#because my mutuals sure as hell aren't

[crescenthistory]

Totally Just the Fifth and Sixth Wheel

Pairing: Regulus Black x Reader

Summary: Your and Regulus' private study session is interrupted by one Barty Crouch Junior who is inviting you on a triple date. You remind him for the thousandth time, that you aren't dating.

Words: 3.8k

Warnings: not proofread (who's got the time), fem!reader, longing, barty being barty, featuring wolfstar, rosekiller and james, fluff, sitting/half-cuddling without leaving space for god, typical marauders cursing and banter, me attempting to improve my dialogue and comedy, unresolved mutual pining, light discussion of black siblings drama, reader and regulus are teased relentlessly

Note: part two & part three

***

The Hogwarts Library was always slightly more still and calm on Saturdays, a luxury you made sure to never miss out on.

In a hidden-away corner, you and Regulus sat crammed into the same overstuffed emerald armchair. He sat normally, though slightly squeezed to the left, while you had your back to the right arm, leaning into his side with your legs sprawled across his lap. He evened the score by lolling his head gently against your shoulder as you both tried to focus on the parchment before you. It was an awkward fit – Regulus was all angles and sharp lines – but you never really cared, and neither did he.

"You know, if you had actually studied for Potions last night instead of playing chess with Barty," Regulus began, his voice a teasing whisper, "you wouldn't be stuck relying on me to help you through this essay."

He didn't bother lifting his head as he drawled, so you felt his breath on your skin. His dark hair, always perfectly in place, had fallen just enough to shade his eyes and tickle your neck.

"You're the one who insisted on going over three different ways to brew Amortentia, which, mind you, wasn't even required for this essay," you countered, smiling for no one to see.

He snorted softly. "It was for educational purposes. Not my fault you’re hopeless at memorising–"

"Not hopeless," you interrupted, smirking at him as he sat up straighter and fixed you with those cool, swirly eyes. "Just resourceful. Why bother memorising when I've got you?"

Folded in the crevices of his eyes and your words, there was that gentle push-pull between the two of you, a habit developed over years of being each other's only real reprieve. Your families were pressure cookers, a constant source of demands and expectations, of screaming and fears. It had tethered on explosion many a time, but through your years-long friendship, you had been able to make it a bit lighter together. Regulus had his complicated relationship with Sirius, but other than that, no one really knew how heavy it weighed on the both of you – just each other.

And then there was Barty, of course.

“Oi!” The familiar, obnoxious voice you somehow loved rang through the – thankfully nearly empty – library, making you tense for a split second before you exhaled. “Merlin’s bloody balls, you two are stuck in here again?”

Barty Crouch Jr. strode in, tossing himself onto the sofa opposite you and Regulus. He stretched his long legs out like he owned the place, flinging an arm across the back of the cushion.

“We’re not stuck,” you corrected him lazily, shooting him a glance from beneath your lashes. “We’re enjoying a bit of quiet. Something you might want to as well, seeing as we're in a library, Junior.”

Barty raised an eyebrow and then snorted, “Quiet? More quiet? You two sit in silence more than any couple I’ve ever known.”

You rolled your eyes, but Regulus – who you now, with the added presence, noticed was more tired today than usual – shot him a look that could have frozen hell over. As per usual. Barty, being Barty, didn’t care of course, just snickered for himself. He was the only one who could get away with constantly poking at Regulus, at both of you, with no more than witty quips thrown back. Maybe because he had been the one to pull you out of your shells, dragging you both into the light when you would have otherwise spent your time locked in your shared solitude and messy brains. Or maybe because he had been able to weasel his way into your hearts before you were old enough to realise he's a bit of an arse. By then, he was your arse.

"We're not silent, dear, we just aren't obnoxiously loud," Regulus hinted, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, you do sit around whispering all the time. One would have thought you were spellbound to your books – and each other." Barty grinned, not even a little apologetic. “Or maybe just by each other."

"Oh shut up, Barty," you scoffed, though not without a slight smile.

"I’m just sayin’!”

Regulus leaned back against the chair, his elbow brushing your arm. "You’re always just sayin' something,” he said, eyes flicking toward the fire. “And you’re always wrong."

Barty’s eyes lit up, leaning forward with a grin that could only mean trouble. “Oh, come on, Reg. It’s been years. You two, together all the time, acting like no one else exists. Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t killed each other or, better yet, finally gotten over yourselves and just snogged already."

This has always been Barty’s favourite game, teasing the two of you relentlessly, but it felt more pointedly overt tonight. Yet it didn’t stop the smile from tugging at your lips. Just because he's so very ridiculously wrong, of course.

“We have not–” Regulus began, but Barty cut him off with a wave of his hand. 

“Right, right, you’ve never even thought about it." He makes an, arguably poor, attempt at imitating Regulus' tone. "But let’s be real, everyone else think you're shagging, so maybe you should too– oh, speaking of–" Barty had a poor habit of cutting himself of when a new train of thought entered. "Guess who finally asked Evan out?"

The shift in the conversation barely registered with you; you are very attuned to rolling with the Junior way of conversing, but Regulus shook his head in surprise.

"You? And Rosier?" Regulus asked, staring Barty down with more interest than he had shown the poor sod all evening. "Are you serious?"

Barty gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes, but the grin never left his face. “Took him long enough, didn’t it?”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “I thought he was avoiding you after that time you hexed him in Transfiguration–”

“Self-defence,” Barty cut in, giving you a wink. “He had it coming.”

Regulus raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Didn't he have it coming for trying to ask you out, Barty?”

“Like I said. Self-defence. Son of a witch should let me be the one to make the first move.”

You shook your head fondly, happy for your second-oldest friend. "What a gentleman you are, Barty. Happy for you though, finally the pining and drunken hookups have led to something of sustance."

Barty nodded gravely, in faux seriousness. "Exactly! And that says something, coming from the Queen of pining."

You kicked his shin under the table and he laughed a bit too loudly for the library, evidently pleased with himself.

"I do no such thing, thank you very much."

Glancing sideways at Regulus, his expression was carefully neutral, though you could tell he was happy for Barty. Though, you were sure, he would never say that out loud.

Barty, ever the troublemaker, wasn't finished yet. “Which reminds me,” he said, leaning forward again with that dangerous glint in his eye, “We’re all going out this weekend. You lot, me, Rosier... oh, and your brother too, Reg.”

Regulus stiffened slightly beside you, just enough for you to notice and Barty to ignore. “Sirius?”

“Yep,” Barty said cheerfully, “and his boyfriend, Lupin. They're finally official as well, trying to steal my spotlight it seems.”

You and Regulus share a glance, trying to take it in. Sirius and Remus had been dancing around each other for what felt like ages, but apparently, they had finally made the leap. Regulus' jaw tightened slightly. His relationship with Sirius was still relatively uneasy territory for him, but they were making an effort to heal it together. You moved on from him, focusing your attention on Barty, so Regulus could process undisturbed.

"Since when do you and Big Black keep tabs on each other, let alone plan a double date?" you implored, genuinely confused.

"Well, firstly, Treasure," Barty drawled. "I always keep tabs on my best friends' sometimes-shitty-sometimes-good-always-complicated siblings. Secondly, as I said, they're stealing our spotlight, so of course I got involved."

"Ah, so it's not voluntary?" You quirk a brow at him, jokingly challenging him.

"Is too! The bastards are lucky I even suggested it."

"Riiiiiight," you dragged out, cocking your head at a huffing Barty.

You rolled your eyes laughing, then glanced over at the boy whose lap you were partially sat in. His gaze had trailed off into his lap, thoughts clearly elsewhere. You and Barty made eye contact and he sent you a look that clearly said his involvement with Sirius was for Regulus and not actually to bother him. Over the years, you had developed almost a form of telepathy with Barty, always seeing the aggressive loyalty behind his actions.

You placed a hand instinctively on Regulus' elbow and he seemed to come back down to reality.

"Anyway, the six of us are headed for Hogsmeade next weekend for our triple date. You better schedule us into your shared calendar." Barty went straight back to teasing.

"There is no shared calendar."

"And there is no triple date," you added.

Barty’s grin widened, and he flicked his eyes between you and Regulus. “What do you call a date with three couples? Regulus and Treasure, me and Evan, Sirius and Lupin. That's three. Three Broomsticks, that's a date. Triple date! Or do you prefer French, Reggie, un triple rencard? More romantic for ya?”

You opened your mouth to argue, but Regulus beat you to it. “We’re not a couple, Junior, would you just knock it off."

“Well, someone should tell the rest of the castle that, mate,” Barty said, smirking. “Everyone else seems to think you two are already married."

Before you could continue the seemingly never-ending argument with the grinning black-and-green-haired rascal before you, you heard footsteps and chatter approaching. Regulus whispered something in your ear about none of these buffoons respecting the quiet in a library as Sirius, Remus, and James appeared from around the corner. Sirius’s eyes flicked over the three of you, his gaze landing on Regulus, and giving a rather genuine smile.

“Greetings baby brother, sister-in-law and unfortunate acquaintance. What’s this I hear about a triple date?” Sirius asked, sauntering over like he owned the place, ignoring Regulus' groan.

If offended by the less-than-affectionate greeting he received, Barty did not show it as he grinned even more maniacally at what he likely saw as back-up in his torment of you two. "Good afternoon to you too, Big Black, we're just discussing the wedding colours. I am in support of emerald green, and I will listen to no other opinions as I know them best."

"No fair, I've known Reg the longest!"

"I do believe they would look lovely in a red," James teases as the group settles down around the table.

Regulus groaned softly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "For the love of–"

"You guys can walk around in whatever colour you'd like – we aren't getting married." You tried to set a stop to the conversation now. The jokes didn't roll as comfortably off you when in larger company. Though you and Remus had become quite good friends through class and you were seeing Regulus through his healing friendship with Sirius, you still weren't entirely accustomed to the bunch up close all at once.

"Well, surely not now, but the day will come and it's never too early to start planning," Sirius quipped, his grin matching Barty's perhaps a bit too much. "I will be best man, yeah?"

"Absolutely not, I will!" Barty butted in before you had the chance to reply.

"Wouldn't you be her best man? Or man of honour or whatever?" James raised an eyebrow, trying to pick up on the dynamic.

"Of course I will."

"Then Padfoot can be Regulus'?"

"I have no idea why you are talking about pads and feet, but no, I will be best man and man of honour thank you very much."

"That's no fair!" Sirius cried.

"Shouldn't this be a decision the lovely couple makes?" Remus chimed in, trying to calm his partner with a smile.

