#as if these two don’t have ENORMOUS chemistry

[theamazingannie]

Me: I love strong m/f completely platonic relationships. We need more of them. Not every m/f pairing needs to be romantic. Let m/f parings be platonic!

"Sydney and Carmy will not have a romantic relationship in season 3 of The Bear.”

Me: N-not that one...🥺

[lurkingshan]

There is a crucial aspect of La Pluie that has been slowly coming to the surface, and now at the halfway point of the story, is crystal clear to me: this story is an intentional subversion of the soulmate trope.

The show has told us prettily explicitly that the concept of soulmates in this universe is a social construct created to make meaning of a natural phenomenon people don’t understand. They opened the story with Tai telling us he no longer believes in the soulmate connection because of his parents’ divorce, which is why he intentionally left Patts hanging for two years. They introduced the skeptical point of view via Lomfon and directly invited us to consider whether the hearing loss phenomenon has anything to do with soulmates at all. So far, my read of the story they’re showing us tells me it probably doesn’t. Which is what makes this all so interesting.

In unpacking the backstory with Tai’s parents, @bengiyo put forth an interesting theory that Tai’s dad may be gay. Even if that doesn’t turn out to be the case, we have them as an example of “soulmates” that didn’t work out, and interestingly, the show hasn’t countered that with an example of a soulmate pair that did. We’ve only seen a soulmate story gone wrong, a lot of uncertainty from Tai, and a heavy dose of skepticism from Lomfon. As @chickenstrangers mentioned, the show seems to be directly interrogating this romance convention, rather than presenting a straightforward narrative about it.

And as @ginnymoonbeam mentioned here, we are now seeing that the “soulmate” connection between Patts and Tai is acting as a barrier to their love story and a conflict they have to work through, when typically you’d expect the opposite. We have now seen that Tai is something of a hopeless romantic at heart. He treasured his parents’ love story. He reads romance novels before bed (h/t to @syrena-del-mar for the excellent breakdown of his chosen reading material.) He likes to be courted and he wants to feel special to the person he is dating. He has never been in a relationship before because he takes it all so seriously. And crucially, he is very attracted to Patts and seems to like and trust him without reservation as soon as they’ve cleared up their misunderstandings.

So, why is Tai still hesitating? Because they are “soulmates.” Tai and Patts will always be connected via hearing loss. They will be in each other’s lives forever. That puts enormous pressure on their relationship, both externally - the way their friends and family are all immediately convinced it’s true love forever and pushing them to be together - and between the two of them - because they know if they fuck this up they will both suffer. They clearly want to be together but it’s all so fraught with meaning and they risk making the rest of their lives miserable if something goes wrong. Both of them seem keenly aware of that, which is why Tai is scared and Patts is cautious.

We can see that they like each other, that they have strong emotional and physical chemistry (always read @wen-kexing-apologist on body language) that they are well-matched. If they were not soulmates, they’d have started dating easily and maybe even be firmly committed to each other already. But because they are soulmates, they have to be a lot more cautious and think carefully about what they’re ready for. Rather than acting as an accelerant for the relationship, their soulmate bond is an obstacle they have to overcome. Isn’t that just fascinating?

[prettysweetprettysweet]

at the top of the laundry list of novel things that they'll need to improve on, change, or remove, i really think the only way this series will continue to be compelling enough to get viewers and renewal is if they majorly retool the books to give Louis some of the roles/narrative purposes of other characters while also building out the Lestat Louis relationship narrative freestyle from the foundation they've already established, so that Louis remains an equal player on the stage. i think adapting iwtv as an explicit romance with two talented actors that have compelling and exciting chemistry is the magic in a bottle that put this thing into motion and then kept adding fuel to it over 2 seasons (and imo jacob anderson's magic, especially, was a critical component). they've made a beautiful thing with s1 and 2 and they do have the option to keep rolling with that beauty but its gonna have to stay as loose with the books as humanly possible like im talking 10% novel 90% freestyle and even then... i'm extremely curious to know what thought Rolin has given to the precipitous drop in quality from book to book and if/how he can remedy that. alas that's an issue he'd probably never talk about in public.

anyway even im tired of me talking about this so ill stop soon i promise. i think ive put so much thought into it because of how much affection i have for JA's Louis as a character and how deeply i want to continue seeing him in stories of superior quality like s1 and 2 - and its clear that there are a lot of enormous obstacles to overcome for us to arrive at that outcome. with these 'would you still watch' polls about Lestat being center and Louis only supporting, my brain says no don't watch but my heart says 'what are you just gonna NOT watch a performance by jacob anderson????' like truthfully as long as ja is involved and happy about that involvement, i will always at the very least be watching his scenes. furthermore i have enormous faith that he'd be able to turn shit into gold. last note assad zaman is an ace in the hole and they best be smart with how (and how much) they use him.

[kristinamae093]

A Wild Ride

Series - TRR - AU

Pairing - Liam x MC (Riley Brooks)

Summary - A small rewrite of the diamond scene from Book 1 Chapter 11 (Drake’s birthday) and… beyond.

Word Count - 2503... ish 🙈

A/N1- Welcome to my first attempt at smut. Nobody asked for this, this is entirely unprompted and unasked for (except by me haha). This is just where my brain went, and well... don’t judge me too hard lolololololololol. I’ve debated posting this all week, but I’m finally going to relent and just do it and most likely hide forever. But I have to shoutout @ao719 who encouraged me, and read through my first draft. 💚 All errors in this final version are mine and mine alone.

A/N2- I am considering this a part of the Ghosted AU, but only for ONE reason, and that is to put it on the same masterlist. But this is a ONE SHOT and DOES NOT ADD TO NOR CONTRIBUTE TO THE STORY WHATSOEVER. This is literally just an excuse to try my hand at lemony writing, nothing more. 

A/N3- This is my sad attempt at a submission for the @springfeverpitch event. I have no idea if this even qualifies, but they said anything smutty, soooo…... I’m going to test that theory with this, LOLOLOL. I have no idea what 'day' it qualifies under, (4?) I’m honestly not even sure what this monstrosity should classify as. 🤣🙈🙊

Base in play - Briefly First, but mostly Homerun ⚾💭🫡

TW - ⚠️ NSFW ⚠️ - Language, smutty filthy lemons, brief mentions of blood (.3 seconds worth). *⚠️ 18+ ONLY ⚠️*

Characters belong to Pixelberry.

Liam watched Riley as if she would give him the answers to all the world’s problems at any moment; she fully transfixed him. When he paid the operator of the bull, he assumed Drake would ride, since it was his birthday. But when Riley volunteered and bounced her way over, Liam knew already he was done for; the second she mounted that bull, he felt himself grow undeniably hard.

He observed with the utmost attention. The way her hips swiveled to keep in time with the jerky motions of the bull, the way her big, perky chest bounced from side to side as she tried to stay on the ride. She threw an arm back like a lasso; her cut off shirt hiking higher and higher up her toned midriff. He caught sight of her lacy red bra underneath, the sight practically enough to make him take her, here and now, for all to see. Everything about it was driving him mad with desire. 

At that moment, he would have cut off his right leg to trade spaces with the foreign object she rode. Give up the throne, throw everything away, all for her to tame him as if he were the rowdy steed beneath her. His mind swirled with fantasies as the saliva from his mouth fully dissolved.

When she flew off the bull, he was right there to help her up; after he had adjusted himself in his slacks. The two grabbed a shot, then another, and a couple more, adding to the already large amount of alcohol they had consumed. They finally made their way out to the dancefloor after way too many drinks.

It started slow and casual, nothing scandalous or arousing, although the chemistry between them made anything sensual. Then a particular song came on; Liam had never heard it, but the squeal that came from Riley and her excited bouncing told him she was familiar. He felt his cock stiffen a little more in the confines of his trousers as he watched her breasts bob up and down while she jumped; maybe it was the alcohol fueling his thoughts, but he couldn’t get the image of those tits bouncing in his face out of his mind. 

They danced face to face; Riley attempted to keep a respectable distance between them, as she knew they were in public. The court would not react well to them grinding all over each other. But Liam didn’t seem to have a care in the world, as he continued to pull her closer and closer. His gaze switched between gawking at her enormous bust poking out of her low cut top, and the way her hips swiveled and rotated to the rhythm. His hands probed her body, as if he needed to remember every crevice and curve. 

She swatted his roaming hands away. “What are you doing? We’re in public!” She giggled. 

Liam nuzzled her neck. “Don’t care.” 

Riley laughed harder. “Liam, what if someone sees us? Or you get recognized?”

“Let them watch.” He responded with a devilish smirk.

“I’m just saying the press would-”

Liam cut her off by capturing her lips with his own. Their tongues rolled together as they swallowed each other’s content sighs. One of Liam’s hands rested on her neck, the other falling to the small of her back and pulling her as close as possible. Their pelvises ground together, each letting out a soft moan at the friction. Neither cared at the crowd of other dancers surrounding them; the only thing that mattered was the two of them, and the undeniable sexual tension that seemed to have reached its boiling point. 

—-------

Liam returned to his suite, a little wobbly on his feet, and immediately went to take a cold shower. His mind continued to swirl with scandalous thoughts about Riley and the things he wanted her to do to him, and vice versa. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to invite her back and ravage her like he truly wanted to. But he realized there was a high probability the pair would get caught sneaking around, and that would only cause more problems in the long run. And, he didn’t want to be this drunk when it did happen. 

He finished his shower and put on a clean pair of boxers and pajama pants before he slipped into bed, pulling up the covers to envelop his body. He lay on his back and fell into a deep slumber as fantasies of Riley filled his mind. 

—-------

He awoke later with his senses filled by a fragrance of lilac and berry. He felt dainty hands lightly tracing the inside of his thighs, sending a shudder through him. A sigh escaped him as he felt tender kisses travel up his abdomen, soft hair falling to tickle his sides. He reached a hand out and threaded his fingers through long, silky, golden blonde hair as she continued her venture up to his neck. 

When she reached her quarry, she bit down hard enough to leave a mark and licked the affected area. She dotted kisses along his jawline to the other side and nipped his ear; Liam groaned and gripped her hips to grind her against his already freed erection. He had no time to ponder how he became disrobed, as he felt wetness gliding over his already aching member; she wasn’t wearing panties. 

“Riley…” He moaned. 

She raised her face to hover over Liam’s, “I saw you…” she whispered as she ghosted her lips over his. 

“Hm?”

“You were watching me ride that bull tonight… Wishing it was you… weren’t you?” She asked in between bites along his jawline.

“God yes.” Liam panted.

Riley’s face lit up with a cat-like grin before she grabbed his face to bring his lips to hers. Their tongues met and battled for dominance in a fit of passionate and desperate kisses. Liam slid his hands up her sides and realized she, too, was already naked. He massaged both of her large, supple breasts in his hands before breaking their kiss and bending his neck to take one into his mouth. He licked and suckled at it for a moment before moving to the other and showing it the same attention. After, he briefly lay back and marveled at her perfection, and those breasts that had been making his mouth water all night dangling in front of his face; just like he fantasized. 

Riley sat up, and he met her intent, lustrous gaze; her eyes clouded over with desire, hair askew, perky tits rising and falling with every labored breath, lips slightly parted. Liam watched, transfixed, as she ran her tongue over her top lip, and he thought he would cum on the spot. Liam reached out to embrace her and forcefully brought her lips to his; his dick painfully throbbing, aching to be inside her. 

She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled, the sudden, sharp pain causing Liam to moan. “You like that?” She whispered as she bit his lip. 

“Yes.” He breathed out, as he grabbed her ass cheeks in both hands and squeezed. She ground her bare mound against him and an animalistic sound escaped Liam’s lips.

“Tell me what you want, Liam…” she coaxed as she sat up and positioned herself with her dripping pussy over Liam’s cock. She rubbed herself against Liam’s shaft, her hand pushing him deeper through her wet folds. She ground back and forth on his length, driving Liam absolutely mad.

“You. I want you, Riley. Please.” He begged.

“No… Tell me what you want… Exactly what you want.” She slightly raised herself and let his tip ghost her opening, before she slid him back through the entirety of her core. 

Liam gasped and twitched beneath her. The things she was making him feel were overwhelming every single part of his being. “I… I…” He stammered between breathless pants and moans. “I want you to ride me.” He finally spit out. 

She bit her lip and whispered, “Your wish is my command.” and lowered herself down onto him, both moaning at the sensation as he penetrated her tight opening. Her mouth fell open into an O shape, a high-pitched whine coming from her throat, as she sunk her body down on his length. Liam’s eyes never left her face as her tightness enveloped him, taking him to such a high level of euphoria he thought he would die at any moment. She rocked herself slowly back and forth on his cock, feeling him stretch and fill her in all the right ways.

