#and hopefully once we get there it'll be fun to look back at what we did

[thethingything]

I'm absolutely determined to pay attention to all the seasonal changes and embrace them as much as possible this year and to try and romanaticise it. we've tried to do the same for the last couple of years too but I think we're getting better at it over time

[sunvylovebug]

A bath together

↬Warnings: There are mentions of nudity but this is NOT NSFW, Y/N is a killer, mentions of murdering …⁠ᘛ⁠⁐̤⁠ᕐ⁠ᐷ

↬ Gender Neutral!Reader, they/them pronouns and third person narration (⁠*⁠˘⁠︶⁠˘⁠*⁠)⁠.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡

↬Author Note: He's such a green flag, such a sweet boy, I want to give Me. Crawling a big hug. Btw finally posting something that has warnings lmao.

↬Summary: Y/N teaching Mr. Crawling about something basic in the daily routine; a warm bath.

↬ Word Count: 1,435 Words

Masterlist

"Mr. Crawling please. I promise you it'll be fun! Fun? You like fun?"

Y/N's question was answered with a vigorous shake of the head. "No... Me no like. No like there. Not going."

"Please? Would you do it for me?" Of course they were gonna try to convince him that way, Mr. Crawling couldn't say no to that look after all.

It's been some days since they left that mysterious world. They went back to their usual activities like going to school and killing people, just the usual stuff for a human their age, right? They have been teaching Mr. Crawling about the human world and the routines that generally develop over time, a very important part of the daily routine is cleaning the body but Mr. Crawling was so hesitant to enter the tub, it was filled with warm water and soap, of course it looked comfy but then why was he acting that way?

Mr. Crawling stood firm in his decision. "Not going."

They sighed. "Would you enter if we did it together? Would you agree that way? You, me, together?"

He smiled and nodded, so he was throwing that whole tantrum so he could be with them. They weren't surprised really, he was a clingy being.

They took off their clothes with some hesitation, how would Mr. Crawling react? Would it be a good reaction? Now they were the one hesitating. And he noticed. "You okay?"

"I'm okay, it's just..." They shook their head. "Nothing."

Once the two were without clothes they shivered a little. "I already took a shower today, taking a bath is not necessary for me..." Y/N said to themselves as they stepped into the tub. "Your turn. Come here"

This time Mr. Crawling stepped into the tub without protest, a happy smile on his face. After feeling the temperature, he giggled, he looked happy. "Fun fun." He said, splashing a little of water.

"See? Told you it was fun... But you usually take a shower first, then get in the tub to relax, you know? The problem is that my shower is too small for someone so tall like you... I mean, this tub is also pretty small but I guess it works, not that bad hopefully. I hope you'll enjoy it." Indeed, it wasn't that big of a bathtub so they were pretty close, his cold back pressing against their chest.

He was happily listening to their yapping, not understanding a lot of course, but Mr. Crawling just liked the way they voice sounds when they're speaking to him, it was a sound that made him feel nice and warm inside.

"I'm gonna wash your hair, okay?" Y/N grabbed the bottle of shampoo, Mr. Crawling didn't understand what they meant with that but he was happy to let them take care of him. It made him feel special.

They started to gently massage his scalp, Mr. Crawling tried to eat the foam and bubbles that the shampoo produced but after they told him it wasn't food he felt somewhat disappointed, it smelled so good, how is it not something he cannot eat? "No food?"

"No, it's not food. It doesn't taste as good as it smells."

Mr. Crawling didn't get what Y/N said but he understood that he can't eat that and he was a well behaved boy so he didn't try to eat it again.

They spent a lot of time just washing his hair, making sure the tips and roots were clean, his hair got dirty when he crawled around and they wanted to take care of it for him. "Your hair is so pretty." They whisper softly.

He giggles. "Me pretty?"

"Your hair. Your hair pretty. But you're right Mr. Crawling, you pretty too."

He smiled and giggled, wanting to hug and headpat them but not being able cause of their position, Instead, he just rubbed his head happily against her neck. They took care of cleaning his body as much as possible while teaching him the basics of how to do it himself as well. He was very cheerful, as usual, always giggling and smiling, enjoying the experience, the attention he received and the gentle touches, the nice words and all the spoiling and pampering they gave him. They made him happy.

They started talking after starting to scrub his legs. "Next time I'll try to kill someone with money... Maybe we could put soft carpet on the floors or something... Your knees get bruised cause of your crawling and... I'm sure you don't feel it that much and you heal pretty fast... but I don't like seeing you like that." They gently kisses his temple, Mr. Crawling smiled and giggled happily.

Mr. Crawling He was having the best day of his life, the warmth of the water, Y/N's body heat, the pleasant aromas of the soaps and shampoo, listening to them humming while they took care of him... It was perfect.

But eventually the water turned cold and soon they got out of the tub, they wrapped a towel around their body to help Mr. Crawling dry himself with another towel. He liked that, it was soft and it smelled good. Everything in that room smelled good, it was different from what he was used to in his world.

"So? Did you liked it?" Y/N asked.

"Yes. Me like this." He nodded his head, smiled happily. "Me like you."

"Thank you. I like you too"

It was time for a new lesson; getting dressed. Mr. Crawling wasn't used to clothes and how humans dress, so they got him a new robe and some underwear. He protested a little at first, something so restrictive felt weird at first but once he got used to it he even liked it. His new robe looked a lot like the old one he had, that made him happy cause he really liked that robe.

"Me pretty, me pretty." He repeated over and over again when he saw himself in the mirror.

"Yes, you're pretty. Very very pretty."

He loved their praises, now that they were dressed and out of the tub he could hug them and give them the headpats he wanted. That made them happy too. He was so clingy. It was new to have someone so in awe of even the smallest detail about them, Mr. Crawling was a faithful devotee and Y/N a deity that he would worship for life.

"Let's dry your hair okay? We're done here."

They went back to the room, having Mr. Crawling sitting down on the edge of the bed, they were behind him, dryer in hand ready to take care of that beautiful and silky hair that Mr. Crawling had.

"This is a little loud but it's okay. It won't hurt." They wanted to make sure Mr. Crawling wouldn't freak out cause of the noise the air dryer made. He nodded and Y/N started doing their thing. The hot air felt nice, it took a good amount of time to dry all of his hair but they did it happily, Mr. Crawling felt excited and that was enough of a reason to do it.

"I'm done, what do you think?"

Mr. Crawling grabbed the air dryer and held it in front of his face, the air was moving his hair back, making him giggle. "Fun fun! Me like fun!"

"I know you like fun." They looked at him tenderly, Mr. Crawling was easy to impress, even the smallest detail could make him very excited, it was refreshing to have him by their side. "You know, I wanna braid your hair... Want me to show you something? You'll look pretty, I promise."

He tilted his head to the side but nodded gently, giving them the hair dryer back. They braided his hair gently, once it was done they made him look at the mirror.

They smiled, he was so excited. "You look pretty."

"Me pretty!" He looks at them with a big smile. "Me pretty... Thank you..."

They looked at the clock, it was almost midnight. "I should sleep now, it's getting late."

Mr. Crawling nodded, understanding their need of rest. They lay down together in bed after turning off the lights. He was hugging Y/N as if they were a delicate piece of art made of glass, something he had to protect. "You pretty... Thank you." He said against their neck.

"This could be a part of our routine... I like it, I wanna do it again."

"Again?" He asks happily.

"Yes. Not now! But tomorrow... Again"

He giggles. "Again! Again! Tomorrow again!"

They kiss his forehead. "It's time to sleep for now, okay? Goodnight Mr. Crawling."

"Night night... Pretty."

[cap-winter-barnes]

HEY QUEEN! i had this idea for a fic… angsty, could also be fluffy and maybe smutty? 👀 anyway, like in the original twisters, reader goes to try and get tyler to sign divorce papers and ends up chasing him around with tornadoes. then maybe she almost dies in one with him, like the pool scene, or she gets hurt? either way, they fall in love again, etc etc. !!!

Sign Your Life Away (Tyler Owens x Reader)

Warnings: mentions of blood, mentions of sex, Tyler Owens (need I say more?)

It had been a while since you'd last visited your home state of Oklahoma, and it wasn't without trying, your life has just been a whirlwind of drama for the last few months. Your job had been even more demanding than usual with all of the unforeseen tornadoes smattering the map, one after another.

You are expecting this visit to be short and sweet, in and out, back to your apartment in Los Angeles. The divorce papers you have been carrying with you for quite some time, tightly fisted in your hand as you approach the growing mass of tornado chasers. Despite hoping that your soon to be ex-husband would be here upon your arrival, you soon realise that his little media circus is still awaiting the appearance of the world famous "Tornado Wrangler".

With a racing heart, you perch yourself onto the bonnet of your rented truck, boots balancing on the bumper guard. It may have been months since you last wore your wedding band but you still feel the ghost of the metal that once adorned your left hand whenever you think of Tyler Owens. Tears long dried out for the man, you take a deep breath as you prepare to see him for the first time in a long time, and hopefully for the last, you're ready for a new, fresh start in LA.

The rev of an engine brings you out of your thoughts, the blaring sound of a rock country track blaring through the air familiar to your ears. This was yours and Tyler's song. Keeping your position on your truck you watch as the Tyler's Ram speeds into the lot. You let the media crowd have their fun, surging and cheering for the arrival of their 'star'. Music still playing loudly you can't help but smile as you watch the one and only Tyler Owens soaking in the spotlight. Yet what surprises you is the false smile on his face, there's a dullness in his eyes that you can see from just watching from afar.

As you take in the sight of him, he notices you. He freezes as he makes eye contact, the smile completely disappearing from his face. A quick whisper to Boone and his crew has the crowd disperse with the promise of T-Shirts, signed merch and food to encourage them. Tyler makes a beeline for you, his confidence stride has you nervous.

"It's been a while, Baby Girl." He tips the brim of his Stetson towards you, a sad yet welcoming smile crossing his face.

"I'm not your Baby Girl anymore, Owens." You jump down from the hood, quick to press the worn papers into his chest. "Sign 'em." Before you can pull away, he has his hand around yours, holding you close to his body.

"You know neither of us want that, right?" Swallowing back a retort you meet his eyes, drowning in his hazel pools. "C'mon, Y/N." The pleading in his voice and face have your heart questioning everything.

"Tyler, it'll never work."

He breaks the eye-contact first and you swear you see the glisten of tears in his eyes. "It was good while it lasted, Owens. But we both want very different things."

"Ju-"

"Sign the papers, please. I'm staying in El Reno, come by the motel tomorrow and drop them off."

Without another word you turn your back on the man you used to love, truck door now between you both, you take one more look at Tyler as you see his heart breaking in front of you all over again.

"Okay. If this is what you want."

*The Next Evening*

You're not shocked that Tyler is late to drop off the divorce papers but why do you not feel disappointed that he never showed? Just as you are about to leave to set off back for home, there's a loud knocking at the door. With a sigh you open the door to be suddenly met with Tyler standing dishevelled and soaking with rain in front of you.

"We need to leave, now!"

The panic in his voice is enough to put your trust in him.

"Ty?"

"We need to move, now! I'm serious, let's go." He holds his hand out to you and without a second thought you place yours in his. As you make your way out of the motel room, you notice the chaos erupting around you.

"What the fuck? Tyler, where did this come from?"

With a rambled and short explanation you know just from his tone and demeanour that you're really in trouble if you don't get moving. The tornado is unmissable as it covers the horizon, debris flying across the sky, tearing apart everything in its path.

"We need to find somewhere low."

Immediately your mind goes to the empty swimming pool across the lot, you pull on Tyler's hand, guiding him in the right direction. Over all the destruction you make out the sound of a woman screaming and a young child crying. "Ty!" With one swift nod he runs across the lot to help, carrying the little girl carefully in his arms, never letting the mother out of sight.

The wind speed ratchets up quicker than you expect, this isn't your first experience with a tornado but this is the closest you've ever been to one outside the protection of the Ram. You loved storm chasing with Tyler, long before you were married and during those blissful few years that you were still in that honeymoon stage. A scream leaves your chest as you watch a truck somersault mere inches from crushing him to death. And you know if that moment that those divorce papers were a mistake. You were still madly, irrevocably in love with Tyler Owens, you'd just been in denial for all this time.

As he keeps your shielded from most of the force of mother nature, his arms wrapped around you, keeping you safe, you pray that you both make it through this to work things out.

Seconds feel like hours before the tornado passes. You can't help but shiver violently with fear, exhaustion and the effects of the rain seeping into your skin. Yet as you take in the destruction around you, your mind is on only one thing - Tyler Owens. Without taking a second thought you grab him by the collars of his shirt and pull him towards you. As you press your lips to his own, you can't help regret leaving him behind all those months ago, what an idiot you had been. But you know here and now is where you belong, in his arms.

Part 2 Coming Soon

[dotdot-is-here]

Heart to Heart pt.2

Part two is finally here!! I couldn't post this earlier because I'm travelling rn and rarely get wifi (I'm having a lot of fun! :D) for those who didn't read part one, this is inspired by @citricacidprince 's take on the Relativity Falls au

Now let's get to the angsty little Stan twins! I hope i got their characterization right

Summary: On the aftermath of the portal opening for the last time, both sets of twins have some conversations

Stanford is crouched on the floor, pressing his ear against the wooden door while Stanley waits impatiently by the foot of his bed.

"Well? What did they say? What are they talking about?"

Stanford doesn't answer. He closes the door gently and gets up slowly, still facing the wood.

(What does the author- great uncle Mason- the real grunkle Mason- whoever the hell is downstairs even have to apologize for?)

(It doesn't make sense. It doesn't make any sense. Why would he forgive her so easily? So quickly? Heaven knows Stanford wouldn't have let go of it just like that.)

"Why didn't you press the button?" He blurts out.

He can see the way Stanley tilts his head in confusion from the corner of his eye.

"Huh?"

He didn't mean to have this conversation now. He doubles down anyway, "You heard me."

There's a pause in the air as Stan processes the question. As he tries to place Ford's tone.

"..wait, are you serious? You're mad about this?"

Ford turns to his twin and throws his arms in the air. "Stanley the world could have ended! And you don't even care!"

"But it didn't! I get that it looked pretty scary in the moment but hey, now we have a new grunkle!" Stan makes big gestures with his hands in his response, the same way he does when he tries to downplay his way out of trouble with their parents, "I took a risk and it all turned out fine."

Stanford can feel a headache forming, and he resists the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, "A risk? Is that all you have to say? Stan this is not like the stupid bets you take when we play cards this was a doomsday machine! The warnings-"

His twin rolls his eyes and waves him off, "Oh, warnings schmarnings! Quit being so dramatic."

Ford fumes, "Dramatic?!"

"nothing happened Sixer! Let it go!"

"...this isn't about that right?" Asks Stan, once his words have rung against the attic walls for long enough.

Ford keeps his eyes on his untied shoelaces, "...I asked you to do one thing. I trusted you about the fate of the world Stanley." He makes his way to his bed, still looking down when he draws back the covers and adds, quietly enough his brother hopefully won't hear him, "And you chose to believe her over me."

Before Stan can even think of addressing that, Ford is already snapping, "couldn't you listen to me long enough to take something seriously?"