"For Salazar's sake – we are not dating!" You cut the whole conversation off, emphasising your point with hand gesticulations. The table actually went quiet for a moment, the newest additions sharing confused looks.

"What?" was all James could say.

"We are not together," Regulus spoke up for the first time, rolling his eyes in true Regulus-fashion. "We're just close friends."

Barty snorted at that.

Sirius looked absolutely floored for once. His eyes flick between you and Regulus in genuine surprise. “Wait– you're serious? You aren't dating? Since when?”

"Since forever?" Regulus questioned right back at his brother, finding his groove in the sarcastic exchanges. "Can two people not be close without having to be shagging?"

Sirius and Barty both chimed a "no" at the same time, though Barty was finding much more humour in it all than the other. He added, "Well, Treasure and I can. Evan and Reg can. You two on the other hand..."

You felt heat rise to your face, Regulus' leg shaking you slightly as he began to bounce it. "Where did you all even get that from?" you questioned, looking at everyone but Barty. You were well aware of why he thought what he thought.

“I mean–” Sirius spread his hands, gesturing towards how the two of you were sat, as you suddenly became aware that most of your body was touching Regulus' in some way. "Look at you! You’re always together. You act like an old married couple half the time. And you basically let each other get away with murder. I'm still not entirely convinced Trouble here won't kill me if Reggie ever asks."

"Don't call me that."

"I probably would."

Sirius was unaffected by both comments. He look towards James for support, who was nodding emphatically, clearly shocked too.

"Yeah, no, I thought it was just, like, common knowledge that you have been dating for years," James said, raising his hands a little at the look on Regulus' face. "No offence, just how it seems from the outside, 's all."

"Not to mention you look at her like–” Sirius started.

“Like what?” Regulus cut in, his grip on you loosening, just a little.

Sirius blinked, still thoroughly confused. “Like you’re bloody in love with her.”

You felt your breath catch in your throat, and out of the corner of your eye, you could see Remus suppressing a smile, engaging in some stare-down with his brother. You worried your voice would fail you, so you just shook your head disapprovingly.

Barty, never one to leave well enough alone, leaned back with a smug grin. “Told you tossers. The whole castle thinks you're dating, so you might as well get on with it."

"Well, we're not and we won't, so can you guys please just shut up." Regulus' jaw was still tight, scouring at his friends as he debated if that term was still one he wanted to use about them.

Sirius just shrugged, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. “Alright, Reg, whatever you say. But you’re both coming, yeah?”

You turned more into him as you scanned his face for an answer. Regulus held your gaze for a long moment, and you could see the wariness flickering just behind his eyes. You smiled, quirking a brow at him as if to say it's up to you, babe. He sighed and then said a low fine.

With a dramatised sigh, you turned back to Sirius and Barty and their expectant looks. “It’s not a triple date,” you said firmly, lifting your chin just slightly. “But we’ll join you as... I don’t know. Fifth and sixth wheels.”

Regulus grip on you tightened again as he settled back into his seat. “Exactly. Fifth and sixth wheels. Sure.”

Barty threw his head back and barked out a loud, unrestrained and frankly unnecessary laugh. “Sure thing, sweetcheeks,” he teased, grinning from ear to ear. “Whatever you need to tell yourselves. I’ll make sure Rosier knows it’s not a date.”

Regulus rolled his eyes, mumbling some indelicate words under his breath that only you could catch. You stifled a laugh, at which Regulus’ lips twitched – just the slightest hint of amusement given to you.

Sirius, still grinning, clapped his hands together like this was some great victory. “Brilliant. Can’t wait to see you both there. It’ll be... enlightening.”

Remus, who had been watching this whole exchange with thinly veiled amusement, leaned in closer to Sirius and muttered, “Enlightening? You've spent too much time with McGonagall.”

"Yeah, in detention," James muttered, evidently a shared trauma.

Sirius nudged him with his elbow, snickering. “Shut up, Moony.”

"Oi, that's no way to speak to your fresh boyfriend, is it, Black?" you teased, glad to have some revenge.

"Firstly, my darling not-quite-sister-in-law, you may refer to me as Sirius," he drawled with a lazy grin. "Secondly, I'll have you know he enjoys it when I'm a bit rude."

"Did not need to know that," Regulus mumbled with shut eyes as Remus swatted at his boyfriend to get him to behave.

"Anyway. We are happy for you." You smiled warmly, missing the shared glance between Remus and Sirius at your use of we. Regulus hadn't seemed to notice either, used to it.

"You won't be as happy when you have to see them sucking faces at this triple date." James' voice was laced with faux annoyance. You didn't bother correcting his use of the term triple date. Regulus scoffed, but it seemed to be more aimed at the idea of his brother sucking faces with anyone.

"You're just upset Evans isn't willing to suck faces with you yet, Prongs." Sirius' comeback caused a groan from James as his head thumped on the table – clearly he was right.

Barty made an ooooo sound, leaning in closer to poke at James, wanting to know all the hopefully-gory details.

With a tired sigh, you shifted back into the chair, pulling the Potions book from the table onto your lap once more, determined to return to your homework. You still had an essay due tomorrow, and Merlin knew Slughorn wasn’t going to accept any excuses, even from his favourite students. Regulus, sensing the shift in your focus, followed your lead, picking up his quill with a kind of forced determination. Your eyes met and you smiled at each other, back in the comfort of your little bubble, even with the overflowing table.

The chatter around the library became a dull hum as Sirius and Barty went from interrogating James to discussing the specifics of their plans for the weekend with Remus and James chiming in here and there. You didn’t need to listen – Barty would tell you all the ridiculous details later, no doubt with some embellished commentary on how hopelessly “in love” you and Regulus clearly were. He loved pushing his narratives, ever the comic.

But now, as you tried to force your attention back to your notes, the exhaustion that had been creeping up on you all evening settled in. You had barely slept the night before, and after a more exerting conversation than you had prepared for as you entered the library, you were reaching your limit.

Unconsciously, you let your body lean further into Regulus’s side, your shoulder pressing against his more firmly, your head coming to rest against the crook of his neck. It was such a small movement, something you had done hundreds of times before, but it felt more loaded in these surroundings. You could have sworn you felt Regulus' breath hitch. Nevertheless, your body naturally relaxed into his warmth.

Regulus tried to relax his posture to make it more comfortable for you, and let you rest against him without complaint. His quill hovered over the parchment for a moment, forgotten, as he swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the way his heart had started pounding in his chest. It did every time. It didn't seem like you had noticed before, so why worry about it now?

He told himself it didn’t mean anything – he said it a thousand times, you were his best friend. You had always been close like this. But Merlin, if his skin didn’t burn oh so deliciously where you touched him. If his mind didn’t wander to how you smelled, to the warmth of your body pressing against his. If he didn't savour the moment as if it would never happen again, as he felt so damned lucky that he knew it would.

He fought to keep his expression neutral, forcing his gaze back down to his notes, but the words on the page were little more than a blur now. He let his head drop onto yours as he kept rereading the same sentence.

Remus had drifted away from the conversation, eyeing the two of you. The others had – thankfully – moved on by now, but he risked elbowing Sirius slightly to point out how comfortable you two had grown together the second the attention was off you. Sirius had an eyebrow raised, his lips pressed into a thin line, but his eyes were glinting with that same, familiar mischief. Remus shot him a knowing glance, as if to say don’t push it.

Sirius didn’t say anything, knowing Remus was unfortunately right as usual, but the look he gave his brother spoke volumes. Despite what Regulus may want to think, he knew him. And he knew for a fact, that his little brother was in love. He smiled.

Barty and James had begun to bond over some grand plan to prank Evan during the supposed "not-date" this weekend. You had half an ear in the conversation, trying to catch on to whether you should warn Evan beforehand. But none of that really mattered to you at the moment. Not to you and certainly not to Regulus, who was trying desperately not to give in to the warmth spreading through him as your sigh fanned his skin.

You let your eyes drift close, just for a moment, feeling the weight of your pull at your consciousness. Caught somewhere between exhaustion and peace. Regulus noticed immediately and rubbed soothing circles on your back as he began to plot your escape to the dormitories.

You could have stayed like that forever. And maybe, Regulus thought, as his other hand brushed against yours where it rested on the armchair, he wouldn’t have minded if you did.

[steddiealltheway]

(Set right before season 4)

Steve rushes over to the Henderson house after an ominous call from Dustin saying, "Come over as soon as you can, it's an emergency," before hanging up dramatically.

He can hear his nail bat rolling around in his trunk every turn he takes as he gets there in record time. He grabs the bat out of the trunk and rushes to the door, not bothering to knock before he barges in.

He's met with the sight of Eddie Munson staring at him with wide eyes as Dustin yells, "No! No! Don't swing! Not a code red!"

Steve sets down the bat and lets out a deep breath. "What the hell, Henderson?! I could've seriously taken you out with this thing!" He hears Dustin give him a half-assed apology as he tries to get his heartbeat to slow down. "Next time, don't leave such a cryptic message, okay?"

"Okay," Dustin says, holding his hands up.

"What the fuck is that?" Munson asks, staring at the bat.

Steve points at him and says, "Language," before turning to Dustin and asking, "What's he doing here?"

Dustin sighs and gestures them toward his couch. Steve shoots Eddie a look before taking a seat right against the arm of the couch. It's not that he hates him, hell, he's pretty sure he's gotten weed from him before. It's just that he doesn't like sharing this older brother role with another guy - especially one who likes to make dramatic speeches on top of lunch tables.

Based on the way Eddie is similarly leaning away from him and uncomfortably fidgeting with his rings, he can tell there's a mutual tension between them. Dustin doesn't pick up on it as he sits across from them, acting like he's about to deliver the worst news ever.

Steve leans forward a little trying to get Dustin to finally spill and tries not to lean back immediately when he sees that Eddie is doing the same thing.

"Okay, Suzie and I were talking, and her family is considering visiting Hawkins."

Steve smiles. "That's great, but why-"

"Why are you acting like that's bad news?" Eddie asks, finishing Steve's sentence. The two glance at each other, and Steve tries not to size him up.

Dustin groans, "Because I need to take her on a proper date! We weren't able to go on dates during science camp, so I want this to be special. Of course, this is all contingent on whether she can convince her dad to give us alone time..."

"I could be your chaperone, but I'd ditch you once you got to the movie theater," Steve offers.

Eddie scoffs, "Yeah, a date with Suzie will not be at a movie theater."

Steve crosses his legs and turns toward Eddie. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you knew something about dating. Wait a minute." He directs his attention back to Dustin, utterly horrified. "You asked me and Munson for girl help?"

