,” you laughed, positioning yourself so you could rest your chin on your hands laying on his chest and gaze up at him.

“Alright. So, Minos had just become the ruler of the island of Crete, but was still in competition with his brother for power. He prayed to Poseidon to send him a sign of the god’s favor- a bright white bull. Minos was tasked to sacrifice the bull to honor Poseidon, but he was so enamored with the bull that he decided to keep him, believing Poseidon would accept an alternate sacrifice.” Nikolai absently petted your hair.

“But he didn’t?”

“He did not,” Nikolai laughed. “As punishment, Poseidon made Minos’ wife, Pasipahae, fall in love with the bull.”

“Such a Greek god thing to do.” You smiled up at him.

“Isn’t it?” Nikolai beamed back. “Pasiphae had the master craftsman Daedalus create a hollow, wooden cow for her to climb in so she could mate with the bull. And thus, the Minotaur was created. Pasiphae did her best to nurse and raise the Minotaur as a babe, but he grew too fast and became unruly. Minos consulted the oracle at Delphi on what to do, and as a result commissioned Daedalus to construct a gigantic labyrinth to house the Minotaur under the palace in Knossos.”

“Years go by, and one of Minos’ sons is killed by the Athenians, who I guess were jealous of a string of recent victories by the king. From here, there are a few versions on why Athens begins sending youths as tribute, but the most common is that Minos waged and won a war to avenge the death of his son. As the losers, Minos required the Athenians to send seven youths and seven maidens to be sent every seventh year to cast into the labyrinth to be consumed by the Minotaur.”

“The third sacrifice came around and the hero Theseus,” Nikolai started, contempt clear in his voice, “volunteered to go as a sacrifice to Crete to slay the Minotaur. He told his father, Aegeus, that he would put up a white sail when he came back home if he was successful, but would have the crew put up black sails if he was killed by the Minotaur. Once he was in Crete, Minos' daughter Ariadne fell head over heels for Theseus and helped him navigate the labyrinth. In most versions of the story, she gave him a ball of string so he could retrace his steps and a sword to slay the beast. Story goes that he killed the Minotaur and led the Athenians out of the labyrinth, sailing away with them and Ariadne away from Crete.”

“I’m gathering that you’re not a Theseus fan,” you said, eyes still trained on Nikolai’s face. “Why?”

“A number of reasons.” Nikolai paused, clearly deciding on how much he wanted to nerd out. “One being that on the way back to Athens, Theseus abandoned Ariadne on the island of Naxos. He forgot, however, to put up the white sail like he told his father he would. Aegeus saw the black-sailed ship approach and threw himself into the sea, presuming Theseus was dead. But doing so just secured the throne for Theseus. The other being that he murdered the Minotaur.”

“But didn’t the Minotaur kill a bunch of kids?”

“Or was he fed children after being abandoned by his mother, unaware of any other way to live? I don’t subscribe to the idea that the Minotaur is a monster. There’s also quite a bit of evidence that suggests Ariadne saw him as a brother, having to make the impossible choice of her ‘abomination’ of a brother and a man who had convinced her he was in love with her.” Nikolai spoke with such passion and knowledge that it made your stomach tighten. This was a Nikolai not many got to see, a Nikolai you wanted to hold and kiss and laugh with. Fuck, you were in so far over your head.

He’d never been more attractive to you than in that moment. The light from the TV dancing on his perfect cheekbones, his hazel eyes dark as he spoke. “I don’t know. I have a soft spot for him. I feel like the Minotaur got a raw deal.”

“Well, you’ve made me a believer,” you smiled and the way Nickolai beamed back at you made the heat rise in your chest.

“You should stay here tonight.”

“Nik,” you sighed, rolling off him. “You know I can’t do that.” He had no idea how badly you wanted to just scream out ‘yes’.

“I know, I know,” he conceded, staring straight up at the ceiling. “Really wish you could, though.”

“Someday.”

“Is that a promise?” he asked with an arched eyebrow.

“I’m not the oracle at Delphi,” you said over your shoulder, making him snort. “I can’t tell the future.”

TAGGED: @agentsofsheilds

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Dark”

Welcome back, everyone! Can you believe it's been six weeks already? I can't. Something something the uncomfortable passage of time during a pandemic as emphasized by a web-series.

But we're here to talk about RWBY the fictional story, not RWBY the cultural icon. At least, we will in a moment. First, I'd like to acknowledge that shaky line between the two, growing blurrier with every volume. A sort of good news, bad news situation.

The bad news — to get that out of the way — is that we cannot easily separate RWBY from its authors and those authors have, sadly, been drawing a lot of negative attention as of late. This isn't anything new, not at all, but I think the unexpectedly long hiatus gave a lot of fans (myself included) the chance to think about Rooster Teeth's failings without getting distracted by their biggest and brightest production. There's a laundry list of problems here — everything from the behavior of voice actors to the quality of their merch — but as a sort of summary issue, I'd like to highlight the reviews that continue to pop up on websites like Glassdoor, detailing the toxic, sexist, crunch-obsessed environment that RT employees are forced to work in. A lot of these websites requires a login to read more than a page of reviews, but you can check out a Twitter thread about it here. 

Now, I want to be clear: I'm not bringing this up as a way to shame anyone enjoying RWBY. This isn't a simplistic claim of, "The authors are Problematic™ and therefore you can't like the stuff they produce." Nor is this meant to be a catch-all excuse for RWBY's problems. If it were, I'd have dropped these recaps years ago. I'm of the belief that audiences maintain the right to both praise and criticize the work they're given, regardless of the context in which that work was produced. At the end of the day, RT has presented RWBY as a finished product and, more than that, presents it as an excellent product, one worth both our emotional investment and our money (whether in the form of paying for a First account, or encouraging us to buy merch, attend cons, etc.) I'll continue to critique RWBY as needed, but I a) wanted fans to be at least peripherally aware of these issues and b) clarify that my use of "RT" in statements like, "I can't believe RT is screwing up this badly" is meant to be a broad, nebulas acknowledgement that someone in the company is screwing up, either creatively (doesn't have the skill to write a good scene) or morally (hasn't created an environment in which other creators are capable of crafting a good scene). The real, inner workings of such companies are mostly a secret to their audiences and thus it's near impossible for someone like me — random fan writing these for fun as a casual side hobby — to accurately point fingers. Hence, broad "RT." I just wanted to clarify that when I use this it's as a necessary placeholder for whoever is actually responsible, not a damnation of the overworked animator breaking down in a bathroom. Heavy stuff, but I thought it was necessary (or at least worthwhile) to acknowledge this issue as we head into the second half of the volume.

Now for the good news: RWBY has reached 100 episodes! For any who may not know, 100 is a pretty significant number in the TV world because, when talking about prime time programming, it guarantees syndicated reruns. Basically, networks don't want audiences to get burned out with a show — changing the channel when it comes on because ugh, I've seen this already, recently too — and 100 episodes allows for a roughly five month run without any repeats, making it very profitable. RWBY is obviously not a television show and doesn't benefit from any of this (hell, modern television doesn't benefit from this as much as it used to, not in the age of streaming), but the 100 episode threshold is still ingrained in American culture. Beyond just being a nice, rounded number, it is historically a measure of huge success and I can't imagine that RT isn't aware of that. Regardless of what we think of RWBY's current quality, this is one hell of a milestone and should be applauded.

All that being said... RWBY's quality is definitely still lacking lol.

Our 100th episode is titled "Dark" — keeping with the one word titles, then — and I'd like to emphasize that, as a 100th episode, it definitely delivers in terms of plot. There's plenty of action, important character beats, and at least one major reveal, everything we'd expect from a milestone and a Part II premiere. The animation also continues to be noteworthy for its beauty, as I found myself admiring many of the screenshots I took for this recap. There are certainly things to praise. The only problem (one we're all familiar with by now) is that these small successes are situated within a narrative that's otherwise falling apart. It's all good stuff... provided you ignore literally everything else surrounding it.

But let's dive into some examples. We open on Qrow starting, awoken by the thunder outside. Robyn has been watching him and makes a peppy comment about how none of them will be sleeping tonight, followed by a more serious, "Sounds bad out there." Yeah, it does sound bad, especially when they all know — thanks to Ruby's message back in Volume 7 — that this is due to Salem's arrival. I think a lot of the fandom has forgotten that little detail because people often discuss Qrow as if he is entirely ignorant of what is going on outside his cell. Even if we were to assume that he's forgotten all about the pesky Salem issue (the horror of Clover's death overriding everything else, perhaps) he still knows that Tyrian is running loose in a heat-less city with a creepy storm going on and, from his perspective, the Very Evil Ironwood is still running the show. So it's bad, which begs the question of why Qrow (and Robyn, for that matter) hasn't displayed an ounce of legitimate worry for everyone he knows out there. Thus far, their interactions have centered entirely around Qrow's misplaced blame and Robyn's terrible attempts to lighten the mood, despite the fact that a war is raging right beyond that wall. It's another example of RWBY's inability to manage tone properly, to say nothing of balancing the multiple concerns any one character should be trying to juggle. Just as it rankles that Ruby and Yang don't seem to care about what has happened to their uncle, Qrow likewise doesn't seem to care about what might be happening to his nieces. When did we reach a point where these relationships are so broken that someone can be arrested/chucked into a deadly battle and the others just... ignore that?

So Robyn's otherwise innocuous comment immediately reminds me of how badly the narrative has treated these conflicts and, sadly, things don't improve much from here. We are thankfully spared more of Robyn's jokes when Qrow realizes that what he's hearing can't be thunder. A second later, Cinder blasts through the wall — called it! — and Qrow instinctively transforms. 

