#and they took the books away from me and forced me to play sports with a bunch of screaming toddlers

[tbiscool35]

THIS!

Like back when I was a kid and my mum had a big list of shit that she needed done (like putting on the washing machine, weeding, etc) so we were negotiating what I would get for accomplishing a set amount from the list each day.

(Edit for context: I asked my mum cus I couldn't remember why I had the house to myself but apparently she was working at the time and I went to vacation care with my siblings for like 2 days and then begged for literally anything else cus I was so unbelievably bored and they wouldn't let me just read)

Mum was fully ready to just pay me outright for it (I think it was like $10/day or something? It seemed like an actual fortune to baby me so 10 sounds about right) but I knew that money would not give me enough motivation because I was tiny and couldn't do anything with the money until like the weekend.

Mum was baffled but I demanded that some of the money would go towards preemptively buying some icecreams (golden gaytimes because Australia has the best ice cream names) and then I'd get an icecream at the 2/3 point of the list each day.

Tiny me was a fucking genius cus it worked so well and I honestly think that that was the most productive holiday of my life. Just being able to know that I had a fancy 'expensive' icecream waiting for me immediately after gave me so much going power.

people say folks with adhd struggle with "delayed rewards" aka long term goals and as such we tend to focus more on short term rewards. what they don't talk about is that at when we Do accomplish long term goals we don't actually feel anything proportionate to the amount of work we did to achieve it. In my head I suffered for a while and then money spontaneously appeared in my bank account.

[mentally-gone002]

lovers in the night

summary: steve sneaks into his girlfriends room at night in secret so that they can be together.

steve harrington x henderson!f!reader. secret relationship!!!!

can be read in its own, or with this part 2 here, and part 3 here

a/n: reader is dustin’s sister so obvi. she’s gonna have like curly hair but no color is specified. also i L O V E a good henderson!reader with steve!! like idk why but it’s just a great pair since steve and dustin are already my fav duo in the show!! i love them sm😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

———————————————————————

cicadas buzzed endlessly beyond the open window and cotton curtains swished back and forth like a chest heaving with slow breaths along with the late night wind. 

goosebumps rose on her bare arms as she sat with her back against her bed frame on the carpeted floor, slowly flicking through a book that dustin had forced into her hands earlier that day. it was actually really good, not that she didn’t trust her brother’s judgement on literature or anything, but some books he has lent her had been not worth the read. she should’ve read this earlier.

“hey,” a sharp whisper broke her focus on the words across the page and her eyes flew to the door. it was still closed. her eyes went back to the page, only to be interrupted by quiet tapping on glass. 

she turned her head and grinned widely at the barely visible sight of steve behind the glass. “what’re you doing here?” she hissed, still sporting a smile while she got up to place her book on her nightstand and then stand on her mattress and slide the window open wider. steve didn’t answer as he hoisted himself through the window which was far above the ground. he grunted and then fell through the window to land on his back on her bed, making her step back on the mattress with her hands covering her mouth to suppress a laugh. 

he sat up, huffing a little and pushing back his chestnut hair from his forehead as he watched her sit down beside him. “i missed you.” he answered and his hand snaked to hold the back of her neck, pulling her forward into a soft kiss. 

she laughed softly into it. “you saw me a few hours ago.” she whispered, trying to hint that they needed to be quiet. 

its been months they’ve been together and nobody knew that they were dating… yet. she was worried about how dustin would react, along with everyone else in his party; partially because they didn’t like steve until a few months ago. steve agreed with her, with some shock due to the fact that her brother and his friends only just started to like him, but wished he didn’t have to wait until they were alone to be as close as he wanted with her. 

steve shook his head slightly, honeyed eyes holding hers in an intimate stare. “i know, but we weren’t alone.” his fingers gently tangled in the hair on the back of her neck. “sorry dustin booted you to the backseat by the way.”

she chuckled at the remembrance. “it’s okay, he rides shotgun in my moms car too.” her voice was filled with fondness. “what isn’t okay is dustin almost catching us!” she whispered through a toothy grin because she can’t help but feel all giddy at the rush of secrecy with him. 

“well, what can i say? you looked really pretty.” steve whispers, leaning close to capture her lips with his again. he felt his heart race under his ribs the longer he kissed her.

she pulled away. “you can say ‘i’m sorry i almost jeopardized our secret relationship. it won’t happen again.’ or something like that.” her smile showed how she was teasing him while she spoke. 

steve shook his head, tongue poking the inside of his cheek. “it won’t happen again.” he repeated back with a cheeky smile, playing along with her. 

she smiled back and brushed her curls back from her eyes. “good.” 

steve lolled his head to the side so he could just keep looking at her. he liked how her hair looked right now; it was all wild because she took it out of its previous style from earlier and didn’t seem to have tamed it. “how are you?” he wondered. 

she looked away from his eyes with an accompanied smile. her eyes landed on dustin’s book on the edge of her nightstand. “good. just enjoying the night, y’know?” she shrugged a little with a small grin. “dustin lent me a book earlier.” her eyes found steve’s again.

steve nodded and laid down on his back, stretching his arms above his head so that his hands bumped the wall. she stared at where his shirt had ridden up, the soft skin of his stomach was on display. “what’s it about?” he asked, looking over at where she was still sitting up. 

her body slowly settled beside steve’s before she answered. her head was resting on his chest. “it’s about a bunch of fantasy people going on an adventure.”

“is it the hobbit?” steve lifted his head a little to gaze down at her face turned on its side.

she looked up at him when he named the book just based from her description of it. “yeah, have you-“ a knock on her bedroom door had them both jumping in surprise to sit up.

“hey,” it was dustin. “can i come in?” he asked, voice slightly muffled by the door. 

steve looked at her and she put her index finger over her lips before pointing to her bed, intending for him to get under it. he did as she silently told him to do before she left walked to the door and opened it. “what’re you doing up this late?” she rubbed her hand to her eye, giving dustin the impression that he woke her up. he didn’t seem guilty as he walked passed her and into her bedroom, going to her closet and opening the doors. 

steve swallowed thickly, glad he didn’t hide there. it would’ve been cliche and embarrassing.

“i’m looking for batteries. my walkie died.” dustin explained, walking to look at the things littering the top of his sisters dresser after not finding any batteries. “jesus, why do you have so much jewelry?” he asked, lifting up a glass dish housing her rings. 

“i don’t have batteries, dustin.” she sighed and let her eyes slip to steve’s hiding place while dustin’s back was still to her. “why don’t you have spares anyway?” 

dustin faced her with a seemingly exhausted sigh. “i did, until i used them all. there’s been a lot going on, in case you forgot about the upside down.” he sassed with a tone. 

she rolled her eyes at him and gave her own exhausted sigh. “i didn’t, and like i said before, i don’t have batteries.” her eyes once again flashed down to the gap under her bed when she thought she heard steve shift or move around. 

dustin looked with her in confusion. “are you hiding a demo-dog?” he joked lightly. “why do you keep looking down there?” he stepped closer to her bed and she stiffened. 

“something probably just fell from how it was weirdly placed. you know… gravity.” nervous laughter ended her sentence. dustin cast her a look saying ‘you’re lying’ all over his face. he got down onto the floor on his hands and knees so that he could look under her bed. “dustin! get out of my room!” she hissed, kneeling on the floor beside him and tried, and failed, to moved him. 

he was too far into his investigation to be told what to do. he moved a box or two aside and then paused, redrawing his hand. “steve? what the hell are you doing under my sisters bed?” he asked, almost too loud. steve smiled with his teeth awkwardly and crawled out from under the bed to sit beside his (secret) girlfriend. dustin’s eyes traveled to his sister. “did you know he’s here?” 

she nodded. “yeah, he’s been here for a while.” her hand lifted to settle on steve’s shoulder. that was her way of silently telling him that it’s gonna play out fine. “why are you such a snoop?” that question was directed at dustin of course, who scoffed and stood up. 

“i’m not. i was checking for monsters so i don’t wake up tomorrow and find you dead.” he widened his eyes and shrugged, as if his reason was obvious from the start. he walked to the door after receiving nothing but an eye roll and her forceful ushering out oh her bedroom. “oh, and don’t like… do stuff.” he made a disgusted face at the thought. 

steve laughed with his hands over his face. he was still sitting on the floor. “we aren’t together, henderson.” steve covered. 

he nodded with half lidded eyes. “sure. and why would you be hiding under her bed then?” 

steve shrugged. “didn’t want the interaction with the other henderson. one’s enough.” 

she slapped the side of his head after she’d walked back to stand beside where he sat. her lips were pinned into a smile. “asshole.” 

dustin rolled his eyes and walked out of the room. “just be quiet.” and then he shut the door. 

steve stood up after the door shut and pulled her into him in a hug, still laughing slightly. “my hearts beating so fast.” he panted. “he knows.” 

“oh, he most definitely knows.” she nodded, pulling away. “might as well come out and tell them, but he’ll beat us to it with his radio system.” a shrug came from her shoulders. 

steve pursed his lips with a hum and a nod. “how much you wanna bet the group has bet on us?” he wondered. 

she blew out a breath in exasperation at the thought. “i can already see them all exchanging money with stupid smiles.” her gentle laughter filled the room. 

————————————————————————

dustin didn’t knock before he opened his sisters bedroom door the following morning, and he wasn’t surprised to see that steve was still there. 

steve was flush against her as they both slept on well through the morning, his arms were wound tightly around her waist to keep her from moving away. 

dustin only shook his head with a sigh and maybe the smallest smile before leaving the two alone. he wasn’t going to tell the party about it, not until his sister was ready to because he respects her. but the party does already think that steve and her are together, so it won’t come as a shock. 

he’ll let him sleep a bit longer before he interrupts the peace. 

[retroaria]

hey! I'm not really into nsfw stuff- sooo would you like to do something soft with reo? 😭 like, idk, him as a husband or father so with a family? THANK YOU SO MUCH 💗💗

✮⋆˙ domestic reo headcanons ✮⋆˙

a/n: this is so brain rotted i can’t even lie i think reo is just so easy to romanticize. pure fluff.

• | BLUE LOCK M.LIST | enjoy !! - aria 💜 | •

✮ I actually love this because i headcanon that reo would be a great dad :D at the very least he’d be extremely supportive of whatever his children wanted to do in their lives. He wouldn’t force them to follow in his footsteps like his father and he’d use whatever devices he could to ensure they can comfortably follow the path they choose.

✮ Would post about all his children’s accomplishments, or if you guys didn’t feel comfortable posting the kids he’d still take any chance to tell everyone about it - even his teammates who literally don’t care that his son got the highest score on the spelling test (they’re happy for him though). He secretly enjoys scrapbooking for his kids but they’re “your books” and he “just helps you with it sometimes”. (he’s the one who took almost all the pictures and saved every piece of paper his kid has ever drawn on)

✮ Reo is a charming husband, so charming and sweet it’s hard to be mad at him. He’s a bit lacking in cleaning/caretaking capabilities when it comes to the home but he puts in the effort??? He tries his best and if he does a bad job he always makes it up to you one way or another. In all honesty, he’s probably already hired people to do that (forgot this man is inheriting a multi millionaire dollar corporation).

✮ Reo is however very good at taking care of children. Once he has a clear grasp of their needs, he finds it to be really enjoyable and fulfilling. He takes a lot of pride in whatever happiness and comfort he can bring to his kids. He hates the sound of his babies crying, not because it’s annoying (though he complains about that too) but because it genuinely hurts his soul. He can be a bit too worrisome about it sometimes - he’s totally the type of person to look up his child’s symptoms and freak out over seeing all the worst case scenarios.

✮ The one thing that reo particularly excels at is taking care of you when you’re sick. He can always tell when you’re not feeling your best and he immediately harps on you. He doesn’t know how to cook very well but he knows how to make a few different kinds of warm foods to fill your stomach and give you a little energy. He’d absolutely refuse to stay away from you (unless it was a seriously contagious illness or if you guys had a baby that could’ve gotten sick). Doesn’t care if you’re sneezing and coughing and wheezing, he wants to feed you and hold you and kiss your hot head until it cools down and everything is better again. His goal is always to make sure you get better as soon as possible and won’t let you do anything but rest and relax until then.

✮ Reo is an incredible gift giver! I’ve certainly mentioned this in another hc post, but he is always out and about buying you little things that remind him of you. If you guys have a kid that’s just more gifts he’ll have to get and the thought of that honestly excites him.

✮ Anything can happen but…reo with a daughter…guys….

✮ he would be the sweetest girl dad! would do everything in his power to make her believe she’s an actual princess and he’s just one of her loyal servants. Spoils her rotten and doesn’t feel bad about it.

✮ You’d have to explain to him how this could negatively affect your daughter and it would break his heart. He’d go into theatrics trying to refute it because “What do you mean I can’t let her have everything she wants?” and “What if she cries? You want me to make my daughter cry?” he gets it eventually, but remains reluctant lol.

✮ He’d love playing sports with his kids. Would try to get them into soccer but if they end up liking another sport he’s still just as hype. Isn’t initially familiar with the concept of letting the kids win but soon realized he has to level with the speed of their little legs.

✮ I don’t have any specific hc’s for him as a boy dad but he’d be just as great of course - he’d make sure his son sees how women should be treated based on how he treats you!

✮ If he could find a way to make you the total world ruler he would because he truly believes you’re the most capable person. He’s the kind of husband who lets you run things for the most part but is always there to step in when you need a break or if you just want him by your side. Would call for an emergency flight back home from whatever country he’s training in just because you said you didn’t wanna go to parent teacher night alone.

✮ He loves doing mundane tasks with you, but always tries to “make it a bit more fun” as he says - which basically means he puts away the clothes you fold while you listen to him crack really bad jokes at you, gossip about his teammates, or try to sing and serenade you with his MANY playlists he’s made dedicated to you. On days you both have nothing going on he follows you around the house like a lost puppy, which is slightly annoying but it also means you have four hands to do stuff because he’s a participator above all else.

