#but it became cathartic after a while

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

realized ricky is not only canonically polyam, but rep for polyam survivors who are abused for being poly, and i am having a lot of feelings about that which i plan to write up a post about but also wow in hindsight it put some shit from an abusive ex-friend into perspective.

[the-californicationist]

The Window (4 of 7)

Ch 01 // Ch 02 // Ch 03 // Ch 04 // Ch 05 --- AO3 Link

Seeing him again had been a shock. They’d arrived late — not that you were checking on their flight or anything — and they were all a bit worse for wear. Usually, after any mission, good or bad, the flight home was cathartic. Everyone could breathe easy. They were going home to good food and infinite WiFi. It was cause for celebration, no matter how beaten and bruised they felt. But, this time was different.

Price was walking through the hangar while you were cataloging ammunition shipments, lowly desk work while your leg healed up, and he looked so small. Well, he still towered over all of the other soldiers in the bay - except for Ghost - but he just looked so pale and listless. His eyes were dull, staring at the ground, watching his feet take their steps, aimlessly driven to his next destination. 

Ghost followed him, equally distracted. His mask was off, and you could see his eye-black smeared all the way down to his mouth, like he’d been rubbing his face, fretting. Gaz had looked furious. He was tossing their gear like it had personally offended him, and he railed into one of the trainees for getting in his way. His warm brown eyes had turned cold and harsh, unfeeling. 

Soap was the worst. He jumped from the chopper and immediately started to scan the room, looking for you. He pulled one of the mechanics aside and you heard him asking for you by name, and as the man pointed in your direction, you hid behind the crates. Undeterred, he headed your way, so you crawled into the dark space between where he wouldn’t find you. He searched and searched, pushing aside heavy boxes and truck wheels, hunting for you. He became frantic, pacing back and forth, until Price called his name. His eyes lingered on the darkness where you were hidden, looking but not seeing. Then, glassy-eyed, he retreated, his gaze turning from desperation to unbridled frustration. 

It was when you’d been trying to sneak back to the barracks that Price had found you, chasing you through the base. You weren’t running, per se, but you were moving quick enough, and you had quite the head start. He, however, was sprinting, pushing people out of his way, calling after you. When he saw the look on your face, he knew he was in trouble. 

“Get back here, Sparrow! That’s an order,” he shouted down the hall. 

You turned around to face him, throwing up your hands in an exaggerated shrug,

“You’re not my CO, sir.”

“Spar — Get out of the bloody way!” He shoved a trainee into the wall, pushing past him in an attempt to follow you to your room. 

Price was panting, his chest heaving as he grabbed for you, his hands sinking into your soft flesh. You wrenched your body away from him and blocked him from coming into your room. He furrowed his brow and said,

“It’s Sunday. It’s my day.”

“I’m already pregnant. Your services are no longer needed,” you spat, “Much like mine, apparently.”

You tried to shut the door on him, but he blocked it with his huge shoulders, looking at you with a ravenous hunger in his eyes,

“I just got back from the fuckin’ sandbox. We can fight later, but I need you, little bird. Please.”

“And I need you to go fuck yourself… sir.” You slammed the door so hard that you thought you broke the hinges. 

You listened to the handle jiggle in the lock from Price’s audacity. Then, silence. 

Why was it the silence that hurt the worst?

Soap was at your door that night, banging on it, shaking the frame,

“Bonnie! I ken you’re in there. Lemme in. I jus’ wanna talk to you. Bonnie?”

Silence again, and then there was a slow, wiping sound against the door, like a big palm being slid down it. 

“Sparrow? Please.” His voice was so strange. It seemed small. Usually, Soap was the loudest, the most boisterous. And now, he sounded ill. 

You listened at the door, hurt and angry, but missing your men. Hearing Johnny beg was almost enough to make you unlock it. Almost.

Over the next week, they all tried to get back in your good graces. Gaz brought you flowers no matter where you were. He covered your desk with them, and you kept throwing them out or giving them away. He left them outside your door, sitting in the hall, complete with little handwritten cards: 

I’m so sorry, baby. Please text me? - G.

Come to the main hall? We just need to talk. - G.

You ripped his notes up and tossed them in the trashcan irreverently. 

Johnny had been a little less subtle. At the end of a long day, he’d be waiting outside your door, sometimes alone, sometimes with the others, trying to get you to listen to him, 

“C’mon, bonnie. Dinnae shut us out. Please, lass.”

You had become an expert at the cold shoulder. 

Ghost, fitting with his quiet demeanor, wouldn’t beg. In fact, he wouldn’t say a word. But, he followed you everywhere, haunting your office, stalking you at the gym, sitting at your table during briefings. One time, he cornered you in the elevator, riding with you past his own floor, his eyes burning into your skin. 

And then there was Price. Other than his presentations during mission briefings, you hadn’t heard his voice since that very first day. But, he was always around. His smoke gave him away. Your room reeked of his tobacco, and when you were working, you’d smell it in the air. But, when you’d look up to spot him, he was nowhere to be found. 

That didn’t mean he failed to reach out to you. He was always on your phone. He called you every morning when he woke up, and he called again every night when you went to bed. You never picked up, but as you lay in bed watching his smiling face pop up on your home screen again, this time, you did.

You didn’t say hello. You just waited to hear what he had to say. You needed to hear him again. Anything. Just a hello. 

“Sparrow, it was me. It wasn’t them. You have to forgive them. I was the one who —”

You hung up the phone and cried into your pillow hard enough to make yourself sick. 

After that night, things got so much worse. Your emotions were raw, and everything made you terribly sad. Your body was in desperate need of someone to care for it, and your hormones were going absolutely haywire. You were either nauseated or horny, and there was no warning which would hit at any given moment. 

You found yourself sneaking out of work early, hiding in the shower, furiously coming on your hand over and over, thinking - wishing - that it was Soap's or Gaz's mouth instead. When you lay in bed at night, you desperately ground your hips into your dildo, riding it like you wanted to ride John and his men, wanton and soaking your sheets.

Eventually, you had reached your limit, and you met Soap, Gaz, and Ghost in the mess hall. They were all sufficiently apologetic, and they were curious as to what had changed your mind.

“Dinnae get me wrong, lass. It’s been hard without you, and I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but… why are you forgivin’ us?”

“Price told me what he did. He said it wasn’t your decision to take me off the team.”

“That’s not true,” Ghost refuted, earning himself a swift nudge from Soap and a glare from Gaz. 

“Shut up, mate. Do y’know how long it’s been since —” Gaz hissed, but Ghost interrupted him.

“The captain was the one who fought to keep you on the task force. He was out-voted.”

“Out-voted? There’s only four of you. Should’ve been at draw…” you observed.

“Exactly. We all voted against him. You’ve no bloody business on the field right now, and you know it. You can barely sit here with us for ten goddamn minutes before you’re sprintin’ off to wretch in whatever can’s the closest.”

You averted your eyes from him, trying to process what he was saying, and feeling the sting of shame when you had to admit that he was right. This first trimester had been an absolute nightmare. You were a sweaty, puking mess here in the offices, and you shuddered to think of feeling this way out in the Urzikstani sands, getting shot at, eating nothing but MREs and instant decaf coffee. 

“We just wanted the best for you, birdie,” Gaz reached out for your hand and held it in his, “We know how badly you want this baby, and we…” He looked at the others for a moment and said, “And we’ve fallen in love with you, Sparrow. We can’t lose you. Let us take care of you.”

You were so tired, and you needed to release the tension you’d been holding inside of your chest, so you relented. 

They followed you back to your room and sat you on the bed, kissing you so deeply that you could feel their hunger. They’d been waiting for you. 

All of them were dripping with precome, and you watched as it stained the thick canvas fabric of their pants, making you wonder if they’d even touched themselves in the time they were apart from you. 

They began to strip themselves and you, kissing every bit of your skin, leaving purple marks from their aggressive desire. Gaz held your hand to his crotch and rubbed it across the front, making you feel his hardening rod, encouraging you to stroke him. Johnny was busying himself with your pants, aching to put his mouth on your molten core, and just the thought of his tongue was enough to make you shiver. 

Ghost bent to suck at your nipples, peeling your shirt and bra off in one go, and you held his head, cradling him with as much affection as you could muster, but as you looked up at you, he knew there was something wrong. 

“Hey, stop.”

The others, as if burned, immediately stopped their worship of your body and looked up at you. 

Ghost continued to pry,

“What is it, love?”

“I just…” You could feel yourself start to cry. 

“You miss him, don’t you?”

The realization hit you like a ton of bricks. You may have forgiven Simon, Johnny, and Kyle, but you missed John. You needed him there. Without him, even their kisses felt hollow. 

“We’ll bring him back to you, dinnae fash, hen,” Soap reassured you, throwing on his shirt. 

“C’mon, he’s in the gym. I saw him with his bag,” Ghost followed Soap out of your door, hard as a stone and trying to adjust himself to something a little less indecent. 

Gaz kissed your lips, his full mouth warm and tasting of cinnamon sugar,

“Be right back, pretty girl.”

You waited five minutes, then ten. You decided to lay down, just for a moment, and before you knew it, you were out. 

You weren’t sure how long you slept, but you woke up in someone’s arms, opening your eyes and watching as he lay you in the big, combined bed the five of you shared. You turned to see his face when you felt him crawl into the sheets beside you, blinking the sleep away and trying to catch your bearings. 

“John?” You croaked, struggling to find your voice. 

“Shh,” he whispered, “Go back to sleep, little bird.”

“They told me…”

“I know. They bloody well shouldn’t have. You need them. You’re both going to need them.”

“I can’t be mad anymore, John. I’m so tired. I just want you all back. Please,” you clutched at his chest, drawing him closer to you in the small bed, “Don’t leave me again.”

“I’m not goin’ anywhere, Sparrow. Here. Feel?”

John’s huge cock was half-hard, and he fit it inside you, slipping it into your wet pussy, squeezing himself through you, just as he loved to do, letting you warm him up. The shock of it went right to your head, and you gasped, hiding your face in the fur of his chest, letting his arms wrap around you protectively. 

“I’ll stay right here, birdie. As long as you want me to.”

“Aye,” Soap’s voice spoke up in the darkness, deep and low, “We all will. Tha’s a promise, lass.”

One by one, each of your men came back into the bed, laying their heavy arms over you and each other, bodies and limbs tangled and gripping at whatever flesh they could find. 

You felt Ghost’s hand slide over your hip, resting his hand on your belly protectively. Gaz leaned over Price to kiss you before settling his arm over the captain’s ribs, his arm cradling your arm as you cuddled with John. Soap’s feet were wrapped around yours, keeping them warm. 

As he hardened inside of you, John kissed your forehead softly. 

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, John.”

A part of you was still upset at how heavy-handed they had been with your independence, but you felt your smooth muscles fluttering against John’s cock, and it was getting harder and harder to hold onto the anger that you so desperately wanted to let go of. 

As they all settled in to sleep, you decided to try and rekindle the bond that had been broken. You rocked your hips forward, sliding your slick body up and down Price’s fat length. His eyes shot open, burning into you with a dark passion.

“Little bird?”

Your lips found his neck, trailing wet kisses up to his earlobe, taking it in your mouth and suckling at his skin. 

“Not tired, love?” Simon asked, planting his own kisses on your shoulder blades, coaxing your hips to rock back and forth, chasing your high. 

“You need us, innit tha’ right, lass?” Johnny’s fingers reached over your hip, following Simon’s and then trailed down, finding your swollen clit and rubbing slow, tight circles around it, making you soften around Price like an opening bud, petting your petals until you practically unfurled for him. 

“Ungh, Garrick. What are you… “ Price growled through gritted teeth. 

You watched as Kyle licked his hand and tucked it behind John’s back, heading for his tight asshole, fucking him gently on his fingers. 

“Keep fucking our girl, Cap. She needs you,” Kyle told him, “I’ll take care of you, sir.”

“I’m not as patient as the sergeant is, lover,” Simon rustled under the sheets to find his cock, and he held it in his fist, pumping it against your plump ass cheek, “Will you let me in?”

You turned over your shoulder and let him kiss you, feeling his soft lips slide against yours, giving him your tongue to suck on as his hands kneaded your sensitive breast. 

“Yes, Si,” you whispered, “Anything you want.”

You thought his reaction to your words was a little over the top, but Ghost was reacting to Soap, ducked below the sheets, eating his asshole, shoving his tongue deep in the tight opening, prepping him for more. 

Simon tucked his cock between your legs, spitting on his hand and rubbing it on you and himself, lubing you up in a messy, frantic sort of way, too desperate to care about finding a bottle of gel somewhere in the room. 

Johnny was already rutting into his lieutenant, making Simon’s cock leak and jump, excited and drooling for its own warm hole. When you felt his head touch your asshole, you sighed at the tingling electricity building there, eager to be stretched by him. Finally, he popped into your ass, and he began to fuck himself up into you, inch by inch, filling you up. 

Price was grinding his fat dick inside of you, and he groaned when he felt Simon join him on the other side, making you even tighter, forcing the captain to struggle to fit. 

Soon, all five of you were fucking each other at the same time, moaning and kissing and licking one another’s skin, twisted together in a wet mess, and you had never felt such pleasure before. It was as if you were all on the edge, ready to come at the faintest breath of an orgasm, waiting for the spark to ignite the whole room into an explosion of ecstacy. 

“Mmf-fuck!” Simon’s hand wrapped itself around your neck, “Your fuckin’ arsehole feels like heaven, love.”

“Dinnae stop, Si. I can feel when you bottom out in her. Makes you so tight, mate,” Johnny begged him, pinching the lieutenant’s nipples between his fingers over and over, teasing him relentlessly. 

“You alright, little bird?” John asked you, kissing you softly, barely dragging his lips across yours, dreamily moving against you harder and harder, chasing his pleasure, “Fuckin’ Garrick is takin’ away my stamina every time he rams into me like that. Gonna make me come too quick, Gaz.”

“Sorry, sir,” Kyle smiled, giving you a wink, as he licked and nipped at the same earlobe that you had, remembering how much he loved that spot, “Feels too good to stop.”

“Don’t stop,” you moaned, wrapping your hands around John’s shoulders, holding on for dear life, “Don’t ever stop.”

While you wait for the next chapter, please consider checking out my other work. Thank you!

[metranart]

Obsessed with Nanami being all flustered and horny while in a mission with you, his ex-girlfriend's younger sister.

Ft. Nanami Kento x reader. He is thirsty for your unshared attention. He wants to be a good but you won't let him...

Driving towards the next mission, Nanami’s gaze drifts from time to time to the person sitting in the passenger seat. It is a subtly almost stoic and imperceptible move yet highly effective. 

The experienced sorcerer has found unavoidable to keep his gaze away from you for too long.

Fate was cruel, the blonde already knew that. The life of a jujutsu sorcerer is full of ups and downs, likewise… but this time, life is being excruciatingly unfair to him, making it almost like a personal affront. 

Because-…why?!... why?!!!...why did fate dare to conceive an exact replica of the only woman he has ever loved. 

Since his days of youth in Tokyo Jujutsu High, where he teamed up with two persons who would become his most important friends and unintentionally, got madly in love with one of them. Life tasted sour and sweet, all in the same plate.

One of his teammates was like a breath of clear and beautifully scented air filling his grateful lungs with so much joy, it was ridiculous. 

