#and when i talked about how i put too much on my plate this semester and am struggling to keep up with all the work

[supercantaloupe]

apparently i'm already halfway done my musicology degree??

[domripley]

Tell Me You Love Me

pairing: ghostface!tara carpenter x reader

warnings/tags: mentions murder, gaslighting, daddy kink, face slapping, threats of violence (but it doesn't go into too much detail, oral sex, verbal humiliation, tara is toxic, manipulation.

summary: you've been suspicious of tara for awhile. You should have just kept it to yourself.

word count: 4,197

request: Have you seen the Tara as Ghostface theories? Would you mind writing a Ghostface Tara smut with a female reader? Thanks!

this is a repost

Once they were in the microwave, you made your way to the living room to turn something on to kill the time. You were bored, but there wasn’t much you could do about it just yet. Your parents were gone for two weeks, having gone on a vacation that due to finals and your classes, you couldn’t go. A part of you was upset for them planning this out during the semester, but it meant you would get a lot more privacy with Tara. So, you weren’t too upset about it. Although with a murderer out there, now killing college students, you thought your parents wouldn’t want to leave. Shaking the thoughts out of your head, you turned on the TV, and of course, whatever channel it was on, it was having a Stab movie marathon.

You shrugged, keeping it on as the microwave went off. Tossing the remote back onto the couch, you made your way back to the kitchen. As your hand was on the door, your phone began to go off. Groaning, you let go of the door to the microwave and grabbed your phone on the counter.

Unknown caller.

You answered the phone, “Hello?”

An unknown voice replied, “Hello, (Your Name).”

You opened the door to the microwave and asked, “Who is this?”

The person on the other end of the phone chuckled before hanging up. You rolled your eyes, grabbing the plate of pizza rolls before making your way back to the living room. Stab Two was now playing, and for a few seconds, you thought about sitting down and watching as many of them as you could before Tara arrived. It was a way to pass the time.

As you ate a pizza roll, your phone rang again.

Unknown caller.

“What the actual fuck.” You said, trying to finish the pizza roll in your mouth before you answered the call.

“Hello?” you said, trying not to sound too annoyed.

“What’s your favorite scary movie?” the unknown person on the other end asked, causing you to roll your eyes.

“Oh please, how original. Have a good day and do not call this phone again.” You snapped.

Before you could pull the phone away from your ear, the unknown person threatened, “If you hang up, I’ll come and gut you like a fucking fish.”

Your eyes widened, taking the phone away from your ear to put it on speaker, you began to text Tara.

Hey, do you think you can come sooner than later?

“How’s your parent’s vacation, (Your Name)?” they asked, causing you to flinch. How did they know they were on vacation? Only your group of friends knew that, and you trusted them all completely.

“What’re you talking about? My parents aren’t on vacation?” you lied, trying to make it seem that you weren’t all alone.

You went back to your text conversation with Tara, and you were confused to see that she had left you on read. Was she okay? Was she hurt? Did this creep get to her? All these questions were running through your head, only to be brought back to reality when the other person spoke up again.

“I don’t see your parent’s car anywhere in your driveway.”

When the person said this, you instantly hung up. Rushing over to your front door, you looked through the hole. From what you could see – you saw nothing. No one in your driveway or in the yard. You locked the door, looking at your phone. This time Tara texted you back.

Daddy: Hey baby, I just now saw this. I’m going to go get us dinner and then I’ll be right over.

You bit your lip, almost jumping out of your skin when you heard a loud bang on your back door. Your eyes widened, realizing you hadn’t locked the back door. You ran towards it just as the nob began to turn. You knew you weren’t going to make it in time, so you ran down to the basement where your bedroom was at.

Locking the basement door, you slowly made your way to the closet. That was your best bet in hiding. You heard the TV turn off, squeezing your eyes shut to try and focus on nothing but your breathing. Footsteps were getting louder and louder, and you knew who ever this was was going to know you were down in the basement. You looked around in the dark, trying to find something you could use as a weapon. That’s when you saw your old baseball bat.

This will work, you thought to yourself as you heard the person try to break down the door. You silently wished that they would just give up and leave. You started to cry as the door gave way – hearing the person slowly walk down the stairs, you knew it was only a matter of time. Finally, you held your breath as they walked past the closet you were in. You hoped they would turn the corner, so you had a chance to run up the stairs.

Suddenly, your phone began to go off. Tara was calling you. You ran out of the closet, swinging the bat in the direction of the person in the Ghostface costume. Unfortunately, the person grabbed the bad before you could do any damage – throwing the bat in the opposite direction, you braced yourself for them to stab you, but to your surprise, they didn’t.

Rushing up the stairs and out of the house, the person in the Ghostface costume left. After a few minutes of trying to calm down, you called Tara back, in tears. When she answered, you couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Baby, what’s wrong? Why didn’t you pick up when I called?” she questioned as you cried.

“Ghostface broke into my house but didn’t hurt me. I was so scared.” You said, trying to calm yourself down. Tara hummed, which was odd to you, but you were too busy being upset to point it out.

“I’m almost to your house,” Tara said softly, and you nodded even though she wouldn’t be able to see it.

“Alright, the door is unlocked so you can come in,” you let her know and when she says thank you, you hang up.

Now that you were calmed down a little, you began to think of how not worried Tara was acting. Normally, she would be freaking out, but she seemed so calm. You didn’t want to question her – maybe it was because she was driving – but it still felt so odd to you. You shook your head, laughing. You couldn’t believe yourself – thinking that Tara, your girlfriend of two years was the one behind all the murders. But it was odd that she hummed when you told her.

You shook your head, trying to let go of the thoughts – thinking that it was just your anxiety making you overthink. You jumped a little when Tara opened the door, but to your surprise, she had no food in her hands.

That’s odd, you thought to yourself. Your thoughts cut off when Tara spoke up.

“So, you’re here all alone while a killer is going around? You’re parents really did say ‘fuck you’, huh?” she chuckled, and you gave her a small smile.

“Yeah, they did, haha. But I appreciate you for staying the weekend.” You said, trying not to let her know that you’re a bit suspicious.

“Everything okay?” Tara asked, giving you an odd look. You bit your lip, unsure of how to respond of to that.

“Other than that loser in the Ghostface costume trying to scare me, I’m fine.” You said, wanting to be as short with her as possible with it.

Tara’s jaw clenched but stayed quiet – you didn’t seem to notice, but you watched as she sat her bags down.

“Babe, where’s dinner?” you asked, trying to see the excuse she came up with.

You wanted your gut to be wrong, that you just wanted to be overthinking like you usually do often – or that was what Tara always told you when she would act suspicious.

“What do you mean?” Tara questioned, acting as if she had no idea what you were talking about.

“You had told me you were going to pick up dinner before you came to my house.” You snapped, but she gave you a confused look.

“No, I said I’m going to pick you up and then go get food, babe,” she said. You almost believed her. Almost.

“Your text right here says: ‘I’m going to go get us dinner and then I’ll be right over.’ So what the fuck, and the fact that Ghostface found me was because you called me. You had texted me to let me know you were getting us food and then you’d be here. But you never went to get us food… so in that time, where were you, Tara?” you asked, watching as her confused look on her face turn into a sinister smile.

“Oh baby, why do you have to ask so many questions? Why can’t you be my good girl and keep that mouth of yours shut?” Tara snapped, throwing you off completely with her sudden change of attitude.

You watched as she opened her backpack and fished out something you didn’t recognize. Bringing it to her mouth, Tara pushed a button and began to talk. “Oh, my sweet, sweet girl…You figured it out huh?”

It was a voice changer – with the same voice that had called you.

Your eyes widened, realizing that all this time you weren’t overthinking – that your girlfriend was in fact Ghostface. Was she a part of Amber and Richie when they were killing all of her friends? You couldn’t help but wonder.

As Tara started to get closer to you, you backed up – guarding yourself from your murderous girlfriend. You turned and ran towards the bathroom, refusing to look back as you heard Tara behind you. Getting into the bathroom and shutting it just in time as Tara almost grabbed you. You locked it quickly, backing yourself all the way to the tub.

“Baby, open the door and I can explain everything to you.” Tara called out, banging on the bathroom door. You shook your head, trying to gather the words to say – but nothing was coming out. You were terrified, finally putting the pieces together from the past six months. How your ex-girlfriend, who you were still friends with and nothing more was the first victim and how Tara didn’t seem upset. At first you thought it was just Tara being in shock, but now it all made sense.

She was doing the killings.

But was she alone in doing them this time around or did she have a partner like Amber and Richie. You snapped out of it as she continued to bang on the door. You started to scream, wishing there was a window in your bathroom.

“I’m not opening the door, you’re going to kill me, Tara. I know you’re the one doing the killings, so why would I open the door? So, you can kill me and get rid of your only witness.” You yelled back at her as she tried to slam against the door.

“I would never kill you, baby… I just wanted to scare you a little. I promise I would never hurt you.” Tara said, and a part of you wanted to believe her, but you just couldn’t. Why would she scare you? Especially if she had no desire to hurt you.

“Open this fucking door, (Your Name). I don’t want to break it down but if I have to, I will.” She threatened, stopping what she was doing to wait for your response.

“Go the fuck away and leave me alone.” You snapped, and Tara bit her lip. She knew that she fucked up, but she was going to make things right with you.

“(Your Name), I know I’ve scared you, but I really mean it, please open the door for me.” She said, calming down just a bit so you felt safe with her. Of course, she wasn’t going to kill you, no. But if you weren’t going to open the door for her, she was going to have to take matters into her own hands.

“No, Tara. Just go and I won’t tell anyone.” You said, trying to get her to leave.

“Very well then.” Was all she said before the doorknob began to aggressively jiggle.

You screamed as she opened the door, but Tara was quick to rush you. Smacking a hand over your mouth, she whispered, “Stop screaming, (Your Name). I told you that I wouldn’t hurt you and I meant that. Can you please listen to me?”

You swallowed, shutting your eyes for a few moments before she moved her hand from your mouth. You bit your lip, trying to decide on what to do.

“If I wanted to kill you, I could have just slit your throat, but am I doing that? No.” Tara stated, wiping your tears away before holding you in her arms.

“Why would you kill everyone that you did? Why?” You cried out, unable to control the tears that were coming out.

“That’s for another day and I promise I’ll answer that, but right now I think I need to make it up to you,” she paused, letting go of you.

“How? Are you going to turn yourself in?” you asked, sniffling. This made Tara smile softly, caressing your cheek before you pulled away. A part of you wanted her to keep being affectionate, but the other part of you wanted her to leave you alone. She killed not only her friends, but yours.

“Oh baby, no. I’ve been neglecting you so much lately, and you deserve so much better than that.” she sighed. You knew what she was trying to do, but you didn’t want to fight her any more. Considering she still had her knife with her - you were afraid that she would change her mind and kill you. “I want to make you feel good, princess. Don’t you want Daddy to make you feel good?”

She grabbed your hand gently, interlocking your fingers together before she led you to your bedroom. You tried to ignore the broken door to the basement, wanting nothing more than to ignore the fact that your girlfriend had revealed herself to be the Ghostface killer.

You tried your best to get your mind off of it, not wanting Tara to know that you were still on edge. You put your mind on Tara, and what she was going to do with you eventually. You knew that you were going to have to go to the cops - but another part of you didn’t want to betray her.

“Undress for me,” was all Tara said and you did as you were told. Pulling your shirt off, you threw it across the room. Tara signaled for you to turn around, and when you did as you were told, she unclasped your bra for you. Turning you back around so you were facing her, Tara reached towards you.

Pushing you on to the bed, Tara climbed on top of you. Kissing your neck, Tara bit down. She wanted to mark you so everyone around you knew who you belonged to. Moving her mouth down your chest, flicking one of your nipples with her tongue – smirking at the whine you let out. Giving it a few more licks before taking it into her mouth, she sucked on it, suddenly biting it harder than she normally would.

Before you would tell her, she was being too rough with you, but because she hadn’t touched you in weeks, you were willing to take everything and anything she was willing to give you. Even if it was a little painful.

“God… do you know how much I’ve missed you underneath me, baby?” Tara asked, but you knew she wasn���t expecting you to respond to that.

Leaning her head down, she bit the top of your breast before getting off of you. She unbuckled your belt, pulling it from the loops as fast as she could. As soon as it hit the ground, Tara pulled your jeans and your underwear off you.

Taking your underwear, Tara brought them up to her face. Closing her eyes, she hummed. “You’re so wet for me, baby. You’ve gone and ruined your underwear. The pair I bought you for Valentine's Day this year.

You weren’t sure as to what she was getting at, but you’ve learned not to question her – to just go with it. “I’m s-sorry.” You whimpered as Tara got down on her knees in front of the bed. You took that as an invitation to move down the bed, so your ass was right at the edge of the bed, wanting to make things a whole lot easier for her.

“Oh, you’re sorry? How sorry are you?” she asked, placing a kiss on your right, upper thigh.

“I-I’m so sorry for ruining the underwear you got me, I’m sorry that I kept questioning you every night. I should have just been a good girl and kept quiet.” You cried out, causing Tara to laugh.

Bringing her left hand to your left thigh, she held it open – slapping her right hand down against your pussy. You cried out, trying your best to close your legs but Tara held them open.

“You’re such a pathetic little whore, aren’t you? Apologizing for anything just so I’ll fuck you huh?” Tara teased, this time she brought her hand down against your thigh, not once. But twice.

“N-No, just-“ you began, but Tara cut you off by slapping your pussy again once more. You cried out, trying your best to stay still, but it was becoming too much.

“You’re lucky that I know you’re only a whore for me,” she commented, running her hands up your thighs. “Do you want Daddy to forgive you? Hm?”

“Yes, please, please-“ you whined, cutting yourself off with a moan as Tara leaned in. Running her tongue through your folds, Tara hummed in approval as you combed your hand through her hair.

You kept her head still as she allowed you to grind against her face – closing your eyes, you tried to get in a better rhythm. Tara kept up, moving with you as you began to grind harder against her face.

“I’m-I’m coming, fuck,” you groaned, feeling Tara’s tongue slide into your entrance.

She held you in place, fucking her tongue in and out of your pussy before moving her mouth to your clit. Sucking gently, Tara kept going through your orgasm, only stopping when you pushed her head away. She smiled at you – licking her lips, she spoke up, “Such a good girl for me, are you ready for me to really fuck you now?”

You nodded frantically, unable to speak up as you tried catching your breath. Tara got up off her knees – going over to her bags to pull out the strapon she had brought with her. You watched as she put it on with ease, quickly moving back towards you so that she was between your legs.

“You want my cock, baby? Tell me how bad you want it.” Tara said, slapping the tip of the toy against your pussy. She smiled, loving the whimpers she was bringing out of you.

“Please, Daddy, I need your cock. M’need it so bad.” You begged. Your attempts at not sound so desperate were out of the window – now you didn’t care, all you wanted was for her to fuck you.

“Good girl,” Tara praised, lining the toy up and bottoming out completely. You let out a loud whine, squeezing your eyes shut as you tried to adjust to the feeling. It had been exactly three months since she’s fucked you like this – claiming to only have time to use her fingers. A part of you wanted to forget that she was Ghostface and that she wasn’t lying to you for months.

“Maybe this is what I should have been doing all along, baby. Instead of lying to you and pushing you to the side, I should have just been fucking you quiet. Maybe then you wouldn’t have been asking. So. Many. Questions.” She emphasized her statement with hard thrusts.

You cried out, gripping the bedsheets as she started a rough, but slow pace. She wanted to take her time with you, really convince you that no matter what, you only needed her. Tara leaned over, wrapping her hand around your throat as she fucked into you harder. Squeezing for just a few seconds before letting go, Tara felt her own mess on her thighs. She would be lying if she had told you that she didn’t like causing you pain.

Licking the tears from your face, she whispered, “You’re so pretty when you cry for me. Like the good girl you are for me.”

You whined as she pulled out of you – looking at her just in time to see her spit on your pussy. Wiping the tip of the strapon against your clit, using her spit as lube to push back into you. Keeping just the tip inside of you, Tara reached her hand down to play with your clit, rubbing tight, small circles, she kept her eyes locked on you.