✮ Reo always makes sure to show his appreciation for how hard you work whether it’s at your job, taking care of the kids/house, or both. He takes time alone with you very seriously, even as your lives get busier and your family grows he always makes sure there’s time for the two of you to just be together and be in love. Always jokes about how you guys need to keep the romance going. He has small romantic gestures that he indulges you in throughout the day: kissing you on the cheek, brushing your hair out of your face/tying it back for you if you if you need (taking his hair tie out for you to use), hugging you a little tighter just before you get up, running a bath for the both of you, massaging your shoulders while you talk.

to be fully honest with you guys, i have never in my life wanted to have kids so it was a bit hard for me to imagine what being happy with children would be like LMAO but alas i did my best. stay safe and stay cool. - aria :3

[tsxkkis]

omg omg can i request? pls ignore if you dont!

s3 of haikyuu will always be my favourite season, maybe due to the fact that tsukishima realizes his potential in playing volleyball? (him having his MOMENT is my favouriteee scene)

so could you write gf manager reader x tsukki, where reader witnesses him having his first moment (blocking ushijima's spike), injuring his hand etc etc up until they receive their throphy and medals in the end ?🥹🥹💕 shes a proudddd reader and literally just smooch smooch hug hug tsukki because hes the mvp of karasuno x shiratorizawa 🥰😤

i realized that theres nobody includes this scene in their fics and i wonder why? 🤔🧐

# tsukishima kei - mvp

a/n: i am terribly sorry anon bcs this took so long T-T i'm not quite sure about some parts of this fic but overall i really enjoyed writing this request!! tsukishima is my fav for many reasons, one of which being the fact that i see myself in him a lot, and the particular moment during the shiratorizawa vs karasuno match is also my fav from the entire series!! i hope u enjoy reading this fic^^ i feel like it's not exactly what you asked for, so i'm sorry if i went too far away from your idea....

summary: tsukishima finally regains his love for volleyball.

warnings: a few swear words here and there, the fic doesn't exactly portray what happened in the series (i switched it up a bit)

'are you stressed?'

'not even a bit.'

'you're lying. i can read you like a book.'

tsukishima kei let out a deep breath, rolling his eyes as he looked away from your face. you were obviously right; there was no way he wouldn't be stressed before the game that determined whether or not karasuno would go to nationals. as much as he hated to admit it, he was almost as stressed as others. he was just better at controlling which of his emotions are shown.

you squeezed his hand, his fingers instinctively intertwining with yours. all it took was a reassuring smile from you to help with his nerves, his muscles finally relaxing after being tensed up for the last twenty minutes or so. he still tried to get used to you being more than a friend. your relationship was quite awkward and fresh, so much so in fact that you never even had your first kiss yet.

'i'm sure you'll do great.' you stated calmly, trying to hide the fact that you were even more stressed about the match than him. 'in fact, i'm positive that you'll win.'

'even if we do, it won't be because of me.' he mumbled, letting out a silent laugh when he saw the angry look on your face. 'oh, come on. it's not like i'm the greatest player this team has.'

'you know i hate it when you talk down on yourself.' you said, the tone serious and sharp, rather unusual for you. it stayed like that for only a short while, taken over by a softer, understanding one. 'you're a vital part of this team, tsukishima. winning this match is not up to a single person. it's a team effort. your input is as important as that of kageyama or hinata.'

he opened his mouth to say something but was instantly stopped by the voice of his captain, daichi, calling the team up to quickly warm up as the match was about to start.

you smiled at the boy, letting go of his hand before lightly patting him on the back.

'do your best for me, alright?'

'i will.' a barely noticeable smile appeared on his face, his hand affectionately ruffling your hair. 'don't worry too much about it.'

you finally realized why tsukishima kei never tried more. why he would never stay longer like other karasuno players to polish his skills, why he didn't truly seem to love the sport he chose to play in high school.

'you're insufferable, you know?' his words sent shivers down your spine. 'why don't you leave it the fuck alone?'

opposite forces, some might say. no one really knew what drew you and tsukishima to eachother - both of you completely different from one another, and yet oh so similar at the same time. frustration took over you every time you looked at him, and now you knew why.

he was like a mirror in which you could see all your flaws, and it irritated you a great deal.

his outlook on life and the way he viewed himself made you furious. how can someone be so full of contradictions? so cocky and confident, and yet so vulnerable and self depreciating at the same time. so full of himself and yet so hateful towards the person he saw in the reflection of every window, every mirror.

how can someone so great at what they do, so intelligent and talented, be so critical?

'because i can't! i can't leave it alone, you absolute moron.' the thought of how loud you were didn't stop you from continuing to shout, a mixed look on your face that tsukishima couldn't quite decipher. were you angry or sad? and why the hell would it bug you so much to evoke such strong emotions within you?

'you're saying i'm insufferable? from the moment i laid my eyes on you, you've been nothing but insufferable. so much so, that i want to gouge them out every time they spot you.' you ignored your watery eyes and tsukishima's surprised face, almost as if he didn't expect you to blow up like this. 'it pains me to see you be so full of doubt and hatred and i- i can't understand why you would think so lowly of yourself, why you feel inferior to the other guys in every way possible, when you could be so much more than them. do you even realize your potential, tsukishima?'

he stayed silent. for the first time since knowing you, tsukishima kei did not have an answer to your words.

'your doubts are so irrational i don't know if it makes me angry or sad. you're truly incredible on the court. you're intelligent, you can read the opponents well, you have the physical predispositions for volleyball and a natural talent that you choose to ignore because-'

'but what is talent without passion?'

that singular sentence managed to catch you off guard so much you had no idea how to answer him. such a simple question, and yet such a philosophical, confusing one.

'why should i put my all into something i'm not even passionate about, huh?' tsukishima tried to keep his composed nature, but it was hard to stay intact after what you've said. as much as he did not want to admit it, your words hit him deeply. 'why waste my time and energy for something that does not give me any satisfaction at all? tell me that, because i have no fucking idea.'

'passion is not something that dissapears once and never shows up again, you idiot.' you took a step closer, as if that was going to help you get your point across. 'if your passion is genuine, it will always be there. whether small or big, it will always crawl around in the back of your mind. if you ever truly loved volleyball, the moment where you fall in love with it again will come sooner or later.'

your words were met with complete silence, but you didn't mind. tsukishima slowly processed your words, a focused look gracing his face, lips in a tight line. even though it was only a couple of minutes, for you it felt like hours - awaiting an answer, any answer at all.

tsukishima moved closer, his tall frame hovering over you as he wrapped his arms around you, catching you in a tight hug, much to your surprise.

'thank you.' he mumbled quietly, glad that in this very moment you couldn't see his face, and the stupid smile plastered to it.

the moment where you fall in love with it again will come sooner or later.

tsukishima's mind lingered over these words whenever he played, awaiting this moment to come almost eagerly. the match was particularly hard - with ushijima wakatoshi as their opponent, the chances of winning were incredibly slim. every spike of his went through the block, his serves were absolutely killer, and his teammates did everything to deliver the ball to him at all costs.

what a hassle.

you noticed that his demeanor on the court changed from what it used to be. tsukishima seemed more invested now - almost as if he was trying to impress you, to keep his word. as happy as it made you, you were still anxious about the match and it's final score, hand shaky and a bit sweaty as your eyes followed the ball flying around from one side of the net to another.

another spike from ushijima, it'll probably be another point for shiratoriza-

and that's when you realized.

you saw the ball hit the ground on shiratorizawa's side of the net surprised gasps from everyone watching the match. you saw the shocked look on ushijima's face, the horror in the eyes of his teammates as the ball bounced off of the floor for the second, third, fourth time.

silence took over the court for just a mere second, quickly interrupted by tsukishima's triumphant scream.

he looked more than content with his performance. he looked... happy.

the rest of the boys joined him, screaming in unison. it was just one point, right? but for some reason, for both you and tsukishima, this one was worth a thousand.

for the first time in years, tsukishima kei felt that his spark for volleyball came back.

you noticed that his eyes were now focused on you, a full, cheeky smile gracing his face, and it only made you tear up. a short moment, probably insignificant for people around, but for the two of you it was like a breath of fresh air, like getting rid of the shackles that once held you in place, enabling you from moving forward.

'y/n, are you... alright?' coach ukai looked with his brows slightly furrowed, confused by your teary eyes and big grin plastered to your face.

'yeah, yeah, i'm fine. sorry, coach.' you mumbled, bowing a little as your eyes focused on the court. 'actually, could kiyoko replace me here for the rest of the match? i'm not quite feeling well.'

'tsukishima is injured.'

'what?' akiteru spoke in unison with you, terrified voices mixing together as you looked down from the stands to see the boy walking off of the court and rushing to the medical office along with kiyoko. your instincts took over you - feet moving on their own as you quickly ran towards the same place.

the two blondes followed right behind you, stopping only when in front of the door to the medical office, gasping for air after such a short run. as athletic as your boyfriend was, you were quite the opposite; getting tired after a little to no physical activity at times.

tsukishima saw your head peeking through the doorframe, a small smile on his face the moment he laid eyes on you.before you opened your mouth to say something, he already gave you an answer.

'yes, i feel fine.' he stated quietly, sitting down on the edge of a chair. 'you don't need to worry.'

'are you going back on court?' he only gave you a small nod in response, seemingly feeling better already as he stood up, his hand taped up.

you looked up at him, taking in the expression on his face, just how focused he already was. he looked almost as if he already had a plan to defeat shiratorizawa in this match. seeing him so eager to go back and play almost made you laugh a little - you swore you never saw him get this invested into something ever.

'go and win then.' you mumbled, patting him on the shoulder as he headed towards the gym hall.

'oh don't worry. we will.'

you couldn't stop the tears rolling down your cheeks as you saw karasuno emerge victorious from the hardest volleyball match they had to play this year, hugging yachi tightly as both of you celebrated the win of your team.

the triumphant screams filled the gym hall, the team emotional after doing what many deemed impossible. as most of them enjoyed themselves, not planning on leaving the euphoric state for a long while, tsukishima could only think of doing one thing - going to you.

you were the only person he truly wanted to celebrate with.

after the ceremony of getting the medals, to everyone's utmost shock, considering your relationship wasn't exactly public, tsukishima went up to you almost immediately, a cocky smile on his face as he ruffled your hair, looking down at you from behind his glasses.

'you didn't exactly look quite as content with your performance before getting the prize.' you mumbled, looking at the blonde haired boy with your head tilted to the side.

'well, i could've blocked more of ushijima's spikes.' he started, rolling his eyes at the sole idea of not being able to do that during today's match. 'i only managed to block one and-'

you decided to use the only method that was for sure going to shut him up in that moment, lightly grabbing him by the tshirt and pulling him closer, lips clashing for a split second in a short, sweet kiss.

'no talking down on yourself today, kei.' you said, unconsciously smiling as you saw his face getting red at what you just did, cheeks covered by a tomato-like red colour. 'i'm proud of you no matter what you think about today's match.'

he stood still for a few seconds, as if processing what had just happened seconds ago, the redness on his face deepening with each passing moment. his hand was quick to grab yours, almost dragging you away from the team and to a more private, less occupied area of the building.

'do that again.' he mumbled, after he finally led you to a quiet hallway.

'huh?'

'it was... nice.'

your eyes lit up, a cheeky smile gracing your face as you finally realized what he was on about.

'ohh, you want another kiss?' you said teasingly, eyes quickly glancing from his face down to his lips. he rolled his eyes, unamused by your act of playing dumb.

'come on, don't make me repeat myself.' still somewhat embarrassed of what he was asking for, tsukishima stood in one place, awaiting your next action.

a sigh left your lips as you took a step towards your boyfriend, standing on your tippy toes to be able to reach his face.

'alright. i guess you deserve it, match mvp.'

your arms were wrapped around his neck in no time as your lips gently touched his, tsukishima immediately kissing you back, hands positioned on your waist as you felt a smile creeping up on his face. he let out a short laugh, seeing your face being just as red as his was moments ago, hand reaching to squeeze yours.

'what?' you mumbled, as he hasn't spoken a word since breaking the kiss.

'that's surely the best prize i got today.'

taglist: @moonswolfie @wyrcan @kitsune-kita

[lifeofpriya]

Reader and Jannik having opposite personalities and reader being insecure that he doesn’t like them

omg, i can't believe that we're getting very close to the end of the requests from jannik weekend 🥺😩

Just Be You

wc: 2.4k

Jannik is a force to be reckoned with on the tennis court, a whirlwind of power and precision that has earned him the admiration of many. Off the court, his personality is as vibrant and intense as his game. His laughter is a roaring fire that fills the room, and his passion for life is infectious.

You, on the other hand, are a quiet stream of thoughtfulness, preferring the solace of a good book to the chaos of the spotlight. You met Jannik through a mutual friend, who insisted you'd be perfect for each other.

The first time you saw him, your heart skipped a beat. He was all lean muscles and energy, a stark contrast to your slender frame and serene demeanor. As you talked, his eyes lit up with excitement at every little thing you said, making you feel like the most fascinating person in the world. Yet, there was something that crept at the back of your mind - the fear that he'd soon realize you weren't the exciting partner he needed.

Your dates were a whirlwind of adventure. He'd take you to the most happening spots, introduce you to his thrilling friends, and you'd smile, trying to keep up. Each time his hand would touch yours, sending an electric current through your body, you'd wonder if he felt the same jolts of excitement. You'd listen to his stories of triumph and defeat on the tennis courts, feeling your world expand with every word.

But, in the quiet moments, you'd catch him looking at you with an intensity that made your cheeks burn. It was as if he saw straight through to your soul, and you feared what he'd find there - the doubt, the inadequacy. You'd pull away, retreating into the safety of your own thoughts, only for him to gently bring you back with a soft smile or a question about your day. It was those moments that confused you the most.

One evening, after a particularly hectic day, you found yourself at his place, the two of you alone. His apartment was a testament to his life on the go, with trophies and sports gear scattered around the living room. The smell of his cologne, a blend of citrus and musk, filled the air, mingling with the scent of Italian takeout. You sat on the couch, your heart racing, as he approached you with a tired but genuine smile.

"You okay?" he asked, noticing the furrow in your brow.

You nodded, trying to push the insecurity aside. "Just tired," you lied, hoping it was a good enough excuse for your distant demeanor.