“Oooooh… God, you’re so fucking big Liam!” Liam felt his dick twitch at her words and ran his hands up her sides to massage her breasts in his hands. She placed her hands against his chest, pushing her tits together as she started bouncing herself on his length. He analyzed her with rapt attention, her expressions, the sounds she was making. Liam released his hold on her and put his hands behind his head as he watched her work herself on him with a deep groan.

She picked up speed and ran both of her hands through her hair. Liam watched where they connected, seeing her pussy grip around him, the proof of her arousal covering his member and thighs. He looked up and saw her massaging her breasts with a lust blown expression; she saw him staring and bit her lip with a loud moan, causing him to whimper from the sight. 

Just when Liam thought he couldn’t take anymore, she sat back and positioned herself with her hands on his haunches, giving him the perfect view of her taking all of him in. She started slowly, but soon built a mind-blowing pace, taking him almost all the way out before slamming her hips back into his. Liam heard her whimpers increase in pitch and knew her release was coming. He felt his own building but was determined to make her let go first. 

“Oooooh God… Oh! Don’t stop… Don’t fucking stop!" she cried out as their already frantic pace increased. She reached a hand down and wildly rubbed circles over her swollen nub. Liam clutched her hips with a white-knuckle grip and increased their speed, hammering himself into her relentlessly. He matched her rhythm perfectly, thrusting himself to meet her hips. She threw her head back with a loud shriek; her tightness pulsating around him, wetness coating his already glistening member as waves of pleasure overtook her. 

“Yes! God... YES! Liam… You fuck me so good!” She got out through gasps and whimpers as jolts of electricity continued to course through her. 

Between her clenching around him and the things she was saying, Liam was a goner. He thrust into her three, four, five more times until he pulled her down forcefully to receive his load with a loud, primal roar. His vision almost completely blacked out, stars invading his view. He had orgasms before, sure, but it was like his soul was leaving his body. It was so intense, so powerful and all-consuming, like nothing he had ever felt before. 

Liam lay with his eyes closed for a couple of minutes, catching his breath. He felt Riley grasp his hand and opened his eyes to look at her as she remained straddling him. She brought his hand to her lips and smiled before she tenderly kissed each one of his fingertips. 

Liam closed his eyes once more and let out a content sigh. Somehow, someway, the evening ended as he hoped it would; all was right with the universe at that exact moment. 

His peace was short-lived as he suddenly felt a sharp pain course through his index finger. 

“Ow!” He cried. “Did… did you bite me, Riley?”

“You liked it a minute ago.” She smirked.

“That was different. This felt like you were trying to take a chunk out of my finger!” 

She giggled, “You just… you smell so good… so… sweet… like nuts… and honey…” she replied as she turned her head and deeply inhaled his palm. 

Liam furrowed his brow. “Oh… um… thank you?” He responded with uncertainty. 

“You just smell so… heavenly… and... mouthwatering…” she mewled as she licked his palm. 

"I do?" Liam asked, completely confused by her sudden shift in behavior. 

"Mmhhmmm."

“Like… like what?”  

“Baklava.” She said as she chomped Liam’s thumb. 

“Hey! Riley, that… that hurts!” He tried to pull his hand away, but Riley’s grip tightened. 

“But I bet you taste soooo good, Liam! I just wanna eat you up.” She started gnawing on his wrist, biting harder and harder; he swore she was breaking his skin. 

“Riley! Riley! Stop!” He yelled as he squirmed underneath her, but she would not relent. He felt a sharp, piercing pain in his arm and watched in horror as she tore a piece of flesh from his body; blood squirting from the open wound and covering the both of them. 

She thoroughly chewed his flesh with a satisfied smile before she went back for more. “Mmm…. sho good.” She rolled her eyes as she swallowed another chunk of skin. She slurped at the blood that surrounded her mouth before she returned to his wound, lapping at it like a deprived dog finally given water. 

“Riley! Riley! Stop! STOOOOOOOP!”

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” Liam flew forward in a panic; his breathing rapid and labored, his elevated pulse thundering in his ears, his body covered in a thin layer of sweat. He frantically searched his darkened surroundings, looking to see if Riley was still there, but found no signs of anyone. 

He glanced down at his body and saw absolutely nothing; no marks, cuts, blood, or any signs of injury. He quickly pulled the blanket back and saw his pajama pants, just as they were when he had gone to bed.

Bastien heard Liam’s yells from his position outside and barged into the room. “Is something wrong, sir?”

“I…I don’t think so…” Liam answered unsurely as he rubbed his uninjured wrist. “Has… has anyone come in here?”

“No, sir. I’ve been outside your door since you arrived. Nobody has been here.” Bastien reassured him. “Why? Do you believe there’s been a breach?”

“No! No. Nothing like that. I was only asking. Thank you, Bastien.”

Bastien bowed with a bewildered expression, but left the room. As soon as he did, Liam stood up and made a quick dash to the bathroom to check himself in the mirror. 

He searched his reflection with intent; Liam saw that his neck and upper body were pristine and unmarked, no signs of the late-night fornication to be found. He checked other areas of his body, but no remnants of his wild encounter remained. He ran his hand through his lightly tousled hair and stared at his reflection for a long while, trying to make sense of what he could have just experienced.

He shook his head with a quiet laugh before he said, “I am never drinking tequila before bed again.”

[adamwatchesmovies]

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

While it would be nice for every story to be wholly new and completely unpredictable, there’s something satisfying about a film that uses genre tropes this well. Crazy Rich Asians is the best romantic comedy we’ve seen in a long time. It’s glamorous, romantic, gorgeous, hilarious, smart and expertly directed.

Economics professor Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) is travelling to Singapore with her boyfriend, Nick Young (Henry Golding) for his best friend Colin’s wedding. There, she learns that Nick's family is among the richest in the country. Dismissed by many because they don’t believe she will fit in, Rachel becomes determined to prove them wrong.

I watched Crazy Rich Asians on a double-bill with Monster-in-Law because of the two pictures’ similarities. Basically, they share a plot but the execution makes them so different it’s like they have nothing in common. You can probably guess the story’s beats but there’s a twist to them that makes Crazy Rich Asians so much more. When you see Nick and Rachel together, they’re perfect. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. He’s wealthy but isn't insensitive to the problems of the common person and doesn't flaunt his riches. The performers have excellent chemistry. They’re both beautiful people. The camera doesn’t shy away from showing you Henry Golding without a shirt on and Constance Wu appears in several glamorous outfits that make her look like a princess. You like them as individuals. You like them even better as a couple. There’s no reason for Nick's mother, Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh) to disapprove of them but she does. In her eyes, Rachel's upbringing means she will never fit in.

It’s not that Rachel grew up “poor” and that Nick didn’t. This film is deeper than that. Eleanor doesn’t approve because of the way Rachel was raised. Her parents were Chinese but she grew up in America. In Eleanor's eyes, Rachel could never understand the values the Young family hold so dearly. The opening scene shows Eleanor being discrimated against for being a foreigner. It generates sympathy for her. Seeing her judge Rachel later shows how much of a hypocrite she is.

You could dig deep into the film’s themes of old money vs. new money, of tradition and need to move away from them as well, the significance of the relationship between Astrid (Gemma Chan) and her husband, Michael (Pierre Png), or what it means to see a major theatrical release with an all-Asian cast, but ultimately, all of these are gravy. What you came for are some laughs and scenes of tenderness that will make your date want to hold your hand. That's what you get. The wedding Nick and Rachel attend is so beautiful and so glamorous. It radiates love so brightly it’ll bring tears to your eyes. It’s as romantic as attending a real-life wedding between two people you know are perfect for each other. You love seeing Nick and Rachel together. Seeing them having a great time with every luxury money can buy at their fingertips is rewarding.

There's so much going on with the cinematography, sets and costume designs you could watch the movie on mute and have a great time but then you’d be missing out on the comedy. Awkwafina (an actress who continues to impress with each film) delivers one big laugh after another. So does Ken Jeong - the funniest he’s been in years. Many of the side characters are quirky and memorable for their comedic values. The “serious” characterization is left to the main cast, with Eleanor coming off as particularly multi-faceted. She can afford to be. As in any fantasy, the leads have to be “perfect” to reinforce that anyone who doesn’t cheer for them is a villain.

Crazy Rich Asians is so enormously pleasing only those with a bone to pick against romantic comedies could dislike it. That said, I would agree with criticisms directed towards the conclusion. It’s a bit too long and does indulge a bit in some rom-com clichés. I'm mentioning this to show I'm not biased. The visuals, humor, drama and romance make Crazy Rich Asians a film you’ll be glad to return to over and over. It’s a terrific pick for date night. (August 7, 2020)

[brazenautomaton]

resident evil 4 remake is so goddamn good seriously I was like “I cannot wait to beat this game so I can start playing it again.” I thought RE4 needed a remake less than almost any other game out there and they fucking nailed it so hard, now I want them to remake DMC3

two unrelated points though

1: people are saying that it is looking like they are going to remake RE5 next, because things like Luis’s co-op AI are test runs for stuff in RE5 just like some elements of Village were test runs for RE4 remake. but remaking RE5 is going to be a tall order, not because it’s so good (it wasn’t as good as RE4 by a long shot and they managed to improve RE4 still), but because I don’t know if the new model of all the remake games is really suited for co-op and also they have to throw out the middle third of the entire game, where they said “you called us racist because the game was set in Africa and thus you were shooting black people who live in Africa? Fuck you, THIS is racist, have some literal unga bunga spear chuckers!”

2: there are faults in RE4 remake for sure. everyone has noted Ada’s voice actress is just terrible. Saddler’s voice isn’t bad, but it isn’t as good as the original, the new guy toned down the hamminess but also toned down the charm. but the actual biggest flaw in RE4 remake is I want to spend more time with Ashley. make the escort portions longer! I like spending time with her! I like her and Leon’s chemistry! I will even forgive you for removing / covering up her enormous chimpanzee ears, now stop taking her away from me every time she was taken away in the original, I want to have her around more than in the original! 

[uncannysam]

PARTIES: @longislandcharm, @uncannysam TIMING: Mid-January SUMMARY: Sam & Winter go on a date! WARNINGS: None!

She hadn’t been expecting this. Maybe Winter should have known that the Codfather really wasn’t the best place to bring Sam for their first actual date purely for the sake of it being too fancy but the amount of awkward tension in the air was ridiculous at this point. They had giant lobsters. Why couldn’t they talk over giant lobsters? It was so weird. Usually she was so good about starting and keeping conversation but it was like they had nothing in common and the conversation fell flat every time she tried. 

Maybe she should have expected it. Sam ran a comic book shop, had a dog, and named her figurines. Winter liked ice skating, iced coffee, and pretty clothes that were uncomfortable to wear. They were pretty much opposites but was she trying to convince herself this was wrong because it was or because she wasn’t used to being awkward?

“How’s the meal?” She took a bite to accentuate the question. Or maybe it was so that she didn’t have to say anything else. Her eyes traveled around the restaurant, Winter realizing she had made the biggest mistake of the night by coming here. It was overpriced and they’d made them wait for a table even when there were only a few other people seated at the time. The saving grace was that the food was pretty good and the wine was impeccable. Did Sam even like wine? “This place is too much, isn’t it?”

—

It had come as a bit of a shock when Winter had suggested a date night at the Codfather, but Sam really wanted to see if this could work. Though Winter could be very feisty, the twenty-eight year old had enjoyed the banter between the two, and seeing as how there weren’t flying toes coming towards them, maybe the evening would be a lot more enjoyable. But the conversation seemed to be lacking. At least for the time being, and the more they got to know each other, the less likely it seemed like they were compatible. But Sam was determined to give this a fair chance.

“It’s…it’s good, yeah. In all the time I’ve lived in Wicked’s Rest, this is the first time I’ve been here. Maybe if there’s a second time, I’ll try something a little more…fancy.” She didn’t know what the word was that she was looking for, and she couldn’t help but stare down at her chicken tenders; not the most extravagant thing on the menu, when all she had wanted was to try their fish, but considering there was an enormous glass bill hanging over her head, the fish prices didn’t sound that appealing.

Reaching out for the glass of red wine sitting next to her, she swirled it around the glass and took a brief sip of it. Chicken tendies and red wine. If Zach could only see her now. Living the good life with a girl who made a living talking to the dead on tv. Oh the irony in that statement. If Sam had only known… “How’s your, uh…” She looked at Winter’s plate, “what is that again?” Sam had felt so out of place, so much so that it hurt.