The blonde sorcerer remembers how much attention his lovely teammate drew by just parading around in the school uniform or merely smiling at one of his unexpected moments of sarcasm. 

The way her smile lit the rooms was something cathartical. Kidnapping the eyes of those who Nanami called classmates, to be more precise…upper classmates… annoying little bastards always lurking around the lovely third of his team. Their intentions clear, as the clear eyes of one of them.

Satoru Gojo and Suguru Getou were like a plague that more than not, invaded the younger trio space. The jujutsu sorcerers were older than them yet that did not stop them to somehow always find a way to crash their meeting points and places to hang out, a coincidence, he doubted it. 

Those two were like leeches who wanted to feed from the sweet and addictive nectar of his precious classmate, so eager to probe themselves better than each other and as consequence better than him…by sporting feats of strength and power so huge that it was impossible for others to even catch up with them. 

Gojo and his ever present, knowing smile adorning those soft lips as innocently leaned towards her and pretended was going to teach her a new combat stance, only to let his body stick closer than necessary while his treacherous hands lightly traced the supple skin it could grasp… sneaky, hormonally driven, young Satoru was someone to be careful of…and that fact made certain blonde crinkle his nose in disgust and narrow his eyes in anger, at his off-limits tactics.

The older sorcerer was to say the least infuriating.  

Even the approaches, from his not so flashy companion became threatening to the blonde. Getou and his tight-lipped smile which to certain person made him resemble a cunning fox.

He seemed to gracefully float around like a dandelion in the wind, careless attitude backed up by his hands tucked inside his pockets. 

The dark-haired sorcerer had an imperceptible and gentle way of showing up, making sure to leave a pleasant impression after every interaction. If his intentions were to incline the balance in his favor, those well-thought acts of attentive kindness were definitely smart.

The older students saw it all as a fair contest between companions, but Nanami more than sometimes felt the fantastic duo, cheats by teaming up against him… reason why he mostly ignored them.  

However, so caught up in their little mischief as the older duo was, eventually they stopped paying attention to certain unresponsive blonde who never gave them and their quarrel the time of day. What was their surprise when the supposedly inoffensive blonde ended up winning the lady, without breaking a sweat. 

As Getou sarcastically put it while patiently waiting for Gojo’s impending tantrum… looks like lady’s luck is on Nanami’s side on this one, Satoru. 

And soon the attention everyone coveted so much turned to him when his teammate and all her affections favored his stoic self.

Getou could almost swear could clearly hear how certain white-haired, blue-eyed prodigy’s heart broke like glass been smashed against the cold, unforgiving floor when she chose Nanami above everyone. 

Nevertheless, subtly glancing at his friend, could not glimpse a trace of hurt or jealousy. Only noted with resign…he was not smiling, anymore. And for the first time, Nanami was. 

After all, that cute, unexpectedly lovable girl choose him above the magnificent Gojo Satoru…Nanami, a nobody, just another regular sorcerer could call himself the rightful owner of her heart. Having the girl of his dreams fawning over his touch and craving for his sole attention, was indeed good. 

Ugh! Nanami secretly loved it. 

It was unexpected satisfactory fact that stroke his ego, almost hand in hand with how have her to his own, stroked his libido.

Soon their relationship bloomed, and she became one of those persons only appeared one in a million…apparently, this time there was a glitch and somehow, now Nanami is trapped in a dejavu. 

All thanks to the fateful day, he lost her. One day they were holding hands, the next she was gone… disappeared.  

The blonde looked for her like a lost dog looks for his home and many others joined as well… Gojo and Getou being just a few who devotedly shared this particular mission… but they were too late. His darling had left this world and shattered, Nanami abandoned the sorcerer world to become an ordinary salary man. 

One objective, money… enough money to make him forget that he failed to protect her, tired and boring days in an office were better than trashing in his bed unable to rest. 

It was a decent job, with decent intervals of action when he deigns to help a stranger or a girl in a coffee shop to remove a weak but maiming, curse. 

And what was his surprise when after several years of self-punishment, finally took the decision to come back to the sorcerer’s world and be useful again…he was struck with the vision of the beauty he once devoted himself to, but not a vision at all, but her in bone and flesh. 

Shock, stupefaction, resent, hurt… yes! those are some accurate words to describe how betrayed the blonde feels seeing her again sporting the same uniform of their youth while happily smiling at a new set of teammates and blatantly ignoring his presence as if didn’t know him, as if he hadn’t been her first kiss, her first dance, her shoulder to cry or the one thoughtfully fucking her against the nearest surface in countless occasions. 

Reaching his breaking point, Nanami’s fists clenches and his jaw acquires a sharper angle as he firmly strides to confront her and demand an explanation, when is hastily stopped by an old friend who corrects his deceiving trail of thoughts by announcing his mistake.

“It's her little sister, my friend.” Gojo explained, bluntly. “She’s a carbon paper copy, don’t you agree?” he draws his lower lip between his teeth and Nanami feels his blindfolded stare on him.

“You ought to know better than some of us.” The comment floats in the air, and the plausible tad of jealousy tinted in resentment it may have held is left forgotten due to how unbelievable much you looked like her.

Younger sister…? Wait, what!?...Why she never spoke to him about you?...she must have a good reason… yet why not share it with him… 

His face must have mirrored his doubts for the snow-haired teacher by his side was prone to inform.

“This little one appeared in front of the school at the tender age of eleven…” he nodded his head to emphasize his statement. “Days after you left, actually—” Gojo rested his hand against his chin, remembering. “Carrying a handwritten letter from her recently deceased sister, your darling…seems like she had a well-hidden secret whose name is (y/n).”

Nanami was at a loose for words. How did he not realize before? Of course, it couldn't be her! Yet, you looked exactly like when they were teenagers and even when those golden years had vanished, the memory still fueled his heart with a furious torrent of emotion that hammered through his veins. 

Momentarily stunned by the astonishing similarity, stood silent and Gojo continues explaining how you are the only trace she left behind…the youngest of a devastated, well-hidden clan of sorcerers and now, quite the lovely teen. 

Your cute face is exactly like the one he dreams of when has a strike of luck instead of the usual nightmares, the way the uniform hugs your curves is sending familiar shivers through every muscle of his body, the flow of your hair cascading down your back has him nibbling at his lip with a hunger doesn’t recognize and that incredibly, gentle spark lingering in your gaze has his heart hammering an old and painful ballad of love… you are re-branding his brain with a new, yet, known tune.

You are most certainly, her little sister and he is infuriatingly hooked, could have fallen on his knees and burst into pathetic tears of the most sublime pain and relief, but instead stands expressionless and almost indifferent to your presence, knowing certain cerulean eyes drink his every reaction, and if he knows Gojo as he thinks he does… the prodigy is pondering a second chance, so bluntly, can almost savor you.

Nanami must admit trusts Gojo with his life… even if doesn’t respect him that much, the prodigy holds a special place to him… that said, makes him a little uncomfortable the knowledge you may be occupying this powerful sorcerer every thought while triggering in him, a long qualm, thirst. 

Even when glancing at him looks cool and compose, the blonde senses how consumed by you he already is… how eager, patiently waits for a chance to steal the last print of an old flame that never was able to fully blow away.

A print that now lies in the next seat of Nanami’s car, scrolling through her cellphone utterly unaware of how her presence not only spikes her sensei’s interest, but has an equally, if not higher effect on Nanami’s blood pressure, fogging his rational thoughts and making him more dangerous than any curse they were to face that day.

“Take a picture, it lasts longer.” He hears you teasingly say, without taking your eyes from the screen of your cell phone.

Well, maybe he is not as subtle as he thought. A playful smile lingers in your lips and his rigid shoulders lose a little at your obvious teasing. 

Nanami merely hums, secretly amused. His face doesn’t show what really thinks but if it did, you wouldn’t be so calm.

“I have a picture of you.” You share out of the sudden, ignoring his lack of acknowledgement to your previous comment and from the corner of your eye almost dare to claim, he is smirking. “It's an old snapshot and has a date written below...” the blonde slightly tilts his head towards you, and you know you have his full attention. 

“My sister is giving you a kiss on the cheek, and you look outstandingly cold and indifferent, yet—” you make a long pause while rapidly typing something in your phone and starting to lose focus, you hear him stoically repeat.

“Yet…”

Glancing at him your gazes bump, his eyes are set on you instead of the road and the intensity shining behind his amber glasses spark goosebumps all over your forearms. 

You make a pitiful and unintelligible questioning sound, and your previous idea returns. “Uh-hh..yes!-…you were adorably blushing, Nanami.” You claim, confident of your keen eye. 

“It took me some study and analyzing, but I can confidently say that I may be the only person who can tell when you are blushing like a cornered nun.”

A cute giggle supports your claim, and the aloof blonde slowly returns his gaze to the road, in utter silence. A shit eating grin blooms in your face and pointing a finger at his face, you declare, shamelessly.

“Like right now! You are blushing!” 

The sorcerer barely tilts his head your way and carefully bats your pointing finger away. An imperceptible grin sparking his solemn stupor.

“No, I’m not.”

-

The two of you finish the mission fairly slow and leave almost intact the premises, the curse was extra troublesome and annoying more than powerful and you feel like if your body weighted twice as much due to fatigue. 

Your body has replenished with cursed energy and is back to normal, but this was supposed to be a simple enough mission, which actually wasn’t.

Entering the co-pilot seat, you sprawl all over the seat, heavily groaning.

“I’m too old for this.” You nag, stretching your arms over your head until your back cracks, loudly.

“If you are too old, I must be catastrophically ancient…” Nanami replies in a calm voice, absentmindedly, adjusting his seatbelt. “More like catastrophically-y, aged…like a good wineeee.” You interrupt him in slurred words and half-lidded eyes. 

Not giving a second thought to your misplaced praise, he finishes and glances at you to check your seatbelt, to find it irresponsibly absent. “Put your seatbelt on, please.”

Unwittingly ignoring him due to your quick shift between awake and sleep. He repeats the request and waits. 

“(Y/N), please, put your seatbelt on.” 

A pained sigh leaves his lips before his mouth sets in a firm line, and he leans over your already sleeping form.

This girl is going to be the end of me… 

His hand grabs for the seatbelt and pulls it over your torso, adjusting it correctly until can hear the click and checking his work, finds the belt tangled awkwardly right in the middle of your heaving chest. 

“Damn it.”

The blonde sorcerer whispers under his breath and smoothly hovering over you again, lightly grabs the wronged strap in between his fingers and pulls very weakly as to not disturb you, but the stretchy material doesn’t give and has to use both hands to untangle the seatbelt.

“Don’t wake up. Don’t wake up…” he repeats, lowly as a mantra, while his palms smooth against your breast, groping and lightly touching his way as he finally untangles the material and sets it straight. 

His eyes widen at the way the strap presses between your breast making it look rounder and plumper and his mouth waters, skin over his hands tingling at the delicious grazes he was able to steal while innocently arranging you.

Straightening back, Nanami places his seatbelt back on and starts the engine. There’s a long way back to the college and his mind is about to make it even longer.

You are firmly rooted in his brain. 

Throughout all the mission, you were constantly asking him about your sister and that set him on the edge. How was onee-san when she was young? Was she strong? Was she awesome? Where you a couple?

Nanami adored your lovely sister but talk about her still made him sore and sometimes a little guilty…a lot guilty, especially when you where the one asking. Due to a nagging voice in the back of his head always reminding him how blatantly lusted after the love of his life's, little sister.

He must admit felt thankful for the curse to be a higher rank that he had planned, due to that distracted you enough for him to change the subject.

But now, there is no curse to distract him, and his more dangerous thoughts are up to make him feel awfully driven.

He shouldn't have touched you, but he didn't want you to be uncomfortable.

How naive of me. The ex-salary man thinks, annoyed. 

The darkness surrounds the road while the car passes through the deserted lane and Nanami can feel how his pants are getting tighter while his mind plays thousands of scenarios where you are the protagonist. 

A long sigh abandons his tight lips and slowing the car, finds a curve to stop. 

He feels odd. 

Nanami is not only exhausted but also embarrassingly aroused. 

Leaning back against his seat, shuts his eyelids and takes a couple of deep gulps of air until his heart stops drumming so hard. Able to hear his thoughts again, relaxes and places a warm palm on top of his stranding erection and forces his mind into a calm state of relaxation.

In and out, in and out, he heaves.

Opening his eyes, finds the light of the city in front of him…when did I park here?...and realizes is parked in an abandoned parking lot which lies lighten up only by the bright lights of the throbbing city near a steep cliff.

The ex-salary man remembers that place from fond memories but doesn’t remember making the turn to get there. 

Odd. 

Cocking his head to the side, glances back at you and finding you deep asleep. He dares to palm his throbbing erect member though the suit pants. Light nibbles at his lower lip aids him to repress a moan and he ponders.

Maybe just some strokes to calm me down…she’s deep sleep…Its irresponsible for me to drive this… distracted.

He’s not even going to take himself out, stroking himself under the fabric would serve him right. Unzipping his pants, his hand merely slips under the fabric to wrap around his engorged length. 

Slowly strokes up and down, from the base to the tip in fluid and regular motions.

Looking at you the entire time through his amber lenses, he lets his mind wander about the thousands of possibilities that laid between your warm thighs, and it takes just a minute for him to close his eyes to enjoy his little fantasy and for a loud moan to freely depart his sealed lips.

Nanami keeps stroking, a little faster, a little firmer… when suddenly feels faint air fan his face.

Instantly, opens his eyes to find your beautiful (e/c) orbs, gazing down at his erect cock. Fully at display, at some point, had pull himself out and now he was fucked.

Embarrassingly mortified is about to cover himself and mutter a fast apology when your words stop him cold.

“Your balls are so full…” You express, matter-of-factly, stare firmly set on his exposed flesh. “May I help you relieve the stress, Nanami? After all it is my fault–”

Your cotton-candy, mellow mewl informs and he realizes your words don’t make sense, why would it be your fault?Perhaps, you knew of his sick infatuation with you? Maybe you were aware of how frequently his mind fluttered around you… or, maybe he has been painfully obvious, and you just like to see him, troubled and strained. Having his permanent stare on your every move. 

But before your words sink completely to find a proper meaning, your body is in motion. Undoing your seatbelt, you climb out of your seat and straddle him for a moment too short for his delight, to then carefully slip in between his open thighs and comfortably, occupy the space under the steering wheel.

“Are you comfortable?” 

You ask and the experienced sorcerer is too stunned to answer. Mouth agape, he witnesses as your tiny hand shyly grazes his sack to then cup it and begin to do a generous massage.

Nanami can’t stop the pleasurable tremble that kidnaps his entire frame, and he blasts. 

“Stop-” his firm request dies in his parted lips when your wet lips join sucking the smooth skin covering his heavy balls and a long, raspy groan fills the car.

You dedicate all your mind in the task and closing your eyes in concentration, ignore how his throbbing member rests over your face, delivering soft, faint slaps each time you suck too eagerly. 

Nanami is getting there way too quickly, your inexpert massage combined with the fervent licks and sucks are unfairly disarming him, his thick thighs are sprawled on either side of you and remembering how to breath, sets on a personal quest to prevent from cumming. 