"Don't sound so shocked," Eddie says, but Steve ignores him.

"Yes," Dustin states simply. He sighs and gestures between the two of them. "Steve, you're a lady's man and you know exactly what to say and where the best date spots are, but you pick up the worst girls. Except Robin who you refuse to date." Steve doesn't have time to argue before Dustin points at Eddie, "And Eddie understands all the cool nerd stuff that Suzie and I like, and he's super charismatic. So, I thought we could combine your abilities to create the most epic date in the history of dates."

"No," Steve and Eddie both say at once.

"Guys-"

Steve turns to Eddie and raises an eyebrow. "Why are you protesting my help?"

"Because try as he might, Dustin can't convince me that you aren't an asshole that has never actually wooed a girl. You get by with your pretty looks and think that's enough."

Steve's mind lingers a bit on the "pretty looks" for some reason, but he pushes past it to say, "Please, you're telling me you know a single thing about wooing a girl?"

Eddie leans in with a bright smile. "You heard it from Henderson, I'm charming."

"Charismatic," Steve corrects him, "But I haven't seen a shred of that yet."

Eddie tosses an arm over the back of the couch and scoots in until Steve is trapped against the arm of the couch. Steve tries not to show Eddie how much the sudden closeness is affecting him.

"I could easily charm your pants off, big boy," Eddie says with a wink.

Steve's eyes betray him and flicker down to Eddie's lips. "Please, I'd easily beat you to it."

Eddie tilts his head and looks at him through his lashes. "Are you saying you want to charm my pants off, Harrington? I'm flattered, but I'm not that kind of girl."

Steve raises his eyebrows. "Is that a bet?"

"Do you want it to be? Because it kind of sounds like it."

Steve blames his series of bad dates, the meaningless sex with girls with no substance, and the weird tension between them for his response. "It's a date, Munson."

"So, I'm going to assume that was the weirdest way of you two agreeing to help me," Dustin says, startling Steve away from Eddie who he was definitely not just about to kiss.

"Jesus H. Christ," Eddie mumbles under his breath as he moves away, seeming to have also forgotten where they were.

"Sure, we'll create a date for you two and trial-run it for issues," Steve says.

Dustin smiles wide and giggles, "See, I knew you two would help if you just put your dumb differences aside!"

"Something like that," Eddie mutters. "But hey, what does your gut say? Where do you want to take her?"

Dustin shrugs. "I like the idea of the movies."

Steve slowly looks over at Eddie and gives him a cocky smile. Eddie's mouth twitches momentarily into a frown, but he ignores him. "I'll think of something special to do after, but Harrington can fill you in on a movie date."

"I thought you were the expert on wooing," Steve snarkily replies.

Eddie huffs, "Movie dates just aren't my thing."

If they're actually trial-running this, Steve will make it a point to make movie dates Eddie's thing.

"That sounds great. Thank you both!" Dustin says, still ignoring the obvious tension.

"Well, I've got to head out, but it was good seeing you," Eddie says with a genuine smile that Steve thinks he would like to see more often.

"I do, too. Hey, I'm glad I could help. Next time maybe don't make it sound like a nail-bat emergency though," Steve says lowering his voice before grabbing the bat.

He follows Eddie toward the front, but they both stop and turn to mess up Dustin's hair simultaneously. Steve pulls his hand back when Eddie's hand runs on top of his. He looks at him with his eyebrows furrowed.

"I told you you guys are similar."

Steve thinks that Dustin's right, but maybe they're only similar in the way they both obviously care for him.

They finish their goodbyes and head out into the cold January weather. Steve clutches his jacket tighter around himself - he had forgotten to grab a heavier coat in his rush over. He turns to Eddie and says, "Hey."

Eddie turns to him and raises his eyebrows.

"Want to trial-run that date tonight?"

Eddie frowns at him. "I thought you were joking."

With that, Steve should take the clear out given to him and agree. Yes, it was just a joke. Instead, he says, "It doesn't have to be."

It's a long few seconds of Eddie staring at him before he gets a quiet response of, "Yeah, sure. Uh, let's go to my place though. I don't want your reputation to be tainted if you're seen in public with me."

"I wouldn't mind," Steve says sincerely. He's not sure why he's so adamant about this date, but maybe he just wants to see where that moment on the couch could truly lead. "But hey, your reputation would also be tainted if you're associating with me."

"And we wouldn't want that," Eddie says with a small smile. "The freak and the king. What would people say?"

This surprises a laugh out of Steve before he says, "I think your place would probably be a little more intimate than a movie theater."

He can't tell if Eddie's cheeks suddenly flush a little pinker from the cold or a blush. "I told you, I'm not that kind of guy."

"More intimate doesn't always mean sex. You know this."

Eddie laughs and shakes his head. "Why don't we continue this conversation at my place so you don't freeze to death?"

"I like the sound of that," Steve says, making his way to his car and trying to hide the huge smile that's trying to split across his face all because of Eddie Munson.

He rushes to shove his bat into the trunk, hoping that he won't have to further explain that to Eddie. But based on the way his eyes linger on it, he's thinking he won't get away from questioning too easily.

Luckily, he has prepared his Harrington charm for this moment. And boy, he's going to be using it as often as he can to prove Eddie wrong.

Part Two (aka the final part)

[tokyo-debunkers-headcanons]

Eyoooo, thanks for answering my last ask!!! anyways, gotta new one for ya, same groups if ya able but with a really pretty/attractive mc s/o like manhwa mc level kinda pretty. I can imagine kaito being somewhere along the lines of 'they tossed me over their shoulder and I've been on it ever since' with a little touch of internal screaming. I just wanna see if any of the boys would be flustered or have their ego stroked with having a really pretty s/o -👾

Thanks for sending asks in fam! This will be fun since I have so many ideas for these boys!

JIN KAMURAI

Being honest, his ego is entirely stroked by an attractive MC.

The one thing he finds a pain in the ass is all the gossip. He's always hearing some baseless rumor that someone is cheating or MC got surgery done or whatever.

It pisses him off to hear people talk about his beautiful/handsome partner like that.

Whenever he gets the chance to show MC off, he does and he makes sure their outfits are to DIE for.

Congrats! MC will most likely be spoiled with a new fancy wardrobe. (He would do this with any serious partner but it's AMPLIFIED with an extra attractive MC)

Whatever they need for their skincare or whatever routine they need. He'll take care of it. Just give him a list and he'll get someone on it ASAP.

TOHMA ISHIBASHI

The ego boost this man gets! OH MAH GOD!

He's not shy and he knows what he's about so he's not necessarily flustered, but he's definitely proud to land such an amazing looking partner.

A lot of others start referring to MC as royalty once they start dating, they start it sarcastically of course but when Tohma hears it, he flips it right on its head.

I mean like, using it to fluster MC: bowing, taking their coat, carrying things, etc (again, he'd be doing that stuff anyways) but he would take the time to fluster MC at the same time.

What i mean is like kissing the back of their palm and whispering against their skin something along the lines of,

"Only the best for my Prince/my Princess/ your Majesty/etc"

KAITO FUJI

Kaito does not know how the hell he got here with them but he doesn't give a single fuck.

He will spend the first part of this new relationship in all of the self doubt, because In his mind, this could be a prank or some kind of mistake. But when MC shows him that, no baby girl this isn't a mistake..? Mans here thinks he's died and that MC really is his guardian angel.

He will try to spend what money he has to try and spoil them how he thinks they deserve. He's just really trying his best.

When Frostheim throws their fancy ass balls, Kaito is BEAMING with pride. Yeah, he's on the arm of the best looking person here! Eat it!

And when they dance with him, there is so much internal screaming going on. He's worried he's gonna mess up and make MC look dumb, but with some time he'll loosen up and have some fun.

LUCAS ERRANT "LUCA"

Okay, another one with gossip. But its surprising not about the relationship itself. Its about each individual.

I think Luca and MC have separate fan clubs. I'm sure We've all seen that Luca has fans at the school. an extra attractive MC for sure has one too.

It all started with the two fanclubs talking shit about the other and spreading rumors. Like the usual rumors about cheating, or about how they don't deserve the other, etc.

However, there is a small part in each club that joined forces to try and spread gossip to break them up.

Ofc it doesn't work, Luca and his partner trust each other and do their best to communicate, so it doesn't really effect the happy couple all too much. I mean if you're gonna be subjugating a demon together, there's a LOT of mutual trust going on there.

ALAN MIDO

Alan would be a bit more protective of his partner, because in his experience (*cough cough* LEO *COUGH*) more attractive people, aren't really fighters.

If and when MC manages to prove themselves capable in a fight, he'll back off a little bit, but he'll still be a little protective.

He'd try to do things he thinks MC would like, that he's not the most comfortable with. Like fancier dates, dressing up, going out, etc.

If MC wants to squash that, they gotta do it RIGHT AWAY, since in his mind, they're more attractive so they've gotta like the fancier stuff...right?

SHOHEI HAIZONO "SHO"

Sho is a guy who will take them out for rides on Bonnie (his bike) but he doesn't really care about their appearance.

Sure its a plus and all, but he doesn't care if their hair looks really good today, they're wearing a damn helmet when they go on rides.

He figures MC knows their stuff when it comes to appealing design, so he values their opinion on his project (those who know, know). He takes all their critiques on the chin and does his best to listen.

its still his so he won't let them change it entirely, but he'll for sure keep it in mind.

LEO KUROSAGI

Okay if you think Luca and Jin fans were wildin, Leo's fanclub is WAY worse.

To start off, Leo will do small things with MC. Probably not show their amazing face too much.

It's a mix between wanting to keep things as private as possible and keeping them all to himself.

The internet being the internet, someone eventually got a pic of them together and people figured out that MC was this mysterious partner that Leo has been hiding.

Once the secret is out, he's full on bringing them into his content, like get ready with me's, matching outfit checks, etc.

On the down side, there's a LOT of MC haters out there. Leo typically ignores those comments, he figures their just jealous (of him or MC im not sure)

But if anyone even TRIED to threaten or do his MC. they're done. Their reputation might as well be in the trash. Leo is absolutely not above blackmailing someone to get what he wants so good luck to whoever fucked up that bad.

[marithlizard]

More thoughts about "Mastermind", etc: 1) When you look at the "most viewed" part of a Youtube video it's almost always a sexy moment. But this time I think we all know _exactly_ what the most viewed moment is. Bryce and Brandon were born for these roles and Sam Haft is a fucking genius.

