#but if i take a late meeting for example and i miss the train out of the city... i dont have anyone whose couch i could crash on

[wileys-russo]

Alessia “babe… I don’t know how to tell you this, but I lost my ring” living room

lost property II a.russo

it wasn't until you got in the car that evening that either of you tweaked anything was wrong, alessia having surprised you with a dinner reservation at your favourite japanese restaurant.

"oh less, why?" you'd questioned right away when you'd arrived home from work and she'd told you, the blonde giving you an odd look and a smile.

"just because." the englishwoman grinned, pecking your lips and sending you upstairs to get ready while she put on a load of washing. an hour later and you were both ready to go, alessia holding up the procession as she hunted for her car keys.

"baby this is why i bought you all the air tags for christmas!" you reminded gently, a thin lipped smile on your face as you tapped your foot, the pair of you now running late for your reservation as alessia dug through her training bag for the second time.

"i don't need them! i don't have a problem with losing things, this is a one off." your fiance huffed stubbornly as you exhaled, sinking down into the sofa. "we could just order in?" you suggested, knowing it took a lot to tip the level headed blonde over the edge but recognizing she was close to snapping.

"no. we're both ready, and you look gorgeous. they're here somewhere!" alessia paused to send you a smile before resuming her digging through her bag, moving quickly onto her favourite handbag and purse but also coming up empty handed.

"i'll go check upstairs less, and you look beautiful!" you rose up from the lounge, ducking down to kiss her cheek and taking the steps two at a time, disappearing into your bedroom.

"found them!" you called out within seconds, a roll of your eyes as you snatched her keys off the bathroom counter and also her phone with a scoff. "where?" alessia was already waiting at the bottom of the steps with wide eyes.

"bathroom, where you showered right after training." you laughed, twirling them around on your finger and holding them out of the taller girls reach, hovering a few steps above her.

"should you call them? let them know we're running late?" you suggested, alessia nodding and slipping a hand into the pocket of her blazer, the temptation to grin swallowed down at the frown on the footballers face as she patted herself down.

"i can't-" "bit hard to call without a phone?" you questioned, eyebrow raised and the device held in your other hand as alessia's cheeks flushed pink. "you'd lose your head if it wasn't attached to your body darling." you teased, her keys and phone slipped into her hands as you squeezed her face in your free hand as you passed.

"this is just a bad example. i do not have a problem with losing things!"

only as your fiance finally pulled out of your driveway and you hung up with the restaurant who agreed to hold you table, did you note there was something quite noticeably missing from her left hand which gripped the steering wheel.

"less." you called for her attention as she hummed, eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel, slowing down at a red light and glancing toward you with a raised eyebrow.

"baby wheres your ring?" you asked quietly, the strikers eyes dropping immediately to her hands which she balled up and moved to her lap. "i uh-well i-" the blonde stumbled over her words, jolting in her seat as she light turned green and the car behind her honked twice telling her to move.

"alessia. did you lose your engagement ring?" you asked slowly, eyes narrowing as your fiance could almost feel the tension rise ten fold within the car, hairs on the back of her neck prickling at the hardened look which burned the side of her face.

"no! babe of course not, of course i didn't lose it." the blonde assured, reaching across to squeeze your knee. "right. so then where is it?" you questioned, arms moving to cross as your fiance shifted in her seat, eyes refusing to meet your own.

"its uh, its being cleaned!" alessia excused, flashing you a nervous smile as you hummed. "the engagement ring that you've had for two weeks...needed to be cleaned?" you asked clearly not believing the poor attempt at a lie.

"yes! yes i was uh, i was showing the girls and i forgot to take it off while we were training. then of course it rained today, and the ring well it got muddy." alessia lied, nodding as if to convince herself more than you, turning right into the carpark.

"it got muddy?" "yes, muddy." "and you couldn't have just wiped it?" "wiped my engagement ring? you don't wipe diamonds!" alessia scoffed, putting her car into park and giving you a look of shock which you met with a blank stare.

"look at this baby, see how it sparkles? catches the light? thats because you take such good care of it, much better care than me. but i would never lose my ring! never." alessia laced her fingers with yours, holding up your engagement ring as you rolled your eyes.

"you spin a decent story russo." you gave her a slight smile, unclicking your belt as the blonde kissed the back of your hand and let go to do the same, the pair of you exiting the car.

"now my love, would i lie to you?"

~

"leah!" the blonde glanced up from her breakfast at the call of her name, eyebrows furrowing together at the younger girl practically barreling through the cafeteria to get to her, dropping into her seat and trying to catch her breath.

"less?" leah questioned, taking a bite of toast, a few odd glances thrown alessia's way whose chest heaved, not even dressed for training yet as she'd run right from her car to the table.

"i lied to my fiance and i think our marriage might be over before its even started." the blonde stated bluntly, leah choking on a mouthful of toast at the sentence, beths hand smacking her on the back as she joined the pair with a plate of food.

"you right? you know you're old enough now to know you have to chew before you swallow leah." the norhterner smirked as her friend gave her an evil side eye, quickly chugging the last few mouthfuls of juice.

"alessia you've not even been engaged for a month, how is your marriage over already? you've loved that girl for years!" leah asked once she could speak again, beths eyes near bugging out of her head.

"what did you do to that poor lovely girl alessia?" she spoke up sternly, eyes narrowing as alessia scoffed. "why do you assume i did something?" the striker questioned, leah clearing her throat capturing the attention back to her.

"to quote well uh, you. 'i lied to my fiance and i think our marriage might be over before its even started'." leah mocked, fixing the younger girl with a look who paled and sunk into her seat with a sigh.

"i lost my ring." "sorry speak up please some of us don't speak whisper." "i lost my ring."

"uh i hope you mean literally any other ring and not your engagement ring alessia!" beth gasped as the striker winced and shushed her. "oh less forget the wedding being off, you're a dead woman. can any of the venues you were thinking of accommodate a funeral?" leah questioned, alessia shooting her daggers before dragging her hands down her face with a quiet groan.

"she is always on you about being more mindful of your possessions, little miss forget a lot!" beth reminded as your fiance exhaled heavily.

"i know i know! i didn't mean to i just..." "forgot?" both beth and leah chimed in sync sharing a grin as alessia huffed. "are you two going to help me or not?"

"right. so we need to retrace all of your steps from yesterday, where did you start?" leah asked as the three of them made their way out of the canteen, having merely an hour to do so before they were required on the pitch.

"my car. but i already tossed that last night after she fell asleep, and i searched the house top to bottom it's definitely not at home." alessia affirmed as leah hummed.

"so you walked in through the front doors and-" "alessia!" a new voice interrupted them, one of the trainers waving from the end of the hall as he chased after the trio.

"not now henry i'm so sorry, girl talk." alessia called back, jolting the man in his tracks who nodded with a strange look, opening his mouth to speak but they'd already disappeared into the change rooms.

and an hour later as the trio wandered out onto the pitch, alessia was still ring-less, word spreading throughout the team some of whom checked in with her and others (kyra) who seemed to think it was hilarious.

it was obvious her mind was elsewhere during the first session, missing easy goals, easy passes, tripping over herself with her head in the clouds as your voice echoed around in her head.

renee pulling the striker aside to check in alessia assured she was just having an off day and everything was fine, beth and leah watching a few feet away as they hung back after the whistle, the rest of the team filing inside for lunch.

"hey less!" again henry called after her as alessia joined beth and leah, the trio already trying to plot where else the ring may have been left, leah now making an excuse that they all had recovery and couldn't be late as she ushered them back inside.

the later in the day it became, the more alessia's stress grew, now going as far as to be dodging your calls and ignoring your texts, having a day off from work and trying to do the groceries without the list you'd asked her to write out yesterday, another thing she'd forgot.

"the more ya dodge her the more its gonna bite you in the ass later less." beth cautioned, watching the younger girl silence your call and slip her phone into her pocket with a wince, trudging through the car park with slumped shoulders and a face like she was being marched to her execution.

"good luck mate, its been lovely knowing you." leah sighed squeezing her shoulder as alessia pushed her hand off with a scowl, the older blonde snickering and jogging off to catch up with steph who she'd driven in with.

you were starting to grow worried the later in the day it became and your fiances car still hadn't appeared in the driveway, all your calls going to voicemail and texts unanswered.

you paced around the living room, darting to the window like an excited puppy every time you thought you heard her, only to deflate seeing it was just one of your neighbours.

though when afternoon turned to evening and still there was no sign of her, all of the girls confirming she'd left right after training same as them, your worry began to fester and stew, doubts creeping in no matter how much you tried to push them out.

you bounced your knee and bit your lip as your mind drew itself to a conclusion you tried to refuse to believe.

the fancy dinner last night, the insistence to make you breakfast in bed before she'd left for training, the cute little note on the fridge, the lack of a wedding ring, the unexplained absence, the dodged phone calls and messages you could see she'd read.

then finally, the engine, the hurried footsteps and a key in the door.

"baby? it's just me!" she sang out, the thump of her training bag against the floor and shuffle of her shoes wiped against the welcome mat sounding afterward, but you didn't make a move to go and greet her.

"hey i thought we agreed to watch that together! its thursday night that means takeout and trashy tv shows." your fiance whined seeing you already a half an hour into an episode of the real housewives.

a show alessia had been adamant she would never watch or enjoy however after days of her 'curious' questions and hovering around the sofa pretending to be busy whenever you'd put it on you'd worn her down to actually sit and watch, and since then she was hooked.

"are you cheating on me?" it came spewing out of you before you could even take a beat to process, pausing the television and head whipping around to meet your fiances gobsmacked features.

"am i what?" "are you, cheating, on me?" you repeated a little firmer this time, swallowing the fear of her answer and trying to give her the hardest look you could muster.

"i-why would you think i would ever in a million years cheat on you?" alessia rounded the sofa in the blink of an eye as you sat with arms crossed and a frown.

"you took me out for a fancy dinner to distract me, you didn't wear your ring, you've been ignoring me all day and you finished training hours ago but you only just got home and no one can tell me where you've been!" you accused, alessia's face falling.

"baby-" "no alessia, where have you been? who have you been with? does she work at the restaurant? is that why you took me there so you could-" you gasped, shooting up to your feet as the blonde groaned.

"no! no no no no. can you please sit down? i will explain everything." alessias hands fell to your shoulders, very gently pushing you back down to the sofa, shifting uncomfortably under your prickly glare.

"babe i don't know how to tell you this. but...i lost my ring." alessia mumbled quietly, foot nudging a scuffed patch of carpet. "you what?" you asked, not quite hearing her properly as she winced.

"i uh, i lost my ring." "you mean the cleaner lost your ring?" "no...it was never at the cleaners." "right. so you lied to me about it?" "no!" "alessia you are skating on thin ice-" "okay yes! yes i told a little lie. but i promise you i have spent the entire day trying to find it, thats why i'm so late!" alessia collapsed onto the sofa beside you and buried her face in her hands.

but before you could say anything the doorbell rang, and when your fiance made no move to get up to answer it too busy indulging in her little pity party you got up to get it.

"uh hi?" you spoke to the unfamiliar man on your doorstep who took a step back as you pulled the door open. "i'm so sorry to bother you this late, but is alessia here?" you noticed the arsenal badge on his jacket and the word staff sewn underneath, nodding and calling out for the blonde.

"henry? is everything alright?" alessia questioned, surprised to see him to say the least as his hand fished around in his pocket. "look i tried to talk to you all day but-" he grunted and rummaged deeper into his pockets.

"-but i didn't think you'd want to wait any longer for a reunion." with that he fished a sandwich bag out of his pocket and at the sight of its contents alessia's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"my ring! jesus christ henry if i wasnt engaged i'd kiss you." alessia breathed out as he handed it over and you rammed your elbow into her side with a glare making the trainer chuckle.

"i've been married for three years now. good luck! see you tomorrow." the man grinned and with a wave he was walking back down the driveway, the door closed as alessia scrambled to slide the ring back onto her finger with a deep exhale of relief.

one which was interrupted by a clearing of your throat.

"baby-" "no. nope! no, not a word." you warned, a hand held up to stop her advancing toward you as she'd started, a sheepish smile and guilt ingrained deep in her features.

"i'm really sorry?" "thats three words." "i love you?"

"lie to me again and you can have this back." you warned seriously pointing to the ring on your own finger, your fiance nodding eagerly and launching at you for a hug which you ducked.

"baby where are you going?" "to find a needle and thread." "...why?"

"because alessia we are going to take those air tags i got you for christmas and sew one into everything you own, and then after that i'm going to stitch that ring permanently to your finger!"

[theliteraryarchitect]

How to Make Readers Care About Your Plot

It's a funny little trick, really. Because the truth is readers don’t care about your plot.

They care about how your plot affects your characters. (Ah ha!)

You can have as many betrayals, breakups, fights, CIA conspiracies, evil warlords, double-crossings, sudden bouts of amnesia, comas, and flaming meteors racing directly toward Manhattan as you want.

But if readers don’t understand how those events will impact:

A character they care about

That character’s goal

The consequences of the event, whether positive or devastating

…then you may as well be shooting off firecrackers in an empty gymnasium.

Why Plot Without Character Falls Flat

Here’s an example:

A school burns down. Oh my god, the flames! The carnage! The dead and injured children! There are police everywhere—total chaos!

And your main character? Standing on the sidewalk, watching and crying.

Dramatic? Sure. But does the reader care? Not really. There’s no emotional connection, so it's basically a meaningless plot point.

Plot + Character Impact = Reader Investment

Now, let’s take the same event but give it stakes.

Meet Mary Ann. Mary Ann has been a middle school teacher for 25 years. This year, she gets a new student—Indigo. An unusual girl with clear troubles at home and a habit of burning things.

Mary Ann defends Indigo when the school administration wants to expel her, citing safety concerns. Mary Ann sees something familiar in Indigo—something that reminds her of her own sister, who was institutionalized as a child.

One day, Indigo explodes in rage, screaming, “Burn it down! I’ll burn this whole place down!”

Mary Ann is shaken. This isn’t just defiance—this is a real threat. She nearly sides with the administration but, haunted by her sister’s fate, fights for Indigo’s second chance.

Indigo is placed in counseling. A compromise that will hopefully solve the problem.

That night, Mary Ann sleeps soundly. She did the right thing. Didn’t she? But the next morning, on her drive to school, the radio blares an emergency bulletin. There's a fire at the school.

Mary Ann speeds through red lights. Her stomach twists. When she arrives… it’s too late.

Oh my god, the flames! The carnage! The dead and injured children!

The exact same plot point—but now it matters.

How to Make Your Plot Matter to Readers

The secret? Before you set something on fire (literally or figuratively), give your character—and thus your reader—a stake in the outcome.

1. Tie Events to Character Desires and Fears.

Why does this event matter to this character?

How does it challenge their values, beliefs, or personal history?

2. Make the Conflict Personal.

The fire isn’t just a disaster—it’s a gut-punch because Mary Ann fought for Indigo.

The outcome isn’t just tragic—it’s haunted by Mary Ann’s past regrets.

3. Show Consequences.

Readers need to feel what’s at stake before, during, and after the event.

The weight of the aftermath makes the plot stick in the reader’s mind.

The result? Higher engagement, deeper emotional connection, and a plot that actually matters.

Summary: It’s Not About the Events—It’s About the Impact on Your Characters

I used a fire in this example, but this applies to any plot development.

Even something subtle—a whispered secret, an unread letter, a missed train—can have devastating emotional weight if it affects your character in a meaningful way.

Make your readers care about your plot by making your character care about it first.

Hope this helps!

/ / / / /

@theliteraryarchitect is a writing advice blog run by me, Bucket Siler, a writer and developmental editor. For more writing help, download my Free Resource Library for Fiction Writers, join my email list, or check out my book The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.

[teapartyprincess4two]

can you write another Matt story? I'm obsessed with your writing!! <3

Manage- M. Sturniolo

pairing: Secretary!reader x Boss!Matt

classification: smut w/ a plot

warnings: 18+, MDNI, use of y/n, power dynamic, sexual content, suggestive content, slight cursing, mentions of alcohol use, mentions of jealousy, literal sex

summary: You’re Matt’s secretary, in charge of overseeing everything related to his schedule. Everyday when you come into the office he suppresses the urge to take you then and there. When on a work business trip, he can’t hold back anymore.

—

You loved your job, not because it was your dream job, but because it was easy. You went into work, did what you had to do, and at the end of the day you could go home and disconnect from it entirely. There were some odd days when your boss, Matthew, would call you in your days off or call you from home to ask about something. But, for the most part, you could completely forget about the job once you clocked out.

Just because the job was easy doesn’t mean that there wasn’t rules to be followed. As the boss of a world renowned magazine company, Matt always made sure to enforce them. For example, deadlines had to be met, sales were critical, and the workplace environment was meant to remain professional. He was a strict, straightforward boss and didn’t play when it came to the rules. Another one of his big rules was time management, he hated when people were late.