Stan's expression turns into something cold, buried feelings briefly coming to light.

"Well maybe it'll come as a surprise to you, Stanford, but just because you're smart doesn't mean you're the boss of me."

That night, they sleep with their backs turned against each other.

[scrompsautobotsrchives]

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee

Part 1 of the many more rewrites to come, This will allow me to make them the very best that they can be. Word count:1.5K

It's official !! You walked out of the DMV as proud as you can, you had officially gotten your license to drive. Your dad was super duper proud of you. He knew you would ace it after a few goes. Soon the day after your 16th birthday, he kept a deal with you, If you managed to get good grades before the summer started. He would help you get your first car.

You made it to the used car dealership. God, there are so many options to choose from. What do you pick first?

"Hello welcome to mirage automotives !!" The dealer greeted you and your dad.

"Hi, What would be the best starter car for a kiddo that had just gotten their license ??" He smirked at you playfully.

"Dad" You grumbled, turning slight pink.

"That's perfect. We do have some very good Toyota Corolla's..." The dealer tried to sweeten the deal.

But they didn't quite scream take me home, They were all pretty av. But as you walked by, you came across a bright yellow colour. It pierced the side of your eye. Looking over your eyes were in a little state of wonder, A 1977 Chevrolet Camaro.

You went over and got a proper look on the inside, this was almost practically in mint condition, How long has it been in here ??

Your dad saw you and slightly grimaced, he would know these types of cars would be super expensive.

"Y/n ?? You sure you don't want to look at some of the Ford's ??"

"Could we take a look at this ??" You looked up at him with soft pleading eyes.

"You sure ?? I know you kids want cool cars but... Don't you want something sturdy ??"

"I know But it's just a look"

So he let you do your own thing, Wow the being inside the car was even better than the outside. Oh this was talking your language.

The dealer saw you two and strutted over. "She's a beaut ain't it ??"

"She is" You smiled

"Tell you what, cause you gotten your license, $2000" He offered.

You looked at the dealer and your dad, Please !!!!!!

Your dad could only chuckle, oh alright, for his kiddo.

Once the paperwork was all sorted, he happily handed you the keys and you were officially on your way.

"Thank you Dad... thank you so much !!" You had a beaming smile.

"You better not ding this car up" He playfully chuckled and ruffled your head.

"I won't"

You soon began the drive out of the parking lot, making your way back home. The drive was as smooth as butter. You then reached over and tried to turn on the radio, but it started to act strange... it whirred and scratched, jumping stations.

"Weird" You turned it off.

"If that guy ripped me off..." Your dad frowned slightly.

"I'm sure he didn't, It might just need to be upgraded. Besides the car works is what matters the most" You smiled, trying to reassure him.

He smiled a little. "You're right, it is, thank goodness for that"

And so over the summer, you began to perform various upgrades and much-needed maintenance to the car. It was honestly so much fun. Your whole summer was practically this car, and soon you put the final piece to the puzzle. A brand new radio, hopefully, it'll work... But even when school finally started, you were puzzled by the radio still scratching and whirring all over the place. Not only that, new problems started to arise, The pedals would sometimes not work, gears would change, and even the speedometer was all over the place.

So before school, you took it back to the dealership to ask some questions.

"Hey hi, umm I bought this car last summer and I've done a good amount of upgrades to it, but it seems to be having some issues ??"

"What seems to be the issue ??" The mechanic wiped his hand and looked over the car.

"The radio is just jumping without me turning the dial, The pedals get stuck, Gears change and the speedometer just goes..." You mimicked how it went.

"I'll take a look at it"

You handed him the keys and waited outside the shop, about half an hour later he came back to you with your car.

"Everything looks fine on our end." he handed you back the keys.

Over time, you were just getting more and more frustrated, more problems were starting to arise and you were on the brink, One afternoon, you came back to the car after school and turned the ignition to start it. Nothing... again... nothing, third times a charm, it worked but the speedometer was wonky yet again.

You groaned and began to bang on the dashboard in frustration. "What's wrong with you !!!" You shouted at the top of your lungs.

But then... the engine stopped.

Wait... hang on... cars were not meant to do that.

You frowned as you watched the radio begin to flick a few stations before playing a snippet of a song. "It's nothing wrong with me..."

"What the..." Your car was haunted.

The radio scratched again, playing more strung-together dialogue. Was it... Trying to talk to you ??

Not bad kid..." It said once you figured it out.

You tried to calm yourself and looked around, before back at the radio. "What are you ??" You spoke hesitantly.

"I am... from space !!" It scratched again.

"An alien ??"

An audio of applause was playing. Holy shit... an alien car.

"Why are you here..."

But before the alien car could answer that, you jolted at the sound of something hitting the windscreen, a cup of not-so-nice liquid. Courtesy of your bully.

"Missed a spot L/n" He laughed as he fist bumped his friends.

You growled and flipped him off before the radio began to scratch and play an audio from over the summer, it was your voice telling them off... what in the Ai is this !!

But this riled the bully up, and he walked over to try and get you out, before the car soon began to start and drive on its own, revving out of the parking lot and on the road.

"Shit shit !!!!!!" You tried to hang on from all the drifts and turns as the bully and his friends chased you. Ok, you were gonna be sick. Soon you arrived at an abandoned building after making a different turn, hopefully, they wouldn't find you... oh, come on !!

His friends quickly got you out before you could do anything and sealed off any exits. "You think you're a tough one aren't you l/n ??" Your bully smirked before punching you in the gut.

This went on for a little while, and the alien car saw this time after time after time since school started, he was saddened that no one stood up for you, hence why he did what he did earlier.

So It revved its engine super loudly, scaring the bullies. He went over to the car and ripped the door open, only to find no one inside it... then how...

Suddenly the door slammed shut on his fingers, making him scream out. "Goddamn it !!"

You watched as his friends tried to get his fingers out of the door but it didn't seem to budge until the door swung open knocking them back. But then came the most strange thing of all. The car soon began to shift and transform, massive hands pushing against the ground, it's body rearranging and coupling to stand tall in a new format.

Your bullies friends soon bolted, fuck this shit, they didn't sign up for it.

The alien soon then shifted his arm into what looked like an arm canon. Aiming it at the bully who was now crying.

"Leave... them... alone..." It talked through the radio.

"Screw you !!" It yelled at the alien before it revved up, the arm cannon soon began to hum and glow. "Alright alright !! I'll leave them alone !!"

The arm cannon soon stopped and shifted back into a hand, But just for good measure, you saw the oil filter lid open up and pop out, soon spraying oil all over your bully. He had enough, soon he ran back to his car and drove off.

"Hasta lavista baby" The radio scratched the familiar Arnie dialogue.

You got up slowly and looked up at it... this was crazy... and it stood up for you... It soon looked at you, making you stand back... but it was a more soft look, like it was happy to see you.

"Who are you ??"

It's radio scratched. "My name... is... bumblebee" He whirred softly after.

"Bumblebee..." You started to twitch a smile.

He then did a few boxing punches while the radio scratched "I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee" He smiled at you again.

"Thank you..."

You reached out your hand, to which he responded by placing his palm over your hand, In this moment... a friendship was secured.

Taglist: @callofdudes

[fatuismooches]

I love playable reader and Dottore so much, voicelines are so cute and fun, I love to imagine what the voicelines are for opening chests! I can imagine playable reader being so excited to find treasure while dottore similar to characters like scara or ayato has no interest or just thinks its rubbish, but tries not to be too pessimist or lower playable readers excitement. I could also imagine him not wanting playable reader to touch artifacts that have been sat in a chest for who knows how long in case they pick up germs, voicelines are just so fun to think about!

OMG... THE CUTEST THING EVER. Eagerly, they would pry open the chest, hovering over it so much that Dottore couldn't even get much of a glimpse inside. Then dodging the random items you started throwing behind you as you deemed them boring. Finally, you'd pull out a beautiful blue feather, an artifact that reminded you of your beloved.

"Dottore, what is this artifact called? It's so-" Interrupting your sentence was a sudden sneeze. Well, as pretty as it was, it was also quite dusty... With a sigh, he would pluck the feather out of your hand and drop it right back into the chest, which closed with a thud. (This has happened a million times.)

"Perhaps it would do you good to stay away from such trifles."

"Hey!"

Reader would be so excited to open the chests - they would be defeating the enemies or running around solving puzzles so they could open the chests already. Or if you happen to be sickly, you'll be sat right next to the chest waiting for him to defeat the horde of enemies rather impatiently. Your husband, however, doesn't quite understand your enthusiasm... surely the stuff in the lab is far more intriguing? Mere common chests are nothing to be happy about.

Dottore's only interested if there happens to be some cogs or mechanical parts in there, maybe some ancient texts or notes... though often, they are basic and aren't worth his attention. Though, once in a while some unique ones do appear and you always present them to him as a gift!

"Oooh, come look at this, Dottore! It's pretty good, right?"

"Hm, it could be worth examining."

Reader also seems to scrape out every last Mora from the treasure chests. Why? So they could hopefully relieve Dottore of his constant funding issues. Sure, a few thousand Mora isn't much, but it'll add up! While Dottore is appreciative of your efforts, he'd just rather continue bothering Pantalone to increase the budget... he's not fond of the grime of the coins staining your bare hands.

"With this, we could buy so, so many samosas! ... If this was four hundred years ago, hmph."

"...You are starting to sound like the banker."

The couple ever!!

[shinyzango]

So, 2025...

Now that we're officially in 2025, and I finally recovered from the new year allnighter so I can finally reason, let's finally talk about personal objectives for the year.

2025 is going to be... a busy year for me. I got many plans on the line that I am going to hopefully achieve by the end of the year.

First of all, the biggest most important thing is that starting from this year, I'm officially a Freelancer Artist. Yes until now I've kept doing it as a side thing, but seeing how things are going, I'm going to see how it'll work out. While the prospect of fully center my job around art is rather intimidating to me, I really cannot think of any other job I can undertake as a primary income source. I will make this work. In prospect of this, things are most likely to change a bit commissions wise as I will have to adapt elements (such as prices and request form) in order to fit better with this. I apologize if this will make it harder for folks to buy something for me, but it is a necessary change. But on the other side, I do want to push myself out there and start actually leaving a mark. I want to be seen, to join projects and help bringing them to life. It's time I get out of my shell for good.

Another objective for the year, as I mentioned before, is to officially start putting down "The Last Nutcracker". I think I waited long enough and I can't keep hold it back further. When I will start, that I cannot say for certain. But it is going to happen.

Then, I want to stream more. Both Art and Games. I want to hang out and have fun, share my experiences with everyone. I have a long list of games I want to stream as I mentioned before (with even more games than what I did list as I slowly remembered more games I want to play), and I want to get around to play through them. Have a proper stream setup and all.

What else... well, there are smaller personal objectives, such as get the driving license for cars, learn japanese, find a physical activity that I enjoy doing in order to get back in shape, meeting up with my irl friends more often, rent a table at a comic convention at least once...

and definitely more objectives that my brain is most likely forgetting about at the moment.

This is going to be a busy year. But it is going to be THE year. A year of changes. Of improvement. I will make sure of it.

And I wish it will be the same for everyone else. I know we're currently in a period where a lot of shit is happening and everything looks bleak, but it's important to remember that even if the world is shit, we can still work to make our lives that more enjoyable for ourselves. It all starts with us.

We can do it.

Happy New Year, folks. Let's fuckin rock this year.

[and-claudia]

Against All Odds pt. 13 (Joel Miller x fem! reader)

General Warnings for later on: The main story will have an age gap between Joel and the reader (Reader will be 25 once we get to the main storyline), this will also be your warning that it will eventually be an x pregnant reader (if that’s not your jam, I’m sorry) there is also going to be more graphic/trigger parts later on so please always to be sure to read the warnings BEFORE reading. This story will also be 18+ and TO BE ON THE TAGLIST YOU CAN NOT BE AN AGELESS BLOG (i do actually check that) also there first hand full of parts are all prologue so Joel won’t actually be in it for a bit

Warnings for this part: storms, smut, fingering, possible accent kink if you squint (idk if that's even a thing tbh)

So like I said this is a small tribute to my online bestie turned IRL bestie @fan-g0rl we became friends over a part of my Mandalorian fanfic that was titled "The Storm" and so I wanted to do this part as a little easter egg for her... I didn't mean for there to be smut at the end of this either it just kinda happened...

word count: 4200+

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gif not mine

A couple of weeks and many miles later: 

"Hey Joel, I know it's risky, but we need to find proper shelter for tonight... those updrafts are gonna be a storm here soon." I said, nodding over to some clouds in the distance. 

"I was afraid of that... keep an eye on them, okay?" He said. 

"I will." 

And true to my word, I did. And just as I predicted, they formed into storms. And big ones at that. We were in the country side where clearly some farmers had lived. Joel pointed out one of the houses situated up on a hill that would give us a good vantage point on the storms and would keep us up away from any flooding. The back half of the ranch house was still mostly intact, and we were using that as our shelter for the time being.

"I don't like the look of that..." I said from where we had found shelter for the night. "What are you looking at?" Ellie asked. 

"You see how the whole storm is spinnin'?" 

She nodded.

"It's a supercell. Which means hail, heavy rain... maybe a tornado." 

"Tornado?" Ellie asked nervously. 

"Yeah... not super likely, but possible. That's why Joel's out looking for a storm cellar. This big of house is bound to have one somewhere. The worst-case scenario is we hold up there for the night. It'll be safer than here." I explained, trying not to scare her. 

“How will we know if there’s a tornado coming?” She asked. 

I sighed, “Honestly, we probably won’t. Before the outbreak, and even from what I remember in some of the QZs, they had sirens that would go off if there was really any hazardous weather heading for an area, not just for tornadoes but now, especially for us being out here, we’re kinda just relying on our eyes and ears to know. We don’t even have radar anymore.” I explained. 

“Fun.” She said, clearly nervous. 

“Don’t worry, I doubt anything is going to happen. It’s been getting too cold already. I think we’re just going to get a lot of rain, probably some hail. Hopefully, the hail core won’t pass directly over us.” 

She nodded just as Joel was coming back. 

“Find anything?” I asked. 

“Yeah, it’s around the side of the house. I checked it out. It’s empty, save for a few mice.” He said. 

I nodded, “If you want any shot at catching dinner, you should go now before that storm hits.” I said, not taking my eyes off of it. 

“Actually, I found some cans down there brought a variety back that weren’t bloated.” He said, squatting down and setting them down on the ground. 

I glanced over and saw the variety he was setting out. Some of them actually didn’t look half bad. 

“What’s the storm lookin like?” He asked, coming to stand beside me as Ellie went over to raid the selection of cans. 

“We’re definitely getting rain, maybe hail. That thing is spinning like a top. I think we’ll be okay here, though. It’s been too cold for anything, I think…” I said with a sigh, finally turning to look at him. 

He nodded, “Okay, worst-case scenario, like I said, the cellar is just around the corner.” 

“So, what’d you bring up?” I asked, walking over to join Ellie in looking at our options for dinner. 

