#but its like this for the rest of my life so whatever i gotta suck it up and take control

[elderscrolls4]

Damn i should really get back to doing my testosterone regularly

[puripurin]

— "What the fuck." You started at the merman who wriggled around for space. His eyes looked at you in fear as he saw you, before a blush had spread across his face.

Up until 30 seconds ago, you had lived a normal life, well, except for the obscene amount of work you were stressed out with. So you hopped on the boat your parents had gifted you some years ago and sailed into the sea. The feel of the ocean breeze hitting your face was a familiar sensation to you.

This was because your parents were fishermen and loved to eat seafood, and naturally, you had gravitated towards seafood, but with prices these days and your never-ending workload, it didn't allow you to do anything without setting you back on your tight deadlines. Until today.

You had gotten a whole week of paid vacation because a coworker was threatening to bring them to court for a long list of harassment. So they gave the people who worked the most a one week paid vacation. Though, to her, it wasn't enough, so you're getting a paid vacation week while they are still going to get sued. Whatever, its their fault either way.

Anyways, how did you reel in a merman that shouldn't even exist? Frankly, you don't know either. You had accidentally started to daydream, which turned into you not realizing something was caught, so instinctively, you were able to reel in a merman.

"H-huuuumann?" His deep moss green eyes stared at up at you with interest whilst you nearly got blinded by the shimmering gleem of his scales that were scattered across his cheeks. He stopped his advancements towards you until it was difficult to hold up his neck to see you.

"Erm... sorry for catching you, I was daydreaming. I'll unhook the fish hook attached to you..." You apologized and went down to unhook him, only for him to pull down your pants and underwear down, making you fall on the bench below you and stuffing his face in your genitals.

"Hey! W-what are you doing?" You pushed his face away, to which he pouted to. He sat there for a while as you tried to push him off the boat, to no avail.

"I... Accceppt thhis marrriaage!" He excitedly said as he tugged on your pants to gently pull it off again, but you held on tightly to your pants.

"What marriage? I didn't propose to you?" You evaded from his pulling hands in confusion.

"Whennn youuu reeeeledd mmeee inn dummmyy!" He slurred his words once more. "Shtop! I waant too tasstte you firrst beeforrre you tassteeee mee!" He huffed before his nails turned into sharp claws that shreaded your pants, then pulled down your underwear again and happily stuffing his face and licking your crotch with his tongue that felt rough.

Once more, you tried to move away but only ended up moaning at the feeling. Your face was slightly hot as you looked away but was swiftly pulled back in for a kiss, tasting your own fluids.

"Ah... finally... now it's your turn, cutie pie. We have to go to my hometown to get married <3"

"WHAT!?!? Firstly, no! Secondly, i will drown!"

"... Who said you can say no? When you reeled me, it was akin to a marriage proposal. Also, that's why you suck my dick and kiss me <333"

"WHAT--"

Was supposed to be posted yesterday, but when i saved a portion of it, i didn't see that i was save so i went back in to edit it to see what's rong before i saved it and for a slpilt second i saw the rest of it before it saved, so i lost majority of my work.

So now it looks like tjis. Womp womp. I think tjis is an afab reader? But i tried to make it gn as possible but i wannted a weird ass mermaid culture where to speak another's language, you gotta eat them out/suck them off before kissing person to speak. At first i wanted him to just kiss in order to get the language js like starfire but i was like,, so what do i do with him tryna eat you out??,, then boom yeahh.

Also, yo quero voy en me casaaaaaa *cries pathetically* No me gusta Español :((((((( not proofread. L

Edit: i forgot about tags. Mb.

[hotxcheeto]

━ 𝐉𝐈𝐍𝐗𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐓

𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜(𝙨) - Ellie Williams x Fem!Reader

𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 - Cursing, smut, ab/muscle riding ( reader on ellie ), voyeurism ( phone call sex with unaware 3rd party ), kissing, nudity, joel showing up, mention of shower sex, showering together, fluff

𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 ? - Yeah/Nope

𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚 - I've been in such a bad writing funk so I'm sorry if this is horrid and sucks ass, life has been awful.

𝗔𝗨 - Modern !

PREV | NEXT

☾ ONE NIGHT STAND MASTERLIST ☽

PLEASE REBLOG MY WORK - ITS APPRECIATED!!

All you could hear was her breathing, soft and mixed with quiet snores that she didn't care to correct. Her eyes shut but you knew the rest of her was awake, the telltale sign of that being the fingers running against your bare back in a circular motion.

The glassware and utensils had been left out on her coffee table but the food had successfully been put away late last night. It was the last time either of you had gotten up from the couch up until now, the mid-morning sun greeting you both.

A channel you didn't know the name of played on the screen in front of you which kept you slightly entertained. Half in a haze of sleep and the other partially awake. You were just basking in the fact that you didn't have to do a thing today but lay there if you really wanted.

Then again, her phone had other plans, beginning to ring just as your eyes had began to shut again. The sound was excruciating, so much so that you had shoved your face into her body and groaned into her belly by the time the pattern repeated, trying not to smile at the sound of her throaty laughter while she reached for the device.

"What?" She answered.

You peaked up at her, resting your chin on the backs of your hands.

"You always answer the phone with 'what' or do you just really not like them?" You mocked her voice in a whisper earning you a tap on your blanket covered ass and a smirk.

"No I'm busy." She replied to whoever was talking, watching you as you looked away and at her hallway, trying to decide whether peeing was more important than your current comfort.

"I said I'm busy, Cat. I will later or something." The mention of her name made you peer over and meet Ellie's eyes once again. "Cat, huh?" You teased, this time feeling her pinch you, hand dipping underneath the fluffy layer and running itself over your warm skin.

"I dunno, call Dina. I'm really busy right now, Joel needs me to help him set up his new cable shit or whatever, you know him." You giggled, sitting up on her torso in order to swing your legs on either side of her body.

"Wow, using your old man as an excuse. Diabolical." She squeezed the bottom of your butt, bringing her warm hand over to hold your hip. "I don't know about later anyways, Joel wanted me to stay for dinner."

Her gaze was fixated on your face, biting the inside of her lip when she moved to push your lower half forward. Humming almost inaudibly when you seemed to get the message.

"Listen I gotta go, I don't know what you want me to do about that. I can't keep helping you out when it comes to these things."

You went slow at first, grinding your bare cunt against her pelvis followed by little moans tumbling from your lips. Little puffs of air coming with which Ellie found adorable tending to focus more on your mouth than whatever her ex was saying.

"Ellie..."

The whimpers were unheard on Cat's end of the phone though, standing outside her ex-job place whilst praying to God Ellie could show up and sweet talk her boss into letting her stay.

"I can't keep getting you jobs if you're gonna lose them. It'll fuck up my shop name if I keep getting others into bullshit." You covered your face to muffle your noises when she bucked her hips, but she quickly tugged your hands away to meet your pretty eyes and accidentally caused you to fall forward.

"You got your ex a job?"

"Was trying to be nice-" she smiled as you shifted into a better position. Tilting her head as you humped your clit against her muscles again and again while she gripped your thigh,"-ended in me getting fucked over, as per usual."

"How sweet of you.. oh fuck–" That had come out much louder than you intended but your mind had become a foggy mess that hadn't noticed. But Ellie had.

"What? Nothing Cat, I gotta go." You sped up, feeling your belly begin to tighten whilst you dug your nails into her shoulders. Clenching your teeth as to not be so fucking obvious.

"M'gonna... Ellie.."

"Bye Cat, I'll talk to you later." She hung up before the other girl got a chance to say her farewells. Tossing her phone onto the carpet with a soft thump, but her attention was all on you.

You moved, sitting up once more to arch yourself into her abs, rotating your hips so that your clit hit every delicious spot. Mouth wide and hung open, Ellie admired not only that, but the way your head fell backwards and your eyes closed.

"I- fuck-"

"Let go already... you're pretty when you come y'know." The sound of those few words sent you flying over the edge. Body stuttering and shaking, Ellie helping you out by guiding you back and forth again to make it easier.

You couldn't make that out though, laying your head on her chest once you'd begun to come down.

"I think you are just as pretty " You replied after a moment, taking a deep and unleveled breather while staring at the back of the couch. Then shifting your head to peer up at her, a question on her tongue that she was resisting the urge to ask, but that failed.

"Are you gonna stay?"

"If you want me to."

It was quiet for a second, green eyes looking into your own. Hand returning to it's earlier dance on your back.

"I'm hungry."

You moved to slide off her body, stretching out while feeling her eyes rake over your body like you were a treasure chest just waiting to be opened.

"We both need to shower before we do anything, so either you say no and I leave, or you can join me." You didn't have to say it twice before she was off the couch, pulling you into her tiny bathroom and then right into the hot water.

You'd stayed until your fingers began to become pruney, giggling at stupid small things each other would say. Ellie and you both poking at each other when the other wasn't paying attention.

Then her fingers went other places then your hips, creeping between your thighs and after a few moments, in and out of your body. Soon after you stood with shaking legs while rinsing the soapy suds from your torso.

Ellie's hands on your back helping with the rest before she kissed your neck and told you that she'd order food. Leaving you alone with nothing but the stream of warmth and the quiet rest of the bathroom.

You baked in its warmth, the smell of Ellie's body wash that you liked and her shampoo and conditioner which she claimed she only had because Dina had called her a monster for using a two-in-one. It had made you giggle, that you can admit.

Finally you shut the near cold water off and stepped out, grabbing the fluffy white towel she'd told you from the behind the curtain was for your use. Wrapping it around your body before looking at yourself in the foggy glass.

Water droplets falling down your skin, not a tired glint in your eyes, instead you looked alive. You couldn't remember the last time that was, not a though actually, not even at the beginning of the last one.

You turned, going to exit the bathroom when you nearly ran right into a man going to walk into the bathroom. Ellie beside him trying to grab him back but all you could focus on was how startled he was and how absolutely bare you were.

"Holy shit, I am so sorry!" You practically squeaked, clutching the fuzzy fabric with everything you had to offer. "No, shit, that's my bad." He looked away and tried to avoid making eye contact and backed up, turning around and away.

"Could've warned me, kid." He directed to Ellie who grabbed your arm lightly to tug you away and into her room.

"Fuck I am so sorry." Ellie began while you shook your head, trying to avoid thinking about what could be going through that man's head. "He just showed up-" "It's okay. I promise."

Ellie stared with worry swirling in her eyes, anxiously playing with her fingers while her cheeks burned bright red. Watching as you sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Do you want me to go-" "No, no he's only stopping by. You can stay in here until he leaves, or if you want I can drive you home once he does." You shrugged, smiling softly to get her to calm down. "I was kinda looking forward to watching that show you suggested. Can't leave before I see it, right?"

"Fuck... okay, now I gotta... go out there." "If he asks, tell him what he wants to know." She raised her eyebrows, noticing the goosebumps of the cold appearing on your shoulders and arms.

"Just be honest, it's more embarrassing getting caught in a lie later. Especially if we make it as far as meeting the parents. Which is around, what? Month three, maybe four? We're in month one, going on two in two weeks. And judging by how much we seem to get along we'll probably end up there and that is a horrible conversation waiting to happen if it starts as some shitty lie."

Ellie snorted and rubbed her eyebrows, finally shaking her head.

"Alright, I'll be right back. But if you wanna make an escape, window is not an option." You giggled, standing up to go to her closet which she'd offered before she'd gotten out. "Definitely don't feel like falling seven stories so I'll just wait to run out the front door when you're not looking."

Ellie left, the muffled sound of her voice and the man's outside the room and down the hallway. Inaudible due to the length between them but close enough to where you heard him chuckle, smiling as you put a shirt on that was probably made for a seven foot tall man instead of Ellie's five-five stature.

It was huge, on anyone that wasn't a giant anyway.

"Christ." You muttered, biting your lip to muffle your amusement. Putting on an equally large pair of pants that you were sure were hand-downs from someone she knew. If they weren't, you wondered what possessed her to buy them.

After a moment though you got curious, creeping over to the door to listen into the conversation. Knowing it wasn't good, but how bad could it be?

"You like her?" "Joel-" "C'mon, she ain't a stranger. Her shoes all nicely places over there? I ain't an idiot." You covered your mouth to hide your sounds, shifting your weight with the anxious feeling of being caught.

"Yeah, I do. It hasn't been that long, though. Alright? So you're not missing anything." It sounded as if he got closer, probably teasing her in his expression which you too from the sound of her scoff. "I wanna meet her when I do start to miss somethin'."

"Okay, okay, now please, send a text next time." "Nah, maybe I'll just walk in instead of knocking. Catch you by surprise and scare the shit outta all of your friends." "Alright, that's enough, door."