2) (looks up this Patrick Page guy) No wonder everyone swooned over Hadestown! The vocal talent in these shows is ridiculous.

3) Oh. As @hina-has-no-life pointed out, Blitz isn't being hailed as a hero because he survived the trial. It's because Satan livestreamed the whole thing, being too lazy and contemptuous to even think about editing, and all of Hell has now seen Blitz _successfully_ argue with Satan himself to defend his employees, to speak out for all imp-kind who are just "doing their jobs", and to use his final words to shout defiance at the unfair system. That's gotta be unheard of. It probably won't last, but for the moment, kid Blitzo has achieved his dream. He is the most famous imp ever.

4) We've seen Stolas gleefully tackle a huge pile of paperwork in "Oops". And in "Ghostfuckers", we saw Moxxie despairing over an even bigger pile. Was this all setup for Stolas's new career at IMP? 5) Prediction: It won't be until bedtime the next night that Stolas realizes Blitz doesn't have a bedroom. And he's just too tall for that sofa. He needs his own place, but how could he possibly afford one?

6) Prediction: Loona and Millie will each find a quiet moment to deliver a shovel talk to Stolas. Moxxie will be too busy showing Stolas the ropes and being so relieved to have someone competent to shove the accounting off on. But when Stolas asks in bewilderment how the finances got so bad, Moxxie will point at a downward-trending graph and say "See that? That's when you two broke up." 7) Hope for the future: someday Moxxie, Stolas and Vassago will go see musicals together while Blitz and Millie hang out and shoot pool (and the occasional bystander). Everyone will be happy with this arrangement. 8) Barbie saw that broadcast. So did Cash. So did Paimon. All of them will show up in S3. 9) Wait, Stolas began studying the grimoire to do his job as a young kid. We don't actually know what his job _is_, other than "finding prophecies", but Andrealphus won't have clue one about how to do it. Will he make Via do it for him? Will Paimon show up to tell him he's an incompetent asshat and take it away? Or will Stolas regain his position before it matters? 10) I still want to know about the legions! Is there literally an army division somewhere twiddling its thumbs waiting for a war? Does Stolas mentor officers and run war games? Or is this, like, a metaphorical sort of legions? Eldritch beings summoned from the void? It would be hilarious if Andrealphus visited "his" new legions and it's just three bored shark demons and an imp sitting around reading comic books. 11) I'm throwing my hat in the ring and betting that Stolas and Blitz will be a couple by Sinsmas morning. Of course it would be "sensible" for them to take time to work on their own stuff, but neither of them strikes me as that kind of person. Plus I'm sure Stolas has thought about how brief imp lifespans are compared to his own, and what a dangerous career Blitz has even by demon standards. What use is being sensible if it means giving up the limited time you have with the person you love? Also, I really thought Loona's antagonistic relationship with Moxxie and general feeling of inferiority was being built up as a significant part of her character arc, that she and M&M would have to work things out and come to a position of mutual respect. But "Ghostfuckers" showed them making progress in that direction, without anything needing to be said. That's not a criticism - but it did remind me that a show's creators aren't always going to make the same choices we would, or give things the same weight we would. If Stolitz mostly reaches their happy ending next episode, that doesn't make the story weak or problematic or whatever. It just means Viv and Brandon think they have reached a good place with each other, and it's time for the show to focus on other things for S3.

[ohbabydollie]

Mutual Breakup HC

Female reader gets a call from the school about her son being involved in a fight with another student

Schlatt follows her and they both learned that their son was being bullied for not having a dad because his parents aren't married

You walk into the office, schlatt and your son sitting at a table. across was a woman and her son, you recognized him as being on the same baseball team as your son, he looked as he always did. except with a busted lip and black eye, hair messy and shirt stretched at the collar.

you sit down next to your son, whispering “what the hell did you do now?”

before your son can speak the woman starts screaming “He beat the shit out of my poor son over here! GOD YOU WALK IN ALL INNOCENT, I BET YOU TAUGHT HIM THAT CRAP!”

she stands up and before she can continue the principal tells her to calm down

“look, ma’am, understand you’re frustrated but that doesn’t mean you can scream at other parents” he says calmly as she sits back down

“they’re lucky we don’t get the police involved. i need your son to apologize to my poor, innocent baby boy and we can all drop this” she demands as the kid has a shit eating grin on his face

“fuck no” schlatt says crossing his arms “my son doesn’t have to apologize for shit, suspend him, do whatever, but he’s not fuckin’ apologizing”

“jay! what are you doing!” you ask him “im so sorry, matt, apologize to the boy please” you say turning to your son before schlatt shakes his head no

“we’re not apologizin’ he can spend however long at my place but we. ain’t. sorry.” he says

“im not sorry n i never will be” your son replies, schlatt giving a confirming nod

you let out a groan

“look, we’ve been at this for well over an hour” the principal says rubbing his temples “we got two options, both parties apologize and they get back to class or 3 day suspension”

“we’ll take the suspension” “Schlatt! matty, please just apologize to the kid” you say turning to the woman

“look, im really sorry, normally my son doesn’t act out like th-” “it’s probably your slutty behavior teaching him like this!” she says as your mouth opens in shock

“excuse me?!” you say getting up

“oh what like everyone doesn’t know already? you and your, whatever the fuck he is,” she says gesturing to schlatt “weren’t together and haven’t been together his entire life. no wonder he’s acting out so bad, he’s upset for being cursed with a whore as a mom”

you suck your teeth before standing up “what happens in our home is no one’s business besides our own and you can forget about that apology! c’mon matty, we’re going for ice cream” you say standing up, grabbing your purse “we’ll take the suspension, it won’t matter when her kid is living at home in his 30’s”

your son quickly gets up, as you walk out and schlatt takes a quick candy off the bowl on the table as he walks out with a grin.

“meet us at the ice cream place down the street, i’m taking matt” you say walking to your car as schlatt nods.

“matt, what did you do?” you groan once you’re in the car “the pta moms are iffy about me already and once they find out my son beat up some kid? fuckkkk” you say rubbing your face

“im sorry mom” he says softly “it’s-” “just, please, can you save it so we can talk with your dad?” you ask as he nods

“im really sorry mom” he says looking up at you as you exhale and sit up

“you know what? you’re already suspended, it’s all in the past and it doesn’t matter anymore, it’s okay” you say starting up the car and driving off to the ice cream place, trailing after schlatt’s car.

once all of you arrive and are happily eating your ice cream that’s when you speak up “so, what even started the fight?”

you see your son’s mood change from what was calm to pissed off before he lets out a sigh “he was making funna me” he says upset “he called you a whore and i remember dad saying if they ever say anything bad about your mom, let them make sure they know you’re her son” he admits as you look to schlatt

“are you serious? why would you tell him to fight kids for me?” you ask

“mom, this isn’t the first time” matt says as you look to him “they make fun of me ‘cause the two of you aren’t together anymore and this was the first time they called you a name and-and i wasn’t gonna let them!” he says angrily

you look to schlatt as he nods in affirmation, “they make fun of him and say that i probably ran off to get milk and other shit”

you look to your son in sadness and shock “r-really?” you ask, he nods and that’s all you need as you start tearing up “i-i’m so sorry baby” you say hugging him

“you don’t gotta apologize ma” he says as you press a kiss to his forehead

“no, i honestly, im sorry honey” you say softly “i almost made you apologize to that asshole kid! how about we go out today for dinner?” you ask, matt nods

“can dad come?”

“of course honey” you say happily as the three of you finish your ice cream “we’ll do it in reverse, dessert first and dinner last”

the day goes by, then somehow schlatt ends up back at your apartment, carrying matt up to bed before coming back down to you.

“you okay sweetheart?” he asks as you snap out of your thoughts and look at him

“yeah, yeah” you say walking over to him “you think we’ve played this little game long enough?” you question, running your fingers through his hair

“what game?”

“the lets pretend like me and my ex aren’t still in love, like we don’t still want each other and we haven’t wanted each other in years” you say softly “i think im tired of it”

“i am too” he admits, wrapping an arm around your waist

“let’s get married then” you say leaning into his touch “legally, we can move in together and stuff, matt can have his family together without going from house to house”

“that would be nice” schlatt whispers softly as you grin

“okay big guy, let’s get married” you say smiling

schlatt bends down to kiss you “god, ya don’t know how long i’ve been waitin’ to hear those words” he lets out a chuckle “i guess we also did this in reverse”

i feel like they’d get married before she gets pregnant tbh, but do everything privately and wouldn’t publicly announce anything until y/n is very visibly pregnant

[essence-inked]

Alright fuck it, maybe my two cents on this will be helpful to someone.

Content warning: this is about the Neil Gaiman thing.

I'm a victim of sexual harassment and assault, and I feel like my experiences would help explain my thoughts. And also, this is mostly stream-of-consciousness, so I guess y'all are getting some personal backstory on this one regardless, because I don't have the emotional bandwidth to polish this.

The first time, when I was harassed, I came forward. The guy who'd harassed me (and from what I learned later, I was damn lucky I happened to have the confidence to keep saying no despite repeated attempts at coercion) had assaulted other people, and this ended with his victims banding together to try to bring him to justice. We had an overwhelming pile of evidence, but the administration of our college kept dragging their feet, ignored their own policies, and eventually, after a grueling fight for justice that lasted long enough for him to assault another person who joined us, he finally got suspended. Conveniently, this was right when he was graduating and it wouldn't matter anyways, but we figured that at least we wouldn't have to deal with him at graduation - that is, until the school let him walk, and he used his chance to give a speech to misrepresent what had happened. I say all this to point out that the people with the power to actually convict someone of assault are often negligent, and as much as I want to say that I'll just wait and see what the investigation turns up, just because nothing comes of this doesn't mean it didn't happen.

BUT - and this is equally as important - that also doesn't mean it did. To my understanding, "always believe victims" means "don't presume someone is lying just because you think the person they're accusing isn't capable of causing harm." It means believing victims could be telling the truth when they come forward about trusted authority figures, or loved ones, or someone who's otherwise seemed perfectly nice. It means believing that assault CAN happen. This is where my second story comes in. A couple years ago, I was assaulted by a friend. I was too shaken to come forward, and scared enough that I just wanted to move on from the whole thing. A couple months later, though, I decided to tell a mutual friend what had happened, because I was worried if I didn't, she'd have the same thing happen to her. The important bit is that she didn't dismiss me just because this was a friend we were talking about, and she sat and listened and believed that they could be capable of hurting me. The point I’m trying to make here is that it is possible for someone to seem perfectly nice and not be, and doubly so with celebrities whose public persona is the only part of them we see. And when victims come forward, it’s not about necessarily accepting their claim as fact - it’s about understanding that you shouldn’t dismiss them on the grounds that the person they’re accusing would never do that, because you could be wrong.