“Are you going to go to the cops, Princess?” she asked, way too calmly for your liking.

“I-no-“ you started, cutting yourself off with a scream as Tara pinched your clit roughly. You shook your head, trying your best to get her to ease up. “No! No, I won’t, I promise I won’t.”

You let out a loud sigh when she finally let go of your clit. Tara smirked, knowing that with a little persuasion, she could get you to do anything she wanted you to. She slid all the way into you once more, automatically starting a fast pace. She rubbed your clit once more, wanting nothing more than to make you come.

“You made for me, made to take my cock any time I want, and you love it. This little pussy loves it too.” Tara chuckled, a dark look in her eyes as she reached her free hand up to your face, caressing it before slapping you across the face as hard as she could. You cried out, tears pricking at the corner of your eyes, threatening to come out.

“P-Please, Daddy. Please. I’m so close.” You whimpered, trying your best to fuck Tara back – meeting her thrusts.

“You want to come, baby? Beg me.” She snapped her hips, slapping your face once more.

Wrapping her hand around your throat to hold you, she fucked into you harder as you gathered up the words you wanted to say. “Please let me come, pleasepleaseplease, I’ll be so good for you, won’t tell anyone anything. Promise, Daddy.”

Tara hummed as if she were thinking about it, “Tell me you love me and I’ll let you come.”

“I-I love you, Tara,” you whimpered as she started to slow her pace down.

“Tell me that you don’t want anyone else but me.” Tara demanded, slapping your breast before palming it roughly.

“I just want you, Tara. Just, please… I can’t hold it anymore.”

She picked her pace back up, leaning down to kiss you before saying, “Be a good girl and come for me.”

You did just that – coming harder than you ever have before. You pulled Tara down, so she was laying on top of you before raking your nails down her back.

”Fuck,” she hissed, but continued to fuck you. She loved the pain of your nails against her back – making her want to fuck you some more.

As soon as she pulled out of you, she slapped your pussy not once, not twice, but three times before laughing. “Such a good girl for me, what are you not going to do again?” she asked, as you sat up. Grabbing you by the neck harshly, her demeanor changing quicker than you expected.

“N-Not-Not tell any-anyone, Tara please, you’re hurting me.” You whimpered.

She continued to choke you – leaning in to kiss your forehead. “Good girl.” She whispered before letting you go. You gasped, trying your best to catch your breath once more.

“I’ll be back later tonight; I’ve got to make a few phone calls. But if you ever tell anyone, I will have to get rid of you. Understood?” Tara threatened.

“I understand, T-Tara.” You whispered.

You watched as Tara’s glare turned into an oddly comforting smile.

“Good girl. I wouldn’t want to get rid of you when I love you so much.”

[ficzhub]

Well Then…

Chapter 1

X

"Is there any particular reason that you can't stand spending any time with me?" I ask finally after an excruciatingly awkward and silent dinner over Zoom. Wondering why my father just couldn't be bothered to see me. Not when I got into Nevermore, not when I got my first award for my art, not when Tyler and his shithead friends assaulted me and I was in the hospital with internal bleeding after they vandalized my mural, not when I and everyone else at school almost died last month because a psychopathic herbology teacher decided to reanimate her bigot pilgrim great-grand daddy.

"Please Xavier, can I be spared the dramatics? I've been very busy, you know this." He says, not even bothering to look up at the camera.

"Clearly, for the last ten years or so." I don't know what I did wrong. My older sisters got time with him.

"Enough with the snide commentary. If all you wanted to do on this call was chide me, this could've been done over text. At the very least that wouldn't have pushed back rehearsals." He whines

"What do you even need rehearsals for, oh Great and Talented Vincent Thorpe?"

"Talent isn't perfection. I hope you take that to heart, winning a handful of trinkets passed off as awards isn't enough to prove any kind of prowess at anything."

I can't help but roll my eyes at that. He wouldn't know what awards I have or haven't gotten, he's never seen them.

"Speaking of lack of prowess, your grandfather will be taking you back to school after the break is done in a few days." His voice coated in derision.

"What?"

"Your mother's father, not mine."

Well no shit, he's dead. "How come?"

"If this is another tirade about how it's traumatizing that I'm not holding your hand at all times-".

"Jesus dad, I just mean how come he's coming around? He hasn't been around much since Mom...you know." He cringed at the sentence, my mother is one of his father's least favorite subjects.

"Oh, I'm not sure. I didn't ask."

"Okay, thanks for letting me know."

"You're welcome. Now, I can't push back production anymore. Your report card was fine, you've been keeping your nose clean at school as far as I know and you ended up being some kind of hero last semester. Good on you for that, son. Anything else I should know about?" He asks uninterestedly

"Nope, you're pretty much caught up."

"Alright. I'll be putting some money in your account for school supplies and whatnot. Don't over do it, like last year..." he says still remembering how much I spent on Bianca "Make sure to call your grandfather and iron out your plans with him. Have a good night." He says and hangs up.

"Good night dad..." I say to a blank screen. I close my laptop and sigh. What did I expect?

I take my plate to the kitchen and clean it off to put in the dish washer. Staying alone at the manor always feels lonely. My father got us a maid but it feels so uncomfortable to have a strange woman washing my underwear and replacing my bedsheets or anything else for me. I'd rather just do it myself. She can busy herself sweeping and mopping or something, it's not like she pays me any mind.

I'll call Grandpa Ron tomorrow, I don't feel like talking to anyone. Well, there's one person, I haven't talked to her since my last day at school.

I can't even begin to wrap my head around what I should feel about Wednesday. Obviously she's not an easy person to deal with, she's selfish, manipulative and abrasive, but she's never pretended she's not. It's not like I didn't know to expect that. She's also brave, loyal and apparently fiercely protective. I don't wanna push my luck with her and make her feel suffocated, I wonder if the phone was too much. I send her a single text the day I got back home. Just a simple "See you when term starts." It hadn't marked at delivered, so either she never turned on the phone or she let it die. I wish I could go to therapy about all this but Wednesday's ex boyfriend killed her so, I'm shit outta luck with that. I haven't found another one near enough to school or home. I can't imagine I'd have an easy time building trust with them if I did anyway. New one might just die on me like the last.

That was crass.

Obviously Kinbott's murder wasn't about me, and her dying was senseless. Like that dick just wanted another body under his belt or Thornhill just felt like killing someone that day. Who knows, but I couldn't ignore that her death while tragic, really sucked for me.

I should just get my supplies and toke up. It's not like my dad would ever know and the help doesn't care one way or the other cause I don't leave a mess. I ran up to the studio and took my stuff out. The stash was still fresh from when I bought some with Ajax from some townie.

Keeping the puff in my lungs for as long as I can, I starts prepping my canvas...

This was a good idea. It had been a while since I'd let myself take a break from my own thoughts.

I painted Bianca. Her bright eyes and dark skin popping from each other. I still had so many unanswered questions about her. Seems minor compared to all the other things that have happened, but it's not nothing. I can't remember much right after meeting her. Getting coffee at the Weathervane before that asshole had gotten a job there and she was there too. We'd gotten the same coffee order and I accidentally grabbed hers. We'd cracked a few jokes with each other and exchanged numbers. Then suddenly I'm in a total fog and she's admitted into Nevermore. I'm paying for all her school supplies, and I don't remember offering, or her asking. Then I'm back to normal, we're chatting, she's joining clubs, making friends, we're bonding over our shared experience in neglectful or abusive parents, then I'm in a fog again and she's Ms.Popularity and we're Nevermore's Power Couple. When Divina told me what had happened after her and Bianca got into an argument, things cleared up. I didn't enjoy breaking up with her, I did care about her. I didn't wanna get her in trouble or kicked out of school either, it's not like she didn't deserve to be there. But I couldn't stand that I'd been manipulated for months. Am I really that bad of a judge of character? I mean, I had Tyler pegged right, but that one was hard to miss considering I'd tasted his shoe and one of his friends almost made my testicles reascend. I never really told Wednesday the whole truth, maybe if I had she'd have gotten it sooner. Violence isn't an issue to her, but bigotry never seemed her style. I partly blame myself for not being entirely honest with her all because I didn't wanna seem like a pussy. Maybe I deserved what happened. The beating, Wednesday ignoring me, the imprisonment, all of it. I could've prevented so much of it.

I'm spiraling. Maybe I should go to bed but painting was supposed to get this off my chest. This? What do I mean this? I wanna talk about a million things, there is no this. Shit maybe I can just text Wednesday's phone number. Kinbott's got disconnected so I get back that error message. Or worse, it could be reassigned to someone new, then I'm just traumadumping on some poor stranger who's probably got their own shit going on. What if they get confused and think they did something to me? What if they actually end up being someone I know that coincidentally got assigned the old number? They could trace back the texts to me if they already have my number. I'd never live it down. I know Wednesday clearly isn't using the phone, so no harm no foul.

W

"I'm so glad to hear that Wednesday!" My mother said emphatically, gently clapping her hands together.

"We knew you'd love it at Nevermore, Tormentita." Gomez brags "The flesh never falls far from the bone." as he continues his chess match with Thing.

"Yes well, it's not as if any other school in the country would admit me or be able to instruct me of anything new or useful to me. Why waste anyone's time." Not relishing in proving my parents right, I start walking up towards my bedroom.

"Darling, I suppose now would be as good a time as any to inform you of some new developments if you're set in returning." Mother says with my back to her.
Turning around I see her looking at my father.
"Mon cher, this is more your news than it is mine. You should tell Wednesday."

My father checkmates Thing and smirks "You almost had me old man. Next time."
Thing shrugs and hops off to reach his magazine.
Facing me he rubs his hands together "Do you remember your Aunt Dolores?" He asks

"Vaguely. She's not much older than me, but she was always busy with school."

"That's right, she's 25." My mother adds "She got her master's degree in phytology. Of course that was basically a formality, she's always known everything she'd ever need about plants."

"I still don't understand how she came to be. Mama Esmeralda and Papa Pancho must've been in their 50s when they had her, at the earliest." I ponder out loud.

"Oh both sides of your family have had abnormally long periods of fertility, Wednesday. Your Great-Grandmama Margaret, had my aunt Celia at 56 years old. Completely baffled the local doctor." Mother adds gleefully.

"Anyway, I bring this up because we've been notified that your Aunt Dolores will be joining you at Nevermore."

"How did that happen?"

"Well, as you know she had that big spat with my parents and ran off when she turned 15. She never really got to experience much time at that school, and despite everything she did love it so there. It was truly a pity I couldn't convince her to keep going there and not disappear on us. Fester tried to nab her and get her to see why they did what they did but to no avail."

"Understandable."

"We thought you'd feel that way." Mother smirks

"I meant more so how did she manage to get hired. They haven't even said they've gotten a new Headmaster or Mistress."

"The board would have to be riddled with complete fools if they pass up on Dolores, even despite her...muddled record." Mother says. She's always had an inexplicable soft spot for her little sister-in-law.

"What was their disagreement about anyway? I've never gotten a whole answer about that." I ask

"It would probably be best for you to ask her directly. We wouldn't want to speak for her." Father explains, shakily.

"Right then, what position will she be taking?" Noting how my father looked away and down when he said that

"The new herbology teacher. Oh, and your new house mother."

"Makes sense, the last one was an incompetent murderer. At least this time the teacher will be adequate. Thank you for letting me know. Will Pugsley be joining me as well?" Would be nice to practice my aim while still at school. He'd have a new selection of road signs to steal from.

"His grades aren't quite up to par, unfortunately." Mother grims "Rather like his Uncle Fester, brilliant but not booksmart."

"Pity. Will I be sent to school with Lurch, or will you two be dropping me off again?" I ask, waiting to turn around to finally get to the solitude of my bedroom.

"Actually Wednesday, you'll be carpooling with your aunt. She's bringing her own car so to not rely on buses and whatnot. She'll actually be fetching you a day or two earlier as she'll need to get situated."

"I thought she had an aversion to driving." I said, remembering how my father had tried to teach her to drive but my grandparents had already embittered her to the idea.

"She eventually got over it, not without struggle." My father winces "She got herself an old, red beetle and she's been using that little thing since she was 18. My parents were furious when they heard, of course I didn't let her know I'd told them. She wanted to be taken as dead to them."

"Can't wait to hear why from the source. When will she be coming?"

"Could you call Dolores about that, Darling? I have to see something about your brother and your father has a meeting to go to."

"A meeting? About what?" My father doesn't work really, not necessary for us.

"Some charity nonsense, I'm not entirely sure if I'm being honest. All I usually have to do is sign a check." My father explains, poorly.

"Fine, could I get her phone number?"

My mother scribbles down on a sheet her ten digits and sends me off. I'll finally have a use for Xavier's gift.

I shut my bedroom door and start looking for my cell phone, Thing has been using it to make a "TikTok" and "IG". I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes every time Enid would send him some asinine little video. I'm sure it's dead now as neither of us remembers to charge it. I find it in the dresser next to my bed, on 5% battery and 27 new text messages from Xavier.

******

I can hear her before I've even seen her. She came in her red Volkswagen Beetle, blaring music from its speakers. I'd hope she doesn't plan on maintaining that obnoxious volume, I can feel the migraine coming on already as she gets out to say hello.


"Wednesday, looking as malcontent and gorgeous as always." with her ever present smirk on her lips.
"Should I come in and say hey to the folks?"

"I'm sure they'd appreciate that, Mother hasn't stopped fawning about you since she knew you'd be my new teacher."

"Ugh, I've missed Tishy. I guess you'll wanna wait out here?"

"I'd prefer it."

"Here then," she hands me the keys, takes off her circular sunglasses and puts them on the neckline of her shirt "roll down the windows and do whatcha want. I'll be out in a few."

"Thank you, I'll be waiting. Thing will also be coming, just so you know."

"Aw, sweet. He owes me the story about the safe," She says, walking inside "besides I'll need me a few minutes to talk to Gomey and Morts about your new therapist situation."

My blood pressure rises immensely as a hear her last little blip.

"What are you referring to?"

She turns around to face me and looks more bemused by my expression than I'd like for her to be.


"What? Did you think that just because you saved the outcast population of New England from a bigoted zombie, his inept however many 'greats' granddaughter and your ex-boyfriend that everyone would forget you almost killed that normie kid from your last school? Law still applies to ya, dollface. Even heroes need therapy." She says, with her hands on her hips.

"This is waste of time. It's not like therapy did much the first time around, besides get the therapist killed by one of her patients." I feel my grip around the keys start pinching into my fingers

"And shockingly that patient wasn't you." She quips, smirk still on her face before it relaxes slightly "Jesus kid, you're acting like therapy is an actual punishment. Your talking out your thoughts with someone for an hour, get over it." As she turns around to walk inside and Lurch comes out to put my bags in her car.

She waltzes out just as chipper 20 minutes later

"C'mon, we're going from Princeton to Killington, Vermont, with any luck we'll make good time and get there by this afternoon."

"Five hours isn't so bad."

"I'm not generally fond of being extended company."

"Oh please, this little ride along could end up being a nice time for you." She says, getting in the car and starting it "Did you already say bye to everyone?"

"Yes, and I doubt it."

"Dude are you always this much of a downer? Get in."

I get settled inside "This whole happy-go-lucky thing you're doing isn't making you any happier."

"Is that so?" We take off into the path by my home leading to the main road into town.

"Yes. Happiness, or at least satisfaction in my experience is an equation: reality - high expectations. If you expect people to disappoint you, experiences to be subpar and life in general to not excite you very much, then you're never really disappointed." I finish matter of factly.

"Is that really happiness then? Or even satisfaction, as you say?"

"Sure. Can't miss what I never thought I had."

"Spidey, a lot of life is what you make it. If you go to a party, or say, a long car ride, with the expectation or intention to have a bad time then you'll just go, be moody and have in fact, a bad time." She counters, putting her glasses back on to shield herself from the sun coming off the rear view mirror.

"So I'm either right or pleasantly surprised? Sounds good to me."

"It's bad vibes." She says flatly

"It's realistic vibes."

"Expecting everything to be bad all the time also isn't realistic, Wen. There are so many reasons to be optimistic."