We all picked out our dinner and then sat together, watching the storm roll in. There was a lot of cloud-to-ground lightning in it, and it was stunning. By the time we were done eating, the storm was fast approaching. I went ahead and told Ellie to get some rest while Joel and I watched the storm come in. Joel was being our usual lookout, despite the fact that we hadn’t seen any signs of any people in weeks. I was still keeping an eye on the storm. 

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen a storm like this.” I whispered to him as we sat on the old back porch. 

“It’s really something.” He said, nodding before looking over at me. I was sitting in the doorway, resting my head against the frame. 

“Hey, come here.” He said, nodding me over as he adjusted the way he was sitting so I could come over and sit between his legs. 

I smiled and got up to walk over. I sat down and settled down between his legs, leaning back to rest against his chest. The lightning continued to put on a show in front of us and the rain had finally started falling. The pitter-patter of it on the roof was slowly lulling me to sleep. 

His arms snaked around my waist, allowing him to rest his hands against my small bump. I smiled as his large hands cradled it so gently, and I relaxed even more into him. 

“They’re getting bigger.” He commented. 

“Gee, thanks.” I said with a small laugh. 

“Hey, it’s a good thing.” He said, pressing a small kiss to the side of my head. 

“I know, means everything is assumingly okay in there.” I said, bring my hands to join his. 

About a week ago, I had expressed to him how scared I was that something would go wrong with the baby. The QZs didn’t have the best prenatal care, but it was at least something. Out here, I had nothing. There was no one who could check on the baby and make sure everything was going the way it should. And with this being my first baby, I literally had no clue what was normal and what wasn’t besides the obvious, common sense stuff. 

“Have you felt them yet?” He asked. 

“I don’t think so… at least not that I was able to be like that was definitely the baby.” I explained. 

“I’m sure you will soon.” He said, rubbing my bump slightly. 

I shifted some and moved to undo the button and zipper of my jeans, and once I did, I relaxed back into Joel. 

“Feel better?” He teased. 

“Mhm, much better. I am betting I’ve got two more weeks before these jeans cut in too much for me to wear them.” I said, sighing. 

I felt him nod, “Okay, we’ll figure it out.” 

Despite the loud claps of thunder, I was getting quite tired, but I wanted to stay awake until the storm passed, just in case something happened. A small yawn slipped past my lips, and I heard Joel chuckle behind me. 

“Getting tired?” He asked, his voice low. 

“Nope.” I said, shaking my head, but another yawn slipped out. 

“You should go get some sleep.” He said.

“No, I’d rather stay here with you.” I said, leaning my head to the side to rest on his shoulder so I could turn my head and look at him. 

“We haven’t seen anyone in weeks, not even evidence of others… just tonight, leave it be and come lay with me. Please?” I said, giving him my best puppy eyes. 

“You make it hard to say no to you when you do that…” He said, leaning over to kiss me. 

He had become much more affectionate the past few weeks, and I wasn’t complaining in the least. I was loving it. 

“Come on, before I change my mind.” He said, dropping his hands from my bump to my hips and giving one of them a small tap. 

I scooted forward and stood up, then turned to offer him a hand up. 

“I’m the one that’s supposed to be helping you up.” He said, but took my hand anyway. 

Once he was up, I quietly led us back inside, never dropping his hand. I looked over to where Ellie was and found her fast asleep, using her backpack as a pillow. Joel and I settled down together and eventually fell asleep as well. 

When I woke up, I sat up and noticed Ellie was gone. 

“Joel!” I said, shaking his leg harshly to get him to wake up. 

He woke with a start and looked around panicked for a moment before focusing on me. 

“What? What’s wrong?” He asked, his voice raspy from sleep. 

“Dude, what’s wrong with his voice?” Ellie asked as she walked in through where the back door should be. 

I let out a huge sigh when I saw her and rested my head in my hand. 

“Oh my god, Ellie, where were you? I woke up and didn’t see you anywhere. It scared the shit out of me.” I said. 

I wasn’t trying to make her feel bad for it. It had just truly scared me. 

“I’m sorry, I woke up and really had to pee… I just went out back. I didn’t mean to worry you.” She said. 

“It’s okay. Really, just wasn’t prepared for you to be gone… and actually, now that you mention it, I’m going to go do the same.” I said before standing up and stretching. I cringed slightly at the sound of my joints popping. 

When I got back, Joel was more awake, now sitting up, leaning against the wall. 

“Mornin’” He said when I walked in. 

“Good morning. Sorry for startling you awake.” I said. 

“S’okay. Rather you do I, and there be nothing wrong, then not do it and something be wrong.” He said with a nod. 

We ended up packing up and raiding what cans we could before setting off again. We actually found some more shot gun ammo in their cellar as well that we were all shocked hadn’t been raided. Our best guess was the house was falling into disrepair before the outbreak so no one really ever considered raiding it.

There was a new chill in the air now. That storm was probably the last big one of the season. The leaves around us had already changed and slowly were falling from the trees. I knew that as it got even colder, our pace would slow even more, which made me even more nervous about the baby than I already was. I was really starting to have doubts that we would make it there in time. 

A cold front came through within the following days, forcing us to double up some of our clothes as temperatures dropped. Luckily, we had managed to find some warmer gear at Bill and Frank’s that survived the crash back in Kanssas City. I was also greatful that I had remembered to find a jacket that was too big so it would fit me as the baby grew. 

Conversation, as we walked, varied from stories from before the outbreak to what we would be doing if the outbreak had never happened to the baby and everything in between. 

“So, what were you doing before everything happened, Joel?” Ellie asked as we walked along. 

“Nothing, I just did my job.” He said bluntly. 

“Which was… building?” She asked, causing me to smile. 

“That’s right. Houses, stores, that kinda thing. We were called contractors.” He explained. 

“That contractor,” Ellie said in a dramatic voice, “That’s pretty cool.” 

“Yeah, we were pretty cool. Everybody loved contractors.” He said, and I actually let out a small laugh. 

“What’s funny?” He asked, looking over at me.

“Nothing.” I said, shaking my head with a smile. 

“It’s obviously something, please share.” He pressed teasingly. 

“Well, I don’t have much experience with them… but everybody definitely did not love contractors. I can vaguely remember us having one come to look at our foundation or something, and I swear my pa complained about him for weeks.” I said with a laugh, causing Joel and Ellie to do the same. 

“Okay, so maybe not everyone loved us.” Joel conceded. 

Once the laughter ended, Ellie looked over to me, “I’m just curious because you’ve talked about him after the outbreak, but what was your dad like before it? Was he the same?” 

I shook my head, “No, he was so different before everything.” I said, picturing what fuzzy memories I could. 

“He was a fairly stereotypical dad, honestly, but when I was little, I swear he hung the moon. He would go to work every weekday, come home, eat dinner with us, have a beer, then go sit in his recliner and watch whatever game was on, but definitely preferred watching NASCAR.” I said, remembering sitting with all my brothers around the TV, watching the different colored cars go around the track. 

“What’s NASCAR?” Ellie asked. 

“Racing, like in cars. It was honestly pretty boring most of the time. They just went around an oval track… but honestly… I would give just about anything to watch one more race with all of them…” I said suddenly, feeling tears well up in my eyes at the sudden feeling of missing them. 

Joel must have seen me wiping my eyes because his steps fell into rhythm with mine as he put his arm around my shoulders as we walked. 

“What about you, Joel? Were you a NASCAR fan?” I asked, trying to distract myself. 

He shook his head. 

“Not really. I was more of a football guy.” He said. 

“My brother played. I got dragged to so many high school games. But I was way too young to actually understand what was happening.” I said. 

“Wait, is it that hard to understand?” Ellie asked. 

That led us into a long conversation that was mostly just Joel trying to explain the rules of the game while Ellie and I listened, nodded along, and asked questions. To tell the truth, I was getting more confused the more he explained but I just continued along with it. 

The next day, we decided to just walk for half the day and stopped after a few hours to rest. Since finding the additional ammo, Ellie had been itching to learn how to use the shotgun, and Joel was finally giving in. He had set up a makeshift shooting range in an open clearing and was finally trying to teach her how to use it. I sat back, watching the two of them. Ellie let off a few shots, each one of them missing the target Joel had set up. 

“Wide right. You’re flinchin’.” He said to her. 

“The target’s too small.” She said with a little frustration. 

“I made it bigger than I should’ve. Eject the cartridge.” 

She did as he said, “And I am not flinching.” She defended herself. 

“Mm-hmm.” He hummed in response. 

“This rifle just sucks.” She said, looking over at him. 

“Okay, give it.” He said, moving away so she could pass it to him. 

She handed it to him and then stood up to walk closer to me. 

“It doesn’t aim right. You’ll see.” She insisted. 

“Mm-hmm.” Joel hummed again as he adjusted his position. 

“Deep breath in, slow breath out. You squeeze the trigger, like you love it.” Joel explained, making me stifle a laugh behind my hand as Ellie shot me a funny look. 

“Steady… nice and slow.” He continued to narrate. 

“You gonna shoot this this or get it pregnant?” Ellie said with a sigh. 

Before I could stop myself, I chimed in, “Oh, trust me, that’s not how he did it.” 

Joel took his shot but then immediately looked over to Ellie and me. Ellie was giving me a disgusted look, and I was covering my mouth, trying not to laugh as Joel gave me a look that just said, “Did you really just say that?”. 

“I am so sorry! It slipped out before I could even think!” I said, finally letting my laughter out. 

“That was single-handedly the most disgusting thing I think you have ever said to me.” Ellie said. 

I couldn’t even apologize because I was laughing so hard. By this time, Joel had stood up and was walking over to us. He just shook his head at me, clearly trying not to smile. He handed the gun back over to Ellie. 

“Oh, and it aims just fine, by the way.” He said, nodding behind him to the target he had hit perfectly. 

“You dick!” Ellie said upon seeing that. She went back over to where they had been shooting from to try a few more times. 

“I cannot believe you said that.” He said, finally letting his smile show. 

“I swear it crossed my mind, and before I could stop myself, I was saying it.” I said, finally regaining my composure. 

“I mean, it is the truth…” He teased, nudging my shoulder. 

I closed my eyes, resting my head against his shoulder with a dreamy sigh. It had been a while since he and had sex like that. Honestly, it would still probably be a while before we were able to do it like that. Between traveling, the unknown of what was actually in Jackson, and being pregnant, our sex life was on hold for an undisclosed amount of time currently. 

“Have you thought about what might be in Jackson in terms of like a settlement, like what it’s like there?” I asked as we watched Ellie. 

“A little, trying not to get my hopes up, though.” He said, and I nodded in understanding. 

“Same… but there are two-no wait, three, yeah, three things I am hoping to get once we are there.” I said. 

“Oh yeah?” Joel turned to me and picked my head up from his shoulder, “And what are they?” 

“One, a hot meal. Now, don’t get me wrong, you’re a great chef out here,” I said, teasing and putting my hand on his knee, “But let's be honest, we’re eating what would have been roadkill pre-breakout. I want a real, true hot meal.” 

Joel let out a small laugh and nodded, “Okay, fair enough, that does sound really good. What else?” 

“A bed.” I said bluntly, and he smiled at that with a nod, clearly agreeing, “I don’t even care if it is just a few blankets on the ground and a pillow. I just want a bed that isn’t just the hard ground.” I said. 

“I agree.” He said. 

“Lastly, this one is a more recent desire, I must admit. But if I am able to still,” I leaned in closer to whisper in his ear, “I want to be properly fucked on that bed.” 

I pulled back just enough to see his reaction, and he was smiling at me. 

“I think I can make that happen, darlin’.” He said, leaning in. 

I leaned up to kiss him, smiling into it. I hadn’t even heard the gunshots stopping until I heard Ellie’s voice, causing us to separate. “You two are disgusting.” She said, shaking her head and causing us to laugh. 

We all packed up and gathered our stuff before making our way out of the clearing for the night as the sun began to set. Finding shelter was getting harder because of the cold and the morning frosts that were now happening consistently. We were pretty far from any old towns, so actual buildings were few and far between. Luckily, there was the occasional cave and that is where we were holding up for the night. 

Joel rummaged through the can and found us each one for dinner. He even spoiled us tonight and heated them up carefully over the fire. He handed Ellie’s to her, then brought his and mine over to me to sit next to me while we ate. 

“I hope this can hold you over in terms of a warm meal.” He joked, handing me the warm can. 

“It’ll do for now.” I said with a smile. 

When he sat down, he was oddly close, not that I really minded just caught me off guard a little. As did him, leaning over to whisper in my ear. 

“If you promise to keep quiet, I have something that can try to help hold you over until I can properly fuck you again.” He whispered before causally leaning back away from me as if nothing had happened. 

I looked over at him but he was as casual as can be. 

“Do you want first watch?” Joel asked once we all finished up eating. 

“Sure.” She nodded. 

“I’m going to go refill the waters before Yn and settle in for the night.” Joel told her, collecting all of our canteens before disappearing. 

When he got back, I had already cleared an area for us too far away from the entrance to the cave but not too far away from the fire. I told Ellie goodnight before settling down with Joel. His back was to the entrance of the cave, and I was in front of him with my back to him as he held me from behind. 

Suddenly, his face came a little closer, and soon, his lips were on my neck. I small gasp escaped my lips. 

“Gotta stay quite, darlin’.” He said, his southern accent slipping out way thicker than it usually does. 

I bit my lip to keep myself quiet and melted into Joel. His hand then slipped under my shirt and began trailing up towards my breast before I stopped him by gently grabbing his wrist. 

“Joel…” I whispered cautiously. My breast had become very sensitive the past couple of days, and he knew that. 

“Sshh, I know, I’ll be gentle. Promise.” He whispered. 

And true to his words, he was extremely gentle as he groped at my breast. By this point, I had rolled onto my back so he could kiss my lips instead of just my neck. We lied like that for a bit before I began to get impatient. As much as I was enjoying this, I needed something more, or this would be a huge tease. 

Then, as if he had read my mind, his hand slowly retreated away from my breasts and went down to my already undone jeans. 

“Turn back to your side.” He said gently and I did as he requested and went back to how we were originally laying.

“Gonna stay quiet for me?” He whispered lowly in my ear. 

I nodded. 

“Good, girl.” 

His hand then dipped under the fabric of my panties and went straight to where I wanted them the most. He hadn’t even properly touched me, and my back was already arching slightly with anticipation. 

His fingers gently ran through my folds, feeling how wet I already was. 

“Damn, darlin’ all of this for me?” He asked. 

I bit my lip harder, trying not to moan in response to what he was saying to me. He’s usually not one to talk much during sex, but when he’s in the right mood to, his voice is sweet like honey, saying filthy things in the sweetest, smoothest southern accent. All I could do was nod in response. 

My breathing hitched as he slipped his finger into me. I pumped it only a few times before slipping in a second one. My whole body stiffened at the feeling. 

“Relax, darlin’, I got you.” 

That was all it took for me to become absolutely putty in his hands. He continued to fuck me slowly with his fingers. When his thumb found my clit and began circling it slowly, I knew I wasn’t going to last much longer. 

I sigh left my lips before I whispered, “Joel… m’close.” 

“Go ahead, come for me, sugar, just keep it quiet.” He said. 