Not that he doesn’t want to see your cute little face dripping in his murky essence, is more that he doesn’t want to face you after.

Finally getting his shit together, comes back from ecstasy and is able to think straight again. 

What he plans to be a firm demand is highly questionable.

“Stop right now-… (y/n) …you don’t know-” gasps, “what you a-are doing…to me-” squinting his eyes, his mouth opens slightly to gulp more air. 

“Am I doing it wrong, Nanami?” Your pouty lips abandon his scrotum, and you glance up at him looking like a scolded puppy.

Nanami’s heart clenches watching you pout like that. You look so eager to please him and he feels so eager to let you.

This is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong… 

Loudly sighing, cools his mind and letting all his good senses be melt by you, asks the only question that is able to formulate. “…Are you sure?”

There’s a pregnant silence and he, anxiously, waits.

He wants you so bad, shamefully remembers how tempted felt to touch you more in your sleep. To slide his hand between your open legs under the fabric of your skirt, to grope under your uniform shirt and feel the softness of your skin. But he isn’t that kind of man. He only takes when given.

Finally, you nod, and he gently denies his head. 

“I need verbal–” 

“I’m sure, Nanami.” You reply, rapidly but shyly. “Please-e let me help you.” You stammer, weakly and a cute blush spread over your cheeks.

It’s enough for Nanami.

Opening his pants, a little wider, he strokes his shaft, invitingly and you lean up on your bended knees to let your tongue run from the roundness of his scrotum and up his thick length, leaving a wet line of delirious tingles along your way up. Your pink tongue flattens a visible vein at the side and your lips wrap, slowly, around the tip.

Nanami wasn’t expecting this level of compromise at suck him off and his mind goes uncontrollably, wild and foggy.

Your pink lips are devoutly hugging the tip, delivering slow and wet cat licks until you feel your head be pushed from the back and you are forced to engulf almost six inches of raw meat, slipping down your delicate throat, roughly. 

The bulbous head of his cock faintly hits the back of your throat, and he gasps, loudly.

“Please…” the sorcerer mewls, “open wider-” bucks into your mouth, eyes tightly closed. “WIDER...” the blonde commands, in a tight voice and his palm presses harder against the back of your nape. His hips start to move, humping your narrow mouth, taking your head in his hands to dip his cock as his thrusts ignite a rhythm. 

You whine and his eyes open to look at your glossy eyes looking up at him, lips stretched around his shaft, mouth full of him, nose hitting his pubic bone with each lunge as his plump balls coat in spit falling from your drooling lips. 

You are too much to take in. You are too fucking much. Nanami is losing it. Your fingers are digging at his thighs and your cheeks resolutely hollow to try to suck him deeper. 

Desperately, trying to achieve his needy command.

It's so wrong, so despicable of him to be filling you so utterly good. It's like your mouth was carved around his erect cock.  

Tears run down your cheeks and Nanami doesn’t even try to slow his pace or alternate from hitting the back of your throat to let you breathe. 

He’s far gone to gift you with those courtesies, he gave several warnings and even more chances to leave him be. 

But your stubborn self-refused to listen, now the only thing can do is take his glasses off to place them over your eyes and slip them up the bridge of your nose, to lower the pang of enthusiasm that your wet eyelashes mixed with how much you are struggling, arouses him.

Needs to keep a little control over himself, you are so inexpert he might break you, if let's go completely. 

You look so good; it is taking all in him to not thrust faster. You are as breathtaking as your sister once was.

And it hits him, his eyes narrowing at the realization, you are way better. 

“Never thought I would say this…but i think you look even prettier than your sister used to look when she sucked me off after classes-” he praises, drawing a large hand down your cheek to tilt your drooling chin up and guide your mouth to swallow more of his length until feels your agitated breath fan against his pubic skin and he holds, lightly. 

“Breathe through your nose.” Indicates, in a calm voice. “You wanted to know more about her…” You blush at the mention of your beloved onee-san and your current state, but Nanami’s seems fairly relaxed, “…haven’t you been pestering me about that all day?”

Gagging tears run down behind amber glasses at the same time you nod, weakly and whipping them gently with his thumbs, he continues.

“The first time I fucked her dumb was after we defeat a special class curse…she had your exact age, we both were so young-” his voice was thick with something you couldn’t decipher but the way he looks down at you, tells miles about how serious he’s been. “I pressed her against the hard concrete and ram her from behind without letting her adjust to the girth of my cock…” you sharply inhale trying to pull your head back and he pulls you back in and holds you still between his strong hands. “I said, breathe through your nose.”

The stoic blonde waits for you to stop gagging, softly petting your hair and once your pulse is steady again, he continues sharing. “It was not gentle or romantic, in the least, pure and raw passion-…” his orbs roll to the side as if remembering and faintly grinning, he admits. “She even let me strip her bare in that filthy place, to mount her against everything we could put her on…” his right palm slides down your throat in a measured motion, palming with the pad of his fingers at your delicate neck to figure how deep inside you, he is.

Lightly nudging finds the head of his cock at the top of your delicate neck and he hums, approvingly at how deep your swallowed him being your first time. You were certainly struggling to keep him nestled inside, yet he isn’t ready to leave your warmth.

“At first, she couldn’t swallow me whole but after hard training I loosen her throat enough to hug my cock at its fullest… just like you are struggling to do right now…” his fingers tap playfully against your swollen neck, and you groan.

Whirling your tongue around his tip, as your last attempt to unbalance him enough to pull back, finally succeed and he moans huskily, to then pull you off from the hair, lips making a loud pop sound when your mouth leaves. 

You pant, heavily. Tears run wild down your strained cheeks as you swallow some spit to moisten your sullen throat. 

Trying to catch your breath, you feel the rim of his coat sleeve gently cleaning the drool from your mouth, soft and precise wipes as if polishing fragile china and his large hand cups your jaw delivering a mindful massage while his other hand threads his long fingers inside the strands of your hair and both palms dutifully lower the pain cause by his previous roughness.

“I apologize, just wanted to make a point.” He simply states as if that explained everything. You look at him, confusion swimming in your round puffy eyes and he sighs, innocently cocking his head at you. “Your sister and I had a very special relationship, based in raw trust and the most pure and unprejudiced understanding.” 

You weren’t dumb and his secret innuendo didn’t pass unnoticed. It was more than obvious that they knew each other fairly well to share their kinks and deepest secrets and trusted each other enough to not feel judged when they did. 

You want that, you want Nanami to claim you as he once claimed your sister. You want Nanami to trust you as he trusted her.

“I want to be like her!” you proclaim, heatedly. “I can take it.”    

You say, staring directly into his eyes, determination shinning in your orbs. Nanami shakes his head, pleasantly surprise and in a lazy motion takes back his glasses, bumping the tip of your nose with his index finger before putting the amber glass back on the bridge of his nose.

The experienced sorcerer leans, surrounding the steering wheel with both his arms and whispers in a husky, joyful voice. 

“Want me to train you like I train your onee-san?” A mischievous smirk stretches his mouth, and you marvel at how handsome he looks when he’s relaxed.

You nod, eagerly. 

“Fine.” He speaks. “I’ll train you.”

Your eyes round with excitement and he grins at your sparkling attitude. 

“Lesson one.” You lean closer, attentive for his next words. “Breathe through your nose.” 

A wide smile stretches your face, beautiful and full of joy and he feels butterflies flying inside his stomach when you say his name.

“Nanami.” 

“Nanami…”

“Nanami Kento!”

The blonde opens his eyes, startled and confusion raids his usually stoic features. 

“Nanami-” You call once again, this time softer. “You fell sleep.” You swiftly explain and glancing around finds the car where he left it, at the side of the lane and not in the parking lot near the cliff. 

Damn it! Dammit! I dreamed all…? What a magnificent asshole I am…that was the lividest dream I’ve ever had…Damn it…Damn it…

“I know.” His voice is thick and clearing his throat, his face goes back to plain and indifferent. “Just resting my eyes…to continue safely.”

You accept his answer, easily.

“Classic Nanami,” you beam. “So trustworthy.” Smiling adds. “I feel so safe around you.”

His mouth sets in a straight line and he starts the car again, feeling a whole lot more guilty.

The trip is fast and silent, and you attribute it to him being tired. But you couldn’t be more wrong. 

The experienced sorcerer is deep in thought, more like deep in regret. Analyzing every aspect of his wet dream, can only come to the conclusion that he is in desperate need of placing you in your sister’s shoes. 

Probably is being unfair to that prerogative, what he really wants is for you to want to be in your sister’s shoes. 

For you to want and need him as much as he does with you. Is that too much to ask? He thinks not. 

Reaching the school, he stops at the entrance, and you hop down the car, bouncing skirt claims his entire attention and snapping out of it, Nanami quickly says his goodbyes with a fast motion of his hand.

The motor roars and before he leaves, you turn around and point at his face through the open window. 

“Hey Nanami!” he turns to look at you, holding a stare that’ll worry you, if it weren’t being hidden behind his glasses, and ignoring his throbbing need, you cleverly proclaim. 

“You are blushing!” 

Damn it. 

➡️ JJK NSFW ART

[lustylita]

After it all happened.

Angst/ Open ending.

Idea is by me, but with the help of the amazing @nyx-umbrakinesis 's beautiful writing skills, I present this angsty idea!

Go give her love omg!

_______________________________________________

The extermination had ended... time had passed and the devastation left behind had been mended... mostly, the hotel had been rebuilt, Sir Pentious had been mourned and memorialised, and you... you found yourself actually beginning to be able to process what had happened.

The trauma still fresh, but day by day it's symptoms becoming more manageable. It was in this more awakened state... (as you focused more on the problems of the others around you rather than your own,) you noticed one glaringly out of sorts issue – Alastor.

He was behaving like everything was fine, like the battle had never occurred, like everyone around him hadn’t suffered either – something was off... Was it denial? You could tell something wasn’t right, his trademark smile was slightly strained, his face looking more contorted and uncomfortable than usual, and his posture constantly stiff, as though ready to fight (or flee) at a moments notice, on top of all of that he spent so much more time cooped up in his radio tower, you barely saw him as he whiled away hours upon hours away from the company others, behind the locked door of his safe space for it to be a coincidence.

You simmer on this information, and agonise for a few weeks, observing just to make sure you weren’t imagining things – even though highly unlikely – you also waited to see if he would open up to anyone, share why he’s been acting like Quasimodo in his bell tower.

However, to absolutely no-ones surprise, he did in fact not do that, (even though everyone was in the same boat, all of you suffering some form of injury or trauma).

So, with a determined air, and confident gait, you ventured up to his radio broadcast station. Footsteps echoing slightly on the wooden floorboards as you ascend the stairs, breathing labouring, legs aching from the ascent.

You knew Alastor didn’t like anyone intruding upon the sanctity of his precious room, and wouldn’t appreciate this gesture of goodwill, preferring to interact with others in the common areas when he was free, but given his new proclivity for hiding away he hadn’t really given you any other choice, since he’s never present in the public areas of the hotel anymore.

Arriving at the heavy door, teetering back and forth on your heels and toes nervously for a moment, you take a deep breath, steeling your nerves.

You reach up with a sure hand and knock loudly on his door and wait. You heard rustling of scattered papers and the clang of something sturdy being knocked over in haste, and fumbling as he clearly tried to correct the error.

In this it became evident to you that your suspicions were correct, he was indeed hiding, or withholding, something of significance, you blinked several times snapping out of your thoughts when the door squeaked as it swifly opened.

“Ah, hello little one! To what do I owe this visit!” Alastor says with an exaggerated flair, his smile tensed, and his eye twitched looking more manic than you’ve seen from your observation of him this whole week.

Before you could get any words out however, he continued as though filled with effervescent bubbles, really overemphasising every movement and word, his smile looked like a wide crack in a porcelain plate, “Do come in, my dear, my broadcast won’t begin for another hour, I have plenty of time for a special guest,” He guided you inside, a hand ghosting on the small of your back, almost forcefully,

“Come on, in, in,” his voice sounded unnerving.

You took this as the opportune moment to confront him, so after taking another nervous breath and taking note of a bead of sweat travelling down his forehead.

“Alastor, I know you don’t like divulging your feelings, and that’s all well and good... But I do feel like opening up could be cathartic for you... To put it bluntly, ever since the extermination you’ve been acting strange – more so than usual. Alastor everyone’s beginning to notice, it’s getting more and more obvious with every day that goes by. You’re withdrawn, you don’t torment Husk nearly as much as you used to, even Charlie and Niffty can’t get your attention, and you literally set Vaggie on fire last week,” You nervously twirled the ring on your index finger around and around (a nervous tick) as you watched his whole body freeze.

“I haven’t the faintest clue what you’re insinuating, my dear.” his voice sounding strained as he dismissed your theories.

Just as you’d predicted. However his nonchalant attitude about the situation was anything but, with the way he looked at you with a rigid grin, and stiff posture all but confirmed everything.

And you knew... you knew, that if you pushed slightly, put pressure on the raw emotion you would get at least some form of an answer. So without any self preservation.

“Alastor please.” Sounding exhausted, “You know I’m not ignorant, I thought it would be better if I came to you first about this, or would you rather it were Charlie who came to see you in this state? I think this solution to be the lesser of two evils, wouldn’t you agree?”

Your brow raised as you tried to rationalise with him, in contrast his brow began to furrow in irritation, his ears even pulled back, and you could swear you almost heard a growl, “I would prefer if all of you left me well enough alone. If I wanted assistance, I would ask. Quite the probing busybodies you lot are, leave me be.”

He stalked over to his desk, his boots making a dull thud, almost stomping, before huffing and taking a seat in his chair heavily, all while still regarding you intimidatingly with displeased narrowed crimson eyes, his grin still unchanged.

With an agitated huff of your own, you slowly approach Alastor again, “Us? Busybodies? Says the man who relishes every opportunity to intrude into people’s personal space, get in peoples faces for the sheer entertainment of it all. God forbid the people who have spent months with you getting to know you, enjoying your company actually care about you Alastor!”

Angrily pacing before him, your hands gesturing wildly in your temper, “so why don’t you please just enlighten me on what’s wrong, at least then I can stop Charlie from coming up here and dealing with you in this state, and then maybe I can let you go back to whatever it is you’re doing in here all day everyday, become a hermit for all I care, just tell me and then I can leave, I want to actually enjoy my afternoon.”

You knew goading him was risky, but he really knew how to push your buttons, having now paused before his chair again leaving but a few inches between you as you puff like an angered wildebeest.

You observe him, his expression darkened, but as he looked up at you, you saw it again, the same facade, cracking him again, making your heart lurch, he laughed at you condescendingly.

Rolling his eyes, Alastor looks back to you coldly, “Absolutely, nothing is wrong with me.” His voice becoming more scratchy as the radio effect worsens, suddenly he’s towering over you.

Hoping intimidation would be enough to deter you he continues, patronising you, “I’m not a weak little demon like you dear, I don’t need someone to hold my hand, or help take me for a walk, or talk about my feelings in a nice little share circle.” His grin became dangerous.