"Are you serious?" I ask, knowing some of her past.

"Yes! Life can be a wonderful thing, especially when you're the one in control of how you're living it."

"I can't agree, the natural state of things is chaos. Violence, war, rape, murder, abuse. Eventually we all end up ashes or worm food, the sooner we contend with that fact the better it helps me linger in the good times." I say, diddling the charm on my bracelet with Nero's stinger.

"Wens how often do you think about death?"

"All the time."

"Your family's? Your friends?"

"Sometimes, and it upsets me."

"Christ."

"Oh deliberately his. You can't deny that most things just don't work out."

"The magic of pessimism." She says sarcastically

"Almost everyone is mediocre at almost everything they do. All relationships we have will end, in death or in life. The only way to feel satiated and move on is to lower your expectations and not let it get to you. Optimism is stupid."

"But the stupid, optimistic conviction that things can and will get better by making it so is what makes positive change possible in the first place. If everyone walked around being almost certain that everything's going to shit then what's the point of trying?"

"Trying to what?"

"Trying. Period. Just trying at anything. Trying to be cleaner, trying to be smarter, trying to be faster. There would be no clear point and everyone would just settle and progress would stall."

I can't deny this.

"Spidey, I get that pessimism can feel safer."

"It's not my personal well-being I'm concerned about."

"Isn't it? When was the last time you had real hope about anything? Not deterministic persistence, not stubbornness, not pettiness and not settling because hey this is as good as it's gonna get let's hope it doesn't get worse. Real, deep hope about something. Or, someone."

"I don't like how often you're turning your head to give me sideways glance."

"Wednesday."

"Isn't hope just blind faith in a nicer tone?" I ask

"Yes. Can you answer the question?"

"...I suppose I'd hoped that Eugene would recover despite the odds of surviving an explosion not being great."

"Eugene is the little beekeeper friend you made last term, right?"

"The entomopathist, yes."

"Okay, I guess that's a good example."

"I'm not hopeless, I'm just selective in where I put my energy or hope."

"So with the Hyde thing. We're you betting that Xavier Thorpe was the Hyde or we're you hoping he was so you could say you're a good judge of character."

"I didn't really think it had much to do with anyone's character at all. When I was under the impression that Xavier was the monster, I thought he was doing it without knowing it. Or that he was doing it unwillingly."

"Guess it was an ugly surprise when you found out Galpin relished in it."

It bothers me how well she can gage me despite not having spent much time with me recently.

Most of the information she has must be second hand and yet she's reaching accurate conclusions.
We're obviously related, we look enough alike where it's clear by just looking.
Not exactly of course but she's small, only two inches taller than me and wears big shoes to compensate for it. Her hair also helps. A big, curly inch of her skull. But still, black hair, black eyes, and her skin is the color mine would be if my vitamin D deficiency didn't leave me with the grey cast palor I like now. A warm tan brown like Father.

"It was unsettling. Albeit certainly made my first kiss memorable."

"I'm sure. Mine was a shit show."

"What? Did the guy have braces and they got caught in yours?" I ask sarcastically, knowing her attempt as sympathizing won't measure up.

"No. His teeth were perfectly straight and white. He'd long past the age where braces would look acceptable."

"Couldn't have been that bad." I shrug off

"He forced it on me."

"...and I'm assuming you broke his teeth in retribution." I add

"Not even close. In the position I was in at the time it would've completely fucked my life up, I showed some disgust and that was enough for me to get a stern 'talking to' from my parents."

"This has something to do with why you ran off."

"Yeah. Well, this and a ton of other shit I don't wanna get into, no use dwelling on what's done." She mutters that last part.

"I'm never having kids."

"Pfft, me neither kid. Pregnancy and childbirth alone sound like a Lovecraftian nightmare."

"Hm...well when you phrase it like that..."

We spent most of the ride in relative silence, her music making so that it's not completely quiet but clearly neither of us felt like speaking. She let me control the music for a few hours and surprisingly, she introduced me to new music I actually enjoyed. Genres I'd written off and artists I'd misjudged. I found that I can enjoy some pop, like Shakira's older sound. My aunt is also obviously angrier than she'd like to seem, given how taken away she got by She Wants Revenge. We stopped once for a bathroom break and coffee at a small coffee shop in New Paltz ironically called The Bakery. As eye-roll inducing as the name is the coffee was good and the bathrooms were clean, so we couldn't complain much. She was nice enough to pay. "I'm your aunt and the adult" and other such nonsense being the excuse. Around half way through the ride I pick up my cell phone and text two people to let them know I'm coming. Enid, as we're still rooming together and I wanted to
make sure she kept her My Little Pony adjacent decor on her side, and Xavier. Might give him a chance to get his explanation clear about these messages. Altogether the ride went by much quicker than I expected. We'd headed out at 5:04 am that morning and got to the school at 9:50 am. Of course she drives like a mad woman constantly surpassing the speed limit, only pausing for a second at stop signs and hardly getting any red lights helps. Impressive that her car hasn't been totaled.

"So when are the rest of us meeting your aunt?" Enid asks over FaceTime while I unpack, I hadn't realized she wouldn't be at the school for another two days.

"The day you get here, I suppose. Unless you've other plans. I'd introduce you to her now on this call but she's in her room working on the lesson plan, I believe."

"Than to hang out with my bestie and her super cool aunt? Never. Well, except maybe spend some quality time with Ajax."

"Good to know he's still doing well with you."

"Total gentleman, no complaints here. He's been a little worried about Xavier though. I know he's a little moody, tortured artist persona and all. But during the break he barely communicated with Jax, or anyone else as far as I know."

As far as you know is a good way to phrase it, Enid. She doesn't need to know about his messages to me, I'm not even sure how to take them myself. The only thing he responded to me after my text was "Oh, cool."

"I let him know I was on my way here this morning, I didn't get a very enthusiastic responce from. Figured that was just his nature over text." Not even close

"Really? That's surprising. I thought if anyone could get more outta him it'd be you."

"Why's that?"

"No one believes you're that oblivious, Wednesday. His not-so-subtle crush on you? Maybe that's why?"

"Maybe the events last year sobered him up and he got over it."

"Or he's just depressed."

"Also possible. Not necessarily our business though, is it?"

"I mean, it kinda is. We're his friends and all, and most of us know what it's like to not have a whole hell of a lot of support at home. He needs to get it from somewhere." She clarifies

"Wasn't his father with him during this break?"

"Ha, yeah. I'm sure he was a whole lotta help." She says sarcastically

"Wasn't he? Xavier could've died last term." I point out

"Hm, I'm not sure that's all that important to the all too busy Vincent Thorpe."

"Well, that's mildly upsetting."

"Yeah, you could say that. I know he and I aren't close but I know what it's like to feel like the family you were born into isn't the one you're supposed to be in. At least sometimes." I can empathize with that. My parents are the epitome of present, supportive parents. Almost to a fault, that's what makes it strange. In my eyes, they border on intrusive sometimes, and lacking physical boundaries most times.

"I understand. Do you know if he's an only child?"

"Good question. I'll ask Ajax, I'm not sure. I know his mom wasn't his first wife so it's a possibility he's not. Well, I have my flight at 1:00 am tonight so I gotta get going. See ya in the morning, Bestie."

"Goodbye Enid, have a safe flight.”

<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/50759830"><strong>Well Then</strong></a> (69569 words) by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliTerren"><strong>AliTerren</strong></a><br />Chapters: 13/20<br />Fandom: <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Wednesday%20(TV%202022)">Wednesday (TV 2022)</a><br />Rating: Explicit<br />Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings<br />Relationships: Wednesday Addams & Xavier Thorpe, Wednesday Addams/Xavier Thorpe, Xavier Thorpe & Wednesday Addams, Xavier Thorpe/Wednesday Addams, Xavier Thorpe/Original Female Character(s), Xavier Thorpe and Original Female Character(s), Wednesday Addams/Original Female Character(s), Tyler Galpin/Original Female Character(s), Wednesday Addams & Enid Sinclair, Ajax Petropolus/Enid Sinclair, Ajax Petropolus & Xavier Thorpe, Wednesday Addams & Original Female Character<br />Characters: Xavier Thorpe, Wednesday Addams, Enid Sinclair, Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character(s), Original Non-Human Character(s), Ajax Petropolus, Eugene Ottinger, Morticia Addams, Gomez Addams, Tyler Galpin, Donovan Galpin, Garrett Gates, Marilyn Thornhill | Laurel Gates, Vincent Thorpe<br />Additional Tags: Mildly Dubious Consent, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, Sexual Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Wednesday is soft for Xavier, Xavier Thorpe is Whipped, POV Xavier Thorpe, POV Wednesday Addams, Possessive Behavior, Obsessive Behavior, Xavier Thorpe Needs a Hug, Xavier Thorpe switch, Jealous Wednesday Addams, Pining, Yearning, Lonely Xavier Thorpe, Smut, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Smut, Masturbation, Fantasizing, Prophetic Visions, Sharing a Bed, Sharing Clothes, Xavier Thorpe Has Daddy Issues, Xavier Thorpe has Mommy Issues, Xavier Thorpe has a praise kink, Discussion of sexual assault, Discussion of rape kits, succubi, Demonic Possession, Demonic Sacrifice, soul eating, Bisexual Wednesday Addams, Creepy Tyler Galpin, wet dreams, Our season 2, Subby Xavier Thorpe, Sub Xavier Thorpe<br />Summary: <p>New term has started, with it comes new people, new feelings and new duties. Let’s hope the unresolved doesn’t get in the way.</p><p>(This might be a part one, might make sequels. Also, take this as season 2 if you also miss having Xavier in the show.)</p>

[tgmsunmontue]

It's all academic darlin' PART 5/10

12k+ Hangster AU. Updating 2-3 parts per week and will be finished by 31st January 2024. (Each part is ~1500 words).

Bradley is a professor but living his best life with IceMav parents. Jake is a pilot. Maverick sort-of tries (and fails) to play matchmaker, so he tries again. Touch of epistolary and sprinkling of one-sided unknown/mistaken-identity.

For the emails in this part (because bold (Bradley Bradshaw) and italics (Jake Seresin) aren't super obvious) the beginning and ending of emails are also marked with this: <>

PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4

                The semester kicks off eight days later and Bradley is covering one of the freshman engineering courses for a colleague who has gone on sabbatical. Freshmen aren’t his favorite cohort of students, he prefers the more seasoned ones, the ones who have the end of their qualification in their sights rather than just starting out. Know how much blood, sweat and tears they’re going to have to put in to get the most out. His life falls into the usual rhythm of teaching-research-administration, with far too much administration for his liking, although he’s sure to stay on the good side of the engineering school administrators, who help make his life so much smoother in all respects.

                He has a fairly fixed routine, knows it’s entrenched in his upbringing, like the need for all his plates and mugs to match. He has quiz night with his colleagues and some postgraduate students every week, and they never allow him to duck out unless he’s sick. He goes rock climbing at least twice a week, sometimes three times. Runs three or four mornings a week. Plays music to unwind and because it forces himself to switch off other trains of thought; has a jam session with others every month. Goes hiking every other week. Mav has started joining him at either rock climbing or for the hike. He’s started joining Mav at the hangar occasionally, either working on a bike or some other piece of junk (and no Mav, my Bronco is not junk!)

                He has a meal box delivered every week on a Sunday night just before he usually heads out to Sunday night dinner with Mav and Ice. It’s meals for five nights, meant for two people. He just takes leftovers for lunch the next day except on the nights one of his friends comes over. He’s had a couple of long-term relationships and he knows Mav worries, but Bradley really doesn’t see it. Bradley likes his life. It’s over-flowing with friends and family. His job is interesting and challenging in equal measure. He’s well-liked and respected in his field, students from around the world want him to supervise them to do their own doctoral study, which is a huge compliment. He’s never had to put a relationship before work before, and while maybe with hindsight and the maturity that comes with age he was maybe a little insensitive about a couple of things he can’t go back and change things. He has his priorities and the people in his life know what those are. His hobbies and friends are important to him. His work is very important to him.

                He doesn’t expect to hear from Jake, although realizes he’s a little disappointed that he hasn’t. After talking properly with Mav he wants to meet the guy Mav knows and not what he suspects was a heavily curated version, although he doesn’t think the version that Mav knows is really the real one either. He thinks about it occasionally, a little puzzle in the back of his mind that he cannot ask Mav about, because he for sure as fuck would jump on any sign of interest and shove him in Jake’s path (again!) and he’s fine with his dad not being involved the next time he goes on a date.

                It’s a few months later when he opens his emails and spies the name Jake Seresin and it throws him a little, unexpected.

&lt;>Dear Professor Bradshaw,

I recently read your article about the mechanical and tribological behavior of particle reinforced matrix composites, particularly those used in aircraft structures for the less weight to strength ratio, low wear rate and high creeping behavior. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind answering some questions around the physical and mechanical properties, specifically the pros and cons between silicon versus titanium composites and the potential microstructure evaluation.

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Lieutenant Jake Seresin<>

…             …             …

                Jake hadn’t known why Mav had given him the print-out of the journal article, he’d been too surprised at the time having someone waving him off as he deployed for seven months. A late deployment for reasons that were never explicitly explained but it’s what his orders were after he was physically recovered and undergone all assessments to ensure he was fit to fly. Some light reading material while you’re away… Mav had said, grinned, as he’d slapped the paper to Jake’s chest. Who even used paper these days? Trust Mav to print something out.

                It had taken him a couple of read-throughs to get to the end, the first time it had put him to sleep, but he’s sure it’s because he was so tired. Although Characteristics Study of Physical, Mechanical and Tribological Behaviour of SiC/TiB2 Dispersed Aluminium Matrix Composite isn’t his usual reading material. He had a couple of questions though, had seen the email address for the first author and just thought… why not? He had nothing to lose. Besides, Mav has recommended him to be a test pilot, and while he’s never had an interest before, if he does get into testing it would be good to understand more. Mav obviously thinks he should know more, or he wouldn’t have given him the article.

                So he shoots off the email, not wasting time with his actual questions incase the email goes to a dead-end and is never answered. He’s surprised he gets a reply within a day. Or what feels like a day on the ship, the rostered shifts making him lose time.

&lt;>Hey Jake, nice to hear from you. Glad you liked my article, surprised you even found it to be honest. Happy to answer your questions though. Do you want to do this via email, over the phone or in person? I always find in person a bit easier when I'm explaining complex problems. I've got some really good hands-on examples I can show you, happy to give you a private tour as well.

Let me know!

Kind regards,

Bradley B.<>

                Bradley. Another freaking Bradley. He wonders how popular that name is for him to have met another Bradley and now be emailing another one. Although he feels for this man, his parents naming him Bradley Bradshaw clearly wanted him to grow up and be able to take some hits. He reads the email a couple more times. It’s very familiar. Friendly. The temptation to shoot back an email brimming with innuendo is there, but he has no idea if he’s reading into something that isn’t there. He sits back and cracks his knuckles. This guy is a professor at SDU, there must be photos of him on the University website. Maybe that’ll help him determine how to reply.

                It doesn’t work though. He gets plenty of pictures, even some of Mav’s son which is fucking weird, but there are apparently more people called Bradley Bradshaw than he thought, although Bradley Shaw seems to be Google’s first fucking preference. He narrows it down by adding further criteria and finally ends up on the staff landing page listing the staff with little professional photos beside each one.

                Except for one Bradley Bradshaw.

                Instead it’s a picture of a fucking rooster of all things. The little cartoon one from Moana of all things, which he will deny knowing the name of with his last breath if he needs to. What kind of person doesn’t have a professional picture up? Okay, this one obviously. It makes Jake think he might be fairly young, or maybe really old? Fucked if he knows. He reads the little blurb and does some mental arithmetic and figures he must be around 40, maybe up to 45. He frowns, wondering how else he can find information about his personality and then he has an idea. He’s never used it, but he knows about Rate my Professor and he jumps into it, wondering what kind of information he can find. Maybe some idea about the guy.

Prof Bradshaw is a very good professor, he cares about student learning. While I found him to be a tough grader, he was engaging and thought-provoking. He constantly challenged us and didn’t take any BS.