You shook your head while laughing, sitting back down on the bed to wait for her. Watching the TV's rest screen turn from nature sight to nature sight until the door opened once again and her blushing face became visible.

"I miss him already." Ellie playfully shoved you back, laying next to you and staring up at the ceiling. "Shut up." "Just saying, you jinxed it."

She turned her head, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

"Earlier, when you told Cat you were helping him?" You could see the hilarious realization in her face. "Oh fuck I did. Damn it." "We have to work on that." "Work on what?"

You looked at her, deadpanned.

"Your excuses."

"What's wrong with my excuses?" You let out a loud 'hah', pulling yourself to sit up. "They're cliché. And you always sound slightly panicked, it is adorable though." Messing with you, she rolled her eyes. "Can't we just watch The Mandalorian now?"

"Fine, we'll work on your lie game later." "Great! You're gonna love this show." "I bet I will." You smiled.

PLEASE REBLOG MY WORK!! - liking does not boost and I like people reading what I wrote!!

[blueywrites]

i was cleaning out my keep notes and came across an idea from months ago, then just word vomited this out 😌 so here you go!

Hawkins High School is a churning cesspool of popularity contests, forced conformity, and purity culture, but being with Eddie Munson makes you forget all that. Or maybe being with him just makes you not care, like his cavalier, snarling-mutt defiance is contagious. Who gives a fuck what the reason is, really, when he makes you feel like this - stomach swooping like you're on a thrill ride, swept away by the frisson buzzing in your hot blood as he presses you up against your locker. Hot bodies against cold metal, pinned together by the hips. Tangled up in your own shared world - your fists in his battle vest, his hands smooshing up your hair as he angles you up, devouring your lips like you two aren't an active obstacle keeping the rest of the student body from flowing through this hallway. Plaque in the main artery of the school building, the pair of you are, almost certain to cause a heart attack since you've chosen now - the busiest time of the school day - to make out like you're trying to burrow down and live inside the other. 

And you love this about him. Even before you were together, you loved how Eddie would never censor himself in public - never lower his voice when he talked about shit that pissed people off, never stifle a cackle or turn down his music when they called him satanic, never rub off his nail polish even when they hissed slurs at his back. Made himself the target to take the heat off his freak friends even when it cost him; took whatever was doled out with a cut brow and a manic, flashing grin every time. It always made your heart swell. And now that he's yours, you love it even more, because it means you get the same treatment as everything else in Eddie's life that he loves. 

He doesn't hold anything back.

It means he doesn't care if anyone sees how much he cares for you, how much he wants you, how you bring out the softness that lives inside him, give it air to breathe out in the surface sunshine. It also means that he's gotta have his hands on you all the goddamn time, and if he wants to feel your soft body pressed all up on him, wants to suck on your tongue between French and Biology right where everyone can see him devouring you, well. He's gonna do it. 

And no one's ever made you feel as wanted as Eddie does. Like no amount of you could ever be too much, even when you're being weird or ugly or rotten sometimes. Eddie doesn't mind weird, or ugly, or rotten. He's a freak, after all. It doesn't phase him, 'cause he also feels weird and ugly and rotten sometimes, and that hasn't pushed you away, now, has it?

So even though you know you just bombed that stupid quiz on verb conjugations last period, you couldn't care less at the moment because Eddie's warm and heavy against you and his nose is whistling with those quick, heavy breaths as he meticulously sucks on your upper lip, working it until it's deliciously swollen and throbbing. The pull is intense, shooting little sparks down to the pit of your belly every time he tugs a little harder, suctions a little meaner, just so you'll sigh with relief when he lets your lip pop free. A devious plan of his own design, orchestrated just so he can capitalize on the opportunity to drag the broad flat of his tongue into your open mouth. 

"Mm." He hums into you, nearly a purr as your buzzing lips eagerly split wider for him. Your tongue draws his taste from his mouth into yours, feeding on spearmint and nicotine as your fingers twist in the broken curls at the nape of his neck. You echo back his satisfaction, your little moans buzzing from your ribcage into his as you both luxuriate in the rhythm of your kisses, the ebb and flow of feeling, the give and take and all that it awards you. 

Beyond the sound of his breaths, dimmed by the rabbit-fast thrumming of your own heart in your ears, the cesspool swirls, churning out its giggles and whispers, its furtive glances and pointed looks shared by passersby as they skirt around the void that you and Eddie create. You allow it to exist without paying it any attention until it forces itself between you, manifesting in the form of a green letterman jacket and a steep blonde side part lacquered church-smart with pomade. 

"Hey, freaks." The hiss is so close you feel its warm puff against your cheek through the spread of Eddie's fingers. You recoil before you can suppress the instinct, your mouth jerking from Eddie's as you sway away from the intrusion. 

Jason Carver straightens up when he succeeds in making you flinch, smug superiority in his blue eyes when you glare at him. "Save it for the trailer park," he sneers. "None of us came to school today asking to see this disgusting display."

Nevermind that Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler necked in the hall for weeks last year without anyone batting an eye. Your burning insides rear up at the insult, but Eddie wraps his forearm even tighter around your lower back - pulling you in, holding you even closer as he turns his head toward Jason. "Aw, Jasie-poo," he coos, brows puckered in a mockery of sympathy. "Don't be jealous, baby. If you wanted me to kiss you, all you had to do was ask."

You watch as Eddie melts into a seductive performance, batting his lashes and pursing his lips, pink and pouty and spit-slick from your shared saliva. He leans in toward the shorter boy, smacking his lips with a series of exaggerated kissy noises. 

Jason's face jumps with alarm, disgust and embarrassment warring in his features. He sputters, grasping for a retort until he finally spits out a "Fuck you, Munson."

Instantly, Eddie's face lights up, his brown eyes wide and his grin full and manic. Jason's expression falls further as Eddie lets his tongue fall out, wagging it at him, delighted that it took so little effort to get Jason to lose himself and curse. 

Red-faced, bested, Jason retreats. And when Eddie curls his tongue back behind his teeth - sharp, victorious, subversively powerful - you feel a surge of intense attraction towards him.

What can you say? His antics really turn you on.

Eddie stares down the hallway at the back of the retreating jock he scared off, oblivious to how your pussy has taken you over, turned you rabid for him. As soon as his chin nudges back in your direction, you snatch him up, surging up to your toes to kiss the breath from him. He stumbles, making a little whimpery noise of surprise as you wrap your arms around his neck, a beat late in clutching you back, trying to keep up with the deep, thorough pace of your lips. 

Once you can bear it, you pull away briefly, your eyes flicking up to his, taking in his blown pupils and slightly dazed expression. "That was hot," you murmur against his lips, and he smirks crookedly for only a fraction of a second before you dive back in. 

It was heated between you before you were interrupted, but now, the intensity has transformed, taken on an edge of urgency and need beyond what it should considering you're in public - freaks or not. Your chest heaves as Eddie presses closer, squishing you hard against the locker, one palm dragging heavy and damp down the side of your neck to land against your collarbone. You suck on his lower lip, coaxing out little noises you can feel more than hear as they vibrate in your chests, your libido raging as his thumb flexes over the neckline of your shirt, clearly yearning to edge beneath it. 

It's when you nibble him - bare your teeth and sink them into his lower lip, a light, stinging pressure that promises more - that Eddie breaks away from you, rearing his head back with a heavy exhale. His adam's apple bobs with a thick swallow, and though his tone is light, he sounds slightly hoarse when he exclaims, "Okay, okay. Don't wanna pop a boner in the hallway." 

You giggle, slowly walking two fingers up his chest - over denim and pins, pausing at the hand-sewn patch over his heart. Low, husky, you murmur, "You sure?" 

A chuckle bursts from him, breathless and bordering on hysterical as he looks down at you - dark eyes like liquid, melted for you. "You're a goddamn vixen--"

"Munson!" The heft of the snapping voice promises more than just social trouble, and Eddie jumps with you this time. Synchronized, you both whip around to see Mrs. O'Donnell glowering at you from behind wire-rim glasses. "Get out of my sight this instant before--"

He doesn't give her a chance to finish. Snatching up your hand, Eddie spins on his heel, booking it in the opposite direction, hobbling slightly as his other hand hovers over the front of his dark jeans to protect his modesty.

Don't ever let it be said that Eddie Munson never knows when to pick his battles.

[ponett]

Excluding Sonic and MLP, was there ever an instance where you so involved in a fandom that all your initial feelings go from enthusiasm to complete jadedness because of how hostile it got? Then once you try get back in it again, you couldn’t muster up any feelings due to those bad experiences?

I’ve been feeling like that with Star Wars lately and I think the problem was that I failed to adhere to that kind of advice back when I was 15 with The Force Awakens.

I get that fandom isn’t everything and you shouldn’t let it dictate your life, but it sucks knowing how it can just well… “break” you like that.

i can definitely say i've soured on fandoms in the past, but i'm not sure it's ever quite gotten to the point that it's made me sour on the associated media. like, even after disengaging from much of the wider mlp fandom due to the huge and vocal contingent of reactionary bronies, i still kept watching and enjoying the show and reblogging fanart. it wasn't the show's fault that a bunch of its fans were annoying libertarians, and i wasn't gonna let those assholes take something i enjoyed away from me

but i also haven't been one to engage with capital f Fandoms for like... the better part of a decade now, so fandoms are rarely a factor in me enjoying or not enjoying a thing. instead of feeling some obligation to participate in the Fandom as a whole, i just have my little niches with like-minded fans and ignore the rest as best i can. there will always be toxic or otherwise annoying fans in every fandom, and i am in no way obligated to pay attention to them just because we share a common interest. when i watched succession i did not feel the need to engage with The Succession Fandom and argue peoples' takes on shiv or whatever. i just watched the show

i do get that it can be harder to escape from these conversations with bigger franchises, though. like, with star wars in particular, the extremely heated arguments can be kind of inescapable on social media whenever something new comes out. but i don't know. you've just gotta find ways to shut that out. use blacklists, unfollow people, block people, look at algorithmic feeds less, don't look at the reddit, etc. sometimes the answer really is just to log off

[thesugarclubs-blog]

Be Mine - Bucky Barnes x OC

warnings: speed dating, strangers to lovers, heavy petty, valentines day special

word count: 5.6k

WP: https://www.wattpad.com/1424350312-be-mine-hazel

vibe: “Not enough to scare you I hope,” Hazel voiced, a small smirk tugging at her lips as she studied him fingers tapping the base of her glass.

“Quite the opposite,” he declared his hand inching closer to where she had rested her free arm on the back of the sofa.

“Good, I think we’d balance each other out perfectly,” she mused, her hand meeting him halfway like she had read his mind just as she took a sip of her wine.

Masterlist

“Bucky Barnes, man you’re lookin’ good,” Sam drawled, a sly smile creeping its way across his face.

“Shut up,” Bucky mumbled, nervously running his hand over the long scruff on his cheeks.

He hunched his shoulders and tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans, desperately trying to make his large frame look less intimidating. Dropping his head, he stared at the toe of his boot as he scuffed it along the wooden floor of his apartment.

“Don’t know why the hell I let you talk me into this,” he added, his brows drawing down into a petulant scowl.

“‘Cause I’m your friend and you love me,” Sam replied sweetly, throwing his arm around Bucky and drawing the reluctant super soldier tightly against him. “You gotta get back out there, charm those ladies like it’s 1942.”

“Friends don’t put each other into situations like this,” Bucky grumbled, his jaw clenching tightly as he glared at Sam out of the corner of his eye.

“Quit being a toddler. You’re acting like we’re gonna fight someone. It’s not Madripoor, or Seoul, or that time in Belize…”

“I’d rather be back in Belize.”

Sam threw his head back with a cackle and slapped his hand between Bucky’s shoulders. “Whatever, big guy, come on. We don’t wanna be late.”

Bucky spent the whole subway ride with a scowl etched onto his face, deepening every time he caught a glimpse of Sam’s grin in his peripherals. 

The annoying part of  this was, the longer he’d been friends with the guy, the more that grin wore him down. 

“Stop it.” 

“I ain’t doin’ anything, man. You stop it.” 

Sam’s toothy smile grew two times wider and he nudged Bucky’s shoulder as they shuffled off the train at Prince Street Station. 

“This thing would be in Soho,” Bucky muttered, following Sam out onto the sidewalk. 

“Hey! No more complaining. For all you know you might meet a nice girl or guy… or alien I guess, it is 2024, and then you’ll be thanking me.” 

Bucky rolled his eyes. 

“Yes, Sam. Sure, Sam. Just run my life for me, Sam.” 