The unfortunate fact of the matter is that you can't just wrap everything up with an easy conclusion. Anyone can lie - Neil Gaiman can lie, the two women who accused him of assault can lie, and hell, all three of them can lie to some degree at the same time. Is it eyebrow-raising that the source of the accusations is anti-BDSM (topically relevant since a lot of this centers around kinky sex, and whether Gaiman actually got consent to be that rough), and also affiliated with TERFs (who aren't exactly fans of Gaiman these days)? Yes. Would it be fucked up to just dismiss the claims because of that? Also yes. Then there's the bit where it's more likely for people to make false accusations against celebrities, but also, celebrities live in the weird ego-boosting microcosm that would make someone more prone to be a shitty person.

The bottom line is that we don't know anything for sure, and that is something we are going to have to live with and factor into how we make our decisions. Personally, I think I'll be able to appreciate collaborative stuff like Good Omens just on the basis that it's also Pratchett's work, and some of Gaiman's books hold a special place in my heart regardless of any personal feelings about him. But also, that may be subject to change, so who knows? Right now, I'm going to take a step back, and probably poke my head back in after a few months once the dust has settled and there's a bit more to go on (but as said, a lack of an official guilty verdict doesn't necessarily mean a definitive lack of assault, and we probably won’t get a clear answer here).

I'm seeing a lot of people either say that Gaiman for sure did commit assault, or for sure did not commit assault, and not back up either statement with any solid evidence, and quite frankly I think that's stupid and irresponsible. Uncertainty happens sometimes, and it sucks, and pretending like you can reach a definitive conclusion will not actually make the situation better. Instead, you just have to do the best you can with the information that you have, and try to make the most reasonable choices you can.

Edit: just to be clear, I'm not trying to express any particular stance on Gaiman himself - the most I've got there is it sounds like when I do delve down the rabbit hole more later on, I'll probably be disappointed in him. What I care about is that I'm seeing people reaffirm their stances with claims that someone quite literally couldn't lie (both in reference to Gaiman and the women who came forward), or citing the podcast's TERF affiliations as proof that nothing happened, or saying that Gaiman just gave off bad vibes, and that's proof he did do it. And like. That sort of rhetoric is what people point to when they want to discredit victims. That sort of rhetoric is how you wind up stumbling into having a bad take at some point and not being able to think critically about it. I'm more concerned about poking my head in here and seeing an absolute dumpster fire of shitty logic in every single stance than I am about whether or not an author whose stuff I've liked turns out to be a horrible person.

Also, re: the commenter who said he admitted coersion, that'd be super useful to know, but every source I've found in my short "okay what the fuck is going on" search says he's going full denial, so I'm gonna need a quote on that one. And to that end, that's exactly why I'm holding off on going down the rabbit hole, because I want to wait til there's a bit more coverage so I can get the story in one fell swoop rather than piecemeal. And also to that end, y'all are more than welcome to toss sources on here for me to check out at a later date, or for anyone else who might want them.

[axnrxn]

MW2 Cuddling HCs (König, Simon “Ghost” Riley, Johnny “Soap” MacTavish) x GN! reader

TW: Displays of affection, kissing, cuddling, generally sappy stuff, some angst for certain characters (*cough* ghost *cough*)

-------------------Not my gifs, all sourced from tumblr------------------

Konig

Will be excited to come home to you, immediately interrupting whatever you're doing and dragging you off to bed

Will take his hood and mask off has he's whisking you into the bedroom

Wants to be the little spoon but knows he's too big for it

Will compromise by laying his head on your chest and using one of your legs as a pillow between his own

Konig will make sure to keep the majority of his body off to the side of you because he's afraid of being too heavy for you.

Sometimes will be the big spoon if he's in the right mood, but will end up just pulling your entire body on top of his and crossing his legs on top of yours. You're locked in, there's no escape (hehe).

More likely to be the big spoon if he's about to go to work or is currently deployed

Likes to play with your hair a lot to soothe his own anxiety, he can get quite fidgety

Not much for words, he prefers to be quiet and maybe turn on the tv or something for background noise.

If you start talking about your day, he'll lazily look up at you before giving you a slow kiss- message received, enjoy the silence with this man.

This man will hold onto you for dear life while he sleeps, making going to the bathroom as precarious as a bomb defusal.

Simon "Ghost" Riley

Almost always the big spoon

Tries to give you a once-over without you noticing to make sure you're the same as he left you without letting you notice- you notice but don't say anything, you know he will always make sure you're okay

Pulls you into a hug for a long time every time he comes home from a mission. It's a silent bear hug and makes you feel safe. It makes his worries melt away.

You let his anxiety fade completely before you offer him something to eat, you know Simon doesn't get much outside of MREs at work. He'll politely decline if it's late (it usually is), but you'll say you're hungry so you'll just 'make too much' and share it with him.

You two will eat on the couch together and watch tv, your back pressed into his chest as his arm is lazily draped over your waist.

His head will occasionally rest on your head as he squeezes you a bit, reminding himself that he's home

Eventually he'll lay back and pull you onto his chest, signaling to you that he wants to sleep on the couch tonight. You don't mind, you just want Simon to feel comfortable.

He'll whisper "thank you" while kissing your forehead and lightly massaging your shoulders

You know that his gratitude wasn't just for the homemade meal, you two have a mutual understanding that doesn't require words.

Johnny "Soap" MacTavish

He will loudly announce his arrival home, dropping everything to tackle you in a hug

Will whisk you off your feet into a hungry kiss as he spins you around

He'll beg for you to make him a proper meal, you'll always make one for him no matter the time out of pity. Those MREs aren't easy on the stomach.

When you guys finally eat together, he will tell you a bit about work (without spilling too much information) and talk about the people he's met. He'll have you laughing within seconds at his stories.

You will 100% hear about Ghost and what a great man he is, how Johnny respects the hell out of his lieutenant

When you two finish, he'll let you get ready for bed while he does the dishes and cleans up your place a bit

You'll lay on your side, drifting to sleep as you wait for Johnny to join you

He'll return to your bedroom and wrap his arm around your waist, pulling you into him. He'll whisper into your ear about how much he missed you while kissing your neck and jaw

He'll reassure you that he'll be there when you wake up, squeezing you closer and wrapping one of his legs over your own

He'll get up early in the morning to greet you with breakfast in bed

This is all I've got so far. If there's any errors or comments, feel free to let me know.

[moirindeclermont]

It's part two, and today is all about him. That's right. It's pegging time on "All Polin's First Time We Didn't See". Colin wasn't sure he wanted to do it, but after seeing Pen, he became curious. And no one he trusts to do this more than her—even if they were not married. He did ask around, very discreetly, of course, and apparently, it's a thing some men really like. He knows that Pen has already everything they need, he just need to ask her when he is ready.

He thinks of all the first times Pen gave him without reserve, and he thinks of his first times, and this one feels more personal and vulnerable, maybe because it's with Pen. That afternoon, he takes his courage and asks her to sit in his lap while they are working in their studio. It's a ritual when they have stuff to talk about because it makes them feel safer and connected. When Pen is sitting, he embraces her waist and tells her, even if he is nervous as hell.

"I'm ready, Pen," and she looks at him with a big smile. "Really?" and he nods, suddenly at a loss of words. Pen kisses him, and he relaxes a bit in her embrace. "Are you nervous?" Pen asks, picking up his nerves immediately, and Colin sees no reason to lie to her. She caresses him, "We'll go slow, and we'll stop if anything doesn't feel right," and he wants to crack a joke saying that's his line, but in truth, he is glad she is taking care of him in this mutual discovery.

That night, Pen puts the oil and the tool she will use later on on the dresser. He gulps when he sees the wooden phallus attached, but it is smaller than his own, so there's that. "Make love to me, Colin..." she says, taking his attention away from everything else. That he can do. They start slow, Colin playing with Pen's breasts and making her moan exactly as she likes. He finds her soaked. "You are waiting for this to happen, aren't you?" and a bit of his confidence comes through.

She nods and moans. "You like the idea of fucking me," he says and Pen whines while he plays with her pearl. "If only the people in the Ton knew how much of a wanton my wife is," and he knew he was driving her crazy. "Before fucking me... I'm going to give it to you," and Pen is waiting for him. He sinks in, and it feels like home. He feels her curious fingers on his bum, accustoming him to the idea while he is thrusting in her.

He must compliment his wife's genius because now he has more important things to do and will not worry so much about what her fingers are going to do. It doesn't take long for them to find their release, and when he collapses in her embrace, they both know this is just the start. Once Pen is able to stand, she takes the tool and puts it on herself. Colin assists by tightening the laces, and suddenly, the situation becomes very real.

Pen caresses his face and kisses him, making him lie down again. Then, using all the knowledge of their life together up until this point, she proceeds to torture him in the best way possible. She scratches his nipples and kisses him all over until he is hard again and panting. When she settle in between his legs, he find himself compelled to open them to her, making her smile. She takes the oil and starts again; this time, a hand is on his dick; the other is playing around his bum.

He feels her light pressure, something undescribable, as she slowly starts with a finger while she alternates on his peen with soft touches and tender kisses. She looks at him, "Colin, how does it feel?" and he is suddenly moaning, the feeling not too unpleasant now, the combined sensation really lovely. "Good Pen. Please, another," and his voice is betraying his nerves, but now he really wants to do this.

While she works two fingers in him and then three, he feels a bit of a stretch and then, out of the blue, the most blinding pleasure he has ever experienced in his life. He can't help but buckle his hips as he catches the sensation. "There, Pen! There!" and why he was so nervous in the first place? "More, Pen, more," he moans, and Pen now is lifting his hips, pushing a pillow under his bum, and she looks at him like he is the sun and the moon.

She is beautiful, with those blue laces on her hips, and even the wooden phallus is now blending and not so weird anymore. "You're gorgeous, Pen," he says, and Pen smiles at him while aligning herself. He feels the pressure; even with all the preparation, Pen's fingers are not a wooden object, so it takes a while for her to enter and a lot of oil to aid in her passage. They are both sweating by the end, but he feels his heart open in a new way, and he lets go, letting her set the pace.