—

Glancing down at the chicken tenders in front of Sam, Winter had to suppress a sigh. When the girl had ordered she’d wanted to cut in, let her know the bill was on the medium’s tab, but things had already been hard enough without her offering to pay and she assumed Sam was already set on going dutch. Still…it looked so pathetic that she couldn’t let it go anymore even if it was going to make things worse. “You know you can get something else, right? I thought I’d pick up the tab since I invited you here…I don’t want you eating off the kids menu.” 

She should have spoken up sooner. It wasn’t like Winter to let a weird moment ruin a whole night, keep her quiet, hell it wasn’t like her to be weird at all. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn’t had a date in over a year and she was rusty…no, that couldn’t be true. She was never rusty. Maybe the two of them just didn’t have that chemistry she’d thought she’d felt back at the winter festival? But whatever it was, she didn’t like it one bit. 

Her eyes moved to the plate in front of her where the giant lobster was waiting for her to dig in. It was a little unusual looking but…”It’s a lobster…it’s pretty big, we could share if you want some.” But she was growing tired of this wasted night and she might have been ready to throw in the towel already. She hated moments like this where she didn’t even know what to say, hated this feeling more than most of the others that popped up throughout life. But she didn’t give up, that wasn’t who Winter was. No, she always found some way to defeat the unpleasantness of life and this would be no different. “Or we could get out of here. It’s a little stuffy in this restaurant, maybe a change of scenery will help us loosen up.”

Her eye was suddenly caught by a ghost flickering into existence, the coolness immediately souring Winter’s mood that much more. Why now? Why would one of them come into such a situation? Even Henry was keeping his distance back in the kitchens. “Well, this is tragic.” She scowled at the ghost, wanting so badly to toss her melted butter over his dark hair. 

—

When Winter had brought up the idea of Sam getting something else, the brunette glanced down at the plate again. This was definitely the date from hell. At least that’s the way it felt. She was now starting to feel awkward about her food choice, and if she had known Winter was picking up the tab at the beginning, she would have ordered something a little more tasty. It didn’t matter how much salt and pepper you added to these things, they just weren’t that good. But Sam wasn’t about to make Winter feel bad, that just wasn’t in her nature, unless it was warranted and this wasn’t warranted, “How do you know I want something else? Chicken tenders and red wine might be my thing.” She looked up to the other woman with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Her eyes shifting, Sam looked at the lobster. It did look good, and that was one huge crustacean. At least it wasn’t shrimp. From what she had heard, Sam was pretty sure eating shrimp in this town now was punishable by death. One minute it was a carrot shortage and now Shrimp Worshipers. She almost wanted to roll her eyes until she remembered she was in public and on a date that was already going horribly, “I’d…be fine with getting out of here. Maybe going for a walk or to grab a cheeseburger or something.” At least cheeseburgers were safe. Or shakes. Or really any food that didn’t cost more than a month’s rent.

“Hey, I’m just speaking facts here. It really doesn’t take much to impress Sam by the way. You’re trying too hard, Long Island. Yeah, we watched your show.” Zach leaned forward and poked at the large lobster on the table. “That thing’s gross. Why do you rich people eat this shit?” He looked to Winter before looking over at Henry, “Hey man. You ever eat this stuff when you were still alive?”

—

Staring at Sam as she tried to laugh all of this off, Winter wanted to laugh. Not because of Sam’s joke but because the medium should have known that this would go horribly when she picked this place. She had a certain taste for expensive things, always growing up around the best of anything. Hell, caviar had been her treat when she’d gotten good grades in school. Her mother had built an empire and her father had made sure to use that empire to spoil Winter rotten. She was the exception in this scenario, not Sam. She was the problem. “I could go for a burger.”

The realization hit her in the face along with the ghost's words. ‘It really doesn’t take much to impress Sam by the way.’ Hell, she was probably questioning ever agreeing to go out with Winter at this point. It wasn’t just that, though, it was the fact that this ghost knew her date as well. And he was revealing things that she had not known about her. ‘Yeah, we watched your show.’ Somehow this felt like a privacy violation. She’d yet to actually speak to a ghost that was connected to someone she was close with or someone she was trying to get closer to and the medium wasn’t sure she liked it.

When she looked up to see the dark haired boy speaking with Henry, she figured her ghost had come out when he heard the extra voice being thrown in the mix. He was looking at the new arrival wearily while shaking his head at the boy’s question all the while Sam was staring at Winter expectantly and she realized she’d been silent for far too long. “I’m sorry, uh…Sam, did you used to watch my show?” Confirmation was needed. This ghost could always be trying to stir up drama for kicks so she needed to know if he really was part of Sam’s life at one point. Her usual directness would come in handy here.

—

Sam glanced back down at the food. With each passing moment she felt more guilty for not being a better actor. But when Winter agreed to cheeseburgers, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. Unlike that poor oversized crustacean that had been boiled alive for their enjoyment. Realizing she had been staring at it for way too long, she looked back up only to see Winter just sitting there. It had grown quiet, and now Sam was wondering if she had become a problem. Had this been worth it? They had so much chemistry at the Winter Festival, but now, here they sat across from one another on the most awkward date known to man.

“Your show?” It was certainly not what Sam had expected in reply, but if it would make things less awkward, then she’d answer. In fact, now that she thought about it, maybe that was the issue. Maybe Winter had assumed Sam was just a fan trying to hookup with someone famous, but that wasn’t it at all, and now she was questioning whether or not to say yes, “Uh…” She hesitated before answering, “Yeah…yeah, I did. Me and my best friend used to, but I swear that’s not why I wanted to go out with you. I just thought we had chemistry, and that you were cute…” She sank down in her seat, slightly embarrassed.

“Shit, I’m sorry, Sam.” Zach looked over at her with sad eyes. He really hadn’t intended to make things awkward, “She’s telling the truth. We used to watch late night reruns of the older seasons. And that show your mom or grandma or whoever was on. But Sam is being honest. She doesn’t date people unless she really finds some kind of connection with them. I saw the way you two were flirting that day. There was something…” Zach finally realized he needed to shut up when he noticed Sam shifting anxiously in her seat, looking as if she were about to get up and leave.

—

God, this was getting even more awkward, something Winter hadn’t even thought possible. Her silence coupled with Sam’s nerves about the show being brought up was nothing compared to how fast her mind was racing though. What the hell did she do now? Did she tell Sam she was talking to this friend of hers or would the girl think she was making things up? Or worse, would she start crying or something? Still, if she kept it to herself and Sam found out later on she knew it would make the girl angry that she hadn’t spoken up. This was an impossible situation for the medium, one that was starting to reveal the complexities that came with this type of ‘gift.’ 

Well, the cute comment was nice at least, distracting enough to make Winter smirk at her date. “I am hella cute, so nice of you to notice.” This best friend was talking again, apologizing to Sam, trying to assure Winter, and she took a deep breath to try and calm her thoughts. She watched Henry place a comforting hand on this guy’s shoulder when finally shut up and she wished her ghost had thought to do that to his mouth as he rambled on. 

“I didn’t think that. You don’t seem like the type. Trust me, I’ve met them before.” That could have been a reason she’d been drawn to Sam at first. Winter was so used to a certain type of person out in LA that when she’d seen something different in the girl she’d jumped on it. She glanced over to the two ghosts standing there before flicking her gaze back to her date, wanting this newbie to know she was speaking to him as well. “I felt the chemistry too. I have no idea what happened to it tonight but I have a feeling I messed up by trying to treat you like those people. You’re obviously different…which I like.”

She still wasn’t sure whether to reveal that she was seeing and hearing her friend right now. It was an impossible decision when it came to someone you barely knew so she hoped that maybe the ghost would give her some hints here. Even if she felt awkward about taking advice from someone Sam couldn’t see she wasn’t a good enough person to come right out and say it. “How about we go get that burger and I try to stop impressing you so much?”

—

This date had totally turned into something Sam hadn’t expected. She didn’t know if it was doomed from the start or if they just weren’t connecting, but when Winter lightened the mood with a joke, Sam eased up a bit. She hadn’t been on many dates before, and this had, hands down, been the fanciest one. One that the woman had probably been trying too hard to make perfect since Winter had offered up such a nice restaurant. But here they both were floundering around, until Winter had mentioned treating Sam like the girls out in LA. More so looking for someone famous. It made sense though, “Thank you for being honest. I don’t date anyone because of their status. In fact, I haven’t really dated much at all, and this has been the nicest place anyone’s brought me. I think I was probably trying a little too hard as well with the hopes of impressing you.” She laughed softly as she looked down at the table somewhat embarrassed.

Zach could see relief on Sam’s face, and it allowed him to breathe. Looking to Winter, he smiled softly, before turning his attention on Henry, “Thanks, man. I needed that.” With a nod, he looked back to his best friend. Things were starting to look up, and figuring he had done enough for the night, he decided to go haunt some guy he recalled from high school who had given him a hard time, knowing that Sam had the rest of the night under control.

Looking back to Winter, Sam took in every inch of the girl. She was beautiful to say the least. Feisty, which Sam could handle, but now knowing that they were at least on the same page, the woman wanted to further explore the night, “I think burgers sound great right about now. And maybe milkshakes after.” It wasn’t fancy lobster or upscale dining, but it was a chance for the two women to get to know each other better without the pressure of meeting certain expectations, and to Sam, that equaled a good night out.

[alarawriting]

Fuuuck... accidentally posted to the wrong account against.

Have a thing I'm working on instead of a rant that belonged on my main blog, instead. ****

You are very confused about how you got here, and moreover, what here even is. The last thing you remember, you were cramming for your Organic Chemistry final, it was like 4 or 5 am – you were scared of looking at the clock too often, so you’d been avoiding it – and it was so hard to stay awake, despite the six espressos, three Jolt colas, five regular Cokes, three energy drinks, and caffeine pill you had taken, but you were trying to force yourself to read over the text and repeat to yourself everything it said. The exam was going to be at 8 am and you needed to do well. Your entire future depended on it. You remember having a massive headache and thinking you should go find some Advil, and then deciding against it because you couldn’t spare the time from studying.

Now you’re in a large… cavern? Throne room? Temple? The room’s enormous, with walls that look like white marble glittering with embedded crystal, and you are standing in front of a winged unicorn, a human-sized bunny rabbit who is standing on its haunches and has six – arms? Forelimbs? It looks kind of like what if Shiva was a fluffy grey bunny rabbit? – and a Chinese dragon. The Chinese dragon is small for a dragon, maybe 10 or 12 feet long but it’s coiled around itself, looped tightly enough that its head is about, maybe 8 feet high. The unicorn is the size of a racehorse. The three entities occupy a dais in the middle of the room, with some sort of flame-like background that is in rainbow colors, and oh shit, obviously you are dreaming. Fuck. You need to wake yourself up now.

“Leo Chen?” the unicorn asks. Her lips move, but not like a human saying the words “Leo Chen” would move. You can’t lip read but you know whatever it was her horse lips are saying, it’s not what you’re hearing. Like a bad dub. Shit. Too many Godzilla movies. Netflix dubs are a lot better than this.

“Look, this is great and all and I’m sure I would normally love this dream, but I’ve got to study for my orgo final that is happening something like three hours from now, so I think I need to wake up.”

You do not wake up. Normally when your dreams go lucid and you realize, oh right, Grandma’s actually dead, or Jesus I am about to get hit by a bus except this isn’t real and I’m dreaming, or whatever, you wake up. This is not always in your favor. The dream where Jeff Whittaker turned out to be gay and have a crush on you and the two of you were going to go on a date and then you remembered, wait, gay or not there is no way he’s gonna want to date me, and then you realized it was a dream, you tried very hard to not wake up, but it didn’t work. Realizing it’s a dream wakes you up. So why aren’t you waking up?

The Chinese dragon is laughing at you. Chortling. You didn’t think anyone ever really chortled, that was a word Lewis Carroll made up, but no, he’s chortling. “Oh, dear. Another one of the ‘it’s a dream’ ones.”

The bunny rabbit says, in a very butch lesbian voice, “Yeah, sorry, dude. It’s not a dream and you don’t have an orgo final anymore.”

“I do have an orgo final! In three hours! Or less, depending on how long I’ve been asleep!”

In a gentle, musical, feminine voice, the winged unicorn says, “I’m so sorry, Leo. You’re not asleep.”

“You’re dead,” the rabbit says.

The unicorn glares at the rabbit. “Petra, do you need to be so blunt about it?”

“Oh, you could have me tell him,” the Chinese dragon says. “You’re pushing up daisies! Not pining for the fjords! Kicked the bucket! You are an ex-human!”

“And you, Hundun, do not need to be cruel about it.” The unicorn looks right at you. For the first time you notice that she has predator eyes, facing you, not the side-eyes typical of a horse. Also, they are purple. This is plainly shit your brain got out of The Last Unicorn or maybe My Little Pony – in fact, with a winged white unicorn and a black and gold Chinese dragon, this is a lot like My Little Pony.