You were running a little late today, and as the boss’s secretary that was completely unacceptable. You stayed up late last night with an old friend, catching up on life and drinking one too many glasses of wine. Before you knew it, it was midnight and you still weren’t home. By the time you fell asleep it was already 3 in the morning. As a result, this morning you woke up late, you had to force yourself out of bed and rush to get ready.

So, now you’re walking into the office an hour late wearing an outfit you would’ve never picked out if you were in your right state of mind. You avoid eye contact with your coworkers as you make your way to your desk that’s situated in yours and Matt’s shared office. That was the worst part, out of all your coworkers you were the only one who had to be with the boss throughout the entire work day. There was no room for mistakes, especially on your part.

“You’re late,” Matt grumbles as he watches you dump your things onto your desk. You looked frazzled, but he wasn’t going to make an exception for you just because you were his secretary. Sure he’d built a rapport with you from working alongside you all these years, but if he made an exception for you then he’d have to do it for everyone.

“I know, I’m so sorry Mr. Sturniolo,” you reply meekly, avoiding eye contact out of embarrassment. You hated this, you felt like a school girl getting reprimanded for missing homework. If he wasn’t such a strict boss, maybe you’d take the time to explain why you were late, but you knew better than that. He would just see it as an excuse and write you off as a lazy employee.

Matt takes a long look at you, you were wearing a skirt that was definitely not workplace appropriate. He hated how easily he got riled up at the sight of your legs. He looks away immediately, training his gaze on the computer in his desk. “I’ve got a lot of meetings today, Y/n. I need you performing at your best potential, so get it together,” he says sternly, trying to think about anything other than you in that tiny skirt. You finally situate yourself at your desk, adjusting your skirt so it won’t ride up. It’s no use, this skirt was definitely not meant for the office.

“Yes, sir,” you reply, turning on your computer and preparing yourself for the long work day ahead.

—

For the rest of the day you sit in business meetings taking notes and writing down important dates and deadlines. For the most part, you’re really bored, but you were already late today and can’t afford another mistake, so you try your best to pay attention so you don’t miss anything.

Matt sits next to you, watching as you mindlessly take notes on what the presenter is saying. These meetings were very important and it was imperative that he paid attention too, but he couldn’t help but let his eyes wander down to your legs. They’re crossed under the table, your ankle swaying back and forth rhythmically. If he could, he’d crawl under the table and spread your leg-

“Okay, Mr. Sturniolo, you’re up,” the presenter suddenly says, breaking him from his thoughts. Matt coughs awkwardly, adjusting his pants slightly to hide his growing erection. He stands from his seat, taking the remote clicker from the man and continuing the presentation.

Matt knows this information like the back of his hand, it’s all numbers and statistics that he’s memorized over the course of managing such a large company, but as you sit there with your legs on full display he can’t think straight. He stutters throughout the entire presentation and at one point completely zones out with thoughts of you bent over the desk, pushed up against the wall, or even squirming in your seat.

“Sir?” you ask timidly, he’s been quiet for a while and is just staring down at you. His eyes pierce into you, lighting your skin on fire. The other men were looking around confused as to why the presentation stopped.

Your voice breaks him from his thoughts yet again and he coughs awkwardly for the second time. “Would you like me to get you a water?” you ask politely, standing from your seat. As you do this, your legs uncross and Matt catches a glimpse of your lacy underwear. His brain is on fire with thoughts of you.

He forces himself to look away with a clenched jaw as you quickly adjust your skirt. “Yes that would be nice. Thank you, Y/n,” he finally manages to say. You nod your head and excuse yourself from the group of men briefly.

All of the men allow their eyes to wander on your body, taking you in like a tall drink of water. They were all silently wishing they had a secretary like you.

“Pretty girl you got there,” one man comments as he leans forward in his seat to watch you walk down the hall. The skirt ended right above the edge of your ass, lifting slightly with each sway of your hips.

Matt sends him a warning glare before returning back to the presentation.

—

“Don’t forget to book the flights for the company trip. You and I will be leaving two days early to make sure everything is in order. Make sure you account for that, okay?” Matt says as he rapidly walks from the conference room to your shared office. You walk behind him, holding your skirt down with your left hand as your right arm is holding the papers from the previous meeting. Matt needed to walk in front of you or he’d be staring at your ass and legs, unable to concentrate on anything else.

“Are you catching all of this?” He asks, waving his hand in the air to catch your attention.

“Yes sir, I’m just um- I’m struggling with these papers,” you admit, adjusting the stack of papers again so they won’t fall to the floor. He stop his rapid walking and looks back at you, feeling bad for leaving you with the brunt of the work all the time. If he was honest, he was very harsh with you and would often overwork you, but it was because he always found himself staring and admiring at you. If he wasn’t so harsh with you then he’d certainly cross the line of professionalism in your relationship and entire uncharted territory.

Matt takes the stack of papers from you, mumbling a small sorry as he does it. He’s careful not to graze your skin, knowing that your simple touch would send him into a frenzy. He couldn’t trust himself yet, especially not with the skirt you’re wearing. He needs an excuse to get as far away from you as possible right now.

“You can go to lunch.”

“Are you sure? It’s only 11 and I still have to book the fli-”

“Yes. Bring me a sandwich from the deli I like. You can finish that later.”

You’re confused, he never sends you to lunch this early, especially not after business meetings. He’d usually have you type up a report or schedule the next meeting, sometimes he’d even assign you busy work like reorganizing the files or shredding letters. You don’t question it though, you knew better than that. Instead you send him a nod and head out to grab lunch.

As soon as you’re gone he’s relieved, he makes his way into the office, dumping the stack of papers on your desk before slumping down on his chair. He sighs, it’s a sigh of relief, but also of frustration. Everytime he closes his eyes his mind is overtaken with thoughts of you.

The thought of you sitting so close to him everyday, those lacy underwear mere inches from him. Your legs on full display for him, ready to be spread open at any moment. That tiny skirt riding up every time you took a singular step. Even your hands as they expertly typed away on your computer. The thought of you was driving him crazy, he doesn’t know how he survives entire workdays with you so close. If he could have it his way, you would’ve been bent over your desk the second you arrived late to work, for the simple fact that you arrived late. Then he would’ve eaten you out until you were begging him to stop as punishment for wearing a skirt so short. But he’s your boss and he needs to control himself and his thoughts.

His eyes are squeezed shut and his jaw clenched as he tried to think of anything other than you, but no matter how hard he tried his mind always came back to you. His dick twitches at the thought of you pressed up against the wall, your skirt halfway up your abdomen as he fucks into you relentlessly. He thinks about how he’d pick you up and guide you towards his chair where he’d let you do all the work, bouncing up and down on him for hours. Your hair would fall onto your face and he’d have to push it back, creating a make-shift ponytail to use as leverage to fuck into you harder.

His hand starts subconsciously wandering onto his hard, clothed dick at the thought. No one is here to watch him, the door is closed and you’re off on your lunch break, if he’s quick enough he can get in a quick, satisfying release. The idea floats around his head as he imagines you on your knees, face covered in his cum. Your lips would wrap perfectly around him, just like they wrapped around the straws he’s watched you drink from. Then he’d lay you on the desk on top of all the paperwork as he fucked you until the desk broke.

One time won’t hurt, right?

Briefly he looks around the room, making sure no one walks in as he begins unbuckling his pants. This is the first and only time he’s allowing himself to go this far at the thought of you. An adrenaline rush surges through him as he pulls his zipper down, becoming anxious to touch himself. His dick is twitching, precum leaking out as if it’s crying and begging to be set free.

As he’s about to let his throbbing penis free of its constraints, the door opens abruptly, causing him to look up in shock and immediately scoot himself closer into the desk. He tries his best to hide himself under the desk, using the ledge to serve as a shield.

You walk in with a big, kind smile, a bag of food in one hand and two drinks in the other. “Here’s your sandwich, Mr. Sturniolo,” you say, as you place the bag and one of the drinks onto his desk. “They didn’t have the soda you like so I brought this instead, I hope that’s okay. If not I brought another option,” you ramble on, plopping an alternate drink on the table.

His face is red hot and he won’t meet your gaze, “That’s fine, y/n. Thank you.”

“If you don’t like it I can get something else, I just didn’t know which one you’d like-”

“Y/n. You can go,” he interrupts you sternly, embarrassed that he was almost caught. You stand in silence, taking the hint that your boss wanted to be alone. You grab the paperwork from earlier and a pen before dismissing yourself quickly, deciding to work through the rest of your lunch break in the break room.

When you’re gone, Matt lets out another sigh of relief before looking down at his pants. They’re unbuckled, exposing the hem of his underwear. He quickly readjusts himself before looking at the bag of food.

He wasn’t even hungry anymore. All he could think about was you.

—

You’re currently preparing to board the plane for the long awaited company-wide business trip. The trip is to a resort where other major magazine companies will be hosting a week long conference. You and Matt are leaving two days early to ensure that everything is in order. This means that it’s your responsibility to make sure that all the company presentations, spreadsheets, paperwork, informational brochures, documents, and other records are in order. The thought of it stresses you out, you can’t even begin to imagine what Matt would do if even a single thing went wrong.

Even if you’d have some time to yourself in the resort, the thought of actually working made you dread the trip. But you put on your best performance as you walk behind Matt in the large airport in search of your boarding gate. Your suitcase is heavy, filled with all your personal necessities, some casual clothes, and a plethora of work clothes.

“Mr. Sturniolo? I think you might be heading the wrong way. I wanna say that the boarding gate is over here,” you speak shyly, afraid to overstep when speaking with your boss.

“Matt.” he replies, he hates that you call him ‘Mr. Sturniolo,’ it was a constant reminder that he was your superior, your boss. A reminder that you’d never be able to be his unless he fired you or risked a workplace scandal. “I’m sorry?” you ask, unsure of what he meant by that. You knew his name was Matthew, but you’d never called him anything but his last name.

“Please just call me Matt,” he reiterates. After years of working by your side, he’s determined to finally make an impression on you that doesn’t scream ‘I’m your boss!’ You hum in response, finally realizing that he wants you to refer to him by his first name. The thought of being on first name basis with your boss was a little weird, but it humanized him a bit and made him seem less intimidating.

“Okay. Well, Matt I think you’re heading towards the wrong gate.”

He looks around the airport, then down again at his ticket, realizing that he is in fact heading the wrong way. “You’d be right, Y/n,” he replies with a playful grin.

He’s dressed very casually, it’s an outfit that you’d be able to wear to a grocery store, but still lounge around your house in. The look contrasted his everyday attire drastically, he almost looked… normal? He didn’t look like a man who manages one of the largest magazine companies in the world, a man who drives a sports car, a man who has a secretary ready to do what he says when he says it. No, he looks like a man who walks his dog in the afternoon, a man who reads books before going to bed, a man who washes the dishes after every meal. He just looked normal and that made him easier to talk to.

The two of you begin walking to your designated gate, Matt trails behind you and takes in your attire too. You’re wearing a pair of leggings, a fitted top, sneakers, and a cropped sweater. You look great, but the change of style opens his imagination to the thought of you being fucked in a domestic setting. He could imagine you on the couch, by the sink, or even in the shower. He hated how easily his mind wandered into sexual territory, but he loved thinking about it.

You two board the plane quickly. You take the window seat, letting Matt situate himself in the aisle seat. The flight isn’t too long, but you’ve prepared yourself with some activities in case you become bored or restless.

Throughout the entire flight Matt is still thinking about you. All he can do is hope you don’t look down at his lap and see how excited he truly is. Fortunately for him, you’re deeply immersed in a game of sudoku. You’re biting the end of your pen in concentration, your eyes wandering across the page as you try and figure the puzzle out. He wishes you were biting across his skin, or that your lips were occupied with something else…

He takes a look at your lips, then at the page in front of you, “6 goes here.” His finger points to a specific square on the puzzle, breaking you from your concentration. You pause your chewing, processing the information Matt just said. You write in the 6, that singular move solving the entire puzzle for you as you quickly fill in the rest of the boxes.

A big smile is planted on your face, “wanna try?” You extend the book and pen out for him. He doesn’t have anything else to do, so he shrugs and takes the items from you, “sure.” In the process his hands graze against yours, goosebumps raising along his arms immediately. “Okay, well while you do that I’m gonna go to the restroom,” you comment, getting up from your seat so you can head to the back of the airplane.

You shuffle out of your seat, pressing your stomach to the seat in front of you as you try to wiggle out onto the aisle. Your butt briefly grazes Matt’s knee, your thigh touching his inner leg as you weave your way through his legs. “Sorry,” you whisper to him, finally making your way into the aisle. He wishes he could grab a hold of your hips, rip off your leggings, and pull you down onto his lap then and there. Even with all these people occupying the rest of the airplane, he’d fuck you so hard you’d forget how to walk.

His eyes do a once over on your whole body as you walk down the aisle, your tight leggings leaving little to the imagination. A small groan escapes his lips, if this is how he was feeling during the flight how was he going to survive the entire trip?

Matt shakes his head, beating himself up for being such a pervert. He stares down at the sudoku puzzle in front of him, suddenly forgetting all the rules.

—

The resort is huge, much bigger than the resort used for last year’s conference. Every year a different company hosts the conference, this year your company’s top rival was hosting. They were known to show off and pamper their guests, which would explain the grandious size of the resort.

You and Matt walk up to the front desk with your suitcases trailing behind you, ready to check in. The clerk at the front desk offers you both a warm smile as he asks for the name of the reservation.

“Matthew Sturniolo, we’re here for a weeklong event,” Matt replies, taking his ID out for further proof of identification. As you admire the luxurious look of the lobby the clerk looks for the reservation on the computer. When he finds it he immediately pulls out his rehearsed speech before handing Matt a singular key card, “Awesome! Looks like you two will be in a master suite on the top floor. Here’s the keycard, if you have any questions feel free to use your room phone to ring the front desk. We do offer room service which can also be accessed through the room phone. Enjoy your stay!”

Matt waits for another key card, because there should be two rooms, but the clerk becomes preoccupied with the computer once again. “I’m sorry. I reserved two rooms,” he says politely, trying not to lose his temper. If there was one thing he hated it was incompetent workers, and if this worker wasn’t so incompetent he would’ve known that Matt had two rooms. The clerk looks up from the computer briefly before checking again on the reservation status, “Right! Well it looks like the rooms you previously booked were given to two other guests. A lot of people will be visiting us for this conference so they had to move a couple of people around to make room for everyone. That’s why you’ll be sharing a room now.”

You watch as the situation unfolds, ready to step in if Matt became too abrasive. As a secretary, you were used to dealing with mistakes like this and have become an expert at deescalating situations, especially with Matt as your boss. He has a tendency to lose his temper or make snarky remarks and then leave you to deal with the aftermath.

Matt’s about to lose his temper and the clerk can tell so he quickly interjects again, “Don’t worry, sir. The room is very large and is equipped with a Queen sized bed. If you have any issues, we will work with you.”

Matt’s about to say something he shouldn’t, but is stopped by your gentle hand on his shoulder as you speak, “Thank you! We will call if there are any issues.” You grab the key card from the desk and pull Matt away and towards the elevator as you offer the clerk an apologetic smile.

He’s tense at your touch, because it elicits something feral in him, but also because he’s still on edge from the previous conversation. “I’m sure the room is big enough,” you comment once you two are inside the elevator. You can tell he’s bothered, his jaw is clenched and his fists are balled up so tight it causes his arms to flex. Even though he’s clearly angry, he looks extremely handsome right now. If he wasn’t your boss you’d even go as far as to say he looked hot.

“Doesn’t matter. I reserved two rooms, we should’ve gotten two rooms.”

“Yeah, but we’ll make it work,” you say with a smile, trying to remain positive.

“That’s not the point,” he grumbles. The elevator dings with each floor, and each ding reminds him that he’s closer to having to share a room with you for an entire week. If he wasn’t able to contain himself at the office, or even on the airplane, how was he ever meant to survive an entire week with you?

The elevator dings one last time as you reach the top floor, the doors opening slowly to reveal a long hallway. You exit the elevator, Matt following suit behind you as you read the keycard. The keycard reads room #505, it’s all the way at the end of the hall, perfectly secluded in a corner.

This only sends Matt’s imagination more wild, he didn’t know how he was going to keep his hands off of you for an entire week.

—

After getting settled, Matt informs you that there’s a brief introductory meeting that you need to attend. He tells you to dress up professionally because a lot of important people were going to be there and to be prepared to take notes. You know this is a business trip, but a part of you was hoping to relax the first night. With Matt as your boss, you should’ve known better.