“Someone’s gotta,” Sam replied just as they stopped outside a coffee shop. Bucky eyed the big A-frame sign advertising the Valentine’s speed dating event and sucked in a breath. 

Here goes nothing.

The sound in there alone was enough to have him turning tail but Sam caught his arm when he made an attempt and gave him a stern look that rang out loud and clear, stay put soldier, that's an order.

Bucky watched as a herd of women fixed their dresses and shirts, chatting politely with the people next to them and sipping on drinks as men lurked in corners, with wide eyes scanning the crowd as they downed beers in feeble attempts to find their courage. Bucky wanted to melt into the wall with them but Sam tugged him toward an empty high table and had the waitress grab them drinks before they even settled in. 

An eclectic looking woman in a bright green patterned dress and thick brimmed purple glasses stepped up on the tiny, open mic stage in the corner and tapped the mic loudly to get everyone's attention. The coffee shop dulled to a murmur as she started to explain how the speed dating would work.

Her nasal whine drilled into Bucky’s brain and he downed the remains of his beer, wishing for all the world that the burn of the alcohol would actually stick this time. He was struggling to form a coherent thought so he had no idea how he’d manage to hold a half-decent conversation. As if someone had heard his desperate pleas, Miss Green Dress came unknowingly to his rescue.

“We know it can be intimidating sometimes, to answer questions from strangers,” she droned, “so make sure you pick up one of our handy yes/no paddles before the first bell rings.”

Bucky’s eyes lit up and he began to move towards the table that held the paddles but Sam’s hand on his elbow stopped him.

“Wait a second, tin man, there’s no way you’re getting out of communicating with real life people.”

"If the lady says to grab a paddle, I'm gonna grab a paddle," Bucky countered, crossing his arms over his chest and staring Sam down as if to say what are you gonna do about it?

"Just promise me you'll actually talk to these people, and I mean talk, Barnes. None of the weird little cyborg grunts I've learnt how to interpret." 

On instinct, Bucky flexed and curled the fingers of his left hand. The leather of his glove creaked quietly as it stretched and Bucky sighed. One glance of the Vibranium and his dates were bound to hop out of their seats like their asses were on fire. 

"If you don't want them to see, you don't have to show them," Sam said. He was speaking in his counselor voice and Bucky hated that Sam could read him like a book.

Bucky sighed softly as he looked around the room again. “They’ll either run or ask me a bunch of questions that I’ll never be able to answer.”

Sam smirked and gently nudged his friend. “You have a bit of a following, you know.”

Bucky only grumbled. “That’s what worries me.”

“I’ve seen some of those messages you get, man those people are crazy,” Sam continued, but his teasing was softened by the sympathetic look in his eyes. “Just…give it a shot and if you really need to get out of here we will, ok?”

Bucky let out a world-weary sigh. “OK.”

“Atta boy, come on, let’s go.” Sam handed him another beer and tilted his head towards the line of tables, where a plethora of women were starting to take their seats.

"Remember, if you are sitting facing the coffee bar, you'll be staying in your seats. If you're facing away, you'll be moving on the ring of the bell," the woman called out loudly, making Bucky wince as he found his seat; James Barnes printed on a little card already thanks to Sam signing them up a week earlier.

The tables were decorated for the event; pink checked table cloths and tiny pink paper hearts scattered across the top. Between him and his first partner, a petite brunette woman with thick bangs and a nose stud, sat a small vase with a single rose. Bucky eyed the tattoos peaking out from the woman's collar and sleeves and gulped, feeling way in over his head already.

"My names Cassie," she introduced herself with a sharp smile. 

"Bucky," he swallowed thickly and palmed his beer bottle. 

"So what are you into?" She jumped right into the questions and all Bucky could think about was the bell ringing, how soon would it happen? Could he ring it if he felt threatened? There was an astounding lack of rules happening, "Like in the bedroom?" 

And boundaries. 

"Uh," he looked around for Sam who was laughing with a pretty blonde girl across the room.

Bucky could feel sweat on the back of his neck as he messed with the label on his beer bottle. 

“You’re not a talker, are you?” Cassie grinned.

It was tensely quiet for a moment before Bucky lifted his paddle with the “no” facing towards his partner.

“Ah, I see. The strong silent type. My kinda guy,” she purred.

Bucky jumped a mile in the air and almost threw his beer across the room as her foot began to stroke its way up his shin. He’d never been more relieved to hear a bell in his life.

Cassie blew him a kiss over her shoulder as she moved onto the next table and Bucky shot daggers at Sam across the room, his nostrils flaring as his so called friend laughed and gestured for him to turn around. 

The next woman in front of him looked a little tamer, if he took her ridiculously low cut top out of the equation. His eyes dipped momentarily — he may have been an ex-assassin, but he was a hot-blooded man first — before he caught himself and met her eye with a tight-lipped smile. 

"So, how many kids do you wa—"

Bucky stared at her wide-eyed and took a long pull of his beer.

"Nope. Next!"

"You're Bucky Barnes," The red head sneered before she even sat down at the table. "That's incredible, show me it."

Bucky stared at her for a moment, her green eyes predatory as they roved over his arm and down to his hand. 

"Show you what?" His brows kissed in frustration. 

"The vibranium arm," she leaned over on the table. "There are bets that it's not real, that the government made it up as a fear tactic." She rambled and Bucky tensed, "I mean we all know you're some kind of science experiment," she continued. "Fear mongering doesn't work when you make the poster child for it with thick thighs," the girl looked under the table and winked at Bucky. 

"I..." he was uncomfortable but wasn't sure what to say to her. 

"Excuse me," a sweet voice floated over the table, "you're in my seat."

Red looked up and looked incredulously at the owner of the voice before turning back to Bucky.

"I said, you're in my seat," the voice repeated, the sweetness dropped a notch.

Bucky's attention was now on the curvaceous blonde who grasped the chair from under the red head and tipped her off. "I said this is my seat, now clear off."

The downed redhead crawled to the next chair, picked up her stuff and disappeared through the cafe.

"Hi Gorgeous, my name's Hazel, pleased to meet you."

Bucky felt himself relax for the first time since he'd taken his seat.

He gave the woman a small smile and nodded in thanks for getting rid of the other woman. “I’m Bucky,” he said quietly as he eyed the now torn off label of his beer.

Hazel smiled at him, her blonde hair bobbed just above her shoulders as she flattened down the skirt of her dress. A pink number with puffy sleeves and a full skirt. 

“How have your dates been so far?” Hazel asked. His eyes flicked down to the corner of her lips where they tugged upwards ever so slightly. Heat crawled up his neck as he took a pull from his beer. 

“Do people not know what boundaries are anymore?” He said after a moment. Hazel stared at him before bursting into a chuckle.

“Nope,” she said, shaking her head and making her blonde bob dance around her ears. “That guy in the blue turtleneck offered me $50 to go home with him.”

“Jesus Christ, I’m gonna kick his ass,” Bucky muttered, semi-rising from his chair, only half joking.

A light touch on his left arm stopped him and the amused twinkle in Hazel’s eyes had him smiling back at her without even realising.

“I don’t need a champion, Bucky, but I appreciate the gesture,” Hazel said, holding out her bottle of beer to clink against his own.

“Ok,” Bucky shrugged as he chimed their bottles together before taking a swig. “Let’s get started then. You wanna go first?”

Hazel scrunched up her nose and tapped her finger against her pouted lips a couple of times. Her eyes lit up before turning a little devilish and Bucky found himself eager to hear what she’d thought of to ask him.

“You know, I could really use a recommendation and you’re just the guy to ask. So…what’s your favourite brand of metal polish?”

Bucky surprised himself with the laugh that escaped him and he didn't miss the proud little smile on Hazel's face, obviously pleased that her question tickled him. 

"Y'know, I'm not a fussy guy," he replied, "I'll take anythin' that'll make it shine." 

"The arm or your eyes?" 

"Hello, smooth talker," Bucky chuckled, "you been talkin' to all the guys like that?" 

Hazel shook her head, flashing him a beaming smile. A wisp of her blonde hair fell across her eyes with the movement and Bucky itched to reach out and tuck it behind her ear, only stopping himself when Hazel leant forward, chin resting in her hand. 

"Guess it's my turn again, huh?"

"What's your favorite drink?" Bucky asked her and felt himself leaning into her smile.

"Espresso Martini," she cooed. 

Bucky raised his hand in the air and a waitress scooted around a table where the dates were screaming at one another, "how can I help?" She asked. 

"Can you get my date an espresso martini please?" He asked and the waitress opened her mouth to explain that she may not be here by the time the drink was made. "She'll be here," Bucky nodded. 

The waitress shrugged and ducked back into the chaos around her. 

"Seems I've met my match," Hazel stared over at him.

Bucky smirked at her as the bell rang, holding her gaze. 

"Time to swap," the next dater spoke from behind Hazel.

"Not happening," Bucky replied, his eyes never leaving hers, as Hazel responded, "He's taken."

As the waitress placed the drink beside Hazel, she shrugged to the disgruntled dater and advised her to move past. "I've bigger fish to fry," she muttered, the couple who had screamed through their date were now heckling each other from several tables apart.

"So, where were we?" Hazel asked, raising her glass in toast to Bucky.

Bucky raised his bottle leaning the neck forward to softly clink her glass, taking a swig as he watched her pink-tinted plump lips part as she brought her glass up to her mouth. 

“I believe you have the floor now,” he smiled, watching her blue eyes sparkle under the soft yellow lighting. 

“Okay serious question now, promise” she winked, “how are you finding the modern world?”

Bucky let out a long breath and chuckled to himself. "It definitely ain't the 40's anymore darlin'." 

Blue eyes regarded him as she tilted her head to the side. "That daunting huh?" 

"And more." He said giving her a lopsided smile. "It's not just the technology that's changed, ya know? It's people too. The way people treat eachother. In some ways the world is a lot more accepting and in others..." His voice trailed off. 

"Like we're always fighting each other for someone else's agenda?" She finished for him.

“Exactly,” he agreed.

He leaned back in his seat and appraised her as he tilted back his bottle and swallowed a mouthful of beer. Hazel did the same, winking at him over the rim of her martini glass and he felt himself flush under her scrutiny. He liked it. 

“What made you come here tonight?” He asked.

“Nancy asked me to make up numbers,” she shrugged, nodding her head towards the organiser in the green dress. “She minded my baby for me last week so I owed her one.”

“Oh?” Bucky raised his eyebrow. “What’s your baby called?”

“Trevor. He’s a total asshole but I adore him,” Hazel gushed. “He’ll sulk for days if I leave him with anyone other than Nancy.”

“Yeah,” Bucky swallowed awkwardly. “I guess kids can be funny like that.”

“Kid?” Hazel threw her head back and cackled. “Trevor’s my cat!”

"Oh...OH!" Bucky chuckled, feeling a little bashful over the misunderstanding. But then with Hazel's laugh, Bucky couldn't help the way his own grew louder. 

Hazel's shoulders shook as she tapered off into a giggle and her eyes creased at the corners, lashes glistening with unshed tears. She was gorgeous, her whole personality infectious and Bucky was more than ready to throw caution to the wind, steal her away from this stupid event. 

"I, uh... I like cats..." Bucky said suddenly, voice going up like it was a question, and the laughter started all over again. He hadn't felt this loose, his heart this full of something that wasn't dread or fear, in years.

"You do?" Hazel perked up and her soft smile curled to the side. 

"I have one," Bucky nodded, "Alpine. Sweet little thing. Feisty too."

"Like father, like daughter, clearly." She teased, her finger rolling down the stem of her glass. "Can I meet her sometime?"

"I'd like that," Bucky smiled at her. "You look amazing in that dress by the way."

"What? This little ole thing?" she quoted. "It's fabulous dahling, I was always told 'go big or go home'. The best advice I've ever been given."

"Who told you that?" Bucky asked curiously.

"My Nan," Hazel smiled at the memory, pausing to take another sip from her glass.

“Must’ve been one wonderful woman as well,” he offered with a tender smile. 

“That she was. And, thank you.” Hazel smiled back, eyes glossy. 

“So Mr. Barnes, I think we’ve defeated speed-dating. Very succesfully, if I might add,” she winked at the soft laugh that slipped from Bucky’s lips. 

Hazel moved her hand and rested it softly atop his and he was absolutely certain from the little twitch upwards at the corner of her lips, that she could see the flush creeping up his neck and cheeks. 

“You think your partner back there would mind if we took our drinks somewhere else?”  she asked pointing Sam’s way with her plush lips.

"Wouldn't care if he did." Bucky grinned, taking another swig of his beer, "what about you? Do you think Nancy is gonna flip if you leave?" 