Jannik sat beside you, his athletic frame relaxing into the cushions. He studied you for a moment, the warmth of his gaze unwavering. "You know," he began, "you don't have to be like everyone else for me to like you."

You looked up, surprised by his perception. "What do you mean?"

Jannik leaned in, his hand finding yours. "I mean, you don't have to pretend to be outgoing or love the spotlight. I like you just the way you are."

You felt your chest tighten, the words a gentle balm to your weary heart. "But, what if I'm not enough?" you whispered, the insecurity bubbling to the surface.

Jannik's smile softened, his thumb brushing the back of your hand in a soothing motion. "You're more than enough. It's your calmness that grounds me, your quiet strength that intrigues me." He paused, his eyes searching yours. "You balance me out. Without you, my world would be all fire and no warmth."

You took a deep breath, letting his words wash over you like a gentle wave. The incessant voice in your head that whispered doubt grew quieter, the fear of not being enough slowly dissipating. You leaned into him, feeling the comfort of his embrace as you rested your head on his shoulder. The TV played a tennis match in the background, the rhythmic thwack of rackets punctuating the quiet conversation.

"I just don't want to hold you back," you murmured, eyes on the flickering screen.

Jannik chuckled, his grip on your hand tightening. "Hold me back? You're the one who keeps me from burning out. My life's a constant rush, and you…you're the peace in my storm."

You looked at him, the doubt in your eyes slowly giving way to understanding. His words were a gentle reminder that love didn't come in a one-size-fits-all package, that opposites didn't just attract; they complemented each other.

He leaned in closer, his breath warm against your ear. "You make me want to slow down, to appreciate the little moments. Like this," he said, gesturing around the room with his free hand. "A quiet night in with someone who gets me."

You felt the weight of his words, the truth resonating deep within you. It was in the stillness that you found comfort, the spaces between the noise where you indeed saw each other. You looked at him, the intensity of his gaze making your heart flutter.

"But what if I can't keep up with your world?" you asked, the question lingering in the air like the scent of the rain outside.

Jannik turned to you, his eyes filled with sincerity. "You already do. You challenge me in ways no one else does, and that's what I love about us." His hand moved to your cheek, cupping it gently. "You make me question, you make me think, and you make me want to be a better person."

The rain outside grew heavier, the sound of it against the windows creating a soothing lullaby. You took a deep breath, inhaling the comforting scents of the takeout and his cologne. The warmth of his hand on your face was a stark contrast to the coolness of your skin, sending a shiver down your spine.

"But, what about when you're traveling, playing in those big matches?" you said, the question lingering in the air. "Won't you miss having someone who can share that excitement with you?"

Jannik's eyes searched yours, understanding dawning. "I'll miss you," he admitted, "but it's not about having someone to share the spotlight with. It's about having you to come home to, someone who knows me beyond the tennis player." His voice was low, earnest. "When I'm out there, playing in front of thousands, all I can think about is coming back to you, to this." He motioned around the room, the chaos of his life made cozy by your presence.

You swallowed hard, his words resonating within you. "I'm just not sure how to be that person," you confessed, the insecurity resurfacing. "How do I fit into your world without losing myself?"

Jannik's smile grew softer. "You already fit. You just need to let go of the idea that you have to be like them." He nodded towards the TV, where the tennis players were locked in an intense rally. "You're my sanctuary, the person I can be myself around. You don't have to be loud or flashy. Just be you."

You took a deep breath, feeling the warmth of his hand on your cheek. The rain grew louder, a cocoon of sound around you. "Okay," you whispered, a hint of a smile playing on your lips. "I'll try."

Jannik leaned in and kissed you gently, his lips lingering on yours as if to seal the promise you'd just made. The kiss was filled with the same intensity you felt in his gaze, yet it was soft and comforting, a reminder that he saw you, all of you.

The weeks that followed brought a newfound ease to your relationship. You attended a few of his matches, watching from the sidelines as his racket sang against the ball, his focus unwavering. You weren't a part of the cheering crowd, but you were there, a silent presence that grounded him. He'd catch your eye between games, and you'd give him a small nod, a silent cheer of your own.

On the days he was home, you'd explore the quiet corners of the city together, finding joy in the simple things. He'd share stories from his travels, and you'd listen intently, offering insights from the books you'd read. You found that you didn't need to be loud to be heard, that your soft voice carried just as much weight in his world of noise.

One evening, as you walked hand in hand through a bustling street fair, the neon lights reflected off the puddles from the recent rain. The smell of fried dough and cotton candy filled the air, and the sound of laughter and music melded into a harmonious symphony. Jannik stopped at a carousel, watching the colorful horses bob up and down to the tune of an old Italian folk song.

"Remember when we first met?" he said, his voice a little louder to be heard over the din. "I knew you were different."

You looked at him, surprised. "Different? How?"

He smiled, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "You didn't fawn over me or my tennis career. You talked about the book you were reading, and how the rain makes you feel alive."

You laughed, remembering the awkwardness of that first conversation. "I didn't know what to say," you admitted, feeling your cheeks warm with a blush.

"And that," Jannik said, pointing a finger at you, "is what made me want to know you more. You weren't like the others."

You felt a swell of warmth in your chest, his words a balm to your insecurities. "I guess I just didn't want to seem boring," you said with a slight shrug.

"Boring?" Jannik's laugh echoed through the night air. "You could never be boring to me. It's your uniqueness that makes you interesting, that makes us work."

You looked at him, his smile lighting up the damp street. It was in that moment, surrounded by the cacophony of the fair, that you honestly believed him. You weren't a burden or a liability in his fast-paced life; you were his haven.

The ferris wheel loomed over the street fair, its lights blinking a silent invitation. Jannik's eyes lit up with excitement, and before you could protest, he'd already bought two tickets. As the metal cage lifted you into the air, your stomach lurched with a mix of fear and exhilaration. You weren't one for heights or the chaotic spin of carnival rides, but the thrill in his eyes was contagious.

As the wheel reached its peak, the wind whipped through your hair, carrying with it the scent of the rain-soaked earth. The city lights twinkled like stars below, and for a brief moment, you forgot about your fears and the weight of the world. Jannik's hand found yours again, his grip firm and reassuring. "Look," he said, pointing out to the horizon where the city met the night sky.

You followed his gaze, the sight taking your breath away. "It's beautiful," you murmured, feeling a sense of awe that mirrored the first time you'd watched him play.

"It's nothing compared to you," Jannik replied, turning to face you, his eyes full of affection.

Your cheeks grew warmer, and you looked away, trying to hide your smile. The ferris wheel reached the top again, and the world spun beneath you, a blur of lights and sounds. You felt Jannik's hand squeeze yours reassuringly, and you squeezed back, finding comfort in his touch.

"You know," he said, his voice barely audible over the whir of the machinery, "I thought you'd hate this. But here we are, and you're still smiling."

You looked back at him, the wind playing with your hair, and laughed. "It's not so bad when I've got you to hold onto."

Jannik leaned in, his eyes searching yours. "I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you weren't enough," he said, his voice earnest. "I just want you to know that you are. More than enough."

You felt a lump form in your throat, the wind carrying away the last of your doubt. "I'm sorry too," you whispered, your eyes misting up. "For not trusting that you could love someone like me."

Jannik pulled you closer, his arms wrapping around you as the ferris wheel descended. "You don't need to apologize," he said, his voice as gentle as the evening breeze. "We all have our fears. It's what we do with them that matters."

As the ride came to an end, you stepped off, the ground feeling firm beneath your feet once again. Jannik took your hand and led you through the fair, the sound of your laughter mingling with the carousel music. You felt lighter, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

At a quiet booth, you found refuge from the chaos. Jannik bought you a cup of hot chocolate, the warmth spreading through your cold hands as you held it. You watched as he devoured a stick of cotton candy, his eyes sparkling with the same delight as a child's. It was moments like these that made you realize how much you enjoyed the little things with him, the moments that didn't require grand gestures or loud proclamations.

"You got a little something there, Jan," you said with a smile, pointing to the smudge of pink sugar on his cheek.

He feigned ignorance, his teeth gleaming as he took another bite of the spun sugar. "What?" he asked, his eyes wide with innocence.

You leaned in, brushing the sticky residue away with your thumb. The intimacy of the gesture was not lost on either of you, and his cheeks flushed a shade darker than the cotton candy. "Got it," you said, popping the sugar from your thumb into your mouth.

Jannik's eyes searched yours for a beat longer than necessary, a silent conversation passing between you. It was in these moments, the mundane and the sweet, that you felt most connected to him. His world was full of flashing lights and grand gestures, but here, in the quiet booth, it was just the two of you, sharing a simple pleasure.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur of laughter and shared smiles. As you watched him win a stuffed animal at a ring toss game, you couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. He handed it to you with a flourish, his eyes gleaming with victory. It was a reminder of the tenderness that lay beneath his competitive exterior.

Walking home, the air was cool and damp, the rain having given way to a soft drizzle. The streetlights cast a warm glow on the wet cobblestone streets, and you felt a sense of belonging as you strolled beside him, his arm around your shoulders. His touch was familiar now, comforting in a way that made you feel seen and understood.

[serve-corps]

Yuri Plisetsky x hockey reader

~~~°•○•°~~~

Yuri Plisetsky. A sixteen year old with almost no time to spare in his life at all yet he's built himself a large enough ego to be named the 'Russian punk' and the 'Russian fairy'. how? don't fucking ask me. he's got talent on his blades that's only grown since he showed a liking to the sport. his effort increased his skill. That is why he's dedicated himself to figure skating.

(y/n) (l/n) however, is a seventeen year old with plenty of spare time on her hands and an alter ego. She herself is also known as the 'jet of (your country)' as well as 'the bullet' see, she's an ice hockey player. a international one. she was also skilled on her blades, she had such control, she could choose her speed at any point.

never in a million years would they both meet; for their professions may be similar but they hate each other. hockey players are far more aggressive on the ice, usually after an ice hockey game, there are large uneven dips in the ice which is a hazard for figure skaters. hockey prioritizes speed and control rather than figure skating which mostly focuses on spins and jumps. That's the difference between them and their skates. hockey skates are rounded while figure skates are pointy and stabby.

the only reason you play is because you grew up on the ice, your father used to take you to a public skate and get you one of the polar bears to keep yourself up. he taught you by tearing you away from it and pushing it away, forcing you to skate to it by yourself to get back your stability polar bear.

it doesn't help that your older brother was also a very renowned ice hockey player and a few of your friends took up hockey as a hobby, all your life clubs revolved around the sport, and you got annoyed at anyone claiming to be a big shot in the ice world that didn't know the dangers of it. the fist fights, the blades, the ice burns, the breaking of bones, the slamming into the sideboard, and not to mention how FUCKING COMPETITIVE EVERYONE WAS!

you were one of 3 females on your team, out of 18 players, you were the most famous. you kicked your brother's ass in fame, he retired early as he decided to gain another profession, he coached little ones on the side for a job but that was out of loyalty for the sport.

one of the girls was a goalie, someone who defends the net meanwhile the other was a defender, They stay behind close-ish to the goal to keep the puck out of their side of the field. you, however, were centre. one of the most active roles, the person who scores and 'usually' gets into the most fights.

Yuri however, was Russia's national figure skater, he was a young prodigy, who was not only coached by the same coach as Viktor Nikiforov but was acquainted with him. he won gold in the international junior league so he aims to be the same in the senior division, the adult version of that bullshit.

we know what Yuri aims to be, his goals and plans, we don't need to go over that.

lets head to the present.

~~~°•○•°~~~

today you had the skating rink booked with a friend, you came from money as well as your brother trying to encourage your career. your boots were laced as you were on the ice with a stick, puck and a goal. the staff let you borrow a goal for practice.

You two were shooting at the goal left and right, working on perfecting your aim but your friend's stamina dropped after the first 15 minutes. yours, however, was still high and mighty being known as the 'jet' or 'bullet' because of how fast and how long you can go for.

you came off with your friend and handed her a water bottle, casually chatting as she was panting. you heard the doors open and this blonde guy?- girl? you couldn't tell, walked in, and opened the door to the rink.

"Who the fuck brought this shit on the rink?" the words flew out of his mouth harshly with a Russian accent. he hopped onto the ice and you noticed his 'fancy' preppy figure skates.

he skated towards your goal which you set up with a hassle, he started lifting it up with great difficulty and trying to drag it off.

"этот кусок дерьма!- (this piece of shit)" he said, mumbling to himself while grunting.

suddenly, the owners of the rink slammed open the doors and shouted, "YURIII! THE RINK'S BEEN BOUGHT OUT FOR THE NEXT 3 HOURS! I forgot to tell you!!"

she bowed in an apology.

"well, I don't see them. so it doesn't matter-"

at that moment, you stood up and grabbed your stick, you picked up a bag of hockey pucks and threw them on the ice. the bag was now empty and you tossed it aside, stepping onto the ice with accuracy and speed, you dribbled the puck back and forth and shot at the net, close to where Yuri was to scare him off.

he jumped back in fear of getting hit and let out an "ack!-" as he fell onto the cold ice. you sped up your skating and headed straight for him, he tried to scramble out of the way but you were too fast, he braced himself to be a hurdle or something but he ended up getting sprayed by ice. you stopped right in front of him, creating a large wave of shaved ice to flow over him. it got in his hair and face, not to mention his clothes.

he looked up at you and scowled only for his face to change in shock, you were smugly resting your chin on your stick while having one leg crossed behind you. to everyone else, you looked like a stuck up prick.

that applied to Yuri too, but you were beautiful, the lights made you seem angelic while your hair looked almost sexy, up in a ponytail with a few pieces dangling, framing your face. your boots made you seem masculine, your hoodie and leggings didn't help. smash- next question-

his face was slightly dusted pink with a scowl on his face, trying to hide his flusteredness by masking it with being cold. at least you don't have a pretty voice-

"sorry sweetie, but currently this rink is mine! come back in two hours and forty five minuets or stick around and fawn over me until our booking is up.." you said with a sly smirk on your face never leaving once, your voice teasing yet alluring. soft even yet it has a taste of authority.