Dr Bradshaw tends to give pop quizzes, so stay on top of the material. I liked his teaching style.

Would it kill him to dress properly? Demanding but fair. Somehow a hardass and a soft touch at the same time.

This was a difficult class, some classmates really struggled through it. Professor Bradshaw seemed to care about all students and went out of his way to help. His tests are hard, but he gives clear understanding of what he expects. The material can be really overwhelming and it’s hard to follow it, but I think if I’d had any other professor I would have failed.

Great sense of humor. Terrible taste in clothes. And facial hair.

He clearly enjoys teaching this subject and he wants his students to enjoy it just as much, which sucks when it’s a compulsory and you actually don’t want to be there. Respect for him though because he still helped me pass.

Demanding but fair. Show up to class, read the course materials and you’ll be fine.

Knows his shit.

Having a professor who is fluent in asl was a godsend. He went above and beyond to help me with my degree. He’s now one of my doctoral supervisors. Awesome educator and amazing person.

I know we’re not meant to comment on looks, but Prof B oozes confidence, and that’s attractive by itself. A++

               It’s that last comment that makes Jake grin slowly, think that this guy is maybe on the younger side.

&lt;>Hi Bradley,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I know I'm no expert, but I'd really appreciate your time. I'm not currently in the country, so we’ll just have to deal with emails for now. We can talk about that private tour and hands-on example when I'm back.

Kind regards,

Lieutenant Jake Seresin<>

                After he’s pressed send he feels a flush of unexpected embarrassment. That felt like too much. Unable to read the facial expressions, no idea if it was far too flirtatious, or just plain weird. He frantically looks for the recall button, knows he has about one minute to stop the message from going. He can’t remember where that particular setting is though and he stares at his screen. Okay. It’s fine. In his experience people who don't know they are being flirted with don't know. So hopefully there's no harm done. And if he gets a flirty reply? Well. He's okay with that too.

                He doesn’t have to wait very long.

PART SIX

[puppyfriedrice]

Back in 2010 during my freshman semester I met a guy who became one of my best friends and crushes even though he wasn't my usual 'type'...aaand I also thought I "knew" that I wasn't his type. A few months later my friend group threw a fancy dress pizza party-

Here's Coop's perspective of that night:

People were either poor or food humble (like this small amount is enough) or healthy or something so whenever there was a party I never got to eat as much as I wanted. Luckily most events like that were at night when most of the Ritalin was out of my system. But even Friday movie nights with dominos I wasn’t allowed to have too much.

Combined that with flashing forward to that first year at [redacted] when my relationship with food was finally stating to change. Always having an appetite. Enjoying more foods and flavors and branching out, feeling like a grown ass adult and having my own money so I could buy and eat whatever I wants in as large a quantity as I wanted.

I had a huge crush on you. Everything. I was drawn to to your appearance the first day I saw you. Very physically attracted to you and then you started talking to me. You were nerdy and goofy like me and you actually listened to what I was saying and were actually interested in it too. You treated me like a person and it felt real and genuine and no one ever talked like that before.

That night at the 20’s party that black dress on you was fire! There was pizza and I had grabbed a few slices earlier and ate them but wanted more. I wasn’t sure I should go back for seconds but really wanted to. And it looked like so much food! So many different toppings! I was eyeing the pizza and I think I just took one more slice because that seemed fair and reasonable. That’s when you came in. It was that conference room near the lounge that they always played D&D in. You looked at me and this is as close to what i remember as possible:

You “Going for seconds?”

Me (possibly blushing a little when you said that) “Yeah I’m thinking about it. But I already had like 5 slices not too long ago.” (And pretty sure I mentioned the money thing) “and like i didn’t even pitch in for it so…you know….”

I don’t exactly remover what you said next. I remember the feelings in my head and body way more for some reason. You make have mentioned that you helped paid and didn’t give a fuck if I ate a whole nother box. Something about how I should eat when I feel hungry and then something along the lines of “dig in” “go for it” —something like that

You were so hot in that dress and your eyes were as bright as always and when you told me I could take another box I felt my face get hot and like my belly tingled like the cliche butterflies feeling. My heart was def pounding and it felt more than just being attracted to your personality and face/body.

It was what you had said about food in relation to me.

And that if im hungry I should just eat like it was just that simple.

No one had said stuff like that I mean I never really ate that much during the day cuz Ritalin but at nights I’d just binge and it made my parents worried so….basically I didn’t have a happy relationship with food.

And when you said that the way you said it all, I got flustered and turned on and I remember feeling confused about it. I remember I just put 4 more pizzas on my plate for eating a total of 10 in less than…maybe 30-60 mins? I said thanks to you and I think I walked back to my other friends

It was a nice and confusing feeling

[hotheadrednecksimmer]

Aging out [Season Finale] - Struck by Love Legacy Challenge - Episode 18

Before Maeve knew it, Naomi was turning 18. Naomi wanted to have a low key party at the house with some friends, but Maeve insisted on them going out and enjoying themselves. Maeve arranged a party at the local bowling alley, much to Naomi's protest - claiming it uncool.

She invited 2 of her friends from school, hoping that no one important saw her pathetic excuse for a party.

Star, Maeve, Kaito, and Naomi's friends sang her happy birthday while she made a wish. Naomi thought there was no use in wishing since her life had pretty much been disaster after disaster.

After everyone left Naomi's party, Kaito and Naomi stayed behind to play another game of bowling.

Kaito: Your party was pretty cool considering it's a bowling place.

Naomi: Can't wait to go to your birthday party here too.

Kaito playfully shoves Naomi: Don't put that on me, I can totally talk mom out of it before then. I got a couple years before my 18th.

Naomi: Oh, I'm going to tell her that this was the best decision ever and to have your party here to so you have so many good memories to look back on. Just you wait, I'm going to pile it on thick.

Kaito: You better not! I just wanna play games with my friends!!

Back at home, after Naomi's first semester at ENTER COLELGE HERE. Naomi and Maeve sit in the living room to chat.

Maeve: So, end of your first semester. How's it going? How are you feeling?

Naomi: I feel okay I guess. My classmates already seem to have friends and know insider information about my teachers and they aren't always inclined to share.

Maeve: I'm sure you'll adjust. You're saving a ton of money by being home and you're closer to us if you need us. It just makes sense.

Naomi: Mom, can I please move on campus next semester?

Maeve: No, We've already talked about this. You'll be much safer here than at some dorm where you could get in trouble.

Naomi: We've had the talk, we've talked about drugs. Mom, I'm an adult. You've got to start trusting me with decisions like these.

Maeve: I do trust you honey, it's other people I don't trust.

Naomi: If you trusted me, you could trust me around other people. I can handle myself!

Maeve: I said no, that's final.

Naomi: Good thing I don't have to listen to you. You're not paying for my school. I have scholarships and can afford it on my own. Next semester I will be staying on campus.

Maeve: Naomi, I said no, you can stay here until you graduate.

Naomi smiles: I said I'm going to be staying on campus, and that's final.

Naomi stands with her plate and stomps off into the kitchen. Star joins Maeve on the couch.

Star: You okay, my love?

Maeve: I don't know what's gotten into her. She thinks she knows everything. She's not going to be safe on campus, she's going to get distracted by relationships, or drugs, or just distracted by other people. She doesn't need that, she needs to stay focus or else she lose herself ...

Star: Like you did when you got pregnant at 19?

Maeve looks over at Star with tears in her eyes: I would never give her or Kaito up. But I do wish I had more time for growth before I had them. I didn't get to go to uni.

Star: I know my love, I usually stay out of spats you have with the kids, but I think we should let Naomi make her own choices and let her make mistakes of her own. You can't protect her for the rest of her life. She's gonna end up all kinds of messed up truthfully.

Maeve: I hate that you're right. She's my baby, soon enough Kaito's going to be old enough to go to uni or move out. I don't see him going to college as much as I push.

Star: They are their own people, with their own minds. You've raised them well enough to know how to stand on their own two feet. You should be proud of the two people you created and raised.

Maeve and Star begin canoodling on the couch. Meanwhile, in the kitchen Naomi is signing up for her next semester and looking at the dorms.

AHHHHHHH, we made it to the end of Gen 1. Gen 2 will be starting out with Naomi moving to university and starting her life on her own. I'm gonna miss Maeve and Star, I'm excited to see where Naomi takes us in gen 2!!!

╭┈◦•◦❥•◦ First | Previous | Next

[alexxncl]

obey me dateables + side characters as songs i have on repeat

more drabbles <3

og lesson 76 spoilers for simeon's

nb lesson 14 (15?) spoilers for solomon's

thirteen's is very self indulgent and slightly suggestive bc she's my girlfriend /srs

masterlist | more drabbles/hcs | brothers edition

diavolo: priority - max changmin, taeyeon, winter

diavolo has always been a busy man, even more so after the celestial war. with his father's relatively unexpected -- and seemingly eternal -- slumber, he was thrust into a position that he wasn't quite ready for.

he had to keep himself composed in front of people, barely allowing himself to truly process whatever emotions were running through his body, even behind closed doors. with the appearance of seven new demons who knew nothing about the world they were forced into, diavolo had a lot on his plate.

over time, he befriended the fallen angels, but still couldn't be close to more than one of them in the way he wanted because of he never-ending, overbearing responsibility of ruling a kingdom breathing down his neck.

diavolo eventually learned that no matter how busy he is, he will always, always, make time for mc.

he was pleasantly surprised at how easily they were able to excel during the short period of time they spent in the devildom, and he was shocked to see how quickly they carved their way into his heart.

he'd never been that close with anyone except barbatos and lucifer. not even his own father knew him well enough to hold a conversation with him. mc...they were so comforting, so encouraging; they understood him and his insecurities and his struggles.

they made him feel seen, safe.

even though spending more time with them meant shirking on his responsibilities and enduring a lecture from barbatos, he'd still drop whatever he was tasked with in an instant if it meant having them by his side for just a moment longer.

their lifespan is so much shorter than his, and he needs to spend as much time with them as possible.

he knows where his priorities are, and he'll make the most of his time with them while he has the chance to, responsibilities be damned.

barbatos: heart on my sleeve - chlöe

as the butler of the devildom's own king-in-waiting, barbatos often had no choice but to put on a polished front, masking his true feelings and emotions behind a stoic, yet kind smile, tending to diavolo's every need.

depiste seeing diavolo as a trusted friend, he still viewed the young master as someone he needed to take care of, someone he felt obligated to look after and protect. after all, how could he ever share the burden of his emotions with the scared little demon that locked him in a room just to beg him for his support and companionship?

barbatos was extremely wary of mc when they first came to the devildom, but he never let it show. managing to make pacts with seven of the most powerful demons in all of hell, all within a single semester? something was...off.

he didn't want diavolo falling to a similar fate, and seeing them get close to the young master so easily made him pay very close attention to them.

he, surprisingly, found mc to be very endearing, a kind soul who wanted nothing more than to help the people they cared about, someone who would give anything to protect their loved ones, their family. | had they considered him family...?

they almost instantly say though his facade, the tiredness practically bleeding from his very being. the exhaustion from managing his personal well-being and the life and tasks of diavolo was almost palpable by the time mc came to the devildom, and all it took was a simple,

"you can always talk to me, you know...if it ever gets to be too much"

for the dam to break. all of his feelings, his deepest, darkest secrets, desires, and insecurities falling off of his shoulders and into the arms of the person he knew wouldn't think of him any differently for asking for help.

solomon: perfume - nct dojaejung

solomon never had many friends, not even when he was a kid. though, it was pretty difficult to talk to people when your parents kept you locked in a basement with the only source of light coming from a tiny window.

he enjoys the outdoors more than being cooped up inside of the house all day, anyways. it meant seeing the world, meeting new people. not everything about the world was welcoming, though.

that's why he started making pacts, that's why he decided to hone in on his power, making him stronger than his mentors and strong enough to stand a chance against anyone who stood in his way. he might not have had the best track record for pact-making, but he had more than enough to keep himself protected.

he never thought he'd see they day when he'd wind up taking on another apprentice, not until mc not so kindly begged asked to be taken under his wing.

the summer after their first semester at RAD was one he'd never forget. merciless training led to numerous unexpected nights spent at each others apartments, so often that mc started leaving their clothes and other personal items at his house.

said personal items somehow magically "disappeared" before they went to go shower, and they were forced to shower with his soap, use his towels, and walk around in one of his huge t-shirts that he got from who knows where who knows when.

mc thought it was cute watching him go to those lengths to see them his clothes. he smelled nice, and he'd never tell them where he bought his cologne from. he still managed to keep up a near flawless appearance despite the excruciatingly difficult outdoor training exercises he'd put them through, and the smell of his cologne never faded.

being around him so often was made the traces of his time with them their own personal brand of perfume.

solomon loved the outdoors, but he didn't mind staying inside if it meant seeing mc all cozy in his clothes.

simeon: kiss me more - doja cat ft. sza

honestly...simeon knew he was bound to fall from grace one way or another. he was to afraid to fall with lucifer and his brothers, but he was willing to lose his ranking to help them.

he never cared for being an angel all that much anyways, not after the celestial war. his relationships with michael and raphael were strained, and he wished more than anything that he could see lucifer and his brothers again.

the exchange program came as a relief to him. he needed a break from the celestial realm. he rarely walked around in his angel form anymore, feelings of regret and questioning his place causing more of his feathers to grey out, falling more frequently. it was easier to ignore like this, easier to hide.

the devildom was nice. dark, but nice. he didn't know what to expect, bit he grew accustomed to it rather quickly. he tried to make conversation with lucifer and his brothers, but most of what they had in common was gone. it had been for millenia.

one person he didn't think he'd grow close to, though, ended up worming their way into his heart. they didn't question his views on the celestial realm or the devildom, they were there when he needed to vent. they didn’t see him as weak, or a coward, or a mistake, or-

and their lips were so soft, the softest things he'd ever felt. he wanted, needed to feel more of them, to feel all of them, to know every inch of their mind and their soul and their body. he didn't care if it was a sin, if it was against everything he'd been taught to do.

he knew he'd fall eventually, and he would've done anything to save the three realms -- even if he did feel less connected to the one he called his home -- if it meant that he'd be able to see them again.

though, there was some selfishness behind the fall. while, yes, it was important to steal the ring in order for the three worlds not to implode, it was also -- if not more -- important for him to lose the guilt that came with indulging in his deepest, darkest fantasies.

if falling meant that he was guaranteed to be with mc, he'd do it a million times over.

luke: miss understood - dpr ian

luke never wanted to come to the devildom in the first place, but he didnt have a choice in the matter. he'd hated the thought of disappointing simeon, and he hated the thought of disappointing michael even more.

luke didn't know much -- if anything -- about life outside of the celestial realm. he barely remembered the celestial war itself; forced to stay inside while simeon and michael and lucifer fought to their near deaths, watching from a window, too young to stop the destruction that plagued his home.

he looked up to lucifer...lucifer and all six of his siblings in all honesty, but he'd never admit that out loud. the thought of them falling from grace for something so...so insignificant, he would never understand.

demons were so...off. he never understood demonkind, their outlandish ways of thinking and behaving. he barely understood solomon, he was the least humane human he'd ever come into contact with.

but he did understand mc. he clung to them almost as much as he clung to simeon when he first arrived. they were always nice to him, helping him understand the world around him. but...they were friends with lucifer and his brothers. but, why? it's not like demons cared for humankind. the love and compassion in their hearts had to have dissipated after the fall, right?

he got close to mc in no time. they were like family to him. he'd do anything to make sure they were happy, trying new things. he started to actually enjoy life in the devildom with them around.

by default, he had to spend more time with...them. but after a while, he wasn't as opposed to it. they cared about mc just as much as him, after all, even if they have odd ways of showing it.

mephistopheles: get used to it - justin bieber

mephistopheles was indifferent towards humankind. as long as they minded their business and didn't meddle in the affairs of or make things difficult for him, he'd leave them be.

angels on the other hand, he hated them. he hated the way they acted, the way they thought, hell, the way they carried themselves, was irritating to him...and having to deal with fallen angels due to the celestial war, it was his worst nightmare. but he got over it. eventually. whatever makes diavilo happy makes him happy.

diavolo's idea to start an exchange program wasn't a shock to him, per se, but it wasn't necessarily something he was excited about. he'd support all of his childhood friend's endeavors, regardless of his own opinions. he'd do anything to rekindle their ever thinning relationship.

mc's arrival to the devildom wasn't something he paid attention to very much in the beginning. they didn't bother him, he didn't bother them. but...they did manage to make a pact with all seven brothers and grow close to diavolo in a ridiculously short amount of time. that would make for an interesting story, wouldn't it?

he decided to interview them, thinking he wouldn't be too interested in what they had to say. he just wanted a cover story, really. but he ended up having more fun than he'd like to admit; both of them smiling and laughing at the end, sharing embarrassing stories about the brothers and diavolo that they promised each other to never share.

he could see why everyone had quickly grown so fond of the human, finding himself gravitating towards them while walking to classes, during lunch, after school in the courtyard.

their presence in his life was something he didn't know he'd be grateful for. the small snack boxes with sticky notes that would randomly appear on his desk when he stayed late at RAD, the good morning and good night texts and calls...he'd never even had a relationship like this when he and diavolo were this close.

it became almost second nature to him, a weight lifted off of his shoulders as he slowly grew accustomed to their tendencies, subconsciously adopting some of them himself.

raphael: would you mind - prettymuch

raphael was content with being an angel. he never even considered falling from grace as an option. losing his powers, facing michael's disapproval...all of this was unfathomable.