The only downside to this moment is that the whole ceiling falls down on Qrow and the others because APPARENTLY these cells don't have tops on them. Seriously. As far as I can recall we don't see the stone breaking through the forcefield somehow and this looks pretty open to me.

If it is... you're telling me these crazy powerful fighters who practice landing strategies and leap tall buildings in a single bound —

— can't just hop over this mildly high electric fence to get out? Qrow can't just fly away?

We're, like, two minutes in, folks.

We transfer to Nora's perspective as she wakes up, seeing Klein giving her the IV. He tells her not to worry, that "you and your friend are going to be just fine." What friend? Penny? Klein went upstairs prior to Weiss hugging Whitley or Penny crash landing outside. I had thought them bursting through the door with another unconscious friend was the first time he learned what the big bang outside was, but apparently not.

Penny is, obviously, a mess. While I now understand the choice to make her blood such an eye-catching color when that's crucial to the Hound's hunt, I still think it looks strange visually. Like someone has taken a copy of RWBY and painted over it. It doesn't look like it fits the art style. More than that, it implies some rather complicated things about Penny's humanity, especially in a volume focused around her being a "real girl." Real enough for Maiden powers, but with obviously inhuman blood that isn't even referred to as "bleeding." Penny "leaks" instead.

Toss in the fact that she's literally an android who is made up of tech — recall the running gags about her being heavy, or it hurts to fist-bump her, to say nothing of keeping things like multiple blades inside her body — yet Klein says that her "basic anatomy" is the same and he can "stitch up that wound."

I'm sorry, what? Whatever Penny looks like on the inside, it's not going to resemble a human woman's anatomy, and Klein might be able to stitch the outer layer of skin she's got, but that won't do anything to fix whatever metal bits have been broken underneath. Penny isn't a human-robot hybrid, she's a robot with an aura. Penny has knives in her back, rockets in her feet, and a super computer behind her eyes. When our clip introduced that Klein would be the one to help Penny, my initial reaction was, "Seriously? He's a butler and a doctor and an engineer?" But RWBY didn't even try to get away with a Super Klein explanation, they just waved away Penny's very obvious, inhuman anatomy. Yeah, I'm sure "stitching up" an android wound is just like giving Nora her IV. I hope the surgical sutures he used are extra strong!

In an effort to not entirely drag this episode, I do appreciate that Whitley is allowed an "ugh" moment about the non-blood covering his shirt without anyone calling him out on it. That felt like the sort of thing the show would usually try to make a character feel guilty about and I'm glad that, for once, he was just allowed to be frustrated without comment.

Then the power goes out and May calls, which raises questions about what state the CCTS is in and when scrolls are available to our protagonists vs. when they're not. But whatever. She's checking in because she just "saw another bombing run light up the Kingdom" and —

Wait. Bombing? Salem is bombing the city? I know we've seen explosions in the sky, but I'd always just attributed that to evil aesthetic. Why does this dialogue sound like it's from a World War II film and not a fantasy sci-fi show about literal monsters launching a ground attack?

May looks pretty against the sky though. I like her hair color against that purple.

I'm admittedly grasping at positives here because we finally return to her "You have to choose" ultimatum and — surprise! — May has pulled back completely. Ruby says that once they've helped Penny, "We'll...we'll do something!" which is once again her avoiding making a decision. Ruby still refuses to choose, instead falling back on generic, optimistic pep talks. They'll figure out how to stop Salem later. They'll think about the impact of telling the world later. They'll choose who to help later. Ruby keeps pushing these problems into the future where, she hopes, a perfect, magical solution will have appeared for her to latch onto. When that continues to not happen, others pressuring her to actually do something and stop waiting for perfection — Ironwood, Yang, May — she panics and continues stalling for time. Wait an episode and the narrative supports her in this.

Because initially May was forcing Ruby to decide. Now, May enables her desire to keep putting things off. "Don't beat yourself up, kid. At this point, I don't know how much is left to be done." That's the exact opposite of what May believed last episode, that there was still so much work and good to do for the people of Mantle. This is precisely what the show did with Yang and Ren's scenes too, having people call Ruby out... but then return to a message of, 'Don't worry, you're actually doing just fine' before Ruby is forced to actually change.

None of which even touches on May calling her "kid" in this moment. That continues to be a convenient way of absolving Ruby of any responsibility. When she wants to steal airships or Amity Tower, she's an adult everyone should listen to, the leader of this war. When the story wants to absolve her of previously mentioned flaws, she becomes a kid who shouldn't "beat herself up." I said years ago that RWBY couldn't continue to let the group be both children and adults simultaneously, yet here we are.

So that was a thoroughly disappointing scene. Ruby gets her moment to look sad and defeated, listing "the grimm, the crater, Nora, Penny" as problems she doesn't know how to solve. Note that 'Immortal witch attacking the city I've helped trap here' isn't included in that list. Ruby is still ignoring Salem herself and no one in the group is picking up where May left off, challenging her to do more than wring her hands over things others are already trying to take care of: Ironwood is fighting the grimm, May has gone off to help the crater, Klein is patching up Nora and Penny. Ruby, as one flawed individual, should not be expected to come up with a solution to everything, but she does need to stop acting like she can come up with a solution to everything when it matters most (office scene) and rejecting others' solutions when they ask for her help (Ironwood, May).

If it feels like I'm dragging the flawed, traumatized teenager too much, it's not in an effort to ignore those aspects of her identity. Rather, it's because she's also the licensed huntress who wrested control from a world leader and violently demanded she be put in charge of this battle. Ruby, by her own actions, is now responsible for dealing with these problems, or admitting she was wrong and letting others take the lead, without purposefully derailing their plans. She doesn't get to suddenly go, "I don't know," cry a little, and get sympathetic pats.

But of course that's precisely what happens, courtesy of Weiss.

During this whole scene I kept wondering why no one was celebrating Nora waking up, especially when Ruby outright mentions her. Have they just not noticed given all the Penny drama? Because Nora absolutely woke up.

Aaaand went back to sleep, I guess. What was the point of that POV shot? No worries though, she'll wake up again in a minute.

Willow arrives and announces that they can fix the power (and Penny) using the generator at the edge of the property. I'm convinced RT doesn't actually know what a generator is because the characters are acting like it's some super special device that only richy-rich could possibly have. Whitley says that it's the SDC executives who have their "own power supply" and that it's "extremely unfair." Now, don't get me wrong, a good generator powering large portions of your house can run you 30k+, but you can also get one that plugs into your extension cord and powers your fridge for a couple hundred. There's absolutely a class issue here, just not the one Whitley and Weiss seem to be commenting on. They make a generator sound like the sort of device that only a politician-CEO could possible have and it's weird.

Likely, it sounds weird because it's a choppy way of getting Whitley to bring up the wealth disparity so he can then go, 'That's right! We're crazy rich with a company housing tons of ships! We can use those to evacuate Mantle.' Awkwardness aside, I do like that the Schnee wealth is being used for good purposes, but... evacuate where? To the city currently under attack by a giant whale? In a RWBY that wasn't determined to demonize Ironwood, this would have been a great plot point during the office scene instead, with Weiss offering her services to Ironwood, even if the group decides that a continued evacuation still isn't possible.

Instead, we get it here from Whitley. Do I need to point out the obvious? That Whitley is the MVP of this episode? He's done more good in an HOUR than the group has managed in a year. Give this kid some training and make him a huntsmen instead.

We're given a (very pretty!) shot of the shattered moon because it wouldn't be RWBY if we weren't continually reminded that gods once wiped out humanity before destroying part of a celestial body... and absolutely no one talks about that lol.

Blake's coat might not make any sense for her color scheme, but it does make her easy to spot as she and Ruby run across the grounds. Oh my god, they're actually doing something together! It only took eight years. They even get a lovely talk where Blake admits how much she looks up to Ruby, despite her being younger, and once again I'm struck at how much more I would have loved this scene if it had appeared elsewhere in the series. It is, indeed, as sweet and emotional as all the RWBY GIF-ers are claiming... provided you overlook that this is the exact opposite of what Ruby needs to hear right now. She doesn't need to hear that she's more mature and reliable than her elders when she's functioning under a "We don't need adults" mentality. She doesn't need to hear that not knowing what to do is totally fine, not when that led to her turning on Ironwood, despite not knowing how to stop Salem. She doesn't need to hear that "doing something" — doing anything — is a strength, because Ruby keeps avoiding the big problems for smaller ones she's comfortable with, like standing by Penny's bedside instead of deciding between Mantle and Atlas. Blake's speech is heartfelt, but it's a speech that suits a Beacon days Ruby who is having some doubts about her leadership skills, not the girl whose impulsive — and now lack of — actions is having world-wide repercussions. Everyone is babying Ruby to a staggering degree. It's like if we had a med show where the doctor is standing by the bedside of a coding patient, fretting between two treatments. 'Don't worry,' their colleague says, patting their shoulder. 'I've always looked up to you. You'll do something when you're ready' and then they continue to watch the patient, you know, die.

Also: who does Ruby look up to? Everyone talks about how much they depend on and trust Ruby, but who does Ruby look to for guidance? A number of her problems stem from the fact that she has rejected the advice of everyone who has tried to help her improve: Qrow, Ozpin, Ironwood, even Yang. Ruby is presented as the pinnacle of what to strive for in a leader, rather than a leader who has only been doing this for two years and still has a great deal to learn.

Anyway, they get the generator on and the Hound shows up.

I am begging RT to just make RWBY a horror story. All their best scenes the last three years have been horror I am bEGGING —

Anyway, while Ruby waits to be eaten we cut to Willow and Klein, the former of which is reaching for her bottle, pulling back, reaching again, all while her hand shakes. This is good. This is what we should have gotten with Qrow. Which isn't to say that their (or anyone's) addiction should be identical, but rather that this is a far more engaging and complex look at addiction than what our birb got. Willow tells us that she doesn't drink in the dark despite bringing the bottle with her; tries to resist drinking when she's scared and ultimately fails. Qrow just decided to stop drinking after decades of addiction, seemingly for no reason, and that was that. Why is a side character we only met this volume written better than one of the main cast?