That pet name, mixed with the accent and the magic he was working between my legs, sent me over the edge as my walls gripped his fingers. He continued to pump them in and out of me, helping me ride my orgasm as long as possible. When my body finally stilled and relaxed back against him, his fingers stilled before gently pulling out. Without any hesitation, he brought his fingers to his and sucked them clean. I lay there for a few minutes, coming down from my high and catching my breath. 

Eventually, though, I sighed, knowing I would need to change out of these panties and go to the bathroom. Luckily, I still had a clean pair from when we rinsed clothes last. I patted Joel’s arm that was around me. 

“I’m going to go to the bathroom real quick.” I said, sitting up once his arm loosened. 

He knew what I was about to go do and sat up, grabbing my pack for me and handing it over. I found what I needed and put them in my back pocket to not alert Ellie of anything that had just happened. 

“I’ll be right back.” I said, leaning over to kiss Joel one last time. 

“We can rinse all the clothes tomorrow night and dry them by the fire.” He said before I stood up, to which I nodded to. 

I made sure that my footsteps were loud enough to alert Ellie of my approach so as not to startle her. 

“What are you doing? I thought y'all went to bed?” She asked, looking over at me. 

“Yeah, I just had to pee.” I said, and she nodded as I walked past to find an area to do my business and change. 

Once I got back, I put the old pair in my bag to get rinsed tomorrow before settling back down with Joel. His arm snaked around my waist, and I scooted back until I was flush against him. A content sigh left my lips as my eyes slipped shut, and I drifted off to sleep. 

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[whitehotwild]

i've never done an anon before so i'm so sorry if it sounds weird 😭😭 but do you think billy and his younger s/o would go to like, those summer carnivals? like, the ones that are at night? idk if that's js in my hometown tho 😭 she most definitely dragged him there and he reluctantly went bc he loves her, but lwk he ends up enjoying it. idkkk i js feel like there isn't enough soft!billy content on here and you are my only supplier of it 🙏🙏

OUUUUUUUU OU OU OU you just scratched an itch... im so giddy about this. (also ily and i'll gladly be ur supplier)

we only have fall carnivals in my town which sucks bc summer carnivals sound so much more fun.

you like... heard from a friend that there's this one in NJ, you try to convince butcher to go with you. you tell him that it's only 2 hours by way of penn station (nightmare nightmare nightmare), that he doesn't have to drive you, that you'll buy the entry tickets.

"let's just go to coney island, yeah? i'm not goin' to bleedin' New Jersey for a night just because you wanna ride some roller coasters. you got a ride right here..." he smirks, thinking he's oh so clever.

all it does is make you whine and go limp in his hold, "but pleeeeeeease??? It'll be fun! you're such a fucking party pooper."

it doesn't ever take much to make him give into you, that's his one weakness, "i ain't no fuckin' 'party pooper'. you're just a pain in me arse."

"okay... so are we going or not?"

butcher sighs with an unimpressed look on his face, "fine."

and then like when you're actually at the carnival, you make good on your promise to buy the entry tickets (wristbands whatever), and butcher pays for the games/rides.

after half an hour, he's spent only about $20, "I ain't spendin' over 50 bucks, got it?"

at the moment, you're more worried about what you're gonna get from the food truck than anything coming out of his mouth, "mhm. yup, got it."

you beg him to get on one of the rides with you and he finally gives in after a while, but the second you get off the ride he's looking at you like he kinda wants to kill you... just a little bit.

"you're tryna give me a bloody heart attack. i ain't doing that again."

(i'll die on the hill that butcher hates roller coasters just because i think it would be very funny.)

$100 and two hours later, butcher's finally cutting you off after winning you one of those big teddy bears from one of the game booths.

(yes, he knows he said $50. yes, he knows he's wrapped around your little finger)

"you happy, pet?" he asks you once you both settle on the train back to the city. there's no snark in his voice like you'd expect, just genuinely wanting to know that you had a good night.

you nod against his shoulder, your legs propped up in the empty seat in front of you, "yeah, i'm happy. you happy?"

butcher looks down at you, the way your head rests against him, the way your arm is snaked through his. he allows himself, just for a moment, to believe that he does deserve this... that he does deserve you and the joy you bring back to him.

"i suppose so. you like your bear?" he nudges you gently, motioning to where you sat the big stuffed bear in the seat in front of him.

"mhm... gonna name it 'billy jr.'" you tease with a tired smile, you're halfway to falling asleep and the train's barely left the station.

billy (sr.) huffs, unimpressed, but there's a small smile on his face, he untangles his arm from yours and wraps it around your shoulders, covering your eyes with his hand as he pulls you a bit closer into his side.

"ah, fuck off... you're delirious, go to sleep."

୨ ♡ ୧

just wanna say sorry that im not getting to requests as quick as i'd like! got a lot of shit happening atm BUT im on vacay atm so hopefully i can pump some out this week! LOVE YOU BYEEEE!

[smuttysabina]

Aria gets Bullied at School

(Ariasaki x Lilypichu x Pokimane x Jodi x Jaime, 3.9k Words)

Tags: Lesbians, moral corruption, degeneracy, cunnilingus, some poor girl getting finger-blasted, lots of boobs, even more kissing, hints of romance, wow that's an unreasonable amount of squirt, I hope they're staying hydrated.

A/N: Also I thought commissioning some art for this would be fun lol

"...So anyways, he just busts in my mouth..." "...Oh my god was it a lot...?" "...Then he starts crying about some other girl..." "...That sounds fun, we should do it together next time!"

Aria cringes in embarrassment as the four girls blabber and gossip around her desk, making her shift uncomfortably in her seat. She had no idea why they all chose to sit next to her, or why they were giving her so much unwanted attention. More importantly, why they felt the need to talk about such lewd things; weren't they all still in High School? Aria twitches whenever Imane, Jaime, Jodi, or Lily randomly shoots a question her way, usually asking her opinion about some unseemly thing...

"Do you think he looks cute?" "Can you believe Lily, she nearly drowned in it!" "Anal sounds kinda painful, yeah?" "You should dress up a little, don't you think?" "Hey, do you have a boyfriend?" "Have you even kissed a boy before?" "Have you kissed a girl before?" "Hey, have you ever kissed a girl?"

Aria blinks at the untoward question from Imane, blushing as she deflects desperately, "N-no I haven't, why are you asking me?" She fidgets, eyes flicking from side to side as she looks for an escape route. But Aria is thoroughly trapped on all sides by these popular girls, slyly surrounding her and pressing in ever closer with their bodies...

Imane smiles in a disarming fashion, "C'mon, what's a few secrets between friends? Surely you're at least a little curious about how it feels..." "I...I um..." Aria stammers, "Awww look at her, she's blushing!" Jaime cackles with delight, "Don't be a bitch Jaime, not all of us are whores," Jodi blandly admonishes her friend, causing Jaime to hiss angrily, "Guys okay, calm down, that's a lot..." Lily does her best to sooth the bickering pair, wearily making peace between them. Imane giggles at her friends antics, before leaning close to Aria once more, her breathe hot against her cheek, "You never did answer my question, do you want to try it?" Aria's eye's nearly balloon out of her sockets in horror, as she shyly sputters something incoherent while Poki laughs teasingly, "Oh you are so fun Aria, you should hang out with us sometime, what are you doing after school today?" Aria was planning on going home and playing Maplestory all day, but she could hardly admit to such a thing in front of them. So instead she answers with a vague, "Um, not much!" The other girls pause in their yammering at this, turning like carnivores that had just scented prey, "Oh really?" "We should go to your place then!" "Yeah it'll be lots of fun!" In the face of the girl's united front, Aria glumly agrees...

The rest of the day passes in a blur for Aria, as she panics about her upcoming social event with the four most popular girls in school. She dreads what sort of depraved activities they will pressure her into doing; especially since her parents are out with her sister until late tonight. She attempts to sneak out while the girls aren't noticing, but Lily sticks to her like a leech, cheerfully chattering away and never letting Aria out of her sight. Except for when Lily went into the boys' bathroom, Aria was a bit confused why she was limping a little after that; hopefully the boys didn't beat Lily up for invading their sacred space! Holding Aria hostage just outside of school, Lily blabbers until she is joined by a fashionably dressed Jaime, who is idly reapplying her makeup. Lily sniffs the air intently, before giving Jaime a sideways glance, who returns it steadily. Aria looks back and forth in confusion until they both start giggling; weird. Jodi is the next sashay up, licking her hand clean of water, or at least Aria thinks it's water... Jaime makes a bland comment, "You know there are easier places to clean up than your hand, right Jodi?" Jodi sniffs, "Not all of us are so open with their love, some boys only deserve my hands" Aria quietly worries a little about Jodi, it sounds as if she's been getting harassed by suitors! All of these popular girls have such huge problems with boys going on, she sure is glad she doesn't have to deal with that sort of thing...

Finally, and fashionably late, Imane joins the party, her leggings sprinkled with stains, her blouse in somewhat of a disarray. The Queen Bee of the school gathers her hive, and they set off; practically escorting Aria in the direction of her house. Imane explains her absence with a simple "I was dealing with the football team", which seems to satisfy the other girls. Who quiz her with delightful curiosity about her experience; to Aria it sounds as if poor Imane was getting horribly abused by the boys, these poor girls! Aria reassesses her original thoughts about the Four, evidently they had only been joking about all those gross, sexual things in class earlier; they're just the victims of those awful boys! She didn't think the male population of her school had been that depraved, but it sounds as if she would have to rethink her opinions! They are using kind of dirty terms to describe stuff though... ugh at this point Aria is just so confused! Confusion aside, the group has finally arrived at Aria's house; she had been so focused on the conversation she lost track of time! The four girls prattle as they lounge around the doorway, patiently waiting for Aria to fumble her keys into the lock. Click!

The Four pour into Aria's home in a triumphal stream, practically carrying Aria along as they invade her living room. Up the stairs they marched her, cheerfully inviting themselves into her room and occupying her bed in a chattering flock. Aria once again finds herself ensconced at the center of the group, but this time there would be no easy escape for her. The girls' hands accidentally brush against her body as Imane, Jaime, Jodi, and Lily slowly edge closer to the innocent prey trapped between them. She can tell their gossip has become secondary to their predatory intent, squishing close around her as they cuddle with deceptive playfulness. Imane's warm breath in her ear causes Aria to jump in surprise, "You never did say if you've been kissed by a girl before..." Aria chuckles awkwardly, "Oh. I um- n-no I haven't yet..." Imane purrs, her hand gently turning Aria's head towards her own, "Good," and promptly kisses her. Aria's eyes widen in shock as her first kiss is taken by the most popular girl of her school, a veritable goddess; whose soft lips press confidently against her own. Imane's tongue slowly slides into Aria's mouth, luxuriously enjoying her warmth as Aria's eyes roll back from the novel sensations flowing through her. She is panting when Imane finally breaks off the kiss with a pleased smile, only to find Lily already nosing in for the next round. Who makes for a very gentle and romantic partner, softly and demurely kissing Aria until both of their mouths are connected by spit as they stare into each others' eyes. Then Jaime takes her turn, making an absolute sloppy mess on Aria's face as she drools and licks all over her; greedily slurping on her tongue and lips. Aria was fast growing exhausted from this treatment when Jodi hauls her friend off of her, taking her place and cleaning up. Her technique is far more mature than Jaime's, smoothly enjoying Aria while still giving her space to breathe.

By the time Jodi is done, Aria is shuddering, her face bright red, chest heaving with excitement. She could tell that while the Four had taken their turns with her, they had not been idle; lipstick marks all of their cheeks and necks, and even their exposed.... Oh. Imane and Lily are entirely shirtless, their breasts on full display, nipples erect in the stuffy air of Aria's room. Imane's are large and tanned, yet still retaining some youthful perkiness, while Lily's are petite, not even a handful, yet still arousing to look at. Aria moans unintentionally at the sight, her legs rubbing reflexively as her body responds to the hormones getting dumped into her brain. Giggling, the other three rejoin Jodi, now caressing Aria as much as one another; their hands teasing open her thighs and groping her full breasts. Aria feels like she's losing her mind, letting herself get carried along by the pleasure of having the four popular girls enjoying her body; scenes flashing by. Jodi and Imane sucking and licking at her neck, leaving their marks on her; Jaime wrenching open her blouse, allowing Lily to carefully scoop out one of her weighty breasts in awe, before digging in; Imane carefully feeding Aria her engorged nipples one by one, letting her suck on them like a baby; Jaime furiously making out with Jodi, the frenemies feeling one another up in an erotic frenzy; Lily joining Aria at Imane's breasts, kissing while they lick at her nipples; Jaime's hand rustling between her legs, her moans becoming ever more loud and plaintive...

"Oh already?" "Mhmm that's it Jaime, let it out!" "What a slut..." "Her face is so red!" "Right in front of Aria too!" "Oh fuuuuuuuck!" "Geez Jodi, making her cum so fast..."

The other girls coo and stroke their friend, groping and massaging the bent over Jaime as she approaches climax, staring straight at Aria. She bites her lip, letting out a whine as her masturbation becomes wetly audible; focused only on reaching orgasm. Jaime shrieks, "OH FUCK", before partially collapsing onto Aria, quivering as she continues to pleasure herself even in the throes of ecstasy. The others gasp and giggle at the sight, idly rubbing their own bodies as they watch their best friend cumming right in front of them.

"Fuck that's hot." "What a mess..." "You even came before the virgin, that's so sad!" "Uggggggh" "Omgomgomg-"

The spell broken, Aria finally notices the warmth in her own crotch, she had no idea this is what popular girls usually did together... it excites her. After a minimal amount of aftercare, Imane and Jodi return their attentions to Aria with an even more salacious intent; their eyes burning bright with lust. What few clothes remained were discarded hurriedly, revealing their shapely bodies in full. Lily meanwhile kisses her way down Aria's thigh, her nimble body opening Aria's legs with ease as she lifts up her skirt. Aria gasps when Lily removes her panties, the air cool against her pussy, unable to protest with Jodi's sizable bust in her face. Lily lets out a squeal of delight, "Oh wow, she is wet down here!" "Really?" "Oh she is dripping!" "Adorable" "I think she likes it!"

Aria hides her face in embarrassment as the Four examine her sex, she can't believe that she is on full display like this! It feels so intoxicating, what if they think she's a pervert or something... Aria feel's them crowding around between her legs, and she scrunches her eyes tight, it's so shameful! Then someone's tongue licks her slit, and she wails. Aria looks down quickly to see Lily softly bobbing her head between Aria's thighs, the warm spot of her tongue making Aria moan; it feels so good! Aria is in pure bliss as Lily eats her out, head in the clouds, unable to focus on anything but the pressure growing between her legs. Is she going to cum? Is this what it feels like? Is this- oh. Oh. Ohfuckohfuckohfuck- "Oh fuck I'm CUMMING!?" Aria screams at the top of her lungs, spasming as she orgasms for the first time. For a long while all Aria can do is lay there, whining until the heat within her finally dims enough for her to pay attention to her surroundings. Jaime and Jodi sprawl nearby, the former finger-deep inside of the latter while slurping on her clit; the both of them glaring at each other. Imane stands up from her place behind Lily, chin glistening as she licks her lips clean of her friend's juices. Aria is so entranced at the sight, that she almost misses the feeling of Lily's fingers starting to press against her...