“No, I’m definitely dreaming,” you say confidently. “You look waaaay too much like characters from My Little Pony. Except the bunny, I don’t know where my brain got you.”

The Chinese dragon laughs again. He is not voice-acted by John de Lancie, but the general tone and pitch of his voice aren’t entirely dissimilar. “I knew it was going to bite us in the ass someday that we sent someone back.”

“Hush, Hundun. The young man is dealing with a lot right now.”

The rabbit says, “Look, I’m sorry. You’re dead and we brought you here because we need people like you.”

You roll your eyes. “Oh, Jesus, it’s an isekai. I’m the Chosen One? The Hero who’s destined to fight the Demon Lord or some shit like that? That’s not even vaguely believable. I’m an overweight biochem major shooting for medical school. I’ve never fought anything if you don’t count video games and frankly I don’t even like JRPGs where you swing a sword around and kill things. There is no way I would ever be some kind of special chosen one.”

“You’re right,” the rabbit says. “You’re not actually special.”

“At all,” the Chinese dragon says. “You are, in many ways, miserably average. I mean, I’ll give you this, you’re smart and hardworking. Well, at least the hard working part, given that you just gave yourself an aneurysm studying for an exam. I can’t help but think that if you were smart you could have avoided that.”

You’d had a terrible headache.

No. Bullshit. You’re not dead, this is an anxiety dream because of the headache making you feel like you were going to have a stroke. That’s a figure of speech. Guys your age do not actually have strokes, not even if they’ve been up for 32 hours writing papers and studying for exams and have been mainlining caffeine and energy drinks the entire time. The one dose of Adderall you were able to get from your roommate’s friend would have worn off a long time ago, that was more than 12 hours ago.

“Lemme guess,” you say. “You’re the Power of Kindness” – you point at the unicorn – “you’re the Power of Honesty—” the rabbit—“and you’re the Power of Being An Asshole.”

All three of them start laughing hysterically at this.

“He has you figured, Hundun,” the rabbit says.

“Oh, absolutely! And Eufy, all ‘pwetty pwease people don’t be mean to each over…’”

“It is true you’re fairly blunt, Petra,” the unicorn says, chuckling. “As for Hundun… we need to work together so let’s not go there.”

“It’s more like Order, Chaos and Harmony,” Petra, which is apparently the rabbit’s name, says.

“Called it. This is some kind of weird MLP fanfic my brain is making up,” you say.

“Or Change and Transformation, Stability, and the necessary balance between them that allows life to exist,” the unicorn says. “Or Rebellion, Doing What You’re Told, and Working Things Out. Conflict, Top-Down Unity via Enforcement, and Collaboration. Fire, earth and water.”

“So where’s air?” you ask skeptically.

Hundun the Chinese dragon sighs dramatically. “STEM students. Have you never heard of an analogy?”

“The Trains Run On Time, The Trains May Be Somewhat Delayed Because There Are a Lot of Trains, and When the Fuck Is This Train Showing Up?” Petra says.

“And you’re not making any of this up,” Hundun says, “because, trust me, you’re not that imaginative.”

[psychicglittermentality]

Pickup Lines

*gif not mine*

Zelly deserves all the love. Also reader insert fics. And I think this is genuinely terrible, perhaps because I’ve been staring at it since the wjc. Fem reader. Implied underage drinking (possibly). Reader drinks water. 

873 words

You hadn’t really wanted to be there in the first place. You like parties just as much as the next 20 year old university student, but at the moment, you’re recovering from the flu and have a ton of schoolwork to catch up on. But in the end you’d agreed to accompany your friend to the party for two reasons. One, as much as you love your best friend, she needs an anchor to keep her from flying away. And two, you did NOT want to tackle the enormous pile of homework sitting on your desk. Those things lead to you leaning against the kitchen counter and sipping from a bottle of water as you keep your eye on your friend who’s flirting with a guy on the couch. 

“Hey.” A guy leans on the counter next to you, drawing your attention away from the living room. His hair is dark and he has a wide mouth and an upturned nose. On the whole, pretty cute. Like, exactly your type. You’re still foggy enough from the flu to wonder if you’d conjured him up out of your mind. He’s that perfect. “You look really familiar,” he continues, squinting at your face in an attempt to place you.

You wrack your brain, trying to figure out where he knows you from. You feel kind of bad because you feel like you should definitely remember him. 

“Didn’t we take a class together?” 

You knit your brow and shake your head because he’s certainly not in any of your classes. Or any of your past ones. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think so,” you tell him, fiddling with the water bottle. Get it together, you scold yourself. It’s just a boy. A cute boy. A really cute boy. 

“Really?” He asks, the beginnings of a smile starting to form. “Cause I could have sworn we had chemistry.” 

You press your lips together, understanding immediately what he was trying to do, ignoring the little flutter of happiness that he’s hitting on you. “I don’t want to be mean,” you say slowly, your mouth curving upwards, matching the smile on his face. “But that was probably the worst pickup line I’ve ever heard.” 

“Oh?” He challenges, eyebrows raised. “Let’s hear your best, then.” 

“Alright, are you ready?” 

“Hit me with it.” 

You clear your throat. “Hi, what’s your name?” 

“Olen,” he answers. An unusual name, but it suits him. 

You wait, looking at him expectantly. 

“What?” He asks. “Is that all you got? Cause I think mine might be a little better.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me what my name is?” You prompt through your giggles. 

“Oh, uh, what’s your name?” 

You flash a wide smile at him, and bite your bottom lip. “My name is Y/N, but you can call me yours.” 

Olen throws his head back and laughs. A thousand butterflies take flight in your stomach seeing his uninhibited smile. “Okay, that was awful.” 

“Hey!” You protest, despite your laughter. 

“How many guys has that worked on?” He asks you, his eyebrows raised. 

“Oh, none.” You laugh, and take a sip of your water. “I’ve never used it before now.” 

“Really?”

“Really,” you affirm, feeling far too giddy just from meeting a guy at a party. You’re probably still a little sick. 

“So I should feel special?” He asks, leaning towards you. 

You lock eyes and share a grin. “I think so.” 

“So, mine,” he says, and you can’t help the happy smile that drifts across your face at the inflection he puts on the last word. “What do you say we get out of here? I know a great 24/7 diner we could go to. And you look a little wobbly on your feet.” 

“Flu survivor, 2024,” you say with a little salute and a grin. You glance towards the couch where your friend sits, now chatting to a girl you recognise from the Intro to Psych class you took last year. 

Olen follows your gaze to the couch and seemingly mistakes that you’re looking at a guy next to your friend. “I am so sorry, I didn’t realise you came here with someone,” he says, sounding contrite. And maybe a little regretful. 

“No!” You yelp, hurrying to assure him that you are indeed unattached. “Well, yes, I came with someone, but it’s the girl next to the guy, but we’re just friends, we’ve been friends since kindergarten.”

“That’s good, because my thoughts about you are anything but friendly.” You can’t help but notice the steady flush that spreads across his cheeks when he says that. A wave of affection for this guy you just met nearly knocks you off of your feet. Was it really like you to leave a party with a guy you just met? Every instinct in your brain is screaming yes, though, so… “You wanna get out of here? I know someone who knows this great 24/7 diner we could go to,” you tease, pulling out your phone to shoot your friend a quick text letting her know where you’re going. At least if you’re murdered, he seems decent enough to get you on Buzzfeed Unsolved. 

He catches your eye and positively beams at you. “Absolutely.”

[browneyedbeauty5725]

My more in depth thoughts on OBX S3

I will admit I skipped through a lot of parts of each episode cause I literally could not care less about Big John and his treasure. I genuinely wish they hadn’t brought him back cause they had this build up of what an amazing dad he was supposed to be just to show he was actually a pretty shitty one. Like the storyline they were going with in the beginning where the whole reason John B was looking for this treasure was to honor his dad was great and then they kinda ruined it.

JIARA, what can I say other than finally lol. Some people feel like it was rushed, some people felt like it fell flat, and others loved it. Frankly I loved it. It was so them. One I think it was never going to live up to any of our expectations cause their build up was so amazing especially considering it was very unintentional in the beginning and we all built up the moment they finally got together in our heads.JJ showing her that you know what forget Big John,forget the treasure, you’re what’s important to me I will come for you every single time was amazing. And Kie being the one to say I love you first, when one John b n pope came at her and two because it’s JJ and emotions are hard for him being vulnerable is hard for him was just so important. For her to be the one to be like I know this is hard for you and I know you don’t think you deserve it but I love you and I’m choosing you was important. And just the enormity of JJ being able to say it back in a room full of people no less. And as for it being rushed if there had been more than 10 episodes yea ok maybe but there weren’t so them getting together in episode 9 along with the two previous seasons of build up was played out perfectly. And I loved Pope kinda being the first one to really acknowledge that something was going on. He’s listening to JJ say nothing happened and is just like you can say that all you want but what I walked in on was not nothing.

Fuck Kie’s parents. Like don’t get me wrong it did seem at first that her mom was genuinely trying but then she just gave up and went back to being the same as she always was. And don’t even get me started on Kie’s dad. Like I hate people who forget where they came from just because they end up successful. Like excuse me sir once upon a time you were just like those boys. And i can’t remember if it’s canon or just something we all made up in fanfics but it’s like they don’t realize they are doing the same thing Anna’s parents did to her. Kie isn’t throwing away any of what they are trying to give her. She can still have a good successful life and still hang out with the pogues. The only way she loses that is if her parents cut her off.

I love Cleo and Pope and his family. I love them together. Their chemistry is amazing. And I love how Heyward is as exasperated with all the pogues behavior like Kie’s parents but he’s handling it the right way. He doesn’t like it but he knows they are gonna do it anyway and he understands that he can either be as supportive as he can or he can risk losing his relationship with his son.

And honestly I’m just kinda over Sarah and John B. Like what was the point of her cheating and like when Kie his best friend is like we can’t trust her in season one John B is all too bad but suddenly the dad who abandoned him is like we can’t trust anyone else he’s just suddenly willing to lie to Sarah and then throw her trauma over her family in her face. I loved the relationship in the beginning but now every time I rewatch the show I’m just like go away. And maybe this is cause the actors broke up idk but the chemistry between the characters just isn’t there for me anymore. Their storyline has just become really tiring for me.

Idk how I feel about the time jump cause of all the things we probably won’t get to see but at the same time I am ready to see them as young adults. Overall though it was a pretty good season.

[bubbleonice]

Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson.

I started with the question: has there ever been any romantic feelings between these two men.

Chariot:

Strong energy is always present when the Chariot is drawn. the answer is yes. The Chariot suggests that you need to conquer your emotions in order to have a successful relationship. If you and your partner have been going through a rough patch, you will need to come together, communicate and work hard. The challenges you face are not insurmountable. Chariot is a powerful card, and the labor you are undertaking will probably trend towards long and difficult. You will quite possibly experience rough roads, long uphill slopes, dead ends, and painful setbacks.

Harry:

Angel of support: he has had need for support both emotionally and spiritually and material wise when it came to this relation.

Family: he has not been supported by his family on this matter. There has been an emotional experience with a family memeber who has not been rooting for Harry.

Listen to the music: Music has been his escape. And only through music has he been able to surcome his worries and negative thoughts. A lot has he said through his music. We need to listen to his words to understand.

Selflove: selflove has been a problem. He has been emotionally unavailable. His love life has been a rough patch until recently. There has been lots of uncertainties and back and forth. Restless and reckless relationships. Almost self destructive behaviours. He rushed into relationship after relationship, running away from his own feelings.

Chemistry: these two men had enormous chemistry.

You deserve love: in the end it is like Harry said enough is enough Louis. You deserve love. And that’s not from me, cause I am no good for you. You need to go find love. Get away from me.

Knights of swords reversed: Restless, unfocused, impulsive, burn-out. You want to take action, but something is holding you back. Perhaps the timing isn’t right, you don’t have enough resources, or you’re relying on someone else who isn’t ready. You need to find alternative ways to release this energy. Otherwise, you are going to burst. you have little direction and are making rash and impulsive decisions, pulling others down with you. Your thoughts are scattered, and you are constantly changing your mind. You’re hot than you’re cold. It’s confusing and frustrating for everyone involved. Knights of swords reversed also indicates this person is very emotional unavailable.

Queen of wands: The Queen of Wands is associated with an outgoing and friendly personality, indicating you are extroverted but self-contained. The Queen of Wands tarot also indicates that you live a very busy and energetic life. The Queen of Wands tarot can also reflect the personality of your love interest.But in situations like this, you’ll be better off as friends.

Ten of pentacles reversed: When you see the reversed Ten of Pentacles in a Tarot reading, be ready to question your need for stability, security and commitment in your life. It may sound good on paper or might be what is expected of you – but is it what YOU want?