(that's a lie. he'd contemplated it for a brief moment when lucifer asked who's side he was on. he blamed it on "his status", "wanting to stay by michael's side." he was afraid, terrified even. but he'd never admit that)

getting chosen for diavolo's exchange program wasn't something he expected, especially given his strained relationship with lucifer and his brothers before the celestial war.

he'd heard some things about the human who'd managed to make pacts with his old brothers, intrigued by how quickly they were able to do so. a human with little to no power couldn't have forced them into pacts. he knew they wouldn't willingly forge pacts with someone unless they trusted them deeply, but what was so special about them?

then, he met them. they weren't the nicest to him...but this much was expected given his past with the brothers. but they weren't outright mean, either. cold glances and greetings, only interacting when necessary.

he and the brothers fixed their issues eventually, and he wound up spending more time with mc as he hung around the brothers more. it was easy to see why they were so enamored with them, they were easy to love. especially after they felt comfortable enough around him to loosen up, seeing him as less of a threat and more of a friend.

they got close surprisingly quickly, hanging out in between classes and after school, on weekends when the two of them had some free time. he wouldn't admit to it, but he was developing feelings for them...the same feelings that caused his sister to fall

he ignored them at first, claiming they were strictly platonic, but everyone could see through his lies.

the more he thought about it, the more he realized he really wouldn't care if loving them meant losing his status.

thirteen: lipstick lover - janelle monáe

thirteen always had a thing for pretty souls. she just...liked watching them from a distance. most of the time. she'd hate to taint something so precious, but sometimes, she couldn't help herself.

first, she met solomon. they were, surprisingly, really good friends when they were both young. still so curious about the world around them, so naive to how twisted and evil the people in it could be to pure souls like his.

they were separated for some time, and in that time, something changed. he wasn't the same. she hated it, hated it to the point that she could barely stand being around him without a stabbing pain in her chest reminding her of how bright, how beautiful he used to be. she wanted the old solomon back, her best friend, one of her only friends.

she'd never found a soul as bright as his, not until she met mc at least. despite everything they'd been through, seeing themselves die, almost dying right after, and facing near death countless times before and after that -- it's enough to fuck someone up permanently -- their soul never lost it's shine.

they had so much care for the world they grew up in, the realm they were thrown into, and the realms they hardly had a glimpse of. it didn't make sense to thirteen, she didn't understand how someone who'd been through so much could still have such an untainted outlook on the world.

she very quickly became attached to mc, always following them around RAD. stolen glances and fleeting touches when they passed each other in the halls, pulling them away from the brothers to show them her newest traps, leaving class early in favor of exploring the devildom or showing mc around her cave.

or they'd skip school entirely after first period and find themselves back at the house of lamentation, barely making it to mc's room in time before her lips were all over mc's skin, hands touching and pulling and grabbing and kneading wherever they could reach, mc's hands finding purchase wherever thirteen allowed.

and when they finally had some alone time, clothes strewn across mc's floor, tangled in the sheets and caught up in each others warmth, thirteen noticed that their soul didn't dim when she came near, when she touched them. it shone brighter, to the point that she had to take a step back and admire it.

it shocked her at first, not knowing what was happening, how they could get even more intoxicatingly beautiful. one she found out mc felt the same, that she was the cause of their soul's blinding glow, that her touch could do something nobody else had been able to do, she had to have more. she couldn't get enough.

she didn't care if she was reprimanded by RAD superintendents or her parents; her relationship with her parents wasn't the best anyways after failing to claim solomon's soul before he became immortal. she stopped caring about their opinions ages ago.

empty classrooms, restaurant bathrooms, janitors closets, anywhere really. thirteen's lips hooked onto mc's neck, lipstick stains and bruises decorating their gorgeous, soft skin and mc's hands in her hair, gripping her shirt, tugging the RAD jacked off of her waist and tossing it to the side.

after all, who was she to deny such a beautiful soul the chance to shine brighter than the celestial realm's sky?

[kariachi]

Made the mistake of reading past posts by other people about the desire for a Gwen storyline where she just snaps while I already had five billion ideas in my head and now just the image of a 90% Gwen 10% Argit storyline, within OV and with some of my shit going, is drifting through my head....

Start off with Gwen and Kevin coming back to Bellwood during a school break- Kevin very openly thinks they should have gone somewhere else because the ongoing semester has been a bear for Gwen, but Ben misses her and she hasn't seen her parents in a while so Gwen insists

Three episode build-up

First episode focuses heavily on Gwen and just how things are at home, with a mother whose expectations are too high and who disapproves of what Gwen is down to her DNA, nonetheless her life choices, with a side helping of hero stuff.

Second episode goes back to a Ben focus, but Gwen and Kevin are still around, still helping out, and so get to be there when it's revealed that the villain of the week is a Max bastard, come around to start shit because fuck that old man specifically. The episode has a good amount of Gwen still feeling like she's second fiddle to her cousin, and ends with her noting how she supposes she should be grateful she at least wasn't just forgotten about like their new relative, but it's clear she doesn't actually feel better and that the reveal of Max's past 'escapades' has shaken her and her remaining faith in her grandfather

Third episode is just a complete beast of a 'stop the nasty villain' episode, everyone is getting their teeth kicked in on all sides, Gwen ends up going nearly full Anodite to end the fight. Kevin checks up on her while the Plumbers gather the villain up, and while Ben starts out doing the same he's pulled away when the cameras show up and people start talking about what a great job he did stopping the threat.

At which point Gwen- already stressed from school, and her mother, and the family drama, and the fight, and her preexisting shit- pulls a Kevin

Full Anodite mode, alternating between vanishing off- where she just works herself up further, caught up in her own head and the bullshit she's been dealing with- and showing up to just level shit. There has been too much on her plate for too long, and while she's been letting out bits and pieces before, now she's just letting it all out on who or whatever her brain is circling like a busted rc car. The bullshit with her mom? Level shit. The bullshit with her grandpa? Level shit.

Her strip of carnage is less expansive than Kevin's was, but there is no 'I'm a threat so I'm avoiding you/you should avoid me'. We already know that when she gets angry she's got no problem with hurting the people she loves, and this is kicked up to eleven here. The boys get their shit wrecked when they try to stop her, whether it's by talking her down or fighting her down.

To say tensions are high would be to understate things by a fair margin

Ben is shocked to be hit with the full extent of how everything from dealing with her mom to his fame have been affecting her, having his own mini crisis within the crisis. Especially once she does him real damage. These boys see the inside of a hospital at least once.

Kevin isn't shocked by shit but he is very unhappy with the situation and worried about her

Seeing that the power of love has failed, and the power of combat has failed, Max brings up the power of murder

This time around it's Ben who's upset at the idea of just giving up on this person he loves who has snapped.

Rook is sorrowful at the idea, but sees the reasoning in it, she is incredibly dangerous and they haven't been able to stop her

Kevin, meanwhile, to add to Ben's shame, immediately puts Max on the floor and makes it clear that he is not afraid to add one old man to his body count. There will be no killing his woman on his watch.

Alas, what can they do? Clearly an impossible problem, but they have to do something. They need an impossible solution.

Enter the Argit chunk of the situation.

I'm picturing, like the Ultimate Kevin arc, we get two episodes and then a two-parter finale

End of the first episode we get Max implying that she might be too much for the boys to handle, end of the second we get the 'we are not killing her' confrontation, beginning of the finale we get another failure to break her out of this spiral she's locked herself in

The boys get their asses handed to them again, Rook is still not sure they can stop her, Ben is desperate, and Kevin- Kevin bundles everyone in the car and heads for Argit's

The other two are not convinced, especially when Argit hears that they want help with Gwen and immediately shoots them down.

"Red hates me, is rampaging, one of the most powerful fuckers on this planet, and I can't quill pure energy." "Yeah, but she's unwarded."

At which point Argit begins refusing much more emphatically. It's not mentioned what that means or why it's relevant, but it is made clear that he is Very Against whatever the implication is, to the point that Ben offers to pay him for his services and he gets pissed at the mere suggestion.

In the end it takes Kevin begging and "You know I wouldn't ask if there was another option" to get him to reluctantly agree, making it clear he's only doing so for Kevin's sake

They find her about to level the Morningstar estate- which they all agree wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't the chance there were innocent staff and/or pets inside- at which point Argit steps forward, tells her to stop, and... she does.

Her response alongside the following events make it very clear that he's controlling her, as little as he can get away with but enough to keep her to from hurting anyone

We get our explanation when Gwen demands one- that Charmcaster killed her, Ben, and Kevin, that he warded Kevin after they were brought back, but because the other two weren't they're vulnerable to being controlled with magic. Demands to know since when can he use magic and why hasn't he before are brushed off with a 'this isn't my first time' and a subtle camera shift to Kevin

The end of the arc doesn't come in fighting, Argit makes sure of that, but in talking her down (much like he tried in the Rooters flashback with Kevin)

There's a lot of Gwen getting shit off her chest she hasn't really let herself deal with before this- from the betrayal that comes with all the secrets in her family to just how big an effect the shit with Charmcaster has had on her and beyond. There's a lot of validation (yes her grandfather is a piece of shit) alongside calling her out (just because shit's crap doesn't mean you get to take it out on everybody else) and offers of help dealing with shit

That last bit mostly comes from the boys, Ben's got apologies for days for not realizing that his spotlight was casting a shadow on her, Kevin's always out to support her and more than happy to help her get space away from her mom, Rook's all for helping her find a decent shrink because clearly she needs to be able to talk about this shit with somebody. Argit's got a whole list of places she can go off-world to get away from her family and responsibilities and take an actual fucking vacation, and offers to give her mom a piece of his mind if she wants.

Gwen gets to, to a degree, process and release her feelings in a healthy manner and it's enough to help bring her out of her spiral and back under control, there is much hugging and apologizing and a strong sense that things are going to improve moving forward

We end with Ben joking noting that clearly not getting warded was the smart idea, and Argit huffingly herding him and Gwen into the car, saying that they're going back to his place for a warding whether they want one or not

[farfromsugafanfic]

Dangerous | Chapter 9: Brisé

Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Bad Boy!Jimin, Bartender!Reader College AU

Pairing: Jimin/Named Reader

Rating: M | Minors DNI

Chapter Warnings: references to sexual assault and past injury, cursing

2 weeks later (Audition in one week)

Jimin (9:22 am): Can we please talk? Please stop ignoring me.

Jimin (9:22 am): I'm worried about you.

You locked your phone and walked up the stairs to the library. Over the past few weeks, you'd neglected your other classes because you rehearsed for the audition day and night. While that did not change, it also meant that your normal end of the semester tests were coming up. And, even if you passed the audition and got into the dance program, they wouldn't accept you without satisfactory grades in your other classes.

Making your way to your favorite corner of the library, you took out your textbooks and laptop, hoping to finish your assignments before dance class in the early afternoon. It was easier to through yourself into your schoolwork than answer your texts or face Jimin.

You'd only seen him at dance class since he left your apartment the morning after everything went down. When you woke up the next morning, you emerged from your bedroom with a headache and to the smell of eggs cooking on the stove. The darkness under his eyes told you that he stayed awake all night.

"You need to eat well this morning. Your body went through a lot." He sat down the breakfast in front of you. "I Googled everything and the drug should be out of your system soon, but eating a lot will help."

He'd practically begged to stay with you, his brown eyes matching the kitten you shared. Yet. you still forced him to leave after breakfast, not able to meet his eyes again. You spent the rest of the day in bed, sleeping off the headache and trying to prevent the memories of that night from coming back.

"Hey, stranger," someone said, taking a seat across from you. You looked up from your textbook and saw Namjoon's dimpled smile. It caused you to smile you too.

"Hey, it's been a while," you said. Namjoon didn't come to the club as much as the rest of Jimin's friends. They all said it was because he was too busy juggling making his own music and being one of the top students in the entire university. "How have you been?"

"Fine," he said, relaxing back against his seat. "Everything going okay? You seemed kinda stressed looking down at your anthropology book."

You immediately put on a smile, even though you could tell by his look that he didn't believe it. "Oh, it's fine. The audition is in a week, so I've just got a lot on my plate right now."

"You know, you should talk to Jimin about it. He went through this already, he could probably offer you some good advice."

You lowered your laptop screen halfway. "Oh, uh, yeah," you said.

"Why haven't you talked to him lately?"

"He's told you?"

"Of course," Namjoon said, taking out textbooks from his backpack. "He's worried about you and wanted my advice." Namjoon paused and looked up at you. "He, uh, didn't go into detail about what happened. Just that it was something bad--"

You nodded, seeing from the sincerity in his eyes that he had a good idea of what happened. "If I tell you why I've been avoiding him, do you promise not to tell Jimin?"

Namjoon's expression hardly changed, unfazed by your request. He gave a short nod. "So, this whole thing kinda started as a way to get back at him for everything that happened in high school. But, after everything, I don't know, I think I'm starting to like him." You felt the rock that fell into the pit of your stomach roll away when you said those words out loud. "It's not just cause of what happened a couple weeks ago, he just--he's changed."

You closed your anthropology textbook, knowing no homework was going to get done. Folding your arms over the book, you rested your chin on top of them.

"I'm glad you're starting to figure out how you feel," Namjoon said. "You know, I think Jimin would accept you if you told him."

Your gaze wandered over to the other tables where students worked with headphones in or discussed group projects. "I'm not ready to do anything about it. I want to remember how it feels to be alone for a little while." Sighing, you looked back at Namjoon. "Plus, I'm starting my new job soon and the audition is soon. It's not the best time to start something like that anyway."

Your phone alarm went off. "I need to get to dance class," you said, packing up your things. "Mind if I walk with you?"

You shook your head, smiling at the way he seemed to just want to keep you company. Walking out of the library, you headed for the Dance building.

"I'm glad we got the chance to talk," Namjoon said. "I'll let Jimin know you're doing okay, but I won't give him any of the details." The two of you stopped outside the Dance building. "Do you want to go for lunch after you audition? My treat and maybe it will calm your nerves to have plans afterward."

"Okay," you said, giggling at his obvious concern. "It's a date."

The doors to the building opened and another student nearly ran into you. When you made eye contact, you barely had time to react before Jimin gave you a curt nod and an apologetic smile before propping open the door and heading back to the classroom.

[][][]

1 week later

Nobody talked. Yet, the sounds in the room echoed off the walls. The sound of tapping feet, beats counted under breath, and the lacing up of shoes again and again. You'd considered buying new slippers for the occasion, but you had not tied them in so long, you were afraid you would forget.

"Kim Inna."

You stood and walked into the auditorium. The seats were empty except for the first row where a handful of professors sat and the three Dance major TAs. Trying not to look at Jimin, you climbed on stage, feeling the muscles in your shoulders tense. The lights prevented you from making out faces totally, but you felt Jimin's gaze on you.