"No wait," Lily stops in confusion, "You can't! It's my first time!"

Even Jaime pauses at that, all of the Four looking at Aria with nostalgia in their eyes, remembering their cherries getting popped. Then they remembered how exactly their own deflowerings went, nodding at one another; it's best to leave this sort of thing to Girls rather than let the Boys disappoint her. So they crowd around her once more, gently stripping off Aria's outfit until she is as naked as the rest of them. Aria blubbers as the girls sooth and massage her, helping her to relax as they wear away at her last restraints.

"Guys no, it's not right!" "Awww, hush Aria" "Virgins are always so fun" "Oh she wants it though..." "Mhmm it's okay, just relax" "Don't worry, we'll be gentle" "You'd rather have a gross boy flopping between your legs?" "So, who do you want?" "Yeah, whose fingers do you want to take your virginity?" "Well?" "C'mon c'mon!" "Calm down! Let her pick" "So, who do you want to be your first?" "..." "... Um... Imane..."

The girls erupt in squeals and giggles at this acquiescence, hugging each other in delight as they ready themselves to lead Aria into womanhood. Imane slides in behind Aria, leaning her back against the soft cushions of her breasts, their faces inches away from one another. Jaime and Lily lay themselves against Aria's hefty breasts, softly kissing them as they stroke her stomach and thighs. Jodi meanwhile fetches a makeup mirror from Aria's desk, placing it so that she will be able to see herself be deflowered. Aria nervously wriggles with anticipation, she still cannot believe that her v-card is about to get taken by Imane. Who soothingly runs her hand down Aria's chest, until it teasingly covers her sex, "Ready to become a woman?" Aria nods frantically up at Imane, who smiles, they all smile, gently opening Aria's lower lips so that she can see the state that she is in. Aria's jaw drops as she looks at her unkempt and hairy pussy, sopping wet, flushed and swollen with arousal, her hole palpitating slightly with anticipation; is that really hers? Then Imane's fingers creep down towards her entrance, making Aria quiver; it's happening! She watches as Imane's adroitly teases at entry... then she is inside of her. Aria moans plaintively as her virginity is taken by Imane's fingers, it feels so much better than when she does it herself!

Wet squelching noises soon emerge from between Aria's thighs as Imane skillfully pleasures her; her building climax helped along by Jaime and Lily as the suckle on Aria's engorged nipples like starved babies. Behind the mirror, it's obvious that Jodi is also enjoying herself, getting off on the scene unfolding before her. Aria soon feels a familiar heat spreading in her tummy, her breath hiking as she worries about the onslaught of sensation about to engulf her once more. Her doubt fades when Imane tenderly tilts her head up and kisses her deeply, tongue swirling inside of her mouth. Aria's brain feels fuzzy as she looks up at her lover, there's just so much pressure building up; how do girls deal with this every time? Imane smiles at Aria's naïve and desperate expression, and decides to put her out of her misery. She leans close and simply whispers, "Cum for me" Aria practically explodes, her spasming cunt splattering juices all over the mirror, soaking her bed with squirt as she cums spectacularly around Imane's fingers. The other girls gasp and laugh in surprise, rolling away from Aria's flailing limbs as she convulses with pleasure.

"Holy fuck" "There's so much!" "Ugh that is so fucking hot!" "I wanna lick it up..." "Fuck I might join you." "Good girl!" "Is... is she okay?" "I think so, she's just cum-drunk" "Play with my ass this time-" "What." "What?" "Pfft, sluts." "Oh fuck you too, bitch!" "Uggggghhh..." "Oh hey I think she's still alive!"

Aria groans in exhaustion as she recovers from her first time, lolling around in the sheets as she tries to put herself back together. She opens her eyes to see Imane and Jaime intensely making out nearby, their hands busy at work inside of each other; Imane's larger breasts squishing Jaime's more modest endowments. The scent of their lovemaking reaches her, and she instinctively starts to pleasure herself at the sight. Aria's enticing view is soon blocked though, by a nicely groomed pussy with dripping, messy lips. She looks up to see Jodi staring hungrily down at her, already moving to position herself above Aria's face. Jodi lovingly cradles her head, holding Aria steady as she lowers her sweaty sex onto Aria's mouth, "Eat it," she commands. Aria inexpertly complies, doing her best to please Jodi, sucking on her wide lips, licking at her clit, sticking her tongue as far as she can into her Jodi's hole. Who sighs after a few minutes of this unsatisfying treatment, making Aria blush in embarrassment; it's her first time eating pussy! With growing sternness, Jodi teaches Aria exactly how she wants to be pleasured; guiding her tongue towards her most sensitive spots, praising her when she succeeds. She gropes herself steadily as Aria slowly but surely helps her along, her affirmations growing in volume as she approaches climax, "Oh good girl... good girl, oh fuck YES GOOD GIRL!" Jodi staggers atop Aria as she orgasms, gasping as she force-feeds the girl her sticky juices. She contently grinds her sex across Aria's chin, marking her face with a slimy trail of her cum; smirking down at her. giving Aria's sensitive pussy a slap in thanks, Jodi wriggles off of her, clambering over to rejoin the others; leaving Aria gasping for breath...

"Oh fuck Imane, I'm gonna-" "Yes, right there!" "Fuuuuuuck!"

Aria glances over to see the spectacular conclusion of Imane and Jaime's lovemaking; both of them leaning against each other, panting for breath, fingers sticky with juices as they orgasm together. Lily loungers nearby, stirring her pussy eagerly as she hungrily watches their cum drip onto the sheets. Aria starts to crawl over, lust still burning through her, she had no idea she had this much desire in her... Before she knows it she is locking lips with a still breathless Jaime, hands wildly groping and feeling up one another, face flushing a deep hue. Jaime greedily grinds her crotch against Aria's thigh, leaving wet streaks as she leaks all over her. Aria responds in kind, their legs sliding against one another until they are scissoring. Aria's hairy folds squishing themselves against Jaime's smoothly shaven lips, teasing Aria with its wet kisses. The stimulation is enough to drive Aria wild, but not enough to make her finish; Jaime doesn't seem to have any issues though. Moaning and gasping, the slut drenches Aria's sex with another slurry of juices, sloppily anointing Aria with her smelly cum. Aria whines in discontent, she wants to feel it again; she needs to climax again!

Giggling knowingly, Jaime hauls Aria up, guiding her toward the other three and completing the circle formation. All of them are breathing heavily, looking at each other as the bustier girls' breasts touch; all of them still sopping wet. Hugging themselves together, the girls take a short break as they ready themselves for the game to come. Game? Chuckling, Imane quickly explains the rules to Aria, each girl will finger one other girl, and the last one to not cum gets to have the others pleasure her however she wants until she does. Aria begins to make short humping motions in anticipation, already drooling at the idea of having another girl's fingers inside of her again. She obligingly slides her own inside of Jaime, easily reaching deep inside of her and curling inwards... Aria squeaks as she feels someone else slip inside of her own pussy, she's already so close to orgasm! She looks up to see Lily biting her lip seductively as her lithe little hands make an utter mess of Aria's overstimulated sex; Aria can't hold on! Aria pants in heat, sticking her tongue out lewdly as her eyes roll back, begging like a slut for Lily to make cum.

"Wow" "Uh, guys, I think we broke her." "Is she doing okay?" "That's kinda hot..." "Holy shit she's so fucking wet!" "Oh I think she's cumming." "So fucking cute..."

Aria blubbers messily as she climaxes around Lily's fingers, cum splattering down her hand and onto the messy sheets; shuddering and shaking wildly as the most popular girls in school watch her orgasm. She collapses once more onto the bed, utterly drained as she watches the other girls continue their "game". Jaime is the next to succumb, followed by Lily, until it is down to Imane and Jodi stirring up each others' cunts as they face off. Imane twitches, and then lets out a strained groan, her climax growing audible as fresh nectar spills out of her. Jodi laughs in triumph, swiftly falling backwards and spreading her legs wide; she directs Jaime and Lily to either breast, and demands Imane finish what she started. Jodi is soon groaning at her friends' attentions, one hand locked in Imane's curly hair while the other strokes Lily's head. She hikes her hips, urging Imane on as she approaches orgasm,

"Yessss fucking eat it Imane... Lift that fat ass up- oh fuck, I bet so many boys mounted it today- Oh don't stop yes!" "She's gonna cum..." "All in Imane's mouth." "Fucking slut." "Getting off to Imane getting fucked." "What a pervert." "Mmmmph!"

Jodi howls as she finally climaxes, holding Imane's head tight against her quivering cunt as she makes her lap up every last drop. Now finally exhausted, the girls wriggle over to Aria and cuddle together, their sweaty bodies trembling with fatigue. After staying that way for a little while, the Four stagger to their feet, gingerly putting their clothes back on while letting Aria continue to rest. Once they are at least vaguely presentable, they file through and give Aria a tender kiss before leaving,

"See you later Aria!" "Thanks for having us over!" "Sorry for the mess" "I think she is a mess..." "Do you think I smell?" "Jaime, you fucking stink, let me spritz some more perfume on you." "So, same time next week Aria?" "Yeah! She's such a fun pet!" "What is she, your dog?" "Ciao Aria, see you tomorrow!" "Byeee!" "See ya!" "Bye!"

Aria doesn't even move from her sprawled position for what feels like an age; holy fuck, what did she just do? She can't believe she acted like such a-a-a slut! Oh god and they're going to want to come back! They're going to turn Aria into some kind of shameless whore, just like them! No wonder they're so popular... How is she going to be able to look at them tomorrow morning, they all watched her orgasm for the first time; she even saw them naked, they saw her naked! And, oh fuck just look at her bed, how is she supposed to explain this?

Ugh, she's going to need to change her sheets...

[cupidbedsy]

ꨄ 𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 ; 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 ꨄ

➪ summary: aubrey goes to alex's first home detroit game and when she meets one of his teammates, she realizes that he's going to be different then all the rest

➪ warnings: none? i think

➪ word count: 1.8k

➪ file type: au (once in nine lives) fic

➪ sunny's notes: i am so so so excited for this au, so send in thoughts whenever you please. the biggest help is @slutforseider so if the idea isn't mine it is probably hers tbh. but like i said, i'm very excited for this au so hopefully it'll show with my writing

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It wouldn’t be Aubrey’s first hockey game she’s been to, not even her first Red Wings game she’s been to, but it would be the first time seeing her brother play on the team and meeting the team. Alex was her number one supporter and she was his, so when she got the news that her brother would be living practically thirty minutes away from where she went to school, she was more than thrilled. 

She wore her new Alex DeBrincat jersey, loving her name plastered on the back of it. She always wanted to get a jersey for every team her brother played for and sharing their last name saved her money. She met up with Lyndsey two hours prior to when they had wanted to leave there and Archie ran into her arms as soon as he laid his eyes on her, “Hey little man.”

“Auntie Aubrey!”

“You excited to watch daddy play today?” Archie nodded his head ecstatically. 

She looked at the two of them in the mirror, fiddling with his jersey, “And look, we match!”

He grinned up at her, content with staying in her arms for the rest of the night. She talked with Lyndsey until it was time for them to go, both of them getting into their respective cars and making their way to Little Caesars Arena. As they got out of their cars, Archie begged his mom to hold his aunt’s hand on the way in and she agreed, grateful for the moments her sister-in-law was around.

Aubrey talked to Archie excitedly about the game tonight and about Alex playing as they made their way to where Alex had said to meet them. As Archie continued to walk, he grew tired and asked Aubrey to be picked up, which she did without question. Alex stood talking with some of his teammates as the three of them arrived, immediately stopping their conversation to walk over to them.

“Hi!”

Lyndsey kissed him before turning her attention to her son and his aunt, both of them giggling at each other. Alex walked closer to them, poking Archie in the side to gain his attention, “Daddy!”

Aubrey handed him over to her brother, smiling slightly at the interaction, “Hey bud. You excited for tonight?”

“Yeah, me and Auntie Aubrey are going to make fun of you the whole time.” 

She let out a nervous chuckle, “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Her brother raised an eyebrow before setting his son down to hug her, “Nice to see you, Aubs.”

“You too, Lex. How’s the team doing?”

“Good, good. I think we got a shot this year.”

She smiled at him, “Good, you deserve it.”

“Come on, let me introduce you to them.”

The three of them followed after him, passing by a few of his teammates along the way before stopping where a large chunk of them were. Alex gained their attention and he looked between his family and his team, “Guys this is my wife Lyndsey and my son Archie. And this is my little sister, Aubrey.”

His eyes darkened before looking at the younger ones of the bunch, “No dating her, no touching her, don’t even smile at her.”

“Lex…” Alex held his hands up in defense before continuing, “And, this is our captain, Dylan Larkin, Ben Chariot, Lucas Raymond, Jake Walman, Simon Edvinsson, and Moritz Seider.”

The three of them nodded and waved, Aubrey trying to keep her emotions in check. But her mind didn’t stop her as she started spitting out random facts at them, “Oh yeah, Lark had a 13.1 shooting percentage, Ben you had 19 points, and Lucas had a 29.4% face off win percentage, Jake had 47 hits, Simon had 13 shot attempts and 5 shots, and Mo had 40 penalty minutes-”

She looked at all of their faces, “I did it again, didn’t I?” Alex nodded, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, “It’s fine. I guess I would like them to know you’re nerd now rather than later.”

“Uh hi, I go to Michigan and I’m studying sports management. That isn’t usual, actually yes it is. I tend to blurt out facts when I’m nervous or I’m meeting new people, it just-” She took a deep breath, “Sorry.”

The boys stared at her in awe and Alex wasn’t having it, “Okay pretty and smart, we know. Time to go, you three.”

Aubrey didn’t have to be told twice and immediately rushed out of there with Archie and Lyndsey in tow. The whole game Aubrey felt embarrassed by what had happened, if it was anyone else she would’ve been fine with it, but her brother’s teammates? Her brother’s cute teammates? She felt like she could cry. 

It wasn’t often that she found her brother’s teammates cute, and it was often that the attraction that she felt for them was this strong. Sure she would find the occasional teammate cute, Lukas Reichel, Alex Vlasic, Brandon Hagel, Kirby Dach. But it wasn’t like she was attracted to them, mostly because she knew she wouldn’t be allowed to date them. 

However, this time around, she couldn’t help but find one of them attractive, nor could she help the feelings that she might’ve already had for him. She shook her head as she continued to watch the game and make comments about her brother with Archie, she was not going to let herself fall for one of his teammates, it was forbidden. She couldn’t break the one promise she had made Alex, the one promise she was determined to keep. 

After the game, the three of them met up with Alex once more, Archie taking his post-game nap on Aubrey’s shoulder. Archie truly loved Aubrey, he would always be by her side when she would come over, always asking to hold her hand when they went out, always asking her to do stuff with them. Since he was born, the two were attached at the hip, and everyone knew it wouldn’t change. 

She kept her grip on her nephew firm, not wanting to startle him by any sudden movement. Some of the players came out a little too loud and she immediately shushed them, she wasn’t going to let anyone wake Archie up, if she knew them or not. The players who had passed them apologized softly before moving on, some of them even patting his head gently as they walked out. 