Louis:

Angel of guidance: has been feeling lost and confused in the past. Perhaps not sure which direction to take.

Be couragoeus: he was intimidated and wanted to run away from challenges at hand. He has been offering gumself numerous of arguments to justify his own fears and told himself why he should quit. He has been afraid and been letting fear stop him from living the truth.

Trust: he didn’t know at the time that he had a strong connection to his soul’s loving voice and faith in his intution.

Retreat: he did what he felt he had to do, he disconnected.

The Empress reversed: insecurity, overbearing, negligence, smothering, lack of growth, lack of progress. He has been too smothering, controlling or alternatively, unable to express his feelings. The card can also signal that one's self-worth may need a boost. Without feeling worthy of being loved.

Manifesting a Miracle: he has not lost his hopes yet eventhough he has walked away. He still dreams and hopes that his dream will become reality.

I’m pulling one last card to see where this will be going.

The Sun reversed: The Sun Reversed can mean you are struggling to see the bright side of life. You may have experienced setbacks that damaged your enthusiasm and optimism and perhaps led you to question whether you can achieve what you set out to do. Nonetheless, The Sun is never a negative card, so this is only temporary.

On the other hand, you may be too confident or overly optimistic. Are you truthful to yourself and others? Or, are you trying to talk yourself up when you know you cannot deliver? Are you unrealistic? Is what you have set out to achieve achievable? Most likely these two have driven apart, but I guess we’ll just to wait and see.

I hope you enjoy this reading. And please keep in mind that this is done for entertainment purposes only. I use tarotcards and oracle cards actively in my readings, as well as my intuition. Energies come and go, what is relevant for today’s reading might change in a few weeks time. But some aspects will always remain constant and the same. Thank you.❤️

[denimbex1986]

'Andrew Haigh is a filmmaker who can tell beautiful stories with various degrees of sadness. All of Us Strangers is his most recent and is brimming with poignancy about ghosts of loved ones, unresolved childhood pain, and adult loneliness. After tears or heartache are shed while watching, audiences might notice Haigh’s filmmaking style is both naturalistic and stylish. Long before All of Us Strangers, the director made the romance drama Weekend. This is where Haigh developed what his later projects would frequently depict: a grounded portrayal of everyday life inhabited by characters that anyone might pass by on the street. More importantly, as an openly gay man, Haigh centers his best projects on queer life. Weekend shows how obstacles that gay men face may repeat but proves overcoming them isn’t impossible. Sometimes, it’s the people you meet in a short amount of time that leave an enormous impact.

A One-Night Stand Is Not Enough in ‘Weekend’

The story follows Russell (Tom Cullen), who lives alone in a high-rise apartment. His day may consist of working as a lifeguard, avoiding joining the chats of his crude, straight coworkers, and visiting his married best friend, with whom Russell avoids sharing anything related to his sexuality. Russell is comfortable in this life, even if he’s closed off. Things change when he goes to a club and hooks up with Glen (Chris New). The morning after, they can’t seem to part ways for too long, finding themselves drawn back together.

It begins a meaningful connection and an unexpected awakening for them as they break down the walls they have each put up, all of this happening throughout the weekend before Glen plans to leave the country indefinitely. Andrew Haigh creates a realistic tale of how people can be profoundly changed when they least expect it. Never does Weekend feel tied down to the year it was released. Instead, it feels timely. While it can be sensual, the chemistry between the leads isn’t emphasized when they jump into bed but when they hold conversations, engaging and arguing with one another.

Andrew Haigh Finds Intimacy Away From Sex Scenes

Haigh’s directorial debut, Greek Pete, was made to seem like a documentary on male prostitution, but Weekend, Haigh's breakout film, expands on this film style to help the world and characters feel lived-in without blurring the lines between narrative and documentary. It’s not devastating in the same way as All of Us Strangers. Weekend’s slice-of-life approach is closer to the director’s HBO series, Looking, where life and love don’t always blend seamlessly for the central gay friends living in San Francisco. In Looking Season 1, Patrick (Jonathan Groff) plays hooky from work in Episode 5 to spend the day with Richie (Raúl Castillo), the two testing the waters of being a couple while they wander around the city. They chat, opening up on what was their first sexual experience, how their parents took their coming out, and other details in their lives to get to know each other better. This mumblecore storytelling (a focus on dialogue over plot with naturalistic performances) is found in Weekend, which is how Russell and Glen’s relationship grows.

Their first hookup isn’t shown to the audience. Haigh waits to show them having sex. By holding back, Weekend shows how intimate talking can be, which can be just as electrifying. Glen wants to make an art project that focuses on gay sex, bringing awareness to how it would make a straight audience uncomfortable. Russell agrees to record his memory of their hookup for the project, but as he does, his discomfort and shyness are evident. He sits up, pulling his legs into himself, while Glen lays out on the mattress in his briefs, his hand extended with the recorder on. With the camera close on them, Glen appears more comfortable, as if it’s his bedroom rather than the other way around.

Opposites Attract in ‘Weekend’

When Russell tries to avoid getting too personal in the recording, Glen pries in an abrasive manner -- shy, he is not. But this pushing leads to Russell leaning toward the recorder, and instead of a salacious, candid remark, he replies, “I just thought that we were having a really nice time, and it was lovely. It was more than enough for me.” Glen quiets down and ends the recording, taken aback at Russell’s earnest answer. These two couldn’t be more different, but there’s a spark as these opposites start attracting.

But like Russell, Glen keeps people at a distance. He bursts with self-confidence, and then he can quickly say he doesn’t believe his art will have any value or effect on anyone. Russell looks the other way when homophobia rears its ugly head, choosing to ignore it, but Glen chooses to be confrontational. He yells out Russell’s apartment window when he hears someone saying a slur down below, making Russell nervous the bigots will throw bricks at the glass, despite living far above ground level.

Like his reaction to his art project, Glen’s confidence isn’t as strong as he lets on. When they hang out again, Russell seems to be making an impression, and Glen starts losing his cool demeanor. He leaves Russell, then keeps returning and exiting through the same door as he tries to finish his train of thought. He reveals his upcoming departure at the end of the weekend before eventually asking Russell to join him for a get-together with friends later that night. There’s avulnerability that Glen needs to let out, while Russell has a self-confidence that’s begging to be let loose.

‘All of US Strangers’ and ��Weekend’ Explore Similar Themes

Like All Us Strangers, the theme of loneliness among queer characters is crucial to Weekend. Russell’s height within his tiny apartment could make the location seem confining. His legs dangle over the edge of a sofa when he’s stretched out on it. His body hardly submerges in his bathtub’s water. But the home is a cozy, safe space where Russell can keep to himself and avoid opening up to the world.

Among the main couple, Russell is the quieter, most reserved of the two, uncomfortable with his sexuality in public. Meanwhile, Glen is blunt about sex and anything else, never failing to dig into his anger about how gay men need to assimilate themselves in a predominantly heteronormative society. “I hate new things,” Russell says to Glen, explaining the second-hand, thrift store items around his kitchen. He treasures the magnets and cups he’s gotten, but this extends to how he chooses to live as well. New, unexplored experiences make him nervous. Glen has been hurt in the past, which is why he has decided to look for new experiences but leave before anything can get too real. They are both lonely, and Andrew Haigh uses a recurring motif to show this.

The Visual Style of ‘All of US Strangers’ and ‘Weekend’

Reflections are important in All of Us Strangers, such as in the opening where the camera is on a wide shot of a city as the sun rises, the heated colors shining off a building, getting brighter, until it glows onto Adam looking out, changing the perspective of the camera by making the framing less aerial, more personal. Due to the supernatural element, windows and mirrors have a different meaning in Strangers than in Weekend. Reflective surfaces show how Russell is detached from the world or how he feels self-conscious when he goes outside. At work as a lifeguard, he stands on patrol, his figure seen in the stagnant water as swimmers chat and splash with friends on the other side. A mirror on the club’s wall closes the distance between Glen and Russell when they first spot each other. And there is Russell’s tendency to stare out his apartment window, similar to Adam in Strangers, observing the city or watching Glen walk away after they part.

‘Weekend’s Russell and Glen Deal with How to Be Openly Gay

Russell and Glen share different views on what it means to not be straight in the current day, gay marriage being among the topics they discuss and argue about, which, off-screen, wouldn’t be legalized in England until a few years later, in 2013. For Russell, marriage is a radical stance against conservative and religious criticism and hate; for Glen, he views casual dating without labels as a more radical stance. In a painful scene in All of Us Strangers, Haigh returns to this question, wondering about the progress that has been made. Does it make queer life better nowadays? The answer isn’t an easy one.

Haigh knows this because while the world is getting better and more tolerant of the LGBTQ+ community, that doesn’t mean happiness is instant. Due to the premise of Adam being able to visit his late parents’ ghosts, he can finally come out to his mom (Claire Foy), but her reaction is ignorance-filled concern. “They say it’s a very lonely kind of life,” she says. He’s lonely, but he tries to clarify, “If I am, it’s not because I’m gay. Not really.” In Weekend, Russell and Glen shut themselves off from relationships, knowing that commitment can make anyone hurt, but meeting each other forces them to realize shutting people out isn’t the answer.

‘Weekend’ Is Sad, But Not Exactly Like ‘All of Us Strangers’

The various ghosts Andrew Scott faces make the closing minutes of Haigh’s recent film depressing. While it’s beautiful, watching what Adam must go through to heal and move on in his life is incredibly tragic from beginning to end. The final minutes of Weekend have a more hopeful outcome, but that gives it a different kind of heartache. Through the various times they meet up, Glen eventually allows himself to be more vulnerable, and Russell gains more confidence in himself. They meet one last time at the train station, where Glen will depart for a journey he hopes will help his career and future. Unlike the kind of resolution the most iconic rom-coms might have at this moment, there is no outburst of love. Whatever their relationship could have been, a final goodbye closes them off from knowing the answer.

Weekend is the breakout film for Andrew Haigh and an acting showcase for Tom Cullen and Chris New. For people who want their romance with unsentimental realism, this queer film is for them. Haigh isn’t afraid of downbeat endings, but they usually feel like the right choice for how the stories he made should end. Weekend takes the time to feel authentic in creating the romance between Russell and Glen without choosing to give them an easy happily ever after, even if some viewers want it. The train leaves, but Russell and Glen won’t be forgetting each other anytime soon.'

[minetteskvareninova]

Minette watches Medici, part 14 (Alliance)

- Thank Lord, Theotokos and all the saints, the show has finally returned to a bearable level of stupidity! I mean, it’s still not GOOD, but at least there’s enough good here that I don’t need to have a vodka bottle on hand to finish this series.

- Finally, some good fucking tension! I mean, Lorenzo is still a raging Gary Stu, but at least the show is nice enough to throw us a bone and not make him win 100% all the damn time. And I made my peace with the fact that old Iacopo is a fucking cartoon villain; now I just revel in a fact that he has the decency to be good one.

- Citta di Castello has me fucking rolling, like that name sounds extremely fake, but it’s an actual city and apparently that plot is kinda based on something that actually happened - although I don’t think Lorenzo was involved at all? Then again, could’ve known that, this show doesn’t have a relationship so much as persistent, but still noncommittal flirtation with history. Either way, I liked that plot, if for no other reason, then because Lorenzo finally got in line and follows his granddad’s footsteps in winning only trough great effort and sacrifice. Also, hey, the Volterra plot was somewhat relevant beyond that one episode! Nice.

- The triumphant return of Lucrezia D was somewhat eyeroll-worthy because of the writers’ verbal fellatio of Lorenzo trough Clarice, but I am willing to forgive it a lot because from this episode on, I am a Clarice x Lucrezia D shipper. Like, pair the suitors would always be the superior dynamic, but these two. Oh, these two. Ladies, I know that silver tongue probably eats mad pussy, but the other one has mouth too! God, I swear as soon as I end this mostly painful season, I am writing some mad smut with this pairing. BTW, still waiting for chemistry between Lorenzo and Clarice, but as mentioned, Clarice only has eyes for Lucrezia D.

- If only every romantic subplot was at least semi-decent, but alas, Giuliano and Simonetta also exist. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not bemoaning their individual existence as character, not when Giuliano was finally useful this episode. But their tragic love story (for a given value of love and story, though tragic it definitely is in multiple ways) has finally ended, just as stupidly as it began. Vespucci’s gullibility is at least qualifying for the national championship (and mind you, in this very universe, you had Cosimo convinced Marco Bello killed his father) like Iago at least had some kind of flimsy proof unlike here Francesco - unless this show insists on telling me Vespucci had no idea Giuliano de’ Medici will pose half-naked on a portrait with his wife, which I call enormous bullshit on.