The living situation wasn’t that bad, the room was very large, complete with a queen size bed, two closets, and a restroom that had a his and hers sink. Before doing anything else you two got situated, Matt insisted on sleeping on the floor, but after further deliberation you insisted he join you in the bed. You were adults after all, it didn’t have to be weird. He protested at first, but the thought of sleeping in the same bed as you was exciting.

After that, you decided to take a shower. You needed to wash off the jet lag from the flight. While you were in the shower Matt’s brain was going wild with thoughts of you. The water slowly running down your body, being able to see your silhouette through the foggy glass, pressing you up against the glass as he fucked you from behind. He was itching to get up from the bed, barge into the restroom and finally make you his. But he had to remind himself that this was a purely professional trip, that you were only in the same room due to circumstance.

You’re currently lining your lips, adding all the finishing touches to your makeup. You decided on a black dress, it was simple and classy, but still fun. Your hair was perfectly styled to show off a silver necklace and matching earrings, they were actually a gift from Matt. He gave them to you one Christmas, mumbling something about how they were from the company, but in reality he chose them himself specifically for you.

Matt’s been dressed for a while now, waiting for you to get out of the restroom so he can make any last adjustments to his outfit. You’re taking forever though and he still needs to put on is his tie, so he decides to walk into the restroom and use the mirror adjacent to yours.

As soon as he walks into the restroom his eyes are all over you, admiring everything about your face, body, and outfit. He notices you’re wearing the jewelry he gifted you and he makes a mental note to gift you another set.

“You look nice,” he comments nonchalantly, his fingers working expertly to tie his tie around his neck. You smile at him through the mirror, popping on a thick layer of lipgloss before returning the sentiment, “you clean up nice yourself.” Matt sends you a smile of his own, flattening the tie against his button up shirt. His outfit matched yours, it was all black from head to toe. It was a nice coincidence that made you two look almost like a couple.

You reach out your hands to fix his collar, it was popping out slightly. “Lemme fix this,” you whisper, your fingertips grazed against his neck. His breath hitches in his throat as he tried not to look down, he had the perfect view of your chest from where he was standing. He’s in the perfect position to pick you up and fuck you on the bathroom counter. If he wanted to he could smudge your lipstick, and fuck you so hard you cry, ruining your makeup.

“Thanks,” he whispers back, placing his hands on your hips to move you away from the mirror. His touch sends a shiver down your spine, he’s never touched you like that before. Matt tries to focus his attention on his reflection, ignoring his once again growing erection.

You look him up and down, noticing the tent in his pants for the first time. He looks so sexy right now that you want to get on your knees and worship him, servicing his cock until it has nothing left to offer. Then you’d let him pleasure you as you sit on the countertop, his head between your thighs.

You shock yourself with your dirty thoughts, turning abruptly towards the mirror as you try ignoring the sexual tension.

—

The meeting was more of a cocktail party, it was the perfect setting to get to know everyone before the real work started. Most of the people here were men in power, followed around by their assistants, secretaries, and interns. There wasn’t much for you to do but follow Matt around as he introduced you to a few of his colleagues. You remembered most of them from previous business trips, but still did your rounds around the event.

After getting comfortable and introducing you to everyone, the drinks started. You dismissed yourself and wandered off to find a drink for yourself. Matt wasn’t a big drinker, especially not at events like this, but he let himself fall victim to peer pressure. He found himself drinking scotch, whiskey, and vodka with a group of extremely powerful and wealthy men. They were hooting and hollering, engaging in conversation about all the females in their field that they’d fucked. Matt didn’t have any stories to share on the subject, so after a while he bid the men goodbye to look for you.

He was kind of drunk at this point, stumbling slightly as he searched for you. You were at the bar drinking a martini while talking to a man. He, much like you, was an assistant to a very powerful man. The conversation between you two was casual and innocent, but as Matt watched he couldn’t help but feel jealous.

“Does your boss drag you along to boring events like this too?” the man asked, taking a sip of his own drink. You weren’t drunk, but you were getting there. You take a sip of your drink and look around the room, catching a glimpse of Matt in a far corner. He looked upset and drunk. “Mmm yeah, but the job is easy so I don’t complain,” you reply, your eyes trained on Matt’s approaching figure. His nostrils were flared, jaw clenched, and the fabric of his shirt strained against his flexed arms.

“Umm that’s actually my boss there. I better go,” you say, hopping off the barstool. Your dress rides up slightly, exposing more of your thigh than necessary. The man watches as you walk towards Matt without a word, before turning to the bartender and asking for another drink.

“Are you drunk?” You immediately ask Matt once you meet. He doesn’t say anything, instead grabbing your arm and looping it around his. This is his attempt at leaving the event while looking put together and professional. He dismisses himself from the few colleagues you run into on the way out as he leads you towards the elevator. You play along, but once the elevator doors close you pull your arm away.

“What was that about?”

“Didn’t like the way that guy was looking at you,” Matt replies in a gruff tone. He presses the button to your floor aggressively. “Okay, but why did we have to leave?” you’re feeling feisty, the martinis giving you the daring push you needed to express yourself.

“I wasn��t planning on leaving, I was just looking for you. But when I saw how that guy was looking at you, I decided it’d be better for us to go back to our room.”

You roll your eyes and scoff, crossing your arms, causing your boobs to pop out slightly from your dress. You didn’t need a protector, especially not when the man you were talking to was just being nice. Matt looks at you when you scoff, groaning at the sight of your boobs spilling out of your dress. “Don’t do that,” he instructs drunkenly, pointing towards your arms. You look down at your chest, noticing how exposed you are, but you’re too drunk to care.

“Don’t do this?” you tease, pushing your chest out further. Matt inches closer to you, his face dangerously close to yours. “Stop” he whispers sternly, allowing his arms to rest on your hips as his nose grazes yours. “Or what?” you’re taunting him at this point, trying to see how far he’d go with you. But you’re drunk and so is he, if you two were sober you’d never be this bold.

The elevator rings, signaling that you’ve reached your floor. The sudden sound is sobering, it pulls you both from your trance, causing you to pull away immediately.

The walk to your room is awkward, the sexual tension lingering as you adjust your dress. Were you really about to kiss your boss? You try convincing yourself that that only happened because of the alcohol, you’re too inebriated to act against your natural, feral instincts. You fumble for the keycard in your purse, opening the door nervously before walking in. How were you supposed to sleep next to Matt after that?

“I’ll sleep on the floor, Mr. Sturniolo,” you comment quickly as you sit on the edge of the bed, unstrapping your heels. The use of his last name catches his off guard, “I thought I told you to call me Matt.” You didn’t even realize you reverted back to using his last name, but there must be something telling you to remain professional. For the sake of this trip and for your job.

He’s standing over you, looking down at you with an intimidating look. You look up at him, leaning back into the bed slightly to get a better look at him, “Right. Sorry, Matt.” Whatever awkwardness you felt was quickly dissipating as the wetness between your legs grew. He used his knee to separate your legs, standing in between them as he took ahold of your face.

Matt leans down closer to you, his lips inches from yours as he says, “Make it up to me.” Without another word, he takes your lips in his. It’s a slow and sensual kiss, and your arms fold so that you’re now resting on your elbows. Matt’s now on top of you, his body fitting against yourself perfectly.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this,” he whispers against your lips, holding himself up with one hand as he allows the other to trace from your face to your chest. He’s admiring everything about you, his fingers toying with the silver necklace around your neck. You’re watching him in awe, you’ve never known a man as sexy as him.

“Matt-“

“Shhh, pretty girl. You can moan my name all night long, but first I need you to do me a favor,” he says, pushing himself off the bed, you prop yourself up eagerly in the process. You watch as he unbuckles his belt and undoes his pants swiftly, pulling them down to reveal his underwear. Your mouth waters at the sight, his dick struggling against the cloth. You know exactly what he wants and you’re ready to comply.

“Open up, pretty girl,” he instructs, whipping his cock out and pumping himself briefly. You do as you’re told, kneeling between him and the bed as you open your mouth for him. His dick is big, but you’re so hungry for him that you don’t question how it’ll all fit.

Matt lets you take control from here, moving his hands to the sides of your face to caress a few strands of hair out of your face. He watches as you take his cock into your hand, pumping it slowly as you kiss from the base all the way to the tip. A groan escapes his lips when you finally wrap your lips around the tip, swirling your tongue around the slit in the process.

He moves his hand to the back of your head, moving his hips closer to you as he pushes himself into your mouth fully. Matt thrusts into your face slowly, using his hand to keep your head in place. Your eyes begin to water, small gag noises following each time he hits the back of your throat. “So good,” he moans, throwing his head back in pleasure as you hollow your cheeks around his cock.

He fucks your face faster, causing tears to brim at your waterline. You look so beautiful under him, taking him without a complaint. This is better than everything he’s imagined, you look so innocent under him with tour hands on your knees, pushing your boobs out for him. The sight alone is enough to make him cum, he pulls out of your mouth completely letting you catch your breath as he feverishly strokes himself.

You don’t miss a beat, moving your face closer to him so you can kiss the base of his cock and suck his balls as he continues stroking himself. He groans at your eagerness to please, pushing your face back and instructing you to open your mouth again. You do as your told, Matt laying his heavy dick in your mouth as his cum decorates your tongue. His moans fill the room as he praises you for taking him so well.

You take him in your mouth again, swallowing the cum in the process, bobbing your head up and down his cock a few times. You kiss his tip, a small whimper coming from Matt. You’re drenched at this point, the only thing you can think about is his dick inside you, your spongy walls clenching around him.

He watches attentively as you stand up seductively from your spot on the floor, your knees are red and your makeup is ruined. You look so sexy, he’s ready to go again. You kiss him, moaning into his mouth as one of his arms wraps around your waist and the other massages the skin right under the hem of your dress.

“Fuck me, please,” you whisper into the kiss. You asked so nicely that it makes his dick twitch.

He doesn’t have to be told twice, instead he guides your make-out session to the restroom where he turns you around so your ass is flush against him. You moan as he pulls your dress down, accidentally tearing the straps in the process to free your boobs. He’s watching you from the mirror, taking in how your boobs bounce with every movement.

Matt’s fingers trace along your chest, slowly reaching your nipples. He pinches your nipples between his cold fingers, eliciting another moan from you. “So beautiful,” he mumbles, trailing kisses from your neck to your shoulder. Your hands hold you up against the counter and your head is thrown back in pleasure, resting against his shoulder as you await his neck move.

One of his hands cups your breast as the other works towards moving your lace underwear to the side. He groans at the feeling of your wet folds against his fingers, you were all worked up and it was just for him. “So wet. Is this all for me?” he asks, locking eyes with you in the mirror. You bite your lip, nodding your head feverishly. All you want is for him to fuck you already.

“Use your words, baby.”

“It’s all for you Matt.”

He seems satisfied with your response because he finally lines himself up with your entrance, letting his tip sit there for a while before fully pushing himself in. You are immediately sent to a state of euphoria at the feeling of him inside of you, breathless pants and moans escaping your lips. Matt moans out your name as every fantasy he’s had about you flashes through his mind, none of them comparing to the sight in front of him right now.

One of his arms is wrapped around your waist while the other snakes around your chest so he can hold one of your boobs. Your head is thrown onto his shoulder as you try to anchor yourself to the counter with your hands. His hips snap back and forth as he pumps in and out of you, causing your body to rock against the counter top.

“You feel so good,” he moans, holding you tighter against him. You’re clenching around him, one of your hands reaching behind you to grab his neck. You turn your face towards him and capture his lips in a heated kiss as he continues fucking into you, his fingers pinching your nipples and massages your breast. You’re moaning his name into his mouth, a string of curse words following as you feel your climax approaching.

He picks up on your queues and doesn’t slow down, kissing you harder as he pushes you past your breaking point. Matt feels you clench around him one last time, a loud, high pitched moan following as you come undone on his cock. He pulls away from the kiss so he can see your fucked out expression through the mirror. You look so sexy, taking him entirely like a good, obedient girl.

He grins at the sight in front of him, pecking your shoulder before grabbing a fistful of your hair and fucking you harder than before. His orgasm is close, and he’s chasing it faster and faster with each thrust. One hand is gripping your hair as the other rests on the small of your back, he watches as your ass jiggles against him with each thrust. You’re whimpering at this point, still very sensitive from your previous orgasm.

“So perfect,” he mumbles. The room is filled with the sound of your whimpers, Matt’s groans, and your skin slapping against each other as he drops his warm, sticky load inside of you. This time it’s your turn to watch him from the mirror, his eyebrows are furrowed and his jaw is slack as his hips stutter inside of you, breathy moans tickling your back.

“Fuck,” he groans, snapping his hips into you one last time before pulling out of you completely.

Matt’s grip around you is still firm, holding you up so you can balance yourself properly. The two of you catch your breath before you turn to face him, a fucked out look on your face as you smile at him. He smiles too, snaking his arms around your waist and pulling you in for a genuine kiss. Not a ‘let’s fuck again kiss,’ but a genuine kiss.

“How am I supposed to work with you after that?” you joke, placing your arms on his chest.

“You’ll manage,” he says with a smirk, pecking your lips again.

—

MASTERLIST

A/n:

Happy Valentine’s Day enjoy this boss Matt story😋Kk byeeeeee

- L.A.M.B👼🏻💗

[anime-fan-05]

Heiii, sono ancora io!

Mi è piaciuto un botto quello che hai scritto per la mia richiesta

Puoi fare degli headcanon del quartetto dei primi anni di Karasuno, Noya, Oikawa, Kuroo, Lev, Tendo, Goshiki e Tsumu con una fidanzata molto piccola (tipo 1,40 o 1,45)?

Grazie

Haikyuu!! ~With a short reader~

Manga/anime: Haikyuu!!

Warnings: nothing

(Y/N): your name

As usual, I divided the request into two parts: 2nd part is here.

Hinata S.

He feels so high when he's with you!

He always claims to have fallen in love with you since your first meeting: one day, while running (he was late for training with his team), he bumped into you, knocking you to the ground; then, he stopped to help you, but by mistake he said: "You're so tiny..."; he didn't mean to be mean, and he was about to apologize, but the words got stuck in his throat after hearing you mutter: "You're the one who's tall"; that day he arrived at training not only late, but also red as a tomato

Despite the first words he told you, he thinks your height is very cute and, above all, perfect for him, since you've the right height to fit in his arms: in fact, he loves to hug you, cuddle you, or just have your body against his in some way

He'll never tease you about your height and, if someone does so, he'll run up to them and yell at them to stop (like he did to defend Kiyoko from Terushima)

He loves picking you up, especially while you kiss; sometimes he also does so to greet you after you haven't seen each other for a long time: he picks you up and turns you around, then he kisses you

Kageyama T.

The first time he met you, he was struck by your cuteness: when he had to introduce himself to you, his voice was trembling and he almost mispronounced his name (he really wanted to bury himself out of embarrassment); furthermore, he was terribly blushing and felt as if he was about to fall to the ground

When you two go out together, he's very careful not to lose you in the crowd, especially if there are a lot of people: he stands next to you and always holds your hand, not without blushing, to guide you

Once he lost sight of you in a store and got very worried; he looked for you in every lane, he was desperate, until he heard the loudspeaker: "Mr. Kageyama Tobio, come to cashier 12. We've found your daughter."; he tried not to laugh all the way home

His favorite thing to do is rest his head on yours, as your height is perfect for him to lean over, while hugging you from behind (because otherwise you would see his face red)

If he sees you cheering for him during a game, he'll feel very excited; if you even wore his jersey, he would literally die of embarrassment (Tsukishima will never let him forget it) and work even harder

Tsukishima K.

Whenever he can, he teases you a lot: he never misses an opportunity to do so, either through his gestures (for example by resting his arm on your head as if it were an armrest), or with words ("Oh? Sorry, I didn't see you, you're too small.")

Furthermore, speaking of words, he comes up with every nickname having to do with short for you: "chibi" (small) or "chibi-chan", "my little one" (with great emphasis on little)...

However, if someone makes fun of you, he stands to his full height and glares at him: he's the only one who can tease you

If you wear his clothes, which are literally huge on you, he takes the opportunity to tease you about your height, but he only does it to prevent you from noticing his embarrassment; if you also puff out your cheeks or pout in irritation, he'll have to cover the lower part of his face with one of his hands to prevent you from seeing his deep blush

One thing that amuses him a lot is when you try to kiss him, but of course you can't do it if he doesn't lean down ("Oh? Are you too short to reach me, chibi-chan?" "Shut up and lean down so I can kiss you, dummy!")

Yamaguchi T.