Alex walked out and she cursed mentally when she saw him walking beside her brother. Of course this would happen to her, one little slip up and the Universe was trying to make her pay for it. She smiled at Mo and her brother, still keeping her grip on the boy, “Nice game, guys.”

“Thanks Aubs, how long has he been asleep for.”

“Probably like five minutes before we got here.” She handed him over to him, watching as he and Lyndsey walked out of the arena.

The two stood there awkwardly, none of them sure if they should start a conversation or just wave goodbye and leave. And just as Aubrey was about to do the latter, he spoke up, his German accent making its way to her ears, “So Michigan, huh?”

She nodded, “Yeah, they had a really good sports management program and it was close to a hockey city, so it was kind of fate.”

Mo stuck his hands in his pockets, “I’m assuming you like hockey then?”

“Yeah, both of my brothers played it but I could never. So when I figured out I liked math and that sports had a lot of statistics, I fell in love with it.”

“Math? I’ve never understood it.”

She chuckled, “A lot of people don’t but that’s also kind of what I love about it. It’s like I know something that people don’t in a weird way.”

The two started walking, both of them not wanting their conversation to end despite how awkward it was. Aubrey thought back to earlier and blushed, “I’m sorry about earlier. Or not sorry to you but to myself.”

“It’s okay. It’s really impressive actually. You said I had 40 penalty minutes last year?”

“Yeah.” She took her hands out of her pockets to fiddle with them, trying to focus on something other than her small nerd outburst from before. 

“That’s cool. So what other things do you know about me?”

Her eyes widened and looked up at him, “What?”

“I figured if you knew my penalty minutes from last year there must be some other things you know about me, hm?” He smirked, stopping and looking down at her. 

“Oh, uh.” The blood rushed into her cheeks, turning them a color close to maroon. 

“C’mon, you can tell me.”

“You had 5 goals and 37 assists, a total of 42 points. 3 of them were on even strength, one was a power play goal, and one was a short handed goal. You had 187 shots and 355 total shot attempts, leaving you with a 3.7 shooting percentage which was less from the year before.”

“Hmm, cute.” She looked down and waited for him to move, and once he did she followed him. 

He walked her to her car, leaning against the back driver side door, watching as she fiddled with her keys, “So…”

“So… what?”

“Can I have your number?”

“Bold aren’t you?” She finally unlocked her door, pulling it open and throwing her bag on the passenger seat, “Also I thought my brother said no dating.”

“Who said anything about dating? I can’t befriend a pretty girl?”

“Oh, um. Okay then.” She honestly thought it was embarrassing how easily it was for him to make her flustered. It only took him to call her pretty or for his hand to flex and her cheeks were flushed. 

He handed her his phone, watching her carefully as she typed her number into the new contact she had made. When she handed him his phone back, he grinned slightly and patted her head, “I’ll text you when I get home.”

And then he walked off, leaving her a stumbling and blushing mess. She got in her car and sat staring out into the practically empty parking lot of the arena. Driving back to her dorm room she listened to anything to get her mind off of the interaction she just had but she couldn’t. Everything she listened to reminded her of the way he dressed, the way he smiled, the way his eyes twinkled. God, what was she turning into?

She got back to her dorm and changed into her pajamas. She flopped onto her bed, talking a little bit with her roommate and then scrolled aimlessly on her phone. Just as she was going to put her phone down she got a notification from an unknown number, “ I hope you didn’t give me a fake number, pretty girl. Because I was really looking forward to texting you."

Yeah, she was fucked.

[pensat-i-fet]

Better than me (Rúben Dias x Reader)

**Back with another request. For this one, I was asked to write about Rúben feeling a little insecure and jealous too. I think it turned out quite cute so hopefully you enjoy too ❤️**

Word count: 2561

Masterlist

Wattpad

"We're fucked!"

Rúben was in a terrible mood after the match. They won, so that was good. But Rodri, arguably their most important player, got a red card. So he was bound to miss at least the next three matches. Fantastic.

"Huh?", you asked, quickly looking up from your phone while he drove.

"The next few matches. It'd be hard to win without Rodri".

"Well, sure. But they have you so it'll be fine".

He wasn't so sure but appreciated your compliments and optimism.

Rúben hadn't been feeling very optimistic himself lately. Or great. And one of the main reasons for that was you. Not that you had done anything per se but…the insecurity he felt was mainly caused by your intelligence and your friendship with Rodri.

You had met Laura, Rodri's partner, at work. Both of you being young doctors, an instant friendship blossomed between you two. Also, you always wanted to learn to speak Spanish so having a Spanish friend was great. And Rodri became a friend quickly too so that was two Spanish friends.

It was through these friends you met Rúben. Laura thought it could be fun to introduce you to each other and play matchmaker. Both of you were grateful for that. And, of course, double dates were a constant occurrence once you and Rúben made your relationship official.

Since everyone always praised Rodri for being the humble guy who went to uni and dated a doctor, and basically not being the typical footballer, Rúben expected the same when people found out about your relationship but…the reaction was slightly different. Not that anyone saw Rúben as stupid or anything but he wasn't considered to be as smart as Rodri. Where was his uni diploma? So what he saw was many comments asking how such a smart woman could be with him. Banter mostly, but it could hurt.

"Do you need help with your wound?", you asked when you noticed you were almost back home.

Rúben had a little wound on his thigh and one of the perks of dating a doctor was that you could look after it.

"I'm good. Thanks".

"It could still get infected, you know?"

"I know. I'm not dumb".

His tone confused you. Where did that reaction come from? But he had been in a terrible mood since the match ended so you guessed it was all about that. Little did you know…

And he had reasons to worry. City were out of the Carabao Cup after losing their match against Newcastle. Rodri didn't play…but neither did Rúben. So none of them were to blame for it.

But then came the Wolves match. Rúben started that match and quickly made his mark…by scoring an own goal. You were watching the match at home and hoping he could turn it around during what was left of the match. Otherwise, he was going to blame himself for the loss. You just knew it.

“Hey”.

“Hi”, he said back, sighing and sitting down next to you.

“Want cuddles?”

“Will they make my own goal disappear?”

“I wish but they can make you feel a bit better”.

You turned the TV off and laid down so Rúben could do the same next to you and you cuddled. It felt nice after a long week at work. And it was nice for Rúben to feel loved after such a tough day.

Rúben’s phone broke the peace and he had to get up to answer it.

“It’s my parents. I’ll be right back”.

You used that time to go to the kitchen and see what you two could have for dinner. And while you were still deciding, Rúben came back from the room.

“Everything ok?”

“Yes, they just wanted to see how I was doing”.

“That’s nice”, you smiled and went back to looking at the fridge. “We don’t have much. Maybe we could order something”.

“Yeah. We’ll go to the supermarket tomorrow. That fridge looks so empty and sad”.

You chuckled. It really did. “We’ll do the shopping list later. Let’s order food now. I’m starving”.

The whole time at dinner, you tried to make Rúben feel better. He could be so dramatic after one bad match and you didn't want him to stay in that mindset for long.

"Ok, dishwasher full and ready. Should we do that shopping list now?"

"Yes!", you answered, getting your notes app ready to write down all the things you needed to get. "Let's not go crazy with the fresh food, we just need enough for you".

"What do you mean? Are you not planning on eating?"

"I won't be here to eat. Didn't you read my text?"

Rúben picked up his phone. He had ignored it after the match, except to answer his parents' call. But there it was, your text. Well, there was more than one but he knew which one you meant. The one where you said you were going to spend a few days in Madrid with Laura…and with Rodri.

You kept checking the kitchen to see what you might need and didn’t notice Rúben staring at his phone.

“I think I need shampoo. I’m going to check”.

He then looked up to see you going to the bathroom and sighed. “I hate this”.

But the next morning, he drove both of you to the supermarket to do the weekly shop. And every time you mentioned picking up something for the trip, he wanted to scream.

“Do you think I need a plug for my chargers? Spanish plugs are different to ours. Or will Laura have enough for all of us? Maybe I should call her”.

“I’m sure Rodri has it all under control”, he muttered and you turned to give him a look.

“Ok? I'll still ask”.

That was the first little dig. Then came the second, and the third…

“Rúben, have you and Rodri had any issues lately?”, you finally asked.

“No. Why would you ask?”

“I don’t know, but you keep being weird whenever he’s mentioned for no reason. Maybe we should cancel tonight’s dinner”.

“Tonight…what happens tonight?”

“Rúben, we talked about having dinner with them a week ago. I put it on your calendar”.

“Right…yeah…no, I’ll go. We’ll go. It’ll be fine”.

And it was fine, for the most part. You still noticed Rúben acting in an odd way but didn’t want to bring attention to it.

“We can’t wait to show you around Madrid”, said Laura. “Well, Rodri will be the tour guide. It’s his city. You’ll love it”.

“I know I will”.

“I actually got the perfect tour ready for you”, told you Rodri. “Since I didn’t have to play, I got some free time to get it all sorted. I checked all the places I think you’ll like to prioritize those. It's a perfect plan”.

“That’s so thoughtful. Thank you”, you said. Your smile was so big and that made Rúben feel so shitty again.

“You’ll have to see if you prefer Lisbon or Madrid”, joked Rodri, winking at Rúben but Rúben didn’t want to laugh.

“Well, Lisbon was amazing so you’ll have to really prepare the best tour to make me love Madrid more”.

“How did Rúben show you his city when you first went there?”, asked Laura. Such an innocent question, but not what Rúben wanted to hear.

“I didn’t prepare anything special. Just showed her around”.

Everyone at the table noticed Rúben’s tone and decided to move on to other topics, but you didn’t get his response out of your head. You couldn’t. So you had to bring it up when you were back home.

“What was all that about at dinner?”

“What do you mean?”

“You got all moody when Laura asked you about us being in Lisbon and seeing the city”.

He sighed. “I just don’t get why you are with me sometimes”.

What was he saying now?

That was a pretty strange statement. And one that made you stop to think about how to approach it.

“I could make you a list”, you tried a joke. Those worked sometimes. But not at that specific moment.

“And then I could make you one that shows why you should be with someone like Rodri instead”.

Someone like Rodri? “Why would I want to be with someone like him?”

“He’s not even your boyfriend and still is better at being one than me. I mean, preparing a tour just for you? Come on. He can do everything better than me. On and off the pitch”.

“Are you bothered by that?”

“I’m bothered by how inferior I feel next to him”.

“Since when?”, he never mentioned that.

“Since the first comment about how hard to believe it was that a doctor would date a football player”.

“But Rodri…he does too. So do others. Didn’t Mata date one? Maybe he still does”.

“Yes, and what do they have in common?”

“They are from Spain?”

Rúben let his head fall and put his hands on his face. It was all in his head, he knew it. He knew you couldn’t understand him. And he felt too dumb to explain it properly.

“They are both humble. Normal. Too normal to be footballers. And smart. Of course business degree Rodri can date a doctor. But me? I’m a joke next to them”.

You sat down next to him and took one of his hands in between yours, placing it on your thigh.

“Rúben, you’re smart. I wouldn’t date you if you weren’t”, he looked away but you continued. “Everyone knows you’re smart. On and off the pitch. You keep being praised for your intelligence all the time. And it makes me proud to see that. Also, you speak two languages fluently and I almost fainted trying to say the few sentences you taught me in Portuguese. That level of fluency takes brainpower. And you have plenty of it”.

“The comments…”.

“Maybe you should stop reading comments of people talking about relationships they are not a part of. What do they know? About you or about Rodri? Nothing. I’m the one who knows you and who chooses to be with you. Shouldn’t my opinion mean more?”

“Yes, but…”, he knew you were right but still didn’t feel like he could accept it fully. “But what if I’m not enough in the future? There is a limit to my intelligence, you know? I’m not studying. I don’t keep on learning like you do. The most I do is watch a documentary every once in a while”.

“I don’t need you to be a bloody encyclopedia, Rúben!”

“But I want to be one so I don’t embarrass you!”

He then got up and even though his back was to you, you could imagine how hurt he looked.

“You won’t embarrass me”.

“I was at that work dinner last month and…I felt so stupid. Like I haven’t before. You know, when you work every day with people who can’t even spell the word encyclopedia, you do feel as smart as one. But then reality hit me. Everyone there was so smart. Like you. That’s the people you work with. And Rodri was chatting with all of them and talking about everything like he was one of them. While I was just asked about my gym routine and what I ate to keep my muscles so big”.

“I’m sorry they made you feel like that”, you said, slowly walking towards him to wrap your arms around his waist. “But just so you know, I would never date a doctor. They’re unbearable”.

You chuckled but he didn’t join you so you squeezed his waist to try and show him your love somehow. It was you who felt stupid then. Not knowing what to do to comfort your boyfriend.

“Rúben, do you want me to stay?”

“No, go to Madrid. Have fun. I won’t ruin your plans”.

“You’re more important than a trip. I can go to Madrid whenever”.

“No”, he turned to look at your face. “I’m stupid, ok? It’s a lot sometimes. And all the comments about Rodrid don’t help. All the stats about how shit we are without him. Those don’t help”.

“Well, whenever you feel like that, talk to me. So I can reassure you about whatever you need to be reassured about, ok?”

He nodded. It was him who needed to hold you tightly at that moment and you felt really happy when he did. And relieved. He wasn’t going anywhere and neither were you.

“Really, I can stay…”.

“No. Go on your trip. I’ll be waiting here for you. And buy me a gift while you’re there”.

“What do people buy in Madrid as souvenirs?”

“I don’t know but I’m sure Rodri will know”.

“Looking forward to that Atleti fridge magnet he’ll make me buy”, you laughed.

**

Your time in Madrid was great. The tour Rodri got ready for you was fantastic. But you missed Rúben. And worried about him. So you kept texting him photos of the places you visited and updating him.

-“You took me to get ice cream the moment we left the house so that's a point for you. 1-0”.

-“Oh wait, Rodri bought us churros. 1-1”.

-“Why are these churros so good? 🤤”

-"I'm buying a churro making machine. I'm having these for breakfast every day. Oh my God!"

-"Laura took me to a park to see turtles. Can we get a pet turtle? 🐢".

-"Also, that's a point for her. Not Rodri. Not such a perfect tour guide if he didn't know I wanted to see the turtles 🤷".

-"Laura filmed me trying to read the menu in Spanish. That video will never see the light of day but I'll let you know it exists and it's incredibly embarrassing".

Rúben was glued to his phone, waiting for the next text. And he sent some back to you, joking about things like how much better the weather was in Manchester.

But as much as he loved the texts, he was so happy when you were finally back.

"I want you to tell me everything you did in Madrid. Even if I've seen it already".

"Oh, get ready for all the anecdotes. I'm not shutting up about it anytime soon", you laughed and then picked up a bag from your suitcase. "They didn't have magnets…".

So you bought him an Atleti keychain.

"What do I want this for?"

"To piss João off when you see him?", you shrugged and made Rúben laugh. It was a good reason to keep it.

A few days later, City lost another match. This time against Arsenal, so it hurt even more. And the press were back to talking about how bad the team performs without Rodri.

Rúben was going back to Portugal after the match for international break, but you wanted to make sure he was fine before he got on the plane and called him.

"I'm not listening to any of it. Don't worry".

"Pinky promise?"

His chuckle made you relax a bit. "Pinky promise".