You introduced yourself and got into position at center stage. The muscles in the back of your neck tensed as the music started up. Trying to relax, you began the performance, letting your body steer you in time with the music.

The first part was a mix of hip hop with a little contemporary mixed in. Nothing that would stand out. About a minute into the song, it shifts and so does our body. Your calf tenses as you move to stand on one leg, bringing your stance to balance on your toes, distributing the weight evenly across your body. Your arms straighten outwards and you extend the other leg.

It was a simple move that you practiced hundreds of times. The position didn't hurt too much, but as began twirling, you feel the familiar pull in your heel, shooting down your foot. The choreography planned for the pain and you plummeted towards the ground, catching yourself with the palms of your hands and bringing your chest to the ground.

The position mimicked the way you'd laid on stage after you Achilles snapped. Despite the pain in your ankle, your arms had given out too. Rolling over onto your back, you got up with your good leg and the strength of your core. The move had taken countless tries to perfect, your head coming up from the ground last.

The rest of the performance went by in a blur. The pain clouded your vision towards the end and when the music stopped, you looked up, only barely making out the figures of the judges. You could feel your limbs throbbing with pain.

"Thank you," you said, bowing and walking off stage. You knew Jimin would know the story you were telling. As you walked off the stage and your view of the lights shifted, you saw Jimin's Adam's apple bob with worry. You didn't have to meet his eyes to feel their worry.

[][][]

You fell to your knees once you made it backstage. Breaths tumbled from your mouth and you tried to catch them. Your eyes watered at the ache in your muscles and a sharp vein of worry stabbed you that you might have injured yourself again.

You couldn't even think about what the judges thought or if you were going to make it through. Running your hands through your hair, you tried to stand up, looking around and hoping no one was around to see you like this.

"Inna," Jimin said, his soft footsteps coming from deeper backstage. He must've come around.

You looked up at him. "What are you doing? You can't just leave being a judge--"

"The TAs are switching off," he said. "I've been there all morning."

Somehow, the conversation brought back some of the feeling in your legs and you managed to stand up, walking over to a chair nearby. Jimin pushed a wooden crate belonging to the drama department under your feet. Grabbing a folding chair, he sat down in front of the box, spreading his legs around it.

His hand came to hover over your legs. Jimin looked up at you, meeting your eyes. Lines formed on his forehead and his fingers floated in midair.

"Can I touch you?" he asked, keeping eye contact.

You nodded, allowing yourself to release your posture and slide down in the chair. Jimin's hands gently massaged your calves, working from the knees down and back up again. When he reached your ankle, he carefully took two of his fingers, gently rubbing them over the Achille's tendon.

The throbbing in your muscles dulled. The feeling of Jimin's fingers against your skin made you try to stifle the moan that left your lips.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"I'm a double major in kinesiology."

His voice sounded curt, so matter of fact. It alerted you to the way Jimin had thrown up his guard around you. Was he scared of kissing you only for you to go make out with one of his friends? Of reaching out to brush his hand against yours only to watch you flirt with another guy?

It should feel like a victory. A lift in your chest. This was exactly what you wanted, for Jimin to dance around you, feel the way you did all those years ago. But, now, you just feel like a half-rotten apple under a tree.

"Oh," you said, thinking back to when Jimin had tried to get you to dance ballet again. The way he carefully watched the way your leg shook and how he held you when you tumbled down.

"You think it's psychological too, huh?"

Jimin's hands left your skin and the air almost felt cold, empty. He stood up, holding out his hand to help you up as the music for the next audition started. You took his hand and carefully stood up, feeling steadier and the pain subsided to just a dull throb in the back of your ankles and knees.

"Pain is pain, Inna. It doesn't matter where it comes from or what causes it."

[][][]

It was 7 pm when you reached the cafe where Namjoon wanted to meet. You'd never been to this cafe before, but it was cute and had a book exchange bookshelf. It seemed exactly like the kind of place that Namjoon would invite you.

You didn't see Namjoon yet, so you ordered a bubble tea and sat down in one of the booths. You scrolled through Instagram, seeing all the gorgeous photos taken during the auditions. It broke your heart knowing that only about half of those who auditioned would get in. Many dance majors at your school auditioned multiple times before getting their spot.

The bell on the door dings and you look up, expecting to see the tall lanky man who invited you here. Instead, it was a teenage girl and her mother, who didn't notice your disappointed look as they approached the counter.

Namjoon made your stomach flip in knots in a way you hadn't experienced for years. You weren't attracted to him until he approached you in the library two weeks before. His hair laying a little haphazardly and the way his eyes smiled before his lips.

You weren't sure if you truly liked him or not and you were not ready to jump into a relationship after Chul-soo. Yet, as you unlocked your phone and saw a screen blank of texts, or any notifications at all. Your heart sunk.

The bell rings again. This time you look up and meet the eyes of Jimin, who looks as confused as you imagine you look. He runs a hand through his hair and sits down across from you.

"Have you seen Namjoon?" Jimin asked, looking around the cafe.

Your phone dinged as your lips parted to reply. Jimin's followed suit.

Namjoon (7:25 pm): You need to talk to him, Inna. I'm sorry I had to force it this way, but I know you miss him. Take advantage of this time.

Jimin looked up from his phone, his gaze looking everywhere but at you. "I-I have been wanting to talk to you, Inna," he said. You'd never heard his voice shake like that like he was about to break out into tears. "Are you doing okay after--?

You stayed silent. You weren't okay, hadn't been for the past month since that night at the club. You'd had to quit your job and find a new one, were in the process of getting a restraining order against Chul-soo, and you felt bubbling in your stomach at the thought of meeting Jimin's eyes. Things were far from okay.

You tried to hide the tears, taking a sip of your bubble tea. The sweet honeydew flavored tea and boba providing momentary relief from the sour taste of anxiety on your tongue.

"I've been worried about you. Every time you didn't respond to a text, I just worried you were in trouble. And I wouldn't be there to help you."

"Jimin, don't try to guilt me into responding to you. I want to be left alone." Jimin sighed. "I know that's not true. But, I understand if you don't want to talk to me. I just hate having to check Instagram or text Namjoon to make sure you're okay."

"I don't owe you anything just because you helped me. You know I'm thankful, Jimin. But, I-I can't trust you again after our history. I know it's stupid. It was years ago and it shouldn't matter. But, it does, Jimin." You paused, your fingers collecting the condensation from the plastic cup. "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can. I know you can deal with douchebags at the bar on your own. And watching you perform today, it was amazing, Inna. You're amazing. And I know you can do all that on your own. But that doesn't mean you have to."

You look down at the boba in your cup and stir it around, hoping it would somehow spell out what you should say or do. Looking back up, you met his eyes, feeling like you kicked a puppy.

"I don't want to do it with you, Jimin."

Throwing your bag over your shoulder and scooting out of the booth, you made your way out onto the street. You wonder if this was how Jimin felt when he embarrassed you that night. If it felt like his heart was shattering when he met your eyes. Getting home, you collapsed on the couch falling asleep with Jackson purring on your chest.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

[poliodeuces]

hello france :~) ive been putting off sending this ask bc i feel like a parasite and that i should be managing on my own but...its about soma and u are the only person i know i could reach out to for anything soma related. im studying japanese at uni and need to pick my own source to translate for this semester, so after discussing it with my professor (who was very shocked to find out soma is also an author lol) we agreed i should give his short stories a try!!!! the thing is i dont have them and theres no way in hell i can order any number of spin to poland at the moment...my question is, and thats only bc i assume u have read at least some of them so if im wrong and FORGIVE ME!!!!!, is there any way u could help me with getting my hands on the source? not literally as i cant have them physically obviously. im not asking u to straight up send me the text although thatd be so lovely i wont lie but maybe theres a way i could read them without being painfully limited by logistics.... ;__; my prof seems hooked on isana from what ive told her about it so thats my priority at the moment. academics aside its also just disheartening to be missing out on ur lifetime favorite artists work....like...im willing to go such lengths for it so even if u want something in return im fine with that. ive already dedicated so much of my university life to soma so ive accepted thats how i gotta move lol....that aside, I LOVE UR ART!!!! ive been silently following u for years now, i love reading ur thoughts about somas music and writing, about fling posse and literally everything else, they might be little things but it motivates me a lot to not give in and start consuming content passively but keep being passionate!!!!! people dont always understand it which hurts but its one of the only things about myself that i wish would remain unchanging for long time...<3 thank u so much for taking ur time to read this, i hope u always take care!!!🩵

hello anon and thank you for this really long ask www it's always nice to see another soma saito fan who's interested in his activities outside voice acting.

to be honest i do not have a physical copy of the anthologies his work is featured in 😭😭 a lovely friend was kind enough to share them w me whenever possible. that said i do not have a copy of isana ! i personally havent read it ( i REALLY want to. it's the only soma piece i havent read). but thats so nice that youve dedicated a study for that, i would have done the same when i was in college www

im so flattered that what i do and have done as a fan have inspired you...in this day where it seems like cringe culture is coming back (i guess it's always been here, but in different forms a la corn plate tweet)

take care too anon !! if you ever wanna talk soma, and if youre comfortable w revealing yourself, shoot me a dm ww you are not a parasite !!!!

[casspurrjoybell-25]

Cold as Ice - Chapter 41 - Part 1

*Warning - Adult Content*

Landon Reilly

The blast of warm air as I entered the coffee shop made my cheeks burn.

Wren held the door open for me and got in line where Anthony was manning the register.

His gaze lingered on us for a moment then he quickly looked down at his screen.

"Well, good morning, Anthony. Long time, no see," Wren greeted in a teasing tone when it was our turn at the counter.

"How is this fine morning treating you?"

"Good morning, what can I get for you?" Anthony responded in a bland tone, acting as if he didn't know either of us.

"I see, you're embarrassed but it's alright," Wren said.

"We'll have two medium hot peppermint mocha lattes."

I frowned at that.

I was used to Wren ordering my coffee but he had been ordering the same thing for me for a while now.

Trying something new made me nervous.

"Name for the order?" Anthony asked.

Wren looked back at me with a grin, clearly enjoying how uncomfortable Anthony was with what happened this morning.

"James' roommate," Wren replied.

Anthony looked at him with a deadpanned expression, clearly annoyed with Wren's antics.

"Your order will be right out," Anthony replied and motioned for us to move to the side so he could help the next customer in line.

"You really have to be the most irritating person in the room wherever you go," I said to him, sticking my hands in my pockets to warm them up.

Wren shrugged, a grin still decorating his annoyingly handsome face.

"That's just who I am," he said.

"Why did you change my drink?" I asked as I watched it being made.

"It's seasonal," Wren said.

"Perfect for Christmas time. You'll like it."

Once we got our drinks, we went over to our usual table and Wren stared at me until I tried the drink. I took a small sip and set the cup down.

Wren looked at me expectantly.

"Do you like it," Wren stated.

"It's alright," I replied.

"I prefer the caramel."

"Hmm," he hummed, taking a sip of his own drink.

"So, are you ready for finals?"

I was dreading finals, actually.

It constantly felt like I had too much on my plate with school, hockey, therapy, Wren.

"Not really," I admitted and I felt kind of stupid for it.

I was talking to someone who was probably ready for finals at the start of the semester.

"I can help you prepare," Wren offered.

I was saved from having to answer by Anthony walking over to our table and taking a seat beside me.

"Can we help you?" Wren asked, raising his eyebrows at him.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted this morning," Anthony replied, though he didn't sound all that sorry.

His voice was stilted like he was reading from a script.

Part of me felt bad for Anthony but that was mostly overshadowed by my embarrassment due to the fact that when he barged in the room this morning, I was barely clothed under a blanket with Wren.

Not that Anthony probably even noticed that.

He was too busy with James.

"No need to apologize," Wren said.

"I found it quite entertaining. Though, I am dying to know more about what happened last night that made you so angry."

Anthony glared at him.

"You can ask him about it."

"And I will."

"I don't know how you put up with him," Anthony said to me with a scoff.

I just shrugged.

There was no way to explain it, really.

Not in a way that anyone but Wren and I would understand.

Wren wasn't the same with me as he was with other people and I didn't know how I would feel about it if he was.

Part of me liked being the only one Wren was different for, the only one that could see more layers of him and he was the only one who could see more of me.

Anthony left the table and Wren took a few sips of his drink before he brought up finals again, much to my dismay.

"I can help you prepare for your finals," Wren repeated.

I let out a sigh.

"You don't need to do that."

"You have a lot going on," he said.

"There's no shame in needing some help."

He said that like it was so easy but he had no idea what it felt like to have a boyfriend who was so much smarter than you knowing you needed help with stupid Gen Ed finals.

It was humiliating, having my ivy league boyfriend see how much dumber I was than him.

"And if I don't want your help?" I snapped and instantly winced at my tone.

Wren just smiled over the rim of his cup.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"I shouldn't snap at you."

"Embarrassing you wasn't my intention," Wren replied, always knowing exactly how I felt.

"I would just hate for you to be overwhelmed."

My heart warmed at that.

I was still so used to being defensive around Wren.

I had to wrap my head around him actually being open about his care for me.

"I'll let you know if I need you," I relented.

Something told me that was all Wren wanted, to be needed.

A little while later the two of us walked back to Wren's dorm and each took a shower.

Wren had suggested we take a shower together but I just slammed the bathroom door in his face, my cheeks red with embarrassment.

Wren had some of his clothes laid out for me when I got out of the shower.

The outfit was something I wouldn't have picked out for myself, so I thought of this as Wren's way of getting me to dress better.

He set out light cream colored pants that were rolled at the ankle with a dark green sweater and a white shirt to go underneath.

I put the clothes on and the pants were a little snug in the waist.

The sweater, which would have been over sized on Wren, was a closer fit for me.

When Wren got out of the shower, just a towel around his waist, he looked at me and nodded.

"What?" I asked, looking down at the clothes and suddenly feeling self conscious.

"I just thought that color would look nice on you," he explained.

"I was right. It brings out your eyes."

My first instinct was to cover my face with my hands, shielding Wren from seeing the embarrassment on my face but I didn't because the look on his face made me keep my eyes on him.

He was smiling at me as he looked me over, clearly happy with what he'd done.

"Pants are a little tight," I told him, standing up from where I sat at his desk.

Wren shrugged and opened up his closet to pick out his own clothes.

"Maybe that's what I'll get you for Christmas," he said.

"Some pants like mine."

"You don't need to get me anything for Christmas."

I hated Wren spending money on me on food and coffee.

The last thing I wanted was for him to actually buy me gifts.

"Okay, I'll just get you something for fun," he said with a grin, pulling his shirt on over his head.

I didn't want him to know it, though I was sure he already did but I was nervous about Christmas.

Not only would I be seeing his whole family again after what happened on Thanksgiving weekend but it would be the first Christmas I'd be without my family.

My last Christmas with them soured my memory of the holiday and I didn't want to sour it for anyone else.

[star-kovs]

I’m feeling anxious right now. I’ve had a bad depression slump and all of my responsibilities that haven’t been attended to because of it and things I hadn’t gotten to before it started are really weighing on me. I feel like I’m at a point where I just need to power through and take care of everything or else I will drown. I’m already flailing.

I love love love my mom. But lately, any time I try to open up about how I’m feeling and struggling, all she hears is the times I mentioned that I have ADHD or depression and how they make it hard, the times when I acknowledge those mental hurdles. I still am trying to find a way around them and I am the only one who can.

I wish I had help with all I need to do. My room is a pigsty and I can’t seem to wrap myself around the first step to cleaning it up the slightest bit. It feels so overwhelming. But I don’t have anyone who can/will go in and do it for me either. So I just try to make it as livable as possible. My bed is clean (with nothing piled up on it), so there’s that. But everything else? It just feels like it’s so so much.

The rest of the house isn’t in the best condition either. The house has never been 100% finished since my grandma passed. She wasn’t the cleanest person. Some progress will be made but I’m not sure any room has ever been 100% done. We also want to move at some point soon so we have been going through things that have been catch points for random items and throwing out things we don’t need.