If you play with his hands and compare them with your smaller ones, he'll melt and blush very heavily; nevertheless, he loves holding your hands, precisely because they're much smaller than his

When he sees you in his clothes, especially in his team jersey, he gets so embarrassed he has to put his hands in front of his face or hide it in other ways; the first time he saw you like that, he fainted for a few minutes and, after he recovered, he couldn't look at you for fear of becoming dazed looking at your cuteness

He'll also die of embarrassment if you grab him by the collar of his shirt or the tie to lower him to your height and kiss him

Although he's a really shy person, I think there are moments when he becomes more bold and courageous: one of those is if someone makes fun of you (really, he totally transforms into another person and yells at them you're perfect just the way you're)

Some are subtle moments where he playfully teases you, but he stops as soon as he notices you're offended or saddened; others happen when he spontaneously picks you up to help you reach overhead objects you can't reach on your own or when you kiss

Nishinoya Y.

Since he isn't the tallest, and sometimes he felt bad about it, he doesn't want you to feel uncomfortable or sad about your height: if you were ever unhappy due to that, he, unexpectedly serious, would take your hands in his, whispering softly to you you're perfect just the way you're

Instead, if he were the one who hurt you, he would literally kneel at your feet begging you for forgiveness

He loves when you see each other after a long time and you run towards him and jump on him, holding him like a koala; he always grabs and spins you around a couple of times, and then he kisses you

Since sometimes neither you nor he can reach objects too high up on the shelves, he lifts you up to get them; one day, he did a really stupid thing: he took you on his shoulders, but unfortunately he slipped and you both fell to the ground (obviously he broke your fall and you didn't hurt yourself)

One day, during the time out of a match during which he wasn't in perfect shape, he saw you in the stands cheering him on while wearing his jersey; from that moment on, in that match no ball touched the ground in Karasuno's field

Here we are: it's been exactly a year since my first post. I wanted to thank all my followers: thanks to all of you for following me, for reblogging, voting and commenting on my posts, thanks to you my account lives!

💮 Rules 💮 Masterlist 💮

[sjsmith56]

Assignment Bucky Barnes, Chapter 2 - First Blush

Summary: Ariel starts her job at the library, receiving a visit from Bucky to confirm their date. She meets Steve Rogers.

Length: 3.7 K

Characters: Ariel, library staff, Bucky, Steve.

Warnings: Misogynistic attitude from library manager, catcalling, mean girls, Bucky moving fast, use of the term ���queer” in keeping with the times.

Author notes: Steve readily plays wingman to Bucky.

<<Chapter 1

At 8:55 am the following day, Ariel presented herself at the main door of the Greenpoint Library in Brooklyn. A security guard was at the door and she told him she was starting that day. He checked her name on a clipboard and opened the door for her, telling her to seek out the Library Manager, Mr. Grayson. The man in question, in his late 60s, was behind the circulation desk instructing the Circulation staff on being extra vigilant as there had been a noticeable increase in missing books and he was sure it was a gang of juvenile delinquents taking out adult books that were too mature for them. As she approached he looked at Ariel over his glasses while lowering his head forward.

"Miss, can I help you?" he asked.

"Yes sir," she replied politely. "I am Ariel Black. I was told to report to you at 9 am."

He looked at his pocket watch then at the clock over the door. "It is 8:56 am Miss Black. You are early."

"Yes sir," she confirmed.

"Very well," he said, after very pointedly returning his pocket watch into the vest of his pocket. "Come with me. Mrs. Campbell, I leave the circulation staff in your capable hands."

He walked out from behind the circulation desk and began walking to an office in the back, entering it and sitting behind his desk. Ariel followed him in and he asked her to close the door, then sit down. He pressed his hands together at the fingertips while he looked steadily at her.

"Are you wearing makeup?" he asked.

"Just some face powder to reduce the natural redness of my cheeks," replied Ariel. "Is that permitted?"

"Yes, just don't wear anything more," he said. "No lipstick or eye makeup. Our patrons are here on serious business and they don't need to be distracted by a young woman trying to flaunt her beauty by excessive makeup."

Ariel kept her face as neutral as possible, remembering her training on early 20th century attitudes towards women.

"What you are wearing today is acceptable," he said. "Remember you are presenting yourself as an example of the fairer sex. No trousers, skirts must be below your knees, and if you wear a suit you must wear a blouse underneath. Do you smoke?"

"No sir," she stated.

"Good, we don't want our patrons to smell cigarette smoke on you," he said. "Now, you are part time, which means you are here every Wednesday from 9 am until 5 pm, then Thursday evening 5 pm until 9 pm, and all day Saturday 9 am until 5 pm. If you are late you will have pay docked from your paycheque. If you are late more than three times in a month it will be grounds for dismissal. You have your degree in Library Science?"

"Yes sir, with distinction," replied Ariel.

"Hmph," was his response to that. "You will start with shelving books, relieving on the circulation desk for breaks and lunch. After a month we will assess your work and decide whether to permit you to perform reference work. Come with me and I will introduce you to Miss Warren who is in charge of shelving."

He stood up and Ariel followed him to a back room where there were several carts with books being stacked in order for re-shelving. A woman in her early 30s was taking the books from one cart and organizing them on another. He introduced Ariel to her and left them there. When he was out of earshot Miss Warren looked at Ariel.

"Don't worry about him," she said. "He's just biding his time until he can retire. Stay out of his way and his attention, and you'll be fine. Come with me and I'll show you where to hang up your coat and purse."

After returning they began working together organizing the book carts by Dewey Decimal number then each took a cart out into the library and began shelving them in the correct position in the stacks. About an hour into it, while on her third cart Ariel pushed the cart in between two shelving units deep in the stacks and heard a male voice from the other side of one of the units.

"How is your first day working out?"

She looked between the books and saw the bright blue eyes of Bucky on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a low voice.

"Checking up on you," he said. "Did you find out if you're working Friday night?"

"I'm not but I do have to be at work at 9 am on Saturday morning," she whispered. "Now go away before you get me into trouble. Shouldn't you be working?"

"Not enough work on the docks again today," he said. He looked both ways then came around to her side. "You look very academic today."

She felt her cheeks get hot which was silly as it wasn't much of a compliment. "Bucky, really, you should go," she pleaded.

"I have a library card," he said, almost poutingly. "I'm entitled to look for a book."

He pulled a book out and showed it to her. The Hood Basic Cook Book was the title and he began looking through the pages.

"Mmmm, clam fritters," he said. "Sounds tasty." Ariel started laughing and he smiled that smile at her. Then his face went softer. "What time are you off?"

"5 o'clock," she answered. "Really, go before you get me fired on my first day."

"I'll pick you up, make sure you get home safely," he said, his blue eyes boring into her.

"Fine but please leave me alone until then," she begged.

"Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains, Let me remember thee what thou hast promised," he whispered, then he smiled, put the cook book back in its place and left, walking past her while trailing his fingertips across hers as he passed by.

The man quoted Shakespeare at her, and not just any line but a line spoken by Ariel in The Tempest. She watched him saunter away and wondered what his fingertips would feel like tracing a line from her lips down her neck. Shaking her head to remove the thought she resumed shelving the books on her cart. When her lunch break came she ate the sandwich she had in her purse and put a nickel in the jar to have a coffee from the urn in the little staff room. Two others that were working in the processing office came in for their lunch break and introduced themselves. Alma Flett and Irina Jacob were both recent college graduates and considered themselves lucky to get a job in their neighbourhood. They leaned forward towards Ariel.

"Did Bucky Barnes come back to see you?" they asked in a low voice. "You know about him, right?"

"Know what, exactly?" asked Ariel, making sure her brooch was turned towards them to pick up their conversation.

"He's a Tom cat," said Alma. "I mean, he's easy on the eyes but he's out for one thing and it isn't your good reputation."

"Actually it is," giggled Irina. "He's out to ruin it."

"He's been a gentleman to me," said Ariel.

They looked at her as if she were crazy. "Just be careful," cautioned Alma. "Don't get caught alone with him. Especially not in a dark place. Although I heard his kisses are dreamy."

"He's walking me home after work," said Ariel, noticing the shocked expressions on their faces. "That's safe isn't it?"

"Stay on the sidewalk," said Irina. "Don't go into an alleyway with him."

They were interrupted by Mr. Grayson who looked sternly at all of them and they ate their meal in silence as he pulled his lunch out of the icebox and sat at another table with a newspaper. With a minute left to go in her lunch Mr. Grayson looked up from his newspaper and focussed his attention on Ariel so she stood up, straightening her clothing and went back to the shelving room where there were more carts of unsorted books waiting to be put into order. She bent herself to the task and by the time her shift was over she and Miss Warren had managed to shelve three quarters of the books. Picking up her jacket and purse Ariel stopped in the ladies room and was in the stall when she heard Irina and Alma come into the space.

"Can't believe he was in the Shakespeare section looking up The Tempest," said Alma. "Well, I hope she knows what she's letting herself in for."

"A good time?" giggled Irina. "Seriously, what does he see in her? Your hair is so much nicer than that nest she has. I wonder if he'll drag that creepy Steve out to walk her home. Can't stand that little runt."

They washed their hands and whispered something that made them each giggle then Ariel heard them leave. She wondered herself if Steve Rogers would show up on the walk home and was curious to see him in the flesh, knowing what would happen to him later. After flushing the toilet and washing her hands Ariel put her jacket on and walked to the front door of the Library. Bucky was waiting for her, leaning against a lamp post. Beside him was a smaller blonde man. He had to be the runt referred to in the ladies room.

"Ariel Black, meet my friend Steve Rogers," said Bucky. "He was walking by and I said he might as well walk with us."

"Hi Steve, nice to meet you," said Ariel, extending her hand.

He looked at Bucky who nodded encouragement and he shook her hand. "Ariel, nice to meet you, too," he said, then he coughed nervously. "You're Mr. Burnett's niece?"

"Yes, I am," she said. "I just arrived from Montana yesterday. Bucky carried my trunk up the stairs to the apartment. Such a gentleman."

Bucky threw a big smile at his friend and placed himself on the outside of the sidewalk, beside the traffic as Steve placed himself on the opposite side of Ariel as they started walking.

"What's Montana like?" asked Steve, cautiously.

"Lot's of prairie, open sky, mountains," she said. "Brutal winters. Hot summers."

"Not much open sky here," he replied. "I'd like to see Montana, someday."

"I'm sure you will," said Ariel, then she looked up at Bucky. "Two of my coworkers talked to me about you."

"Alma and Irina," he stated flatly. "They warned you off me, didn't they? I have a bit of a reputation but my intentions are always honourable."

Steve smirked and Ariel found it difficult not to smile. "I'm sure they all start out that way," she commented, then placed her hand in the crook of Bucky's left arm.

He lifted his left hand across his body in response then looked down at her and smiled putting his other hand on top of hers for a moment before returning it to his other side. She looked sideways at Steve who also seemed more relaxed.

"So, what do you two do when you're at loose ends?" she asked. "My uncle isn't within earshot so you can speak a little more candidly than yesterday."

Bucky laughed lightly and looked down at her again. "We do what I told you yesterday but I go to the jazz clubs a couple of times a month, or to a dance hall," he said. "Do you dance?"

"Not well, unfortunately," she said. "I'm not a fan of square dancing and that is common in rural Montana. I prefer slow dancing. I do like jazz. I could listen to Billie Holliday and Duke Ellington all night long. What about movies? What do you two fellas like?"

"Just about anything, except the real weepy ones," said Steve. "Adventure, detective, westerns, war movies. Bucky has a younger sister that we have to take with us every so often so we've seen Wizard of Oz, which was interesting, and Fantasia. It was alright."

"How many brothers and sisters do you both have?" she asked, already knowing the answer but playing her part.

"None," said Steve. "I'm an orphan. Bucky just has Rebecca. You?"

"None," she replied. "I'm an orphan as well. My Mother died of the Spanish flu when I was little and Dad died of a heart attack last year. Uncle Merton is my Mother's brother and when my job fell through in Missoula he said I was welcome to live here and help him in the antique store. Have you known my Uncle long?"

"Ever since he opened his store," said Bucky. "It was much smaller then but he always had odd jobs for both of us, cleaning the floors, polishing silverware, that sort of thing. He had some interesting books as well that he lent me, fiction and non-fiction." He stopped talking for a bit then cleared his throat. "Some people think he's queer as he never seems to date but he's never come on to either of us. If he is it's none of our business."

"To be honest, my Dad always thought there was something queer about him but he's always been kind to me and that's what's important right?" stated Ariel. "Besides, I've heard stories about cowboys out on the range with their herds that would make your hair curl."

Bucky laughed out loud and shook his head. "You are an interesting woman," he said. "You looked so prim and proper in the Library but I'm guessing you know a lot of things that a young lady of your age shouldn't."

Ariel didn't give him an answer on that one as she realized she almost let slip more than she should have for the depth of their acquaintance. She was unaware that Merton had provided books to Barnes but it made sense that he would encourage the self education that the man was known for, although it bordered on interference in the timeline. Later, once she shut her recording devices down she would bring it up. The three of them continued walking and she noticed both men seemed to be watching out for her. They passed a construction site and Bucky waved at a couple of the men. On the way to the Library in the morning she received her first catcalls from this very site. She could understand why women of the time would cross the street under such onslaughts of sexually suggestive comments. Now that Bucky was with her there were none and she glanced at him, noticing the intensity of his gaze at the work site.

"Interesting," she thought. "He obviously has enough influence to stop the comments when we're together. I wonder if I'll get any now that they've seen me with him."

"That's strange," she said out loud. "I received all sorts of comments this morning on my way past here. Now, nothing."

"They won't, not while I'm with you," stated Bucky. "I'm sorry for the wolf whistle I gave you yesterday. That's usually the most I'll do when I see a pretty lady. These guys go too far sometimes, and they know it."

She stopped walking. "You don't get into fights over that do you?" she asked innocently.

His face flushed and he looked away. Ariel looked over at Steve who had a bit of a grin on his face.

"He's usually intervening when I get into a fight," he said. "I don't know when to stay down and keep my mouth shut sometimes. He's come to my rescue a few times. Bucky's a very good boxer, three years YMCA welterweight champion."

"Really?" she asked, squeezing Bucky's arm. "Were you good enough to turn professional?"

"I am good enough but it's not the most clean sport," he replied. "The mob has their fingers in it and they would likely want me to take dives against their preferred fighter. I'm too honest for that so I just box for the fun of it now."

They approached a pet store with several puppies and kittens in the window. Ariel pulled her hand away from Bucky's arm and stood in front of the window, trailing her finger along the surface of the glass as the young animals jumped up against the barrier.

"My goodness, they're so cute," she said, noticing Bucky standing close to her again with his hand lightly on her back. "I should ask Uncle Merton if he minds if I have a pet. I had a dog in Missoula but I left him with a friend as he was used to being outside all day. I didn't think it was fair to keep him cooped up in an apartment in the city."

"What kind of dog?" asked Steve.

"A mutt," she said. "He was big and had wiry fur. His name was Walter." She blinked her eyes and willed some tears to her eyes as she turned away from the window. "Sorry, I'm missing him right now."

Both men took a handkerchief out of their pockets and she smiled sadly at them both, then took hers out of her purse, deciding not to favour one of them over the other. After she put her handkerchief back inside her purse she placed her hand on Bucky's arm again and looked up at him. A kind smile was on his face and he squeezed her hand lightly with his other. She noticed that Steve had the same kind smile and she wondered if they were that attuned to each other that the younger man wouldn't even try to compete but let Bucky be the dominant male. Impulsively she reached out with her left hand and placed it in the crook of Steve's right arm. Immediately he looked to Bucky who smiled with encouragement. Steve bent his arm to accommodate her touch and they walked together as a threesome until they delivered her safely to the antique store. They stood outside the store then Steve said he was going in to talk to Ariel's uncle. Bucky stood out on the sidewalk with Ariel, towering over her.

"That was a nice thing you did for Steve, taking his arm like that," he said. "Not many girls care for him."

"He's nice," she said. "A gentleman, like you."

"What's your work schedule like?" he asked. She told him and he nodded. "I'll stop by on my lunch break and see you here tomorrow."

He pulled her away from the window and opened the door to the stairwell, pulling her inside, then closing the door so they were blocked from view. As Ariel leaned back against the wall he leaned over her, his right hand resting on the wall above her shoulder..

"You know I like you," he said in a low voice that surprised her with its physical effect on her. The man had a definite presence. "How are you getting home after work tomorrow night?"

"Uncle Merton is picking me up in the van," she said.

He nodded as if he understood. Gently he took a section of her hair between his fingers and played with it as he gazed at her with those intense blue eyes. Lowering his lips to hers he kissed her softly, with the barest touch of his tongue on hers. She could taste cigarette tobacco but on him it seemed natural, part of him, like the clean smell of soap on his body. Her fingertips grazed his chest lightly and she felt him smile during this chaste kiss. Then he stood up to his full height.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said quietly and opened the door to the street, leaving her leaning against the wall.

Steve was waiting on the sidewalk and smiled at her. Stepping out she watched the two men leave, noticing Bucky looked back at her several times before they were out of sight. Then she walked into the store where Merton was closing up. He was grinning.