Hazel glanced over her shoulder at Nancy, too busy calming down a woman. "Nah, she's got her hands full." Those same blue eyes flickered back to him and his heart skipped a beat he was sure of it.

“Well then,” Bucky grinned, hopping up and sliding around the table to Hazel’s side because he was nothing if not a gentleman. He held out his warm hand out for her and something lit up inside him, a sparkling, soft glow in the darkness, as Hazel’s fingers curled around his. 

She giggled as she stood, straightening out the skirt of her dress with her free hand and Bucky took a moment to really take her in. 

“Why thank you, kind sir.” 

Bucky shrugged shyly, face warm as Hazel beamed up at him. If only he couldn’t see Sam giving him two goofy thumbs up over her head.

"Okay maybe walk a little faster though," Hazel giggled when Nancy gasped from the left of the room. 

The two of them made their way out onto the street in a bundle of laughs and quickened steps as Nancy yelled from the door of the shop. Hazel's cute pink dress was a mess in the wind from their scurried steps and Bucky couldn't help but laugh when he looked over at her to find her hair a mess around her beautiful face. 

"Here," he angled himself in front of her, blocking her from the breeze and used both hands to push the hair from her face. "Much better," he smiled, unaware or unbothered by the proximity of their lips as she stared up at him with light dancing across her blue eyes. 

"Thanks," she said, her cheeks turning red.

"Any time, beautiful" Bucky voiced as he stroked her flushed cheek tenderly with his gloved thumb.

"Now who's the smooth talker," Hazel laughed, so sweet and melodic Bucky hoped he could hear it everyday. 

"Still got something," he chuckled. "Where to next?" 

"Well, there's a small bar not far from here. Cozy booths we could sit side by side in... or across from each other you know, your choice." Her eyes shifted from his lips to his eyes and back, and it took every bit of willpower in him not to kiss her right there. 

"You really think I'm gonna wanna sit anywhere but right next to ya?" He said, moving his hands reluctantly from her face to offer his hand once more. "Lead the way darlin'."

Hazel grinned up at him. "Do you trust me?" 

He saw a twinkle of mischief in her eyes as he glanced down at her but something fluttered in his chest that made him feel like he could actually trust this woman. "and if I say yes?" 

She smirked and tugged on his hand, leading him further down the street. "Then you'd make my night." 

He couldn't help but laugh as they continued to walk in silence. One that didn't feel pressured or awkward. It was just the two of them enjoying each other's presence. Hazel stopped outside of a small brownstone and looked back at him. 

"This doesn't look like a bar, darlin'." He raised a brow. 

"That's because it's my apartment." Hazel bit her bottom lip softly as she looked up at him. "I figured if we wanted some place quiet that this might be the best spot and besides...I do need to feed Trevor."

Bucky didn't realise he could raise his eyebrow as high as he just did, blinking down at Hazel as his lips curved into a smirk. 

“You’re bold,” he murmured darkly, “I like it.” 

“My God, I thought you were about to run for the hills,” Hazel breathed, smacking him lightly on the arm — the left one. 

“Sweetheart, the day I run from a gorgeous woman like you will be the day I need my brain fixed… again.” 

Hazel’s cheeks turned a soft pink as she chuckled quietly and Bucky couldn’t help himself as his fingers found her jaw again,  the pad of his thumb gently stroking the apple of her cheek. 

“Last chance to back out,” she offered but Bucky shook his head. 

“You promised a cat,” he grinned.

“That I did, soldier.” She unlocked the door and led him inside. Locking it behind them as she entered. 

The place was cute, decorated in more color than Bucky had ever seen in his entire life. Completely out of place, the most scraggly cat he had ever laid eyes on. Trevor looked like he had gone five rounds with a wood chipper. 

“He was an alley cat,” Hazel set her purse on the long teal hallway table between a hot pink vase full of fake flowers and a funky looking bowl for her keys. “Believe it or not, Trevor is in better shape than he’s ever been.” 

“I’m sensing a theme,” Bucky teased, squatting before the cat and offering his hand. 

“I promise I don’t make a habit of bringing home strays,” Hazel laughed and her fingers ran through Bucky’s hair as she passed. The sensation curled his toes and forced his eyes upward to where she was disappearing around the corner. Nothing but pink tulle and long gorgeous legs.

“Christ,” he muttered under his breath and almost crawled after her until he managed to gather enough of his wits about himself to clamber to his feet.

He padded after her into a small kitchen, careful to keep his steps heavy so as not to startle her with his usual light-footed gait. The orange and hot pink accents in the room should have clashed but somehow they didn’t. They were perfectly Hazel. She turned to face him, a bottle of white wine in one hand, a bottle of whiskey in the other, and a cheeky smile on her beautiful face.

Bucky nodded his head towards the whiskey and stepped further into the kitchen as she busied about, pouring them both a glass. Handing him a cut glass tumbler with a healthy measure of amber liquid inside, she raised her wine glass in a wordless toast before taking a sip. Bucky was mesmerised at the way her tongue darted out to capture the stray droplet of wine that lingered on her bottom lip.

Before he even took a sip of the whiskey warmth filled his chest. He hadn't expected to take away anything from the ridiculous spectacle that was speed dating but here he stood, bashful and anxious before a beautiful woman who was anything but those two things. 

She set her wine glass down and pulled out a tiny can that had Trevor sounding off like a fire alarm as she struggled to open it. Bucky moved forward in an offer to help but her blue eyes flickered up to him in warning. Eventually she got the lid popped and fed Trevor as Bucky stood and watched her care for the mangled, scruffy looking alley cat. 

"You stand out like a sore thumb in here," she teased, looking up at him again before moving around the counter and ushering him through the house. 

"I'll confess I feel like one," he said as she sat across from him with her legs tucked under her. 

His tongue darted out over his bottom lip, saddened that she had curled away from him. Desperate to touch all of sudden. Like a love sick puppy, touch starved and wanting.

“Not enough to scare you I hope,” Hazel voiced, a small smirk tugging at her lips as she studied him fingers tapping the base of her glass. 

“Quite the opposite,” he declared his hand inching closer to where she had rested her free arm on the back of the sofa. 

“Good, I think we’d balance each other out perfectly,” she mused, her hand meeting him halfway like she had read his mind just as she took a sip of her wine. 

Her delicate fingers traced along the leather of his gloves and her eyes followed like she was lost in thought before she spoke again. 

“You know, you don’t have to hide with me.” Her blue eyes found his once more as her fingers curled into his. “I’m not saying you *have* to take them off if you don’t want to, just wanted you to know you were, safe." She finished with a smile so tender and genuine that he thought his heart was going to burst right out of his chest.

Bucky smiled and looked down at his hands. He always kept his gloves on unless he was in his apartment or on a mission if he needed to use the arm for strength. Licking his lips, he flexed one hand. "Thank you..." he told her. It was tempting to show her, to relax the worry in his mind. But he didn't want to frighten her either.

She continued to talk, her voice soft and lilting, and Bucky found himself mesmerised by her animated features and expressive hands. A rogue strand of hair was the only thing that interrupted her monologue as it flopped insistently over her forehead. Hazel crossed her eyes endearingly and pursed her lips to blow it out of the way with a chuckle of laughter that turned into a huff as it immediately returned.

Without a second thought Bucky reached forwards and stroked it gently out of her way, tucking the blonde strand behind her ear. The feel of her warm skin against his fingertips was heavenly and then he stilled with the realisation that he’d taken off his gloves. 

“There you are,” Hazel murmured, a smile of pure delight on her face as she leaned into the touch of his hand.

He can’t remember the last time he’d used his hands for such a soft gesture, for someone to see him so metaphorically naked and not be fazed in the slightest. 

“Hi,” he breathed, fingers still lingering on her cheek. 

“Hi, handsome,” Hazel whispered and then, “can I?” 

She gestured for his other hand and Bucky nodded, letting Hazel lead as she slid her palm along the vibranuim plates of his, her thumb stroking his wrist as if she’d feel a pulse there. And then he was cupping her cheeks, metal and flesh framing her perfect face.

"Do you feel anything?" She asks him and oddly enough he had never been posed with such a question. He had to think about it. 

Could he feel the softness of her skin, the warmth, the realness... or was it just his mind playing tricks on him. 

"It's not a trick question?" Hazel whispered, her eyes flickering back and forth over his expression. 

"I'm sort of sick of those," he leaned forward, their lips ghosting and breath tangling as he worked up the nerve to kiss her. "Questions are messy," he said. 

"You know what's not?" Hazel smiled and it made all the lines around her face crinkle, "kissing."

"I feel like-" Bucky started to say that it was messy, in fact kissing was the epitome of messy but Hazel was done conversation and her lips where colliding with his before he could protest further. They were delicate as she leaned into his touch and dragged her teeth over his bottom lip sending a thousand tiny shivers rolling through him like a wave. It had been a long time since he had been kissed, and even longer since anyone had turned him into knots the way Hazel was.

Bucky sighed softly as his eyes closed. He focused on the softness of her lips, the taste of her cherry chapstick. It wasn’t long before one hand moved to rest on the side of her neck, caressing her smooth skin with his thumb.

Hazel’s lips parted in a soft gasp as Bucky let himself get lost in the kiss. He licked into her mouth, deliberate and tentative all at once. He didn’t want to get this wrong, didn’t want to fuck up the first piece of human interaction to coax out the butterflies that had been hidden, scared away and buried away for the last 80 years. 

Hazel’s fingers skimmed along his jaw, scratching over the scruff of his stubble before they tangled into the fluff of hair behind his ears. 

Bucky’s breath hitched and someone made a keening little sound, muffled by lips and soft breaths. It wasn’t until Hazel moved in a little closer, kissed him a little softer, that he realised it was him.

His entire body was vibrating and he never wanted to let go of this feeling, to let go of her. He wanted to be here for as long as she would let him. 

His flesh hand found purchase in her hair, caressing her blond strands as their tongues danced together while he let his vibranium one travel down her neck. His metal fingers danced along her collarbone and arm as the sweet sounds of her muffled moans took over all of his senses. His hand stopped at her waist, grasping softly as he spoke into their kiss. 

“Need you closer, please.” He whined.

Hazel pulled away just enough to where she could speak. “Closer how, handsome?”

He couldn’t put his feelings into words; he was so intoxicated by her, as if the whiskey had actually overpowered the serum that ran through his veins. Sliding his hands lower he cupped her ass over the yards of silky chiffon and pulled her gently towards him.

Hazel laughed, a joyful, tinkling sound, as she let him guide her into straddling his thick thighs.

“Better?” She murmured, running her nose along the length of his jaw before ghosting her lips lightly over his.

“Much,” Bucky hummed as his palms dipped under the hem of Hazel’s dress, caressing the soft skin of her thighs. “Now, sweetheart… you and your gorgeous legs just sit pretty and let me love on you.” 

“Well, I know I can do that,” Hazel replied and Bucky could feel her smile, hear the quickening thud of her heart as he kissed her pillow-soft, dewy lips. 

There was nothing tentative about the kiss this time, he was determined to make Hazel feel good, to draw out every breath and gasp and moan like it was the only thing that mattered.

"I like you Hazel," Bucky huffed against her lips, needy for more but wanting to play every move carefully. "You surprised me."

"Is that a good," she tensed as his fingers tickled her thigh, "thing? You sound unsure."

"Oh darlin', it's a damn good thing I'm sure."

Hazel giggled softly as she ran one hand slowly through his hair, watching as the man beneath her practically melted. “You’re a little bit like a cat, yourself, you know that?” She smiled. “You practically vibrate when I touch you.”

“How can I not when you feel so good?” He rumbled, adding an extra purr to his words just to hear that laugh of hers again.

It worked. The peal of laughter she let out had his chest blooming with a warmth he’d not felt in years. His hands left her thighs, sliding up and around her back so that he could draw her close.

Hazel fit against his chest as if she’d been made for him, humming contentedly when he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“Thank you, Bucky,” Hazel murmured softly, tilting up to press a series of sweet kisses along his jaw. Bucky sighed, warmth flooding his belly. 

“What for, pretty girl?” 

“I know you didn’t want to be at that event but you took a chance, you let me see you.” 

“Couldn’t really say no, Hazel. You had me from the moment you kicked that girl out of her seat.” Bucky chuckled, kissing her again. He couldn’t stop, didn’t *want* to stop. 

“You mean *my* seat,” Hazel replied, flashing him that cheeky grin.

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Chapter 47: The Grave Is No Bar to My Call

I have absolutely no idea how the game is played but it feels to me like this particular card is nowhere near as good as the real thing. They always gotta "balance" shit for the games. Very annoying. I never balance my posts; I just stuff them full as many spoilers for the whole Wheel of Time series as possible and hope for the best. It hasn't failed me yet!