“I’m an overlord, one of the most feared in all of hell, I am quite capable of dealing with my own issues, not that I have any. I don’t need you or anyone else in this tacky hotel to think you could possibly make any impact on me when you’re all just such pathetic little failures, I can’t believe you of all demons think that I care, well allow me to disabuse you of this notion. I don’t and never will, and if yo-“

Alastor watches with manic glee as your eyes quickly harden with rage and your shoulders begin to twitch bunching up with unbridled fury, as you react faster than you can think, your arm coiling back, with full intention of giving a well deserved slap to the contentious lanky shit, however, before your hand could move barely an inch, Alastor fast as lightning grabs your wrist.

Now also enraged at your impudence, Alastor menacingly backs you up, until you find yourself pressed against the red cold glass window overlooking the exterior of the hotel, his grip on your wrist bruising and tinged with pain, as he leans down towards your ear. Uttering in a low angry growl, his breath tickling your ear.

“Would you care to try that again, dear?”

Should I continue this??

[sitp-recs]

Part I: hymn to the sea

thank you @eleadore for creating this gorgeous art for @citrusses’ The Isle of Ogygia and for inspiring this rec list!

Sometimes all I want is the quiet. After a year of ups and downs feeling very introspective towards fandom, I found a lot of comfort in contemplative fics featuring the sea. They take me by the hand and get me immersed in a beautiful, mysterious setting in a way that I find deeply soothing, and even cathartic. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels instantly drawn to this theme, so I made a short rec list with some of my favorite titles. May September be kind and healing to us all. Enjoy!

🌊 On The Shore by @skeptiquewrites (T, 3k)

Draco takes up wild swimming. Harry joins him.

🌊 Saltwater Stain by @the-starryknight (M, 9k)

Seven days stuck on a boat investigating a rogue ghost wouldn't be so bad if Harry didn't want Draco so much.

🌊 The Isle of Ogygia by @citrusses (E, 13k)

There is an island, far out in the sea.

🌊 The Oceans They Did Rise by disapparater (M, 18k)

Finding post-war life more difficult than he'd imagined, Harry travels halfway around the world to find some peace.

🌊 if you've changed your mind, orphaned (E, 20k)

The first Draco knows of the whole thing is Harry Potter standing in his broom shed.

🌊 The Isle of Discussion by @shealwaysreads (E, 22k)

Harry and Draco arrive at the shores of Loch Leven to record the magical history of the land. They’re friends now, but up there in the Highlands, amidst the trees and sky and that wild expanse of water their own past is more present than ever; a gap they still can’t bridge.

🌊 Simulation Theory by @starquestingfordrarry (E, 35k)

An offer to test out a new invention for Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes turns into a whole lot more when Harry discovers who has the other part of the paired set.

🌊 What Shall Not Be Unearthed by @iero0 (E, 49k)

At the northernmost point of Shetland, surrounded by pointed cliffs, towers the Ootsta Lighthouse on a small isle in the middle of the open sea. Little does Harry know that he's not the only new lighthouse keeper.

🌊 Antediluvia by @lol-zeitgeistic (E, 56k)

Everyone always forgets about the Merpeople. So did Harry until the day his, Lee’s, and Hermione’s Portkeys land at Reagan National Airport’s Arrivals dais. He’s just had to leave a job he loves and pack his entire life—literally—into his luggage. Then Malfoy and his subplots arrive, and suddenly, saving the world again, one Mermaid at a time, sounds like the perfect excuse to do something he’s always wanted.

🌊 I Am Not Who I Became by mab_di (E, 93k)

Draco left England after the trials and has travelled the world meeting wizards and Muggles from different cultures and with vastly different relationships to magic, each other, and the natural world. Now he's a fisherman in Finland on commercial vessels. Harry has been struggling since the war and has become a recluse while trying to write his autobiography.

[spicycinnabun]

pt. 1 2 3 5 6 7 💐

When Steve first started working at the flower shop, he had only been helping customers and taking their orders over the phone. Their small family business had grown quicker than anticipated, and Steve’s parents had needed the extra set of hands.

The shop had been a gift to his mother. It had been something she’d always wanted, but his dad had never agreed to, until finally, he had fucked up badly enough in their relationship and had funded it out of guilt.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise that it turned out to be as successful as it was. Steve’s mom, Linda, was passionate and talented. She loved flowers and celebrations of any kind and maintained a big, beautiful garden at home.

It also helped that his father and mother were socialites. They had a lot of friends to support the business, spread the word, and make it b(l)oom. They had a great location in the mall with little competition around.

For good or bad, weddings, anniversaries, sickness and death, flowers were always there.

Steve had mostly helped after school, but it became his full-time gig once he’d graduated and hadn’t gotten into college. Due to the sheer volume of orders, his mother could no longer make the arrangements alone, so she’d taught Steve everything she knew.

From watching her over the years, Steve knew how to care for the flowers. He could prep them and nurture them. The creativity that came naturally to his mother took Steve a bit of time, but he eventually realized what looked good. Usually, it was the simpler arrangements. He was good at that.

Linda was very kind in general, always giving him positive feedback and encouragement instead of criticism. Steve was lucky to have her, especially since his father was so hard on him. She loved and cared for him unconditionally. While his father constantly tried to make him feel inferior, her belief in him built him up to be the strong, confident man he now was.

When his mom had to step back even more from the business to travel abroad with his dad, Steve suggested they hire Robin. Scoops hadn't been fun for her, probably ever, and Steve had missed her since graduating.

At first, Steve didn’t think he’d like working at the shop, but like a flower, it had grown on him. He liked helping people, talking to them, and most surprisingly, he liked the flowers and what he could do with them. While he liked roses—after he removed their thorns, of course—his true favorite was sunflowers.

Working there suited him. It was simple. It let him use his hands and mind in ways he hadn’t tapped into while in school or doing sports. He enjoyed the additive and subtractive aspects of flower arranging. His favorite part was the pruning. It was almost cathartic. He loved pulling and clipping off all the unnecessary parts and making them look perfect.

It took Steve a minute to recognize the man walking around the shop.

Last month, when he was working on the big window display, Steve had seen him for the first time. Guitar case, long rocker hair, enough rings and piercings to set off a metal detector fifty miles away… but Steve remembered it most because the guy had tried to say something to him through the glass. He had left before Steve had gotten the chance to go out and ask him what he’d said.

The second time, Robin had waited on the mystery man. Steve had just caught him walking out with a dozen Black-eyed Susans while he stood there, disgruntled, in his soil-stained apron.

This time—the third time—it was late, and Robin had already clocked out for the night. Steve was sick. He was in the middle of a cold and just wanted to go home and crawl into bed. But even though he wasn’t feeling good, he knew he still had to do his job. There were flowers to be sold.

So, mustering up a charming smile, Steve approached him. "Can I help you find anything today?"

🌷🪻🌻🌹

this part written by my stevie, @batty4steddie (psst, go check out her gorgeous st gifs too) 💕

[hazbinhazmeinachokehold]

Sorry if I’m a bother, if that’s the case feel free to skip over this one.

I freaking loved it! I’m now inspired to draw Sam with the overlords now! If it’s not too much trouble could I ask for Zestial, Charlie and the rest of the hotel’s reactions to Sam?

(Ooo!😳 what if for Angel’s it’s Valentino who tries to hurt him?! That could get messy!)

A/n: Nah dude you're fine! Though I don't write for Zestial (not that that's your fault I keep forgetting to put that in the rules.)

Warnings (?): nothing major happens but Val's here so warning for abuse. Also, Alastor is hurt in Husk's part and Val is hurt in Angel's part, it's nothing graphic but if you don't want to read about that skip those parts.

!!!not proofread!!!

Charlie: Just as cuddly as you! Gladly accepts any candy from you. She ends up getting candy from the hotel for you. Let's you tag along if it's safe (or at least what she assumes you can handle.) Despite being the princess of Hell it's a known fact that she's a pushover and usually refuses to use her powers. So it's not that much of a surprise when someone attacks her. What is a surprise is how you react. I'm going to be honest, she is at least a little scared of you now. Though she's pretty sure you'd only attack people when they hurt your friends. We’re about 80% sure they're harmless.

Vaggie: She ain't too keen on cuddles, but isn't totally against it. She's not great with kids when they're just chilling so she doesn't know what to do. Also, she isn't one for sweets but appreciates the gesture. You remind her of Charlie in a weird way (but like platonic obviously.) Vaggie got some crayons for today's bonding activity when some random sinner attacked Vaggie. Before Vaggie could defend herself the sinner was ripped off of her. She just stared dumbfounded as you took care of the sinner. Well, there goes her thinking you're like Charlie. I mean sure you seemed sweet when somebody attacked a person you liked. You became terrifying and did anything to defend them- wait never mind you're more like Charlie now.

Angel Dust: Kinda creeped out by you before you do anything tbh. You follow him around nearly everywhere and keep offering him candy, despite barely knowing each other. But he understands you're a kid and may have a hard time showing you care, but he sets a ground rule: NEVER follow him to work. It's not a place for kids to be, and you followed that! Valentino just couldn't keep his hands off Angel even out of the studio. You too were just at a park, it was night so no one was really around. Until Valentino spotted Angel, you didn't hear any of the words that were said between them. But you did see Valentino hit Angel and that was the end of that. Seeing you almost kill Valentino was horrifying but also very cathartic. After the initial shock wears off you get about 20 bags of candy and however much cuddle time you want.

Husk: He's pretty blunt about finding you off-putting. But you don't seem to care and still follow him around like a lost puppy. The fact that him insulting you didn't sour your opinion of him even a little bit concerns him. So he starts to look after you. Not because he cares about you! Just because it'd be messed up to let a kid get manipulated no matter who they are. He totally cares about you. He gives chocolate milk or any sweet drink you like at the bar. One day Husk decided to stand up to Alastor which seemed to be a huge mistake on Husk's part. It would have been if it wasn't for you walking in on the scene. The threats were made good on. Just towards Alastor instead of him doing them. Husk is a little shaken up but hey he's probably free now. Gets you any candy you want and shows you a shit ton of card tricks.

Niffty: Tbh I don't have much to say about her. She finds you interesting but doesn't give you much thought. Though eventually when you protect her she returns your affection. Because you are scary and small which are both things she is.

Sir Pentious: (this is while he's in hell btw) Not great with kids. Like I don't think the egg bois are kids but even if they are the only experience he has with kids is his minions. But he does try! He does care for kids. He'll get you candy and cuddle if you want. He used to try to take over territories a lot. He always failed but he still made a lot of enemies that way. So when one of them finds him and tries to hurt him while you're around? I mean if he still wants that territory he can definitely take it now. To be honest I think he'd find you cool, even if you're more than a little scary.

[angelcakestarlet]

white mustang

dbf! richie jerimovich x reader

after your estranged father, mikey berzatto, passes away, who else is there to lean one but his best friend richie?

mike never had to say it out loud, but it was pretty evident that you weren't meant to 'happen'. you were just a reminder that his lifestyle would catch up to him eventually, as it had already done once with you. he tried to be there, bringing you down to the beef on days he could convince your mom to let him see you. he'd keep you in the office with some sandwich wraps to color on and crayons, showing you off to tina and everyone else in the kitchen who had convinced themselves that maybe, just maybe, you would be bear's saving grace. when richie found out mikey had knocked some broad up, he was conflicted. upset because he believed a kid would put a stop to the fun waiting for them in the rest of their twenties and yet to come thirties, slightly relieved because he finally had something worth pushing for. and for a while, you were just that. the staff saw it, richie saw it, you were keeping him just that more sane, just enough. yeah he was a father now but that didn't stop him from joining richie on deal runs, you in the car seat he bought from baby's r us last minute. and until the age of 15, he was (mostly) there, as much as his mind allowed him to be. he had outbursts, your mom didn't want you near him or "that piece of shit restaurant", you and everyone else could tell it was going from okay to bad. and bad quickly became scary, when you wouldn't see him for months. you'd be forced to text richie asking where the fuck your dad was, if he was okay. but richie never had an answer and mike didn't either. but you could see it in his eyes when you would finally stumble upon him after every other month, he had been somewhere inside him that was dark. the longest you went without hearing from him was six months, half a year. your 17th birthday had passed and tina, sugar, pete, ebraheim, cicero, and the rest of the family celebrated with you in the restaurant trying to distract you and themselves from the fact no one, not even richie, could seem to find mike. you saw him one last time, right before he died, after not hearing from him for months he invited you over. it was your second year of college and you were just trying to make it by when you got a call from a number you didn't recognize. you immediately recognized his voice, he was asking you to come over. you reluctantly agreed, being greeted to a messy house with papers everywhere and pill bottles littering little crevices in failed attempts to hide them from himself. that night, he cooked for you one last time. a part of you convinced yourself there was hope left behind his eyes, watching his back profile moving around the kitchen and whipping up a dish like he used to. how he used to sit you on the counter top, made you taste everything with your small hands while richie laughed his ass off at how huge his chain was on you calling you "a fucking g". two months later he shot himself. at the bottom of your stomach behind the sadness and guilt, you almost felt, cathartic? not because he was dead, no. but because you'd never have to wait months to hear from him again, or look down alleyways in hopes of seeing him, or have to look in his eyes and see the glimpse of someone he could have been. you start hanging around the restaurant more despite sugars protests. you never did well coping with your addict father when he was alive, when he'd leave you'd seek that nausea and sinking feeling he brought you elsewhere. it was easy to stumble upon all kinds of trouble, you were young, you were beautiful, and worst of all you were chasing the feeling you knew mike would and could never bring you.

a few months after his death, carmy's recent resurgence, and multiple trips to the bar downtown you decided the comfort of vodka seltzers and the pervy bartender was no longer enough. you were leaving the beef one night, passing by carmy's office to steal his carton of sapphires when you met richie outside for a smoke. "you finally ditch the marbolo red's, kid?" it was a cool spring evening in chicago, you wore your white sundress over warm socks. "you wish, richard" you let out a small laugh, "i'm just saying those are for pansies or hookers no in between, sweetheart." you looked at him baffled by whatever led him to that conclusion. "so what you're saying is the last hooker you had to hire to suck you off smoked malboro's?" you looked at him, reaching into him jean pocket and stealing his lighter. he scoffed, "you know i miss when you didn't have that fucking mouth on ya." he jabbed his cigarette in your direction, clenching his teeth. you chuckled at how easily he got riled up, he just loved arguing. "okay, old man. i'm going down to the bar, you coming or not?" you took a short drag of the cigarette, not used to the taste of carmy's choice in smokes. "why so i can watch you flirt with some jagoff for drinks all night?" he grimaced, "key word is, free, drinks, richie." he stepped on what was left of his cigarette at the word 'free', nodded, and began walking to his car.