"чер�� возьми…(holy shit...)" he breathed out softly with his cheeks going slightly pinker, barley noticeable to everyone.

accept you. you were towering over him see? you could see everything about him. and his steadily growing blush.

however, you're not a ahem- dick so you ignored it and just turned your sly smirk into a genuine soft smile. you dropped your stick to the side by the pile of pucks and knelt next before him.

"ok, sorry. didn't mean to scare you shitless. truce?" you said with a chuckle. Yuri shook his head as if he was ridding himself of thoughts, your chuckle even sounded pretty, no no! You're known as the Russian punk! you can't like someone!

he blinks a few times, trying to calm his panicking mind and he pulls himself up, so do you. "I mean, if you do want to stay, you're more than welcome to take over the music" You shrug at him as your friend joins you on the ice now. he thought she looked mediocre compared to you. but the owner was staring at her and...drooling?

your friend was considered the hot one in the group. You're hot too don't worry, it's just, this one wears makeup and push-up bra's excessively to get everyone's attention. you go natural and your tits are naturally big, you just wear guys clothing.

but not to him. you were the hot friend to him. He couldn't keep his eyes off you for longer than five seconds. honestly? you noticed and thought it was cute, you thought he was cute. every time you caught him oogling, you winked and he scowled looking away.

your friend started gesturing with her hands getting your attention to 'wrap it up', so you did.

"if you couldn't tell, we're training right now, so we sort of need the ice." you said gently only to be cut off by his voice,

"yeah, well I have a championship coming up, its not as important. move."

"I paid for this blondie. I'm not leaving the ice." you said seriously. he doesn't seem to recognize you and you didn't recognise him either so all is fair.

the owner, however, thought differently, she took a photo of you two going face to face with each other, Yuri's face still slightly pink with a scowl and yours with a finger pulling down an eyelid and tongue stuck out of your smiling mouth; leaning towards him.

"ugh. fine. ill wait. but don't think this is me being kind you bitch." he stomped off the ice, purposefully making massive dips with his toe-pick skates.

"alright little mister kitten whiskers." you roll your eyes and chuckle to yourself at his temper tantrum. you don't even know this dude yet you can tell what he's like if he's acting like this. somehow you thought he was cute. shrugging your shoulders, you grabbed a puck and started doing manoeuvres and passes with your friend, trying to figure out what works best for you both, turns out you both excel at passing the puck by throwing it up in the air with your sticks.

it's not an illegal move in hockey but it's very rare and unique, tricky to pull off because you can't hit another player otherwise you get sent to the penalty box.

Yuri watched with interest despite trying to hide it by 'looking' at his phone. after doing a trick shot and succeeding, it was your trick so you started celebrating, jumping on the ice and slowing your skating to dive onto your friend.

"100% using that in our game!!!!" you squealed in joy, your friend holding you up from falling was laughing with you and at you for your celebratory, stupid state.

Yuri couldn't help but faintly smile at your joy, he thought it was cute. you seemed to be really good at this, he hoped you were happy with your life. hoped it was better than his at the least.

your eyes flickered to the boy sat on the side, his eyes quickly flicked away from you and back to his phone, you sighed as picked yourself up, skating over to the 'sullen' boy.

Yoinking his phone out of his hand that was unlocked, you turned on Bluetooth and connected it to the speakers of the rink. handing it back to him you grabbed his arm and pulled him so he was standing up.

"the hell?!"

"wanna skate or not pretty boy?" you said bored, pointing at his phone, knowing damn well he was gunna be pissy if he didn't, and you didn't want that for some reason.

he growled and trudged onto the ice, you're still holding onto his arm, dragging him into the middle.

surprisingly you and your friend didn't make much mess of the ice, it was perfect to skate on. he did a test jump and landed it and smirked. You raised an eyebrow at his smugness about something you could do if you wanted to.

you shimmy off your hoodie and throw it over the side, showing a tight compression shirt, it was cropped so it was a very flattering item on you. Yuri's eyes widened then blushed, turning away for a second to mentally prepare himself because you looked fine as fuck.

turning back to you, you gave him a smirk and pulled off the exact same jump as him in harder skates. he stood confused until he realised it was a challenge. and you were so on.

he smirked and started bragging, "haa? someone like you can't compete with a professional! your call тупица~ (dumbass~)" he cackled out.

he started with a single salchow and landed perfectly as its one of the easiest jumps for a skater.

somehow, you watched how he did it and you copied it to the point miraculously without a single slip up. his eyebrows rose at this, he decided to try a Lutz, it would be almost impossible to do it because you don't have a toe pick and you've never done it before. he finished the jump perfectly and looked at you smugly, as if he was rubbing in that he was better than you.

you didn't take that lightly.

as you did before, you watched how he did it, skated backwards on your left foot, used your right foot to stab into the ice and pick you up, kicking you into the air, you turned yourself around in the air in a 360⁰ turn and land on your right foot, still skating backwards. you stumbled on the landing slightly with your skate wobbling but still landed perfectly no less.

Yuri's jaw dropped a little bit only for him to close it quickly. how the fuck could someone in hockey skates do that with no toe pick?!

he coughed into his hand, trying to regain some sense. this time will be an axel. the hardest jump there is.

"i know you won't be able to do this little bitch!" he shouted as he skated and completed the perfect single Axel. he was even going easy!

you watch with intent and intensity once more. so the difference is that he lands skating forward instead of backward like the Lutz? hm okay..

once again, you copy his moves, you struggle a bit now and as you landed, you didn't land straight and went off diagonally, having to use your other leg to keep balanced. "Hold on! let me do it again!!" you shouted annoyed, you thought you could do it!

you took a start and jumped, you ended up over-spinning, deciding quickly to turn again in the air, you twirled twice, and somehow landed straight. "see! I can do it!!! yes!" you did a little celebratory dance once more while Yuri stood there stunned. you don't even know it but you actually did something harder than he just did. you did a double axel while he did a single axel....

Yuri was annoyed no, pissed. he took a start once more and committed himself to a quadruple axel, the hardest jump possible, you saw that it was the same type of jump and tilted your head in confusion, he just span more? does that mean he fucked up too?

"do it exactly like I did it and ill get off!" he snarled with a grin, a grin that annoyed you.

"fine! you span four times, right? watch." you said stretching your arms across your body.

you set yourself up for the jump and it started, you stuck the tip of your toe in the ground, lifting you in the air, you span...and span...and span...and- CRASH "FUCK!"

your body skidded on the ice and your body was skidding toward the dash boards (boundary walls) head first, your leg was in pain as though it was pulled and that distracted you until your head slammed into the wall, the rest of your body following in suit.

"fuckfuckfuck" you mumbled out.

Yuri stood shocked, fuck he was worried, how bad were you hurt?

he sped over to you and got on his knees, "shit are you okay?!" he asked seriously, your friend following after him, she saw you holding your leg and knelt next to it, straightening it out which earned some curses from you but she undid the boot and carefully took it off, making you let out a sigh of relief.

the blonde felt bad, he shouldn't have dared someone who was brand new to do jumps try and copy him like that. his ego got the best of him.

"how bad does it hurt?" he asked, his accent somehow calming you down despite its aggressive nature.

"i just pulled something, I'll be fine just give me a minute...ugh...ow..." you sat yourself up and leaned against the wall. your ass felt numb from how cold it was. using the side to help yourself up, you stood on the leg with the skate still on, you used your loose foot to gently push you forward, gliding on one foot to the door to the benches.

plopping yourself down on the benches with a thump, you massaged your leg gently, you know you'll be able to ignore the pain soon enough, you play professionally for fuck's sake.

five minuets go by and you're no longer feeling much pain, you start lacing up your boot back onto the leg you injured, getting ready to go back on.

about to step onto the ice, you notice how Yuri picked up all the loose pucks that you already had shot at the net and gathered them into a pile, not to mention a frown on his face.

he looked up from picking up pucks and clicked his tongue at you, he spread his arms wide, letting all the pucks he was holding drop back onto the ice and sliding off to different places.

your friend looked at you, flicking her eyes to him quickly then back to you, raising her eyebrows up and down suggestively with a grin. you picked up a stray puck and threw it at her, she ducked just in time as it hit the glass boundary. She snickered at your reaction, your face ever so slightly pink.

you sighed and skated over to the pouting blonde and patted his shoulder. "it was my fault. I tried something I never tried before. I was bound to fall!" you chuckled as he turned away from you, still grumbling.

"alright pissy pants, you can join us on the ice every Tuesday at this time, okay?" you ask gently leaning to go into his field of view, his face slightly red at proximity.

"get away from me you whore!"

"ouchies..." you fake an exaggerated frown, trying to fake being emotionally hurt, his expression faltered for a second, looking back at you to see if you genuinely took offense but then scowled at your face turning into a shit-eating grin at his concern.

"FUCK OFF YOU PRICK" he skated away as you laughed at his flusteredness.

"blondie! do you even know my name?" you said wiping a 'tear' from your eye. he turned his head over his shoulder in your direction, egging you on.

"(y/n). (y/n) (l/n) the hockey player? have you not heard of me?"

"well, how the hell did you not know I'm Yuri Plisetsky?! Russia's national figure skater! haaah?" he said with a snarky attitude.

"hm? oh I think I heard of you! I think my brother's-friend's-dad is your coach! yakil? no- Yakov! how is he? he said this Viktor guy was being a pain in the ass last time I heard." you chuckled to yourself, not seeing Yuri seething quietly, his face going more red with anger.

"don't act like we're on the same level!" he shouted annoyed at how calm you were, he was kind of hoping you'd be excited to know he was famous but-

"I'm (country's) international player who's played in multiple games worldwide and won. I don't care." you said, waving him off as you skated away.

soon enough, your practice was over but he never said no to seeing you every Tuesday.

sooo he showed up nearly every time. in return, you watched him skate, both at practice, and cheered him on at competitions, sitting on the benches only the skaters were allowed on.

your games that were in the same area Yuri was in at the time usually had an extra visitor of the figure skater himself, you made sure he was sat as close as he could be to your bench, and you did try and beg your coach to let him sit with you but he shot you down.

his anger issues helped cheer you on, it was sweet, knowing he was cheering for you, it made you more fired up than before, and nearly everyone on your team noticed, and so did the commentators'. you heard them over the loudspeaker,

"seems the bullet has a special fan she's listening to in her ear ladies and gents!" you stumbled at this and dropped your stick on the rink, snapping your head to the commentators up in the seats. "seems she didn't want that put out there! oops!"

laughing was heard throughout the rink as well as chuckles from your team and the competitors.

these interactions happened more than you liked to admit, you also didn't want to admit that you started to like the obnoxious blonde who you support and supports you.

social media was a nightmare, the owner of the rink where you first met; who took a photo of you two going face to face with each other posted the photo on all types of social media, the caption being 'Yuri plisetsky x (y/n) (l/n)'. this blew up, leading to so many ship names being made, 'the punk x the bullet', 'the fairy and the jet' they were ruthless.

people were making edits of the two of you looking at each other when you accidentally looked at him for a little too long and he did the same, times here he smiled at you softly which is very out of character for him, when you two blushed at each other, the list goes on.

PEOPLE WERE EVEN WRITING FANFICTION ABOUT IT. Don't ask, you got curious and searched for it. you read them all. just for research purposes. ahem-

other figure skaters and hockey players were calling you out on the ship as well online, what shocked you the most is that Viktor Nikiforov, the famous figure skater reposted some edits, sending them to you and Yuri directly, you did some research about Yuri's world and learned about some large figures. Viktor was apparently the best of the best.

your brother also sent a message to you directly saying, "mother, father, and I all gave our blessing to this boy, bag him (your nickname)"

you threw your phone at the wall to say the least.

after a match where you arose victorious, you went to go see Yuri skate at his competition, it was in Russia and it was the uhm, what was it called? oh yeah, the Grand Prix finals. you knew it was important to him so you had to be there. you just had your final match which coincidently was also in Russia, you made yourself look nice for once.

a dress that can be worn in cold weather with skin-coloured fuzzy thermal tights and white leg warmers. you wore a white dress with embroidered cats going around the bottom of the dress, the cats were white tigers. you wore a red and white jacket, matching Yuri's training one. just for sentimental reasons. you wore red and white Nike trainers to pull it together.

you walked in with a mask on and your hair hid in a white beanie, people couldn't recognise you yet at least, you just looked like a very fashionable fan of the Russian punk.

you waited till it was Yuri's turn on the ice, taking off your mask and beanie, letting your hair frame your face, the people around you took a second glace and started squealing at your appearance.

the commentator instantly caught you in the large crowd, singling you out and saying it over the mic in hopes of getting Yuri to see you just before he got on the ice. he did.

you spotted him on the bench, he was staring right at you with a smile, giving you a wave which you returned.

his turn finally came, he got onto the ice and did a loop of the ice, stopping for a second right in front of you, flashing you a small smile before his performance.

your heart fluttered a bit as you flicked your eyes away for a second, you're not used to that kind of attention.

the music started as you gathered your self respect, only for it to be dropped back into the ground as you infatuation with him grew at how emotional his performance made you feel. all of the passion, the love, the admiration. he was putting all he had into this skate.

his jumps made you wince before your face lit up with joy at it being completely flawless, you hoped he wouldn't get hurt, his performance seemed to be directed in your direction as he kept his eyes focused on you most of the time, he did extreme jumps that looked difficult and made them smooth and flawless. he managed to tug on your heart.

even if you were a hockey player, even if you were supposed to hate figure skaters, even if figure skaters were meant to hate you, you could hear the message his serenade told you, your heart picked up as you heard his music started to slow, his eyes bearing into yours with sincerity that made you choke up.

the performance reached its climax and Yuri was left out of breath, huffing and coughing slightly, he used all of his efforts to send you this message which at this point, if he said it verbally, wouldn't have been as clear as the performance.

you held a hand to your mouth in shock, a singular tear fell from your face at the sheer beauty of his action. you watched as he went to the kiss or cry booth to see his score, it was his own personal record as well as a WORLD FUCKING RECORD!

you walked up to him and stayed silent, just following him, you grabbed the corner of his jacket and smiled, subtly saying "Yes I do too..." with your actions. his attitude raised even more at this, not only did he make a world record, his worries of being rejected flew out of the window.

you followed him to the changing rooms and stood outside the door, silent until there were no more reporters following you and there was nobody in the hallway.

you tugged his jacket again that you didn't let go of. he turned around and raised an eyebrow in confusion, you cut him off before he could say anything.