She starts slow, her movements unusual. Colin is so in love with this gorgeous woman that their act makes him feel so much that his eyes start crying without him realising. "Am I hurting you?" Pen asks, and Colin answers, "No, please continue. I just realised the amount of trust you put in me for your first times, and I feel... so much." Then he shakes his head. "Please, give it to me," he says, but the dam is broken. Pen starts to push in faster, every time trying to find that angle.

His reaction is immediate when she finds it; from that moment on, it's like they have been doing this all their lives. He takes himself in hand, and it's genuinely blinding. He looks at her, her breasts bouncing with their movement, and the moment after, he is coming with a grunt, moaning loudly. Pen gets out slowly, but still, he hiss a bit. He is going to feel it tomorrow, and he loves it. They are kissing again, and he can feel how wet Pen is. "Use my thigh to make you come," he tells her.

She does just so while he keeps praising her and touching her breasts, teasing her nipples. She comes with a whine, collapsing in his arms. They stare at each other for a while, cuddling and kissing. "Did you like it?" she asks, and he smiles at her. "More than I thought it was possible," he answers and it is the truth. "Thank you, Colin," she says, and he shakes his hand. "Thank you," he says in answer. "You're the only one with whom I could do this."

They clean themselves with a warm towel before falling asleep in each other's arms. The day after, Benedict takes a good look at him and says, "I didn't know you had it in you. " He blushes, while Pen laughs. He thinks it is worth walking funny just for how much his heart is exploding with love, and he says this to Pen, who looks at him, nods, and kisses him. Yeah, definitely worth it.

I accept request! Send me your favourite first time, and I'll write it for you!

[s1m0nth3swag]

Gotta yap about my Dead boy boyfriends sorry chat

Like

I physically need to talk about them but my friends haven't watched the show yet (WATCH IT OTS SO GREAT AAHHHHH)

Some short imagines/ short scenario type of stuff? Idk

Not proofread (atp I don't know what that word means ngl I never proofread my studf)

It is currently 11pm for me, I am tired, this probably sucks but I do not care actually

☆ Imagine meeting the two for the first time and you genuinely cannot speak because they're both a little too gorgeous, I mean, Edwin slays his outfit and Charles has the biggest brown eyes. Pretty boys fr

★ I just think that, if you're another ghost, Edwin would like you more at first, if you're alive, Charles would (because of the whole Charles hates being dead thing and Edwin doesn't like being around the living)

☆ In this scenario, let's play with you being alive and (mostly) well. Involved in one of their cases, maybe, or you went into Jennys shop to get meat or something (if you don't eat meat pretend you're cooking a meal for a friend or something)

★ Probably immediately you kinda notice a strange aura (totally not Charles staring you down because he's never seen someone as cool and swag as you) - and let's be honest you aren't even surprised when you meet Crystal and she's looking at the corner all weird.

☆ meeting them again however, you probably just had some near death experience (maybe you wandered into a haunted house, or you somehow got involved in the whole Esther business) and you probably don't even care that ghosts exist because yeah, kinda checks out

★ Charles is probably immediately on your heel (Edwin is just the tiniest bit jealous) asking you all sorts of questions (Edwin is just the tiniest bit interested as well)

☆ getting to know them better, Edwin finds he quite likes yapping about cases with you (my autistic ghost boy needs someone that ACTUALLY listens to what he says) he will be overjoyed if he starts talking about a case and you go "Oh wasn't that the one where.." because yes!! It was that case! You remembered!! Good job!!!

★ I feel like the whole relationship would come along naturally at some point. Just you complaining how you can't sleep because your pillow is too warm and both of them offering to stay with you since ghosts are pretty cold

☆ they have the mutual agreement that they're somewhat sharing your affection since you give both of them the same. They'll just have conversations like "did you already tell them [...]" and "Oh, yeah I did could you do [...] for them?" Already being fully in the mindset of 'we can and will make this work with three people'

★ I think Charles would actually have a more difficult time when the relationship officially starts though. He just has so much affection for you and Edwin that he's almost bursting, but Edwin doesn't always like touch so he has ti be careful and look for the signs and you actually have to keep yourself up and cared for instead of being able to cuddle 24/7

☆ Just a silly boy struggling with not kissing and hugging both his partners at all times (though he has two hands, and will be the middle part whenever the three of you walk somewhere.)

☆ Edwin is more a acts of service type of guy while Charles, obviously, is big on physical touch, so whenever Charles holds you back from doing laundry or the dishes, Edwin will do it for you so you can chill out

★ doesn't mean you don't do things for the boys, though. You regularly get books for Edwin (which he's happier about that he shows) and always give Charles the chance to talk to you without any judgement (same goes for Edwin, though he doesn't use that offer as often as Charles)

☆ Imagine Charles rescuing Edwin from hell and that night the three cuddle up with each other even though Edwin and Charles don't sleep, just so you can hold both of them to make sure they're still there and well

[crescenthistory]

silly little prompt list

send me a letter, number and character(s), as well as any additional details you'd like<3 mwah

for more prompts, go to the "writing prompts" tag on my blog

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆

nb! prompts in italics have already been chosen and written. you can request it again in another context, but be aware that i’m less likely to use it

a. sassy:

"how great that we have you to fix the world"

"thrilled to be blessed by your presence"

"i'll hear you out when you actually have something to say"

"well done, i would never have thought of that"

"how delightful"

"aren't you just a sweetheart"

"i'm sure you're not the only one"

"i'm sure you are the only one"

"how thoughtful of you"

"who would have thought"

"and?"

"in other news, the sky is blue"

"please do us all the favour of shutting up"

"i'd like nothing more"

"you forgot that i just don't care"

b. fluffy:

"i require at least a thousand kisses to make up for it"

"how are you so soft?"

"you occupy my every thought"

"kiss me again"

"you think (x) would kill us if we just eloped?"

"are you falling asleep on me?" "..." "alright then"

"may i have this dance?"

"it will always be you"

"i didn't know it was possible for you to be more beautiful"

"you changed my life"

"come back to bed"

"nothing matters but you"

"when did you realise you love me/her/him?"

"i can't imagine loving you more"

"how are you so cute right now?"

c. hurt/comfort:

"i want nothing more than to kiss away all your pain"

"maybe this will make it okay"

"who made you think all of this?"

"i didn't know it could hurt this much to be in love"

"there will not be a day where i am not there for you"

"i don't know, it just happened"

"they never left your side"

"you would have thought they were the injured one, the way they were acting"

"it pains me to see you like this"

"i'll get you out of there"

"you're okay, you're okay"

"i can't believe i did this"

"hold on, this might sting"

"i don't think i can take it, not this"

"i'm sorry, i know, i'm sorry"

d. angsty:

"how did you expect me to take it?"

"i just can't trust you anymore"

"well, i am terribly sorry for inconveniencing you"

"did you expect me to be more digestible?"

"but do you love me?"

"how could you expect me not to be angry with you after this"

"don't you have someone to take care of right now?"

"where is she?"

"it hurts like hell because you are everything to me"

"what a shame, they were so beautiful together"

"i never expected you to lie to me"

"what was i supposed to do?"

"i never hated you!"

"oh, stop with the tears"

"i can't do this anymore"

e. steamy:

"loosen up a little"

"let me distract you"

"turn around"

"kiss me, coward"

"tell me to stop"

"shut up"

"make me"

"it's more than want"

"use your words, sweetheart"

"don’t think about that right now”

"i want to see you"

"let's make this quick"

"is this okay?"

"tell me i'm yours"

"this is wrong"

f. ambiguous:

"well, fuck, i wasn't expecting my morning to go like this"

"you look like you want to read my mind"

"are we friends?"

"you woke me up for this?"

"tonight we're drinking straight from the bottle"

"pity"

"i cannot stand you two anymore"

"get over yourselves"

"do you realise you slam every door you close?"

"why would you do that?"

"can we please talk about this?"

"i'll ruin you"

"i'm so glad i was wrong about you"

"fine, keep acting like you hate me"

"i'm not drunk enough for this"

bonus: tropes (pair with a dialogue)

there's only one bed

bandmates

meet the family

near death experience

mutual pining believed to be unrequited

fake dating

temporary truce

accidental confession

secret relationship

firsts

soulmate au

arranged marriage

enemies/rivalry to lovers

trapped

sunshine x grump

[deangirlsstuff67]

Death Confessions

Dean Winchester x Reader

Warnings: mutual pining, soft Dean, language, mentions of smut, mentions of death

Summary: the boys and you are on a hunt only things don't go according to plan...

---------------------------------------

You hate witches. Can't stand the miserable pricks.

Tonight, you and the boys had finally tracked down the local witch in town. Or should you say witches. Plural. And oh yeah, ex lovers as well.

The pair had decided to wage an all out war on one another and didn't seem to care that innocent people were getting hurt in the cross fire.

At some point during the battle, you were struck with a spell. You didn't think anything of it because nothing happened. The boys killed the pair while you were recovering from the blow and you got the hell out of town.

It's been 3 hours into your drive and you aren't feeling so hot anymore.

What the fuck did they do to you.

You're shivering but hot to the touch. Your stomach is in knots. And every time the oldest Winchester looks at you in the rear view mirror, you feel your underwear dampen.

Sam's asleep in the front seat and Dean is humming along with ACDC as he drives you all back to the bunker.

You don't want to panic anyone so you decide to wait it out. Rowena and Crowley are there currently and you're sure she will know what to do.

-------------------------------------------------------

Another 3 hours and the impala is pulling into the underground garage the bunker has. You've managed to pretend as if your sleeping to keep the boys from worrying.

Sam turns around to wake you when he notices somethings wrong.

Very wrong.

You're covered in a thin layer of sweat. You're burning hot to touch. Your body is shaking uncontrollably, and you can barely keep your eyes open.

"Dean, something is wrong with y/n." Sam yells at his brother, who is unloading your crap from the trunk.

Dean comes running around to your door and opens it, almost ripping it off its hinges. Seeing you in this state makes his blood boil with concern and a protectivness. Reaching in he gentle cradles you to his chest and with Sam's help gets you into the bunker.

Dean's gruff voice breaks through the fog in your mind. His strong arms feel like bliss as he hold you close. His aftershave surrounds you, making your mouth water. A small moan slips from your lips as you feel your walls clench around nothing.

"Sammy go get Rowena. Tell her y/n was hit by one of the witches. I'm taking her to my room."

You vaguely feel him place you in his bed and cover you in his blankets. His scent is all around you and it's clouding your mind with nasty thoughts about the green eyed hunter.

You've always had a crush on Dean. He's charming, built like a damn model, and treats you as if you're the most precious thing on this earth.