"Well, that was interesting," he said. "You might get a pet tomorrow, a kitten. Steve did the asking but I'm guessing Bucky will buy it."

"He kissed me in the stairwell," she said. "It was very nice and respectful. I'm guessing it will escalate. Steve just stepped away and let him make the first move although Bucky didn't show any jealousy when I took Steve's arm. Interesting dynamic between them. They both know you're gay, by the way. Figured it out early but said since you didn't come on to them they thought you were alright. How do you manage that in these times?"

"I go on buying trips every so often," he replied. "I have acquaintances and we keep it low key. I never bring anyone home here. That would be asking for trouble."

"Bucky said you gave him books to read," she asked. "Wasn't that pushing the boundaries a little?"

"Not at all," he said. "I had them on display and he indicated he wanted to read them so I lent them to him. He is a voracious reader and is surprisingly well educated."

"Bucky came to see me at the Library," admitted Ariel. "Quoted a line from The Tempest. That surprised me."

"Expect more of those," he said. "That's why I didn't want to say anything to you before. Both men are surprising in many ways. I expect Steve will draw a portrait of you. He is a talented artist, went to art school for a year and I believe both men will consider going to art school again next year, with Bucky taking technical drawing."

She helped Merton count out the day's sales and set up the cash float for the following day, locking the cash drawer and the proceeds in a safe under the counter. Then they both turned off the lights and Merton pulled over an expanding steel gate from each side of the store front over the windows and door, locking them into place. He allowed her into the stairwell first and they went up the stairs together. Over dinner she discussed her first day of work in a Carnegie library and they spent another hour discussing sex roles in the early 20th century. By the time Ariel got into bed she was filled with anticipation for the possibility of a pet being gifted to her. She was also anticipating the next kiss. As Alma mentioned, Bucky's kisses were dreamy.

Chapter 3>>

Series Masterlist

A reblog or comment would be appreciated.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi!

I'm writing a slow burn, and I need more exposition scenes but... The characters han out in secre, and they're always on their workplace.

How can I make more scenes between them without being repetitive or boring?

Thanks for the help! Love your blog

Variation in Workplace Slow Burn

First, exposition isn't a type of scene... it's one of the things that happens in a scene, along with action and dialogue. Every scene should be a relative balance of exposition (explaining things), action (things happening), and dialogue (characters talking.) It sounds like what you're missing is actual content to create scenes.

Luckily, even if the bulk of your scenes take place in the same setting/situation (such as a workplace), with a little creative-thinking you can find varying conflict around which to frame these interactions so they don't feel repetitive or boring.

A great example of this would be Jim and Pam in the American version of the TV show The Office. The bulk of their scenes together took place at the office, but their interactions weren't repetitive because there were always different things going on that presented different conflicts around which their interactions could play out. For example, in one of my favorite adorable Jim and Pam moments, they're sitting in a meeting where their boss is rambling on about something, and Pam... getting sleepy... leans her head on Jim's shoulder and closes her eyes, and Jim appears surprised at first, but then he smiles the most contented, blissful smile. Other sweet moments played out during office parties, employee engagement activities (team sports, team building exercises, social events (employee birthday parties, annual holiday parties, etc.)

Other options, depending on the workplace, would include things like: staying late to do inventory, workplace projects, mentoring, workshops and training, casual conversations, industry-related conferences or conventions, team building retreats, volunteer days (employees volunteer for a local charity), fundraisers, etc.

Start by thinking about your characters' workplace and the jobs that they do. What are the different tasks that they would do individually on a daily basis? Would there be any point where they interacted during those tasks? Are there any tasks they would do together? What are some spots around the workplace where they might frequently interact? What are some things one might ask the other for help with? What about after hours workplace activities that might be a little more laid back? Would there be any reason for them to stay after hours to do extra work, like taking inventory or cleaning? What types of employee engagement activities might this workplace be involved in? Can you think of any conflicts that might arise in any of these situations? For example, what's something interesting that could happen when they're staying late one night to do inventory? Maybe they leave to go get dinner and end up with a flat tire and have to walk back to the workplace. Or, maybe they accidentally get locked in the back room and have to wait for someone to come get them out. Or, maybe the boss arranges a team building hike on a day that the workplace is closed, and the two of them fall behind and get lost. Or, maybe the boss hosts a Christmas party one night after hours, and there's some sort of misunderstanding between the two characters, but they end up on the roof together, apologizing to each other and stargazing hand in hand. There are lots of possibilities when you put your mind to it! :)

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[mermaidsirennikita]

how would you rank the meg ryan romcoms

Going off what I've seen

When Harry Met Sally. Cliche, but true. It's weird, because I'm generally not a big fan of Billy Crystal's style of comedy, but he and Meg have perfect chemistry in this. She's absolutely FUCKING STUNNING in this film, which adds to the aesthetic. There's a great secondary romance involving the late, great Carrie Fisher. The script is impeccable. It uses the backdrop incredibly well. And it's a perfect example of how to do friends to lovers, which is a) make the friendship absolutely believable b) make the romantic feelings more about mutual denial than pining c) have it absolutely ruined by an impetuous hookup. One of the few movies that feels like a romance novel. The big final speech is great, but you know what's better? The "FUCK YOU" slap when they're fighting at their BEST FRIENDS' WEDDING!!!! BECAUSE THEY CAN'T TALK ABOUT THEIR POST-SEX DAMAGE!!!!!!!!!! And then they stumble out into the reception and everything feels completely destroyed.

Anastasia. Does it count? Not really. Was it formative for me? Yes. Do I think Anya and Dimitri have one of the best romantic plots committed to screen? Yes! And so they get this spot. PRINCESSES DON'T MARRY KITCHEN BOYS.

French Kiss. An underrated banger that still doesn't seem to be streaming anywhere, which is upsetting!! Lost media!!!! It used to run on TV all the time pre-streaming. Has an absolutely apeshit plot in which Meg Ryan is a afraid of flying and her fiance goes to France for work and leaves her for a French woman, so she stalks him overseas, but on the flight she meets French thief Kevin Kline (idk) and he very stereotypically soothes her through her fear, and then there's this whole thing with like, missing jewels, and at one point she screams "LACTOSE INTOLERAAAAANCEEEE" on a train, and Kevin Kline can't get it up or the beautiful French woman because he's fallen for Meg, and it's just. A fucking insane movie. And I love it.

Sleepless in Seattle. Yes, I would rank this below French Kiss for purely sentimental reasons, and also because, while I think this is a great movie (probs a better movie than French Kiss) that actually nails the romantic feelings despite them only meeting at the end... I still would've liked for them to meet earlier lol. Just from a purely indulgent perspective. Don't get me wrong, it's a VERY romantic ending. I just see the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan chemistry and would've liekd more.

Kate and Leopold. I think this movie is a bit overrated, and I don't know that Hugh and Meg have chemistry I belieeeeve as much as I believe it with her other onscreen partners. But. The pot is zany and fun. Liev Schreiber is fucking hilarious to me in it. Rich, CREAMERY BUTTER.

You've Got Mail. Again, not a bad movie, but I just really struggle with the happy ending for these two. I don't think I'd be able to forgive him for his part in ruining my cozy bookshop dreams.

Shoutout to Top Gun for her incredible delivery of "GOOSE. YA BIG STUD. TAKE ME TO BED OR LEAVE ME FOREVER."

[writing-frenzy]

Beautiful Disaster AU- 2:

:P so the gremlins for this AU won't let go it seems; fitting as I eat noodles I get the author man himself, along with his favorite hater.

:3

Edit: I almost forgor to put a link for part one

Here is another poem/quote thing :3

I'm beautifully broken,

perfectly imperfect,

beautiful in my flaws.

All together I am a Beautiful Disaster.

By Unknown

Again, this fits both SQH and SJ so much :3 This will be set kinda after the Moshang extras, just without the ship happening so far (because rebuilding trust and care, and loyalty takes time, Mobei being patient enough because SQH is worth it, with SQH learning he is indeed worth it, more than worthy.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite what most think of the An Ding Peak Lord, the glorified immortal secretary/janitor of the Cang Qiong Mountains never misses any time. He has more months, years plotted way in advance then anyone would dream, dates and times printed into his mind with an ever ticking constantly echoing his steps. He plans weeks ahead of anything he can afford to, considering people and patterns he has noticed, procuring orders before they were ever thought to be sent, knowing his martial siblings won't noticed the needed thing until it is too late.

But even he is not all knowing, author god he may be, so when things run out faster than he expected (Ah, embezzlement or incompetence, take your pick of what it could be! Maybe even both, it could be one of those days.) He takes days at a time to get these 'urgent' orders filled, replaced, fixed, or cared for to the best of his ability.

And he can assure you, that you will find no better than him when it comes to time and logistics; he has it down to the minutes it takes him to eat a bowl of noodles, to the seconds it takes to wipe the blood from his hands from yet another sad little assassination.

His days, like any An Ding Disciple, are numbered and ruled by the water, sand, and hands of a clock.

(Needless to say, Airplane sometimes thanks himself for his lazy writing, for example; that regular clocks do exist here, even if they are usually only for the holier-than-thou nobles/too rich to ever think types. It had been one of the first ever things he bought with his hefty Peak Lord allowance, and one of the few expenses he never regrets.)

No, Shang Qinghua never misses any time; he just chooses to skip inconveniences so that he could be spending his valuable time on things that actually do need his attention.

Of course, not like he'll ever let anyone know the difference.

"Liu-Shidi, there shouldn't be any meeting today? I'm pretty sure the next Peak Lord Meeting is when Peak Lord Shen comes to his Peak Next week?" Shang Qinghua whines, feeling the drag on his pale blue An Ding robes as the Ban Zhan War God drags him to the meeting that was in fact today, but knowing his transmigrator bro, will usually put off to next week because Yue Qingyuan is a fucking pushover.

(The man literally let Shang Qinghua back; sure yeah, probably until he at least trains a successor, but the pale blue robed Peak Lord would bet money it was partly because his head disciple terrifies all the other Peak Lords. Not that he can blame them, seeing as Bai Weizhe has finally forgiven him for leaving him behind; the young man's talent and temper is a legendary thing to witness, almost seems a shame he's wasting away at An Ding.)

"There's been a development; Mount Tonglu has settled." was the grim reply Liu Qingge gave, voice tense as his body was, never letting up his grip on his clothes, getting firmer in fact, as if ready for a runner.

"... oh... oh.. OH FUCK!" Shang Qinghua lets himself curse in English, digging through his sleeves for a paper-ah, the good talisman paper, good, good, and his lucky specialized pen he had made just so he could write everywhere, "We're gonna have to hold a conference with the other sects, aren't we? We'll-fuck, have to prepare relief efforts for the common folk, patrols will have to be bolstered and increased-Damnit! We'll have to get offerings ready for the Heavenly Officials just in case..." mumbling to himself, he sends his hastily written note to his Head Disciple as a paper plane, still muttering to himself as Liu Qingge continues to drag him forward to the meeting room, only dropping him once they get inside, knocking him from his stressed filled muttering.

Just to see all Peak Lords are in attendance, with a bonus Luo Binghe even right next to Cucumber bro all grim faced.

AH! Why is there so much work?! Mountain, why now of all times and places do you have to settle? Couldn't have done until Shang Qinghua died or somehow fucking ascended? But Shang Qinghua says nothing, just letting out a pathetic whimper to the disgust of a few of his fellow Peak Lords, though a few do give a sympathetic glance.

Heck, Fan Qingxue of the Alchemy Peak Shoushan and Yao Qingli of the farmers peak Dong Ye look like they want to join him in it; Ah yeah, those two ladies were the ones deathly afraid of ghosts. Since they've always been pretty cool and the ones who gave him the least shit to worry about besides Mu Qingfang, Shang Qinghua thinks he can spare some of his good calming teas and drinks...

Or they can just go straight for Zui Xian's harder spirits (ha).

"As I'm sure everyone knows why we are here, let us get down to business." After Zhangmen-shixiong cuts through his usual bullshit with that simple opening(surprise, surprise), the immortal carries on, "After all these centuries, Mount Tonglu settling bodes ill omens, with it's last settling the precursor to a plague and famine that almost wiped the mortal plane from existence." with those grim words spoken, the atmosphere gets chilling.

"If I recall Zhangmen-Shixiong, it took thousands of desperate prayers and many more offerings before the Heavens answered the call of the people, putting down the cause of it all; a Ghostly Calamity." Yi Qingyao, Peak Lord of the beast taming peak Yanlin, says as her pale, scarred hands reaching up to sooth the twittering little bird on her shoulder. "Will we have to once more rely on their power?" Will they answer us goes unsaid in her words.

While the Heavenly Officials have been quiet for a long time, it is obvious that they are still there, what with prayers still being answered and merits still being met; just more undercover, detective style really. At least, that's how Airplane had wrote it out in PIDW; had to get a few goddesses in the harem some way after all, and having the Heavens be like secret agents in his mind had been funny at the time.

(Though it does put into a new perspective the harem overthrow and everything; hmmm, feels like he should do another house cleaning around now, just in case...)

"As nothing has happened so far, it wouldn't due to try and summon those from higher plane when we don't even know what we will be up against; with no intel about the threat, we don't know if we will need a Martial or Spiritual God." Liu Qingge states, the war strategist coming out in full swing. "It would just be a waste of resources and manpower to offer without any knowledge, especially since we do not know how long the Calamity has had time to settle into their power."

"What do you mean time to settle?!" Fan Qingxue asks, alarm coloring her face even paler than before, hands clenched into her handkerchief; like this, she really does look like a dainty little princess, all big eyes and perfect brown hair, no one would think she would be a treasure hunter the like of Indiana Jones.

"From what is known, Mount Tonglu can be open for years, centuries at a time before the gates of the City of Gu Close, the true regulators of the mountain; it never settles, only until years after a Calamity is reborn does it finally rest, all its energy spent on the new, cruel rebirth." Sun Qingfu, Peak Lord of Ku Xing, answers her with a frown, his regular smile lines stressed from it as he does. "If I may ask, does anyone know just when the Gu City gates last opened?"

By the quiet that happens, the grim face of those who do know, it is not going to be an answer they like.

"... From what was found, it was almost eight years ago." was spoken ever so softly, Shang Qinghua feeling his own eyes widen as his mind does the math;

Almost eight years ago? When Cucumber-bro...

Here, the Ban Zhan War God seems to twitch, jaw clenching for a minute before it smooths away, all emotion erased as he turns to the resident Demon Lord.

Ah, while Shang Qinghua has an idea of just why Luo Binghe is here, sitting at the table with no one bothering to comment on it; considering the Demon Emperor's vast influence, and still in control over a certain, foretelling/divination talented sect, he inwardly pleads with his Shidi, hoping it will get through.

Please do not get into a fight here with the protagonist son! (May his Protag also not start anything please!)

"Has Huan Hua Palace managed to gleam any information about the upcoming Ghostly Calamity at all." Liu Qingge asks Luo Binghe, Acting Grand Disciple of Hua Hua Palace still, even being a Demon Lord as he is. (Though, his son is more of a figurehead then anything, what with Huan Hua needing all the help they can get, at least until they restore their reputation just enough to 'promote' another.)

"... From what the Divinators have said, not much has been managed to be gathered, something seemingly blocking their sights and tools." Luo Binghe says, before looking to the sect leader, a question seemingly in his eye, to which he gets a short nod.

"It seems that both Huan Hua Palace and our own Divination Division have been trying to qualify the Calamity coming to little ends; very few details have been gathered, but I'm sure you have received details of the same city?"

That gets a stark frown on his Protagonist's face, dark eyes flashing a gloomy red before he says those damming words. "Jinlan City."

Eight Years.

Jinlan City.

... Oh Fuck his life with a rusty spoon; this is not the fucking time for a god dammed plague/famine thing!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You two bit, sell-out hack of an author! How in the fuck could you leave out such important world building! Just for fucking sex plots!" is ranted when they're alone in the bamboo house on Qing Jing Peak, Luo Binghe being in high demand to work with the other sects as the current head of the golden cultivators. Damn, but is Shang Qinghua glad that's not his problem anymore, even if he feels a bit sorry for the Hua disciples he revived just to take over his paperwork duties.

(What, it's not like he could have used that plot device for himself, considering that the Sweet Dream Seven Petal Rose could only be used on righteous, young souls, both of which he is not. Gongyi Xiao and his little bunch are doing great last he checked, even if they now have a newfound hunger for spiritually dense rocks and plants; still a surprise to have that many good nuggets in such a gilded, slimy place like Huan Hua.)

"Hmmm, more focused on what could get me my rent money at the time, you know, like an adult." Shang Qinghua sasses back, looking over all the reports constantly being sent to him, signing something there, double checking there, burning that paper here. "And considering how Calamities need actual, real deal gods to handle their fucking business, I made the executive decision to just not include them into the story."