"I like you too Yuri..." you said with a soft smile, letting go of his jacket as your face warmed slightly. Yuri was worse off than you were, his entire face was bright red and he stumbled a bit. trying to regain himself he coughed into his hand then grabbing yours, he somehow pulled you closer and held your cheek, feeling how warm your face was as he stroked it with his thumb, your breath hitched as your eyes flickered from his to his smiling lips.

he looked so kind smiling at you like this, you liked it, but you liked his attitude as well. As he leaned forward you quickly cupped your hand over his mouth, he let out a surprised noise that sounded an awful lot like a squeak which resulted in a giggle fit from you, he growled slightly and pulled your hand off of his face.

only to grab your head with both hands and smash his lips onto yours, this time making you squeak, he smiled at this and started being more gentle and soft as he pressed his lips against yours with just as much passion as he did on the ice.

you both pulled away, both opening your eyes slowly and both red in the face, you buried your face into the crook of his neck to hide your face from him resulting in him wrapping his arms around your waist, burying his own face in your shoulder.

"I'm so proud of you Yuri..." you muffled against his skin, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and hugging his tightly, "I've liked you for a while..."

"me too ��илый…(darling)…" he said squeezing your waist a bit tighter. you rocked yourself side to side in the hug, forcing his to do the same.

you eventually left his embrace only to peck his lips again with a smile, if Yuri could melt, he'd be a puddle now but your here, keeping his stable.

this time he leaned forward and pecked your lips but it lasted longer than what you did, he sighed as he finally enjoyed the feeling that he'd been craving for the months you two had been friends.

he pulled away and your lips chased after his as he pulled away, it was cute to him. your eyes slowly opened after the kiss ended and your cheeks were flushed. he thought you looked adorable and he chuckled softly to himself.

"AAWWWEEE!!!" both of your necks snapped to where the voice came from and it was some grey-haired man holding up a phone that seemed to be recording, there was another man wearing glasses and black hair who was pulling on this guy's arm mumbling something about being quiet and leaving them alone.

"I'm sorry yuriiii but I couldn't keep quiet anymore! our little Yurio has gotten himself a girl!!" his voice sounded Russian like your Yuri's. he stopped what he was doing on his phone and then you realised a second too late before he posted the video of the entire interaction onto social media.

soon enough the man's phone was blowing up and the two of you jumped away from each other's hold and were extremely embarrassed. wait a minute.... that's!-…THAT'S VIKTOR!

the black-haired Yuri started dragging him away harder, forcing him out of the room then bowing to the two of you muttering an "IMSOSORRYABOUTHIM" and slamming the door behind him.

silence followed for a bit only for a snort form you to break the quiet,

"what." his Russian accent coming out heavily as he craned his neck to you with a glare.

"nothing....*snort* Yurio~"

"MOTHERFUCKER-"

it may not be common, or socially acceptable but who knew that a famous hockey player would end up being with a famous figure skater? not you two, or the media. you two were a trend from there on, an iconic duo.

[moonlavenders]

I Hate Apple White

She’s awful. I don’t like Apple for a series of reasons. Her design is lovely and I like her voice but that’s all I really enjoy about her. By the way this is only about the show. I don’t know anything about the books but I heard they were good.

Apple’s Incredibly Selfish

Apple represents the privileged while Raven represents the underprivileged. I get that. It’s just, she doesn’t seem to change much, if at all. The whole story it just feels like she’s just being kind and sweet for her image. She seems to love her friends but not nearly as much as she loves herself. Apple was willing to have her supposed best friend live a horrible life just so she could live a life of perfection. Apple never felt like she got less selfish to me.

Apple was Never Appropriately Punished

Literally all Apple did was apologize and she was instantly forgiven. No one was apprehensive or upset after that. It’s one of my least favorite things when someone (fictional character or otherwise) does something awful says “I’m sorry” and is instantly forgiven. An example of where this was better handled was in Avatar: The Last Air Bender. Zuko apologized to the gaang and they didn’t forgive immediately. It took him proving that he was trustworthy and on their side for them to trust him. And even after that they still had individual episodes where they form a bond with him. And what Apple did was on a similar scale to what Zuko did. Apple freed the evil queen (basically a terrorist(which was an accident I’ll give her that)) and then aided her afterwards. The school didn’t punish her neither did the government.

The Fans Treat Her Like An Innocent Victim

They woobify her to hell and back. Yes her mom is bad. No that does not justify her actions. It’s like people believe that just because someone has trauma or family issues that they can’t be held accountable. They take away all of Apple’s agency and act like she was mind controlled into doing everything she did. Apple had free choice. While she was manipulated, she wasn’t forced. They’re just like “She’s just a sad misunderstood lesbian!” Or “Apple has a tough home life! She was just guided by what she was taught!” While the second argument is true. It doesn’t excuse her behavior in any way. An appropriate punishment would be suspension or even expulsion.

Miscellaneous Complaints and Opinions

Apple seems to have trouble seeing any perspective but her own. She doesn’t seem to understand Briar issue. Apple equates her destiny (to sleep for a few days before being woken up by her true love) to Briar’s (to sleep for a hundred years before being woken up by her true love)

Apple seems to care way more about her image and winning than her friends. She injured Darling playing the sport in Dragon Games. Apple likely got this from her mother.

I don’t think Apple should date anyone until she works on herself for a while (Two or three years)

[renisrandom]

If I Had to Ask:

What's Your Nationality?

Your Hometown?

What's Your Favorite Color

Favorite Book?

Favorite Animal?

Favorite Video Game?

Favorite Movie or TV Show

Which Do You Prefer: Anime or Western Animation?

What was Your Dream Job?

What was Your Previous Job Occupation?

Who's Your Favorite Person (Celebrity or Not)?

What your Favorite Toy from your Childhood?

What is Your Favorite Sports Team?

One Place You Would Like to Visit?

What is Your Favorite Music?

Favorite Singer or Rapper?

and

What was your School Life Growing Up?

What's Your Nationality? North America

Your Hometown? Nunya USA

What's Your Favorite Color? Green

Favorite Book? Uzumaki

Favorite Animal? Don't have one.

Favorite Video Game? Little Nightmares

Favorite Movie or TV Show? Not sure, I like a lot

Which Do You Prefer: Anime or Western Animation? Typically anime

What was Your Dream Job? YouTuber

What was Your Previous Job? Retail

Occupation? None currently

Who's Your Favorite Person (Celebrity or Not)? Jaiden Animations

What your Favorite Toy from your Childhood? Plushies

What is Your Favorite Sports Team? Don't watch sports lol

One Place You Would Like to Visit? Japan

What is Your Favorite Music? I like a lot, but top 3 are rock, indie rap, and electro swing

Favorite Singer or Rapper? Lydia the Bard

What was your school life growing up?

I had few friends, but no bullies, so that's nice. I did great in elementary school and barely had to try to get good grades. That changed in middle school.

I did terribly grade-wise in middle and high school, but was a good student in the sense that I did all my work and payed attention and didn't disrupt the class. I'd consistently get 30-40% on my tests and quizzes, and was constantly going to tutoring before and after school to do retakes and make-up work. Studying barely helped, so I gave up on it and stopped caring by senior year of high school. It didn't help that I've suffered from migraines since I was four and missed a lot of classes because of that.

Somehow I never got held back a grade, mostly because my teachers pitied me, so I guess that's good. School was severe on my mental health though. I knew by freshman year of high school that I wanted to drop out to be a YouTuber, but my parents forced me to stay, all until I graduated University a few months ago. University took much longer than expected since I would fail at least one class every semester and have to retake it. I seriously don't know how I never got kicked out for poor performance. I also took a leap semester off for my mental health when I realized I wanted to die. (Not exactly suicidal, but I couldn't deny that I didn't want to exist anymore.)

My hyperfixations helped me through it though, including FNAF, Undertale, Little Nightmares, Yuki Yuna is a Hero, and of course ROTTMNT. My brother Hei Yu also helped me through that so much, being my support and anchor.

My parents knew that school was the source of my depression, and constantly heard now I wanted to drop out, but forced me to continue because they wanted me to have a degree that would (possibly) give me a better future. Considering the work I plan on going into (art related work), I don't believe that in the slightest, but I know they meant well.

I'm doing so much better now that I've graduated. I knew that school was the source of my depression and anxiety, and finally escaping set me free. Playing "Two Minutes Notice" in the car as we drove away from Campus for the final time felt so therapeutic and satisfying.

[booksteaandtoomuchtv]

Weekend Getaway (1/3)

AO3 | 2 | 3

RATING: M

SUMMARY: When Emma's roommate drags her to get a live Christmas Tree, she ends up trapped at a Christmas Village for the weekend. Fortunately, the village had a bar and a bartender that Emma wants to get to know better.

Tagging: @anmylica, @deckerstarblanche, @elfiola, @goforlaunchcee, @jrob64, @kmomof4, @pirateswhore, @stahlop, @teamhook, @tiganasummertree, @undercaffinatednightmare, @xarandomdreamx, @zaharadessert - DM me if you would like to be added/removed from the list.

"You're coming with me," Ruby announced as she banged into the flat. The front door crashed against the wall before closing behind her. Wearing a red knit sweater with a Christmas tree on it that actually lit up and arms heavily laden with shopping bags, she was the bright spot - literally - of Christmas Cheer that Emma was certain she did not order. 

It wasn’t that Emma hated Christmas or anything quite so dramatic. But if given the opportunity to skip directly to New Year’s Eve after Halloween, she would happily accept. There was no escaping how dreadfully lonely her life had become since she’d driven away from Storybrooke after - Nope, not going there. 

"We are getting a live tree this year! Get your jacket, let's go." Ruby continued, not waiting for Emma to acknowledge her. 

"Those are fire hazards. Plus, where would we put it?" Emma gestured at their tiny, crowded living space. 

Ruby grunted as she deposited the bags on the nearest chair. She grabbed Emma's boots and threw them at her, "Put 'em on."

Scowling and grumbling, she clicked off the TV and shoved her feet into her boots. 

It was impossible to deny Ruby anything. They came to the city together a few years ago to get over their broken hearts and discover a life outside of their small town. They'd helped nurse each other through the heartbreaks, acted as both wing-woman and excuse for one another - depending on what the night demanded, and endured the challenges of being artists in a big city together. Ruby had landed a part on an off-broadway play and Emma was in her second season at the New York City Ballet. It took several failed auditions, many pints of ice cream, and the constant support from one another to get them this far. 

"Let's burn down the building then."

"That's the spirit!" 

§§§§    §§§§    §§§§    §§§§

They drove for hours, leaving the city behind for the snow-covered, rolling hills of the upstate. While singing and dancing to old favourite songs, they passed several signs advertising various Christmas tree farms. Ruby would shake her head and drive by them. After the tenth one, Emma finally asked where they were going.   “I found the perfect farm online.” 

At Emma’s sceptical look, Ruby continued, “I promise, there is something special about the one we are going to," Ruby explained. "I can just feel it, you know?" 

Emma released a resigned sigh. Ruby was impulsive and spiritual, believing her intuition was a powerful force that should not be ignored. Emma needed something a bit more concrete to guide her decisions. 

Ruby slowed at a lane that was much like any other they had passed all day, except this one sported a faded red pickup truck with rounded fenders that was wrapped in fat, colourful light bulbs. A hand-painted sign welcomed guests to the Jones' Christmas Tree Farm for sleigh rides, hot cidre, hot chocolate, and to cut and carry home their very own tree from its stand on the stained wooden slats in the bed of the truck. 

As they bounced along the uneven lane, Ruby cleared her throat. “Don’t kill me…”

“No promises.” Emma tore her attention from the endless rows of firs and spruces lined outside her window to glare at her old friend. The ice in that glare would have stopped the hearts of mere mortals. But, this was no mere mortal. This was Ruby Lucas and nothing could hinder Ruby’s excitement once it gained momentum. 

Ruby smiled brightly at Emma and pulled a duffle bag from behind Emma’s seat. “I booked a cabin for us for the weekend. We were just saying that we needed a little break and they had so many fun things and, wait until you see the farm, it is beautiful!”

Emma had planned to set up a station on her couch and binge-watch garbage telly. Not spend a weekend on a farm, much less a farm that would doubtlessly be filled with families and couples buying trees the entire time. This was definitely worse than the countless movies featuring smiling men and women in red or green sweaters in front of a highly decorated tree that were beginning to populate every channel she surfed, right? Yes, she decided, it was. Ruby had driven her directly into the ridiculous small town that featured in the background of one of those ridiculous movies and was making them stay for the entire weekend. This was not what she had in mind when they were talking about their holiday. Sun, sand, and sangrias had featured in her dreams. Not snow, cidre, and Santa. 

“They’d better have hard cidre or spiked egg nog,” Emma muttered.

“Like I would spend a sober weekend in a cabin on a farm!” Ruby shot Emma a wounded look. 

Emma snorted and shook her head. “Well, that’s something, at least.”

“Oh, hush. This will be a weekend to remember.” 

The lane opened up to reveal a stunning farmhouse with snowy Christmas trees in rows lining the hills sprawling in every direction. A red barn stood out brightly in stark contrast to the white landscape. It would have been breathtaking, Emma thought, if not for the Christmas Village that stood before the barn under twinkling fairy lights.

"Our cabin better be out of town."

"Well...it is close to the Holly Jolly Tavern, I think." 

"RUBY!"

"I know how much you hate Christmas and we are changing that this year. Your heart will grow three sizes and Tiny Tim will live after all."

"Wait...am I the Grinch or Scrooge?" 

"Yes." Ruby laughed, throwing the car in park. "I'll check us in, why don't you go find your Christmas spirit?" She mimed taking a shot before getting out of the car and walking toward the farmhouse, leaving Emma in the passenger seat of the old car, quickly growing cold, wondering why she allowed Ruby to pull her into these ridiculous situations in the first place.