You stayed on the phone for a bit longer and then it was time for him to get on the plane.

"You know, Rúben. You never asked me which city I liked more. Madrid or Lisbon".

"Ok. Which one did you like more?".

"Lisbon. Do you wanna know why?"

"Sure. Why?"

"Because I was there with you".

[crowdusk]

One Piece Chapter 1132: Adventure in Elbaph (thoughts & predictions for the arc)

Part 2 here.

[These are the feverish autism-fuelled thoughts I wrote out after reading chapter 1132 because I was overtaken by the urge to connect some dots (I did edit a bit to hopefully be more coherent). I didn't engage with any other reviews or theories on Elbaph apart from quite general ones before reading this, so it'll be cool to see if other people have similar ones. Wasn't sure whether to post this but I wanted to put it somewhere before chapter 1133 came out and next week's break so it doesn't just sit on my laptop for me to forget about, and more importantly so I can refer back to it and see if anything I said was even vaguely correct. It's a monster and I don't have time to do a proper editing process so please kindly look away from any mistakes and poor structuring. One of the really fun aspects of serialised storytelling for me is theorising and analysis, even if it makes a fool of me more often than not. I'm not expecting to be right but it's fun when that happens!]

This also ended up being, uh, Very Long. There is a chapter review part with some thoughts on the arc, and then there are thematic sections where I got more into detail about what I think Elbaph will explore. This whole thing will be split into multiple posts because of Tumblr's limit, but there will be links to the different sections/posts. Ok, end of intro.

Overall thoughts on the chapter

Firstly, this chapter was so fun. It had all the familiar thrill and excitement of a new island and adventure, with some wonderful panels (rainbow-sailing, Bonney and Robin, the Elbaph village). We had ‘Adventure in the Land of Mystery’, and the suspense was interesting, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one extremely confused (especially because of the mistakes). From what I saw the whole fandom was essentially the when ur whole crew doesn’t know a damn thing meme. But I’m glad Oda had his fun with the fake introduction to Elbaph, which also helped set up Luffy meeting Loki and the delay in receiving Vivi’s message amongst other things. 

1132 really feels like quintessential early One Piece where we’re off to a running start now that we’re finally sure we’re where we want to be. Love to see the Strawhats get somewhere, play around, and immediately cause chaos. It’s somehow packed with new information and fast-paced, while feeling like we get a bit of a breather from plot-intensity after Egghead. 

I’m also, of course, incredibly happy we’re finally getting to see Elbaph in all its much-anticipated glory. The natural features of the island – especially the landscape, the scale, elements like the rainbows and the giant tree as a living support–  make it feel extra fantastical and wondrous beyond what I, at least, had imagined. Hats off to Oda and especially his assistants for the gorgeous Rivendell-Zelda-Skyrim vibes in the village introduction spread. I love a fantasy-style nature-based environment, and I don’t think we’ve had that in a while. Wano and Egghead had some incredible settings too, of course, but the story felt a lot more people-centric once they got to the islands. Here, the landscape really becomes a character of its own in the same way it did in say, Zou (quite literally). In fact, Yggdrasil is both alive and ancient, just like Zunesha. I’m looking forward to seeing how that feeds into the story. 

I'm also very glad that Oda is leaning into that and giving us those wide-angle shots. He doesn’t always get perspective and scale exactly right, but I personally don’t mind – the man knows how to draw an impactful double-spread. I can’t un-know the fact that the Sunny is supposed to be more than twice the height of Goldberg, who’s carrying it, but it doesn’t ruin anything for me. I’m used to Oda just doing shit like that because he wants/needs the Sunny to be carried around like a toy. It would be such a shame if we got to Elbaph and we only got smaller views or workarounds in order to avoid the challenges of scale and perspective. 

On top of that, one of my favourite parts of the One Piece experience is finally having puzzle pieces and references fall into place after arcs and years – like the architecture and landscape we recognise from Big Mom’s flashback. We've been waiting for this for over 20 years! More than 1000 chapters! I love this manga. I love it here. The sequence of the rainbow bridge leading into finally getting to see the village was lovely, and as a huge Skypiea lover, I am having a great time. Seeing our experience reflected in Luffy and especially Usopp’s reactions was also beautifully moving. I’m glad they were highlighted and we had the flashback to Little Garden to really drive it home.  

On the plot side,  we’re slowly building a picture of the variation in how different giants feel about humans. We have Gerd and Rodo, who both have strong feelings in completely opposing ways. Where Gerd infantilises humans in her fascination with them, Loki and Rodo clearly seem to think they are inferior. It remains to be seen what other perspectives exist in Elbaph. Is there real resentment or hatred from those like Loki and Rodo, or do they generally just think giants are superior due to their strength and size? Regardless, it feels like Oda is slowly setting us up to understand that there are different groups of giants with different beliefs even within Elbaph (we already know Saul is not from there and considers them ‘barbarians’). Just as in any society there are surely faultlines and disagreements, and their relationship to humans – and maybe even the world at large – might very well be a point of tension within the kingdom. 

Speaking of points of tension, it’s obviously very ominous that Luffy has made a promise to Loki, particularly since we don’t know the specifics of it. Oda has cleverly given us only a glimpse of the very end of that conversation in relation to Luffy’s famous difficulty with lying and we’ll see how long he decides to tease us with it. He could definitely give us that information in dribs and drabs to keep us guessing, but I also think most of us are probably right in guessing that Luffy promised to free Loki, even if we don’t know if he wanted anything in return. Honestly, the first time we even saw Loki in chains I thought oh Luffy’s 100% going to free that man, and I know I’m not the only one. 

Regardless of exactly how and when we see that conversation, I imagine we'll see Luffy’s actions start to confirm and clarify our suspicions. For example, if he did agree to free Loki and needs to retrieve the key, then he might well start making moves to do that soon (although after the feast, of course – nothing comes before a metric ton of meat). I also think it will be very interesting – and comical – to see Luffy try and execute a stealth operation, because as we’ve seen time and time again, that is the opposite of his forte. He’s bad at lying, he’s bad at keeping secrets, and he’s bad at doing things with subtlety. So I’m looking forward to seeing how Luffy deals with that – whether he manages to keep it a secret from everyone or if, as I suspect, he ropes in at least one of the other Strawhats, even if by accident. Take your guesses! There’s a whole range of options ranging from experts (Nami, Robin, Brook) to the sneak mission equivalent of throwing a grenade onto a presidential lawn (...Zoro).

My more specific pet theory when it comes to Luffy’s meeting with Loki is that I would not be surprised if in one of the upcoming chapters up we get a sort of split screen set up with Hajrudin or an equivalent giant on one side, explaining more about Loki’s deeds and why they imprisoned him, and the flashback to Luffy’s conversation with him on the other. We know from DorryBrogy (yes I’m using that now) that Hajrudin wanted to come and retrieve the Strawhats from Egghead himself, but ultimately couldn’t because of “some (Loki-related) trouble back on Elbaph”. It would make sense to me if Hajrudin explains in more detail what happened that prevented him from sailing to Egghead, and tells us more about Loki himself. At the same time that Hajrudin is talking about the terrible things Loki has done, we get the penny-drop of Luffy flashing back to his agreement to free said evil man. 

It’s a perfect storytelling device in this medium, especially when it comes to revealing important (and in this case stomach-dropping) information to us as omniscient readers. We saw something slightly similar most recently during Vegapunk’s speech, which Oda used to clearly signpoint us to characters and their links to mentions of important information in the speech, (e.g. showing Shirahoshi, Vivi and Momo when talking about the ancient weapons). Of course that was very different in tone and intention compared to what the Loki reveal I’m hypothesising would be like, but I’m mainly just trying to highlight the use of the manga medium and how it lends itself to this kind of layering. I’m sure Oda’s done something much closer to what I’m thinking of before, but in all honesty I can’t recall an example right now. Regardless, I could be completely off the mark (I am just a little jester honestly), but we know Oda loves his dramatic reveals and drumbeats so I’m willing to put this out there. 

I am also particularly interested to see how Luffy will react to the information about Loki. Will he dislike Loki but still go through with it? Will he disagree with Hajrudin and the other giants? Will it change nothing for him? I think Luffy won’t go back on his promise no matter what information is revealed, but knowing Luffy, he also might just not really pay attention or care what Loki’s done. It will mainly be for us as readers, and the rest of the Strawhats, to decide how we feel about it. We know that Elbaph has very strong values and rules, especially surrounding their warrior culture – ones like honour, strength, and probably truth/honesty. I’m waiting to see whether what Loki’s done is considered bad specifically within Elbaph culture, or whether they’re just terrible in general. This is why in my opinion Loki won’t be A Classic Villain, because I don’t think the central conflict in Elbaph will be as simple as just Loki vs the rest of the giants and Strawhats. There’s too much ambiguity present.

Plus, we haven’t seen Luffy’s instinct about people go wrong yet. The first time he met Blackbeard they immediately started fighting, even if it was about something as stupid as food preferences. He hated Doflamingo the minute he met him. Even Buggy couldn’t actually betray him, despite wanting to. If Luffy generally trusts someone, we know that means they’re trustworthy or at least even if not at the beginning, he wins them over or is able to deal with the untrustworthiness in a way that makes it irrelevant. 

Of course, Loki could prove the exception to the rule, but we know that part of Luffy’s strength is understanding and seeing through people. It would take a lot for Loki to fully trick or betray him, since Luffy just does what he wants and deals with the consequences as they arise. He’ll be more than happy to fight Loki if he threatens something/someone he cares about. To be clear, I’m not saying Loki is a threat at all – I do think his desire to “destroy the world” means mass violence, but Luffy doesn’t tend to care about larger villainous plans until they directly affect his loved ones. He’s also the first ‘evil’ character so far who’s been shown to have very obvious parallels and similarities with Luffy, so even if he is an antagonist, I expect it to be in a way we haven’t seen before (more on that later). 

Another possibility is that Loki and certain other giants have a strong dislike of humans, and therefore want them off the island as quickly as possible. This would also align with Louis Arnot’s warning about not overstaying your welcome. I imagine not everyone on Elbaph is inclined to be friendly to humans, and there might even be other people (other kinds of giants, or non-giants) living on the island. It feels like Oda has strongly emphasised that Warland is only a kingdom on the island of Elbaph, implying that there might be other groups of people – or even countries – sharing the land mass (perhaps on the Astral level?). To me, it feels like Elbaph is holding some kind of secret that makes it particularly dangerous. Maybe, like in Skypiea, there is a forbidden area in Elbaph that is off-limits to people (prime candidate being the Astral/Celestial realm) whether to maintain that secret or perhaps for spiritual reasons. Trespassing could incur serious danger or punishment, and we can probably predict exactly what will happen if a certain captain hears about it. 

And there are other ways I think Elbaph will parallel Skypiea. The Strawhats first connected with the Skypieans (Conis and her father) and were quickly thrown into conflict with both Enel and his forces (including the White Berets) as well as the Shandians who weren’t too happy about outsiders. They had to work with the different groups against Enel, and as part of that, prove to the Shandians that they were trustworthy. The Shandians, who had the crucial connection to the Ancient Kingdom and the poneglyph. We might see a similar situation in Elbaph where the Strawhats have to prove to a group of people (maybe outsiders to Elbaph’s society, maybe those who distrust humans) that they are trustworthy so that they can all unite to fight against a bigger foe like the World Government. It remains to be seen who that might be, but this would also be an opportunity for Oda to give the Strawhats even more people, groups and allies who believe in Luffy’s power. 

Additionally, both Skypiea and Alabasta were countries in the midst of internal conflict – specifically over natural resources – when the Strawhats arrived, and in both of those cases the actions of the crew helped end the wars. Elbaph might be similar. In both of those arcs the conflicts had roots in the secrets of the Void Century, be it because the Shandians were protecting their ancestral lands and the poneglyph after being persecuted by the World Government, or Crocodile’s desire to gain control of Pluton. The giants of Elbaph seem to be one of the only groups of people who have maintained a consistent sun god worship, probably not for lack of the World Government trying to wipe it out (their strength will certainly have served them in that regard). On top of that, I’m sure there’s other crucial information, not just from the Ohara library, that the giants have managed to protect regarding ancient history. If we think about their lifespans, the Void Century was only a few generations back for them, so there may be important oral histories that have been passed down from elders. It’s clear that this is a culture with strong links to the secrets of the past, like the Shandians and the royal family of Alabasta. Though the wars in those countries were exacerbated by many other factors, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see something similar in Elbaph – some tension that relates to events further back in history, and maybe even the Void Century.

Loki, Luffy, and the power of myth

My current theory on Loki is that he believes he is the new Joyboy, and/or an incarnation of Nika/the sun god from Elbaph’s myths (in the same way that King believed Kaido to be Joyboy). We don’t know yet whether Elbaph is polytheistic – Nika/the sun god might just be one of their deities – but if we use Rodo’s weird RPG cage world as a reference, he did create a bunch of different minor ‘gods’. Elbaph itself might have a similar system, with the Sun God being the most important deity. Regardless, we know that Nika is important in their culture, given Dorry and Brogy’s immediate recognition of Luffy in Gear 5 and the celebration of the Winter Solstice as the return of the sun in Big Mom’s flashback. We’ve also seen the painters being called sunstones, which is reminiscent of Vegapunk’s pursuit of solar technology and the Motherflame, and the giants live on the Sun level of Yggdrasil. On top of that, the Underworld – where people are sent for punishment – is specifically noted to lack sunlight. We already know that the sun in One Piece’s world is associated with Nika (liberation, joy), but in terms of general symbolism the sun is also linked to clarity, truth and perception. 

This is why I think questions of faith, belief and truth will be so important to answering what makes Elbaph’s giants such mighty warriors, what kind of devotion do they have, and how do their beliefs and worship link to collective liberation in the One Piece world, both historically and in the present? 

Oda is also going to get meta in this arc, I believe (even more obviously than he already does). I'll get into this more later, but the Lego kidnapping introduction already served to set up important questions. What is reality, and what is fantasy/illusion? Whose world are we in? Who are the storytellers and what are the different ways stories are lived and told? What is their nature, function and importance? There are going to be many layers in this arc and it's narration, encompassing past present and future, and I think Oda will play with form to achieve this (off the top of my head - the adventurer's log voice of Louis Arnot, to flashbacks, to legends told by the giants, to reading the texts of Ohara...). Contradictory stories, multiple perspectives on one narrative, and different but coexisting truths might well all come into play as important.

Speaking of one type of story, myths and legends are the vessels of belief, and it’s likely the Elbaph culture includes and centres many related to Nika and Joyboy. In fact, this was already mentioned by DorryBrogy (“they tell tales about this god in Elbaph”). I don’t think we’ve had direct confirmation yet, but I’m sure the giants had a connection to the Ancient Kingdom and may very well have preserved information from the Void Century by virtue of their fighting strength, passing stories down across generations, despite the World Government’s best efforts. I also think those stories handed down from the Void Century (maybe even from the first Joyboy, or Roger) may have included some kind of prophecy that Joyboy/the Sun God will destroy the world when he returns (similar to Madam Shyarly’s prophecy about Luffy destroying Fishman Island). If that’s the case, Loki could very well think he’s the chosen one to do so. 