Sadly, the womanizing Winchester has never looked at you more than a best friend. You hang, watch movies together, train once in a while, and he cooks you amazing meals. Nothing more than friends, and you're okay with that.

Better than nothing.

Whatever they hit you with is bringing out your desire for Dean. The same desire you buried deep down and try to avoid at all costs.

Another moan slips out as you feel slick running down your thigh.

Fuck this is embarrassing.

Just then, Sam returns with Rowena in tow. Thank God. Please make it go away. He can't find out like this.

"Oh dear. Sweetie what are you feeling?" Out of all the witches you've developed a soft spot for the red head in front of you. Sure she always has an end game that benefits her, but the woman is strong and resilient. You've got to respect that.

"Cold and uncomfortable." You don't know how else to describe it without completely embarrassing yourself.

Rowena exams you. You see when she clues in. The knowing smirk on her face.

"Well the good news is she will be fine. However," she looks over at the boys then, "someone will have to stay with her tonight and help her work it out of her system."

Dean and Sam share a confused look before Sam speaks up, "what?"

"It's simple. For whatever reason the witch cast a fuck or die spell. I'm sure y/n here wasn't their target but either way she needs to fuck it from her system or she will die in 24 hours."

Your eyes go wide as you listen, "I'm sorry, what?!?"

"It's the only way Dear."

"No. There has to be something else you can do Rowena. Anything else." You were too busy freaking out to catch the look of disappointment the crossed Dean's face. However, Sam wasn't. Even though the oldest Winchester never admitted it out loud, Sam knew how his brother felt about you.

"Y/N it's okay. Dean can stay with you and help you any way you allow." The younger brother said before he motioned for Rowena to follow him out of Dean's room. Leaving you and the green eyed hunter alone.

--------------‐-------------------------------------------------------

"Y/N let me help you." At this point the spell has gotten so bad you won't allow Dean to touch you. Which is of course frustrating the living hell out of him.

"No, Dean its okay."

"The fuck it is. You're dying and I can help. Why won't you let me?"

"It's too much to ask from you. We're friends Dean but even friends have limits."

"If it saves you I'm willing to do anything!" He's temper has taken over. Not understanding why you won't let him save you.

What the hell, you're dying anyway.

"Are you serious Dean!" You're outburst shocks him. He goes to speak but you cut him off.

"No Winchester, shut up and listen. For three years I've watched you take home girl after girl. For three years I've sat at that table or in your Baby and listened as you told us everything you did with them the night before. Not once complaining. Not once telling you how jealous I fucking was. I'm not your type and I get it. But don't think for one minute I will throw away the closet thing I'll ever have with you just to save my life." You point your finger in his direction as you continue.

"I fucking love you dumbass. I've been waiting, hoping you'd see me more as what we are. Hoping you'd get your head out of your ass and see that I'm the perfect girl for you. I'm a freaking hunter. I know the life and the risks. But no, instead you waltz every bimbo you can in front of me like some prized fucking pig."

Before you can continue chewing him a new asshole Dean pounces on you. Strong finger tangle in your hair and his soft lips dominate yours. The surprise subsides and you begin to kiss him back.

"You done yelling at me sweetheart? Cause I got something to say. I've loved your snarky ass since the moment you told me to blow you three years ago when we crossed paths on the vampire hunt. I love everything about you and I only ever got with those women because I knew you could do better than me. I'm not worth the pain y/n, but God dammit if you feel the same than why not try. "

He pushes his large erection into your wet core. You can't help but moan at the feeling. Dean smirks down at you.

"Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to fuck you good and hard for as long as we need to so we can save your life. Then I'm going to make you breakfast before I spend the day worshiping this beauty body how I should. You okay with that princess?"

"Don't call me princess."

"Shut up and kiss me woman."

And kiss you did. Every part of your body as he did exactly as he promised. Fucking you in every position. When he's big, fat cock needed a break he was making you cum with his tongue or fingers. Over and over again until your body began to go back to normal and fatigue set in.

When you woke in his warm, safe arms you found Dean staring at you. You've never seen his eyes shine so bright.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah I am. Thank you." You lean up and kiss him.

"Let's get you some food." He jumps out of bed and walks to his dresser, finding you one of his shirts. You through it on before you walk out of his room hand in hand.

Sam is already sitting at the table when you walk in together. He looks up from his tablet and just smiles.

"Shut up Sammy." Dean barks as he swats your ass and begins to get the ingredients for breakfast.

"I'm just happy Dean. You got your girl and we didn't lose y/n."

Dean looks over at you and smiles. Fuck you love that man.

-------------------------------------------------------

Taglist:

@syrma-sensei @yvonneeeee @nancymcl @foxyjwls007 @lessons-of-red @senjoritanana @leigh70 @tristanrosspada-ackles @maggiegirl17 @neii3n

[foone]

(screenshotted to avoid spamming their post with my OC/setting)

See, that's why you gotta watch out for chronomancers and other artificers in Union, because their weapon of choice is usually also a gun. And then you don't have a weapon advantage, and they've got arcane powers on their side. So you might have a very shiny ar-15 or something, but they've got a pistol that doesn't run out of ammo and can't miss and will do far worse things than poke holes in you if it hits you. As I've said before, when a wizard pulls the trigger on a gun pointed at you, you pray that it hurts, because the alternative is so much worse.

Anyway "the speed of latin" being associated with magic is funny, because on Union they actually have latin, not any kind of dog latin a la that one boy wizard made by the transphobe. (Such a silly idea anyway. You can't be a wizard without being trans. I don't care if you were AMAB and still use he/him and dress masculinely, you're trans, as your gender is now wizard. Your chromosomes aren't XY or XX anymore, they're W. For Wizard). The Silent Mother, the matriarch of their main religion, came from Earth, and her native language was Latin (or as they call it in Union, Old Tower). But the really funny thing is that you would never speak it. You can't, really. They don't have any idea of how it's spoken, there's no pronunciation rules. It's solely a written language used by the Tower church, and it's not supposed to be read aloud... and you'd have to try pretty hard to figure out how to speak it at all, given the lack of pronunciation rules.

It'd also be deeply, deeply blasphemous. And not in some cool "you could use this to summon the devil!" way, in a "this makes no sense and just offends every believer who hears you trying to do it" way. (They don't believe in a devil or a hell anyway, so that also makes no sense)

They do have a Tower sign language, which you could argue is kinda like "speaking Latin", but signed languages aren't really directly connected to spoken languages. The grammar is different. For example, compare how there's British Sign Language and American Sign Language, which aren't mutually intelligible despite both being sign languages used in places that have English as their primary spoken language.

Tower sign language is mainly known by d/Deaf people in Union and ordained members of the Tower church, not wizards (not that there aren't d/Deaf wizards, of course). It's importable because at the highest (no pun intended) levels of the Tower church, you literally can't speak. Not "aren't allowed" or "shouldn't", but can't, similar to how the City of Towers is a city of women, and that's not prescriptive but descriptive (which is not also not a pun, even if it might seem like one since I'm talking about linguistics).

Anyway yeah. Old Tower/Latin is a religious language in Union, not a magical one. Magic stuff is usually done with Unity (that's the language, not the video game engine), dwarven runic, or one of the sky languages. The church uses magic, sure, but they do it by working with outside magicians, not doing their own magical stuff. Religion and Magic are separate domains in Union, and both of them prefer it to stay that way.

[utilitycaster]

Wow your Orym tags really are an eye-opener. You are totally right and now I understand the bitterness about this character a little better. I've seen a lot of "...but C3 is supposed to be this and that" takes and I guess a lot of people think they are owed a certain storyline?

Yeah. People feeling as though they're owed a certain storyline is not new nor exclusive to Critical Role; it's been pretty common in fandom for years (see this excellent post that I still think about). But the particular blame being placed on Orym is a fun new twist on this theme.

I'm sure there's people who hate Orym for other reasons; shipping wank is another very common form of entitlement to a particular storyline. I must admit when it comes to Twitter I think some people just yell random lies out into the void to hear their own voice because there is no underlying logic to any of it. But I do think a large number of people who have been blaming Orym for everything for what is now the majority of the campaign are doing so because he has consistetly refused to entertain the idea that Ludinus makes any valid points from the start, and the narrative has pretty much only rewarded him for that.

A lot of people really thought that Campaign 3 "all bets are off" didn't mean like, messing with the narrative structure (they hate when that happens by the way. they acted like Downfall and the Solstice Split and the fact that this has been a very plot-driven campaign rather than one about character backstory are all fucking violations of the Geneva convention the way they carried on, and I say this as a person who can complain) but rather that Critical Role, a D&D-based fantasy, would shed those pesky two previous campaigns of canon (unless of course earlier canon helps them make a point. I truly cannot believe someone made like 5 alts and harassed me and all my mutuals for an entire evening over hypocrisy for...liking one ship more than another when these idiots exist) in order to become some kind of deeply pathetic "French Revolution Except Instead Of Kings It's Gods" historical re-enactment.

We're at the point where like, nothing has validated them and everything they've claimed the gods have done, Ludinus or the Weave Mind have done like, tenfold. As mentioned, the people who were like "oh my god STOP SAYING HUBRIS anyway obviously Bells Hells would NEVER see the gods as relatable" just watched Laudna and Imogen be like "wow, they're flawed and conflicted and a fucked up family just like us." I shit you not, I saw someone criticize FCG's relationship with the Changebringer because "he had to work for it" as if that's not like...how literally all relationships work if you're not an utter black hole of entitled self-absorption. The Kreviris Imperium wants to straight up colonize all of Exandria but they turn a blind eye. There's someone out there talking about putting Rashinna's head on a pike for being willing to endanger the poor Ruidusborn children that...Liliana (probably to some extent coerced by Ludinus to be fair) could have left alone to live out their lives on Exandria. People genuinely channel some anti-abortion "but What About The Disabled Children? Shouldn't Pregnant People Be Forced To Carry And Parent Them" style arguments at Alma's "hey, we have people delay birth for like half an hour so their children don't have The Psychic Migraine Disorder That Made Imogen Possibly Suicidal". The arguments have devolved into "well, canon isn't real" and "but the status quo" as if there aren't ALIENS FROM SPACE SPEAKING AT THE DRAGON VATICAN. How STUPID do you have to be to think that wouldn't change the entire world. Or, to get back to this ask, how desperate are you to maintain the illusion that you are going to get a wish-fulfillment campaign that never once existed? So yeah. They blame Orym because otherwise they have to blame literally the entire cast, and themselves.

[drekkavac]

𝐀  𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋  𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊  𝐘𝐎𝐔!!!