"Binghe wouldn't lose!"

"..."

"... No, he wouldn't! He the- He's your protagonist..." here Shang Qinghua looks over to his bro, being hit once more just how young the other actually is, green eyes wide as they take him in.

"Calamities were not named lightly bro; they earn that title through pain, agony, and a resentment that refuses to ever fucking die." Here, Airplane comes into full swing, rambles of a favored topic only an author can understand dumping out, "It was one of my favorite things to plot out in my original draft, I did so much research and writing for what I was going to have as a neutral recurring character for an arc or two here or there, someone who could make the Luo Binghe bow in respect. Calamities were a part of the whole for the reason pure blooded Heavenly Demons were wiped out." he explains, only for Shen Qingqiu to interrupt.

"Because very few Demons or Spiritual Creatures can affect ghosts, so that the protagonist could show off fancy cultivation tricks with his companions or wives." his green clad bro finishes, a death grip on his fan.

"Yeah, had to justify at times why my protag would bother leveling his human side, considering how op his demonic blood was. I figured ghost would be an even playground, while not effecting demons much, couldn't actually be effected that much in turn." Shang Qinghua shrugs, wincing at the pops and cracks as he does, before going right back to his paperwork; he really should have went back to his peak, he really would get more done, but with his favorite hater's memory, it would be worth the cutting into his time if it could jog his own memory of his story.

From what he wrote in Proud Immortal Demon Way, Mount Tonglu was only in one arc of his story, his son having to find the ghost of one of his favored wives to revive her, who ended up being sucked up into the mountain. Luo Binghe had to struggle hard, getting the aid of a sexy Ghostly Cultivator and a Demonic one to help him along the path to find the ghost of his wife. It was a race against time and enemies, ghosts who would rip anyone to shreds, and to ensure his ghostly wife wouldn't gather too much energy from the place so that she couldn't leave.

Thanks to his Sexy helpers, plot amor, and general bullshit plot devices, Luo Binghe saves his dear wife's ghost, revives her, and has some sexy papapa times with all three ladies from the adventure. (Though the two don't actually end up wifed to Luo Binghe from what he remembers.) But despite all the bullshit, Airplane remembers at the time he only wrote the group going as far as the second level, just in the mountain proper, and sure as hell nowhere near the really important parts; the ancient city of Wukong, and the Kiln that attracted all the ghosts in the first place. Otherwise, he would have had to write a fight scene that Luo Binghe could not win.

And couldn't pay his bills; so thus, Mount Tonglu and all its possibilities got shafted, just another plot thread left dangling among the many others he had in the wind, taunting his readers as it were.

One that gives context, but no longer any help with their situation.

After that bit of thoughtful silence, Cucumber bro begins to say something, only for a knock at the door to interrupt them.

"Shizun, apologies for interruption, but the Head Disciple from An Ding Peak is here." that sweet voice can only be from one of his sweetest characters, one Ning Yingying.

"Ah, you can just come on in Bai Weizhe, I don't think-ah!" Shang Qinghua calls, before sputtering as his bro proceeds to spit take all over him, "Gross, seriously gross bro."

All that gets is the stunned, incredulous gaze from his friend, before his rather stunning Head Disciple comes in, looking like he should be the Peak Lord honestly. Really, he makes the light blue and grey of the HD Uniform look like the highest fashion, with those highly noble features and crystal grey eyes. The young man is just missing a crown in that silky black hair, and bam, he'd look the part.

Well, then he'll get that look in those usually gentle eyes and then he'll look more like he should be the Ban Zhan or Qing Jing Peak Lord; just like now, a storm brewing clouds as he takes in the two Peak Lords before him, darkening as they look to his dripping Shizun.

"This disciple hopes he was not interrupting anything? There is unfortunately much work for Shizun to do, and so little time to do it." His disciple says, face perfectly bland even as he ignores any of the custom greetings one should do before their elders, especially those way above in seniority. Raising an eyebrow at his disciple, as while Shang Qinghua could let him get away with murder, decorum and manners are not something his disciples skip on, a tool he has trained them to practically weaponize.

But Bai Weizhe merely smiles like sugar won't melt in his mouth, completely transforming that handsome face into a truly devastating attack, his raging eyes the only give away. Hearing Cucumber bro choke beside him, Shang Qinghua makes to stand up, sighing once more.

"Ah well, just another storm to weather through, maybe if I'm lucky I can just hide away on my Peak or the Northern- I'm not lucky am I?" Shang starts hopefully, only to see the darkening of his disciple's eyes.

"...When the Divinatiors were divining into the future, they managed to find out one more thing." Here Weizhe's eyes flicker, looking down for a minute before back to him, the only sign he gives off he is worried, "When looking to see who would go to investigate, Long-Shigu only kept getting omens of death, no matter who was drawn from the lots..." Here, his disciple takes a deep breath, Shang Qinghua himself now worried for his student, putting a hand on their shoulder to ground them, calm them however he could (along with himself).

"It's only when Shizun's name was drawn to go that the omens lightened at all."

... Fuck, if Long Qingyu, the Zui Xian Peak Lord, the best Divination Master this side of the Jianghu that wasn't part of Huan Hua said so, then it was so...

Damn it to planes and noddles, but he's already missing his bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I look at you, and I just love you, and it terrifies me. It terrifies me what I would do for you."

By Alexandra Bracken

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shen Yuan can fully admit, if only to himself, that he might just be, slightly, just ever so slightly, terrified.

Of course, he'll admit this too no one; despite how OOC the System has let him become, how it stays in 'standby mode', some habits have just become too ingrained at this point to change, forged as they were into his shield. It has been both a boon and a bane as it were in his day to day, keeping him together through most storms in his life, even if it's left him sopping wet afterwards.

But in the end, at least he still has someone to warm him up, a calm within that storm to rest his weary body for a time... Even if they truly aren't an actual escape from said storm.

"Shizun, is there anything you need? Anything I can do?" His Binghe fusses, those clear dark eyes of his not able to hide the tightening worry scrunching them, face still beautiful even as full of negativity as it is.

"Just be as ready as possible; we do not know what to expect, with assumptions being a foe that could blind us when we least expect them." Shen Qingqiu speaks, truly trying not to think about it, about just what kind of situation they are about to be walking into, the ruins of Jinlan City just a bit before them damningly, the Base Camp the Cultivation Sects pulled together to create rest less then a mile away in the distance.

'Oh, but how hard it is to not make any...' the transmigrator can't help but think, grimacing behind his fan as he can just notice the stares from others around them, some judgmental, other pitying, but all still obviously looking at them.

After all, eight years ago was the day he first 'died' in this world. Combined with the issues with the Sowers, then the resulting destruction of said city... it didn't paint the best of pictures.

As expected of a protagonist; even after the 'happy ever after', there was still no rest from possible story lines. (Shen Yuan honestly at times was just... tired of them. Didn't he and Binghe, especially his Binghe, deserve a rest?...

He'd rather be caught in a wife plot even at this point.)

"... A-Yuan?" was whispered rather lowly, right into his ear and behind his fan, so no one with advanced cultivation could hear or see what he was saying, "Is this some sort of... event?" His disciple asked, making his Shizun pause in his fanning for a moment, before returning, not even so much of a twitch on his face.

"...That has not made any signs of movement beyond what it has told me and your Shang-Shishu." Shen Yuan answers carefully, ignoring the brief twitch of disgust on his husband's face at the mention of the other man, "It has been quiet since a year ago." At least, from what Shang Qinghua has told him about his months long misadventure.

"... I see." there, just slightly, is a bit of relief in Luo Binghe's face, Shen Qingqiu unable to stop his own weary smile at the sight.

Despite everything, despite how he will never, ever tell his fellow transmigrator, he is grateful the man convinced him to tell Binghe as much as he could about their transmigration.

Even if it felt like a kick in the teeth at the time.

("... Bro." Shang Qinghua has a look in his eyes that makes Shen Yuan freeze, fully reminded, in that moment, in that time, that for all his fellow transmigrator plays around and whines, the man has earned his Peak Lord title, and all that it entails. "You know the tropes, the clinches, the story; what part of keeping all those secrets to yourself seems like a good idea?"

Here he couldn't help but bristle, "And in what story do you see a character actually talk about being from another world, hmm? What can I even say?!" He stops himself from going to hit the other with his fan, the urge stifled as he sees those brown eyes darken as they narrow.

"I've found that as long as I kept it vague, I can get the general idea of what happened across. I've experimented with My King and my Head Disciple, and the only time I was stopped was when I was about to mention the System directly. Otherwise I was good to go..." here the older man pauses, before he sighs even as Shen Yuan gaps, honestly stunned the other man actually tried something like that.

"Look, Shen Yuan, do you want your relationship with Binghe to work out?"

"!! Of course!"

"Then tell him; tell him before it is too late and you really become a foil for Yue Qi and his Shen Jiu." here, hearing his name and the mention of those two, Shen Yuan cannot help but pale, seeming to stop and stare at the bitter author god before him.

"Wha-"

"... Cucumber-bro, for all you remember about my stallion protagonist webnovel, you seem to always forget it's a tradegy at its core..." here the other man just looks so tired, staring into his teacup instead of directing those all too knowing earth colored eyes to him.

"And the promis of love was always meant to be Binghe's greatest weakness.")

"Ah, greeting from this Disciple to Shen-Shishu, Lord Luo." was greeted, Shen Qingqiu nearly jumping if he hadn't already noticed his husband was looking over, even if he did look stiffly over to the voice.

One Bai Weizhe stood there before them, not a hair out of place, his face neutral, calm and as if he probably wasn't plotting how to slit your throat in your sleep. Like he isn't secretly some powerhouse that could probably go toe-toe with Yue Qingyuan and even toy with the man if he felt like it.

"Ah, good day Bai-Shizhi, has everything been completed and set up?" Shen Qingqiu asks, fanning himself lightly, doing his best to pretend that this is just a regular disciple, that their is nothing wrong with them, that he is just a wrong word from breaking out into a cold sweat.

"Yes, this disciple was sent to gather all the participating Peak Lords coming from Cang Qiong Mountains; all preparations have been made, Long-Shigu and Huan Hua Palace saying soon will be the best time to enter the city. I'm sure that these Lords can find the way their themselves?" Shen Qingqiu nearly frowns at this subtle though pointed disrespect, having to gently tap his fan on his husband's shoulder before he can say anything.

"These Lords are capable of it, though it would do Shizhi well to remember their manners; I'm sure your Shifu has taught you better than that?" The Peak Lord comments, knowing if he doesn't say something, then Binghe will-

And while that face is still as calm as before, those eyes giving nothing away, there is something about that pause that says Shen Qingqiu has said the wrong thing.

"This disciple will keep it in mind, Shen-Shishu. Please pardon me, I must go and find the other Peak Lords joining the scouting force." With that, and a shallow boy just respectful enough, the young man hurries along, the pale blue and grey of his robes fluttering in the wind as he goes.

Outwardly, the Qing Jing Peak Lord seems as calm as can be, soothing his fussy husband as they walk over to the main tend of the Camp, not even flustered a bit by the altercation.

Inside on the other hand, Peerless Cucumber is just 'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Airplane of all villains you picked up, why him!? Why him as your HD?!'

Now, while Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky had made plenty of low IQ and forgettable villains in the story, it just meant that when he actually pulled out the good ones, he made them unforgettable. From the beloved 'Big Brother' Pan Shan, a villain only in protection of his family, to the literal 'Calamitous Beauty' Tan Xifeng, a woman so proud and strong she rather turn to ashes forever then be trapped in the Harem, Bai Weizhe was just as up there, the calm 'True Mastermind' in the name of revenge in PIDW.

In the set up, The Bai Family is a very high ranking Cultivation Family, just as high if not more so than the Liu family, said to be descended from heavenly beings, granted power and weapons of that level because of it. But over the years, with less and less powerful Cultivators coming from the family, the Bai Family head got desperate, making his son marry multiple women to try and birth a hopefully powerful heir. And seeing how much of a playboy the man was, with plenty of bastards beforehand, it wasn't too hard for the man to put out it seem. Of his many spawn, two ended up as wives to Bingge and of course a few becoming villains for the arc.

But Bai Weizhe, when first introduced, it shows one of his half-sisters, a future wife, trying to defend him from another of their siblings who were attempting to torture him. All throughout the arc's mystery, one learns more of the future wives alongside this weak bastard son of a maid and the Family Head's son, learning they were little more than a slave to the Family Head and his Son's whims.

Bai Weizhe had seemed like a helpful, if slightly talented npc, being more of an awkward emotional support then any seeming threat, even if things seemed ever so slightly off about him, most of which could probably be excused by just how abused he had been. In fact, many thought the man would become a little brother character, Binghe taking in the poor bastard son as a future assistant or something because of how intelligent he was (with rotten girls going even farther and saying he would become part of the harem.)

But when the plot twist was revealed, with it turning out the murders and almost complete alienation of the Bai Family was all his doing, daringly using the protagonist to do his dirty work for him... it had been as shocking as it was satisfying to the readers, some actually rereading the entire arc with eyes wide open to take in all those little clues and cues to the real monster hiding behind the mask.

But of course, Luo Binghe being Luo Binghe in Proud Immortal Demon Way, Th Bai Bastard meets his end and Bingge gets the Bai Family twins and some family treasure as a bonus... (Though, from debates and such, it actually has been argued that his death may have either been faked or the man had a back up prepared.

Knowing PIDW and all it's bullshit plot devices... he can see it, especially after meeting him.)

But coming to the tent, Shen Qingqiu pushes all thoughts aside, face grim as he looks over his fellow gathered Peak Lords.

Yue Qingyuan. Shang Qinghua. Mu Qingfang. Liu Qingge. Qi Qingqi. Himself and his husband.

"Both the best and worst team to send." Long Qingyu's bitter words spoken broke through the tents atmosphere, making everyone tense as she did. The Zui Xian Peak Lord took a gulp from her bottle, truly stressed if she was drinking in front of them, "I cannot say much, or do anything else but offer this one last advice; make sure you actually listen." she stresses, golden hair slipping from her messily made bun as she pushes it back even as she takes another swing of her drink, mismatched brown and green eyes closed as she does.

"Listen to what?" Liu Qingge asks, eyeing the woman as she finishes her drink with a mournful look.

"Just as I said; listen. Do not assume, do not judge, do think before you damn well speak-" Here she stops herself, teeth gritted as she breaths through them, before opening her eyes once more, "I can say no more, not unless I want the omens to darken even further. Just get ready to go." with that, the woman is gone as fast as she came in, closing the tent behind her with a loud snap.

Staring at everyone, meeting eyes with a few before looking to his Binghe, Shen Qingqiu starts to prepare himself, checking just in case for anything that could have been missed.

Come what may, he and the others will be as ready as they can be, going against the Calamity as they are.

It'll have to be enough.

(Oh, but they will never be ready, unknowing of the poisonous green eyes watching, waiting for them all this time.

They've waited long enough.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's note:

And here we have our favorite disaster bi's, Airplane and Cucumber-bro! Man, both are great characters, my bias being Airplane, but Shen Yuan is also such an interesting character to delve into, being one of the favs I both want to hug and just smack over the head :>

The second quote I found I feel can really seem to resonate with Shen Yuan, when our boy stops repressing and actually lets himself feel.

Also, while I like BingQiu... boi, does that relationship have issues, ones I really hope they did indeed talk through when they could (They have a fuck ton of time to do so, so here I had Airplane help and kick them into gear; nothing like be reminded of tropes and the fact that your hubby is a fucking Tragedy Protag. :> )

Anyways~

Airplane: *Revives a bunch of disciples because he does not want to deal with the paperwork* ... why are you looking at me like that, stop that, go back to your sect.

So many OCs this chapter, I'll just do a spot light for one because then this chapter will just be author's note. (not too mention how he kept worming his way everywhere, just smiling at me as he did.)

Bai Weizhe: Means Outgoing, great sage because I like it; little fun fact, how I have my OC Bai Weizhe: he was actually a high IQ Villain in PIDW, (think if Lan Zhan and Jin Guangyao had a baby, he'd be that baby :3 ) the bastard son of a great cultivation family where Luo Binghe was doing the 'acting like a pig to get the tiger' sort of deal. He was actually a genuine, hidden boss level threat for at least one-two arcs before he had to get fridged for papapa plot (tho.. more like a faked death, Airplane always had a soft spot for his villains after all :3). In fact, it was mentioned in Villainous monologue that he had went to join CQM sect, but due to sabotage by his family, never got the chance in PIDW.