Blake manages to call Weiss about the Hound and she asks if Whitley can handle the airships without her. I mean, I assume so given that Weiss is looking at the bookshelves while Whitley does all the work lol. He makes a teasing comment about how he can if she can handle that grimm and she comments that they still need to work on his "attitude."

No they don't. Weiss stuck a weapon in her kid brother's face. Whitley made a joke. Even if Weiss' comment is likewise meant to be read as teasing, it's clear that we've bypassed any meaningful conversation between them. That hug was supposed to be a Fix Everything moment even though, as I've laid out elsewhere, it didn't even come close.

We cut back to Ruby getting thrown through a wall into the backyard and the Hound creepily coming after her. She's freaked out by this clearly abnormal grimm and Blake is weirdly... not? "It's just a grimm. Just focus!" Uh, it's obviously not. Have we reached the traumatized, sleep-deprived point where the group is sinking into full-blown denial? I wouldn't be surprised. They've been awake for like... 40+ hours.

Because the Hound knocks Ruby out with a single hit. Just, bam, she's down. "Focusing" is not the solution here.

Weiss calls to warn the others about the grimm, telling them to stick together. Willow (understandably) starts freaking out and flees the room (classic horror trope!). Klein is left alone when Penny wakes up with red eyes. Oh no!

Don't worry. You know nothing meaningful happens.

She shoves Klein before (somehow?) resisting the hack, her Maiden powers going wild in the process. Just when it looks as if Penny might cause some serious damage, Nora wakes up, takes her hand, and says, I kid you not:

"Hey... no one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do... It's just a part of you. Don't forget about the rest."

Okay. I want to re-emphasize that I love hopeful, uplifting, victory-won-through-the-power-of-love stories. Istg I'm not dead inside, it's just that RWBY does this so badly. I mean, what is this? It has similarities to the character shouting, 'No! Resist!' to their mind-controlled ally, but this is not presented as a desperate, last-ditch effort by Nora. She just speaks like this is the most obvious truth in the world. If you don't want to have your mind taken over... just don't! It's that simple. The problem definitely isn't that Watts has changed her coding and has implemented a command she can't override, it's that Penny has forgotten about the "rest" of her personhood.

And this works. Granted, not for long, but we leave Nora having successfully calmed Penny down and until her eyes unexpectedly go red again scenes later, we're left assuming that this is a permanent solution. That, imo anyway, is taking the Power of Love too far, overriding the basic reality of Penny being hacked. It’s not a personal failing she must overcome, it’s an external attack. I would have rather had Nora react to the scars she saw on her arm, or have a moment with Klein, or get some love from the group. Not a wakes up, falls asleep, wakes up again to save Penny with a Ruby level 'Just ignore reality' pep-talk, then back to sleep again.

So Penny isn't attacking her allies, or mistakenly hurting her allies with wild Maiden powers. Not that the group doesn't have enough to deal with, but still. Weiss arrives to help with the Hound and attempts a new summon, only to fail when two minor grimm burrow up into her glyphs. I really enjoyed that moment, both for the wing visual and the knowledge that Weiss' glyphs can fail if you break them somehow (which makes sense). Also, I just like that she failed in general? Weiss is, as per usual now, about to demonstrate just how OP she is compared to the rest of the team, so it was nice to see her faltering here.

The Hound tries to make off with Ruby and Blake does an excellent job of keeping it tethered. Ruby finally wakes, only to realize that the grimm is actually after Penny since it's staring at her power up through the window, no longer trying to escape. Moments like this remind me that there's someone on RT's writing team that knows what they're doing, at least some of the time. The assumption that the Hound is after Ruby as a SEW, the surprise that it's actually Penny, realizing it holds up because Ruby is covered in Penny's blood and Blake is not... that's all nice, tight plotting. More of that please!

The Hound drops her and Ruby's aura shatters when she hits the ground. I want everyone to remember this moment as an example of how strong the Hound is. The group may be tired, but unlike YJR they've been sitting around in the Schnee manor for a number of hours, regaining strength. We saw the Hound hit Ruby twice — once through the wall and once to knock her out — and then she falls from a not very high distance for a huntress, yet her aura is toast. That's the level of power and skill the Hound possesses. Decimating YJR, knocking Oscar out, same for Ruby, avoiding Blake and Weiss' hits, soon to treat Penny like a ragdoll. Just remember all this for the episode's end.

Blake tells Weiss she'll take care of Ruby, you go help the others. Yay breaking up the duos more! Bad timing though as the new acid-spitting grimm pops out of the ground and Blake is now left alone to face it.

Weiss re-enters the mansion, knowing the Hound is somewhere nearby, but not where. Suddenly, Willow's voice sounds through her scroll with an, "Above you!" which... doesn't keep Weiss from getting hit lol. But it's the thought that counts! Willow has accessed the cameras she's set up throughout the manor, watching the Hound's movements, and I have to say, that is a WAY better use of her separation from Klein than I thought we were getting. I legit thought they'd have Willow run away in a panic, meet the Hound, die, and then Weiss could be sad about losing her mom.

It does say something about RWBY's writing that this was my knee-jerk theory, as well as my surprise when we got something way better.

The Hound runs off, uninterested in Weiss, and she asks Willow to keep tabs on it. It heads for Whitley next (also covered in Penny's blood) and very creepily stalks him in the office with a, "I know you're here." Whitley is seconds away from being Hound chow before one of Weiss' boars pin it against the wall. He runs, then runs BACK to finish deploying the airships, before finally escaping assumed death. Goddamn this boy is pulling his weight.

I assume all these ships are automated then? I hope someone takes a moment to call May. Otherwise it's going to be super weird for the Mantle citizens if a fleet of SDC ships just show up and hover there...

I don't entirely understand how Weiss saved him though. She's nowhere to be seen when Whitley leaves and he runs a fair distance before he and Willow encounter Weiss again. We know her summons don't have to keep right next to her, but are they capable of rudimentary thought, attacking an enemy — and an enemy only — despite Weiss being a couple corridors down and unable to see the current battlefield? I don't know. In another series I'd theorize that this was a deliberate hint, a way to clue us into the fact that Willow, someone who we currently know almost nothing about, had training in the past and summoned the boar herself. Weiss and Winter certainly didn't get that hereditary skill from Jacques. Hell, we might still get that, Weiss reacting with confusion next episode when Whitley thanks her for the boar, but I doubt it. That scene with Ruby and the Hound aside, the show isn't this good at laying groundwork and then following up on it.

Case in point: Weiss says, "I didn't forget you" to Whitley after he gets away from the Hound, the moment trying to harken back to her promise to Willow. Key word is "trying." Because she absolutely forgot him! Weiss threatened and ignored Whitley until he proved his usefulness. I also shouldn't need to point out that, "Don't forget your brother" does not mean, "Don't let your brother die a horrible death by abnormal grimm." Weiss acts like her saving him is a fulfillment of her promise, rather than just the most basic of human decency. And also, you know, her job.

So that part is frustrating. The entire Schnee dynamic is a mess, from Weiss making a joke of her father's arrest, to Willow (presumably) fixing their relationship by putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Okay.

Then Weiss cuts off the Hound by summoning a giant wall of ice. My brain, every time this happens:

YOU COULD HAVE FIXED THE HOLE IN MANTLE'S WALL.

Moving on, Blake's fight against the acid... thing has some great choreography, including Blake using her semblance which we haven't seen in AGES. 

I really like the fight itself, just not what Blake is shouting the whole time. "I need you, Ruby! We all need you!" This has really gotten ridiculous. Ruby is presented as everyone's sole savior despite failing time and time again. It's not that I don't think Blake as a character should have faith in her leader, it's that I don't think the writers should be crafting a story where everyone puts their unshakable hopes in an untrained, disloyal, impulsive 17 year old. I mean, Ruby is currently unconscious, yet Blake is acting like if she doesn't wake up — she, as an individual, if Ruby Rose does not re-join this fight — then all is lost. If Ruby doesn't save them, no one can. Which is, of course, absurd on numerous levels. Blake doesn't need the passed out, aura-less Ruby right now, she needs the still very healthy Weiss pulling out multiple summons and an ice wall! Use your scroll and call for backup again.

But of course, Ruby wakes up and kills the new, terrifying grimm with a single hit. It's a preview of what's to come with the Hound and it's just as ridiculous here as it will be there.

Speaking of the Hound, am I the only one who thought this was... cute?

I can't possibly be the only one. That head-tilt is exactly what my dogs do and my brain instinctively went, "Aww, puppy!"

Murderous puppy.

The Hound realizes none of the Schnees are who it's looking for and runs off. Penny, meanwhile, has been fully taken over because, well, that's just what's convenient now. She resists long enough keep Amity up, then succumbs, then resists to apologize to Ruby, then succumbs, then resists because Nora asked her to, then succumbs once it's time to knock her out. If RWBY was willing to commit to consequences, Penny would have been taken over and that was that. The characters would need to deal with whatever outcome happens as a result. Instead, the show very carefully avoids any of those pesky consequences by having Penny successfully resisting at key moments, despite no explanation of how she's managing that.

She shoves Klein again (Klein is having a Bad Time) and starts walking down the main steps. When Whitley wants to know where the hell she's going, Penny mechanically responds that she must "Open the vault, then self-destruct." I suppose the change Watts made was the self-destruct order? Ironwood obviously wants the vault open, though not necessarily Penny's death. Think what you will of his moral compass, she's a damn powerful ally — a research project, perhaps — and a Maiden to boot. At the very least, her death may give the powers to someone even worse.