§§§§    §§§§    §§§§    §§§§

The Holly Jolly Tavern was, thankfully, more Tavern than Holly Jolly. Sure, a decorated tree stood tall in the corner near the fire crackling in a large hearth and large multi-coloured bulbs were strung along the walls. And, of course, the drink specials had cutesy holiday names and instrumental Christmas songs played softly in the background. But, the bartenders weren’t dressed as elves or in tacky holiday sweaters and the tables and chairs were your standard sturdy wooden pairings found in drink establishments everywhere.

Emma sat at the long bar and scanned the wall of spirits trying to determine what best fit this situation. 

“What can I get you, love?” The low voice was charmingly accented, and it sent chills down her back. She turned toward the bartender and met brilliant blue eyes that stilled her heart. He wore a crooked smile that made her think very dirty thoughts about his lips and the amber scruff framing the sharp line of his jaw. 

“Whatever your favourite drink is,” Emma answered with a flirty smile. She thanked whatever gods were watching that her voice sounded steady, her mouth was suddenly so dry that she'd expected it to crack. 

He nodded at her request and started pulling together ingredients for her drink. She watched him at his task, mesmerised by his movements and the way he focused so completely on his task. She wondered what it would be like to have that focus directed solely on her and her pleasure. She felt her cheeks heat at the thought and turned away in an attempt to hide it, but his eyes danced with mischievous humour as he handed over her drink, telling her that she was caught. Luckily, he was kind enough not to comment. 

She studied the bright red drink, cranberries and mint floated in the glass, and a thin lime garnished the rim of the tall glass. It looked refreshing and exciting. She wondered if this was truly his favourite drink or a cocktail he had mixed for her using that special power great bartenders had - that uncanny ability to know exactly what a patron needed based on a single glance. 

“A Cranberry Mojito,” he told her, leaning on the bar before her. Her eyes lingered on his well-defined arms and the unfair way they were stretching his deep blue knit sweater. “What brings you here, um?” 

“Emma,” she answered for him, “And, oh, I don’t know. I guess that I have always dreamed of living in one of those ridiculous towns from those cheesy Christmas romances.”

“Pleasure, Emma. Killian,” he said in that musical voice. “I take it this trip wasn’t your idea, then?”

“Nope. My roommate surprised me as we were pulling in - Ohhh! This is good.”

He smiled in triumph at her approval. “The trick is making the simple syrup from scratch with fresh cranberries.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Emma said before taking another sip of the deliciously sweet and tart drink. “Is this truly your favourite drink?”

“Tonight, it is.” 

“Your tastes change so often?” She teased, her eyebrow lifting to emphasise her innuendo. 

“I’m not so fickle as that, love. I am partial to rum, but not so dull as to only take it one way.” Killian replied, meeting her gaze. The heat in the depths of his sapphire eyes made her stomach tighten in response. This man was too good to be anything but trouble. 

Mmm, but it would be some good trouble. 

“That looks fantastic! Can I get one, too?” Ruby’s voice shattered the tension building between them. 

“Coming right up, love,” Killian answered immediately. His eyes lingered on Emma’s a moment longer before he turned to mix Ruby’s drink.

“It’s a Cranberry Mojito,” Emma explained, turning to look at Ruby. “Here, try some while you wait.”

Ruby’s eyes were wide and she was biting her lips together tightly to suppress what Emma knew to be a wolfish smile. Emma shook her head subtly, pleading with Ruby to not say a word. Ruby nodded excitedly at her in approval of whatever she had read into the exchange she interrupted earlier. Emma frantically shook her head - whatever you are thinking, stop thinking it! 

When Killian returned, setting Ruby’s drink on the bar before her, Ruby pounced. “So, what is your name?”

“Killian,” he answered with amusement laced in the melody of his voice.

“And what does your girlfriend think of you making eyes with your patrons, Killian?” 

Emma sputtered and coughed as she tried not to choke on the sip she’d taken before Ruby’s obvious question. Ruby turned to Emma, earnest concern etched on her face, while her eyes danced with humour, “Are you okay, Emma? Need some water?” 

Narrowing her eyes at Ruby, Emma shook her head. Her breath was still taken by the liquid burning in her lungs. A few strangled coughs later, Emma ground out that she was just fine. Killian slid a glass of water to her anyway, the sweet gesture sinking Emma further into… well, whatever was happening between them.

“Good,” said Ruby briskly and she turned to Killian expectantly. 

“I’m not a man to make eyes with someone while involved with another,” his accent clipping the words. 

He hadn’t liked that accusation one bit. The realisation warmed Emma as much as the rum spreading in her blood. He wouldn’t cheat on her and leave her too embarrassed, too ashamed, to face the town she had lived in her entire life. He may be trouble, but he was honourable trouble and that she could handle.

“What kind of a man are you then, Killian?” Ruby asked. She sipped from her cocktail and pinned him with a look that dared him to rise to the bait. 

“Don’t do that, Rubes,” Emma snapped. Her temper was rising - she felt the need to protect Killian from Ruby’s intrusive questions. Killian sent her a grateful look before excusing himself to serve a man flagging him down on the other end of the bar.

“Ooh, you like this one,” Ruby whispered far too loudly as she waggled her eyebrows ridiculously. Emma could not help but laugh and the strange frustration that had so quickly risen in her dispersed.

“No. I just thought that was unfair of you,” Emma said simply.

“Mmhmmm.” 

Emma rolled her eyes at the disbelief in Ruby’s tone. “Fine. Think whatever you want.” 

“I do and I will.” 

“So, what is there to do in a Christmas Village?” Emma asked in a very smooth and effortless transition from the previous topic. 

Ruby perked up and started rattling off various activities that she had booked or seen on her walk over to the pub. Emma listened half-heartedly - her attention straying to the barkeep continuously. She caught him looking her way once and he sent her a devastating smile before returning to his work. 

He served them several more rounds as the night grew older, but he was unable to linger longer than getting their order or setting down their drinks as the Holly Jolly Tavern stayed busy once the sun went down. 

When they left, staggering into the night, Emma felt a twinge of disappointment that he hadn’t seemed to notice her exit. 

Would it have been too much to ask for him to come out running to see her home safe like some Victorian gentleman? She snorted at that very drunk, very ridiculous thought and followed Ruby to the cabin she would call home for the next few days.

[alvisiscrazy]

i see you in the shadows.

this is a limited shortstory (only for the month of october) i love halloween and everything that comes with it, but i love watching the halloween series it’s something about micheal i fond over he is so beautiful in a way.. (18 or older may read) 🎃🎃

the fall of 78

micheal grew impatient waiting for you to come back in his view, he knows exactly what are you doing.. stress cleaning to get rid of the pain that still fills your heart.. he feels sorry for you.. micheal sees you again now taking off the big sweatshirt that was covering your body so well, you reveal your breats to him as you plop down on your bed,

he watches as your hands slide to the hem of your shorts he continues to watch closely as you play with yourself. he wishes he can be the one to make you moan, he knows your body so well from what he observed over the past few week, but he had a plan.

he forced himself to leave your window, hearing the sirens, they could be looking for him or maybe not, he hasn’t killed anyone in like two days, he creeps off in the shadows to his house..

the next night, he killed a few people along the way to your place for sport he likes the way they scream and gasp as their life is in his hands he enjoys that feeling a little to much.. his reflection in the mirror of a car, he had blood all over his jumpsuit, and he sighed he didn’t want you to see him as a killer yet..

he frowned and turned away from your house and went back into the shadows.. he would go home and wash his jumpsuit that would take all night..

he was upset now he had to wait another a few hours until he could start his plan, he took off his mask revealing his handsome face and his curls that were all sweaty over his forehead, he stepped into his shower, he thought about you instantly making his dick hard, he ignored the pluses of his dick and continues to wash up, by the time he finishes his shower, his jumpsuit was clean he put it back on.. he took the most quickest way to your place, luckily nobody was out tonight.

as he approached your, he noticed a man pounding on your door, he waits to see what he does, then he starts to scream and yell, so michael creep behind him plunging my knife into his chest quickly, after michael knew he was dead he dragged him to the alley, he looked through your living room to see if the backdoor was open, he creeps to your backdoor and makes his way in, he travels upstairs quietly, to see you on your bed reading a book..

he slowly creeps in your room he wants you to notice him, but he can’t help himself not to look at your body as he creeps in.. he didn't wanna alert you so soon.. well that went out the door when turned off your back and instantly froze in fear, micheal’s cock harden at the thought of you laying there.

micheal was caught admiring her curves, the way her silk pjs stuck to her skin in a swift move deeper into the room closing the door and now at the edge of her bed where her feet hung he pulled them closer to him as she gasp as his hands made there way to her waist ,her eyes widening in shock

“please don’t- hurt me i’ll do whatever you say” she say gently putting her hands up to protests micheal covers her mouth with his big hand her eyes widening once again “i’ve been watching you for a long time” he whispers ,he wasn’t gonna use his real voice anything can happen when he leaves here..

y/n struggled, but michael's grip was firm “please don’t” she had muffed but micheal didn’t come all the way here for her to cry and whine all night that wasn’t in his plans she pleaded, her eyes welling up with tears, he wipes her tears with his thumb as hand slid under her silk shirt and finds her breasts his rough fingers tracing over her soft nipples.

she protests again and kicks her feet, micheal lips curls into a sinister smile, his fingers rub harder against her nipples then he lifts up her silk shirt exposing her perky breasts y/n breath caught in her throat as micheal’s skilled fingers teased her sensitive nipples, twisting and pinching them gently..

micheal’s had sex with lots of women in his killer modes of time, so he was skilled in the bedroom.. afterwards he’d just kill him off but he was going do something different to you.. he wasn’t gonna just end it tonight..

her body betrayed her, responding to his touch despite her protests and she lets out a whine “you like that, don’t you” he whispers once again “answer” he says his free hand reaching down to stroke her inner thigh and grips it tight “no” she yells trying to protect again,

his fingers ventured further, slipping beneath her panties and delving into her wetness, he knew she was wet from this.. y/n's body trembled as he found her sweet spot, circling it with his finger, eliciting moans of pleasure despite her best efforts to resist.

micheal stops lifting up the mask to reveal his lips first, then he leans forward to press his lips again her’s silencing her cry’s for help with a deep, passionate kiss, his tongue invaded his mouth mimicking the rhythm of his fingers working her pussy. y/n's resistance melted away as he expertly played her body like a musical instrument..

her breath hitches with both micheal working her mouth and pussy, then he stops once more looking in her eyes to find a sense of change “please stop” she slaps him tugging on the mask he pulls away quickly fixing it then he tilted his head at her “don’t” she says again “let me” he whispers “i won’t hurt you” she let out a loud yelp again and now he proceeds to his next plan to force her,

he steps back into position again forcing his hand in her pants again roughly rubbed her clit she tried to stop him once again but he kept going, then he pulls his hand out now pealing her shorts off he knelt before her, his breath hot against her exposed pussy “i’m sure you taste good” he mumbles his tongue tracing her folds, flicking her clit, and she covers her mouth quickly,

y/n’s hands gripped the edge of the sheets, her body arching as Michael's tongue delved deeper, exploring every inch of her sweet pussy, she tries to push his head away he figured she was close, her moans filled her bedroom as he brought her to the brink of orgasm, only to pull back and tease her sensitive bud.. “let- me cum” she begs giving in, michael responded by plunging two fingers deep inside her, curling them to hit that magical spot she immediately yelps with pleasure,

the pleasure was overwhelming. y/n’s body shook as she climaxed, her juices flowing freely over michael's hand. he lapped at her hungrily, drinking in her essence, before standing to face her..

he covers his face again with his mask and takes a deep breath before looking at the mess he made, y/n looked so out of it micheal had finally gotten her to stop fighting him and give it but she doesn’t deserve more tonight..

micheal, tilts his head again before turning around to leave her house, and go find someone to stalk for tonight…

y/n finally snapped out of it as her bedroom closed she stood up and locked it immediately she couldn’t believe it she doesn’t stand a chance again micheal there wasn’t no point to fight him but, it was wrong she heard about him on the news, and he was insane..

she put her pj’s back on and forced herself to relax and sleep, she looked at the book that flew when he pulled her, she figured she had bruises on her thighs.. she shakes the thoughts out of her head and she wonders back to james her boyfriend, that she got in a aggressive argument, she hasn’t heard from him in a couple days… but she had to stand up for herself.. she took a couple of minutes and forced herself to sleep.. hoping that she hears from him and hope he can help with the killer that touched her..

but she doesn’t know he is dead..

the next morning, micheal woken up in his bed to a dead women next to him that he killed after he fucked her, he sighed to himself now he has to wait until night to move the body, he found himself in the shower now remembering he had a taste of you last night he wanted more i’m sure you know it wouldn’t be the last time you seen him..

y/n woke up, feeling the exact same from last night overwhelmed with james, she forced herself into the shower and relax during her daily routine.. after her shower she ate some food, and found herself to calling james it rung a couple times before someone answered “james?” she speaks out “is that you?” she says softly.. she couldn’t hear anything but heavy breathing “it’s john, he hasn’t came home yet i’ll have him call you when he comes back” his older brother says “okay, please tell him it’s important” she says “well do bye” the line ends,

it was getting later and later, her mind was in shambles she hasn’t took her meds to keep her mind from going insane..

she’s bipolar and has different personalities (avh’s) keep in mind micheal does not know..

she hasn’t been out her house she’s been scared she feels like she has multiple enemies.. the voices are getting stronger and louder

she curls up in her bedroom trying to silent the voices.

micheal, had plans for her tonight big ones he couldn’t wait he had expected for her to fight and whine but he was going to make her do just about anything that came to mind.

little did he know it was going to get crazy, she was going crazy.. with the voices as she curls in her bed she loses it and feeds into the darkest place in her mind that she had tried hard to fight.

micheal, prepares a bag with handcuffs and ropes and some lube he hates condoms, he likes to feel whoever he is fucking.. he fucking forgot about the women on his bed from last night who has been rotting since last night, he found a trash bag from his kitchen and grabbed his knife, he slowly dismembered her body parts.. this took him over an hour for him to finish, it wasn’t his style to dismembered someone but it had to be done, he took the trash bag to the dump..

he felt dirty once again luckily he didn’t wear the jumpsuit, he showered once again thinking about you.. and his plans once he finish he made his way to your place again for some fun..

he gotten to your house, to see every light off but you’re bedroom, he creeps to the backdoor again, and he opens it slowly as he creeps in he feels a blade insert him, he pulls back to see you holding a knife

he’ll heal

he grabs the knife from you quickly and throws it somewhere in the darkness

“i’ll show you crazy” he noticed you mumble like in some delusional dream

he wonders what you mean by it, but instead he pulls you by the arm dragging you upstairs to your bedroom, he pushes you on the bed instantly and expects a fight back but instead you don’t move but the look in your eyes was something he wasn’t expecting for a long time..

lust

he felt his cock grow hard for you and can’t wait to fuck you until you cry his name out..

y/n eyes widened as she saw the bulge in his pants, he unzipped his jumpsuit revealing his throbbing cock, stroking it slowly, his eyes never leaving her’s “want sum” he whispered he liked how she nodded yes, he wasn’t gonna do foreplay she ruined it last night.

he didn’t have to make her peel her clothes off she did it herself, something about this made micheal seem like he was in a dream like this wasn’t real.. but he wasn’t gonna stop and ask what’s wrong..

he just wanted to make her cry..

micheal growl, he positioned himself at her entrance, teasing her with the tip of his cock slapping her clit with his fat tip, she moans softly y/n’s body tensed, anticipating the invasion. in one swift thrust, he filled her completely, her tight heat engulfing his length.