It doesn’t help that I also haven’t been going to class. I am enrolled in classes this semester but saying I am unmotivated is an understatement. I have trouble getting myself to leave at a good time for anything, but especially for campus before class. And it’s been multiple weeks since I last went and 2 classes (out of 4) that I have never attended at all. Im pretty much done anyway, and won’t be enrolling again in the fall. I hate that I won’t be walking and receiving a diploma but I’m just wasting money on introductory classes trying to find 2 minors to use to get a degree in my current program. So even if I were to make up my mind, I still gave all the semesters and classes to take to earn those minors. And I’m burnt out and tired of having classes to take. But I can’t just not go at all and fail all 4 classes in the mean time. I receiving loan money for the semester too. I don’t want to owe it all back because I didn’t go to class and failed all my classes.

I have an appointment with a new therapist tomorrow. I was supposed to have an appointment in December but my therapist’s office called me back to say she was retiring a week before my appointment so I also have to get established with a new therapist. I’ve also been on a new dose of my antidepressant since January and I’m not sure it’s as effective for me. I’m also not sure how much my depression this time is from my behavior (which isn’t being helped by the depression) or from the medicine not working.

I just have so so much on my plate and nobody to talk to it about. And sometimes I will finally feel ready to do what needs to be done to help ease it, I’m told to not do it because I can leave the house and socialize and it will make me feel worse not to go… so I end up putting the more effective actions off even more

[nickgerlich]

In The Weeds

Happy Sunday, everyone! Today concludes five weeks of the Spring 2023 semester. Marketing, for all its warts and pimples, is probably the easiest topical area in the College of Business to find things to talk about. That’s because it’s going on each and every day. In second place I would put Economics, because the economy. I think you get that, too. The other topics are all important, but their appearances in the news are usually just tied to earnings calls and management problems. 



I wouldn’t be able to write every day in those fields. So thank you, Marketing. You make my job all too easy. 



Sunday is also the day that I allow for wandering off into the weeds a bit, with topics that stretch the imagination and at first may make my students wonder exactly what is the connection to our course. Today’s is no different in that regard, but when you think about the topic I’m going to present, I think you will see very clearly how all of this ties in to Digital Marketing. Actually, Captain Obvious would raise his hand in a New York second. This one is that easy, but at the same time gives us reason to ponder the significance.



I hearken back to 2002 when Tom Cruise starred in Minority Report. Tom did not know this, but this film was made pretty much in the middle between his stints as a fighter pilot. Maybe we should just call him Maverick and be done with it.

Sorry. I drifted a little too far off into the weeds.



We all know how advertising has entered the digital arena. Heck, we just looked at Amazon Ads yesterday, and recalled how Google and Facebook became advertising companies. A few days ago, we looked at livestream shopping, yet another application.

But the digital arena is a far bigger stadium than just what we see on our phones, tablets, and laptops. It’s easy to say that all of those devices are the unreal world, which leaves behind every other thing we do in public, in offices, and at home.

What if digital marketing reached beyond those devices and into our everyday life? What if everything we saw and heard were a carefully curated experience based on—who else?—you? The audience of one concept is already established on our electronic devices, but imagine a world in which you were recognized while walking or driving, and marketing messages appeared out of nowhere aimed specifically at you?

Yeah. This sounds a lot like Minority Report when our star strolls through a shopping mall. He is greeted by name; he is beckoned come hither to peruse and spend. And all because of ubiquitous cameras that can recognize faces. It’s almost like I need to use this film at the start of the semester instead of that old grainy A.D. 1999 I have been using for a long time.

Turns out it has been happening for a few years already in somewhat limited form, but today is really taking off. And it has privacy advocates in an uproar.

I have long argued that Google and Apple Maps could do a much better job serving up shopping and dining destinations on our phones, based on our location and proximity to such destinations. But what if there were cameras attached to digital billboards, those sometimes-annoying yet always changing screens we are seeing alongside the freeway and city streets?



Yeah once more. Continuous improvements in cameras and software have made it possible to recognize people coming along, to the point of discerning age range, gender, and even race, as well as number of occupants in a car.



It’s far from perfect or up to Minority Report, but even with limited demographic information, highly targeted ads could be deployed. I can only imagine a fictional conversation back at some corporate headquarters: “Hey, here comes a mature male traveling alone. I bet he could use a beer!”

At which point I would say, “Where?”

|While they may not be able recognize me just yet—unless they can read my front license plate and tap into Texas’ DMV—I can see that day coming. We are approaching it with Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, although that is more app-recognition than facial. For now.

Of course, this is all allowable because in the US, there is little if any expectation of privacy. This would meet significant resistance in Europe, where the GDPR—General Data Protection Regulation—provides far more personal protection than we have in the US. In fact, the GDPR is what caused websites to have that annoying pop-up asking us if we accept cookies. I’m not sure whether to say “Way to go” or “Thank you very much.”

I’m good with it, though, because I want my life to be ever more curated. It keeps making my life easier, from the music and shows I stream, the books I read, the foods I eat. It allows me to cut to the chase, and if in the process of these exchanges I have allowed them to look far behind the curtain that might otherwise shield me from others, I’m good. It’s on me. It’s the price of living in the 21C. I’m just not sure how it will all work for those who despise all this, though.



In any regard, it is coming soon to the US, unless new laws were enacted similar to GDPR. The day is coming soon when we will be recognized not just as a mature white male driving on I-40, but me. Yours truly. And you truly.

Because digital marketing is not limited to just the devices we own. It has now spread its tentacles to the entire public sphere. And just like Tom Cruise, we will here marketing messages designed for us. There’s that audience of one thing again, but now in the whole wide world. Or in the weeds.



Your call. Happy Sunday, y’all.

Dr “Waiting For That Beer Call On The 40“ Gerlich

Audio Blog

[americasass91]

Baby Fever

Hello lovelies! I hope everyone is well! This little fic is for the amazingly talented @buckyownsmylife​ 2k/Birthday Challenge! Which the theme for it was breeding kink. Which how could I not participate in that? Breeding kink just happens to be one of the biggest kinks I have(and i don’t even want kids, go figure) So I looked through my Masterlist and realized I didn’t have a breeding kink fic with Steve. Well, I can’t say that anymore!

Thank you for hosting this challenge you lovely, beautiful human! And congrats on the 2k!! You deserve that and so much more! I hope everyone enjoys!

Rating: Explicit (duh, it’s a breeding kink fic)

Words: 2.8k

Warnings: breeding kink(again, duh), Professor!Steve(I feel like he’s a warning all by himself, language, age gap, unprotected sex(I mean, it’s kind of implied but I’ll put the warning anyway)

🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️

“How long do we have to stay at this thing?”

You help can’t but roll your eyes at your husband of 4 months. “I told you I’m not sure. It’s my niece’s 1st birthday party. You could’ve stayed home you know.”

Steve pulls up to your sister’s house and parks among the other vehicles in the front yard. “Yeah and give them even more reasons to hate me? No thanks.”

See, Steve wasn’t your family’s favorite person. It all has to do with the fact that he’s 10 years older than you and how you guys met, which was during your freshman year of college. You were the innocent student and he was your history professor.

The attraction was instant and very mutual between you two. But dating students at this particular university was frowned upon and Steve could have lost his job. So, you admired each other from afar….that is until the semester was over. You went to visit him in his office after your last class and he eagerly bent you over his desk and ruined you for any other future man you may have.

Well, that was 6 years ago now. Your family of course didn’t approve and thought he was just taking advantage of a young, naive student. Your mom was the first to come around when she noticed a change in your demeanor and how happy he made you. She talked some sense into your dad and he eventually backed off as well.  

It took until Steve put a ring on your finger for your sister to accept him. Although you know her and her friends still judged you two. You could tell by the looks you guys always got whenever around them. You learned to not let it bother you. Steve was amazing. He was attentive, caring, and he loved you with everything he had. The only flaw he had was that he didn’t want kids.

It almost made you consider not marrying him. You had always wanted kids. But, in the end you realized you wanted Steve for the rest of your life more than a baby. But he did adopt a kitten with you. So it’s a win, win.

🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️

He gets out of the car and grabs the gift out of the trunk. You had gotten her an outfit that says ‘My aunt is cooler than your aunt’ and various toys that she would enjoy. Plus, being the book editor you were, you couldn’t not get her a book. So, you got her the very first Harry Potter book. When Steve saw you wrapping it with a questioning look, you told him it was never too early to start a child’s transition into being a Potterhead.

You skipped excitedly next to Steve as you made your way to the front door. He couldn’t help but chuckle at your enthusiasm. “You excited or something, sweetheart?”

After ringing the doorbell, you turn towards him. “Of course I am! I love my little niece!”

Truth was, you knew you were never going to have a baby of your own. So you poured all of your love and joy for a baby into your niece.

You’re pulled from your thoughts when your brother-in-law, Matt, answers the door.

“Mr. and Mrs. Rogers! Glad you made it! Come on in!” He ushers you 2 inside, helping you both hang your coats up in the hall closet. He then points to the obvious gift table. “You can just set that down there, Steve. And if you’d like, me and a bunch of the other husbands are downstairs in the basement watching the game. You’re more than welcome to join us.”

Steve looks at you, silently asking for permission. You give him a quick pecking the lips. “Go have fun. Just make sure to come back up for food and presents.”

As Steve heads downstairs with Matt, you can’t help but take in all the decorations. Little Miss Lindsey just happens to currently be obsessed with The Little Mermaid. So of course the theme is under the sea. Your sister really went all out. Streamers, balloons, and even mermaid figurines were everywhere. There’s even mermaid confetti on the tables.

You head in search of your sister and the birthday girl, one of which you find in the kitchen. “Hey sis! Need any help?”

Your sister, Rachel, turns from the hot dog sauce she’s stirring on the stove and gives you a big hug. “Oh, thank god you’re here! Can you grab the vegetable tray and potato salad out of the fridge and put them on that table over there?”

“Sure! Where’s Linds?” You ask as you grab the requested items out of the fridge.

Your sister returns to the sauce on the stove. “She’s still napping. I should be getting her up soon. Where’s Steve? He stay home? I know this isn’t really his thing.”

You take the plastic wrap off the potato salad and sit it amongst the smorgasbord of other food on the table. “Of course he’s here. He’s down in the basement with the other men.”

You sister lets out a sigh. “Yeah, I told Matt they could only watch until everybody got here. Ah, shit. I think I hear Lindsey crying.”

“I’ll get her!” Quickly jumping at the chance to see her.

“You sure? That would be great! The outfit I want her to wear is on the changing table. And can you do her hair up in the bow, too?”

“You got it!” You make your way down the hall towards Lindsey’s room, her crying getting louder. You open the door and see her sitting up in her crib. Her crying quiets the moment she sees you. She gets a big ole smile on her face and reaches out for you. “Hi, sweet girl! How is the birthday girl today?” You pick her up and give her a big hug. “How about we get you changed into your party outfit?” She just coos back at you in response.

You push her outfit aside and lay her down on the changing table. Quickly realizing she’s wet, you give her a fresh diaper. She attempts to ‘help’ as you try to change her into her party outfit. Which after it’s on her, she looks like a little mermaid. You quickly brush her hair and pull as much of it as you can into a ponytail on the top of her head and add the matching bow. You stand back a little from her and clap your hands. “What a pretty girl! Are you ready to join your party?” You pick her up and turn around to head out of the room. You’re surprised to see your husband standing in the doorway.

“Hey, I thought you were watching the game?” He shrugs his shoulders and walks towards you two. “I missed you.” He tickles Lindsey’s side, causing her to giggle. “Happy Birthday, little one.” You can’t help but feel your heart warm. That always happens anytime your husband interacts with a baby.

“I was just helping Rachel out by getting her ready. She seemed a little frazzled in the kitchen.” You turn your attention back to Lindsey. “Come on, sweet girl. Let’s go join your mommy in the kitchen!”

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The next hour goes by in a blur. You weren’t really paying attention to anyone else. All of yours on Lindsey. The only food she seemed to want was what was on your plate. You didn’t mind sharing. Then she got to ‘smash’ her cake. Which for Lindsey it meant taking delicate little bites from said cake, mostly of the icing. She did still manage to get it all down the front of her though. But that’s okay, Rachel of course had a back up outfit ready.

You had just polished off your hot dog when Rachel walked back into the room with a now clean Lindsey. Steve grabbed yours and his plates to go dispose of.

Rachel sat on the floor with Lindsey who immediately started crawling towards you. “I think you’re gonna have to join us, sis.”

You can tell it’s hurting Rachel’s feelings a little that Lindsey is so attached to you today. Nevertheless, you join them on the floor, placing Lindsey in your lap. “Ready to open presents, sweet girl?”

Rachel turns to Matt. “Honey, could you start handing out the presents please?”

He nods and goes to grab the first of many presents. He sits it down in front of Lindsey who immediately goes for the tissue paper. She doesn’t even seem to care about the present in the bag. You laugh and try to get her attention on the gift inside.

You look up and see everyone laughing at the birthday girl who only wants the tissue paper. You notice Steve towards the back of the crowd, only he’s not laughing. He’s giving you a look. You’ve seen that look before. It instantly sends a shiver down your spine and makes your panties wet. He wants you.

You try to give him a stern look. He shouldn’t be looking at you like that in the middle of your niece’s party. He puts his hands up in surrender.

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After taking almost 2 hours to open the rest of the gifts, Lindsey was a sleepy girl. You were sitting on the couch with Lindsey cuddled up into your chest. You were gently rocking her back and forth. You look over at your sister who was cleaning up the mess from the presents.

“I can go put her down for a nap, Rach. I don’t mind.”

“Thanks, sis. You seem to be her favorite person today so she’d probably scream if I tried to do it. Matt! Could you get a bottle ready for Lindsey so my sister can put her down for her nap?”

A few minutes later he comes out with the bottle and hands it to you.

You stand up and look over at Steve. “I shouldn’t be too long. Did you want to head out of here after I put her down? I know you still have those papers to grade.”

He nods. “Yeah, if you don’t mind. Thanks, sweetheart.”

You squeeze his bicep as you pass by him. “Of course not. Like I said, this shouldn’t take too long.” You glance at Lindsey and notice she’s having trouble keeping her eyes open.

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Just like you predicted, it only took Lindsey about 15 minutes to fall asleep. You take one last glance at her, your heart tugging a little, knowing you’ll never have one of your own.

You quietly close the door and don’t even take 2 steps before the door across the hall opens to reveal Steve. You look at him in confusion. “Babe? Why are you in the laundry room?”

He doesn’t respond. Instead, he grabs your arm and pulls you into the room with him. He makes sure to shut the door behind him.

“Steve, what are you doing? I thought we were leaving?”

He pushes you to the front of the washing machine and presses himself up against you, immediately making you feel how hard he is. “Need you, baby.” He reaches around and starts undoing your jeans.

You start pushing his hands away and try to turn around. His hold on your waist tightens, stopping you.

“Steve, we are not doing this here. You can wait until we get home.”

You are suddenly pushed until your front is resting on the top of the washing machine, Steve covering his body with yours. He lets out a low growl in your ear. “This” he presses his bulge more firmly against your ass “is your fault. So, you’re going to help me with it.”

You turn your head to the side as he pushes your jeans over the curve of your ass. “Me? What the fuck did I do? I haven’t even really talked to you today. Been with Lindsey all day.”

He fastens his pace in removing his own jeans, only lowering them enough to free his aching cock. He lands a smack to your panty covered ass. “Exactly. Made me so hard watching you with the baby. Made me think what it’d be like if we had one. What you’d look like swelled with my kid. Knew I had to have you.”

You managed to push him back far enough to stand up straight and turn around to face him. “Steve, I’m not going to let you fuck me in my sister’s laundry room.” He launches at you, trapping your body between his and the washing machine. “It’s cute that you think you’re in charge. Now, I’m going to fuck a baby into you. And I can either do that here or I’ll take you out in the living room where everyone is and bend you over there.”

Fuck. These panties are officially fucked. Still, you have questions. “I thought you didn’t want kids, Steve? Plus I’m on the pill.”

His face turns soft for a second. He cups your cheek in his left hand. “I didn’t think I did. But seeing you with her today? Now that’s all I want, all I can think about. You with our baby. You’d be the best mother. And you’ll just stop taking your pill. Starting today. We’ll keep trying until it takes. Is this something you’re even still wanting?”