God, please don't let them have brought Penny back and made her a Maiden just to kill her again.

The Hound arrives though and, as said, knocks Penny out. We're back to square one with her, then. Note though that this attack is near instantaneous. She grabs its hands one second, is hanging limply the next. Wow, the Hound sure is a terrifying antagonist!

Not for long.

"That's enough," Ruby says and one-shots it with her eyes.

Now, I want to talk for a moment about the implications of that line. "That's enough." Obviously Ruby is #done with this situation and emotionally unwilling to let the Hound kidnap Penny (congratulations, Nuts and Dolts shippers), but there's a meta reading here as well. Not intentional, but glaring to me nonetheless. Basically, the idea that the Hound has, from a plot perspective, done enough. It has served its singular purpose. It kidnapped Oscar and now it dies. Never-mind how insanely powerful we've established the Hound to be, never-mind how Ruby's eyes also work or don't work according to whether anything of actual import is on the line. From a plot perspective "that's enough" and the Hound can be disposed of instantly. It got Oscar and gave us an episode of filler creepiness. Move along now.

The idea behind Ruby's eyes isn't bad, but the execution absolutely is. RT has undermined a huge portion of the stakes by giving their protagonist an instant kill-shot that always works precisely when she needs it to. Starting with the Apathy, we have yet to get a moment where Ruby's eyes fail to save the day when she really needs them to, no matter how incredible the challenge. The Hound was very intentionally written to be a grimm outside of the group's current power level. It thinks, it talks, they literally can't touch it. This creates the expectation that the group will need to grow stronger — or at least become smarter — in order to surmount this new obstacle, yet Ruby's eyes undermine all of that. The group hasn't grown in years, the show just makes enemies weaker as needed (Ace Ops), or has Ruby pull out her eyes as a trump card. It wouldn't be that bad if we'd at least gotten a good battle out of it, one where the group gets close to defeating the Hound on their own, but needs Ruby's eyes to finish it off. Instead, she literally walks up without any aura, announces to the audience that this antagonist's time is up, and blasts it out a window.

Granted, Ruby's eyes don't completely finish it. The Hound pulls itself to its feet and we see this.

Yup, that's a guy and yup, those are silver eyes.

I would like to issue a formal apology to the "It's secretly Summer!" theorists in the fandom. I mean, I still think it would be ridiculous (and at this point highly improbable) that Ruby's dead mother has actually been a grimm mutant this whole time, just hanging out in Salem's realm while she waits for the plot to start before attacking the world, and then sends some no-name faunus dude after the group instead of their leader's mother for extra, emotional torture... but you all were definitely right about the “It's a person” part! I... don't know how I feel about this. Admittedly, it seems to be a logical continuation of the other grimm-human hybrids we've seen — namely Cinder and Salem herself — and it finally explains why Salem wants Ruby alive (even though it actually doesn't because WHY did she want more SEWs for Hound grimm when she wasn't even attacking back then? And already has all these other insanely powerful tools??), but at the same time, it feels like it's complicating a story that doesn't need further complications. The group fights monsters and has an immortal enemy. You don't need to add 'Some of those monsters are secretly human' to the mix.

It doesn't hurt that this twist is giving me Attack on Titan vibes, which, ew. A dark time in my fandom life, folks.

The Hound staggers a few steps before Whitley and Willow dump a suit of armor on it. That's all it takes to kill the most dangerous grimm we've ever seen: a single flash of silver eyes and some heavy metal. This also wreaks havoc with the implication that Salem wants SEWs alive because they create such powerful grimm. Obviously not. I mean yeah, normal huntsmen are going to have serious  problems, we’ve seen that this volume, but any other SEWs nearby will take a Hound out instantaneously. For a villain with so many other powerful abilities — immortality, magic, endless normal grimm, her nifty soup — Salem would be much better served just killing SEWs straight out. Clearly, creating Hounds isn't worth the effort.

The Hound leaves some bones behind and Ruby collapses to her knees, overcome with the knowledge that this was once a person. Again, uncomfortable Attack on Titan parallels.

We finish our premiere with Cinder clearing away rubble to reveal Watts. Honestly, I like that we ended on this because her rescue is hilarious. She just slings him over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes and blasts off with her magic fire feet. Fantastic.

Note though that with this scene we've seen almost everything from the clip and the trailer. What's to come in the rest of Volume 8? No idea. Outside of Winter leading the charge with the bomb, we got it all here.

Time to update the bingo board!

I'm crossing off "Introducing new grimm that are quickly abandoned." Between the Hound and acid-dude both falling to a single blast/cut from Ruby, we've more than earned this square.

It doesn't look as if we'll get another Watts-Jacques team-up now that he's left, but you never know.

Maria's got me worried. I feel like her Yoda fight against Neo is the one thing she'll be allowed to do this volume, but given that we didn't see anyone except Ruby's group this episode, we don't yet know whether the story is now ignoring her and Pietro, or if they'll re-appear in another episode like YJR.  

Qrow is free. Will he get a drink before trying to murder Ironwood? Perhaps.

Still no bingo :(

All in all, the episode was by no means horrible. I think there were lots of horrible parts, but also some legitimately well executed moments, fun action, and scenes that I can easily imagine as squee worthy if you lean back and squint. Everything is comparative and in the growing collection of bad RWBY episodes, this one isn't securing a top slot. Which doesn't mean I think it's good, just... not as bad as it could have been and primarily only bad due to long-running problems, not things this specific episode has done. That's my bar then, so low it has officially entered the underworld.

Still, RWBY is back and a part of me is eager to see where this volume takes us, for better or for worse.

Until next week! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

[pemfrost]

AHHH I love everything you been writing for Spideydevil and Spiderfist but please no more agnst my heart just can't take it!!! I really loved broken with spideydevil it was so cute! But the angst I just can't why is everyone writing spideydevil angst I just want to see them happy! So if your not busy and want to do it can you do a spideydevil anything with them. Fuff prompt 17.

♡♡♡ Thank you!

Glad you like my drabbles :D Heh, sorry about the angst. It's my default setting lol. I think I found the prompt list you meant, but either way it's fluffy ♡

There were few times in Peter's life which left him truly speechless; so few, in fact, he could easily count them on one hand and still have a finger left over to salute the villain of the week. However, this was not one of those times. 

"No! Absolutely not!" Peter stood in the doorway, blocking his friends from entering with his body, while waving his arms over his head in an attempt to emphasize the words. It didn't help, because, of course, his friends were quite immune to his theatrics at this point. He glanced to where Matt stood to his right, being far too quiet. "Well? Tell them."

Matt only sighed and pushed their apartment door open further as an invitation before taking a seat on the couch. He didn't so much as flinch at the glare Peter was boring into the back of his head, though Peter knew he was aware of it. Apparently, Matt was also immune to his theatrics, which normally would have Peter over the moon at the reminder of all the years they've spent together. Right now, that familiarity only served to sour Peter's mood. How dare anyone ignore him!

Misty wasted no time shouldering her way past Peter first, and was quickly followed by Danny, Jess, and Luke, who carried a box covered with a blue towel. Were they that codependent, they all had to come? Peter bit back the retort, opting to slam the door and stalk to stand behind Matt with crossed arms. 

He pointedly ignored the box in Luke's lap. 

Peter glared. Jess glared back. And Matt leaned towards the box. 

Because, their friends were assholes, and Misty, Jess, and Danny took the chair and loveseat- leaving Luke and the damn box the couch. It was calculated, of that Peter was sure. 

Jess kicked her feet onto the coffee table casually, like this was just another hangout and she was waiting for Peter or Matt to retrieve a board game or throw a movie on. Except, this was anything but a casual social call and she was focused on Matt- her eyes refusing to meet Peter's. 

It was a lost cause, Peter was well aware of it; it was over the moment Matt showed any interest. How could he say no to Matt?

"No." Okay, it was easy to say. While standing behind Matt. "There is no way we-"

Matt turned to look up at Peter, something he only did when he wanted to use his face as a weapon, because how could anyone say no to /that/ face. The day Matt learned Peter was weak when his bottom lip jutted out ever so slightly tipped arguments to his favor by an unfair ratio. 

Peter couldn't say no to Matt. So, he looked across the room, when he found no one willing to meet his indignant glare he threw his arms up again, this time in defeat. It didn't mean he was going to give any of them the pleasure of saying yes. 

Misty snorted, breaking the tension. "I thought Matt would be the one putting up a fight."

Matt shrugged, too enthralled by the contents of the box to respond. When he reached into the box, there was a sudden flurry of movement and a distinct, but tiny, meow. 

Luke's grip tightened on the box, pulling it ever so slightly closer to his chest. "Maybe we could-" He was cut off by a look from his wife. 

Okay, that just wasn't fair. And Peter was about to say just that when Matt gently pulled two kittens from the box and shoved one towards him. And THAT wasn't fair. 

Taking the offered kitten was as good as saying yes, but Peter took it anyway, because Matt’s damn lip jutted out and the kitten looked at him and mewed. Not fair. But, he held the tiny thing against his chest and rubbed tiny circles along soft fur. 

"So," Jess said as she stood, "there are five of them. The vet said they're about four weeks old and-"

Peter tuned her out as she rattled off information about feeding and meds, too entranced by the tiny kitten in his arms. Matt was in a similar state, but nodded along with what Jess said even if he wasn't actually listening. 

Maybe it wouldn't be terrible fostering a litter of kittens. 

"Thanks, guys," Danny spoke up, remaining seated despite Misty standing to join Jess. 

Misty fixed him with a tired stare, "Hopefully my wonderful husband won't bring home any strays for a while. I'm just glad Lucy was sleeping, could you imagine having to take them away from her?"