We get the exciting Horn of Valere icon this chapter because it is about to be blown.

He had the Horn of Valere lashed to the high pommel of his saddle as if it were just any horn, but the dagger was in his belt, the ruby-tipped hilt cupped protectively in a pale hand that seemed made of nothing but bone and sinew.

One half-wonders if the only reason Mat could be a horn-sounder at this point is that the dagger had all of his glory-related thoughts under wraps.

“We will all take the Horn to Verin, and then you can help her take it wherever she says it belongs.”

Rand's early oscillating between "I can't trust any Aes Sedai ever, I will not be used" and "Let's do whatever they say so I don't have to make a plan" is great.

Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain. So many duties. Egwene. The Horn. Fain. Mat and his dagger. Why can’t there just be one at a time? I have to take care of all of them.

It's rather funny that Rand will spend the whole series trying to avoid the solution he's automatically gone to here: off-load the less urgent responsibilities onto Mat and Perrin.

“That’s all very well, but what about you? Burn me, you can’t be going mad yet. You can’t!” Hurin gaped at them, not understanding half of it.

Mat's denial is very sweet and boy do I hope the narration is wrong about Hurin not getting it by now. Did he get a head injury no one noticed?

Rand shook his head. Threads. Duties. He felt as if he were about to explode like a firework. Light, what’s happening to me?

Rand, you're buckling under the stress of not communicating with everyone. Get ready because this is going to define your day to day life for the next eleven books.

“Saving Egwene isn’t wasting time!” But Mat’s hand had tightened on the dagger till it shook.

Mat's still a nice guy despite the corruption. I really don't get the people who want to say that his early book characterization veers all over the place: it's definitely true that not seeing his thought processes makes him harder to understand at this point. And of course the dagger was fucking him up last book. But this book's outside glimpses of Mat don't seem qualitatively different than what we get in later books, except of course that Mat hasn't had all his character development and power-ups yet.

“Lord Rand,” Hurin muttered, “if that lot lays an eye on the Horn of Valere, we’ll never get it close to an Aes Sedai. We’ll never get close to it again ourselves.”

Frankly Hurin, I doubt your heads will ever get close to your necks again if the Whitecloaks hear you have the Horn.

Have to go back. Have to go back. The longer he looked at the Horn, the more urgent his thoughts became. Have to. Have to.

I guess everyone's getting focused on salvation just being near the Horn as it's about to be blown correctly.

His last thought was regret. Byar would not be able to tell his son Dain how he had died.

Rest in... something, Mr. Bornhald. You sure were an almost reasonable human being. Sucks you couldn't stick around to benefit from Galad's leadership. Better luck next life!

Rand could not see the trees around them any longer. Mat had lowered the Horn, eyes wide with awe, but the sound of it still rang in Rand’s ears. The fog hid everything in rolling waves as white as the finest bleached wool, yet Rand could see. He could see, but it was mad. Falme floated somewhere beneath him, its landward border black with the Seanchan ranks, lightning ripping its streets.

I wonder if the intent was for this levitation to be a feature of the Horn. I do not recall Olver floating off in the Last Battle, though if he had it would have been quite a sequence and a good way to catch up with everything, considering that Rand can somehow see Bayle Domon's face from this distance. Certainly without the Horn's doing this whole sequence seems rather more miraculous than the series usually is.

Golden-haired Birgitte, with her gleaming silver bow and quiver bristling with silver arrows.

Hi Birgitte! Look forward to getting to know you better later!

They were little more than a hundred, Rand saw, and realized that somehow he had known that they would be.

I'm going to guess that there's about 106 of them, less Lews Therin and Noal. It seems like the kind of number Robert Jordan would want.

To his surprise, several of the small host behind Artur Hawkwing chuckled, and Birgitte, testing her bowstring, laughed. “You always choose women who cause you trouble, Lews Therin.” It had a fond sound, as between old friends.

Oh Birgitte just you fucking wait.

“My name is Rand al’Thor,” he snapped. “You have to hurry. There isn’t much time.”

Naturally, Rand's not fond of his deadname.

Hurin is meanwhile standing off to the side, probably somehow oblivious to what Rand being called Lews Therin means.

“You are here. The banner is here. The weave of this moment is set. We have come to the Horn, but we must follow the banner. And the Dragon.”

Speaking of being oblivious, I'm impressed with the whole of the fandom that we never noticed that the rules for hornsounding were set right here.

Perrin hesitated only an instant before swinging down off his horse and striding into the mist. There came a chopping sound, and when he returned, he carried a straight length of sapling shorn of its branches.

I guess they haven't gone floating away just yet, no matter what the Horn fog is doing? We're rapidly approaching one of those weird metaphysical sequences.

It seemed as if no time at all had passed since the Horn was first blown, as though time had paused while the heroes answered the call and now resumed counting.

That's a pretty nifty feature too. I guess Hero threads get priority when it comes to the weaving.

In a way, he could still see them, but now it was the way he could see Falme, and the Seanchan. He could not tell where they were, or where he was. He tightened his grip on his sword, peered into the mists ahead. He charged alone through the fog, and somehow he knew that was how it was meant to be.

Perhaps also they're sort of in T'A'R too? The Horn blurs the line between the two realities so that the Heroes, permitted access to one realm, might reach another? That would help explain Ba'alzy and all the floating.

Rand was aware of the other things, too.

His far-reaching sight foreshadows his actual conflict against the Dark One where from within Shayol Ghul he can still see the whole of the battle.

“Fool! Did those other fools you summoned not tell you who you are?” The fires of Ba’alzamon’s face roared with laughter.

Ish tries to distract Rand from his real lies (that Rand is his one way or another) by highlighting the truth Rand finds inconvenient, to make all of his statements seem more plausible. It's a good tactic!

Rand was so surprised he felt it inside the void. He doesn’t know everything. He doesn’t know! He was sure it must show on his face. To cover it, he rushed at Ba’alzamon.

Of course, the problem with Ishamael's techniques is that as effective as they are on ignorant country types, once the spell is broken there's literally no way to get it back. The only reason Rand insists on Ish being the Dark One from this point forward is the convenience it offers him, letting him avoid acknowledging his fate.

This time it was he who was driven back. Dimly, he saw the Seanchan fighting their way back in among the stables. He redoubled his efforts. The Kingfisher Takes a Silverback. The Seanchan gave way to a charge, Artur Hawkwing and Perrin side by side in the van.

The explicit connection between the specific struggle above and the general battle below is a nice touch. I'd comment more on the sword forms but... Effort. Most of these suggest vertical arcs to me, though of some different shape.

I have won again, Lews Therin. The thought was beyond the void, yet it took an effort to ignore it, not to think of all the lives where he had heard it.

The fact that the only compelling argument the Shadow has at this point stems directly from all the worlds that aren't speaks volumes to how pathetic an adversary it actually is.

For the first time Rand realized that Ba’alzamon acted as if the heron-mark blade could harm him. Steel can’t hurt the Dark One. But Ba’alzamon watched the sword warily.

Note that Rand can only acknowledge this under duress.

The picture formed of Egwene, collared, living her life as a damane. Threads of my life in danger. Egwene. If Hawkwing gets into Falme, he can save her. Before he knew it, he had taken the first position of Heron Wading in the Rushes, balanced on one foot, sword raised high, open and defenseless.

And again, Rand jumps entirely ahead of his character flaws. He hasn't really developed them yet, not fully. He also never comes to appreciate how it was this exact decision to trust in his allies being able to carry things out in the end is how he wins here - nor how it's the only way he gets to live after the overall war.

Rand screamed as he felt it pierce his side, burning like a white-hot poker. The void trembled, but he held on with the last of his strength, and drove the heron-mark blade into Ba’alzamon’s heart. Ba’alzamon screamed, and the dark behind him screamed. The world exploded in fire

Ish is so hilariously far from being a fighter, isn't he? He only does the damage he does and survives this blow through having stacked the deck so thoroughly. Poor Rand, though. From here on out things are only going to get tougher.

Next time: Ladies fight over Rand's body!

[winderlylandchime]

Hi! I hope you’re doing well and that your trip is good and fun. But holy shit, i hope you and your partner manage to stay covid free! I’m sending some healing thoughts to your SIL since covid absolutely sucks!

Also a few things i do have to say because you need to know (most of them i was told to tell you guys): we went to the doctor yesterday and he was proudly wearing his new shirt. Everyone found it hilarious and accurate portrayal of him/his year. And then he told the whole office (2 doctors and 3 nurses) that he is now famous on the internet because i told bunch of people about him watching the show. And the doctor who is in charge of his case (the guy who did the surgery lol), looked at me, pointed at him and slowly went ‘you made him other people’s problem?’ And my brother proudly said ‘Yes, she did! *realized what was said* heeeeey, i can be quite a delight, just ask the people on the no porn site’ (yes, that is how he told them about tumblr). And my brother wanted me to let you all know that his cast has to stay on for another week, so he is very sad about that BUT the big news that he immediately looked at me (in the office in front of them btw) and went ‘you gotta tell my new homies about this’ was that in two weeks he has his final check up with his surgeon bc he wants to do all tests one last time and then if all is good which they believe will be, he can officially go home and back to his whatever tf normal life is for him. So looks like I’m losing my two roommates soon. Shit will be boring ngl.

Then the other more important thing! My brother had your blog opened on his tag, but i guess he went to check out the rest of the blog because he walked in this morning and went ‘did you fucking know that they write stories?! About Brian and Blondie? WHAT IS THIS? AND THERES SO MANY FUCKING COOL GIFS TOO. LIKE SHIT TON OF THEM! I saw one where Gale was talking in that interview about Prom and Blondie from that panel and then there were gifs from the episode and behind the scenes with it! That had to take for fucking ever! Do people just make them all the time? See? when *puts out one hand* Fandom and *puts out the other hand* love, come together *puts his hands together* beautiful things come to life.’

So he is currently going through your ao3/bookmarks but i did tell him to read your other fics before the new one.. Btw he didn’t move from the couch for a few hours after he discovered it. His favorites so far are: we didn’t know we could reach the stars (he thought that one was a very accurate portrayal of what Brian and Justin would be like if the writers didnt ruin it), clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them (he really enjoyed that one btw. He especially thought the ‘not the first boy to jerk off to thoughts of Brian in this bed’ was clever as fuck and literally went ‘ooohhh shit’ when he read it)

and Youre like a tattoo (he gasped when he realized the plot and went ‘ITS REVERSED!’). And when he finally made it to your new fic he fucking lost it (he had a tiny report on it)

I did show him your replies from previous messages and here’s the message from the guy himself (read this as if youre listening to a very caffeinated person pacing up and down, for accurate pov): I was a breath of fresh air for them? Fucking hell, so this fandom is in like a hibernation, huh? I’m fucked, aren’t I? Well anyway, thank you stranger for very sweet words. I fuck with this person! I think we’d be friends. I FUCKING LOVE LITTLE EDIE! Me and (his best friends name) always quote the ‘It was quite the scandal actually. It was in all the magazines at the time’ in Jinx’s voice whenever some random shit is asked. Them and their spouse sound like they’re fucking fun to be around. Wait you gotta tell them I read the stories they wrote, i’m still reading other people’s shit, i have a lot to catch up to. But that one that isn’t done yet is fucking brilliant. I mean they all are but I read that one twice! I had to watch the reunion episode from season 3 because it made me all nostalgic when they got back together. It’s exactly how I’d like the show to be. Its nice to read and go mhm thats my bri bri, unlike in the show where it was not my bri but an imposter. I also very much fuck with older Brian who has a beard and glasses. Because he looked pretty as fuck in that little comic con video. I’m excited to see how they end it and i really really hope that they had fun writing these stories because i had a lot of fun reading them. Anyway, tell them, they’re fucking cool, their stories are fucking dope, i also really liked that one about them sharing their clothes AND THE ONE WHERE BLONDIE WAS THE SUGAR DADDY! I fucking told you that will happen..i was just wrong as to where. And im glad to see that the *lifts his cast* ally, is catching on.

PS, we both got all ‘awwww’ and a little emotional ngl, when we read your response how you’ve been thinking of us while writing. And just so you know we spent all day today discussing your fics (when he got to the cliffhanger, he went ‘i am once again being teased just like with the love confession’) and some other fics from other creators that he read and enjoyed. The man is in awe. Every time he’d read a new chapter/fic he goes ‘this is the best thing ive read’ over and over.

Hello hello hello dear sweet anon and brother anon!