As  many  of  you  may  know  ...  I've  been  going  through  a  hell  of  a  time  recently.  I'm  not  going  to  get  into  it  all  ,  because  that's  𝐍𝐎𝐓  what  this  post  is  about.  This  post  ,  is  meant  for  me  to  thank  some  people  who  have  gone  the  𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀  𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄  to  reach  out  to  me  ,  &  make  sure  that  I  am  doing  okay.  It's  been  really  helpful  to  keep  my  head  up  &  keep  swimming  through  all  of  this  ,  &  you  guys  really  have  𝐍𝐎  𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐀  how  much  you  guys  have  actually  saved  me  recently.

These  people  are  real  ,  𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄  additions  to  the  rpc  ,  &  definitely  people  I  will  be  going  to  bat  for  in  the  future.  Thank  you  so  much  for  all  the  support  ,  love  ,  &  just  generally  caring  about  me.

So  without  further  a  do  ...  Lets  get  to  being  𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐅𝐔𝐋  ...

@vintertsarn  &  @scores-of-antiheroes.  We've  been  going  through  this  together  ,  &  I  have  to  publicly  thank  one  of  my  partner's  &  their  partner  first  &  foremost.  It's  been  a  good  feeling  knowing  that  no  matter  what  happens  ...  We're  in  this  together.  So  thank  you  guys  for  being  there.

@depictedmorada  ,  @wormholxtreme  &  @renownedagent.  These  people  have  been  so  giving  recently.  &  also  just  reaching  out  &  making  sure  I'm  doing  okay.  You  guys  have  helped  me  remember  i'm  not  alone  ,  &  Isabel  ...  You  sweet  sweet  flower.  You  have  been  so  so  so  helpful  when  I  just  wanna  curl  up  &  give  up.  Thank  you  so  much  for  the  extra  attention  &  being  so  giving  recently.

@halfdent  ,  @katarinawilliams  &  @urbanoath.  New  people  to  my  mutuals  list  ,  but  I  couldn't  be  more  thankful  for  you  three.  These  three  have  been  checking  in  just  about  every  day  ,  &  have  shown  me  just  how  much  people  here  still  care  about  people  here  as  more  than  just  a  blog  ,  but  we're  𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄.  There  really  aren't  enough  people  out  there  like  these  people.  They  are  good  people  ,  who  care  about  people.  &  I  swear  to  God  I'm  tearing  up  writing  this  right  now.  Thank  you.

𝐈  𝐀𝐋𝐒𝐎  𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀  𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊  𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘  𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑  𝐌𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋  𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄!  Even  if  you've  just  liked  my  posts  ,  or  commented  on  them  wishing  me  well  ,  I  want  to  thank  each  &  every  one  of  you  as  well.  It  really  ,  really  means  the  world  to  me.  I  don't  celebrate  Thanksgiving  ,  but  I  support  the  energy  of  being  thankful  this  time  of  year  ,  for  the  people  &  things  we  𝐃𝐎  𝐇𝐀��𝐄  ,  &  despite  how  scared  I  am  for  my  future  ...  I  am  so  so  thankful  for  the  things  𝐈  𝐃𝐎  𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄  ,  &  it's  because  of  these  people  specifically  that  that  has  been  easier  to  do  right  not.

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌  𝐓𝐇𝐄  𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐌  𝐎𝐅  𝐌𝐘  𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓  ...  𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊  𝐘𝐎𝐔.

[proshippers-against-censorship]

omg there's so many antis in the bungou stray dogs fandom it pisses me off. specifically because i had a mutual realise i was proship and was like but writing about incest and pedophilia makes you all those things.

however, in bungou stray dogs there's two canonical siblings (there's theories they aren't actually related and are lovers pretending so people don't think they're dating bcz of a big age gap bcz bungou stray dogs characters are based off of novel characters and authors and thats a book plot with characters with the same names as these siblings, however it's just a theory) and it is HEAVILYYY implied they are fucking, even the characters themeselves aknowledge they act like lovers and are weird and tell the protaganists to just ignore them. and idk if it's my translation of one of the light novels but there's a line in one where it legit says "naomi(16 yr old sister) tried to force herself onto tanizaki(18 yr old brother)" probably not word for word but i havent read it in a while and its basically played for laughs bcz its mentioned as a one off line for when the brother goes into a kitchenette alone and never mentioned after, literally gave me whiplash i was like u can just drop that line and noT MENTION IT AGAIN??? and these antis are reading the manga and watching the show and aknowledge therae siblings are fucking and then harrass anyone who ships siblings.

Also, there's an anthology (although tbh i'm not sure if the anthologies are considered canon but otherwise it's also implied that this character is a pedo for his magical superpower that manifiests as a prepubescent girl) where this just calls his superpower that's sort of a prepubescent girl his "wife" and everyone in the fandom hates him for that (and never the fact that he controls the whole damn mafia and has canonically mentally messed with kids so bad one got put in a mental hospital and didn't even want to leave anymore) also like they harrass and call anyone who likes his character(or even finds him well written) a pedo. but the author, who wrote this probably a pedo guy and these siblings fucking, no one hates him (hell, there's even people saying it's all the 16 yr old girls fault bcz tanizaki is too pure, honestly like 1, seems kinda sexist how ur blaming the girl who's a child 2, THEY AREN'T REALLL, IT'S NEITHERS FAULT THAT THEIR FUCKING, ITS THE AUTHORSSS.

there's antishippers who will say anyone who ships a ship where one character met the other as a teen and adult should kill themselves bcz it's gross. however the teen canonically grew up after the guy died and said that if the guy was a woman he would've comitted double suicide with him (please note this is said by a character who makes it very clear they want to commit double suicide with a woman they find attractive and are in love with bcz it would be sooo "romantic").

like the author has written all these icky ships and given them some sort of material, if you're gonna tell the people who ship those ships to kill themselves and that you'll shit in their food (real things these antis have said btw) then at least denounce the author too? like not even sent hate but at least understand this fandom isn't for you and its for people can handle icky fictional stuff.

The BSD and BB fandoms are terrifying.

[drowningparty]

I have some thoughts re: Kayne / godhood (spoilers for intermezzo)

I don't think Kayne respects any of the other gods. He definitely doesn't respect the King in Yellow, he knocked him over the head w/ an oversized mallet to give him amnesia and stuck him in Arthur's head and reduced the Dreamlands to "a lawless waste" for a laugh. He also destroyed his city for the hell of it. He doesn't fucking care. He's rude to John, ignores him, says 'Arthur' when referring to both of them. I thought I noticed this undercurrent of quiet animosity, but felt vindicated during 40 + Intermezzo b/c he was suddenly soooooo loud! Ignoring & talking over John? Check. Telling him he's not special like Arthur? Check. Saying he'll torture him worse than Arthur just because he can? Check. My theory is it's b/c John's still a god, technically. Like the whole, choosing your own name + path... you'd think would be something Kayne could sympathize with (as much as Kayne can feel sympathy), but...........no. He knows John is easier to manipulate w/ fear (he can send him back to the Dark World w/ a snap of his fingers), and saves his faux sympathy for Arthur.

I think this is b/c he likes humans. Sure, he also likes killing them, but I don't think those impulses are mutually exclusive. Kayne's the most "human" of the gods we've met. He talks like a human, makes pop culture references, looks passingly human, etc. I think he envies them, in a way? They have a freedom I think he lacks as a god, even though they are confined to one timeline. We still don't fully understand how gods work, but from his description alone it sounds like he thinks of them as limited. They have incredible power compared to mortals, they exist outside the piano... but are confined to a single key. Which sounds to me like their path is predetermined and they're not intended to develop free will. Kayne's an anomaly b/c he does, or tries to.

He wants to put humans in an antfarm, perhaps as a demonstration of his free will. That's all Carcosa was, right? An antfarm. He wanted to play godzilla, smash the ants. Arthur's another ant in a different farm, and he watched his entire life play out across several verses to try to figure him out. What makes him unique is he dies in every other verse. Kayne can't figure out what makes this Arthur so special that he survives when all the others don't, but it implies he did something right with his free will, that this version is an "anomaly" like Kayne. He respects that, b/c it means this version of Arthur has done the same thing he has: taken control of their narrative. Even Kayne choosing his own name is an example of that. Becoming Kayne, rejecting the title Nyarlathotep and all the baggage that comes with it, the expectation to be what his father wants, a messenger for the outer gods (although he may still want that, I expect whatever his intentions are re: the Black Stone, they're his, not Azathoth's).

Arthur is usually a mirror for character's to see their humanity reflected, but instead of seeing his humanity (b/c he has none), Kayne looks at Arthur and sees himself. Which... surprised me? He seems so confident in his godhood, I thought he just viewed Arthur as his fave toy or human, like even in the S4 finale I found it hilarious how he kept going: "why can't you all just be more like Arthur???" apropo of.....nothing, but he didn't treat him like someone he identified with, so it caught me off-guard when he compared himself to Arthur, but that's big for a god! and I think it supports my thesis he envies humans for their freedom. Their roles aren't as "established" as a god's. Humans have free will, something he had to kill every other version of himself to gain. Even then, I think absorbing his alts (???) or whatever he did after killing them to become more powerful fucked him up, may have driven him mad if he wasn't already when he started this exercise in defending-himself-from-ever-getting-deleted, like he doesn't sound okay when he's talking to himself.

TLDR: Kayne thinks Arthur's special b/c he lived, when all the other Arthur's in Kayne's Arthur-Killing-Experiment died! (: Kayne can't figure out why, but he likes not knowing why. He likes humanity b/c of their freedom, b/c he's a chaos god who wants as much freedom as possible. And he's aware gods are fallible, they can be deleted, which takes all the romance out of godhood. Kayne's the most powerful god we've met b/c he's taken steps to emulate humanity's free will, the thing that makes Arthur "special," but what makes Arthur "hard to see" is probably his humanity. As much as Kayne likes humanity, I don't think it's something he can truly understand, which is why he enjoys sticking humans full of pins and trying.

I think it's neat Malevolent prizes humanity over godhood. Even gods seem to value humanity over godhood. John wants to become human. Yellow wants acceptance from a human. I think Kayne holds humans in higher esteem than gods. Those who look down on humans or try to 'ascend' and leave behind their humanity, like Larson, are clearly in the wrong. It's not seen as a weakness to be human, and even the parts of humanity that are usually written off as a weakness (our rage, grief, violence, desperation, etc...) are viewed as strengths in Malevolent, and I fucking love that about this show.

Anyway, I'll, uhh, shut up now.