Luke, suddenly looking very sheepish, pushed the box off his lap an onto the couch between him and Matt. "Yea…"

Matt returned his kitten to its siblings and reached in to pet the others. "I don't mind, it's only for a few weeks anyway."

"If we can find them homes," Peter reminded him. 

Jess rolled her eyes. "We're going to probably take one. Someone," she glared between Danny and Luke, "thought I would be swayed to foster them if Danielle asked me. I had to bribe her with the promise of a kitten once they were ready to be away from their siblings."

"Sorry," Both Danny and Luke said at the same time. 

Peter would ask them the details later, but for now he resigned himself to several weeks of kittens invading his life. Thankfully, new, younger, heroes were starting to alleviate their burden, which let their friends have the time and stability to have children. Get married. Foster a litter of kittens when their friends with children were too busy to do so.

Peter looked down at Matt, watched him play with the two kittens who were awake. This would be a big step for them, bigger, perhaps, than moving in together had been. They'd never had a pet. Or talked about it. Because the future was an uncertainty, something to ignore until you got to it, because life was unfair and cruel, and they both were all too familiar with loss.

Yet... watching Matt light up, smiling without a care, relaxed- It all hit Peter at once. There was no reason to fear the future, to not want to plan. No reason to ignore what his heart kept telling him he wanted. Needed. 

Silly, how a pile of tiny kittens could put the world in perspective. 

Later, once their friends left, and the kittens were locked safely in the bathroom, they went out to buy supplies. Jess brought the basics she picked up at the vet, but they still needed litter and more food- and toys. And a kennel for when they weren't home. 

They walked down a row of shops on their way home, loaded with bags full of kitten supplies. Shops they walked past a million times before. This time, however, Peter's eyes lingered on the window display of a jewelry store, for once letting himself think of the future.

__

Thank you for reading!

[dc41896]

Safe Haven

Hey guys! So a little backstory for this imagine, I randomly had a dream about this scenario with EZ and as soon as I woke up I was like “I gotta write that!” so here we are! Also just want to add how I really miss Mayans MC and my bois and I can’t wait for season 3 to come out🥰! Okay that’s pretty much it other than I hope you guys like it and sorry if it’s long or doesn’t flow well (I feel like it kinda seems rushed and towards the end doesn’t sound the best, but then again that might just be me being overly critical of myself 🤷🏽‍♀️ lol).

Pairing: EZ ReyesxBlack Reader

⚠️: Bit of angst, mentions of blood (very tiny), fluff mixed in throughout though

Sunlight beaming down from the small window above your bed, EZ slowly opens his eyes to see your still figure lying next to him. Hand placed just below his newest tattoo marking the birth of your son and leg draped over his, he gently brings you closer taking in the coconut scent of your lotion still radiating off your skin from last night.

Living a life like his, rarely could he experience peaceful mornings just lying down hearing the birds chirp outside, so he made sure to appreciate every second of it that he could.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!?! YOU THINK IM THAT DUMB TO NOT KNOW YOU’RE LYING?!??!!”

Barely muffled shouting from your neighbors coming through the walls, EZ rolls his eyes with a soft groan while you begin to wake up.

“They’re arguing again?,” you groggily ask rubbing your eyes as a yawn slips from your mouth.

“Yea they just started.”

“Well, it could be worse. They could’ve started at one in the morning like last time,” you softly laugh grazing your thumb along his cheekbone. Taking your hand in his, he kisses your knuckles before leaning down to give the same attention to your pouted lips. Slightly calloused yet soft hand gripping your thigh, you push against his chest separating his lips from yours.

“Don’t start.”

“Start what?”

“You know exactly what,” you smirk. “Today we’re supposed to go get more diapers for Omari and more food for my fridge since someone and his brother keep eating everything.”

“That’s all on Angel, I know how to limit myself. And your leg was draped over me so really I should be the one telling you don’t start,” he chuckles kissing your jaw as you stick your tongue out at him. Sitting up, you carefully step over him to make your way to the bathroom.

“Whatever, I can’t help how I sleep Ezekiel.” Closing the door behind you, a wide smile spreads across his face as he shakes his head. While the use of his full name was only reserved for his father and brother, the way it rolled off your tongue made him want to hear you say it all day.

Swinging his legs over the side, he stretches before hearing the soft cries of his eight month old son in the other room. Quickly putting on his white tank and boots, his long legs guide him to the wooden crib in the next room. Tiny arms reaching between the bars, he carefully lifts him up to bounce him in his arms.

“Hey man, annoying neighbors woke you up too huh?” Reaching in his crib, he removes an older looking stuffed bunny with different sized buttons for eyes and a random patterned patch sewn on its belly. “Look what I got.”

Calming down, his hands roam around it’s face fixated on the black point that was its nose. “That patch was because your uncle Angel decided to keep throwing him at the ceiling fan seeing if he would stay on the blade. Don’t ever let him play with your toys ok?,” he smiles kissing the top of his head.

Like every event in his life, he could vividly remember everything that happened that day. Him begging Angel to stop. His hard headed older brother not listening until cotton fell from above. His mother calming him down insisting how it could be fixed as she smoothed his dark hair before kissing his forehead.

It may sound weird, but every time he saw that bunny he felt his mom’s presence as if he was back to that day sitting in her lap watching as she sewed his friend back together. That’s one reason why he wanted his son to have it, so his abuela would be with him.

Hearing your footsteps, he looks up to see you suspiciously looking towards the door instantly making him worry. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing I just thought I heard someone stop in front of the door,” you answer taking one last glance towards the front of your apartment. “It’s nothing though, they probably just paused for a second.”

Handing Omari to you, he approaches the door looking out the peephole before opening it to peak outside making sure no one was hanging around.

“Something like that happens again and I’m not here, call me.”

“I doubt-,”

“I’m serious Y/N.” Locking the door behind him he walks up to you and your babbling son peering down with dark brown eyes that were stern enough to know he meant business, yet still displayed their usual softness showing it was out of love for you and Omari that he was being so protective.

“Okay,” you answer; soon after feeling his beard brush against your skin as he pecks your lips.

———

“Ready to go to the park love?”

Bringing the diaper bag higher on your opposite shoulder, you balance your baby boy on your hip as you lock your door. Just as you turn around, you’re faced with three men patiently waiting while two of them intensely looked at you and your son. The tall, slender one in the middle, clad in a grey suit, displayed a small smile trying to appear friendly, but mostly seemed awkward as if he wasn’t used to that emotion.

“Hello, my name is Lincoln Potter and these are a couple of my associates. We’re looking for a man by the name Ezekiel Reyes, or EZ, as some call him. We have a couple witness accounts on seeing him in the area so we’re asking around for more possible information.” Holding up a candid picture of him on his bike outside his dad’s carneteria, you lightly bounce Omari hoping to distort his view so he wouldn’t possibly recognize his father.

“Sorry, haven’t seen him.”

“Well it doesn’t have to be around here. Have you seen him anywhere else? In town perhaps?”

“No, nowhere else,” you answer showing no emotion. While this was your first physical interaction with Potter, you were definitely familiar with the attorney. A few times while you were at EZ’s trailer he’d have to step away to answer his call or meet him in some secluded location. It was then you saw how much of a pain he could be to any target he had his sights on.

Looking at you for a few seconds his mouth parts as if he had more to say, but instead the awkward smile returns as he hands you his card.

“If you do happen to see him, please call. He’s needed for...very important matters.” Taking the card from his hand, he gazes down to Omari innocently nibbling on his fingers. Black coils on the top of his head shifting from the light breeze, his dark eyes finally meet Potter’s crystal blue ones causing a low chuckle to escape the man’s lips.

“Might I add you have a beautiful son. His father is very lucky to have such a beautiful family.”

Through his compliment you could feel a sense of iciness laced within. Like he knew what information you were keeping from him and was 10 steps ahead of your two.

Politely nodding your head as a soft “thank you” leaves your mouth, you walk by the three men feeling eyes on your back. After buckling your son in his car seat, you move to the drivers side quickly closing the door behind you before resting your head on the steering wheel to take a deep breath.

“Mama,” Omari whines lightly kicking his feet wanting the car to move.

“I know we’re going baby boy just give mommy a second.” Dialing EZ’s number, you pull out of the parking lot onto the busy street anxiously waiting for him to answer.

“Hey, you okay?,” he asks, deep voice full of concern and worry.

“Um well yes and no....it’s Potter.”

———

Sat on the floor watching your little boy laugh as he plays with his interactive animal book, you occasionally look out the window anxiously waiting to see EZ and Angel arrive any minute. After telling him what happened, he instructed you to meet him at the clubhouse where he’d take you to his dad’s just in case you were being followed.

Dropping you both off, he didn’t say much as he walked you into the small house. Kissing Omari’s cheek and then your lips, he quickly left again with his brother instantly making you worried. Knowing what was going on, Felipe tried to get your mind off things by offering you food and getting you to talk about yourself or Omari, which worked but not for long.

Now over three hours later, it was dark outside and neither you nor Felipe had heard anything from the brothers.

Motorcycles humming outside, you peer out the window to see Angel and EZ slowly making their way to the front of the house causing you to sigh in relief. However, your worries quickly returned seeing both tiredly trudge through the front door and the front of EZ’s grey shirt crimson with blood.

“What happened?!,” you ask rushing to examine him for any other injuries.

“Calm down, it’s not mine,” he answers bringing your hands to his lips with a small smile. “Just had to save this one as always.”

“Save me? Pretty sure that’s not how it went at all but ok. And I’m good too, thanks for asking.” Shaking his head Angel picks up your son before sitting down on the couch and flipping through the channels on the outdated tv. “You care about your tio don’t you man?”

Little hands pulling his hair as he giggles, Angel lets out a small yelp trying to loosen his strong grip.