Thank you for your well wishes. My SIL tested negative this morning so we are officially in the clear (and can abandon our masks). I think we did a good job being responsible within the circumstances. Luckily, my SIL’s symptoms never got bad and the cold I arrived with (was it a cold or an intense allergic reaction to cleaning my apartment and kicking up all that dust?) never evolved into anything more unpleasant.

I love that we’re not the people on the “no porn site.” And we do all think he’s delightful. I’m glad he’s recovering well and can soon live independently from you but I imagine life will be a lot quieter and less chaotic without him and feline BriBri.

Yes! Gifs allow us to relive every moment of the series, draw parallels etc. Let’s give a hand to @sophsun1 who is basically carrying the fandom on her back with her beautiful gifs.

I am absolutely floored by his reaction to my fics. Thank you so much for passing along the kind words he had. I’m glad he like the 5+1 clothes sharing fic (I have such a soft spot for it), and We Didn’t Know We Could Reach the Stars is such an overlooked fic (I forget I wrote it!). AND of course Tattoo was my beloved fic this year.

The fandom isn’t in hibernation so much as it is small and basically zero new content has been released in eons and so it is a small fandom with nowhere near the works produced that large currently or recently active fandoms have (tbh those fandoms intimidate me - I will read GO fic but joining a discord or writing fic in there? so scary!).

“It was quite the scandal really…” is the other quote I say to my spouse on hair wash / hair turban days! I like to think we *are* fun to be around. Especially if quote RPDR S5 is your idea of fun. Then we’re a blast!

I do have fun writing fics. I bitch and moan and complain, but I love writing them and getting to put them out into the world. I’m even more excited to write and post the last chapter of Fireflies now that I know your brother has read it. And I’m delighted to hear that he thinks I kept his beloved BriBri in character (if we ignore WTF happened to his character in S5).

I’m honestly a little bit emotional from your PS. I write fics because I love to write them but hearing that you’re sitting around discussing them? I love writing them but I do want an audience (otherwise I wouldn’t publish them) and there are fics out there that I feel that way about (written by other people) so for my fics to be that to someone… just, I need a moment and a tissue.

*makes fist* ally

[eureka-its-zico]

Okay, so I logged on to Tumblr on PC so I could get ALL of this out because Part 3 of “Chaos in Their Bones” has fed me, hydrated me, cleared my skin up, rested me, made me weep and cackle loudly, so let’s get into all the bits (I have quoted bits from chapter 3) that have stuck out with me. Hope you don't mind that I quoted them here :)

So far Operation Petty was getting off to a rough start. 

First line and I was already grinning. Doc meet Zoro. Zoro meet Doc. One is pettier than the other lol

Fuck.  You struggled to keep a shudder from making its way down your spine but you weren’t so lucky in keeping the soft gasp from trickling out from your lips. The husk of his voice was unnecessarily sexy.  Slowly, you turned to look to your right and found Zoro casually sitting back in his seat. His eyes trained forward and his hands took his silverware as if he hadn’t just whispered across your skin like sin.  You couldn’t think past what had just happened. It didn’t matter how much you tried to formulate a sentence. Your brain was just not having it. You could do this. You were an intelligent woman who was not easily swayed.  “What?”  A masterful reply.

Okay, I died and ascended here because same, Doc, same. Would have the same reaction.

“I think that’s the first time anyone’s apologized to me before.”  “That sucks.” God, you really did have a way with words. Nami was equally as shocked at your bluntness, but in a way that sent a warm smile to lift the edges of your lips. Nami sputtered out a laugh as she placed her hands on her hips

I am in love with Doc. The attitude. It's just *chef's kiss*

“Well, at least now you’ll know you have one in Syrup village.”  A spark of something ignited in her eyes and whatever it was your words made her think of, it wasn’t something happy. When a small smile curled her lips it didn’t reach her eyes. They stayed distant; mourning something you may never be made aware of.

This part in particular, knowing what happens later just hit me like a train. It hurts when you know Nami's actual back story and this part right here - it shows that there's so much and the fact that Doc is perceptive enough to see it just made me fall for Doc even more.

“If you guys are going to talk about feelings I’m seriously going to need a drink.” “Shocker.” The few steps Zoro took came to an abrupt end just a few feet from you.

Pot meet kettle. Kettle meet pot. I don't know what it is about this dynamic with a mouthy person giving Zoro a run for his money, but I love it. The sass made me feel rejuvenated lol

Who knows, maybe it was just your imagination overreacting. Right when you went to glance over the side, a hand smacked its way over the top and you felt your soul evacuate your body. A few seconds later, green hair popped over the top that sat on top of a familiar face, but your brain was stuck in fear mode, so when Zoro asked, “Doc?” The only response he’d gotten was your fist connecting with his face.  “What the fuck!”

I gotta admit, the cackle I let out was loud and sounded absolutely deranged and feral lol Even now as I am writing this I am cackling like an absolute madman to the point I think I might not be getting enough oxygen into my brain... Such a correct reaction to someone popping out of the well tho haha

His lips were parted, eyes scanning your face, and for one devious miscalculation of judgment, you wanted to fist your fingers in his shirt and pull him towards you to see if his lips were as soft as you imagined.  Nope. Nooooope!

Same, Doc, same. Just... Same lmao Let's not spiral yet.

“Luffy, that is a splendid offer. One I don’t think anyone could pass up but I can’t leave.” “Why the hell not?” Naan fired off.  “Naan-“ “And if you say it’s because of me, just remember you aren’t too old for me to throttle you with my cane.”

Naan is my spirit animal. That's it.

“Please, take care Naan. You’ve done so much for me, my whole life. If it wasn’t for you I don’t know where I would be.”  “Dead,” she stated matter-of-factly.  It was so blunt. So incredibly Naan that you couldn’t stop the sharp bark of laughter that came from you.

I aspire to be as blunt as Naan when I grow old. I also have to once again admit that I let out a very loud cackle at this part because it was just beautiful and so so well delivered.

There's a lot of other pieces that I would add, but I think I'd end up pasting your whole fic into this ask so I'll just leave it with these ones that had me grinning so wide my mouth hurts. Tbf, I grinned hard throughout the whole chapter and my face hurts right now. No regrets tho!

Personally, I found this to be a beautifully written update and I have to once again PROCLAIM that I will be excitedly waiting for the next part!

chewing on your nails until you were positive you must have gnawed them into dust.

Thank you so much for sharing this! And I hope your week is going well! Also, I hope you are catching up with your essays :D

Sending love your way and have a lovely week!

-Gouda 🧀

P.S. I love beefy chapters so if there will be any more in this, or any story you come out with - I will feast on it. Thanks xoxo

Gouda 🧀 Nonnie,

WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN?! I have read your ask an unhealthy amount of times. It’s made me smile like a crazy person and I realized why: when you described what you felt while reading this chapter is what made me the happiest. The fact it made you cackle through most of it and felt what you felt gave me the biggest sense of accomplishment.

Doc absolutely needs to have sass. I don’t know why, but when I thought of their relationship, I imagine it’s based off that annoying feeling of when you like someone and you do not want to like them, but your feelings are deceptive little bastards so you’re just grumpy about it lol. That’s how I imagine Doc and Zoro. Equally a pain in the others ass and equally low key loving it.

This chapter was also important because it begins to set up the relationships with Nami and Luffy. It’s important to me that this not just be based on a relationship solely centered around Zoro. I just haven’t successfully thought out what I want to happen when they get to the Baratie with Sanji, but I’m rambling!

I am so full of gratitude for you and your ever amazing review of ch. 3. For your support and kindness and even kinder words. I hope you, my dear, are having a wonderful week and get plenty of rest! Much love 🖤

[murmurmurl]

oc ramble: how do they do in school!!!!

idk why, I wanna start off with Matsu. I feel like you would expect him to be either really good or really bad. He's actually a pretty average student. He has a very hard time making himself do things he doesn't like or isn't interested in, but he's really good at the subjects he does find fun. For example, he's great at biology. It has to do with his literal biggest interest, so that makes sense. Speaking of interests, ik I keep talking about how much he loves marine life and stuff, as if there isn't anything else he likes wjkhkskh, so I'm gonna derail here for a moment. Matsu LOVES learning languages. He may not be the very best a it, but he finds them absolutely fascinating. Also, something he has in common with Toshiro, he loves jewelry, specifically hand-made and often makes some! He usually gives it to the rest of H♡L. Idk if you noticed, but all members have necklaces – Toshiro and Matsu made them together. I think that's cute,,,,

BACK ON TRACK. Toshiro. It may be unexpected because of their personality, but they're very much h a try-hard at school, they HAVE to exceed at EVERYTHING. It fits into their struggles with always trying to earn love and attention by becoming better at everything. He doesn't like any of that at all though – its too monotonous and there aren't really any subjects that interest him.

Fumi is... surprisingly bad. For someone with her personality and how she holds herself.. you would expect them to have good grades, but no. It doesn't interest them at all. Frankly, they couldn't care less. She doesn't skip classes or anything, more so just does her own thing, like mentally preparing for what she will have to help with ar her family's flower shop or making up songs in her head. While you can often find Matsu and Toshiro hanging out in the hallways during breaks, sometimes even getting silly and running around (they've been doing it more lately... maybe it's the ruikasa influence...), Fumi just kinda.. hangs out on her own. Gotta keep up that "I will kill you if you look at me wrong" energy yk.

Seina! She goes to miya girls, so she can't hang out with the others at school... but as I think I've mentioned somewhere already, she's friends with with most of MMJ if not all of them (I need to check that LMAO- even if I didn't intend that before, now it's true so. shhh. my ocs, I can do whatever I want). She's pretty good! Very responsible, does stuff on time, helps other students... and she doesn't even hate it! There's not THAT much to say when it comes to her and school, really. She mostly does all of this stuff out of.. kinda feeling obligated? And also her whole thing with helping everyone, yeah. Her favorite subject is literature, though. She loves writing and reading in general. Have I mentioned anywhere that she writes lyrics for H♡L? I probably have, idk,,

Also about Hiroto. He's pretty good at school, but kinda (terribly) sucks at math and other science-related subjects. He just does NOT get any of that AT ALL. My boy tries really hard, he does, but this just doesn't make sense to him,, things got SLIGHTLY better as he sometimes asks Tsukasa to explain some stuff, though he's too proud to do it often. His grades aren't bad though, Hiroto manages. Somehow.

This is a slightly shorter ramble as I've got things to do eugh,,,,,,,,

[rustbeltjessie]

The past week (the good, the bad, & the miscellaneous):

—One of my uncles is in very bad health, and if he doesn’t get the proper treatment soon, will probably not make it. That’s bad enough on its own, but it has also brought up a whole slew of family drama, which…well, I won’t get into specifics because they’re not really mine to tell, but it sucks.

—The oldest kiddo is doing great with his ADHD meds. He’s better able to focus on schoolwork, he listens better, and he has actual reciprocal conversations more often now. (Like, yesterday, we got into a conversation about AI art/writing, and he had some very well-thought-out opinions! I could tell he wasn't just regurgitating things he'd heard; he'd actually put a lot of thought into it.)

—I've gotten a little sad about the fact that I probably am ADHD, and possibly also autistic, or whatever (there’s definitely some neurodivergence in there), but never got any help when I was a kid/young adult. Because AFAB kids tend to present differently and mask better, y'know? All I know is I had an awful lot of school reports that were like: "J. is really smart, but doesn't follow directions well" or "J. does well on everything, when she decides it's something she wants to do." And then when I reached the age of burnout everyone was like: "But you are so smart! You're just not trying hard enough! You're just lazy!" How much better could I have done, especially in college, had anyone noticed that I was trying, that I was fucking struggling, and it wasn't just laziness?

—Speaking of college, I'm still researching universities I might want to attend when/if I go back for another degree.

—There's also a chance we may be moving sometime in the next year.

—And I'm putting some serious thought into how I wanna proceed with Bone & Ink Press. I want to keep it going, but it has long been untenable the way it's currently going. See, the thing is, I never wanted it to become what it became, a semi-legit publishing house with perfect-bound books and royalty payments and the like. I wanted to do small print run zines and chapbooks. So I'm going to finish up/publish the New Wave anthology, and then the three other titles I have on the roster, and then after that...I think I'm going back to its roots.

—The youngest kiddo had his first online class in astronaut science this morning. He loved it so much, and wants to continue with the rest of the course. Now I just gotta scrounge up some money to pay for the rest. (The first class was free; the rest cost money.)

—My dentist appointment went okay. It was fast and relatively painless. I have two small cavities, and have to go back in a month to get them filled, but they said everything else looks good.

—After the dentist, I had a bunch of errands to run. Normally I enjoy running errands but today I just wanted to get home and relax and also, everyone in town was driving like a jackass, so it took an extra long time to get from one stop to the next.