Of course, we know that the final war will likely involve some form of physical destruction (Fishman Island amongst other things) – and there are many theories around that – but to me, the idea is most importantly metaphorical. The world as it is needs to drastically, fundamentally change (including materially), which requires the destruction of things as they are so that the dawn can arrive. Loki’s interpretation, in contrast, could very well be a literal and narrower one involving setting everything on fire Ragnarok-style, hence the other giants imprisoning him to stop him. The way they’ve referred to him as having “a few screws loose” also suggests they think he’s mad or maybe delusional, which makes sense if he’s claiming to be an incarnation of their sun god. His belief may in fact be so pure that it is extreme. As Oda is making clear over and over, you cannot choose to be a god – myths and gods are made by people’s collective belief. I don’t think we’ll ever see Luffy declaring himself to be Nika or even Joyboy for that very reason. 

Luffy is god-like sometimes, but he isn’t one (“Luffy’s not a god, he’s just an idiot!”) nor would he want to be treated as one. Luffy doesn’t even know he’s the new Joyboy, or who Nika is, and what his Gear 5 powers are. If the giants try to project any kind of divine responsibility or title onto him, Luffy will absolutely not care – he refuses to be anything other than himself in all his freedom. However, he does have a great amount of care for friends and is willing to go to any lengths to help them, so we’ll have to see which characters act as those anchors for his desire to fight during this arc. 

I think we’ll see a lot of complex and interweaving traits with Luffy and Loki, as characters who have many similarities but also fundamental differences. Luffy pretty much can't lie, whereas I'm guessing Loki is pretty good at it. Luffy is selfish in his words but his actions help the collective, whereas I could see Loki causing widespread harm but claiming selflessness and doing collective good (e.g. cleansing the world via Ragnarok). Loki claims his godhood fully, demanding respect and imposing obedience, believing fully that he is fit to command others. Luffy doesn’t demand faith, he inspires it.

Indeed, Oda has clearly set up Loki to parallel Luffy in the past few chapters. They had very similar childhoods where they spent a lot of time alone in the wilderness and befriended beasts – in Loki’s case, in the frozen outcast space of Elbaph. This is particularly interesting given he’s a prince – we have to wonder why. Like Luffy, he seems to have humorous and silly traits like getting people’s names wrong, which is an exact copy of what Luffy does. He also has an older brother in Hajrudin, like Luffy with Ace and Sabo, although we don’t know the nature of his relationship with Hajrudin. Were they close growing up and then there was conflict later because of Loki’s actions? Were they always at odds? I wouldn’t be surprised if Loki’s strength wasn’t in his physicality but more so in his cunning and intelligence, which might not have been celebrated or seen favourably as what was expected of an Elbaph prince, in contrast to Hajrudin better fitting the mold. This theory is mostly based on Norse mythology, where both the god Loki and the jötnar Utgarda-Loki are associated with trickery and illusions. It would also mean Loki flaunts the rules of Elbaph warrior culture, making use of strategy, intelligence, language and mischief to win his battles. If Loki was seen as strange or not quite fitting into society and expectations, he may have just chosen to isolate himself and spend time in the Underworld with his animal friends. Alternatively, maybe he was sent down there by his father to get stronger, in the same way Garp threw Luffy into the jungle. 

With all that said, I’m particularly interested to see what his devil fruit is – initially I thought it could be a mythological zoan, which I believe is still very possible, but I could also see it being related to these themes of magic and illusion. The one thing I’m unsure of in this regard is Loki referring to himself as the strongest in Elbaph. Is it because of his devil fruit? Does he mean something different to strength in combat? Was he just lying? That remains to be seen. 

We also don't know what Loki did yet, but I think a lot of the themes of this arc are going to be about the values of Elbaph and how different people come up against them. I’m particularly interested in our dear captain Luffy, of course, and how he relates to those rules, because Luffy’s whole character is about pure freedom regardless of what’s happening around him. The only form of bond that Luffy accepts is those of love, friendship and connection with people (often conveyed through food, as we know). Of course, it could be that Luffy doesn’t particularly come up against Elbaph’s rules (we didn’t really see him in tension with the samurai code in Wano) but I have a feeling that the challenges of this arc will be a complex set of tensions – buried information, the overarching evil of the World Government, the consequences of history, the values of a war-based society, and how those have shaped the people of the island they’re on. 

Even Luffy’s embodiment of something Nika-like in Gear 5 goes against stereotypical expectations of a ‘warrior’. He is a warrior, but the epithet isn’t complete without the liberation aspect. He doesn’t follow any rules but his own when he fights – in his freest form he can literally bend the rules of space and material (maybe even time). He is so strong not just because he can smash things, but because he is completely unpredictable, silly and joyful – only limited by his own imagination. I also think it will be really interesting to see what Elbaph’s version of Nika is like, because people and societies shape gods, and they can evolve over time. It would be fascinating if Elbaph’s version of Nika is more of a stereotypical kind of war(rior) god. We’ve had mentions of their warrior god before, with the belief that the winner of a duel is the one chosen by that deity, so fighting itself – and the glory of victory – is clearly sacred to them. It may well be that their warrior god is a separate being to Nika, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be a version of Nika that has been shaped by their society’s dominant values. And maybe that is also the version that Loki thinks he is or has warped to fit his desire for violence and destruction.

Part 2 here (ft. strength???, summoning a princess, gay technology and shadow the hedgehog)

[pannman]

I was wondering if you're okay writing an Angel Dust. M!Reader. More specifically Drag Queen Angel Dust. A one-shot if perfect, but you can do whatever you want. You can do this as angst or fluff, it doesn't matter! Have a great rest of your day!!

I Hate Parties

Drag queen Angel Dust x M! Reader

CW: fluff, suggestiveness, angst sorta

Angel continued to complain about having nothing to wear to the gala once more. Despite his closet being packed full of stunning and sexy outfits. "You could wear any of these" you told him. But he shook his head

"This gala has a theme. It's Ice Queen Ball. And since I'm performing I need to be the hottest one there" he commented. It didn't matter what he wore, you thought, he would turn heads no matter what. But he insisted that none of these outfits were right for the gala. So you brought up the suggestion you knew he'd been waiting for. "Let's just go shopping" his eyes lit up.

Store to store Angel tried on every white or blue outfit and you had to admit you couldn't hide the blush from your face whenever you saw him step out of the dressing rooms. But he being the picky bastard that he was didn't approve of any of them. That was until you saw a long white dress faded into light blue at the bottom. A curve hugging dress with with a slit in the bottom and a sharp v neckline and no sleeves with a revealing side on the back. It screamed ice fairy princess but with a bit of a seductress vibe.

You showed it to Angel and like you expected he immediately wanted to try it on. You waited patiently outside the fitting room but you had to admit you were getting tired. You hoped this dress would be the one so you guys could go home and maybe cuddle a little before Angel left for the party

You missed him whenever his work kept him away so you couldn't wait for even the tiny bit of alone time you could get

Angel stepped out and you already noticed several other customers temporarily hypnotized by his mere presence alone. He looked absolutely breath taking. Your face turned a red scarlett when he posed for you, sticking his leg out the slit of the dress seductively. "Now that's the kinda reaction I'm looking for" he said after he noticed your expression

"Yeah this dress is it" he decided and you sighed in relief. Finally. You guys would hopefully have more time before he left for the gala

"Now all we gotta do is find you something to wear" he winked. You didn't respond right away because it took a moment to hit you. "Wait! No I can't go" you tried to insist. "Come on don't give me that. It'll be fun!" He said. You knew that Angel knew you hated parties. But he always was a fan of pushing you outside your comfort zone

"How about we make a bet. If I can't find the perfect suit to match this dress in your size then you don't have to come" he proposed. You knew how picky Angel could be and how difficult it would be to find a suit that perfectly matched that dress. You agreed. "Ok, its a bet"

You went from store to store trying on suit after suit and to be fair you did look good in a suit. But so far none of them were the right match for Angel's dress, that was until you saw it. It was on display and it was perfect. A white suit with light blue accents and a blue bow tie. You tried to rush off and distract Angel but him being... well him, he caught sight of it right away

"You gotta try this on" he declared. And you did. And of course Angel found the perfect suit. Of course Angel won the bet. He may have been picky but he had a talent for this kinda thing. You came out of the fitting room and Angel almost choked on his water

The way he eyeballed you and asked you to give him a turn, the way his eyes lingered on your backside, really made you flustered. You knew you had lost "That's the one" he said with a tone that made you feel a little turned on.

Later you were preparing for the gala. Nervous as hell of course. You saw Angel come out in all his glory. He had a red wig on that went down to his hips, full makeup, and the dress was complimented by a diamond necklace and a knee high pair of sparkly boots

You had to admit you were in awe of him. You honestly could not believe someone so attractive was with you

Once again you tried to get out of going. You tried to reason with him. "Are you sure you want me there? I think I might just get in the way..." you tried to not sound as insecure as you felt

"In the way?" He responded kind of shocked. "No babe. Listen, there's gonna be a lot of sleaze bags at this party and if I walk in with you on my arm, I know a lot less of em are gonna make a pass at me. I want you there to show them that I'm all yours."

You blushed but felt a wave of confidence. "And what if anyone makes a pass at me?" You asked.

Angel smiled at you mischievously. "I'll show them your mine too" and with that you both left arm in arm

You knew now the real reason Angel wanted you there. It wasn't just to show he was taken though that is what he SAID. What he meant to tell you is that he misses you when he is away too

Maybe parties aren't so bad...

not when you have good company

[longbobmckenzie]

Too Hot to Handle 3: Episodes 1-3 Thoughts

We're back, bitches.

And as always, I have thoughts.

First off, the customization. It was fine. I like the hair options and that there are additional prosthetics/CGMs, but the rest of it felt like the same thing all over again and it took me a good 10 minutes to come up with someone I was relatively happy with but not thrilled with. Also the smiles are still creepy but at least we get to preview them this time

I love being a bombshell as it adds something fresh and means I didn't have to sit through the opening where everyone comes in because that takes soooo long sometimes (maybe next time we're an OG we can be one of the last to arrive?)

FREE PASS!!! Buuut all we got was some kisses and making out? Like come on. They should've either said we get a free kiss on the date or at least let us be extra naughty

I also like that we got to customize the LI we took out on the date and the customizations were permanent instead of limited to during the date

I picked Taz. I gave him a beard and manbun, and now he looks like Marshall 🤣 I have a type, okay?

I typically like to whore around during my first playthrough but after picking Jirayu for the tour and Mattias for something else (clearly not memorable since I don't remember what it was), I just keep gravitating back to Taz. Him being stuck-up about the food on the date kinda sucked but then he said he liked that I wasn't just saying stuff based on what he likes and he relaxed and became a lot more fun and then we made out and I shared a bed with him and yeaaahhh I like him. So I've been picking him every option ever since

But that doesn't mean I'm not already dying to see who comes in as bombshells

As for the other LIs, the biggest disappointment to me is probably that... WHERE ARE THEY?!?! If you don't pick them for scenes, they're almost non-existent. I've seen Bear more than I've seen Carmen or Beatriz. I'd love for them to be more integrated into the storyline, which I think S2 did a great job of. That said, once we lock in to our LIs I'm sure we'll see more, but how am I supposed to get to know these people if I never see them and don't want to choose them over Taz?

That brings us to the non-romanceable (yet) characters. We know from the achievements that there are 3 achievements for a BFF-to-lovers route, so I guess 3 of them will be possible endgames (not sure if this also includes any future bombshells or if it's just from the 4 OGs). Anyway, so far... I'm not liking them. Victoria's a fugly bitch (spoiler: good riddance to her), Sean is cartoonishly annoying (he gives me Felix vibes but I also wonder if they're trying to make him like Hamish), and I'm just not vibing with Julian or Giselle as friends, let alone future love interests. And the problem with that is that they're the ones constantly being pushed in my face instead of the other LIs, which is just making me more annoyed with them. Again, I think S2 did really well with this, so hopefully it changes. But otherwise, ugh.

Back to Taz - I love that we have such amazing chemistry and he's willing to break rules with me, and it's all just purely physical at this point. Like yeah, we've talked a bit about ourselves too and expressed an interest in getting to know each other, but I don't feel like either of us are emotionally invested yet and I love that - because this is THTH, not Love Island. We're not here for love, we're here for sex. I don't wanna feel after a day that my LI is already half in love with me. There's plenty of time for that

Is it just me, or have there been a lot of potential rule breaks already? I've only been in there a couple days and I've already spent so much money - lots of heavy petting and manual gratification with Taz so far, plus kissing

I'm so getting kicked out 🤣

I'm intrigued to see more of Bad Lana and how that plays out - I've only seen the first episode of the new season of the show, so it'll be interesting to see how they do it in the game

another HUGE plus: less time in the beach hut!! They're not doing a full chapter of beach hut confessionals anymore, just tacking on a bit to the start of one of the chapters, and I LOVE that change. it also means we get more actual game time!

There's a threesome in the achievements. I'm ready.

Anyway, overall I think I preferred the start of S2 (I remember being pretty blown away by the potential and the branching), but this is still a good start and I'm excited for the season. I'm ready for bombshells, and I'm definitely gonna play a 2nd profile to see what Jirayu is all about because I'm intrigued by him. And I wanna be messy on one route and more loyal on another, because I love seeing all the branching when you play both ways!

[ros3ybabe]

Daily Check-in: July 8th, 2024 🎀

Monday was a really good but really tiring day. I was falling asleep on the ride home from work, and I almost fell asleep on video call with my boyfriend. Twas rough. But I managed to stay awake, enjoy my time with him on video, and then fall asleep immediately after!

🩷 What I Accomplished

15 minutes of Spanish study on Busuu (about 3 lessons and a checkpoint quiz)

got some recommendations to aid in my Korean learning

did my morning skincare

did my morning journaling

worked an 8 hour shift

got a response from the Financial aid office at my University about some requirment they had emailed about, and got my worries lessened

talked to my boyfriend on the phone before he went into work

💔 What Could've Gone Better

was late to work on accident because they updated the schedule and no one told me

found out they didn't pay me right for my upcoming paycheck and I now have to talk to my boss about fixing my pay and paying me what I've earned and am missing

had a mini fight with my boyfriend because of his mom and some other underlying issues that we're working to resolve

got really anxious in the morning and had to leave the hotel room for fresh air

still haven't done laundry

need to study languages more

💗 Stuff For Tomorrow (Tuesday, July 9th)

appointment over zoom with my psyc doc from home

scholarship applications!!!!

look at and compare prices of airbnbs and hotels for when my boyfriend comes to visit me once I'm back home

actually do my laundry

morning skincare + journaling

night time skincare + journaling

study Spanish on Busuu + do some listening practice (maybe some shadowing as well to work on my speaking)

review Spanish flashcards!!!!

refill my water bottle + the gallon we have in the room

look at furniture + decor to buy for when I move once back home

job search on Indeed for when I go back home

💕 Song of The Day: Hurricane by BadVillain

this song is so good, like what the heck

Tuesday is gonna be a day where I am on my laptop quite a lot. But it'll be a good day, ill be productive and get lots done! Hopefully I can head into town tomorrow or do something fun after my day today.

til next time lovelies 🩷