“harder please- she gaps

michael pounded into her, his pace relentless. y/n's body responded, her pussy clenching around him, milking his cock. he leaned forward, his lips finding her neck, licking and biting it.. she responded by arching her hips up with her free hand she lifts up his mask, he was hesitant to stop her but he didn’t, she only lifted it to find his lips, she kissed him deeply as he was fucking her pussy,

the room was filled with they’re groans and moans, micheal pull in and out then slamming himself into her again, he can tell she liked this, her pussy was so wet it was creaming all over his cock,

“turn me over” she says gently as she pulls away from the kiss they’ve been sharing, he pulls out and lifts her up to flip her over, she was on her stomach now as he forced his cock back inside, feeling her pussy felt like heaven he thought..

he wasn’t gonna leave her alone now never.

as michael's thrusts became more urgent, y/n’s felt her orgasm building. her body tensed, and with a final deep thrust, they both climaxed simultaneously. michael's hot cum filled her, mixing with her juices as their bodies trembled in the aftermath of their shared ecstasy..

he pulled out, zipping up his jumpsuit now about to turn around to leave again.

“don’t” she speaks up, sitting up from the bed,“don’t go” he turns around and look at her “have to go”

he whispers, he wanted to stay but he can’t.. he wants to fight it and lay right next to her.. so he turns around and turns to the knob to leave her once again..

y/n, still processing the intensity of what had just transpired, couldn't deny the pleasure michael had given her. despite the unconventional circumstances, she found herself craving more of his touch..

she’ll make him stay.. no matter the price..

she was now the darkness.

y/n woke up to warm hands over her bare chest, as she popped up her eyes it was micheal asleep, and she shakes him gently to wake him,

his eye pop open, and moves his hands from her breasts.

“keep them there” she whispers and guides him back to them, he moves then again to her stomach michael's fingers traced patterns on y/n’s bare skin of her stomach, she stretched her limbs, feeling a pleasant soreness between her thighs, a reminder of michael's powerful presence. as she lay in bed next to him, her mind wandered back to the night before, to the man who had awakened her desires in ways she never imagined.. she couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to michael than met the eye, a dark secret he kept hidden.. other than his killings, this was driven by curiosity and a newfound boldness.. her hands made their way to his cock as she locked eyes with him,

“may i” she asks he nods, she climbs over him making her way to the end of his jumpsuit, pull them all the way down, then wraps her hands around his cock and she slowly jerks him,

his cock was hot and rigid, throbbing with need. she swirled her tongue around the tip, tasting the salty sweet pre-cum, and then took him deep into her mouth, her lips sliding down his shaft. michael's hands tightened in her hair, guiding her as she sucked

and bobbed her head, taking him as deep as she could, the sound of her wet, sloppy blows.

michael's hips thrust gently, fucking her mouth, his balls slapping against her chin. he was in complete control, pushing her head down, making her gag around his length. y/n’s eyes watered, but she relished the sensation nature reveling in his dominance.. she loved this

a little too much.

michael pulled out of her mouth with a pop, leaving her gasping for breath.

“why?” she looked up at him, “let me taste you” he whispers, he pulls her arms and pushes her onto the side of him, he peels off her shorts again, before slipping a finger inside of her,

y/n moaned, her head falling back as michael's finger found her sweet spot, already sensitive from the night before. he stroked her, adding a second finger, stretching her, as he kissed side of her thigh and nibbled on it, “you’re so wet” he mumbles before latching his tongue again , his tongue flicked out, teasing her clit, making her gasp and press back against his mouth.

michael's skilled tongue delved between her folds, lapping at her juices, sending waves of pleasure through her body. he sucked on her clit, drawing it into his mouth, and then thrust two fingers deep into her hole, curling them to hit her g-spot, his fingers pumping in and out, his tongue working her sensitive bud.

“i’m gonna- she cries out as she tries to push his head away,

he growls.

he increased the pace, his fingers pounding into her, his tongue flicking relentlessly. y/n’s orgasm built quickly, her body trembling as she clutched the silk sheets, “let go” micheal speaks up y/n’s release hit her like a storm, her juices flowing freely as she came hard around his fingers, her body shaking. michael attack her pussy still, to drawout her climax,

micheal pulls back immediately, and rolls to the other side of the bed, and stands up fixing his jumpsuit tugging his cock back in, y/n felt like she had done something it was filled with heavy breathing still, she sits up and looks up at him, “what’s wrong?” she asked “have to go” he whispers and walks over to the door, she took that into meaning as,

don’t wait up for me..

she felt this pit of anger but held her tongue, it’s their second time fucking and she already has something to whine about other then him fucking her roughly.

as the days passed, y/n found herself constantly thinking about michael, replaying their two lustful encounters in her mind. she explored her newfound sexuality, her fingers tracing the marks he had left on her body, wishing for his touch.

the darkest pits of her mind, kept repeating a constant reminder of their lust they shared, beckoned to her, but she it was hard for her to resist, she was wondering where he was or who he was harming..

or fucking another girl she was shocked at the thought, but he could or he won’t he wasn’t her’s to claim only her dead dumb boyfriend.. that could have saved her life but he was at right place and wrong time…

a week later, the anticipation grew, and y/n found herself craving the domination and pleasure only michael could provide. her body ached for his touch, her mind fantasizing about the next chapter of their new journey of sex,

or just a new journey of lust and doom.

micheal has been out hunting each night, for fun he has been dismembered some that he’d forget about after fucking their brains out.. he wasn’t bothered that he hasn’t fucked you in over a week, he has controlled the craving that he had, he just jerks himself at night instead of going to fuck you again… he knew something was off with you.. but couldn’t really understand it..

she off her meds and now she was back, she is really the true boogyman..

helloo, i hope ya’ll like this i may consider a part two, so pray anyway leave any comments or concerns plss :) 🎃

[jesscrazydoodles]

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! I wanna start 2024 introducing my main penguin oc and finally posting his character card that I had in my gallery for far longer that I’m willing to admit 😅

So, This is Jimmy. I took a page out of @flxr-art book and asked her to describe him and this is what she had to say:

“Jimmy is the type of character that acts mostly because of his love ones instead of for himself, and once he learns how to step outside of what he knows is great. He's so very insecure at first, and still is, but he makes due with what he has and even though he's not confident on himself he takes a step outside of his comfort zone for his friends and is very protective of them”

Jimmy has charisma, but he lacks the confidence to back it up. He “knows” a lot of penguins but had little to no friends before meeting Thunder.

He’s on the inattentive side of ADHD and was definitely considered “gifted” as a kid witch gave him such a self worth crisis that still follows him. Basically if he isn’t giving his 110% he doesn’t feel like he’s doing something right. To him, if things are easy, he’s not putting an effort. This mentality has kept him from perusing many opportunities.

He’s the book’s smart to Thunder’s street smarts in the sense that he does that ADHD thing of picking up information like a magnet and knowing a little bit of everything.

As a kid all to way up to early adulthood he had a blog dedicated to conspiracy theories. Ninjas, secret codes, tipping the iceberg, etc. He still logs into it from time to time but since he became a journalist he’s barely been able to update it. Aunt Arctic had always been a role model to him so, in her honor, his screen name for this blog was “Jimmy Arctic” and it stuck.

His mom is Argentinian and his dad was Puertorican but if you ask him up front he’ll just say he’s Argentinian since his dad passed away before Jimmy could really remember him and he doesn’t feel very connected to that side of himself. He’s very close to his mom though. He was born and raised in Club Penguin but his mom moved away after he grew up.

Jimmy is very adaptable to whomever he is with. He can even the playing field easily or match the energy of the other person. He’s actually on his best when playing off of someone else since it forces him to step out of his comfort zone, and explore different facets of his own personality.

On the down side, he can be a bit egocentric, but not in a “oh look at me, I’m the center of the universe” kinda way. All his life it’s been just him and his mom, so that’s his point of reference. It’s more of a “oh, I’ve been stuck inside my own head for so long that I forget the factor the wide range of reactions from others”

——

Fun facts:

-“Jimmy” was the name of my first ever penguin in CP. The name comes from that one character in the Kratt brother’s cartoon. To this day I have no idea why I choose it, I didn’t even like the character that much, but regardless, I’m glad I did.

-I named him Juaquin because as a kid, I didn’t like the name. I also didn’t know how to spell it. It’s fine, it’s a running joke. (Also to all Juaquins out there, I do like the name now, I’m sorry 🙏)

-He was originally going to be related to Aunt A. but upon revision, yeah first thing I scratched. The name stuck though.

-He also had a cousin named Elsa who was a whole other mess of a character so I scraped her

-All my ocs are adults in their early to mid twenties, but of the main three, Jimmy is the youngest.

-His dad named him.

-His mom calls him “Quino”

-Has a lot of ADHD headaches

-He has an argentine accent when he speaks Spanish, and while he can mask it pretty well in English it occasionally slips.

-He enjoys card-jitsu as a spectator sport and collects the cards.

-He came up with the band name. Thunder only regrets it sometimes.

-just in case it didn’t make sense, he has a blue puffle named Blue.

-💚🤍🩶🖤

—

I still have a lot of this character I could talk about but I want to leave it a little bit brief cause if it was up to me I’d keep going and that’ll just be a nightmare 😵‍💫 if you’ve read this far that probably means a failed to put the “read more” and IM SORRY 🥲 or you actually read all this and just 🥹❤️ thank you!

[hashioki7]

Badminton

"What's that?"

Travis frowned as he opened the door and saw what Laura was holding. He realized he should have asked, "What are you up to?" instead.

Laura smiled mischievously, holding up what she had in front of her chest for him to see. It has a black, slender handle and a small, round head covered in finely woven netting. A badminton racket.

In her other hand, she held another racket just like it, along with a brand-new shuttlecock.

"I won this at the circle's party. Let's play together."

"Count me out."

Travis's flat refusal didn't faze Laura one bit.

"Don't be like that. It's good to get some exercise occasionally! Plus, the weather's nice today."

"I was planning to leisurely read a book today…" he tried to plead earnestly, but Laura wouldn't hear it. She forcibly took Travis's hand and dragged him outside.

"You always lock yourself indoors reading those difficult books, and that's why you have such a gloomy face."

How rude she is! Travis glared at Laura with furrowed brows, but it had no effect on her cheerful demeanor.

Descending a few short steps in front of the door, they stepped into the garden. It wasn't much of a garden, just a space with weeds growing haphazardly on the ground, enough for two cars. Against the bland brown backdrop, Laura's pink cap and hoodie stood out oddly.

"Come on, Travis, take a racket and stand over there. Ready? Let's go!"

"Hey, wait a minute, I said I'm not……"

Before he could finish speaking, a shuttlecock flew at him. "Damn it!" he cursed, swatting it back. But his forceful return sent the shuttlecock flying in the wrong direction, over a small white fence and onto the street.

"You're terrible."

"I'm not good at sports…"

It would be faster to move from his current position to pick up the shuttlecock. Reluctantly, he climbed over the fence to retrieve it, hearing a cough or a laugh nearby. Looking up, he saw Mr. Smith, the elderly man from next door, standing under the shade of the trees. He ran a pharmacy at the corner of the next street.

"You seem to be having fun, Sheriff Hackett."

Mr. Smith looked at Travis with sparkling eyes through his glasses, his gaze not unpleasant but still making Travis feel uneasy. Travis shrugged awkwardly.

"You looked really worn out for a while there. I was worried about you. I've known you since you were little."

The old man, with eyes that sparkled youthful curiosity despite his age, glanced at Laura with interest.

"I'm glad you found a good partner."

"She's not exactly…"

Before Travis could finish, Mr. Smith chuckled satisfied and turned away, walking off. Honestly, today seemed like a day where nobody wanted to listen to him!

"What were you two talking about?"

Returning to the garden, Travis answered Laura's question with a nonchalant "Nothing in particular." Remembering the old man's happy smile, he felt irrationally annoyed. But what bothered him even more was how his heart seemed to flutter at the old man's words.

"I'm glad you found a good partner."

Shaking off those words, Travis got ready with his racket and shuttlecock.

"Let's continue."

"Of course."

Determined, Travis played badminton with Laura for over an hour, only to find himself needing to plaster his entire body with pain relief patches the next day.