In SVSSS, Airplane was still in the process of working on his 'applying by application' process to An Ding (because I love this headcannon, it gives me fucking life, I am still mad for losing the bookmark to the story that inspired it.) so he still picked disciples by the digging test for a while. He sees this one poor little guy digging despite looking like he's gonna pass out any minute, powering through it with sheer determination and spite, the other Peaks Lords and Disciples already dismissing them, thinking he has low cultivation/poor prospect.

Shang Qinghua though doesn't care about all that; he very much wants that determination (and spite, gotta respect it) He can use all he can get! *After the kid cleans up and gets the drugs out of his system, Shang Qinghua blinks, double takes* WTF when did I have a talent on my peak??

Bai Weizhe: *Smiles like butter won't melt in his mouth* I've always been here Shizun.

(Does Airplane remember him? lol nope, but Shen Yuan sure does :D)

Also, none of the An Ding disciples really 'care' about Shang Qinghua's betrayal (Anyone on An Ding? Oh, they've dreamed of much worse; so much worse~) :) They Just :) Are a bit Upset :) about being Left Behind. :) But its all good; their Shizun came back :)

(And if the sect knows whats good for it, he'll stay where he fucking belongs.)

[hyunminkangz]

How you meet 🪽

J.YJ • M.JX • K.HN

fem reader implied, fluff, meetcute, I miss them already, mostly pre idol/nonidol, requests are open, more members coming soon

Kang Hyunwoo

You guys meet at a dance class he taught. You caught his eye right away and it made him trip up his lesson. You found it cute how he stopped to remember the step and a cute smile that came with a little apology as he got back on track. When it came to going full out he ended up choosing you and one other person to join him for the example video, which you gladly accepted. The chemistry between you two was almost matched by how well you complemented each others dance abilities. After the recording is done he comes up to you while you’re gathering your stuff.

“You were really great, I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Kang Hyunwoo.

“I’m Y/N,”

and from there you made it a point to attend every class by

Jang Yeojun

“What can I get for you guys tonight?” You ask the table of 5 guys at your restaurant job. You able to tell by their chats that they go to the near by university, mostly 2nd and 3rd years. You take down their orders but you don’t miss one of them eyeing you the whole time, flashing a smile every time your eyes lock. You’d be lying if you’d said he wasn’t your type, but you’re working and need to stay focused. As you bring their food out, the flirty comments begin and you banter back (get your tip bestie). They end up being the last table of the night to leave, making you stay well past the others. Even the kitchen staff have clocked out for the night since, leaving you and your manager to finish the closing. Once they paid and headed towards the door, you notice the one hanging back. You approach him, asking “Hi, is there something I can help you with?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry we kept you so late. I know the train isn’t running so if you need a ride I can order you one? I want to make sure you get home safe,” he says with that enticing but warm smile on his face.

“That’s very kind but I can’t accept it, I live near by so it’ll be a short walk,” you explain but as soon as you speak he shakes his head.

“I’ll walk with you, please in insist,” you decide what the hell, can’t beat company on the walk right? You accept his offer and your manager sends you off for the night. You two chat the whole way to your apartment, learning that he’s younger than you and studies dance and music production. At the end of your walk you gladly give him your number after hearing him dance around the question for the whole 15 minutes.

Ma Jingxiang

You really never thought you’d do this. Going up to a random boy outside a ramen shop to ask for his number was one of the last things you planned on doing but despite your nerves you finish crossing the street and the distance between yourself and him.

“Um, excuse me,” he looks at you with the prettiest doe eyes you’ve ever seen and you reassured yourself that you’ve got to follow through. “I was wondering if you’ve eaten here? I’m trying to find a good ramen spot around here,” you explain and you can see him go from confused to excited.

“This place is alright, but there’s an event better one a block over!” He says, pointing down the street. You thought

“Mind showing me the way? My treat,” and from there your impromptu date began

[x-emeraldsky-x]

The sun was blinding from where they were sitting, the rooftop of the academy holding little protection from the harsh rays. The trees were a cut too short, the clouds straying clear from the burning star, not even the neighbouring buildings helped.

Three newly graduates sat waiting, hiding away behind their hands or arms, the heat tingling their skin as an indication that they'd start to burn soon. One was scowling, cursing under his breath at a man he didn't even know yet. Another was pouting, trying to keep his cool guy facade in front of his peers. The last one sat while holding long hair away from her neck, slumping over with her chin on her hand.

A puff of smoke broke them out of their bored misery, the three of them rushing to look presentable. This was their sensei after all, someone who'd teach them to be Shinobi, and even Sasuke wanted to make a decent impression.

When the smoke cleared, they saw a man who stood proudly on the railing. He wore the same uniform as any other Jounin but he had his left eye covered, the right side of his face was scarred terribly, leading down the exposed part of his neck and carrying to his forearms. He'd look intimidating if it weren't for his gentle smile.

He jumped down and greeted them loudly, his voice was deep but clear in tone. He behaved quite similarly to Naruto when he was excited. He introduced himself as 'Uchiha Obito'.

Upon hearing that, Naruto and Sakura turned to their third, like many kids would. The surname Uchiha wasn't very common anymore. Obito laughed as Sasuke turned with a huff.

"He's my little cousin!" He said, quite cheerfully too. He was very proud of his little Sasuke. "I practically raised him, so I asked the Hokage to let me be his teacher. Much to Sasuke's disgust."

Obito poked his tongue out playfully, recieving an embarrassed glare after Sakura and Naruto giggled.

"I know all about Sasuke, but," Obito kneeled down in front of the trio, focusing on just two. "I don't know much about you two. How about we take turns introducing ourselves. I'll go first!"

He smiled with closed eyes, oddly soft with his expressions considering the trauma on his skin.

Obito went through a list of all sorts of things. Things he liked and things he didn't, his favourite foods and his favourite hobbies, even his favourite type of chakra nature. All were hidden examples of what he wanted to know about them.

Naruto went next, eager to share.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I'm the son of the fourth Hokage, but that's not very important. Uhm, I like a lot of things! I like ramen, I like cooking with my mum, and I also like to train with my dad! I don't like thunderstorms, they scare me, but I love to write!"

Naruto beamed with excitement, much like his mother would when she herself would talk. Obito chuckled at the nostalgia, Kushina was always a highlight to his training.

Naruto raved on for a while longer, seemingly wanting to cover all his bases before he lost them. Obito made mental notes on everything he could keep up with. Sakura listened quite intently too, smiling softly at Naruto's excitement.

When it came to Sakura's turn, she initially missed the cue due to her focus on Naruto. She scrambled to find her words.

"Oh, uh, I'm Haruno Sakura! I like reading, and studying. Not a big fan of spicy food, it rarely tastes good, but I love eating fruit! I'm not very good at ninjutsu, but I want to help people as a ninja!"

She fidgeted a little with her hands as she spoke, her tone carried a hint of nervousness as well. Obito suspected she wasn't used to being at the forefront of attention. He related quite a bit, he himself was often overlooked by his peers due to being a late bloomer.

"Well," Obito smiled assuringly to both of them. "I'll make sure I can give you the best support I can to help you with your dreams!"

He stood from his crouching position, stretching out his legs to ease the tension, and smiled widely.

"Tomorrow, meet me at training ground number 7! 8am! Oh, and you might want to skip breakfast. The first training sessions gonna be brutal!"

Naruto smirked. "Bring it on, I can handle anything you throw at me, Dattebayo!!"

[lirarey]

See you again (chapter 1)

Dedicated to Cameron Boyce. Eternal gratitude for the wonderful roles.

☆☆☆

"Jane? Jane! Can you hear me at all?"

The girl stopped abruptly, clutching the tablet to her chest. Uma looked unhappy. Did she forget to do something?.. In response to the confused expression on her face, Uma exhaled loudly, and her gaze softened. Although she didn't know her as intimately as Mal or Ben, they had had an indirect encounter in the past.

"You know, I already miss the last Jane," Uma continued, grinning. "The one who wasn't afraid to disrupt my engagement to Ben at the Cotillion."

"I did it for them," Jane said, shrugging her shoulder. "If my mother taught me anything, it's to distinguish between true love."

Although the girl regretted to this day that she hadn't been persuaded to show her magic since childhood — as all fairies were trained — lately even verbal spells using a wand turned out badly. The internal flow of energy was constantly dissipating, slipping away from under the very tips of her fingers. Only one person could help. He would have smiled now, put his arm around her shoulders and just by his presence gave her the opportunity to concentrate. Jane couldn't be sure if that love was true. In fairy tales, fairies were given the role of a wise mentor, guiding royalty or ordinary people on the right path. That's how her mom brought Cinderella and Prince Charming together at that wonderful ball. But already there were doubts: the eldest son, Chad, was distinguished by an unbearable character, brought up in too much love. Even then, the girl saw his efforts only to take advantage of Evie, but didn't dare to say so. And the daughter of the Evil Queen wouldn't have believed that her fate was the son of an ordinary dwarf, deprived of all titles. She wished Chad would also realize the wrongness of his behavior and take an example from his younger sister. With Lonnie and Jay, everything was more than obvious: both stood up for justice and were in no way inferior to each other.

But there were problems with the son of the King Beast and Queen Belle. He, like Audrey, is a little older than her, so they were engaged long before she learned to see the difference. Audrey really had feelings, partly caused by communication since childhood, partly dictated by family pressure. Everything remained too ambiguous for Ben. But the appearance of Maleficent's daughter opened her eyes. By nature, leaders who have a lot of power hidden inside. Only if Ben grew up in a pretty happy family... Fear of the villains' children clouded her mind, which made Jane not immediately understand what Mal was trying to achieve. There was only the faint sympathy that had passed between them at their first meeting. To some extent, her and Mal's goals collided. Without the love cookie, these feelings took an even longer amount of time to unfold. Ben mentioned the very existence of a love spell in conversation with her, but at first the girl didn't understand why he didn't interfere. Later, when they were returning from their first date, it became noticeable that the water of the Enchanted Lake not only removed the consequences. No, now the prince's feelings were felt even more vividly. Mal, on the other hand, was clearly distraught. Perhaps Jane herself had made it worse by trying to side with Audrey. When Ben suggested that she organize a Cotillion, Jane agreed, trying to atone for her guilt. It was all exhausting, of course, but the feeling of usefulness turned out to be pleasant. While she was running errands — including the creation of stained glass windows — she managed to once again make sure that Ben and Mal were meant for each other. With what trepidation he clarified everything to the smallest detail. The appearance of Uma, who was still a villainess from the Isle of the Lost, knocked the ground out from under her feet even. They seemed to have feelings, but something about them was confusing. Who would have thought that she decided to repeat the fate of her mother. And after all, she didn't need Ben himself: Ursula's daughter only wanted to hurt the former villain.

"How are you and Carlos?" The name of a once-loved one caused a nagging pain in her heart, but Jane found the strength to shake her head. "Come on, it can't be that you're not true lovers."

Carlos. Cruella's son. This villainess might not have magical powers, but bullying dogs has never made anyone better. Imagine her surprise when the guy once admitted that he used to be scared to death of these animals, and only getting to know Dude helped overcome this fear. But one thing was clear: they were both in the shadow of their parents. True, her mother loved her sincerely, although she was too protective, and among the vague images from Carlos's childhood it turned out to be impossible to notice at least some kind of manifestation of love. However, his fate wasn't known, and Jane decided that not everyone should find happiness in love. With all this preparation for the ball, the girl was running so fast that she didn't pay attention to the slowly emerging feelings of the guy who was constantly trying to talk to her. She couldn't see the full picture anyway — the fairies were worried about someone else's well-being. It was only when Carlos finally decided to discuss everything here and now that such a warm and brave love came over her in waves. His brown eyes sparkled with happiness, and a wide smile shone on his freckled, tanned face. His embrace seemed to be the most comfortable place in the whole world. At first she was kind of scared: mom hadn't said anything about fairies being happy with someone.

However, it was true.

"Fairies don't use their abilities to their advantage," Jane replied, glancing at the playground where Carlos had once met Chewie.

With an initially thin build, the guy ran away fast enough, and the girl was definitely afraid to think about the reasons for the appearance of such a skill. Over time, she couldn't help but notice that a good lifestyle clearly did him good: his lean body became noticeably stronger, and in his spare time, Carlos began dancing. Secretly, Jane even admired his graceful and smooth movements from the side, but she never admitted it.

"Can't you?" She froze, pushing the memories away.

Really, couldn't she? But it was too late to talk about it anyway.

"We can't."

***

A week later, her birthday came. The first birthday without Carlos. His last gift, a necklace with their names combined, was still hanging around his neck, both pleasing and making him feel even more lonely. So many familiar faces gathered, but there was absolutely no mood to celebrate. After making sure that no one was around, the birthday girl quietly dived into the Enchanted Lake. After swimming a sufficient distance, she exhaled deeply and raised her head to the sky. Not a cloud, only the bright sun shone in the sky. Even it reminded her of him. The girl climbed onto one of the flat stones and shuddered: her wet hair stuck to her bare shoulders, and the blue translucent knee-length dress didn't warm her. A spell flashed in her memory, allowing her to dry out quickly, but the magic failed again.

"I wish you were here again!.." Jane shouted desperately into the void and hugged herself by the shoulders, feeling burning tears rolling down her cheeks. "I can't do it without you, do you hear? You were the sun in my life!"

She covered her face with her hands, clenching her whole body, shaking with sobs.

"And how can you cry on your own birthday?"

It seemed. There's definitely no one here.

As soon as she felt the warmth of someone else's hands gently touching her tear-stained face, she felt like an electric shock.

Impossible. It can't be...

Her hands slowly lowered, gently wiped away the traces of tears with one finger and tucked the wet strands behind her ears.

Only then did Jane dare to look up. The black-and-white hair was slightly disordered as always. The brown eyes, as before, shone with devoted and endless love. The freckles on his tanned face resembled rays of the sun.

"How are you?.." It sounded hoarse.

"You called me, and I came," Carlos replied softly, touching her forehead with his. "I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye properly.

"You fool," she suddenly blurted out. "We should be the ones to apologize to you. We couldn't save you."

"No one could have predicted this." With each word, his hot breath sent goosebumps all over her body.

"If only... If only I could do magic like a real fairy..." The girl barely touched his shoulders, trying to make sure of the reality of what was happening, and pulled him into her arms, completely forgetting about his wet clothes.

Carlos nuzzled her neck, exhaling deeply. Nothing seemed to have changed since he left. It was as if there had never been that distant day when Auradon was overshadowed by terrible news. At first, what was happening looked like an endless nightmare. Emotions were so overwhelming that she had to get used to uncontrollable bursts of destructive magic. Because of this, Jane tried not to go anywhere unnecessarily, even when King Ben himself asked the Fairy Godmother about her well-being. She desperately wanted to wake up and return to the moment when the kids of the villains had just left the Isle of the Lost. To find at least the slightest opportunity to fix everything.

"You are a real fairy," the guy whispered, stroking her hair soothingly. "Who else was able to recognize the spell on Ben? We were all confused then. None of us have ever believed that it is possible to be loved just like that. Not pretending, not trying to please."

"And it's terrible," she muttered dully. "Everyone deserves to be loved... Except for me. Fairies instruct heroes, tell a story, but don't have their own."

"And I'm the son of a dog—hating woman. Do you think Dude knows about this?" He laughed softly, which made Jane freeze in fascination, feeling that she missed his laughter. "We decide our own destiny. Of course, Mal could become as terrible a villain as Maleficent, Evie could find herself a prince, and Jay could continue stealing for his father. But they are all here and happy."

"We were happy with you. If everything is in our hands, why can't you come back?" The girl took a shaky breath, sobbing. "And don't tell me that the best leave early."

Carlos said nothing, hugging her to his chest. The realization that his heart was beating was maddening. How? Isn't this her dream? Reality just can't be that beautiful.

"What happened while I was gone?" Jane wondered fleetingly what that meant.

"Ben and Mal got married. They say that almost the entire population of the states has gathered." She couldn't help but smile, remembering that she had indeed contributed to this. "Evie's business is booming: now she works with Dizzy. Jay and Lonnie want to create a club where anyone can play their favorite sport. And I continue to make sure that everything is in order. And I'm not coping... I'm not okay. This is definitely a dream.

His hands were on his wrists. Jane looked away.

"You're going to disappear, and I'm going to wake up. It's not the first time I've had a dream like this," she said lamely. "Can I at least do one little stupid thing?"

"Which one?" Carlos cocked his head thoughtfully.

"In fairy tales, the story ends after the words about living Happily Ever After." Jane exhaled sharply, gathering her thoughts and raising her head. "The heroes stand side by side against a beautiful sky and... I know that this is probably not the right place at all. I have a tear-stained face, a soaked dress and a terrible mood for a person whose birthday is today. This is all wrong. I still regret that I didn't do it when I had the time."

"Are you talking about the Kiss of True Love?"

"Yes, but I won't have that anyway. So I just..." The girl stopped short, feeling the gentle touch of his warm palms on her cheeks.