richie shamelessly watched your dress hike up the back of your soft thighs as you leaned over the bar to get closer to the bartender. you had that berzatto gift (curse?) of being so fucked up it was hot. richie always felt a tinge of guilt when he perked up at the sight of your legs beneath a skirt, or your cleavage being hugged by your low shirts and dresses. but he told himself it was always okay to look if he wasn't going to do anything about it. and even if he wanted to, he knew mike would've killed him, or carmen, or tina. you sauntered your way back to the table with a round of shots and two beers. "do you have no shame, sweetheart?" he jokingly asked taking his beer into his own hand. "you tell me" you let out before throwing back a shot. he let out a chuckle, you were really something. as you threw your head back with the shot glass he made out the skin and freckles adorning on your neck beneath the dim light. he noticed how quickly you went back for seconds, and a third, until you were leaning over the table speaking to him in a hushed voice. he had downed the same amount as you had, but he was a 45 year old man who towered over you. "richie?" you spoke in a combination of a whisper and giggle, "how much do you wanna bet i can get that guy over there to get us another free round?". richie wouldn't bet a dollar that the guy wouldn't, seeing as he had his eyes glued to your ass the entire night. maybe it was the alcohol, but the guy's looming gaze felt like a god damn bee buzzing in richie's ear. and you entertaining dick's like him made it ten times worse. "god, i never took you as such a slut." he looked at you, eyebrows raised almost mockingly. your tipsy smile fell, "what the fuck, richie". you got up out of the bar stool, making a squeak against the floor and sped your way out the bar. richie took one last swing off his beer before making his way after you. he found you in back of the bar, only illuminated by the yellowish street lamp a few feet away. you were sniffling, crying in between small hiccups. richie kneeled down in front of you and brought his hand to cup your cheek, "you're lost, sweetie, look at you. getting drunk on weekdays and doing god knows what for a free round of drinks. it's not your fault," your tears stopped falling, entranced with how bright his eyes contrasted against the darkness surrounding you as he grabs the hem of your dress toying with it, "you've got no one to guide you, take care of you. you just need someone to take care you, huh?" his voice dripped with a condescension that made something bubble in the depths of your stomach. you nodded your head against his hand, looking at him through wet lashes, "let me help you, doll" he wiped past your tears with his rough thumb. he knew it was wrong, dirty, but he'd rather it be him than some 20 year old schmuck who would pretend to know you. richie knew you, the darkest parts of you. "can you help me, richie? please" you let out quietly. richie smiled, sickeningly sweet, as he brought his thumb down to swipe past your shiny bottom lip that was sticky with lip gloss. you felt your mouth drop open as if his finger took control of you, "poor thing, you've got no clue what to do with yourself. acting like a slut for anybody when you know who you'll come running to." his thumb entered your parted lips, you closed around him swirling your tongue around and humming against him. he let out a groan, "i'm the only one who can take care of you, okay?". you felt like you were floating, between the alcohol and richie's presence consuming you. you stared at his lips with hazy eyes and let go of his thumb with a 'pop', "kiss me" you barely whispered, "don't be rude, doll." he brought his hand down, holding you by the crevice of your neck, "richie, i need you". he roughly brought his mouth down to yours, letting it devour you. you whined into his mouth as he bit down on your lip. he detached himself, a string of saliva connecting you. he brought his hand down his face, staring at your puffy lips. he knew he was fucked.

pt 2?

[bunchofdoodlesinspace]

Stan and Ford Hcs because I Have More Things To Say

[also post-show, just for reference]

The Stan o' War has had some Serious upgrades done to it to suit their expedition needs. Most of these are courtesy of not just Ford, but also Fiddleford, who agreed to help him and Stan with some bits of the machinery. It's built to handle basically anything and everything they might encounter now.

Where Stan couldn't help with boat-construction, he helped with resources. Having lived on his own on such a low budget for so long, the man has had TONS of experience sorting out essentials, portioning out food, and so forth. Oh, and he also dumped most of his guns into it somewhere. Y'know, just in case.

(I say most because he absolutely left at least one of the guns with Soos with some cryptic messaging about the "Pug Mafia" or something. Definitely had absolutely nothing to do with him being concerned for Soos's safety, not at all, shut the fuck up-)

They decided to completely and properly dismantle and renovate the portal room for other uses. I can't decide if it's still a sort of secret lab type place, or if its been changed to be a storage room for some of the Mystery Shack's weirder and more precious items. Regardless, it's significantly smaller now. You would never be able to guess what it was housing prior.

The two of them also took a day to burn/destroy all of Ford's Bill-related items together. It was extremely cathartic and became a fantastic and much needed bonding moment for the two of them.

[Shuffles a deck of post-it notes with various labels written on them] [Slaps the Autistic one on Ford] [Slaps the ADHD one on Stan] yeah. I'll feel like this one's a given.

They frequently do things at exactly the same time (like adjust their glasses, stretch, sometimes they'll even say the exact same thing too) without thinking. It's a twin thing they've done since they were little.

Unfortunately, the memory gun has had lasting effects on Stan's mind. He recovers the memory of the summer immediately, and everything post-portal fight comes to him pretty quickly as well (I'd say over the course of a few days to a week). But many events prior to that remain unclear. Recounting the details of whatever happened and/or showing him pictures will usually bring at least most of it back, if not at least a strong sense of familiarity. Ford can't help but feel a pit in his stomach every time Stan can't remember something. And he feels it grow every time Stan still can't remember it even after Ford explains it to him.

Much like their great-niece and nephew, Stan and Ford help each other through their flashbacks, their panic attacks, and their nightmares, the last of which Ford undoubtedly has the worst of. If you thought my description of Dipper's sleep paralysis was bad, imagine lucid dreaming your body dragging you around to who-knows-where, unable to will it to change course, while a disembodied voice cackles at your futile resistance. And then not knowing if that was a dream or not when you wake up.

While Ford appears to be the more "put-together" twin, Stan is the one who is much better at things like cooking and keeping places tidy. Ford spent so much of his adult life either living in a dorm or a secret lab, and that on top of the way he hyperfocuses on research, regularly forgetting to eat and sleep- Yeah. Stan is usually the one dragging him away to eat something before he collapses.

(Stan is genuinely a good cook, btw. He took a lot of time learning how to do it better over the course of the summer with Dipper and Mabel)

Much like Mabel, Stan will frequently start making stupid jokes to try and bring Ford out of depressive funks. He's never been great with words, that was always Ford's thing, but he's always been good at making people laugh. Or, at the very least, making his brother laugh.

And much like Dipper, Ford combats Stan's low self-esteem with logical reasoning based on what he's seen since he was rescued. In fact, he nowadays often brings up the fact that Stan rescued him as a means to combat it. He wasn't grateful in the moment, for a lot of reasons, and ofc he still thinks it was extremely dangerous and reckless to reactivate it given the risks, but he understands Stan's position better now. He's glad he was able to return. And he's even more glad his brother still wanted him to.

They always try to plan to give themselves time to make the trip back to Gravity Falls right around the start of summer. Often, they're a few days late to the party, but they're determined to never miss the chance to spend time with the kids.

[jaegeraether]

Sunsets and footballers (Part 39)

Lucy Bronze x Reader (36) & Alexia Putellas x Character (7)

Masterlist (other parts here)

Lucy and Alexia were back in their moods. It was almost midday at the airport and they were sat with the group, though with headphones on and dissociating. Lucy was frowning at her phone, presumably texting her girlfriend while Alexia was staring into the distance with a resting face so terrifying that nobody dared approach the pair. Lucy had picked Alexia up last night and the pair had ended up talking in Lucy’s car out the front of Alexia’s house for a while. It had become a cathartic release for them to open up to each other rather than bottle it in. Alexia tried to help Lucy find solutions to flights, though there weren’t any, she’d already exhausted all of those avenues. Lucy had shown disbelief and almost shock towards what Alexia had experienced with her ‘crush’. They were both in similar boat, though Alexia knew Lucy’s was better as she actually had the girl already. Alexia had hoped after last night that she would be turned off of Ridley, but she wasn’t. That next morning the thoughts of her were still there and as she stared into the distance at the airport, she realised that longing feeling was also. She remembered the feel of Ridley’s fingers, as if she already knew her body better than herself. The heat of her body against her back. The whisper of breath in her ear. She’d also noticed scars on her torso that she hadn’t noticed before, as she wasn’t usually half naked. She wondered at those before her mind went to what she’d said to her.

‘I come here to see you.’ Ridley frequented that bar just to see Alexia? Was she just saying that to get her to lower her guard?

‘I don’t think of you like that, Alexia.’ She thought about her as something other than one of her fucks?

‘I don’t know how to give you anything else.’ That one had sounded incredibly genuine, but what did it mean? Was it related to her scars? Had something happened to her?

Lucy nudged Alexia then, breaking her from her trance. She looked at her as she gestured to the boarding gate.

They boarded the plane and for the first time ever, Alexia and Lucy sat next to each other up the front. Neither of them made a big deal about it, and the rest of the team seemed to also have accepted that the two had become quite close now.

Alexia sighed as she looked out the window.

“If you keep thinking that hard, you’ll have a stroke.” Lucy said from next to her.

“You know what I think about, Lucia. I know you can’t judge me.” There’s that broken English again. It got lazier the more distracted she was, and also had become lazier when she lost her care about making mistakes in front of Lucy.

“You’re going back there, aren't you?”

“I’m not sure yet…” She turned to look at Lucy. “But I know I have to go back for my jacket.”

Lucy knew it was an excuse, but she also knew it was Alexia’s favourite jacket that she’d left behind in the room and as she’d described it, she’d left quite hastily.

“For the jacket…mmnhmn.” Lucy responded sceptically.

Alexia didn’t even bother to roll her eyes at her. Instead, she let the guilty look sit openly on her face. She had no reason to hide it from Lucy, she already knew everything and if anything, she was finally comfortable enough with Lucy now to be comforted by her.

YFN was upset. It was Saturday now, Lucy’s game day. The storm had gotten slightly better, though there were still no passenger liner flights. She looked at the flights out and became frustrated as she realised other private planes and such were still flying. It was just coming up on 11am which meant it was midday in Barca and Lucy was already waiting for her flight to game. YFN looked down at the selfie she’d sent from the terminal. She was smiling but the happiness didn’t quite reach her eyes.

YFN: Your eyes aren’t smiling. Try again, please.

She knew it was cheeky, but she needed a bit of cheekiness if she had any chance of cheering Lucy up. She looked at her phone at the tickets to the game that Lucy had sent her. She’d sent two as each player was usually given a minimum of two. She felt her lips tremble as tears slid down her face looking at those tickets.

Another message from Lucy came through.

Lucy: This is the best I can do right now, little one.

She’d sent a selfie with it. She still looked a little sad, but her smile was wider as she snapped a selfie of herself and Alexia on the plane. They were sitting next to each other which wasn’t a surprise to her; Lucy had told her how close they’d gotten. Alexia was smiling at the phone, her teeth on show, though it also didn’t quite reach her eyes. The two most influential players in the Barcelona roster, both going into a game with hurting hearts.

Lucy and YFN had a long conversation the night before, after they realised there was no chance of a flight and were back in bed. Lucy had told YFN all about Alexia’s mystery woman and what had occurred. She’d also been shocked, though she didn’t misunderstand the woman as much as Lucy had. From what happened, it sounded like she was a little broken and it made her wonder what had happened in her life to make her that way. YFN was always genuinely interested about people, their true motives and what made them tick. This mystery woman was no exception to that. Lucy had been vocal about her worry, though YFN had eased that by letting her know that if it was Alexia of all people she was interested in, then that says a lot about her true self. Alexia was so unapologetically herself. She was a strong, outspoken leader, yet with a soft side that she held close to her. Not dissimilar to Lucy. She didn’t believe Alexia could be manipulated easily, and she didn’t believe the mystery woman was trying to take advantage of her. If she’d been doing that, she would have disappeared so often. It sounded to her as if she was trying to put some distance between her and her feelings for the Barcelona Captain.

When she’d explained all of that, Lucy took it all in and understood it a little better. That protective side softened a bit, though it was still present.

YFN: You’re beautiful. I love

YFN stopped typing. Was she about to say she loved her? She’d caught herself the night before on the phone also. She shook her head and backspaced the message, typing it out again before pressing send.

YFN: You’re beautiful, Luce. I’m so lucky. Please have a safe flight and a good game…. And can you do me a favour? No cards tonight please. You or Alexia. Message me after. x

YFN left the message like that, knowing that Lucy needed her space before the game, as much as she didn’t want to admit it. Usually it was okay but at the moment YFN knew that texts from her were upsetting her and wouldn’t help her getting into her game mindset.

YFN looked back at her phone for flights. The game started in four and a half hours. The flight to Barcelona was two hours. For some reason, she still had hope, even though she knew she’d have just over a three hour drive to Villareal even if she managed to get a flight. She looked back at the private flights taking off and shook her head in annoyance.

Suddenly, a thought came to her head. Why hadn’t she thought of it before?! She scrolled through her contacts and found the one she wanted, calling it.

As reliable as ever, she answered.

“Hey baby Blue, what’s doing?” Ridley asked. YFN didn’t realise how much she missed her voice.

“Hey Riddles, how are you?”

She sighed.

“That bad?”

“Mmn. I made a mistake.”

That surprised YFN. Ridley rarely made mistakes, though she’d always own up to them.

“At work?”

“Of course not. I’m the best at my job, you know that.”

“I know, I know. Is it a skip school kind of day?”

“It’s a ‘might stick a fork in an outlet and call it a day’ kind of day.”

“Ouch, that sounds bad Riddles.”

“I’ll be fine. I was hoping to see you though. You always know how to make me feel better.”

“You flatter me.”

“Are you in Spain yet? I’ve been waiting for your call. I miss you.”

“I miss you too. My flight was cancelled.”

“Ah, of course it was. I was hoping you’d gotten in before all of that. Aren’t you missing the game?”

“The game is at 4:30pm in Villareal.”

“Cute little city.” She must have looked at the time then. “It’s late. I’m surprised you left it this long to call me.”

“I know, I forgot. I was too busy-”

“-crying?” She chuckled.

YFN groaned audibly through the phone. Ridley knew her too well. Ridley switched to facetime then so she could see her face that was still puffy and red. YFN would have usually declined the facetime or been embarrassed, but she was neither of those things, because this was Ridley.

She gave her a soft smile when she saw her face “Do me a favour? Never change, Blue.”

“I can see your nipples through your shirt.”

“First of all, stop being ungrateful. Secondly…I have a solution to your problem.”

YFN laughed at the first thing and immediately stopped at the second. “What?”

“I’m just looking now and we have a cargo flight from Birmingham to Valencia at 12:30pm your time. It’s been delayed due to customs.” She scoffed as YFN saw her playing on her laptop. “Typical of them. It’s usually a two-and-a-half-hour flight so you’d arrive in Valencia at 4pm their time.”

YFN started to Google and Ridley answered her question before she’d even finished typing it. “Valencia is a city south of Villareal. It’s an hour’s drive to the stadium.”

An hour? So she could potentially be there by 5pm which would be just before half-time. YFN could feel her body shaking with excitement and she began to Google care hire from Valencia. Ridley answered this before she’d fully typed it out also.

“I can drive you.”

YFN paused and looked at her oldest friend. “You’re in Villareal?”

“No, but I can be.” She stated simply. “Do you know if the game is sold out?”

“I have a spare ticket,” she almost whispered in disbelief. How was everything working out so perfectly?

“That good karma is catching up to me.”

“But the drive is so long…”

Ridley shrugged and YFN wondered if she had an alternate motive. “It’s four hours from Barca to Valencia. I can leave now and I’ll make it on time.” She didn’t seem rushed at all. Typical Ridley.

“O…okay.”

“Okay? You’re in?”

“I’m in!”

“Okay, I’m going to make a few phones calls to get you on that flight. It’s cargo so there’s little human customs to worry about, they just care about the cargo itself. I’ll send you through the details and see you soon, baby Blue.” She grinned through the phone and YFN was suddenly even more excited to see her friend. “Do me a favour?”