You grab onto his wrist and push your cheek against his palm. “Of course it is.” You turn back around and bend over the washer. You lower your panties to your knees and shake your ass in his direction. “Well? What are you waiting for? Fuck a baby into me, Steve.”

He growls and closes the distance between you. He grabs the base of his cock and rubs the tip through your dripping folds. “Don’t have time to stretch you out first, sweetheart. And I’m really worked up, so this will probably be quick.”

You push back against him, eager to get him inside you already. “Don’t care. Just please, fuck me Professor Rogers.” You knew that’d get him.

“Fuck.” Is the only warning you get before he buries himself in you to the hilt. He just gets his hand over your mouth before your moan escapes your throat.

He only gives you a second to adjust to his size before he starts a bruising pace. After a few thrusts, he removes his hand from your mouth and smacks your ass. He feels you clench around him. “Yeah? You like when your professor fucks you?”

You quickly nod your head. “Yeah. You fuck me so good. Need your cum. Need you to fill me up.”

Steve quickens his pace even more if that’s possible. He moves his left hand off your hip and moves it around you to find your clit. He presses quick circles against it. “Need you to cum first, sweetheart. Need to feel you squeeze me.”

You start pushing back to meet his thrusts. You can feel the coil inside you ready to snap. You just need a little something more.

Steve leans over you and starts pressing kisses up your spine, his pace never faltering. Once he reaches your shoulder, he bites down lightly. He moves his mouth next to your ear. “Come on, sweetheart. Cum for your professor. Then I’ll fill you up nice and full, get you pregnant. Cum for me, Y/N.”

You press your face into the crook of your elbow to muffle your scream as you cum undone on his cock. Your orgasm triggers his. He cums with a quiet shout as he fills you full of his spend, some of it leaking out around him. He gives a few more shallow thrusts before stopping and catching his breath.

He rubs his hands up and down your back. “You okay? I didn’t hurt you did I?”

You turn your head so you can look at him. “Mmm, i’m great.” You can’t help but let out a little giggle, feeling drunk on sex.

Steve smiles down at you and moves his hand until it’s resting on your lower stomach. “I hope it worked.” He slowly pulls out and watches as his cum starts leaking out of your pussy. He quickly scoops it up and pushes it back inside, causing a whimper to escape your lips. “Sorry, sweetheart. Can’t let any of it go to waste.”

Once he’s sure he’s got it all, he quickly pulls your panties back into place. He stands you up and turns you around to press a sweet kiss to your lips. “I love you so much, thank you for being mine.”

You give him a big smile. “I love you, too. And thank you for picking me.” You bend down to pull up your jeans, Steve mirroring your actions. Once you’re both redressed, you wrap your arms around his neck and press a firm kiss to his lips.

“Now, let’s hurry up and get home. Want you to fill me up again.” You give him a wink and turn to head out the door. “You coming?”

He smirks as he starts following you out. “Oh, I will be.”

Taglist: @stargazingfangirl18​ @drabblewithfrannybarnes​ @harrysthiccthighss​ @lllols @patzammit​ @quxxnxfhxll​ @bluemusickid​ @wanderinglunarnights​ 

Steve Taglist: @donutloverxo

[worldswithoutendings]

Electric feelings [Eddie Munson]

okay i'm on a roll haha

pairing: Eddie munson x female reader

warnings: almost nsfw(?) (i'm too terrified to put that online but lmk if you're interested) don't think there are any more warnings, otherwise please let me know <3

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You were fumbling with your fingers, incredibly anxious for the test. Hyperfixed on the table before you, you didn’t know that Eddie was trying to talk to you “y/n? are you okay? Hey, talk to me” his voice is soft. After realising his words didn’t reach you, he grabbed your hand carefully. Naturally you shot up and looked at him directly, while your heart almost jumped out of your chest. He showed you his best smile “you’re gonna be fine” he mouths and you shake your head “I’m terrified” you whisper as the teacher gives the papers with the results on it D- “I expected more from you l/n” the teacher says as you sunk back into your chair. Trying to fight the tears. You studied so incredibly hard for this, where did it all go wrong?

During lunch break you sat silently at the Hellfire table. Eddie was ofcourse as always speaking with dramatics, making the boys laugh or tremble with fear. But you weren’t listening as you were fully negatively talking to yourself in your head. All for that stupid grade. You were way too in your head not knowing that Eddie after his speech had looked at you, seeing how pale you became as you were staring at your full plate. So he walked up to you, putting his hands softly on your shoulder while he sat down next to you “is this about that grade?” you nod softly trying not to cry “guys, we’ll be back okay? Behave” Eddie says as he escorts you outside.

Once you sit down with him you can’t help but let the tears flow, so instead of sitting across from you he runs over to sit next to you “I thought i did a good job you know, I studied so hard” not to mention, you were incredibly tired. This semester rubbed you the wrong way, everything started to fall apart. Eddie puts his arms around you and he pushes you against him as you softly cry, trying to get rid of the tears quickly but they keep flooding in “you did study hard, you really did. I saw it myself and I almost thought you lost control” he smiles as the end as he looks at you. Helping you get rid of the tears “I guess I’m just stupid” you sigh and Eddie tuts “no, we’re not doing that, and if you are stupid. What does that make me? Lord Stupid?” you giggle at his joke “you’re not stupid Eddie, i just… why would they put in those stupid questions of ‘if luke has a cow and wants to build a wall around it how big is his pool’ Like how would i know!” you start to get irritated and Eddie just plays with your hair “school is stupid, we both have to bite through it. together” that’s what Eddie said when you ended up in the same year.

You had heard enough stories about Eddie, but they were always wrong about him. At least, to you Eddie was incredibly sweet. Always looking out for you and making sure you were comfortable in any situation you were in. He didn’t act like that with the boys, not so much at least. He did truly care for them. But you always came in first place in his head. So to see you like this, broke his heart. Luckily he is pretty good with numbers so he only thought of one thing “what if we make a deal, i tutor you for 2 months and you will wear my hellfire shirt” he smiles “what?! Your hellfire shirt? Are you kidding me” you would be lying if your heart wasn’t going into overdrive “yes, mine is it a deal?’ “it definitely is” you look at hi mand you catch him looking at your lips and then back at you again, giving you a weird feeling through your entire body. Was Eddie checking you out?

As promised, Eddie started tutoring you, and as promised. You got his shirt, you’ve had it over a week now, but you were scared to wear it. you were mostly scared of getting rid of Eddie’s smell. Because, truth be told. That man smelled so fine, which you wouldn’t expect. But he did, to you he smelled like home and comfort, which was weird coming from a friend. Fuck it you decided to play with your style today. A bit more edgy. So you put on your docs with some skin coloured tights, a dark blue tweed skirt and the infamous hellfire shirt. Apart from your normal, tshirt and jeans combo. You felt weird walking down the stairs “you look so cute darling!” Mom says and you smile shyly ‘thanks mom” ‘have fun at school dear!” oh, fun was waiting for you at school.

You weren’t used to all the stares you suddenly got. Especially not the long stares that felt like they were trying to burn your skin off. Especially when you were at your locker. Also knowing that the first class you would have, would be with Eddie. You took a deep breath when you heard the school bell and you walked over to the classroom, what if he isn’t here. Oh but he was. He sat in his usual seat, next to you. Playing with his pen, you had to admit that he looked incredibly handsome today. He swapped his other hellfire shirt for a black tshirt with a dark red flannel, making you almost look matching unintentionally. You took a gulp as you walked over to him. The whole class got quiet making Eddie look up questionably, only to make a quiet gasp followed by a smirk as he stands up to push your chair back “my lady” he says as he bows and you smile and bow back “thank you kind sir” you say as you sit down “i have to admit, you look incredibly hot” he says as he looks you up and down. That was a lie. You looked beautiful in Eddie’s eyes. You always looked beautiful to him, but he was too scared to say it. but smelling his usual signature smell on you. Made him feel things he never felt before with anyone before you.

He eyed you up and down an awful lot during class. He couldn’t help it, the way the shirt was just a bit too big on your but still you wore it beautifully, how it matched the skirt and how the skirt showed your legs. Making him want to put his hand on your thigh at all time, telling everybody that you were his. But you weren’t. you are too good for someone like Eddie. At least, that is what he has been telling himself ever since he met you. How can someone as you, fall for someone like him?  “hey, what are you doing after school?” you ask him and it’s like he came out of a trance “me? Eh-ehm nothing, absolutely nothing” “we could study today? My mind has been all over the place, i need a little push in the back you know” you whisper “yeah, my mind has been all over the place as well, how about my place?” Eddie’s neck starts to turn red, knowing you will be at his house. In this outfit. God. You nod with a smile and turn back to listen to the teacher.

You were waiting for Eddie at the door, fumbling with the straps of your bag. A little while later you heard someone running down the hall only to see that it was Eddie with a smile “let’s go princess” he grabbed your bag of your shoulder only to swing it over his. Walking to his van making conversation about the weather and how school was. As you sat down you saw how Eddie eyed you again, from bottom to the top, only for you to do the same thing in return unconsciously. Untill you both look eachother in the eyes but both breaking contact from being shy “ehm, heh, do you like metal?” he smiles and you make a questionable face “i never listened actually to it, if i have to be brutally honest” “princess you’re in for a treat” he says as he puts a casette in the player. Blasting his mixtape. You actually started to like a lot of songs on his mixtape and you smile as you see Eddie jamming out. He looks at you in a way that gives you so many butterflies, making you smile like crazy.

Arriving at his trailer you both sat down at the kitchen table, setting everything up for the homework session, you both brushed against eachother at some point but instead of jumping backwards you kept on setting up, almost making it obvious that you were getting touch starved. After a while you were both head deep into learning, Eddie explaining to you how certain subjects had to be figured out, you were sitting shoulder to shoulder to eachother, brushing against eachother with every move “i don’t understand!” you moan as you put your head to his shoulder and he immediatly pats your head “you’ll be fine, look” he started to explain more as you kept your head against his shoulder while watching him write numbers in your notebook to explain “see?” you sigh deeply while Eddie waits for an answer “i don’t know” you mumble “okay, let’s go back to square one” Eddie says while his leg brushes against yours, making your skirt move up a bit revealing a bit of skin. Eddie acts like he doesn’t see it, but he does. Making his heart rate go up and tries to keep explaining. You on the other side, pushed your leg a tiny bit more against his, the whole situation made you feel powerful. Like you have been waiting for it your entire life, to be touched by Eddie Munson.

Because you had pushed your leg more against his only more friction started to happen, you both started to not care that much about the tutoring as Eddie had put his hand close to the inside of your leg and you bit your lower lip in response, earning a chuckle from Eddie “what do i see there?” his voice became much deeper and you try to look into his eyes only to look at his lips. He lifts your leg up over his and he scoots closer to feel your body heat “eddie” you whisper “tell me what you want princess” he says as he gets closer to your face “i want you” you whisper and before you knew it your lips collided. Your hand found their way into his hair, trying to pull him closer while you both kept kissing eachother. His hand only kept coming closer towards your underwear as your hands started to go beneath his shirt “maybe we should move” he smiles against your lips and you nod, both almost running to his bedroom.

[joshslater]

Jockboy

Based on an idea from papermoon357. Similar stories and bonus material on my Patreon.

After the divorce Claire was quick to move to a different state. Visitation rights don't mean much when it's not physically possible to visit, so instead I had to watch from a distance how my son Jake grew up to be someone very different than what I had envisioned. I mean he's smart and doing well in school, and I wouldn't want anything but for him to be happy and have a good future, but at the same time I feel like he's been robbed of something. His options being limited by being around this Mark guy as father figure.

I was very surprised when Jake called and asked if he could spend the semester at my place. With remote learning being back again it didn't really matter where he was, he figured, and for some reason he had decided to get to know his dad properly. Better late than never I guess, but way too late to have any impact on him as a person. Of course I said yes. I hoped it wasn't trouble at home that made him decide to leave, but even more so a reason to house him. We'd have plenty of time to talk about that I figured.

I drove there to pick him up myself. Can't trust any mass transportation in times like these, and I reckoned my truck could fit everything he owned if he wanted to haul it to my place. Pretty light load though, a bunch of clothes, a bunch of books, and a bunch of computers. I tricked him with the "What happened since last time" trick to get him going and interrupted him with follow-ups on everyone and everything. Kept him talking all the way to the motel. We started early and I let him fall asleep again in the truck until close to lunch.

Now that we were far away enough that it felt like there was no going back on the decision for him, but still a bit left that it felt like we were negotiating I laid out my demands. As a welder, I told him, there is no working from home so I'd be away all day. I expected us to eat breakfast together in the morning. He would have to manage lunch on his own. Once I'm back home we would work out one hour every school day before dinner.

He was not thrilled about that last part. No surprise there, given his doughy body, so I launched into my prepared speech that PE was still part of a good education, and imagine his friends if he would come out of this spectacle looking better than going into it. I could see his gears turning when he responded "Well, I guess I don't have a choice."

I didn't take many days for us to find a good routine. I was up first cooking a hearty breakfast for us and I tried to keep it varied. Pancakes, hash browns, eggs 10 different ways. Lots of proteins to keep us both through the day. I always placed two vitamin bears on his plate. We both knew he was too old for them, but he always smiled when he saw them. The breakfast was really enough to take us through the day, but I left instructions for how he could make a light lunch if he wanted. I didn't want to push his cooking limits, but he managed it without problems.

He visibly wasn't very keen on stepping out into the garage with me once I got home, but he had put on workout clothes in advance and didn't protest with any words. My setup is pretty decent. I bought benches and weights and stuff from a gym that was going out of business as everyone stayed at home. We took turns doing the same exercise. I first showed how to do it and then I gave him a very light weight and checked his form while he tried it. Then we alternate a few sets before moving on to the next exercise. I could see already the next day that he was much more at ease with the whole arrangement, and by the end of the week he even appeared enthusiastic about working out.

After our PE we showered and I made dinner. We'd eat in front of the TV and took turns deciding what to see. I introduced him to wrestling, showed him classic football games, and explained the rules to any number of sports. He in turn showed me movies and shows that was important to him. He perhaps didn't enjoy everything I showed him, but he appreciated it. I must say I really enjoyed that whole Marvel Cinematic Galaxy thing we watched through.

I could tell by the end of our second week that he was getting self-conscious in a good way. He kept looking at his own muscles under tension as we worked out. He perhaps didn't look that different, but it was clear a lot of body fat had turned into muscle mass. It was by the fourth week most of the fat covering his new muscles began to melt away as well. His face had become much more defined and mature looking. I think it was the height that really gave away the plot. He had added about an inch just over his torso, and perhaps another inch and a half overall. The old T-shirts made it really obvious as the taller body combined with the wider shoulders made them barely cover his belly button. He stopped wearing them and only wore sweatshirts or hoodies, if anything at all.

It wasn't until the week after he asked me what was happening to him. I decided from the start I wouldn't bullshit him and told him straight up that he was turning into the jock boy I had always intended. He looked at me in both shock and confusion. I continued to tell him that the vitamin bears during the first week were made by me. Gelatin, sugar, berry essence, and custom-ordered gene therapy medication that would push him in the right direction. His expression turned into disgust and anger. He shouted that I had no right to do that to him. It was his body, his decision, his life. I told him half his body was my DNA, and I had been denied any part of his upbringing besides the occasional birthday and trips to Disneyland. I was still one of his custodians and could take medical decisions for him, and what he was getting was how things were supposed to be. Things were just made right.

I left the house for a walk after our bout to calm myself. I was sure I did the right thing. There were so many times I could have backed out and every time I landed on that this was what was best for Jake. By the time I came back he hadn't moved at all from the living room couch. I silently went to my bedroom. He should have some time to mourn his old self. He is never coming back. I'm not sure old Jake would even have the courage to fight like that. And with the fireworks of brain chemistry about to detonate in about ten days it doesn't really matter what he does.

But I think he'll come around before then, physical cravings notwithstanding. While he was feeling sorry for himself in front of the TV he was watching NBA.