Carlos looked at her with a bit of embarrassment, but how deep, charming and tremulous was the look. Jane was well aware of it existence, having read many books, but she never would have thought that one day she would see it in reality. These flickering sparks made it impossible to think about anything else, as if hypnotizing.

"Maybe it's worth fulfilling your dream?"

A light, almost weightless touch to the lips. So soft and soothing, but at the same time incredibly exciting and brave. It was as if time itself had stopped. Despite the wet dress, there was a feeling of heat all over her body. The whole world around them faded into the background. Cold hands hesitantly wrapped around his neck. It was only now that she remembered how unusual her feelings for him were. Enthusiastic in every moment, genuine, bright and somewhat naive. The kind she has always dreamed of.

There was something insanely right about it all. Destined by fate.

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - August 13

 I’m late today! But I have a nice little list for you. Check out some of these fantastic stories and be sure to leave comment and kudos for the authors you enjoy! 

~*~ 

Comedy of Illusions by ladyshadowdrake 

Thinking that he's been caught out, Tony confesses that he's Iron Man - at least that's what he thinks he's doing. Steve hears something very different. Date night, sexy-fun times, and a jumble of errors as Tony tries to fix his mistake results, all compounded by a mysterious enemy who's been hacking into SI servers.

Falling For You (Hook, Line, and Sinker) by FestiveFerret 

After being thawed, Steve's adrift in the 21st century. There's nothing for him here, just the endless cycle of pre-packaged food, pointless training exercises, and long hours at the gym. But when he takes on a new project, it leads him to a new friend - one who might open up all kinds of new doors, new feelings, new experiences. Or might just break his heart.

The art of longing by itsallAvengers

Steve's used to missing his shot. To being too late, too scared, and losing everything. But he really did think that this time, with Tony, something could work.

Then Tony meets Mark. He's cool and charming, he's a scientist and he's perfect for a man like Tony Stark.

And suddenly Steve...

Well. Steve just doesn't have a place anymore

who could ever leave me (but who could stay?) by frostfall

When Tony Stark's not trying to keep his company from falling apart, he's running heists with the Avengers, a crew of con artists who retrieve illegally-acquired artifacts for their wealthy clients.

Steve Rogers is Tony's crewmate and best friend who has joined him on every heist Tony has been on. This current one is no different.

Too bad Tony had to muck everything up by sleeping with him three months beforehand.

Redame by magicasen

When he finally spits into the trash, he doesn’t understand what he’s looking at. Had he managed to swallow a piece of paper without realizing? It’s wet and disgusting, but curiosity gets the better of him as he picks it up gingerly between his fingers. It’s a flower petal, he realizes abruptly, rubbing it carefully as it rolls up and finally crumples between his fingers.

Like losing half the world wasn't enough, Steve's body also begins to rebel against his love for Tony.

out of nowhere you came by starvels (dinosaur) 

The short story is, Tony comes back from a mission.

The long story is, Tony doesn’t come back from a mission and Steve struggles to figure out which of them he's trying to piece back together, in the aftermath.

Only Paintings in the Building by BladeoftheNebula, ironycap, Neverever

His life would be a lot easier if he could just stick to painting other things. Landscapes for example. Landscapes were nice.

But then again landscapes didn’t have that glint in their eye, or that body that had been built from hard engineering and years of trying to do good. They didn’t have that inherent charm and good looks that won them Sexiest Man of the Year four times.

By comparison, landscapes were a joke.

Steve causes himself a whole heap of trouble when he starts to paint pictures of Tony.

Resurrection, Reconstruction & Redemption by Elspethdixon, Seanchai

Doom brings Steve back from the dead. Hijinks ensue, some of which might vaugely be considered plot.

It Had To Be You (Wonderful You) by tinystark616

It Had To Be You (Wonderful You) by tinystark616

Limbo by ArcadeGhostAdventurer

In all reality, Tony could go and buy himself a new house. He could buy himself ten houses. Any house in the world. Yet, he wanted the one with a run-down lab and 34 cases of “work accidents”.

Build it himself? Oh, he could. He would.

Count Your Blessings by emmie796

If there was one thing Natasha Stark and Steve Rogers were trying to do, it was to get pregnant and finally have a child after being married for a few years.

When that happens, let's say that they better count their blessings.

Major Donor by FestiveFerret 

There's a guy at this party that Tony doesn't know, and he knows everyone.

Lessons on how to be Worthwhile

The one where Steve thinks Tony is amazing, and Tony thinks Steve is amazing, but Tony doesn't think Tony is amazing.

Or, Tony has issues with self worth, and Steve wants to fix that.

Got You Under My Skin by BlossomsintheMist

“I’d be happy to show you a good time,” Tony said, smiling a little obscurely, Steve thought, as if to himself, but still with that warm, knowing look, affectionate and oddly fond, “any time you want.”

Steve Rogers goes to Tony Stark's birthday party. Things progress from there, with a lot of flirtiness leading to propositions, and propositions leading to, well, what comes next, and Steve isn't even sure what he wants after that.

soft strange ways by meidui 

Steve and Tony are only gone for five seconds, but when they reappear on the quantum portal in a swirling pinprick of light, their hair is a bit longer, their clothes are rumpled, they’re gripping onto each other’s hands so hard their knuckles are white, and both of them, for the first time in as long as anyone has known them, look like they might be truly, wholly, blindingly happy.

but saving what we love by meidui

Tony remembers every nosedive Steve has taken since he’s known him and he gets flooded with fear after the fact, realising how lucky he is that Steve is still alive. Tony can swoop in and pick Steve out of the air when he freefalls, but sometimes there is no line of fire, no bullet showers, nobody trying to kill Steve except himself and Tony has no idea how to save him from that. He doesn’t know if it’s possible to.

-

Saving Captain America on the field is Iron Man's job. Saving Steve Rogers from himself is not so much Tony's job, but he does it anyway.

only the good die young by meidui

Tony thought he could save Steve. He really did.

hit the lotto by meidui

“I’m a little tired of playing for money,” Tony says, sweeping his chips to one side of the table. He takes off his sunglasses, tinted wine-red, and nods at the other end of the room. “I wanna play for him.”

[crehador]

brother crab's winter 2024 parting thoughts: dog signal

alright well yysy it's not much to look at, the animation/art style isn't exactly "modern" or exceptional (though personally i was quite charmed by it)

that aside, this was overall a really pleasant surprise to me!

tl;dr: fun cast with some surprisingly compelling and deep(ish) backstories, would recommend but with the disclaimers that a) it's episodic and b) there's quite a lot of animal mistreatment since each episode is about helping a dog whose person isn't treating it right (most if not all the cases have hopeful endings, but some parts may be hard to watch)

also niwa and samura have the most HILARIOUSLY classic toxic yaoi situationship without any of the fun parts (the actual yaoi), more on that later lmao

full review:

the series is for the most part episodic, with each episode dealing with a dog owner who comes to a certain dog trainer for help. i'm a fan of a good episodic series, even when the episodes can be hit or miss, so the structure was very enjoyable for me

the stories of the main cast were surprisingly compelling, too. it seemed like it would be just a very silly show—what with it starting with a guy (cv knb murasakibara) walking another guy (cv knb kuroko) around on a leash in public for two hours—but the character backstories that were revealed throughout the series did actually feel delightfully nuanced to me

(for example "yeah that old man did hit a dog and that's not great but the dog in question was biting the shit out of the kid he sees as a son so it's not... not understandable that he would react that way and while i'm not saying he should be proud of hitting a dog i guess i am saying it does suck for him that son guy hated him and went no contact for years for it")

one of my favorite episodes, ironically, barely involved the main cast at all. most of the episodes deal with this dog training business training dogs (shock!) but in this one episode, fairly late in the series, the owner was a struggling mangaka suffering from immense social anxiety, whose only friend was his dog who one day suddenly loses his hearing

that's such a tough thing that you really wouldn't explain anyone to know how to handle on their own without training. the mangaka even runs into the mc (trainee dog trainer) early in the episode and receives a business card for the dog training shop, but instead of taking his dog in, he does his best on his own to develop ways to communicate with his newly deaf dog

and it works! not only does he find a way to keep his dog comfortable with him, his efforts make him less concerned with what other people think of him as well. he managed to go to the dog training shop in the end, to see if there's anything he could be doing better for his dog, only to be told that they can't do anything for him—because he's already done everything right

(in establishing a way to communicate with his deaf dog, that is. there are other issues he gets chewed out for, which i really liked and found realistic)

i feel like it was just such a well-timed episode as a narrative device, because it shows that while the main dog trainer is great (the trainee dog trainer mc practically worships him) it's not that everyone in the world is helpless without him

but anyway

REGARDING THE SITUATIONSHIP WHAT THE FUCK LMAO first of all i love it

samura has just been dumped by an extremely shitty girlfriend when he meets niwa, while out walking the dog (or attempting to walk the dog) said shitty girlfriend dumped on him

he's doing a terrifically bad job, to the point where niwa (pro dog trainer) can't bear to watch. so what does he do well of course he has to reeducate samura by... putting him on a leash and walking him around the park, in public, for two hours. to show him just how wrong he's treating his dog

samura somehow gets a job out of this and they start working together. at one point he reveals he is GOING TO THE SALON and GETTING HIS HAIR PERMED so that it is curly because niwa has a poodle and seems to like curly hair (???)

jump cut to the final episode and we're finding out samura's tragic lore—parentified by a narcissistic mom, down with too much filial piety disease. when samura finally decides he's no longer sending money back home, his mom comes to the dog training shop to be like "sir uwu you have to give my son a raise so he can keep sending money home uwu he's such a good hard-working boy please pay him what he's worth"

and niwa is straight up like "actually he sucks and you suck get the fuck out of my shop" AND THEN LATER IN THE EPISODE samura's mom calls him (has been calling him repeatedly since meeting his freak of a boss) and NIWA ANSWERS THE PHONE and while she's complaining about the money situation and the freak boss (niwa) he basically tells her "you still suck and your son still sucks but i'm keeping him, fuck off"

like my god?? that woman is going to go away thinking her son has gotten into an extremely abusive relationship with his boss. i mean fuck her entirely, she does suck, but that is very much Not the situation (even though it does Very Much appear to be the situation)

anyway. ultimately this one lands in the :) category for me, originally picked it up for the cast (kuroko and mukkun and also KENN) and didn't have very high expectations but am thrilled to be pleasantly surprised

[foster-the-world]

Seven!

I applied for roughly 20 jobs yesterday. So far, I've heard back from seven - 12 hours later. I purposefully chose a career with a lot of opportunities. I didn't want to worry about paying for a degree and then be stuck begging for jobs. I'm so glad there are a lot of opportunities - even though I have certain restrictions because I need to work around my kids schedule. For example, I'm not looking at any jobs that require weekends. However, seven calls is overwhelming. I don't get the vibe the hiring process would be particularly difficult. I think they just want warm bodies with a nursing license. Which also makes me nervous because I 100% need more training like all new grad nurses.

I def want to work. I'm ready. I want to feel productive. I want to use the skills I worked hard to learn in nursing school. I've enjoyed volunteering at the kids school but want to step back somewhat. That being said I don't know how me working a full time job is going to work with our full time schedule. Today my husband went to work late because baby boys class had a Halloween parade. Then he's leaving early to join us for Halloween. Tmrw we have baby boys IEP meeting. It's on zoom so he should only miss an hour of work. Thurs all three kids have parent/teacher conferences. School lets out at 11 for the conferences - so if I was working we'd have to figure out childcare. Friday he's taking at least 2.5 hours off to take baby boy to OT. I have to take the girls to their activities at the same time and he wanted to see how the OT works at least once. Halloween is an extra busy week but these events are constant. One of us could skip any of this - beside the IEP meeting where its important we both understand whats going on. Luckily he's been at his job forever (20+ years) and he can make up the time at night, etc. Post covid world sucks in many ways but turning many events to zoom has made life easier if you have to work. My old job I could have easily slipped away for any of these things. Nursing will most likely be different. Anyway many people with much fewer supports/resources make it work. We will figure it out. I just don't want to make us miserable while doing it.

The long term goal is a per diem nurse job - where I take all of December, July and August off. I like working but also like having school breaks off. Financially we can make it work because my husband's job comes with strong/free healthcare. I don't think it will be difficult to find a job like that once I get experience but it is a few years out.

[bopinion]

2024 / 14

Aperçu of the Week:

"If everyone wanted to help each other, everyone would be helped."

(Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian poet and psychologist in the 19th century)

Bad News of the Week:

The whole world fears for the well-being of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza. Except Israel. The whole world is worried about the local conflict escalating into a full scale Middle East war. Except Israel. Lately, when someone asks me if I've heard "that" from Israel, I have to answer "what do you mean?". Because, as sarcastic as it sounds, there is something to tear your hair out about almost every day.

Take the example of the civilian population in Gaza. The circumstances that led to the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen employees clearly show that the Israeli military deliberately makes no distinction as to who or what it bombs. According to the motto: anyone who is not with us is against us. The fact that there are, of course, many more differentiated positions does not matter.

Take the example of the Middle East conflict. There is open talk of military operations across the country's northern border, i.e. on Lebanese territory. Regardless of the fact that Hezbollah can do whatever it wants in this failed state, Lebanon is a sovereign state. Incidentally, it currently has the highest proportion of refugees in the total population of any country in the world. But so was Syria when Israel effectively annexed the Golan Heights in the "Six-Day War" in 1967 (!). This is still the status quo after almost 60 years. The fact that this is almost universally not recognized by the international community does not matter.

As a German, I'm asked more and more often how Germany justifies being Israel's largest arms supplier after the USA, when these weapons are obviously not only used for defense (which Israel of course sees differently). The justification is simple: historical guilt. And this apparently prevents us from seeing what we don't want to see. Yes, the world would be easier to understand if we could divide it into black and white. That might still be possible with Israel and Iran. But not with Israel and Palestine.

PS: Next week I'll complain about something else - I promise!

Good News of the Week:

Following the successful agreement between the unions and our national train company Deutsche Bahn, there has now been arbitration achieved at the airports and our national air carrier Lufthansa. It should be noted that both will cost a lot of money. Both the generous wage increases and the compensation for reduced working hours through additional staff are expensive. And they will not be covered by coffee money, but by hefty price increases for the customers who (have to) use these means of transportation - in other words, all of us. At least I don't know anyone outside the vacation season who travels for fun but has to get between A and B somehow. Beam me up, Scotty!

Nevertheless, it is good to see that there is now a reasonably solid planning security again. And I'm not just talking about the usual commuters to work, of which I am one. But the logistics themselves. Of people and goods. After all, what I've seen in my environment alone in terms of missed meetings and broken supply chains is also a cost factor. If projects cannot be continued and production comes to a standstill, that costs money. Money from all of us. And very few of us have been asked if we agree. Not to be misunderstood: I don't want to question the great good of the right to strike. However, I am of the opinion that the proportionality of the means must not be lost sight of.

Personal happy moment of the week:

It was a summer weekend at the weekend - with temperatures of almost 30 degrees Celsius in southern Germany. We took advantage of this to kick off the cycling season. Of course, we started with a harmless route that we already knew, and of course to a nice country inn that we also already knew. And we were not disappointed. That will comfort us when the temperatures now drop back down to 2 degrees and it rains. Just a normal April. Good too. And nature is happy.

As I write this...

...I am delighted that we may soon have a fiber connection at home. It makes perfect sense for a household with adults working from the home office and teenagers on the internet. Especially if we usually stream music during the day and a series or movie in the evening. I find this astonishing because we live in a village with a maximum of 200 inhabitants. I hardly think that's profitable. It's more likely to be categorized as an infrastructural measure that a municipality implements for its population. It's nice that in this country we don't always just look at the money.

Post Scriptum

Employers' President Rainer Dulger is stunned by the German government's planned "Pension Package II", because it "now wants to massively increase pension spending once again, even though we are facing the biggest ageing spurt ever seen in Germany". Sounds logical. Especially because the pension system has long been financed not only by the contributions of the working population, but increasingly by subsidies from the tax pot. If fewer and fewer people are working and paying tax, while society is (over)ageing at the same time, this creates a gap. Who should pay for this? Especially when the burden of taxes and contributions is already so high - and not just by international standards?

On the other hand, many pensioners are already living at the limits of what is feasible in view of the constantly rising cost of living. In many cases, it is no longer possible to speak of "living", but rather of "existing". That is sad. Unfortunately, it is no bad joke that some people buy dog food without being able to afford a dog. It must be the task of every society to care for its weak, young and old when they can not do so themselves. Especially if they have done the best they can. But a woman, for example, who has raised several children and then cared for her sick parents is not taken into account by the system. After all, she has never paid into the system - at least not in monetary terms. Old-age poverty is an ugly word. But it is increasingly becoming the bitter reality.