—But I did see two cuties while out and about. There was a hot middle-aged skater dude in the grocery store. (I know he was a skater because I saw him get out of his car, and it had Santa Cruz, Independent, and other skateboard-related stickers on it.) Downtown, I spotted a beautiful 20-something goth person; they looked appropriately eldritch in a long-black coat and big black boots.

—And while in the checkout at Walgreens, I saw this mom come in with two kids. One of the kids was a goth/punk teen; they shuffled into the store with their shoulders all hunched and a scowl on their face. Amazingly enough, the song that was playing over the sound system at the time was the Siouxsie and the Banshees cover of "Dear Prudence," and the teen recognized it, and for a split second, their scowl turned to a half-smile. And then they went back to scowling. It was perfect, because that is the era of my life which constitutes the bulk of my new zine.

—Speaking of the new zine: it's done, and I am glad it’s done, and I’m pretty pleased with it, but I am also fucking exhausted. To paraphrase something I wrote in my journal in 2009, after finishing a zine: I have completely overdosed on punk rock and stories from my own life. So now, I must cleanse myself with different kinds of music and different writing; namely, fiction and poetry. (Even when my poems are based on my real life experiences, which is often, writing them doesn't deplete me in the same way that writing prose memoir does.)

—I've felt pretty on top of my shit in general lately, but I am somehow flat broke again. Despite all the freelance gigs, side hustles, budgeting, etc. I mean I had to buy more printer ink and paper to complete this zine, so there's that. Then there's the fact that no matter how much we budget, our monthly food money always runs out 5-7 days before it gets refilled. Oh, and then there's the dentist thing. My health insurance covers some dental stuff, but not all, so I gotta pay the rest out of pocket. My dentist has a payment plan, but I had to make a down payment and have another bill due when I go back for my fillings. Shit. Anyway, if anyone wants to order some of my stuff/hire me for stuff, now would be a great time.

[still-a-morosexual-help]

Hello! I recently ran into your blog and have just been browsing through your obey me content. And I gotta say you’re very well versed in this fandom I rly dig it! Having said that I was curious about your opinion on a small conundrum of mine. Ya see I’ve been a fan of obey me for a while, like back when the og game was still like rolling out chapters. The unfortunate thing was though eventually life sorta happened and I kind just kept falling off. It seemed like the more content they added the more it just felt like getting through the story was just a chore. And the game play and grinding did not help whatsoever, it just got so boring and I didn’t rly have an incentive to go back. Which sucked cause I love the story and I’ve always wanted to go back to it, but I’ll boot up the app and just remember why I keep stopping aside from the plot itself the rest of app just wasn’t fun for me. But with nightbringer out now I rly wish I was able to finish the og game for myself in its entirety first so I could witness everything first hand ya know. Like literally if they took the Ruri Tunes and just put it in the first game that would’ve helped me out a bunch. But my poor little brain just does not have the attention span for the old gameplay, like I understand mobile games like this usually don’t want you to get through everything too fast but that’s why you have stamina to either wait or pay for. Everything else should be for entertainments sake, and not so much a grind wait the battle out and repeat sorta thing. But that may just be me, I am cautious to hop into Nightbringer though because I was never able to finish the og game. Do you think I should just go for it, maybe start fresh especially when I’ll have more time on my hands soon enough? That’s it though, I’m super sorry I kinda ranted on a bit. If you do make it through all this I can’t thank you enough for just that honestly. I love your content and hope you have an amazing day/evening/night. Keep up the great work!!!!

In my opinion, it's best to finish s1-s4 before playing Nightbringer because technically it starts off after s4

BUT so far Nightbringer has only referenced S1-2 so if you want a fresh start and to jump back into it then you should be good!

+ nightbringer has a rhythm game which in my opinion is more fun than the dance battle

Honestly do whatever makes you happier and most importantly what you'll have fun with because at the end of the day this is a game and that's the whole point of it!!

Also aaaahhh thank you!!😖

[gamerbearmira]

For SCP!! How about the reactions to learning Mirabel has more magic than the rest of them?

I GOT YOUUUUU

Les get it

-----

"What?" Alma asked, as her and the other family members looked genuinely confused and shocked. "Mirabel...has the highest amount?"

The scientist, Dr. M, flipped through his clipboard before nodding. "Yes. She holds the highest amount of magic among the entirety of your family."

"But how?" Mirabel asked, still very much confused, but also a tad bit excited.

"Look here," Dr. M said, moving to show the entire family the clipboard. "Those of you without gifts still hold magic, being about 30-40%. Those of you with visible gifts hold about 60-70%. But Mirabel, she holds an astounding 94% of magic. She is only behind the candle itself, which has 100%, and your sentient home, which has 97%."

Alma stepped back, looking at Mirabel who was still gaping at the chipboard. Mirabel has had magic all this time? More magic than anyone else?

"So...what does that mean?" Julieta asked, a little worried.

"Well, from the experiments we've done, it seems like she's able to enhamce whatever magic is already there. Its only for as long as she wishes, but it seems she has no control over it." The doctor said, sighing. "You'll have to harness that."

"But she didn't get a door!" Alma gestured, to the upstairs, where all the doors were.

"Well, that may have been because she was meant to form her own door. She has the capabilities to do so. I'm guessing, based on how your magic works, she would simply have to touch the wall and her 'door' would appear. Then she would jist think of how she wants her room to to look and it would come to be." M said before shrugging. "But that's purely hypothetical."

Mirabel laughed a bit in disbelief. Her. All her life she had been convinced that she had no magic. That she was uselsss to her family. And now it turns out she holds the most among them all.

"Is that why when she touched me my gift cause that...outage?" Pepa asked.

"Yes, precisely. I'm guessing since she didn't limit how much magic she gave to you, it immediately shot up, and thus cause the power to blow out, because of your lightning not being limited to just your cloud anymore." M sighed, flipping through his clipboard once more. "Well then. That's all I have for you today. I have to go now, but do what you will with this new information."

With that the doctor left the house, leaving the stunned family in the courtyard. All of them turned to Mirabel, then looked at Alma.

"What now?" Camilo asked, scratching his head.

Alma thought hard for a moment before looking up at the empty space in the wall between Luisa's room and the nursery. "Well let's see if we can get Mirabel a room."

-----

Can you tell I suck at ending these things

Anyway I HOPE YOU LIKE IT <333 Gotta go do some art rq 😼

[wegonbealright-09]

Exactly. I mean, you don't have to like Yoongi's stuff or even agree with him that he's an artist but it's clear that every single member besides the golden dildo is at least approaching their solo stuff from a personal artistic perspective rather than just picking any old shit to try to be a super famous popstar. The others are creating or choosing stuff from the angle of what represents them the best artistically so even if you think they failed to do that, at least they tried and then there's the golden chicken nugget who doesn't even try and only gives a shit about fame, money and bitches,,,because apparently whatever he got from being with the biggest group in the world wasn't enough for his greedy ass.

Yeah, an it seems like everyone has been put on dick sucking, ass kissing duty for the golden ego because see how Tae couldn't even get an episode of suckwita to himself without having to pause for a praise break and promotional segment for the golden scooter seat? Now it looks like he's even jiving off Jimin's aesthetic.

Even if you do or don't like the other members they are all chopping him up and eating him whole in the creativity and integrity game and he's embarrassing them with the same shallow ass, generic ass, manufactured ass garbage that the group has been accused of being since day one. Like they spent all this time trying to downplay that image and reputation only to have the golden blue balls validate it and enable it in the space of two songs and thirty four remixes.

His music is the most void of personality, creativity, artistry and legitimacy out of the whole group which is why it's so popular because its literally mindless and meaningless enough that people don't have to think about it when they listen to it.

Now when people accuse the guys of being chart obsessed, fan pandering, money grabbing, manufactured popstars with misogynistic lyrics---they've got someone they can point the finger at as a clear cut example.

Like how are armies gonna be able to talk shit about all the other groups and bring up other idols misogyny and just cringe ass music without having 3Bitches and Sexfiend thrown in their face? 😅😅😅 He's forced their asses into a corner like Mike Tyson against a three foot midget and he can't even keep his ass clean in the media either.

I would be honestly so disappointed if I'd spent seven years hyping and helping the rookie in my group, kissin his ass on the payroll, sidelining my own interests for him, promoting him and basically helping foster his solo career and the best he could come up with was 3Hos and Sexin.

Only to have him ghost my features, ape my style, shit on my songs, use me to build his own hype and talk about how his little life changed for the better as soon as he got some solo fame.

I mean the rest of the guys gotta have 'kiss his ass and hold his hand' in their contracts somewhere because that couldn't be me 😕

golden dildo, golden chicken nugget, golden scooter seat! Oh sis you ate!

Golden dildo is his new nickname thank you.

Imma just say period to everything you said.

[pesterloglog]

Dave Strider, Karkat Vantas, Jade Harley

Meat, page 12

DAVE: so we gotta hit jane right in her neoliberal austerity measures were all agreed on that right

KARKAT: UH HUH.

JADE: yeah sure

DAVE: now shes gonna spin some shit about supply side economics but we cant let her control the narrative on that one cause the first thing thats gonna happen once she begins deregulating the baking industry is that some sweet dumb crocodile down in consort land is gonna start putting sparkle glue in the cupcake mix which isnt even the real issue thats just surface issues

KARKAT: RIGHT.

JADE: definitely

DAVE: i mean earth c has just been play acting capitalism the last five thousand years while we timeskipped ahead to live rad lives as gods without bothering with any of the boring shit that goes into making a civilization

DAVE: which is fine i mean you cant really expect a bunch of teens who didnt finish middle school to set up a sustainable form of social democracy that isnt just blatantly ripped off whatever we incorrectly thought obama god rest his soul was doing back in the day

KARKAT: SIGH

DAVE: but janes got this old school mentality you just know she wants to restrict grist alchemy for the sake of “growth” and when that goes down itll take three seconds flat for some nobody in new dersetown to drop the earth c communist manifesto

DAVE: at which point were in for a speedrun of either our 20th century or her 21st century

DAVE: were gonna glitch under the map straight from marx to clown dictatorship

DAVE: which also isnt the real issue

KARKAT: OH YEAH.

JADE: of course

DAVE: are you two even listening or are you just making noises with your mouths

KARKAT: HOW DARE YOU.

KARKAT: I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M BEING ACCUSED BY DAVE STRIDER, REIGNING EMPEROR OF SPEWING ENDLESS VERBAL DIARRHEA DIRECTLY INTO MY INNOCENT HEAR DUCTS EVERY DAY OF MY FUCKING LIFE, OF MAKING THOUGHTLESS MOUTH NOISES.

KARKAT: JADE, ARE YOU HEARING THIS?

JADE: im scandalized

JADE: especially when

JADE: there are much better things we could all be doing with our mouths.....

KARKAT: UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

DAVE: anyway we all know the real issue is troll reproduction

DAVE: this election season is gonna be so jacked up with dogwhistles jade will never sleep again

JADE: woof!

DAVE: yo get ready for the top propaganda hits of the year

DAVE: alternia: brutal eugenics based space dictatorship

KARKAT: NOT UNTRUE.

DAVE: troll homeworld: lord of the flies nightmare scenario where kids murder each other just to get the chance to get to grow up and murder other aliens instead

KARKAT: IT WASN’T THAT BAD.

DAVE: actual names of professions on alternia: threshecutioner

DAVE: legislacerator

DAVE: minister of sucking the eyeballs out of your fucking skull then putting my two monstrous hr giger tier troll dicks up in there and just mashing the shit out of your brain with them

KARKAT: YOU MADE THAT LAST ONE UP.

KARKAT: ALSO, IT WAS DISGUSTING??

KARKAT: GROW THE FUCK UP, YOU UTTERLY CONTEMPTIBLE, POTTY MOUTHED *CUNT*.

JADE: also you know trolls dont actually have two dicks dave thats an offensive stereotype

DAVE: i know thats the point keep up guys

DAVE: ready for another one

DAVE: trolls: literally ate babies

KARKAT: ONLY THE DEFECTIVE ONES.

DAVE: like you my dude

KARKAT: ...YEAH.

DAVE: so thats why our campaign can work

KARKAT: ...

DAVE: btw im gonna be giving a long form exam at the end of this to make sure youre retaining info because this is only like the most important thing weve ever done collectively

JADE: siiiiiiiigh

DAVE: aside from creating the universe i mean

JADE: its not that it isnt important dave its that like

JADE: the method youre using to communicate it is kinda........

JADE: inefficient and BORING

DAVE: you mean

DAVE: words

JADE: i mean YOUR words specifically!!!