- He at least reacts the way I would expect from your average renessaince husband that learned his wife cheats on him with the local fuckboy (and unlike Lorenzo, I do not believe the dick is that good - he probably doesn’t eat pussy at all, let alone well). This plot point honestly gave me war flashbacks to The Musketeers season 2 and the good ship HMS Constagnan. To which I say, sir, how very fucking dare you. Not only did they do the whole “nominally shitty husband way too decent, at least in comparison with the hot fuckboy love interest, let’s make him commit some random domestic violence” sooner, they did it... Well, at least not as terribly. I mean, Simonetta is cool, but she’ll never be Constance, Giuliano is just straight up trash (unlike D’Artagnan, who, while annoying, did have at least some charisma and likeable qualities), and though old Bonacieux wasn’t quite convincing as an outright wife beater, he at least was a kinda bad husband.

- And of course, since Simonetta Vespucci IRL died of tuberculosis, the writers just had to milk her situation for all the Victorian Novel Dissease cliches they could cram in the limited time they had. Like, fuck me, I didn’t think I would see the day I was going to be glad Matilda Lutz and her angelic face are leaving this world, but the writing really is that bad. Whelp, at least Giuliano is going to get shanked soon too...

- Lastly we have the subplot with the bald councilman and his ugly son, which had a few mildly stupid moments, but overall wasn’t bad. I am still not sure whether Lorenzo placating the ugly son was really as stupid as it seemed to me at first, like I guess it made sense, in that Lorenzo was giving up any advantage he might’ve gotten by the bald councilman’s murder, thus convincing the ugly son it wasn’t him...? Then again, it could’ve been a cunning plot, a desperate gamble to gain the ugly son’s trust... Nah, I’ll buy it. Ugly son, you’re not qualifying for the national gullibility championship, how sad for you. Anyway, props to Iacopo Pazzi for once again proving a well-placed assassination has its place in the politics of renessaince Italy! A+ use of your hired thugs, no notes. Also nice preview for Giuliano’s shanking...

- The ugly son reminded me - no Bianca and Francesco’s lame brother to bring down the charisma in the room in this episode! Yay. A gold sticker for this episode, everyone.

[libramonthlyhoroscope1]

Capricorn man in bed with cancer woman

Capricorn, the Sea-Goat, is focused on logic, on being down-to-earth and real; Cancer brings a charge of emotional intensity to the relationship. Both hold one another to high standards tempered by abiding mutual respect. When Cancer and Capricorn make a love match, it’s a celestial pairing of great tenacity and determination. Some pairings might even work through ancestral traumas carried in their genetic coding. When Cancer and Capricorn affair first meets, they feel a deep kinship. Something inside of them tells this duo they belong together. If they don’t hook up on a romantic level, at least they are lifelong friends. They feel a sense of “coming home” or as if they’ve found a lost aspect of themselves. The emotional bond runs deep. They enjoy spending time with one another but require freedom. It will help avoid co-dependent behaviours from taking root.

Capricorn man in bed with cancer woman

SEXUAL COMPATIBILITY

Cancer-Capricorn sexuality is one of the best. This is because they both have opposing signs assigns. As a result of the opposite signs, they both will have a strong connection and attraction with each other when it comes to sex. Whenever both of them are connected, the passion will be awakened. They both would be able to hit the bed and curl up in each other arms. In the bedroom, the chemistry continues and intensifies. But Cancer is reluctant to emerge from their emotional shell. Meanwhile, Capricorn knows what they crave. Thankfully, Capricorn has the tolerance of the Gods. They allow Cancer to take their time. They wait while Cancer goes about the business of letting loose one inhibition after another. They’ll guide their partner from the emotional depths. It’s eventual, but this couple will find the bliss of sexual liberation. Cancer brings to Capricorn a level of emotional intimacy they have never experienced. It’s as if Cancer teaches their partner how to love. Capricorn teaches Cancer how to express deep emotions through physical touch. This couple enters the bedroom while merging compassion and passion. It’s the perfect formula for achieving the heights of ecstasy. Add to that, competition of authority must be avoided. Capricorn, despite being too critical, must give their Cancer enough leeway. They must understand that Cancers are more emotional and that they needed extra sensitivity, care, and attention. Cancer, on the other hand, likes to dominate the relationship themselves, by putting up a lot of emotional blackmail, but they have to understand this will not always work with such a strong persona of a Capricorn. If Capricorn and Cancer take enough effort to bind a few of their misbehaviours, then this relationship can even climb a higher notch.

FRIENDSHIP COMPATIBILITY

Cancer and Capricorn friends are complete opposites, which is the secret to their friendship. The Crab has tremendous emotional intelligence, knowing what people need to thrive. The Goat is enormously practical, understanding what needs to be done to succeed. The friendship between the Cancer and the Capricorn is defined by two natives who have a lot of determination and the power to be assertive. The Capricorn is rational and composed, whereas the Cancer brings in all the emotions in the friendship. Both of them expect great things from their friends, but they can calm one another down when they’re best pals. The Cancer appreciates how the Capricorn is dedicated, while the latter likes the former for being tenacious. Their connection is sure to last and to be secure. Cancer is cardinal and belongs to the Water element, not to mention he or she is ruled by the Moon. When making friends with someone, people in this sign want stability, to offer their care, love and protection.

COMMUNICATION COMPATIBILITY

Cancer and Capricorn communication compatibility is high because of the way they communicate. They have a near psychic bond and don’t have to speak to understand what one another is thinking. Capricorn is vocal about their needs, and it’s a lesson they can pass on to quiet, passive Cancer. Cancer is receptive and willing to listen to Capricorn whenever they need an ear. These two can talk for hours as they share similar interests. Cancer will talk about the routine of running a home and raising children. They’ll share their private dreams because they see Capricorn as a supportive mate. Capricorn loves to talk about their work ambitions. But they’ll tune into the dreams of their mate. When working in unison, both partners can ensure everyone’s goals see the manifestation. Neither party cares for secrets. Being loyal is high on the list of demands. Secretive behaviour is suggestive otherwise. If anybody holds secrets it's Cancer, who may not always share their deepest feelings. Capricorn may not tell Cancer everything if they are protecting their emotions.

The relationship between Capricorn and Cancer, if to be rated, can merit a score of a seven or an eight. The elements between them are complementary, making it highly favourable for both. Nonetheless, as both are coming from cardinal signs, competition and a few clashes are inevitable. What this relationship needs are compromise and constant communication. Right from the beginning, both parties need to set ground rules, so as they would not have a hard time adjusting and accepting each other's differences. Capricorn must help Cancer understand that they need to take numerous times offs away from them, in order to fulfil their duties and obligations, whereas Cancer must express that the reason behind all their emotional outbursts and possessiveness is the need to be assured. Add to that, competition of authority must be avoided.

Capricorn, despite being too critical, must give their Cancer enough leeway. They must understand that Cancers are more emotional and that they needed extra sensitivity, care, and attention. Cancer, on the other hand, likes to dominate the relationship themselves, by putting up a lot of emotional blackmail, but they have to understand this will not always work with such a strong persona of a Capricorn. If Capricorn and Cancer take enough effort to bind a few of their misbehaviours, then this relationship can even climb a higher notch.

[lovehealsandlovehurts]

Inseparable

warnings: 18+ plus, minors DNI, smut, mommy kink (Wanda), daddy kink (Natasha), strap on (receiving), oral (giving), slapping, choking, name-calling, sex, nipple play, boob play, crying (not sad, not negative) mentions of masochism? verbal humiliation

Let me know if I missed anything 

part 2 is up!! 

summary: You’re Wanda’s assistant and you begin to fall victim to her charms. Despite her having a wife (Natasha) she doesn't mind teasing you. You find yourself in the grasp of both their hands.

 Word count: 4.5k

This is my first smut/au so please be nice. If I made any grammatical errors feel free to correct me or drop constructive criticism in my DMS. I know this is long but I simply couldn’t have made it shorter without describing everything in the way I wanted to. It’s still quite vague in my opinion. Enjoy

Do not repost. Do not steal. 

…

“You wanted to see me?” you said casually while trying so desperately to mask the sound of your own heartbeat. Wanda has been flirting with you for months. You knew she was married so it shocked you at first. The bold stares, the tone of her voice, the obvious flirting that she later disregards as jokes but the look in her eyes states otherwise. You’ve seen her wife Natasha come in and out to visit her at work or deliver something important, and you knew that if you somehow won the lottery in life and married her you would have never laid eyes on anyone else. Even looking in her direction made you nervous, and the tension and chemistry they both had was off the roof. It was only after those couple of months you started to think that people have different standards and morals, you realized she isn’t flirting with you because she’s missing something in her relationship but that her partner is most definitely comfortable with it. Perhaps even enjoys the possibility of bringing someone along into their bedroom. 

“Ah, yes y/n, my love. Come closer” Wanda pointed at the glass table she was sitting in front of. You swallowed loudly and moved away from the door. Wanda was dressed in a black suit that defined her figure very well. With matching black pants and heels. It took absolutely everything in you not to look down considering the very long v cut in the clothing that revealed her chest. “I’ve been wanting to invite you to a party celebrating our latest deal with Waystar Roco, at my house tomorrow, and I just wanted to tell you personally,” she said lightly and looked up and down at you. There was a strange but comforting grin on her face, something you don’t see often. You could tell she was happy to invite you over. “ “Wow..I.. didn’t even know there was a party for that,” you chuckled. “Thank you. Miss Maximoff” you said. She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, you were standing by the table, looking down at her. “Yes silly, it's because you’re the first one to know” she laughed delicately. “I think we should cut the formalities when we’re alone… call me Wanda'' her voice was calming but there was a mysterious undertone to it that drew you in. It made you ask yourself why on earth you have difficulty with forming your words. ”Okay Wanda, well thank you again” you managed to let out, trying to keep your cool. “Yeah of course… I’ll text you all the info’’ she leaned back in her chair. “Wear something… less professional.” 