“Omari be nice,” you laugh before returning your attention back to your boyfriend. “Here, let me help you clean up.” Leading him to the bathroom, you close the door behind you as he removes his leather vest and shirt before sitting on the toilet.

“Try not to cry this time alright?”

“Psh, whatever,” he lightly chuckles resting his large hands on the back of your legs. A comfortable silence falls over you while you stand between his legs carefully cleaning the blood from his scars. Although you had grown used to these moments being with him for a while now, that still didn’t take away the ache you always felt seeing him hurt.

“You and Omari might want to stay with your mom for a while,” he speaks just above a whisper.

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? You saw what happened today Y/N, I don’t want you guys hanging around for it to happen again.”

“If it happens again,” you correct making him roll his eyes as he stands up.

“Now’s not the time to be naive, I’m driving you tomorrow. Your stuff is already packed waiting at the trailer.” Reaching for the door, you stand in his way planting yourself against the worn looking wood with arms crossed over your chest.

“Last time I checked, you’re Omari’s father not mine.”

“Y/N move.”

“No. I’m not afraid of Potter or the men under him, he’s all talk.”

“And how do you know?”

“Because if he really wanted to do something he would’ve done it then and there. I mean think about it they had me at my most vulnerable state with no where to go and no way to defend myself,” you explain receiving an exasperated sigh from EZ as his hand rubs down his face.

“It was a warning. Yea they didn’t do anything when they could’ve, but they wanted to scare you into telling them what they wanted to know and intimidate both of us with what they could do.”

“Well it didn’t work,” you reply guiding his chin to look at you. “Ezekiel I knew what I was getting into when we started talking and I’m still here. If it ever gets to the point where I don’t feel safe or fear for our son’s safety then we’ll leave, but until then I’m not letting Potter get to me. Plus do you think it would be easy for us to just leave after all this time?”

Placing both hands on either side of your head, he slightly bends down leaving his face inches from yours. “I’m not saying it would be easy, but if it needs to be done then that’s it bellita.”

“And when it needs to be done it will be.” Connecting your lips with his, your hands roam from his bare chest to the nape of his neck while his wrap around your body bringing you closer.

“We’re gonna need to put you in a new apartment too,” he says separating his lips from yours as his fingers graze up and down your spine.

“Hopefully your dad is okay with me staying here for a while longer then.”

“Here? What about the trailer?”

“I think the constant revving of motorcycles and occasional parties might not be ideal for a baby to be around.”

“True, you’re probably right,” you both laugh before being interrupted by loud knocking.

“Aye I hate to interrupt your probably intimate moment in there, but your kid is hungry and I’m not sure if it’s for what I can give him or what only mom can,” Angel explains as Omari fusses in his arms. “Relax man I’m trying to get her out here.”

“I’m gonna shower, you better go ahead before he starts pulling his hair again,” he smiles kissing your temple.

Opening the door, you carefully take Omari from his hands tickling under his chin to make him laugh. “Okay my baby lets get you fed.”

“The amount of strength he has that’s not a baby, that’s a tiny grown man,” Angel adds making you laugh.

Tags: @crushed-pink-petals-writes @fumbling-fanfics @honeychicanawrites @honeychicana @lady-olive-oil @themyscxiras @melinda-january @lovelymari4 @literaturefeen @damnitaa @curlyhairclub @renfrewscorner @fullofmelaninsarcasmandepression @nunubug99 @felicity-x0 @ellixthea @jojolu @jnk-812 @brwn-sgr @captainsamwlsn @wildfirecracker @nina-sj @iammyownlover @chaneajoyyy @secretmysteriousperson @plokyu23

If anybody wants to be tagged, has asked to be tagged but don’t see your name, only want to be tagged for certain people I write for, or no longer wish to be tagged just let me know🤓!

[sweetestlamb]

Hands On

Summary: Dalmi appreciates the majestic wonders that are Nam Dosan’s hands. 

Author's note: I’ve never seen a ship war before in kdrama land so I was completely unprepared for some of the things I saw in this tag lol but I mean I guess it’s cool that this show is making everyone feel so much. I think Dodal is absolutely adorable as a couple and every time they hug or do anything domestic I swoon like a maiden in an erotica novel. Enjoy whatever pairing you want but I will be writing Dodal strictly as I don’t see any romance between the other pairing. I am many thoughts but not time sadly, I wrote this during my daily commute so excuse any typos and the brevity. 

Those wide palms wrap around her simultaneously comforting and overwhelming her, there are moments when those hands are mesmerizing; clicking at keys and making miracles become a reality. His brilliant mind is the catalyst but those fingers are the agents and she longs to cling to them, thank them and worship them.

Then, there other moments when they grip her face and dismantle her calm systemically taking her apart like a machine, then putting her back together effortlessly with a disarming nervous smile. His eyes squinting the way they always do when his heart is fluttering.

The first time she kisses his hand the blush that blazes across his high cheekbones is adorable, too pure. She feels dirty for imagining wrapping her lips around them and seeing how they taste.

Until she finally swallows them and he looks absolutely dazed and destroyed by the simple act, she knows in that moment she wants to be the one to do everything with him.

She wants him, Nam Dosan.

But she's never had this with anyone before, never had a shoulder to lay her head on or someone to lift her off the ground when she was so happy she thought her cheeks might crack. As much as she puts up a strong front and pushes into any space that he occupies, in the deep crevice of her mind she's just as terrified as he visibly is.

So she takes small steps, takes Dosan's advice and tests her hypothesis that he wants her as much as she wants him.

It starts with a brush of fingers, his sizeable hand is merely inches from her own and stagnant for once. He'd paused into the middle of a fit of genius, worrying his cuticle between sharp teeth. And her response is instantaneous, she snatches his hand away before peering at the skin to ensure it's not bleeding. His hands are beautiful. Strong and capable of making the impossible plausible, they should be protected at all cost.

"Don't do that, you'll make yourself bleed." She lightly chastises, twisting the digit left and right and sighing when she sees there is no permanent damage.

His eyes are bright and frantic, ping ponging between her face and her firm grasp on his hand. Soon his cheeks turn rosy and she almost laughs, even without the E.T she's able to read him like a book; they've kissed until their lips were sore but this is still enough to get his heart racing.

"I'm sorry." He softly replies, making no move to escape from her hold and looking reprimanded as if he's actually done something to her.

She wraps her empty hand around the hand she confiscated, sandwiching his hands between hers.

"Don't abuse these. I like them. A lot." She squeezes his hands tightly, stroking at the smooth skin before bringing them up to her lips and placing two smacking kisses on his wrist.

His silence is deafening but his face provides all the answers she needs, pupils dilated and his teeth now leaving indents in his bottom lip.

She vaguely wonders if he knows the indecent picture he makes, but he frequently does this unknowingly seduces her with this actions.

"You do realize that the rest of us are also in this room right? " Saha's voice cuts through the haze sounding affronted, sneering at them over her phone.

It's only then that she shifts her eyes from Dosan's pretty blush and gazes around the room, the other two members of Samsan tech are pointedly looking at the ground, Chul-san even going as far as whistling and pointing out patterns in the floor regaling about how wonderful the office is as if they haven't been here for weeks now.

She supposes she should feel embarrassed but she can't muster up any shame.

She opts to tease instead. 

Smirking at the other girl she grabs at her perfectly manicured hand across the table, "Are you jealous? Do you want some attention too hmm?"

The prissy designer squawks loudly as Dalmi puckers up and then Chul-san leaps up pushing his chair in a haste to defend the designer, bodily blocking her from Dalmi's gaze and she can't contain that giggle that bubbles up in her chest.

"I'll protect you!"

A glance over reveals that Chul-san is the one who needs protection with the glacial glare being sent his way, Saha stands in a huff leaving without any explanation. No one reacts except the goofy coder who watches her departure with forlorn eyes.

Throughout the commotion, Dalmi never releases the hand in her possession. Stroking him in light brushes that drag from wrist to knuckle.

She knows she should give him back his hand, he's trying his best to type with one hand and honestly still moving quicker than most but still she prepares to free him.

But suddenly the hand is yanked from her capture and she jolts at the sudden movement, turning to him with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" He hastily apologizes, even going as far pressing his previously snatched hand back into hers, wriggling his long fingers into her much smaller hand.

Once again his ridiculous antics disarm her and she can't help but smile at him, shaking her head before squeezing his hand and returning to her own abandoned keyboard.

"It's okay you can have your hand back, that's what makes all the magic happen." She teases him internally delighted at the more carnal thoughts that come to mind at her own words.

He's wearing his patented squinty blush™️ face now version 2.0 which includes flushed cheeks and lip biting, but he stutters out a reply after a few minutes of avoiding her eyes.

"Sorry, it's just...I was stuck on something. I couldn't make the right connection but after you....." He trails off but his eyes are fixed on her hands now, still on the table as she listens to him.

After she what? She peers back at him waiting the rest of the sentence that doesn't appear to be coming.

"After I?" She eggs him on staring up at him expectantly, even sitting he looms over her.

"Ummm...your hand. And my hand. It helped me put the pieces together."

Fondness rolls over her like a blanket as she watches this brilliant coder stutter his way through a simple explanation.

After she held his hand.

He starts to spin his chair in little half circles now, before turning back completely to his work space. Then his fingers are moving at a rapid pace, tap tap tap echoing in the room as he solves another issue as easily as he blinks.

"Thank you."

She almost misses the whispered words but she's always listening to him. She begins to shake her head, not doing anything that warrants gratitude but the smile he shoots her way leaves no room for argument.

She can do nothing but beam back at him, heart hitching when he reaches out to squeeze her hand before his friends start grumbling, she sticks her tongue out at them before skipping off to get them all coffee already memorizing all of their orders. If she stays the temptation to touch Dosan will be too much.