“Anything Riddles.”

“Next time, don’t wait so long to call me, yeah? You know I’ve got you. Whatever you need, whenever you need it.”

“I know, and I promise. I love you and can’t wait to see your face.”

She gave a look. “I do have a pretty face. My therapist told me so.”

YFN rolled her eyes. “Is this the therapist you slept with?”

“Yes, but in my defence, she started it. I have a new one anyways. She says I use humour to deflect serious trauma.”

“I thought we already knew this?”

“Yes, but she also mentioned that it wasn’t a good thing. All I heard was that she thinks I’m funny. She should be paying me for our sessions.”

“Oh my god, Riddles, I’m hanging up.”

She chuckled. “See you soon. Don’t forget your passport.”

“And?”

“And I love you too.”

She noticed then that it felt so different to say ‘I love you’ to her friends like Ridley and Jordan, and then wondered why it was so much harder with Lucy. Perhaps because it had so much meaning to it. Regardless, she felt like she might end up blurting it out in Spain.

Her finger hovered above Lucy’s name in her messages but she didn’t click it. She already had the tickets to the game. She didn’t want to distract her but more importantly, she wanted to see the look on her face when she saw her.

She checked over her little suitcase again, making sure she had everything she needed including her passport and her Australian flag. She didn’t have a Barca jersey, Lucy was going to give her one before the game. That wasn’t important though, what was important was the fact that in a few hours, she’d be with Lucy. She shook with excitement.

Her phone buzzed and she looked at the message from Ridley with the time, address, and the person she was meeting to get her through the private customs and into the aircraft.

Four hours later, YFN had touched down in Valencia. The pilots had been lovely and let her ride jump seat for the flight as it was just the three of them. They’d shaken hands and gave her well wishes for the game.

The ‘customs’ when she exited the plane was one woman who checked her passport and Visa, giving her a satisfied nod and a welcome in Spanish. Ridley was close by, having driven right up to the plane as if it were a private jet. She was leaning up against her car, sunglasses on and looking as stylish as ever in a leather jacket and jeans. YFN dropped her suitcase and ran to her, jumping on her like a koala. Ridley chuckled as she squeezed her tight.

“God, I missed you Blue.”

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her in person. Ridley had moved to Spain several years ago and since then, they’d only met up once in Australia so Ridley could see Nan and her brother. They were basically her family.

“You smell the same.”

She chuckled again and walked over to grab her bags as if YFN weighed nothing. She was one of the rare people who she allowed to be physically affectionate with her, because it was YFN and she was the closest thing she had to family. Ridley managed to get her suitcase and bag into the car one handed as her other hand held an emotional YFN to her. She knew she’d get emotional, she had always been the more empathetic one of the pair.

“Okay, Blue. In we get.” She lowered her into the passenger seat and sat on the edge as YFN wiped the tears from her eyes.

“I’m s…sorry.” She said weakly.

“I expected nothing less, Blue.”

“We missed you last Christmas.”

Ridley felt her heart sink a little. It was becoming a bad habit of hers to distance herself from emotion and being around YFN and her family tended to bring those out of her. Along with memories. Good…and bad. It wasn’t until her new and terrifying infatuation that she still hadn’t accepted, that she’d felt a need to see YFN in person, regardless of how much it would make her feel.

“How about I make it up by coming this Christmas?”

YFN nodded and then spoke huskily with emotion. “We’d really like that.”

“Yeah? Hot Aussie Christmas.”

“Actually, I was thinking of bringing them over to the UK this year…Lucy wants them to see a game and she even offered to pay for their flights and everything. I wasn’t going to let her pay, of course, but don’t tell her that.”

Ridley gave her a look. “Or I can handle it…” YFN opened her mouth to argue and Ridley spoke before she could. “Besides, I really doubt you could stop Lucy from paying for them and organising everything. She seems very…persistent?”

“Stubborn?”

“That also. Speaking of, should we go surprise your girl?”

“Yes please.”

Ridley reached out unexpectedly and touched her scar gently with a frown.

“We match now.”

The car ride was all-round fun. They spoke of their jobs, their European experiences, all of the things they’d missed in each other’s lives. It was always so relaxed with the two of them. Like family but without the drama of arguing or pranking. Ridley seemed the exact same to YFN, the only exception being that she seemed a little more…emotional? She couldn’t quite place her finger on it, but whatever it was, it wasn’t a bad thing at all, though she feared it may unravel her a bit over time.

They arrived just after 5pm and found their seats, Ridley insisting on popcorn on the way through. They settled in and YFN felt tingly and excited as she spotted Lucy on the ground. Their seats were right up against the tall boundary fence where the players entered, and luckily enough, Lucy was playing on this side of the ground and looked so goddamned sexy in their away colours. It was a simple white shirt with blue shorts, though she had white thermals on under it also. Cold Lucy. She always loved her sun.

They had arrived at the 35 minute mark during play, Barca were up 2-0. Lucy looked great, and YFN hoped her knee wasn’t giving her too much trouble. Her speed made her believe she was having a good night with her knee and she wondered if the cold was helping.

There were a few delays with injuries and then five minutes were added to the half. Ridley was casually eating popcorn beside her, surprisingly focussed on the game. She would have questioned it if she weren’t so focussed on Lucy and buzzing with excitement for when she saw her after the game.

That, however, did not go to plan in terms of timing. The ball was kicked out just in front of where the Australians were sitting and it was a Barca throw in on the boundary. Lucy jogged over as she always took the throw ins and held her hands out for a ball. She stopped suddenly as her eyes locked onto YFN and her mouth dropped open. She’d never seen Lucy so shocked in her life. She was frozen still, arms out, and it were as if the entire stadium was watching. YFN blushed at the attention and gave her a little wave.

A ball hitting Lucy in the face knocked her from her trance though she didn’t react much to it beyond the wide grin that spread over her face. YFN’s grin followed Lucy’s and she gestured to the field. Lucy turned but sure made it obvious where she’d rather be as she couldn’t help but look over at her again as she walked to her throw in spot.

She wiped the ball under her shirt like she usually did and YFN couldn’t help but appreciate her ass in those shorts as she took her throw in.

Ridley leant towards YFN, stretching an arm over the back of her seat confidently. “So when’s the wedding?”

YFN scoffed, though couldn’t stop her smile as she watched Lucy.

A few minutes later, the whistle blew to signal the end of the first half. Lucy came bounding over to the boundary where they were and she still hadn’t noticed Ridley, her eyes only for her girlfriend.

“Hi Luce!” She called down to her and reached a hand down. Lucy reached up automatically and hooked their pinkies together with a grin.

“Hi, little one. You surprised me.”

“Pretty sure the whole stadium saw that, Luce.”

“Your fault. How…wait…” Lucy jumped up and grabbed the bar, using her biceps to pull her up close enough for YFN to hug her. If that wasn’t impressive enough, she took one arm off the bar to gently pull her head tighter into the crook of her neck.

“Little one.” Lucy murmured into her softly, just for them. She got a little emotional and the longer she held herself there, the more YFN wondered how long she could hold on. She needed to speak quick.

“Luce I need to tell you something.”

Lucy pulled her hand back to help her grip onto the bar again, her biceps bulging as she held herself there with surprising ease. She looked a little worried.

YFN leant into her and wrapped her arms around her neck so it was just Lucy that could hear.

“I love you, Luce.”

She bowed her head to kiss her neck under her arms where no one would be able to see what she was doing and pulled back to see another shocked looking Lucy, though this one was very happily shocked. Lucy looked at her lips as if she were going to kiss her in front of all of those people and then opened her mouth to speak but before she could, there were sounds underneath Lucy. They both looked down at Panos and Oshoala dragging one of their cooler boxes under Lucy so she had something to stand on. Lucy relaxed herself down onto it as YFN waved back to the girls shyly who were now teasing them. She saw behind them that Keira and Alexia were wandering over to greet them.

“She made it!” Oshoala preached, arms held high as if she were praying. “She hasn’t shut up about you.”

“Oh?” YFN looked at Lucy who was still looking at her as if she had a million things to say.

“How?” She asked again, changing subjects.

YFN turned to Ridley who Lucy still hadn’t noticed yet, only to see her leaning up against the rail with a teasing, dark expression as she looked down at one of the players. They followed her gaze to Alexia who was frozen on the spot, not dissimilar to Lucy earlier as she stared at Ridley with wide eyes.

Ridley leant over the bar just a little further to greet her.

“La Reina.”

[little-miss-dilf-lover]

Pls can I request tangerine headcanons with gf reader who actually has daddy issues (not the annoying kind you see online, but actual issues with her father) sorry if this is too angsty or makes you uncomfortable. You don’t have to do this

Love your writing and glad you’re back🖤

hii!! this was a little cathartic to write, so a little thank you to you. sending love and hope all is well. hope you like it💌 and tysm<3

FATHER ISSUES HC’S

tangerine x female reader

— I think tan figured it out by himself. he figured you have issues with your dad based on everything you did and didn't say. how you'd avoid talking about him when you spoke of your family, or how you'd only share brief, small things about your dad

— more obviously, I think he sussed it when he noticed how hesitant you were about trusting tan in the beginning, how you'd never believe his kind words or try to essentially please him every chance you had - offering to do things for him, wanting to make yourself seem useful to him so he didn't leave. feeling insecure. overly clingy at times, emotional, jumpy, those sorts of things

— he also noticed how (sorry to say this but) complicated you'd be. how you push him away one minute, then grasp at him back the other. constantly sending mixed signals because you didn't know how or what to feel. like you didn't think you deserved his love while desperately craving it

— he pulled you aside one day after things became more solid between you two. and asked if you were willing to share what went on with your dad. he'd be very careful approaching the subject, making sure it was a safe space and you felt comfortable. he just wanted to know why you are the way you are to basically protect you

— you'd share encounters from your childhood, and you'd see the way he tried to contain himself. hearing the sad things you'd say would make his brows furrowed and heart sink. he'd feel your anger, confusion and love, how you'd have mixed emotions about the topic. all he wanted was to hurt him for hurting you, but he knew you wouldn't like that, bc no matter how nasty or horrible he was, he's still your dad, and even though he hurt you, you wouldn't want to hurt him back (unless you actually do lmao then I don’t blame you) 

— he'd make a vow there and then to be the first and last man to ever love you 💔 (so sweet, gonna be sick)

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

no tan taglist as don’t want to spam you guys, also so you can find this on your own as might be angsty or irrelevant for some

[theflyindutchwoman]

Let me gush over that last scene for a bit because there was something magical in the way it was filmed and acted… The cinematography… with Kojo sitting behind the door waiting for Lucy, pretty much the same way he did after he destroyed her apartment and she came home - which, incidentally, was also the first time Tim set foot in her place… With the nod to the history these two share in this hallway : Tim's moment of clarity after their practice kiss, the time where they almost crossed that line after Vegas, that breakup scene (that technically wasn't a breakup but felt like one)… Only now, they are further apart than they have ever been, not even standing in the same hallway, not even facing one another. Separated by walls - literally and metaphorically… And yet, the song in the background gives a more hopeful tone to this… "All this trouble's only gonna last for a while".

And the emotions… The way Lucy lit up when she saw Kojo was so heartwarming… Before it slowly became heartbreaking when her tears feel down… It was painful in an almost cathartic way. If I'm not mistaken, we haven't seen her really cry since that fateful night. And Tim's face… It was like he finally let himself feel all those emotions he has tried to contain and pretend weren't there ever since. There have been some glimpses here and there but I could truly see beyond his wall here. There was pain, there was regret… and I'd like to think that he was starting to comprehend what he has done. Which would be a fitting parallel to his epiphany after that kiss if this is indeed what happened. And then, there's the gift… It was perfect because it came from him. Up until his conversion with Aaron, he wasn't planning on doing anything to mark Lucy's birthday, aware of how this could make things worse and hurt her… But deep down, he knew he couldn't not do anything either. He couldn't let her think he didn't even care, not after all the hurt he has already caused her. So in the end, sending Kojo was perfect. To me, what made this so special was how symbolic this was. This felt like a subtle reminder of their past, of their bond… of what made them them, while respecting her boundaries. This gift wasn't about him or trying to win her back or anything of the sort. This was all about Lucy and letting her know that she is loved.

[sepublic]

Realistically, we need to explore Wu's guilt over the Ice Emperor situation. Because it really is just another Lord Garmadon, if you think about it; A loved one did something for him, only to take a blow from a snake that would doom them to commit horrific atrocities under a new identity as a corrupting influence whispers in their ear.

You can't tell me that Wu wasn't forever haunted and traumatized by Garmadon being bitten, just as Garmadon was; Thinking it should've been him. That his selfishness and cowardice and incompetence doomed his brother. His vivid flashback to "It's all WU's fault!" makes me think this was a recurring nightmare, a traumatic incident for him. Wu must've low-key bargained and fantasized at times if the one who was bitten was him instead, if his brother got to be the hero while Wu was designated the villain as he deserved to be.

Garmadon has it so bad while Wu gets to thrive, so Wu shouldn't let himself complain about anything! After Garmadon died in S4, he might've entered the bargaining phase of grief by telling himself it was only fair to let Garmadon have Misako after everything Garmadon sacrificed for him; It's not what Wu should think, but he'd realistically imagine that for a while, because Wu is the perfect child with the perfect life who should always be more considerate of his brother. He has no right being sad or frustrated, especially not with a brother who’s had it worse for Wu’s sake!

And then it happens all over again with Zane as the Ice Emperor. And the worst part is that unlike last time, it WAS supposed to be Wu; The Great Devourer bit Garmadon by sheer coincidence. But everything Aspheera did was to target Wu, because of Wu's own understandable mistakes as a child. It was all building up to Wu being sent to the Never-Realm, but Zane took the blow for him. Like Garmadon, he took the consequences without realizing just how unimaginably dire they’d actually be.

And because of that, Zane went mad because of the Forbidden Scroll; He became victim to Vex, and committed genocide and terrorized a land for sixty years, even longer than Garmadon's reign as a villain! And Wu would be haunted all over again. He'd tell himself that if he'd been hit by Aspheera instead, he probably wouldn't have become a villain due to a lack of a Forbidden Scroll; Meaning not only does this change who gets cursed to be a villain, it would've spared so many lives! It should've been him. We need to torture this old man but in a way that explores and gives cathartic validity to his trauma instead of just demonizing or sidelining Wu.

[maraschinomerry]

Hi! Could you please write a Lockwood x reader fic involving the prompt: You aren't well, but you don't want to skip training and make them worry, so you continue on as usual, thinking it's not that serious. But that's proven wrong when you faint right in front of them mid-fight. Mixed with the dialogue: "You hold it like this and- why are your hands trembling?" Thank you in advance! 💙

Pretty Boy

Pairings: Anthony Lockwood x gn!reader

Content: mild swearing, whump (fainting as in the prompt), mentions of not eating or sleeping, cute flirty ending

A/N: thank you for such a great request!! I've actually also just got over being not well while I was writing this (I'm fine now and wasn't this bad!) so it was weirdly cathartic 😅

Word count: 2.3k

The blissful quiet of the kitchen at 35 Portland Row was shattered by an incredibly loud, almost violent sneeze. You threw your arm across your face just in time to catch it. That was weird. You never sneezed.