…

The party was so boring, maybe because you haven’t seen her yet. There was nothing interesting about men exchanging stock information with each other. You’ve only had two glasses of champagne because you knew if you allowed yourself to have more you’d get completely trashed. Everything was loud and you didn’t like to feel overwhelmed. The fact you didn’t know that many people at the party didn’t help. You were always in a rush and barely talked to anyone about anything other than work. You walked through the huge halls of Wanda's enormous house alone and decided to catch a break in the first room you found open. You shut the door and leaned your back on it while closing your eyes. With an empty glass in your hand, you took a deep breath, but before you managed to let it out you heard a voice. “ Well, there’s my stressed girl” The voice was familiar but it still scared the living hell out of you. You didn’t notice anyone in the room. “Fuck..oh shit.. sorry,” you said while you saw Wanda in what appears to be an office, dressed in a black silk dress. “Are you sorry to see me?” She smiled. Her smile was so captivating. It was wide and lightened her whole face, a genuine smile. “No…well…I... I’m sorry that I- I wandered in here without asking” you said while trying to stop the shakiness in your voice. “It's your house and I just walked in…” you wanted to come up with more and apologize but you stopped talking as soon as you saw Wanda head in your direction. She walked towards you slowly, never breaking eye contact, like a predator trying to catch prey. She just kept moving closer and you wondered if she was ever gonna stop, but she didn’t. Not until she was right by you, gently pressing your body by the door, she put her arms around you and your heart felt like it was going to burst out of your chest. But she didn’t touch you, just locked the door behind you. “Well.. good this was the only room I left open…I was hoping you’d wander in “ she whispered in your ear. Her head was so close to yours you could feel her breathing on your neck. You so desperately wanted to say something but when you opened your mouth, nothing came out. Just a very low hum that sounded like a moan, a question, a word trying to form. Wanda looked at you with no expression but the longing in her eyes. But suddenly that changed, she frowned and put her arms on yours, gently, “Oh god… you’re almost shaking” she said caringly. “Am I?” is the only thing you managed to say. It’s not what you wanted to communicate but it’s the only sentence that came out of your mouth. “You don’t have to pretend with me. '' Her voice got lower as she moved closer to your face, breaking the distance between you. “I know I make you nervous.” your breathing was rackety, you didn't even realize you were breathing through your slightly open mouth, and you couldn't look at anything else but her eyes, they were so vibrant, so hypnotizing, like a force that’s pulling you in. “I know how you look at me at work, I know that you blush when I talk to you, there’s no need to pretend.'' Her voice was steady and confident. “But there’s something I don't know. '' Her tone changed, she moved her mouth by your ear again but didn’t touch you. “Do you touch yourself when you think of me, too?” you closed your eyes and swallowed. That was the final straw, you fought everything in you to not grab her waist and kiss her most violently. You wanted to, so bad, but you were scared of what she’d do. Instead, you turned your head in her direction and waited for her to do so. But she smiled, it was the evilest smile. The smile that someone gives you when they make fun of you, or tease you. But somehow it turned you on, you know she knew that you were desperate. She knows the power that she has over you, yet she decides to do nothing about it? You put a hard kiss on her lips and push your body closer to her, and she kisses your back. Her lips taste of red wine and Carmex chapstick. They’re soft but don’t kiss you back gently. She bites into your lower lip and sucks it so hard you wonder if it didn’t leave a bruise. But you don’t care because it feels too good. It feels like you’d suffocate if you didn’t get more of her. You kiss her back, passionately, and slip the tip of your tongue between her lips. “Ah, ah, ah, “ she says sharply and pulls away. “You’re so eager aren’t you… impatient girl” she teases while slowly moving away from you. You try to follow. “No.“ she says firmly and you stop and stare at her without saying a word. She chuckles, giving you that smile once again. “Sit down,” she says. You follow her order. You sit down slowly at an armchair by the wooden desk and look up at her grinding. “Do you enjoy this?” you ask, she knows what you’re talking about. “Do you like seeing me desperate? '' You say softly, while still staring up at her. “Oh honey.. this isn’t even close to desperate” she looks down at you, with those hunter's eyes again. “There’s just something that is very important to me, that I need you to know about.” she says while squatting down, so now you’re looking down at her. You admire her facial features and those green eyes deeply. “Anything Wanda,” you say. “My wife.'' Silence. The word cuts you through the core. You almost forgot. How can you be this fucking stupid? you thought to yourself. Did you really think she’d fuck you right here on this table? In this chair? You try to collect your thoughts and answer quickly. “Oh” you manage to say while trying to keep your cool and not embarrass yourself. Wanda starts laughing. “Oh my god.. you look like I just broke your heart,” she says while looking down at the floor and up at you again. You're confused but then you try to think below the surface. “I mean… Natasha and I are inseparable. Wherever she goes, I go.” she says while looking at you. “You might add whoever into the sentence as well.” She says gently as a wave of relief rushes through your chest but also a new arising feeling of anxiety. “Honey?” Wanda yells across the room while looking at the side door that’s in the office. You see it open and see Natasha. Dressed in a red dress, with a cut that reveals her whole leg. Her hair is tied up in a tall messy french braid. She looks stunning, like a poem someone would write, a ballad that would make a singer cry, but you’re not sure if words or a song could capture her accurately. She stares straight down at Wanda and then you. Her eyes are sharp and focused. There’s something deeper behind them, something you would like to get to know. She moves closer to the two of you. Wanda walks up to her and places a gentle kiss on her lips. “Hi.. y/n'' I've heard a lot about you” Surprisingly despite the alluring effect this woman must have on everyone her voice sounds so soothing like you want to wrap it around your arms and drown in the vibration of it. “God... you look stunning” you manage to let out. “I don't think we have been properly introduced,” she says lightly. ”Natasha Romanoff” she puts her hand in your direction. You want to shake it at first but you find yourself laying a gentle kiss on it instead. “As I said… wherever she goes, I go… so if you would really like to be a good girl for me… “ she pauses and starts moving closer to you “You’d have to be a good girl for her too '' Wanda places a gentle kiss on your neck. The touch of her lips on your skin feels like redemption. “God… is that a question? “ you almost whisper. “Of course… yes.. I’ll be good…I'll be good for you Natasha '' you say while looking straight at her while Wanda continues to place delicate kisses on your neck. Nat smiles and moves closer to both of you. She gives you an up and down look that makes you tingle between your legs. “ Her presence is intimidating. “I knew you had wonderful taste, Wands,” she said while still looking at you. Suddenly the redhead moves away and places a kiss on Wanda's lips and they both start kissing in front of you. The kiss is more passionate and less desperate than yours and Wandas. It’s like they’ve kissed each other a thousand times. It looks like they know each other's spots, strengths, and weaknesses. There is a level of intimacy and trust, but it’s also intense and fiery. “God..” you manage to whisper, not being able to process what is happening. “Aren't you gonna be late for your party?” Suddenly you get a grip on reality. “It’s my party… I can be as late as I want.” Wanda says while placing a kiss on your lips. This time she slips her tongue in your mouth and you suck on it, causing her to let out a gentle moan. You feel her hand move down slowly from your ribcage to your inner thigh. Your body feels hot, desperately craving to be touched more. She moves her middle finger slowly, from your inner thigh to below your torso, touching the thin dress you are wearing. Her touch, even though fabric, drives you insane. Finally, she slips her hand under your dress and touches your clit through your panties. You let out a moan and break the kiss by holding onto her wrist. You notice Natasha watching the two of you. Wanda's hand begins to move in circles, with two of her fingers on your sweet spot. You feel yourself getting wet. You desperately wish she’d rip the panties off you and put her fingers inside but you also don’t want her to stop. ”Please,” you say softly. Your voice trembles. You can tell she smiles without looking, her mouth breathing on your neck. “Please what?” she says while still moving her hand in circles. Her fingers pressed harder this time. “Please, fuck me” you manage to let out. You can hear her laugh. “She wants to be fucked, you hear that?” she says mockingly. While looking at Natasha. The redhead moves closer to the two of you and takes your hand. She puts it between her legs, so you can feel her strap. It’s tucked in in tight underwear which explains why you haven't noticed it before. It doesn’t feel too hard. Probably made out of silicone, you assume. “You want daddy to stretch you out?” she asks. Something about the tone of her voice makes your pussy get a heartbeat, you don’t even question it anymore. You feel as if someone got inside your head and mushed all your thoughts together. You can’t think of anything else but the way your body is feeling right now. Aching for more. Desperately being pushed over the edge. “Yes, please,” you say, as Natasha grabs your face by the cheeks. It’s a hard grip but you don’t mind. Her hands feel cold but her skin is smooth. You look into her hazel-green eyes. They scream of power and possession and that makes you weak in your knees. “Please daddy” you whisper, knowing it’d please her. She smiles, slightly, it's more of a smirk but it's the first time you witness her doing so. “Good girl,” she says while taking you by the torso and moving you towards the couch that’s in the room. Never breaking eye contact she lays you down, gently, while getting on top of you. You moan when you feel her strap move to the side of your pussy, pushing your panties to the side. Natasha places her hands on your hips and rips your panties at the sides, causing them to come off quite easily. You watch her carefully. She looks good on top of you. It feels like you’d surrender to her completely. “Safe word” she demands while slowly slipping her cock inside of you. You don’t manage to let out an answer. She feels amazing inside of you but your walls are still adjusting to the size. ‘“Red,” you say while you feel the head of the strap reach your g spot. It’s shaped perfectly, the head is slightly bigger than the rest of the strap, you feel yourself clench around it and let out a moan. Natasha starts moving at a normal pace and you allow yourself to close your eyes and get lost in the feeling. Your whole body feels hot and nothing can break what your mind is on now. Her inside of you, and the way she feels. You notice Wanda watching you carefully. Nat starts to move faster and your moans become louder. Every thought in your head disappears. You’d wish she’d never stop, you’d wish she’d go faster. You’d wish you could find a word to describe the way you’re feeling. You feel Wanda's hand circle on your wet clit, stimulating you even more. Natashas hand finds your throat but doesn’t close the grip on it yet, she’s holding back, waiting for permission. You grab her arm and give it to her. You feel her hand wrap around your neck and squeeze tightly. It surprises you how strong she actually is. You open your mouth to gasp for air but say nothing, just a mumble of what you could almost consider words. She moves faster and faster, her hard push hitting the end of your insides. Your head feels hot, like all the blood within you is concentrated in one place. But the feeling of your head getting hot doesn’t matter because all your body is focused on is how she feels inside you. Your legs wrapped around her waist. Her steady movement, causing you to close your eyes and roll them up to the ceiling. “Slap me” you manage to say with her hands squeezing your throat. You wondered if she heard because you said it so softly. Your words slip through the air. But she did. She slaps you and you feel the burning on your cheek spread across the side of your face. She slaps you again before the feeling manages to fade away, and again after that, causing a tear to roll down your cheeks. She puts her hand on the couch seeing you cry but you take it and put it on your mouth, kissing her fingertips, letting her know it’s okay. You enjoy her seeing you cry. You enjoy the burn on your cheek. The spark in her eyes when she’s giving you pain and pleasure both at the same time. They hang on a thin line, melting into each other. You know your pain gets her off, and it makes your pussy clench even harder. You feel yourself coming so close, with Wanda's hand still circling on your clit. Everything feels wet and burning, adrenaline is pumping inside your veins. But it stops. It all stops. Uncontrollably, you let out a moan, one that sounded like a question, a whine, a cry. Nat smiles while looking down at you. “Please…” you say, softly. You know why she stooped. You know she enjoys seeing you desperate, seeing you miserable, watching you beg. Seeing your eyes turn into the eyes of a submissive toy, waiting to be used. Waiting to be told what to do. Too dumb to do anything else, but wait for her daddy to touch her, make her feel good. Make her feel helpless. Dumb little pup, waiting to be taken care of. It’s what she wanted you to be. Before you let out another beg again, she slams into you at full force and you let out the loudest cry. It doesn’t get to echo through the room before Nat’s hand covers your mouth. “Hush… take it like a good girl,” she says, panting over you. Her head is so close to yours, but she doesn’t kiss you, just holds her hand over your mouth tightly, and keeps moving, fast and hard. Your legs start to shake, and you lose control over them. You bite her finger and whine. “You want everyone to hear what a slut you are?” says Wanda. Her voice, soft, cooing. You question how it can sound so comforting while saying such words. Your muscles tense up. Your pussy begins to feel swollen, but it’s still soaked and tense. It’s still clenching around her cock. You can’t form any thoughts in your head, just how good Natasha fucking you feels. You gid your nail into her lower back, pushing her body closer to yours, despite your cries. The feeling of pleasure builds within you and you allow yourself to let go. Your body shakes uncontrollably and relaxes right after. You gasp for air as the redhead's hand leaves your mouth. You lay there, breathing heavily, with Wanda and Nat both looking over you. Her cock inside of you. Your chest moving up and down like you just ran a mile and stopped to catch your breath. Your dress is still on you. Nat never ripped it off. She moves her right hand to your boob and grabs it slowly, gently. You begin to feel aroused again, still breathing loudly. Suddenly she moves up and pulls your dress down to reveal your chest. The feeling of her hands on your body makes you tingle between your legs. She places her lips on your left boob. She first licks your nipple and moves her tongue around it, before biting it gently. You grab her head and push it towards it. She begins to suck on your boob, making you moan. She continues to devour it while her left hand is playing with your other nipple. You feel hot in your stomach, and let yourself put your head back and enjoy the feeling. She moves to give the same attention to your other boob and you moan again. She sucks it with such ease. It’s not too hard and not too soft. It’s perfect. She stops while you lay there, breathing heavily. You allow yourself to take a moment and look at the two women on top of you, questioning how in the world is this actually happening. Natasha gets up and is no longer in front of you, or in you, she’s right by Wanda, and she places a kiss on her lips. “Now… Do you wanna make me feel good? Wanda says while looking down at you. Her pupils look wide. “Let her catch her breath” Natasha laughs while glancing down at you. She’s standing by her partner. But you don’t want to catch a breath. You don’t want to rest. You want to taste Wanda. Completely lose yourself in her. You’ve been waiting to do so for months. Place your lips on hers and let her sit on your face. You can tell by the look in her eyes. It’s what she wants. “Come here,” she says and you follow her order. Your eyes follow her gaze. Natasha unzips Wanda's dress from the back and it drops down to the floor. You admire every inch of her body. Her face, her collarbones, her chest, her tummy, her legs. She looks so perfect and you want nothing but to place kisses all over her. But instead, she grabs your loose hair and pulls your head up so that your vision reaches her face. Natasha gets behind her and slowly lets her panties drop down to the floor. You know what’s about to happen and you can't wait for it to start. Wanda lifts up her leg and sets it on the couch that you are sitting on, revealing her pussy right in front of your face. Suddenly catching your breath doesn’t matter. Resting doesn’t matter. You want her in your mouth. Now. You look up waiting for permission and she grabs your face. Her thumb moves through your bottom lip. You begin to suck on it gently while looking straight into her eyes, she opens her mouth as Nat places gentle kisses on the side of her neck. Wanda gets closer to you and her sweet spot ends up in between your lips. You lick it at first, slowly, teasing Wanda. You feel it get bigger in your mouth, you grab onto her thighs and clutch it with both of your lips, and begin to suck on it, causing her to moan. You start moving your tongue up and down, pressing hard against her core. You begin to move it side to side. Driving the woman insane. You can’t get enough of how good she tastes. It doesn’t take long before Wanda grabs your face and starts riding it yourself. She begins to move up and down, her hips synchronized with the rhythm of your tongue. You breathe through your nose whenever she moves backwards, and forward, riding your face. She doesn’t hold back her moans. She doesn’t care if she sounds loud. She only cares about your tongue circling her clit. “Just that like that” she whispers softly. You notice Natasha grabbing her boobs from behind. You begin to move your tongue while still sucking her spot, faster, and faster, you close your eyes from time to time and see Wanda lean her head back. She grabs your head and lets herself moan while Natasha is groping her whole body. Her hands on Wanda's nipples, twisting them and grabbing her boobs, violently. You simply let Wanda ride your face, and you don’t stop, even though your tongue feels tired. “That’s it, baby, make mommy cum” she says desperately. You don’t stop but keep the same pace and allow her to keep going. Her hips are moving steadily. Finally, they stop as she starts moaning, and you put all the strength you have left into moving your tongue faster. You feel her body get more tense and tense, almost shaking in your mouth. Eventually, you feel her release and gasp for air. You lick the juices off her pussy. Her clit is swollen. She breathes heavily, as do you, and before you get to say anything, you feel Natasha kissing you. She sucks in your tongue, tasting Wanda off your lips. Her kiss feels like it's drawing you in. You don’t want her to stop but she pulls away as soon as she’s done sucking your tongue in. She moves to Wanda putting her dress back on and you notice her spraying her perfume all over herself. “Don’t think this is a one-time thing, we’re not even close to being done with you.” she says promisingly while staring into your eyes. You stare into both of them as they kiss each other gently. “Now excuse me while I get back to my party,” Wanda says while looking at Nat and ignoring you, but she manages to look at you again before grabbing her purse and pulling out a brush for her hair. You sit there, on the couch, looking at her fixing herself up and then looking at Natasha, still wearing her strap. She’s too beautiful to actually be real. “Holy shit,” you say while leaning your head back. You take a deep breath and let it out. Not being able to process what just happened. Natasha sits down next to you, resting. You can’t help but stare at her and admire her beauty, her eyes, her face, her lips, the way her messy hair completes her face. You wish you could lean over and kiss her but you remember you are only an element of fun they wanted to add into their relationship. A thing to spice their lives up. A toy that can be used for satisfaction and relief. You only lay there, this time staring into the ceiling, hoping this will happen again. 