Her fingers are still tingling, his magic rubbing off on her.

When she makes her way back to the room Saha is back and as prickly as they're all used to. With a sigh they all throw themselves back into work.

It's been a long day, their app has crashed and no amount of tapping away at the computers is enough to fix it, she can see the way it weighs on Dosan's shoulders as if ever failure is all his fault.

After a prolonged minute he stills, his head falling onto his hands in defeat. Those broad shoulders collapsing like pillars constructed from sand. His fellow coders try to cheer him up, telling him that they will stay late with him but they all know that he doesn't need help. He so often is their lone hero.

"I'm going for walk." His voice is barely above a whisper, as he heaves himself from his chair and lifelessly stalks out the door.

Dalmi feels all eyes turn to her as she watches his exit, she wars with herself wondering if it would be better to give him space. But a voice pushes her to follow him, knowing how hard Dosan can be on himself. He's incapable of cruelty unless the one being stabbed is himself.

"I'm going to the bathroom." She lies, meaninglessly as no one believes her and Chul-san even calls out that Dosan probably went to the roof. She rolls her eyes, she already knew that. Roofs held a very special place in their relationship.

She sprints up the stairs, loose hair swinging wildly behind as she pushes the door open.

Immediately she finds her Dosan, trying to make his large body smaller sitting hunched on a metal bench, taking a minute to smooth down her flyaways she marches over to him. Pep talk on the tip of her tongue.

But she's intercepted as a new figure enters her field of vision, long amber brown hair blowing in the wind. The unknown woman stalks over to Dosan, Dalmi bristles as she watches the woman reapply lipstick before closing the gap.

She can't hear the words but she instantly knows that Dosan is being flirted with and has no idea of the occurrence, he had jumped when first approached and then after a puppy-esque head tilt started to explain something, hands in motion.

Fire simmers in her veins the longer the conversation drags on, soon the woman has taken a seat and she is all easy smiles and constant hair tucks. Then she starts to lean into his space and Dalmi brightens when he scoots away, maintaining the distance between them.

Dalmi reaches for her scrunchie, slipping it from her wrist and catching her hair up in a loose ponytail.

Marching over she walks until she's right in front of the coder, for once looking down at him before reaching out and taking his hand. Using all her strength she pulls him, at first he's rigid and immoveable and then he's standing and allowing himself to be yanked into her orbit.

The woman glares at her before raising an eyebrow, "Who are you? We were having a conversation." Annoyance drips off every word that falls from her lips.

Dalmi steps forward, as Dosan steps behind her dwarfed by her despite their laughable difference in height.

"I'm his CEO."

She glares harder at Dalmi. Now standing as well, arms crossed petulantly.

"You're just his CEO. Why are you interrupting?"

Dosan's breath hitches in the background and Dalmi wonders if he finally realized what was happening just now.

"He can't fraternize with the enemy. We're going now."

A part of her wonders if she's overstepping her boundaries but when she turns to face Dosan he's squinting into the distance and she knows that her jealousy is not unwelcomed.

When she has Dosan safely away from the poacher, she peers up at him his hand still curled around her own.

"I'm sorry."

His unwarranted apology snaps her back to reality, she almost groans at herself. She wasn't normally a possessive person but Dosan made her act stupid sometimes.

Instead of acknowledging his apology she replies, "Do you know why she was talking to you?"

He stares at her blankly before it morphs to confusion and then realization.

His eyes widen.

He nods solemnly.

"Yeah I know why."

She watches his face avidly as he opens his lips to speak once more.

"She wanted...my coding secrets. That's why she was asking me about myself and for my number. She was probably trying to become my friend to sabotage us. I promise I didn't tell her anything."

Her brain careens as she processes the new information, teeth clenching at the thought of Dosan giving another woman his number.

Then his words sink in and her stomach unclenches minutely, she believes him. But a little voice in the back of her head offers some doubt and she braces herself.

"What if she wasn't trying to use you? Would you give her your number?"

She barely as to wait a full second for a response.

"No. Why would I do that?"

"Maybe you need someone to talk to."

He looks at her as if she's grown another head, "I have Chul-san and Yong-san."

Her hold loosens.

"And I have you." He grabs the point of her chin, drawing her head up until their eyes lock once more. The warmth from his hand sinks into her skin and she nuzzles into his palm before drawing him into a hug, standing on her tip toes to wrap her arms around his neck.

After a pregnant pause he melts into her embrace, deep breaths landing on her shoulder.

"You'll figure it out. I know you will."

He nods slowly, buckled over as he tightens his hold on her waist.

"Thanks for coming for me."

She mentally makes a note to pray the next time she's in church, thank the Lord for putting him in her life perhaps he was her guardian angel sent to make heathens like her believers.

She's drunk. She can feel the alcohol singing her in blood as she sways on the sidewalk. They'd all agreed to go out for drinks to celebrate, they were in the final two for Sandbox. It was surreal and before she knew it she had stumbled from giggly and tipsy into sloshed and incoherent.

Dosan looms beside her, her shoulder bag strung across his wide chest as he watches her in the corner of his eye. The others had bulldozed into Saha's car despite the designer threatening to dump their bodies on the highway.

So here they were alone.

When the bus finally arrived, strong arms lift her taking all her weight before caroling her into a back seat of the bus. She hums happily, fuzzy memory resurfacing of them holding hands on the bus. Without thought she reaches out and catches his hand, needing to feel his skin.

His hands are slightly damp but she doesn't care, she wants all of him sweat included.

She blinks awake at his whispers of her name and soft shoves, groggy she stands up letting him guide her like she's a young child. Her nap has sobered her up some and she's thankful she decided to forgo heels today, instead donning simple flats with a gold buckle.

"Do you need a piggyback?"

She turns at his offer, considering it but that means she would have to let go of his hands and that's simply not an option. She wants to enjoy every second she has remaining with those hands.

She shakes her head in decline, squeezing his hand as they trek up the incline to her house. The moon shines big and bright in the sky, washing them with its rays.

"You're home." He announces, looking down at her fondly before she starts to swing their arms between them.

He starts to pull her bag over his head, and the words tumble out of her mouth, her tongue loosened by all the alcohol she's consumed.

"What do you like about me?"

He stills at her question, eyes widening before his lips shift open. He looks lost for a minute and her patience wears thin as she awaits his response, when none arrives she huffs stomping her feet and repeating louder, "What do you like about me?"

Still he stares wordlessly and she drags her hand away, snatching her bag and turning to enter her house. She takes three and a half steps before he catches her wrist, she doesn't turn around but she pauses her escape.

A deep winded breaths swooshes past her ear and then he replies, "I...I like a lot."

She glares over her shoulder, and he withers under her stare. Large hands reaching out to caress her jaw as he looks at her with liquid eyes.

"Umm your smile, you have a great smile."

Said smile makes a guest appearance and she hums, "What else?" He smiles at her, the juxtaposition not lost on him.

"Your confidence, you believe in yourself." The and me is silent but still there. That brings a sad smile to her face, his own confidence is a work in progress. Suddenly dehydrated she swipes her tongue across the surface of her upper lip, pulling the bottom in and releasing it with a wet smack.

The act lasts all of three seconds but Dosan freezes, eyes fixated on her mouth although nothing is happening now.

His fingers inch towards her mouth until she can feel the heat and she waits for his next move.

When he makes none, she steps closer tugging him to meet her halfway.

Then finally as if that were his cue, he presses his thumb into her bottom lip, running across the plump moist flesh utterly entranced and red faced.

"I like your lips."

His actions are speaking loud enough but his words scorch her up and before she can consider the fact that they are outside her house, she swivels her head and pops his thumb into her mouth, his salty flavor exploding on her tongue. His hand feels even larger inside of her and she moans at the sensation.

His eyes are blown out and he's so still she doubts he's breathing, he looks helpless as he watches her sink further down the wide digit.

She swirls her tongue around the pad of this thumb and she swears Dosan melts into her. All of his bones seeming to liquefy.

When she slides off his thumb he's still dazed and dumbfounded, lips opening and closing like a fish sputtering on land.

She's nothing if not an opportunist and she crashes into him, tugging him down to meet her as she sucks the soju off his tongue. He groans into the kiss but lets her lead, bending when she grapples with his shoulder.

They kiss like that for a few seconds, twisting and turning to devour each other before she feels him drifting away and before she can whine at the loss of his lips, her feet leave the ground and they are eye level.

His hands are vices on her lower back, pressing her immeasurably close to his solid torso.

She wraps her legs around him like a koala and before he can combust from their provocative position she's already licking into his mouth, gripping his hair tightly as she moves him as she pleases.

One of his hands creep up and cup the back of her head, and then she's being moved backwards until her back slams into something solid. He tries to pull away, concern contorting his features but she dives into his neck nipping at the hot skin there. She suckles roughly, knowing that she'll leave a mark and anticipating the pretty mark on his blemish free skin.

Then as quickly as his fingers typically move on his keyboard he backs away from her.

She's unprepared for her legs to crash back onto the ground and she looks up at him disgruntled, question forming before her door bursts open.

Then the sweet familiar voice of her grandmother cuts through the tension that has settled between them.

"Dalmi is that you?"

Dosan grabs her bag swinging it back  over his shoulder again, standing ramrod straight like he’s rehearsing for a role in the army. 

Tipsy now from his kiss, she turns around meeting her grandmother's eyes. Trying her damnest not to look as ravished as she feels, her lips are tender in a the right ways.

"Oh goodness look at you. You look a mess, you stuck your head out the window again didn't you? Look at how red and sore your lips are!"

She pointedly doesn't react to the exclamation but Dosan shuffles in her peripheral. Guilty and nervous. 