"Bless you," Lockwood frowned over the top of his magazine.

That was day 1.

On day 2, you were all out on a case, in a dilapidated Victorian house. In a divide-and-conquer strategy for such a big place, Lockwood and George had headed upstairs while you and Lucy stayed on the ground floor. Fumbling around in the dim light of the dining room, Lucy threw open the curtains to let in what was left of the evening sun, accidentally unleashing a cloud of dust which shimmered in the beam of your torch. You both coughed a little in surprise.

Your coughing didn't stop for the rest of the night.

Day 3 was spent relaxing, recovering from getting home in the early hours of the morning after a gruelling fight with a pair of Type Twos. Or rather, everyone else was relaxing. You were in your room, fluctuating between wrapping your shivering form in your duvet and throwing it off so you wouldn't melt into a puddle. The bowl of soup you'd made yourself for lunch grew cold where it sat untouched on your bedside table.

A sleepless night heralded the arrival of day 4. Your symptoms had mostly abated by the evening, and you desperately hoped to claw back a few hours of rest. By dinner time, bleary-eyed, you forced yourself downstairs to try and get at least one meal of the day. Fortunately, the kitchen was empty, so at least you didn't have to explain your recent lack of presence to anyone. Unfortunately, none of the contents of the fridge were even remotely appealing right now. You settled for a slice of toast which you took back upstairs. Two bites in, you felt your stomach flip. Great. The rest went straight in the bin.

A gentle knock sounded on your door the morning of day 5, after another night of tossing and turning without ever drifting off.

"Yeah?" you called wearily.

Lockwood poked his head in, dressed in a loose Henley T-shirt and sweatpants. "Morning. Just thought I'd check you were alright, you didn't come down for training." Oh shit. You and Lockwood had been doing weekly training together for months - it started not long after you joined the agency, when he'd come down to the basement for practice and found you already there, and you'd ended up sparring. It had happened a few more times, and eventually you fell into the habit of both going down on Friday mornings so much it became an unofficial appointment.

"Oh, sorry," you swallowed a yawn. "I lost track of what day it was. Give me five minutes."

"I sort of assumed you weren't coming down dressed Iike that." He nodded to your fuzzy pyjamas with a smirk, and you tugged shyly at the hem of the top. "Have you had breakfast?"

"Yeah." That was a lie. Lockwood studied you for a moment, and you wondered if he could see right through you, but then he nodded to himself.

"Alright, see you downstairs." He began to leave, but popped back at the last second. "I'm not saying the pyjamas are a bad look, by the way, they're cute, just maybe a bit warm for fighting in." He grinned again, and disappeared. What was that supposed to mean?

—

Five minutes later, as promised, you traipsed down the basement steps in runner shorts and a tank top. This was the last thing you wanted to be doing right now, but you loved getting one-on-one time with Lockwood and knew how much it would hurt him to break the tradition and how concerned he'd be about you if he found out you'd been ill.

Lockwood gave you another puzzled look. "Are you sure you're okay?" He'd seen you this low energy before, but normally only the day after a case.

You gave the most convincing smile you could muster. "Fine. What's the plan?"

He furrowed his brows once more, before apparently deciding against whatever he was thinking. "Okay, there was a new move I figured out on the last case. I thought I could teach you and see if you think it's any good?" That last part sounded so open and vulnerable. You could imagine what he was thinking - was it a fluke? Was it him overselling his talents? Did it look ridiculous? He got like that sometimes, needed snapping out of it. Reassuring. Your smile was more genuine this time.

"Sounds good, it certainly seemed effective."

You tried your best to concentrate while Lockwood demonstrated the move, really you did, but you were running on empty and the basement was so delightfully cool. Maybe if you just lay down on the floor for a bit, you'd sort yourself out.

"Did you get that?" Lockwood's voice cut through the fog of your thoughts, and you dragged your eyes up to meet his, which were nodding to your hands. You hadn't the slightest idea what it was he expected you to have got.

"Uhh…"

To your relief, he mistook your distraction for confusion and stepped closer to help, carefully off to one side to avoid the blade as his hands rested over yours.

"You hold it like this and- why are your hands trembling?"

You barely registered the alarm in his voice, or the uncontrollable tremor that was indeed present and spreading up your arms. Nothing in your body seemed to be responding properly any more. Did you still have hold of the rapier? Why was your chest so tight, not allowing any air in? An invisible wad had trapped in your throat, and you desperately sucked in a breath through your nose. Gosh, Lockwood smelled good. Lavender and bergamot. And he was pretty, too. So pretty. Those deep dark eyes, gazing at you with so much longing. No, not longing. He didn't do that, did he? Plus, he was frowning too much for longing. Concern? You didn't like it when he frowned. You tried to pout, but your lips didn't move. That was annoying. So were the lights. Had they always been this bright? It hurt. Everything hurt. You needed to leave. Now.

Panic took hold of the last working corner of your brain and sent a jolt of electricity down to your legs which finally reacted, carrying you shakily towards the stairs. You muttered something incoherent, mouth not quite as functional. The effort drained the last dregs of energy, and your legs stopped working again.

"Whoa, whoa-" a voice behind you gasped, hasty footsteps echoing. Who was that? There was someone else down here, wasn't there? You couldn't remember. Wait. There was a pretty boy, right? He seemed nice. You tried to tell him you were okay, you wanted to. As you pitched backwards, the silhouette of the pretty boy swam into view, blocking out the harsh lights above. That was better.

Everything went black.

—

You were laying somewhere warm and soft. That was odd. And it was less bright behind your eyelids. Where were you? Hadn't you been down in the basement? With the cold floor and the cold lights… and the pretty boy? Was he still here?

You tried to call out for him, succeeding only in a groan. The surface beneath you shifted by your feet in response, and your eyelids fluttered open a fraction. There he was. Framed by the golden rays filtering through the window behind him and dappling across his dark hair.

"Hey, pretty boy," you murmured. Proper words; that was more like it. Next step: opening your eyes fully.

Ah.

The pretty boy was Lockwood, brows knitted upwards as he shuffled further up what you gradually realised was your bed.

"Hey." His voice was thick, with the hint of a shake. "How are you feeling?"

You groaned again, moving to sit up. Lockwood instantly reached out, one hand on the small of your back and the other lifting the pillows to prop up behind you. "Been better."

Under any other circumstances, you think he'd probably have laughed. As it was, he huffed out a breath and you spotted a brief tic in his jaw. "That's a mild way of putting it. You collapsed in the middle of training. I had no idea what happened, I thought…" His gaze dropped to his lap as he trailed off. The silence clenched tightly around your heart. Eventually, he spoke again, still not looking at you, voice cracking and barely above a whisper. "I was so worried about you."

The tension in your chest pressed down further, and you thought you actually heard your heart shatter.

"Hey, Lockwood, look at me." You raised a hand, still trembling but for an entirely new reason, up to cup his cheek. At last, he looked. Those beautiful dark eyes were watery, and his nose ruffled as he tried to hold back the tears. "I'm okay, see? I'm here, I'm okay, and I'm so sorry for making you worry."

A warmth spread over the back of your hand as he brought his up to meet it. His fingers curled over yours, thumb rubbing calmingly across your knuckles. Whether the calming was for you or him, you couldn't say. "But are you sure you're okay? People don't just collapse like that, and you've been out all day." Your eyes widened a little as you glanced at your alarm clock. Almost 6. Wow.

"Honestly, it's nothing serious. Kind of stupid, actually; the irony is it all happened because I didn't want you to worry." That made him chuckle. That was promising. You continued. "I was ill - I don't know if it was a cold or flu or what - but that wasn't great to begin with, and then with it ruining my ability to eat and sleep I just… didn't have anything left to give."

You don't know what reaction you expected from Lockwood: frustration, confusion, disappointment perhaps. You certainly weren't expecting him to look quite so… guilty? "Why didn't you say something when I came to find you? We could have cancelled training." It came out sharper than you were expecting. Oh. There was where the guilt came in.

"I didn't want to break the tradition."

"To hell with the tradition if this is what it does to you!"

You faltered. Was it just your current condition, or had your mouth gone very dry? "Wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" You took a steadying breath. "It's not just that. I don't mean it like it's some obligation. I love our sessions! Getting to have that time just for us, having it be our thing, it's the highlight of my week. And it's been a pretty shitty week so I wanted this one thing to be nice."

The fire in Lockwood's words died out, and he almost visibly deflated. His free hand reached up unexpectedly to brush a strand of hair from your face.

"Well, I'm glad it means that much to you, but next time will you please tell me when something's wrong? I can survive missing our date more than I can survive missing you."

Hold on.

You were definitely still ill. Your cheeks felt warm and your heart was pounding against your ribcage. That was the only possible explanation. Definitely nothing to do with the fact that the boy you'd been in love with for months had just called your training sessions a date. Oh god, you'd infected him too, his face was flushed. "Date?" you breathed.

"Only if you want it to be, of course, I don't want to jump to conclusions. Although you did call me 'pretty boy' barely five minutes ago, so I'm sure even George would agree with the legitimacy of my hypothesis." Oh, how you'd missed seeing that smirk he'd grown all of a sudden.

"I'm not entirely sure you can take the high ground on this one, love, when you said even more recently how you couldn't survive without me."

"I think so long as I'm right I can. Especially since, if we're going off who said something last, you couldn't even argue without calling me love."

"I wish we were still holding rapiers, I've got a chance of beating you at that."

Lockwood laughed, all earlier emotions replaced with nothing but tender affection. "Get some sleep, and then we can test that theory." He made to leave, but where your hands were still entwined you tightened your grip a little.

"Will you stay? Please? In case I didn't make it clear enough with fainting, I haven't been doing so great at the whole sleep thing."

When he nodded, you wriggled over to one side of the bed, allowing him to slip under the covers behind you. Everything about him felt cosy, and you snuggled towards that feeling. It took him aback for a moment until he draped an arm over your stomach, gently tugging you closer so the two of you slotted together like you'd been designed to fit one another from the start. His breath tickled your ear, but its constant rhythm slowed yours in turn. Your eyelids grew heavy.

"You know," you mumbled sleepily, "you could take me on a proper date. Only if you want to, of course, wouldn't want to jump to conclusions."

He squeezed you playfully. "I think I've got enough evidence to consider it. Lunch tomorrow if you feel up to it?" You hummed a contented agreement. As your eyes drifted shut, a feather-light kiss pressed against your temple. "Good night, love."

"Good night, pretty boy."

[skeletoncrevvs]

crossbeat magazine, aug 2007

translation/transcription under cut

Crossbeat - AUG 2007 - TRANSLATION

PAGE 30-31 (excluding cover and contents page):

Special feature on rock legends coming to Japan

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE

AKIRA, Tekkonkinkreet, Lupin III  - "I'm attracted to works that are innovative and take on new challenges. I love them. I can't stop thinking about them."

Welcome to MCR Theatre @Budokan!! A drama of destruction and rebirth explodes in a spectacular live performance!! Japan and Manga

Interview by Takuro Ueno, interpreter: Tomoko Katsuta

We take a look at Gerard's true personality and the band's latest vision as a huge fan of the band.

Pics: Tetsuro Sato

PAGE 32:

The explosion of "Dead!", the confetti of "Welcome to the Black Parade", the flames of "Mama", the fireworks of "Disenchanted", the explosion of "Famous Last Words"! My Chemical Romance's Budokan live show was a spectacular entertainment show with plenty of gunpowder and pyro. The first half was a live performance of the album in which they dressed up as the band The Black Parade, the alter-ego of "The Black Parade", and the second half was a performance of other songs. The set was almost the same as the US tour in the spring, and the live started with "The End", in which frontman Gerard Way appeared as a patient in a white coat.

What impressed me was not only the dramatic songs that quickly became anthems, but also the presence of songs that could be called excellent supporting actors that supported the main characters. The combination of explosive guitar and beats in "This Is How I Disappear" created a sense of intense speed. In the second half, Frank Iero (G) and Ray Toro (G) strummed their guitars with complete concentration in the raging ensemble. The heavy melody gradually changed its expression, and I was also excited by "Sleep," which had a cathartic surge along with a heavyweight groove.

Bob Bryar's (Dr) powerful drumming also really came into play in this kind of song. And what was most impressive was the glimpse of Gerard's "madness" for a short time. 

There's a fine line between madness and sanity. In his sane mode, he's a geek who loves comics and games with all his heart, while in his dangerous mad mode, he explodes with emotion on stage. I think that the album "The Black Parade" is somewhere between the two, and for those wanderers whose egos tend to become unstable because of their wandering, Gerard's message is absolutely real. What I thought after seeing this live performance was that "The Black Parade" is a work that reflects the current era, and it has an immeasurable appeal to stubborn adults.

After performing the album that they had pushed themselves to the limit and creating in a lavish manner on the Budokan stage, Gerard and the other four members shed their heavy costumes and appeared in casual clothes. Behind them was a backdrop with the word "REVENGE" written in large letters, and when the life-sized My Chemical Romance performed "I'm Not Okay" and "Helena," the audience responded with a chorus of their own. Unlike the first half, there was only one flashy performance using gunpowder, and there was no confetti raining down on the audience or flames rising up. At the end, the people who stood on stage were not emo charisma, but young music-loving men who grew up in the New Jersey punk scene.

On this day, Frank joined the stage of the opening act, the melodic punk band Bouncing Souls from his hometown. Gerard asked the fans several times during his performance to give them loud cheers and applause. If you think about it objectively, you can see that Gerard's jumps and fist pumps are not cool, but I think that the attitude of "it's okay to be uncool!" is punk, and such objective opinions are not necessary for My Chemical Romance. Their performance, which was full volume and full force from start to finish, was unmistakably punk, and it is because of this blood that they are somehow hard to hate, even when viewed as a new-age rock band. My Chemical Romance, who graces the front page of this special feature on rock legends visiting Japan, have written another page in rock history with their live performance at the Budokan, but in this interview we also get a glimpse into the true face of Gerard, who loves Japan. He loves Japanese manga and anime, and when he came to Japan last time

Pic: Yuki Kuroyanagi

PAGE 33:

he even went to the cinema. When I explained the purpose of the photo on the front page, he cheerfully agreed to a two-shot with Mario, a character representing Japan.

----What kind of image did you have of Japan before?

"I was imagining the world of Ridley Scott's film, 'The Blade Runner.' I'm also a big fan of comics and Katsuhiro Otomo's work. I especially love 'AKIRA,' so I thought it would be something like the opening scene of that story, and I think that image was correct. But I ended up loving this country even more than I had imagined. I had no idea that Japanese people were people who respected others and their environment so much, and it was refreshing to be able to come into contact with such people and have such a variety of experiences before returning to America."

----You've toured to quite a few countries, but your first visit to Japan was in 2004. What were your impressions at the time?

"I feel like I've landed on Mars. And I mean that in a good way. It's completely different from any other place I've ever been to. The cityscape, the culture, everything I could see was different from any other country. I've had the chance to tour many countries, but when I went there, I was disappointed to see that there were many similarities to America, or even the same things. But Japan is original and amazing. I was fascinated by everything, from vending machines to key chains to TVs. I don't understand what they're saying when I watch TV, but there's a lot to absorb. I'm always looking for something to stimulate me, so this country is perfect for me."