[feraltuxedo]

Oh look I made another cover... this one for my first and quite possibly only attempt at kid fic:

Fledging by FeralTuxedo M, 53381 words. Summary: Cool Dad was at the school gate again. Clambering out of his ridiculous sports car like a great big spider, all black denim and designer sunglasses. What a prat. He made his way towards the entrance, followed by his equally lanky son. All the mums' eyes were on him. Which was fine. At least they weren't staring at Aziraphale for a change. Cool Dad high-fived his son goodbye, because of course he did, then sauntered back to his car. Making it look so bloody easy. Aziraphale Fell is much too young to be looking after eleven-year old Pepper. He barely has his life together as it is, with his minimum-wage job and a half-baked dream of trading rare books for a living. And as if adopting a recently bereaved pre-teen isn’t enough, there are some rather more adult problems to navigate: playground politics, the shadows of his own childhood, and the growing question of how Crowley, the only other dad at the school gate, feels about him.

Excerpt below.

Aziraphale reached the street corner and looked up to cross. A sleek black two-seater stopped right in front of him. The window wound down, revealing a pair of sunglasses.

‘Hiya. Want a lift anywhere?’

Cool Dad pointed at the empty passenger seat.

‘Um,’ Aziraphale said.

Fantastic. Very articulate. Cool Dad leaned across the gear stick and pushed the passenger door open, making the decision for him. Automatically, Aziraphale got in the car. He regretted it almost immediately. Sitting this close to him, he noticed just how attractive the man was. Sharp cheekbones, long nose, wavy hair the colour of rust. Hot Dad as well as Cool Dad.

‘So?’ he said, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. ‘Where d’you need to go?’

Aziraphale tore his gaze away from the man and looked straight ahead onto the road.

‘Oh, yes. Into town, if that’s all right. The Asda car park, if you wouldn’t mind. Thank you so much, I really do appreciate it.’

Before he’d finished talking, the car accelerated. There was the unpleasant swoop of inertia in Aziraphale’s stomach. He dug his fingers into the expensive leather of the seat. The car glid along the road almost noiselessly.

‘You’re new here,’ said Cool Dad, incomprehensibly keen on making small talk. ‘Been seeing you all this week. Not trying to be creepy or anything, but you’re the only other bloke at the gate.’

‘Yes, I did notice that. You, me, and a hundred mums. Pepper’s new at the school. She’s in Year 7.’

Cool Dad whistled.

‘Your daughter’s the notorious Pepper Fell?’

‘Actually, she’s not my— wait, why notorious?’

He took a hand off the steering wheel to scratch his neck. His nails left faint red streaks along his jawline. Aziraphale forced his eyes back on the road. They had nearly reached the centre now.

‘Er, I probably shouldn’t tell on her if she’s not talked to you about it, but… yeah. You probably want to know what she’s been up to. It’s actually hilarious.’

The fact that five days into her new school career she was already known as the ‘notorious Pepper Fell’ was worrying indeed. For heaven’s sake. He was so out of his depth.

Cool Dad glanced sideways at him. ‘You free at all this morning? You look like you could do with a strong coffee and I’ve got the morning off, so...’

With compliments to my under-eye circles, thought Aziraphale. The to-do list was burning a hole in his pocket. Taking the day off had cost him already. He needed to get everything done today or he’d have to take another holiday next week, and Gabriel would hate that. He looked at Cool Dad next to him, shaded eyes flitting back and forth between the passenger seat and the road ahead. A small smile played around his lips. A smile or a smirk, hard to tell. And still, he’d been the only person so far this week to show him any kindness. To offer help. A ride and a coffee. And damn, Aziraphale deserved to sit in a café opposite a good-looking man after the week he’d had.

‘Yes,’ he said, stomach swooping again. Probably from the rather abrupt halt at the traffic light. ‘I’m free.’

[therecordchanger62279]

GOODBYE FACEBOOK

After 15 years on Facebook, I deleted my account yesterday. I joined originally because I was feeling isolated, and wanted to make contact with people who’d drifted out of my life, and maybe find a few new friends in the process. Although I didn’t know it at the time, that’s not the way social media works.

I didn’t make a single new friend in my 15 years on Facebook. I lost track of how many old friends I lost because of it, but the number exceeded seven. Many of those fell victim to misunderstandings that probably never would’ve happened if we’d been face-to-face with one another. (I was even forced to unfriend my twin brother because he took some of my comments on his posts the wrong way. It’s very difficult to convey humor when the person can’t look you in the eye. It doesn’t matter how many laugh emojis you attach. When I discovered he adjusted his settings so I wouldn’t see his posts, I thought I’d better unfriend him before it got out of hand. The damage has since been repaired the old-fashioned way – we talked on the phone, and through an e-mail exchange.) The others happened because this social media app allowed people to needlessly, and without provocation abuse me to satisfy some malicious drive in them to humiliate or belittle me for reasons I simply cannot fathom. It’s called trolling, but you don’t really expect trolls to be people you thought of as friends. Rather than try to repair the damage, I simply walked away. I have no time left in my life for people who clearly do not want me in theirs.

I also made the unpleasant discovery that most people are liars or phonies. They’ll pose as friends, but, in reality, you, and the things you do with your life are of no real interest to them at all. You are nothing more than part of an audience when they take center stage to tell of their lives. I often compare it to being in a large gathering of people who are all talking, and nobody is actually listening. I can’t tell you how often I was solicited to give feedback or support on some of their artistic pursuits, but after spending three years working on this blog I’m proud of, and being urged by those same people to permit them access to it because they all said they wanted to see it, I showed them my work, and nearly all of them completely ignored it. They didn’t reject it because they didn’t like what I’d done. They just never bothered to look at it. And yet, they still continued to lobby me for support and encouragement when they made new music, or wrote a new book or a play, or took up a cause.

I was that guy at a party, standing in the room in plain sight that nobody noticed; to whom nobody spoke. I figured nobody would notice or care when I left. So, I simply walked out the door, and I’m not coming back.

I haven’t even mentioned what a trainwreck the site is when it comes to how it’s managed. Understanding their community guidelines regarding posts is like walking through a Bosnian minefield. No matter how careful you are, you’re eventually going to step on one, and you get to spend some time in Facebook jail until you learn your lesson. The news feed is clogged with ads, and an endless stream of suggested pages based on all the data they’ve collected on you that makes them think they know who you are, and can therefore market their products to you, and help separate you from your money. For example, I don’t watch or follow much sports anymore except some NFL during the season. But there were always endless suggestions in my feed that I follow pages about hockey, basketball, baseball, and many more. No matter how many I blocked, they just kept coming. I’m retired, and have been married for almost 44 years. But there were plenty of ads for online senior dating websites. I guess there was money to be made if Facebook could break up my marriage. And don’t you find it creepy when you look up some product online, and suddenly there’s that same product in an ad on your Facebook news feed? Big Brother is watching you 24/7. Don’t kid yourself otherwise.

So, why did it take 15 years to decide to leave? Well, I had come to rely upon it for some news, and weather, and announcements of new products I might be interested in (music, books, etc.). It was like that relic from the past – a daily newspaper. I also told myself I ought to maintain my page so that I would have some connection to friends and family since none of them live near me, and most I haven’t seen in more than a decade. But the light finally went on, and I realized these people were ghosts. I’d surrounded myself with my past. I discovered that once you’re not a part of someone’s day-to-day life (and that includes relatives as well as friends), you never will be again. You simply don’t matter any longer. Everybody has moved on, and nobody saved you a place at the table.

Okay. I accept that. But what I found impossible to tolerate was the hypocrisy. When I hit the delete button yesterday, I felt as if a weight had been lifted. There are suddenly so many things I no longer need be concerned with, and people I can consign, once and for all, to the place they all occupy – the past. I wished them well, and some commented I should stay in touch, but I won’t bother because I know they won’t bother.

Cyberspace is the real distance between people in the 21st century. Calling the internet the “worldwide web” is the perfect name for it. Because like a fly, you can get trapped in the web, and find yourself prey to all sorts of predators, with, seemingly, no way out – until you open that door, and the web breaks, and you’re suddenly free to crawl away before you’re trapped again.

If I could go back and live in the last century, I would. But I can’t. So, I’ll just have to find a way to cope in this one. Social media wasn’t helping. I can’t tell you how grateful I am there was a delete button.

© 2024

[eastofthemoon]

Title: Jingle Bells: Fourth Jingle

Theme: Reindeer

Fandom/Character(s): Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun/  Nozaki, Mikorin and Wakamatsu

Warnings (if applicable): None

Word Count: 500

Archive of Our Own

@12daysofchristmas

Mikorin hummed a little as he loaded his new game in the console. “I can’t wait for you guys to see the new game I picked up.” He grinned. “I already got through the first story line, now I’m trying to do one of the other girls.”

He had just finished the first story with Mayu a few nights back. Admittedly, he did fall asleep within the first half hour, but he was certain Nozaki and Wakamatsu would appreciate it more. "Sure thing," Wakamatsu said as he flipped through the game booklet. " I'm always willing to try a new game." Nozaki frowned as the game title loaded. "This one does seem a bit odd though." Mikorin was about to hit start except the comment caused him to pause and turn. "What do you mean?" Nozaki held up the video game case. "I mean that it takes place in a city with a never ending winter." He shook his head. "How would that work?" Mikorin scoffed. "With the crazy stuff you want to put in your stories you are the last one to complain." Wakamatsu flipped through the book. "It is a little weird the girls are named after Santa's reindeer."

Mikorin froze and slowly turned his gaze away from the tv screen. “Huh?”

Wakamatsu pointed at the game booklet. “The names of the girls? They’re clearly referencing Santa’s reindeer.” He held up the pages that list the names of the girls. “See, Dasher, Prancer, Vixen and all the others? These are the names of Santa’s reindeer.”

Mikorin’s jaw dropped. How had he picked up on that? He swiftly shook his head.

“N-no, you’re over thinking it, it’s just a coincidence,” he declared.

Nozaki peered over Wakamatsu’s shoulder. “And they fact all the girls are wearing headbands with mini antlers on them is also a coincidence?”

“No, it’s an artist choice! GIVE ME THAT!” Mikorin snatched the booklet and madly flipped through it.

“A ha! Look, see, this girl is normal. Her name is Rudo, but she often has a cold so her nose is usually bright red! She had to stay out of the sports festival because of it!”

Nozaki frowned. “You mean like Rudolph?”

Mikorin blinked, stared at the booklet, glanced up to the guys and down at the booklet.

“Oh my god, they are Santa’s reindeer.”

Wakamatsu gave a forced laugh. “Well, at least it can’t get any more strange.”

Nozaki sweated as he read through the booklet. “Hey, the guy you’re playing. He’s described as ‘having white hair and a jolly laugh’?”

Mikorin sighed and rubbed his neck. “Yeah, so what?”

Nozaki pointed at it. “So...he’s probably Santa, right?”

The guys were dead silent. Without uttering a word, Mikorin took the booklet, removed the game from the console and put them both back in the case.

“All agree we never speak of this again?” he asked.

“Uh, sure,” Wakamatsu replied.

Nozaki shrugged. “I don’t know I kind of want to know if they included the elves.”

[catscatscatsleep]

Jan 1st : my cousin has cancer

Jan 2nd : my bf said he won't have sex with me cuz he's scared that I'll get prego

Jan 3rd : maybe i shouldn't write a one line journal if I only wanna talk about my bf

(he was so tickley and cute today (⁠♡⁠ω⁠♡⁠ ⁠)⁠ )

Jan 4th : my bus broke down so I rounded up 2 girls who live near me and got a cab to uni

Then i got stopped at the gate because I wasn't following the "dress code" which lead to a whole lot of administrative bullshit now I am forced to wear ugly clothes. obviously.

Jan 5th : skipped uni cuz i didn't have a lotta classes and didn't wanna deal with the "dress code" .bought a chill game and only got out of bed to make and eat food . best day of this year so far.

Jan 6th : wore clothes which loosely confirm to the "dress code", my fault for being born as a woman.

Went to bf's house after college Lotta kissing then cooking and eating followed by a heavy dry humping session then he drove me home

Jan 7th : pretty uneventful.have uni on Saturday so horrible dress code , lotta coding went home played dreamlight valley.sleep.

Jan 8th : finally Sunday. Finished my assignments helped friends with their assignments.played all day till it was time to sleep,got Anna and Elsa!!!!

Jan 9th : went lil late to uni cuz the bus was late .bf wore short to play sports*drool*.

we have hoildays coming up so our teacher decided that to give us an assignment which would require us to talk to a lotta ppl our age so we had to do it before the break and I had to talk to so many strangers it was horrible,but it's over now.

Jan 10th : went to uni and did jigsaw puzzles online then looked for good vampire books,failed, helped my friend do an assignment then there was some celebration which consisted of a series of un rehearsed and repetitive performances followed by a "DJ" sesh where everyone "danced" me and my classmates watched from very far away. Atleast the picture of us sitting on the stairs is good ig.

Jan 11th : woke up stayed on my phone. impulsively baked cookies then spent the whole day mostly fishing online. Then my bf infuriates me by telling me he's watching clips of a sitcom with his buddies which I would love for him to watch properly because it's awesome but that's " too boring" or "too slow" meh meh meh meh meh.

Jan 12th : i didn't do anything important.finished reading "king of battle and blood". Toasted bread played my game and though i would stay up all night and play but just slept like an old person :]

Jan 13th : It's be days since I took a shower but I just played my game and toasted bread again.

Jan 14th : day of festival was woke up but loud festive and cinema music around a bon fire went out of my room and my father was awake so we both went to check out the bonfire and music.

Came back home and mom told me I had to do the colouring of the rangoli.then food, shower, food, ride your wave(movie), food, top gun maverick (not a tradition it just kinda happened) and food again then sleep.

Jan 15th : woke up and had to do another rangoli the food then shopping for clothes cuz "dress code" i hate uni :\ ,Burger King then home.

i was also do this thing where I waited to text my bf the same amount of time he took to reply to me so we weren't talking much but he did not notice so ig I'm the idiot. Showed him my dressess thought I'd model some for him but he didn't even see them fast enough so i didn't. Atleast he talked to me at night i.e. he was replying fast enough to hold a conversation.

Jan 16th : woke up late than usual still had to do rangoli for the last day of festival so no more. Fluffy food, the rangoli, pineapple, shower, food, more sleep, bread(i don't not know how to use broil), dreamlight + tamako market, dinner, dreamlight ,

Ahum January is over and i completely forgot about this

So i just decided to dump this here