Thankfully grandmother hasn't yet learned his many tells.

"Thank you for bringing her home." She thanks Dosan sending an indulgent smile his way, before guiding Dalmi into the house. She twists around to wave good bye to Dosan and notices her bag still over his shoulder. She opens her mouth to call out and get it back before she notices how red Dosan is, his cheeks look painfully tinged but that's nothing compared to his white knuckled grip on her bag which is strategically placed in front of his groin.

Oh.

She's makes a show of looking him up and down before licking her mouth, ever so slowly and puckering at him. The last thing she sees before her door closes is Dosan wringing his hand, looking devastated.

She can't wait to get her hands on him.

[ri-ahhh]

Okay but hear me out: Grayson begging to come with you to take care of your baby siblings (like 2 and 4 years old) and he’s ON IT but then they get really out of hand and he’s like “I can see why birth control is a thing”

Listen I worked in a daycare for four years and I’m a firm believer that anyone wanting to have a kid needs to work that job for a week. Or like, forget the stupid baby dolls you take care of in high school, let a 15 yr old take care of 5 babies or 10 2 yr olds by themselves and see if they’ll have unprotected sex lol

You’re walking around your apartment, straightening up the place and removing anything potentially breakable or that might be a choking hazard in preparation for the day you promised to babysit your niece and nephew, when your phone buzzes in the back pocket of your jeans.

“Hello?” you answer, unplugging a stray phone charger from the wall socket by the couch and replacing it with one of the childproof plastic covers.

“Hey,” came Grayson’s voice on the other end of the line. “What time do you think you’ll head over?”

You pause in the middle of the room, confused momentarily, then smack your palm to your forehead. You had totally forgotten the plans you had made with your boyfriend to have a pool day at his house. 

“Shit. I’m sorry, Gray. I totally forgot, I told my brother like three weeks ago that I’d watch his kids for the day while he and his wife go house hunting.”

“Oh, damn,” he says, disappointed. His voice perks up when he speaks again, however. “I love kids, though! What if I came over and helped you out?”

You raise an eyebrow. “You want to spend your Saturday wrangling two toddlers? They’re little hellions, babe, to put it nicely.”

You can hear his grin through the phone. “Yeah. I wanna see you be an auntie.”

After a few seconds of hesitation, you relent. You’d be lying if you tried to say that you aren’t thinking about him being in dad mode for the day now, too. “Alright, but you don’t get to bail when shit hits the fan. Let me check that it’s cool with my brother.”

An hour later, you’ve got your just-turned-two niece Cami and her four year-old brother Cash sitting on your couch, entranced by Aquanauts playing on the TV, when Grayson knocks at the door. The kids’ heads jerk up, and your nephew looks at you questioningly, always excited for the opportunity to be a big boy and answer the door. You smile and nod, giving him permission to scramble off the couch with you following close behind.

You help him heave the door open, and he looks up at Grayson standing there, friendly smile fixed on his face when he sees your nephew. 

“Hey, little man! Can I come in?”

Cash nods with an excited smile of his own. You had already told him that your friend Grayson would be coming over to play with them. Outgoing and extroverted and a genuine people-person to no end, he had been as jittery and excited as if you had given him a spoonful of sugar ever since.

Grayson steps past the threshold of your apartment, and holds his fist out for Cash to bump. “I’m Grayson.”

You feel two little hands tug on your shirt, and you look down to see Cami reaching up to be held, curious about this new person but also cautious. You sweep her up and settle her on your hip, then nod at your nephew. “Gray, this is Cash. Tell him how old you are, bud.”

“Four!” he shouts, counting out the correct number of fingers before holding them up to Grayson. “I had a Spider-Man party! Do you like Spider-Man?”

“Dude, I love Spider-Man,” Grayson says exaggeratedly, giving Cash an enthusiastic high-five. He looks at Cami, who’s got her head resting on your shoulder as she watches this stranger interact with her brother. “And who’s this?”

“You gonna tell Grayson your name?” you ask Cami, knowing it’ll be hit or miss if she does or not. Much more of an introvert and also used to having an older silbling do everything for her, she isn’t quite as quick to warm up to people as her rambunctious brother. Sure enough, today is a no-go, but she still observes Grayson with big eyes and a fascinated little smile. 

Before you can answer your boyfriend, Cash speaks for her in that typical older-sibling fashion. “Her name is Campbell, but we call her Cami. Or Cam.”

“No way! My sister’s name is Cam, too!”

That’s all the small talk and mutual ground Cash needs to grab Grayson by the wrist and drag him into your living room to play with the pile of toys on the rug. He flashes you a grin as he passes, clearly impressed with himself that he’s already made such good friends with Cash.

You grin and roll your eyes, but follow them and sit with your back resting against the couch and Cami planted in your lap.

Admittedly, Grayson is a natural as he makes all the appropriate dinosaur and car crash noises and gladly accepts the Batman action figure instead of Spider-Man. He even coaxes Cami to take one of the animal figures, meeting her smile with a bright one of his own, glad to be making some headway now with the precious little girl in your arms.

Until Cash catches sight of the little plastic tiger now in Cami’s hands, and decides to ruin the moment completely.

“That’s mine, Cam!” he shouts, dropping Spider-Man and snatching the toy from her.

You know it’s coming, but Grayson is completely unprepared for the shrieking scream that Cami lets out as she clambers off your lap to take back the toy. Gray winces and looks at you in shock, but you’re just immediately going into ‘stop the fight’ mode.

“Cash, you weren’t even playing with that,” you reprimand, holding out your hand for him to reluctantly drop the toy into. You sit Cami on the rug next to him and make her look you in the eye. “Cami, use your words next time. What do you say when you want something?”

Her eyes light up when she sees the toy in your hand that she knows is about to belong to her once again. “P’ease!” she says, swiping her hand across her chest as well, leftover baby sign language engrained in her little brain.

You hand her the toy and make her say ‘thank you’ as well, then catch Grayson watching you in awe. “You handled that well,” he says.

You blush a little and shrug, crawling across the carpet now that the kids are happy and occupied so you can plant a soft kiss to his lips. “Hi,” you murmur, grinning against his mouth.

He chuckles and kisses you again, equally as chaste. “Hi.”

There are a couple more arguments that you have to stop, then they settle down for a bit while they eat a morning snack of banana slices and Cheerios. Cami definitely dumps her half-empty bowl on the floor to signify that she’s finished, and Cash accidentally spills his water everywhere after taking the lid off because ‘he’s not a baby.’ Grayson offers to clean it up while you take the kids to the bathroom to wipe Cami’s messy hands and face and to change Cash’s soaking wet clothes.

There’s a park nearby your apartment, so once everything is tidy again, the two of you round up the excited little balls of energy and head out the door. Both kids have easily become infatuated with Grayson, and as the four of you walk the sidewalk on your way to the park, he carries Cami on his hip while holding tightly on to Cash’s hand to stop him from chasing bugs into traffic. It’s an adorable image, to say the least, and makes your chest swell warmly.

You like watching him run around with Cash equally as much while you push Cami on the baby swings. Grayson is learning first-hand that even someone as in-shape as himself is no match for the energy of an excited four year-old. He chases Cash around the playground, flies him around like an airplane, and plays a game of tag before finally convincing him to come to the swings as well.

You laugh when he makes his way over, panting heavily. “Having fun?” you ask amusedly.

Grayson doesn’t answer, just takes his place behind the swing Cash chooses and catches his breath for a moment as he starts to push him.

“Just trying to figure out how my dad did this with me and E.”

Lunch and nap come next, which goes a little smoother than snack had. Grayson plays with them on the floor again while you cook, and you let him put out the squabbles himself until everything is ready. Cash only puts up a small fight when you lay them down in your bed. They’re both out in a matter of minutes, exhausted by the activities and excitement of their morning.

When you emerge back in the living room, you find Grayson slumped on the couch, staring at the TV that’s now playing Dora.

“Brushing up on your Spanish?” you ask, plopping down next to him and snuggling up to his side. “Or are you watching for the adventure?”

Grayson chuckles and wraps his arm around your shoulder so he can pull you closer to him, his voice gruff and tired. “You were right. Hellions, both of them. Cute, but insane.”

You tip your head up to kiss the underside of his jaw. “For what it’s worth, they loved you.”

“Really?” he asks, his voice lighting up with the smile you can’t see.

You nod against his chest, grinning as you think back on the day. “Absolutely. Cami never takes to strangers that fast, and you were able to keep up with Cash, which is a feat not many others can do.”

He’s quiet for a moment. “Kinda makes me scared to have kids now. It’s only been like five hours and I’m already exhausted.”

“You’re meant to be a dad Gray,” you assure him quietly, lifting your head and offering him a gentle smile. “If I didn’t already know that before, everything I saw today definitely made me think so. And no good thing comes easy, right? I think being a little tired is worth having one of those of your own, don’t you?”

“For sure,” he nods, cupping your cheek and dipping down to kiss you softly.

You hum into his mouth, needy for him now that you’ve got him all to yourself, and wrap your arms around his neck to pull him down until you’ve got him sprawled our on top of you. You trace his lips with your tongue before slipping it between them, but at the first slide of it against his, Grayson pulls back.

“Is this okay, you know, with them...?” He nods down the hall to the closed door of your room.

You nod. “They’re heavy sleepers. We should probably keep it to over the clothes stuff just in case, though. And my brother will be here in an hour to get them, so we only have to wait until then.”

It’s enough to satisfy him, and Grayson ducks down again, ready to pick right back up, until he breaks away from your mouth once more.

“What?” you ask breathily, looking up at him with both confusion and frustration.

He reaches an arm behind you to grab the remote sitting on the arm of the couch. “I’m sorry, I just can’t make out while Dora is screaming at me to ‘vamonos.’”