[sunfish-studies]

Celebration

✄・・・ Feathery Ink [Karasuno Manager Series]

➜ Pairing: Karasuno x Manager! Reader

➜ Warning: none

➜ Notes: This is a separate series from Crisp Leaves. Similar to Crisp Leaves, manager in this story will be portrayed as a girl. She will be tall. This is just my appreciation towards tall girls, you guys are amazing.

Previous:  ‹ Cogs › | Next:  ‹ Let The Games Begin! ›

↷ SUMMARY ↶

Last day of training calls for celebration for everyone’s hard work, so it’s barbeque time!

“All right, meat!”

“I’m starving!”

While the boys freshened up after practice matches, the managers were already on the move to prepare for the barbeque. Since there were quite a lot of people, the coaches decided to held it on the backyard of the gym, where the sharp hill stood just beside it. The coaches helped setting up the grills while the managers divided to cater different things.

Yachi decided she would get the utensils they needed; paper plates, chopsticks, paper cups, trays for rice balls, and other things. Shimizu would cover for the rice ball making, Yukie and Eri were in charge on cutting the vegetables in bite-size, Kaori and Mako would clean the vegetables before it was cut.

Meanwhile, you’re in charge of preparing the condiments and sauces, unwrapping the meat cuts, and arranged them on a bigger plate. Aside from that you had to make sure the meats searing on the grills weren’t charred.

“[Name]-chan, please replace me for cutting the onions,” Eri sobbed, reaching out to you with grabby hands.

“Alright, senpai,” you giggled in reply because Eri was clearly needing a break and watching the meats seared was a great break for her. Quickly, you stood on her place and started slicing the tear-induced-menaces after washing your hands.

It didn’t take long for you to suffer the same fate as the Ubugawa’s manager–the first seven slices went through without a hitch, but when you reached the tenth your eyes started to sting and blurry from the pain. Then tears began trailing down your cheeks, and you wiped it you’re your shirt sleeve.

“D-Don’t cry, [Name]-san!!” you looked up, seeing Hinata with his place face quivering on his feet. “W-what should I do!?”

“It’s fine, Shoyo-kun, it’s just the onions,” you sniffled pointed towards the bowl full of it. “It hurts my eyes.”

“I can take your place, Otohaku-chan!” Lev popped up beside Hinata.

“Instead of cutting the onions, you’ll chop your fingers off,” Yaku deadpanned before offering. “Here, let me do it.”

“No, it’s alright, Yaku-san,” you shook your head. “It’s time for you to have a break, not working.”

Being persistent sometimes has it’s perks, it took numbers of rejection to finally have Yaku gave up. You knew he was just trying to help, but you didn’t want to rob his time relaxing. When all the preparations were done, the boys were already surrounding the grills with hungry faces. Coach Nekomata gave them a light speech along with praises for their hard work over the week, and they dived to grab on the meat straight from the grill.

“THANKS FOR THE FOOD!”

Just like Kaori, you brought a plate of rice balls to offer and managed to witnessed Yukie’s enormous appetite. She practically inhaled four rice balls in one go and you’re not the only who was dumbfounded from it.

.

.

Konoha and Komi almost had their souls went to heaven from the frightening circle Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Taketora made. Well, they did elbow each other to encourage one another getting close or at least having a talk with Shimizu. The girl walked pass them holding a paper plate with food–looking extremely gorgeous and she didn’t even try.

“That was scary,” Konoha muttered underneath his breath. The three finally stopped because of Karasuno and Nekoma’s captain scolded them–the three immediately shrunk.

“They really had their guard up, huh,” Komi added, feeling his energy drained from such a scary encounter.

“Uhm, excuse me,” the two turned to look over their shoulder and that’s when they noticed–Karasuno’s other first year manager who’s Bokuto constantly talking about. The owl captain wouldn’t shut up about her much to their annoyance and now they knew why.

“Would you like some rice ball?”

“Sure,�� Konoha replied dumbly.

“I’ll take two,” Komi followed with a daze. You placed one on Konoha’s empty paper plate and two for Komi upon his request. Smiling at them, you proceeded to excuse yourself so you could offer to someone else.

Following your figure dazedly, they noticed how the light shone even brighter and basked you in a beautiful glow. That’s when they thought of a conclusion.

A goddess just graces us mere mortals! They screamed in their head.

.

.

You tried to calm Yachi down from her traumatizing experience being surrounded by absurdly tall boys (“Titans, [Name]-chan! Titans!”). Thankfully, all of them were nice enough to made room so your friend could reach for some meat. Yachi almost cried in happiness from the real taste of meat.

From the sidelines, Shimizu and the other managers were watching the two of you while talking about the boys sometimes.

“How much are you going to eat?” Kaori questioned because Yukie was having a ridiculous amount of food towering on her plate and she just kept munching away without care.

“The third-years in Karasuno all seems pretty mature,” Mako commented.

“Our ace is weak-willed, though,” Shimizu smiled sheepishly.

“What? Really?” Eri replied in surprise. “Even though he looks that scary?”

“Though, I think that’s still better than our simpleton ace,” Kaori commented. “Still,”

Their eyes were directed towards where the said simpleton ace was standing and placing meat until it towered on your empty plate.

“Eat more, [Name]-chan! Or you won’t get even taller!” he stated.

“And eat more vegetables!” Kuroo added, placing cabbages and carrots to your plate, adding even more food.

“Have some rice balls, too.” Somehow, even Akaashi participated in this whole fiasco and put a rice ball onto your plate. Now, there’s a ridiculous amount of food on your plate.

“…I can’t eat this much,” you commented, staring at the food filling your plate.

“Nonsense, I don’t see you eat anything even when the others are,” Akaashi stated. “You’re too busy handling other things nonstop.”

“Have a break will you,” Kuroo patted your back. “Everyone’s having fun and you should too.”

“Have more meat, [Name]-san!” Hinata said.

“You can have my share, Otohaku-chan!” Lev followed and you immediately shook your head.

“At least he and Akaashi took care of our baby manager well,” Kaori sighed in relief.

“[Name]-chan is close with Fukurodani’s captain and setter, huh? Even Nekoma’s captain,” Mako giggled. “She’s drawing everyone in.”

“Well, it’s rare for a first-year to be as tall as her,” Eri grinned. “The boys are especially poles so it’s probably great not to strain their neck once in a while from looking down.”

“Karasuno’s pretty lucky to have her, huh?” Yukie said after swallowing her food.

“Yeah, we are,” Shimizu smiled.

.

.

“Did you have fun?” Sawamura asked you when you’re helping other managers to clean up the remaining plates left behind on the table along with other scraps littering around. He picked up a few paper cups and placed it into the trash bin.

“Definitely,” you answered without hesitation. “Everyone’s so nice, it’s probably the most fun I’ve had.”

“Thank goodness, then,” he gave you a smile.

“I’m really glad I joined the volleyball club,” you commented, grinning.

“And we glad to have you here,” the captain chuckled and replied.

Everything was over by the time the sun started to sink into the horizon–time truly flew by when you enjoyed it. Since Miyagi was quite a distance from Saitama, they needed to depart first or they would be back extremely late at night. Yukie and Eri were fake-crying and joking about refusing to let you go–in the end, you’re all exchanging numbers so you could keep in touch.

“Did you have fun, Otohaku-san?”

“Coincidentally, you asked the same question as my captain, Akaashi-san.” The Fukurodani setter, like before, helping you on carrying the extra luggage in hand although you did tell him it’s only until you reached the stairs. “And to answer, I am. These one week of training camp is fun. Somehow, I don’t want this to be over.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll meet again,” Akaashi replied. “At the Spring Interhigh.”

“I’m sure we will, Akaashi-san.” you smiled. “And thank you for helping me with luggage.”

“[Name]-chan!!” Bokuto bounded over with a grin plastered on his face. “We’ll be waiting at the nationals!”

“Karasuno, Bokuto-san. Otohaku-san doesn’t play volleyball.” Akaashi deadpanned.

“Just agree with me once, Akaashi!”

“Well, whatever he said,” Kuroo piped up, approaching the three of you. “Made sure your team go to the nationals so we could meet again and make the battle came true.”

“I’ll do my best, Kuroo-san.” Then Kuroo reached out to ruffle your hair, it’s been a while since he did that and you weren’t even going to lie about enjoying it. The cat captain was similar to an older brother now.

“Off you go then, [Name],” he removed his hand from your head. “And don’t miss me.”

“How could I when I have your phone number, Kuroo-san?” you snickered. “You’re probably going to bombard me with chemistry puns at 10pm.”

“Then, I’m gonna call you every day so you won’t have to deal with Kuroo!” Bokuto declared before laughing victoriously.

“Please block his number immediately, Otohaku-san,” Akaashi stated. “Or you won’t be getting any sleep. His talking is endless.”

“Why, Akaashi!?” the said boy whined.

“Aside from that, be careful on your way home,” Akaashi decided to ignore the captain and gave you a small smile.

You returned his smile. “Will do, Akaashi-san.”

With that, the whole week of summer training camps has come to an end. The whole team watched you guys drove away into the other way back to Miyagi.

.

.

“You have a match tomorrow, don’t you?” former Coach Ukai questioned, brows creased from the insistence of your combi. “That’s probably enough, then!”

“One more! Just one more!” Hinata pleaded.

“We’ll finish after this one!” Kageyama added.

Two days of practicing to prepare for the preliminaries, just a day before the match Sawamura dismissed them early to get some rest. Since it would be impossible to use the gym unless getting an earful from him, Kageyama and Hinata needed to look for another place. Former Coach Ukai lent them the court only for a bit, just until the others who wants to practice comes.

And you were there to hold a leash if they’re being stubborn or something.

“This is the last, alright?” you scolded the two. “We shouldn’t bother the others who wants to practice here. And you should rest before the match.”

Thankfully the older man letting them had the court just one more time and you couldn’t help but feeling grateful of it. You sighed before turning to face former Coach Ukai and bowed down. “On their behalf, I apologize.”

“It’s fine.” Former Coach Ukai dismissed it. “Their eagerness is a great thing, but even eagerness isn’t going to magically give them energy. It would be bad if they burnt out even before the game started.”

“[Name]-san! Can you throw us the ball?” Hinata called out.

In the end, the two managed to successfully killed the quick–and sure enough, it also impressed former Coach Ukai which added more reassurance that your team would be more than okay to face the entire preliminaries and became champions.