----Your first live show was on the indoor stage at Summer Sonic. How did you feel about the audience's reaction? They were really excited about songs like "I'm Not Okay."

"It was amazing! I'm so glad to get such a reaction.

I never dreamed that we would get such a good response to "I'm Not Okay" in a country we visit for the first time. But it was especially special to have such a good response in Japan. The first time we played in the UK was on tour with The Used. We have a following in the UK now, but the kids who saw our show back then seemed confused about how to respond to our music. I think they liked it, but the reaction was surprisingly calm. After that, we played in a small club in Germany, and it was a big hit. Then we came to Japan and the crowd was so excited, right? It was amazing that we were able to play in front of such a large audience, but when we played "I'm Not Okay," it was even more amazing.

----After that, you did a solo tour in Japan. What is the most memorable episode from your live shows in Japan so far?

"Well... they're all great... let me think about it... there's just so much fun to be had in Japan. The last time I played at Summer Sonic (in 2006) was memorable, the day I was on the outdoor stage in front of Linkin Park. It was a big victory to be able to play at Summer Sonic again, because it was my second time playing at a stadium. At the first Summer Sonic, I was battling drugs and alcohol. So it was impressive to come back and play on that big stage and do a show in front of thousands of people. I remember being able to show a great performance."

----When you visited Japan in January this year, you apparently went to see the film "Tekkonkinkreet."

Pic: Tetsuro Sato

PAGE 34:

I love Japanese. I love the sound of it. I think it's a beautiful language. And it's especially beautiful when people are angry. Japanese is at its best when they're angry (laughs). [top quote]

"It was amazing, but unfortunately it hasn't been released in the US yet. I think it will be a hot topic because the drawing style and the content are very different from what people think of when they think of anime. It was my first time going to a Japanese movie theater. You choose your seat and sit there. And everyone was quiet. I don't know if the movie was boring or if people in Japan watch movies quietly, but everyone stayed seated until the end credits, so it seemed like they liked the movie. But the only one who was laughing was my friend who went with me. It was kind of awkward. I didn't understand the language, so maybe I was laughing at scenes I shouldn't have laughed at? No, I think I laughed at scenes I should have laughed at, but everyone was quiet, so after laughing a few times, I decided to watch quietly (laughs)."

----(laughs) What other Japanese manga and anime do you like?

"I like all the works of Matsumoto Taiyo, the writer of ‘Tekkonkinkreet,’ and I respect Otomo Katsuhiro, who I think is a genius. I also like Tezuka Osamu, the godfather of this world, who wrote ‘Astro Boy.’ I also like ‘Lupin III’ and ‘Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.’ I'm always discovering new things from Japanese creators, and they often surprise me. I'm attracted to works that are innovative and try new things. I'm not interested in anime where giant robots fight other robots. It's just a melodrama with big robots in it."

----After graduating from art school, you worked as an animator for a while.

"I was working on a cartoon called "Sheep in the Big City" (a TV series that aired on the American cable TV channel Cartoon Network). It was completely different from Japanese animation, and the creator, Mo Willems (a popular animation artist known for his picture books such as "Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale" and "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!"), was influenced by 50s limited animation (animation that simplifies the character's movements) such as "Gerald McBoing-Boing".  But I was too young to watch the works of that era in real time, so I didn't really understand them when I was working (laughs)."

----By the way, what kind of comics did you draw?

"I drew [a] really crazy black and white comic. It was about two brothers who work as piano movers. They're said to be the best piano movers in the world, but they’re really not that good. I was inspired by American directors like Terry Gilliam (the director of "Brazil" and "12 Monkeys") and [the] Fritz Lang's film "Metropolis." I drew a dark and eccentric world. It was so outlandish that I got a ton of rejection letters from publishers (laughs). People seemed to have trouble figuring out how to sell it.”

----So from your perspective, what did you think of this work, which was painted with a uniquely Japanese touch?

"First of all, I'm attracted to the art. Look at Otomo's work. Just a single character standing in ruins creates a certain kind of image. That image is burned into your brain. That's why I'm so attracted to Otomo's work. He sometimes puts a twist on it and depicts an unrealistic world. That's what I like about him."

----You've loved comics and video games since you were a child, and that hasn't changed at all.

"Yes. I like video games because they are simply fun and a great way to kill time. I think online games on the Internet are fun because you can play them with your friends. When you're on tour like this, it's hard to meet up with your friends back home. Being able to play with them is one of the attractions.

The appeal of comics is... I love classic science fiction. I'm a big fan of the original Star Trek and The Twilight Zone. Planet of the Apes is good too. The appeal of comics is that anything is possible. You can express anything." 

----You also said in a 2004 interview with this magazine you also check out Japanese bands on YouTube. You mentioned Guitar Wolf, Cornelius, and Michelle Gun Elephant. What attracted you to them? 

"Their intensity. And the way they take music from a certain era and make it new with their own interpretation. Guitar Wolf is especially crazy! Their interpretation of rock and roll is amazing, and that's what makes them great. Their recklessness, that off-tune sound, that craziness! It's like they're playing a cheap tape recorder.”

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There is an album with a sound that makes you think they just recorded it in a live recording session. But when you get down to it, it's not the sound or the songs, but their unconventionality that gets to the essence of rock and roll. I don't understand the lyrics, but the language difference doesn't matter. The energy of the vocals conveys everything. I love Japanese. I love the sound of it, I think it's a beautiful language, and it's especially beautiful when it's angry. Yes, Japanese is at its best when it's angry (laughs). That's why I love Guitar Wolf."

----I see. That makes sense (laughs). This is your fifth visit to Japan. What does Japan mean to you?

"Japan is a place that continues to inspire me. The more I come to Japan, the more I learn.

You get to know more places, and you get to meet new friends. The record company staff are my friends. The more people I know, the more I get to know Japanese people. I get inspired by them. I think the respect Japanese people have for each other is amazing. I like how they take pride in everything they do. And it's human. Even in things that seem impersonal, like computer manufacturing, you can feel the handcrafted attention to detail and craftsmanship. Japanese people value tradition and history. People from other countries are always thinking about the future and forget that the past is just as important as the present and the future.

----You've probably been to a lot of different spots, but have you been to Akihabara in Tokyo? 

"Hmm? What's it like there?"

----Home electronics have always been popular. There are lots of computers and electronic parts.

"Well, I guess I haven't been there yet. I heard there's a place in Tokyo that sells a lot of comics and manga? I'd really like to go there this time. I've mainly only been to Harajuku and Shibuya."

----That place is probably Akihabara. Personally, I also recommend Broadway in Nakano, but Akihabara is not only a comic book town, but it's also a crazy town where you can see adult women dressed as maids these days, so I definitely recommend you go there at least once!

"Oh, I've heard of it! I read it in a book. Also, a book called "Love Hotel" was recently published, so I'm thinking of reading it. It's a book about love hotels in Japan. Usually, foreigners can't enter those kinds of places.

Pic: Yuki Kuroyanagi

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It's only recently that I've felt like I'm growing steadily. Before that, it felt like everything was moving so fast, and I wasn't able to cope as a person with that. Now that I'm moving forward at a steady pace, I'm adapting to the changes. [top quote]

Apparently, they were not allowed to take photos, but the author's female photographer was allowed to do so. The maid cafe also looks interesting. What place was it called again?

----Akihabara.

"There are comics there too?"

----Yes. Now, please tell us about this memorable Budokan live. Will it be with the same set and production as the US tour that was just recently?

"Yeah, we brought as much of the same set as possible. The Budokan has strict rules about pyro, but we're using the same equipment that Kiss used in Japan. So it's different from what we use in the US, but if Kiss gave us the OK, we thought we could accept it. In fact, we found that some of the things we use in the US set were unnecessary. For example, we didn't bring the ruins of a big building that we had at the back of the stage this time. It would take too long to send it to Japan. But the costumes and backdrops are all the same... and we'll use confetti, too. It's pretty much the same. But the most important thing is that the band is in top condition. We've been doing the set we're doing now for almost six months, and the composition of "The Black Parade" is perfect. That's the most important thing."

----The set list is divided into two parts, the first half is The album "The Black Parade" by The Black Parade, which can be said to be the alter ego of My Chemical Romance,and the second half is a return to My Chemical Romance and performance of other songs.

"That's right. I wanted to play all the songs on the new album. I wanted to do it in a big way. I didn't want to do it in pieces, so it just naturally came out like this. I also wanted to do something that would change from the beginning to the end of the show. So in the first half, we played a big performance with a big production, and in the second half, we stripped everything away and played our original selves. We wanted to show the core of the band. It was natural that it would be structured like this. The album is about an hour long, so it's not something that you normally hear. That's the length of a standard set. And then we do an encore in the remaining 30 minutes. But we don't like encores. We think it's arrogant to wait for the audience to applaud before going on stage, so after the first part, we go back[stage] and come out again at our own pace to show our support. [our appreciation (?)]"

----For some musicians, the stage is a place where they feel alive and can become their true selves, but what do live performances mean to you right now?

"It's a place where you feel alive. At the same time, it's a place where you can have a control that you don't have in your everyday life, and you can lose yourself. In other words, anything is possible. You can be very honest and let everything out. You can't experience that in your everyday life. From what I've seen of Japanese culture and what I've heard from Japanese kids, it's hard to express yourself with words in this country, so Japanese people express themselves through the clothes they wear. That's the case in America too, so for me, the stage is a place where I can say anything. Even if I'm opening for someone, once I'm on stage I can do anything. As long as I respect the band that's coming up after me, I can do anything."

----This summer you'll be touring with Linkin Park. How did this tour come about?

"They asked me to be their opening act. I was honored and really surprised because I'd never thought about it like that. They said, 'We're releasing a new album. We're going on tour soon, do you want to join us?' Of course I accepted."

----They're bands that have been active in a different scene than you, but there are some similarities between you and them, like the enthusiastic support of your fans and your commitment to art outside of music.

"That's right. The commonality between the two bands is that they have passionate fans who love music. Their new work is also very challenging. I think their fans are very smart because they can understand that. That means their fans could become our fans too. We like to tour with intelligent bands. That's why we toured the US with Muse recently. To really understand their music, you have to love it from the bottom of your heart. Of course, their songs are often played on the radio and are hits all over the world, but to really understand their music, you have to be sensitive. We like to tour with intelligent bands, and that's why we decided to tour with Linkin Park. I think they're very smart people.

----They have had successful arena tours in the US and the UK, and have conquered the Budokan in Japan.  How do you feel about the band's current state as it continues to grow?

"I feel great. It was only recently that I felt like we were growing steadily. Up until then, it felt like everything was moving at an incredible speed, and as people, I wasn't able to cope with that situation. But now we're moving forward at a steady pace, so I'm adapting to the changes."

----What direction do you want to take the band in the future?

"Well, I'm not sure if we want to get bigger. There are already people who enjoy our music. I'm happy to be welcomed by a larger audience, but we're not struggling to survive in this world. Actually, I miss playing small venues these days. At the same time, I want to play shows at legendary places, and I want to think about where I'll play in the future. Maybe it's one way to stop playing shows like we do now, and make the days we do play very special. I don't know if the band needs to get any bigger. I'm very happy with the situation. But I think we need to explore more creatively. ■

Pic: Tetsuro Sato

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OP NOTE: this translation is ROUGH from google - i tried my best to make sense of some more of the questionable parts. please feel free to message me if i made any mistakes!

[monarchisms]

so this is the unintentional part two of that summary post i made with geoff talking about the end of achievement hunter. for this post, i'm going to try my best to sum up what michael, trevor, and joe (but not alfredo because he was sick at the time 😔) have said about what will happen in the future on the penultimate episode of off topic, #403. there won't be a transcript this time as i am busy with schoolwork and stuff, so i'll try to make this summary as filled with as much accurate information as i can to make up for it :)

so basically,

trevor starts off by saying they'll be doing the last of various series to wrap everything up. he also notes that some of these finales will be "more nostalgic"

one of the series finales that's up right now is vs episode #150: joe vs BK. the game they played is cooking mama!

after the series finale of off topic (#404 lol), the final AH video ever will be a let's play in the remastered version of burnout paradise, and the cast will consist of geoff, jack, trevor, and michael. this is a callback to the first ever AH video they did back in 2008, and it's already been filmed! trevor says it was more emotional then he thought it would be :')

michael explains that the video will essentially be a ~70-minute podcast. in it, they'll talk more about the end of achievement hunter, where the cast members have went/what they've all moved on to, and new projects that they'll working on. he also says that he thinks that people will call this video "cathartic" while comparing the vibe to their old gta v series, sunday driving

not as important, but michael said that he was mindlessly driving and turning in burnout paradise in the same way that he'd run and jump in minecraft because he "fucking hated" playing minecraft lmfao

as said before, they decided to close AH and start something new with dogbark instead of continuing like they used to. michael acknowledges that in the last few years, most of the crew had already left rt in some way or moved on to other stuff within the company, leaving just michael, trevor, alfredo, and joe as the most consistent on-screen talent by the end. *bonus bit that wasn't mentioned until later, but alongside these 4, jarren from the post team will be their channel manager for dogbark :)

as this group makes videos for dogbark, michael says that their stuff will be both "tonally different" and "very fluid" as they're still figuring it out as they go, noting that they were balancing it and AH/let's play content at the same time

michael also talks about how he's been doing what he's wanted to do at AH for a long time, but there were some things he still couldn't do within the constraints the AH crew had put on themselves

while there will be some gameplay stuff on the dogbark channel, as mentioned in this episode and the channel trailer, they will primarily focus on live action content. trevor makes a point by saying that the style/theme in the trailer will "not be pervasive throughout the entire brand", and michael adds on to that by saying the trailer "is at 100, but every video won't be at 100"

michael and trevor make a point by saying that there will be more variety, as in "a dozen little formats", not necessarily like the shows/series they made at AH, with joe saying that they're not trying to "tie themselves down" to strict uploads and such, like they were when they were previously fitting into a mold at AH

trevor says that he has seen achievement hunter, and rooster teeth as a whole, having a unique challenge ahead of them. he refers to making content that appeals to an audience who had been following them since the early days while trying to also find new faces, both out there in the audience and internally at the company, in order for AH to stay around

he also points out how difficult it is to do that with a long-standing brand that has had different eras of content, since there would be an audience with differing expectations for them. with that, it became hard for the AH crew to balance said expectations with the authenticity they tried to show in the content they created. the crew has changed as people alongside their audience, and the stress that came with it was challenging

michael stresses that the group not only chose to make a new channel completely, they also had to fight for it for a while, and wanted to slow down on AH content before properly closing/archiving the channel to create dogbark. beyond the struggles of creating something new from scratch, they now have the challenge of preparing the audience for the jump from AH to dogbark while thinking about all the pros and cons before going forward

this week (the week of september 18th) and next week (the week of september 25th) are the last weeks of new AH content. after that, there will be a 1 or 2-day break before dogbark properly starts making new content on october 2nd. trevor feels like people will get a better idea of what dogbark is after a month or two of them uploading content

finally (subject to change, of course), they want to aim for full uploads every monday and friday, with patreon-like exclusive videos with rt first every wednesday and saturday. one of the confirmed things to expect is a first-exclusive podcast. the first week dogbark officially starts, all that content will be public as a sample of what to expect, and every week after that will follow that schedule