JADE: we already understand the issues at play you dont have to explain it to us over and over again like were twelve

JADE: right karkat???

KARKAT: ARE YOU ASKING ME WHETHER I’VE HEARD THIS EXACT SPEECH ALMOST WORD FOR WORD, INCLUDING REHEARSED VERSIONS OF BOTH THE COLORFUL METAPHORS AND “JOKES,” TEN OR TWENTY TIMES ALREADY?

KARKAT: BECAUSE THE ANSWER WOULD BE

KARKAT: YES, OF COURSE I FUCKING HAVE.

JADE: soooooo

JADE: do you want a projection of her first years hit on the economy down to the decimal with a 0.3% margin of error

JADE: because thats a thing i can do if itll make you stop talking about this stupid election for ten minutes

DAVE: damn hit me up girl calculator

JADE: i dont think youre wrong about janes plans

JADE: so now that thats all out of the way

JADE: its time to get real you two

DAVE: i

JADE: that wasnt an invitation for you to make a pun about having all the time in the world or whatever it was you were going to say

DAVE: oh

JADE: im about to lay out some cold hard evidence so pay attention!

KARKAT: OH, HANG ON, LET ME GET A PEN.

JADE: evidence about.....

JADE: our relationship!

KARKAT: FUCK

JADE: you let me live in your hive when im in town

KARKAT: I CAN’T BELIEVE...

JADE: im preeeetty intimately entwined in both your lives

KARKAT: THAT YOU’RE JUST TALKING ABOUT THIS?

JADE: AND you dont disengage from about 86.234% of my flirtations

KARKAT: WAIT, WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU KEEP TRACK OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT?

JADE: so....... are we doing this or not?

KARKAT: DOING WHAT?!

JADE: dating dummy!!!!!!!!

KARKAT: OH.

KARKAT: THAT IS

KARKAT: THAT IS... A COMPLICATED TOPIC IN MY CULTURE THAT I’M NOT SURE HUMANS ARE EQUIPPED TO TALK ABOUT.

DAVE: also totally unrelated to the economy

DAVE: which not gonna lie is the only thing i want to talk about for uh

DAVE: for however long it takes for this other conversation to stop happening

JADE: so say no!!!

DAVE: well

KARKAT: UHHHHH

JADE: im not just forcing this conversation for my sake! its for you two as well

JADE: i mean after all this time have you two even kissed yet??????

DAVE: wha

KARKAT: WH-WHY WOULD

DAVE: uhh

KARKAT: WHY WOULD WE KISS??

DAVE: thats

KARKAT: THAT’S... YOU... I MEAN, HE’S... HE’S DAVE.

DAVE: we

KARKAT: AND I’M KARKAT.

JADE: yes hes dave and youre karkat and everyone we know always calls you that

JADE: “dave and karkat”

JADE: i cant remember the last time i heard anyone mention one of you without the other

JADE: the two of you have basically been together since your days on the meteor its SO obvious

KARKAT: TOGETHER, YES. AS FRIENDS.

DAVE: yea

KARKAT: VERY CLOSE FRIENDS WHO UNDERSTAND AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER ON A DEEP AND EMPATHETIC LEVEL THAT GOES BEYOND HATE OR PITY. YOU COULD EVEN SAY THAT OUR RELATIONSHIP...

KARKAT: ...TRANSCENDS QUADRANTS.

JADE: yeaaaaaah not gonna lie karkat but that sounds totally kinda gay

KARKAT: UGH YOU HUMANS AND YOUR UNFATHOMABLE GENDER BASED QUADRANTS.

JADE: ow!

KARKAT: ANYWAY WEREN’T YOU... DATING THAT CARAPACIAN COUPLE? LAST TIME WE CHECKED?

JADE: yeah for FUN

JADE: im twenty three dont you think thats a little old to still be dating for fun

DAVE: wait you saying we arent fun

JADE: whens the last time either of you left the house??????

DAVE: ...

KARKAT: ...

JADE: i think wed all work good together

JADE: and i think weve been dancing around that for years now

JADE: i wanna try dating for real

KARKAT: HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED

KARKAT: SORRY IF WHAT I’M ABOUT TO SAY TOTALLY BLOWS YOUR MIND

KARKAT: DATING A SINGLE PERSON, FOR MORE THAN HALF A SWEEP, FOR REASONS OTHER THAN INITIATING THE CONCUPISCENT EXCHANGE OF FLUIDS?

JADE: ok first of all dont slut shame me fuckass

JADE: second of all thats what im trying to do here

JADE: third of all karkat arent you from a culture where people are expected to engage in romantic relationships with up to like five people at a time??

KARKAT: THAT’S NOT

KARKAT: THAT’S NOT THE SAME THING AT ALL.

JADE: oh yeah??? explain the fundamental epistemological difference

KARKAT: WHAT THE FUCK?!

DAVE: ok jade i think theres a flaw in your approach here cause you seem to think winning an argument on super clever logical grounds is gonna get a couple dudes to break down and fling themselves at you in like, a sexual way

JADE: wellll it usually does ;B

DAVE: oh my fucking god

JADE: dave......

DAVE: what

JADE: is this...........

JADE: about obama???

DAVE: what

DAVE: no i

JADE: dave are you in love with obama?

DAVE: jade jesus where do you get this shit from

JADE: is it about jesus then??????

DAVE: no!

DAVE: jesus wasnt even real

JADE: i know he wasnt real!

JADE: wait...

JADE: are you saying

JADE: obama was real?

DAVE: ...

DAVE: yes

DAVE: obama was real

DAVE: he was the president

KARKAT: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

JADE: all this time i thought obama was like

JADE: an aspirational fictional character that you modeled your life after

KARKAT: AHAHAHAHA I CAN’T AHAHA BREATHE...

JADE: like snoop dog or nicolas cage

KARKAT: THIS IS FUCKING INCREDIBLE

DAVE: they were both real too

DAVE: i know that you grew up on an isolated island in the middle of nowhere and everything but didnt you have like

DAVE: access to the internet

JADE: wow well im sorry i wasted my whole childhood filling my head with pointless things like astrophysics and senary numeral systems that allow me to do complex equations in my head!!!!!!

DAVE: no dude thats kind of fucked up

DAVE: karkat stop laughing jades fucked up childhood isnt funny

KARKAT: HAHAHAHAHA YES IT FUCKING IS!

KARKAT: ALSO SCREW YOU FOR SAYING IT’S NOT FUNNY??

KARKAT: WHY IS IT LIKE SOME SORT OF *TRAGEDY* HOW SHE WAS RAISED?

KARKAT: BECAUSE SHE WAS RAISED ALONE BY AN ANIMAL??

KARKAT: *I* WAS RAISED ALONE BY AN ANIMAL!

KARKAT: FUCK OFF AND LET ME ENJOY THIS!

KARKAT: AHHHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

KARKAT: NO!

JADE: ill put this in terms karkat will appreciate, check it out

KARKAT: JADE, I SWEAR TO...

KARKAT: YOU BETTER NOT BE DRAWING WHAT I THINK YOU’RE DRAWING!

KARKAT: STOP! CEASE! DESIST THIS MOMENT! DO NOT DRAW ONE MORE LINE!

JADE: oh nooo im drawing a line karkat better stop me before it goes aaaall the way from my mouth to yours!

JADE: see me and karkat have great black chemistry!

KARKAT: IT IS NOT BLACK CHEMISTRY YOU HORRID NON-CHITINOUS WINDBAG!

JADE: and now that daves all chill hed make a great auspistice

DAVE: no

JADE: because you and karkat are kind of like moirails

DAVE: no

JADE: and you and i

JADE: well yknow its always been pretty flirty

DAVE: jade

JADE: EXCEPT!

JADE: in this model..........

JADE: troll quadrants are dumb so we ALL kiss!

JADE: i call this political arrangement:

JADE: fully automated luxury polyamorous space-time communism!!!!!!!

JADE: oh come on that was a good one!

JADE: its politically relevant and everything

DAVE: jade im not gonna laugh at your made up ship name for this imaginary threesome thats not happening

JADE: well ive said what i wanted to say

JADE: its up to you two what you do with it

JADE: i have to go talk to roxy and callie about the election anyway

JADE: call me when you two figure it all out!

KARKAT: WOW WHAT A CRAZY AND TOTALLY IMPROBABLE CONVERSATION WE JUST HAD WITH OUR BEST FRIEND JADE.

DAVE: y...

DAVE: yeah

KARKAT: WHAT A GOOD THING FOR US THAT SHE’S TOTALLY DELUSIONAL AND HAS NO IDEA WHAT SHE’S TALKING ABOUT, HUH?

DAVE: for sure

KARKAT: ...........

DAVE: ..........

KARKAT: WANNA PLAY SOME TROLL TONY HAWK?

DAVE: hell

DAVE: yeah

[5mcsinatrenchcoat]

25. They accidentally hurt or upset their partner. What happened? How do they respond? What do they do to make their partner feel better?

For vice/karlach?

Also fun to see another karlach! If you don't mind me asking, how did you come up with the name Vice?

Okay, finally getting to answer, sorry for the wait ahah

This is actually an interesting one, 'cause for the most part Vice and Karlach get along disgustingly well - and if something does come up then they're both as quick to simmer down as they are to anger (in regards to people they love anyway). HOWEVER, there's a certain topic which is tricky both in the headcanon realm AND is related to the moment when I received the loudest disapproval from Karlach in the actual game.

And that would be her condition, of course.

Now, Vice is doing her best to be the most supportive, present and understanding girlfriend there. Whenever the topic arises she's trying her hardest to be all 'fuck yeah's and all. She's also, however, traumatized by losing her parents and her older-sister-figure, aka the most important people of her developmental years, each and every time being utterly helpless to do anything. Which is why in actuality she's quietly losing her mind whenever thoughts of what's to come catch up to her.

Where this does leak through especially hard is in the matter of soul coins and Karlach being all 'It'll be fiiiiine' about using those. The most vocal disapproval I ever got from Karlach was when Vice tried to refuse that one vendor giving them more coins. Which leads me to this:

I think the biggest chance Vice has at truly upsetting Karlach is by treating her differently because of her engine. They're both barbarian tanks and were matching each other on the field ever since they met, so if Vice starts slowly slipping up in seeing her as more... fragile, almost, if she starts butting heads with her over the coins like she knows her engine and its limits better than Karlach herself, THAT'S gotta hurt. Because Karlach, clearly, wants to live the rest of her life to the fullest, whatever reckless behavior that entails, and not be fucking babysat. Or, got forbid, lectured or ordered on HER condition after ten years of not having any autonomy.

Is Vice well-intentioned in her worry - of course, is she somewhat right - maybe (really, Karlach, is setting yourself on even more fire wise). Does she suddenly get any authority on how Karlach should live with her affliction or what she's capable of? Hells no, of course. Not to mention that Karlach would clearly rather not be reminded of it all that often, let alone let it stop or limit her. And to get it shoved in her face by a loved one? How fucking dare.

(I'm piggybacking a lot off of my own mother, who's thankfully NOT terminally ill in any capacity, but suffers from a condition where it's recommended she stops doing any physical labor. She doesn't stop. And she does get upset and angry when we pester her about it, because she just wants to keep doing things she was always capable of doing, regardless of how unsafe it is for her now, and doesn't appreciate being reminded of the fact that she's 'falling apart'. Not the best way to treat your sudden disability, but a human and stubborn one nevertheless.)

I can see a major fight about that happening at least once, with Vice having zero awareness of where she overstepped until told upfront. She got so sucked in into the leader role of caring about the group and steering them clear from bad choices that she briefly forgot that that's not what Karlach needs at all.

She'd have a lot of stuff to grapple with. Because at the very least watching Karlach's engine was one thing she could do. If she stops doing that as well, then it's back to the helplessness again, which, as mentioned, is the worst.

She would ultimately apologize, of course. And they'd surely talk it through, because for barbarians they're really fucking great at talking about their problems and such. Perhaps they even agreed to at the very least ditch the coin usage for good, as a compromise.

Vice also probably deliberately lead the party in some another monster cave for a yet another epic fight just to blow some steam off AND demonstrate genuine effort at change in the process. The rest of the party is less than impressed, but oh well. If her girl gets inspired and hyped by kicking yet another creature's ass and sees that she's not treating her as weak at all, it's worth it.

-----

When I was creating Vice I went to read about tiefling names and was fascinated by the concept of virtue names. So I looked through a huge bunch of suggestions and examples and I really liked Vice so that's what I named her. It ended up not suiting her personality very much, but considering that she took it all the way back when she was a teenage troublemaker it makes sense. As things stand now though, her vices have also become her strengths, which in a way honors her virtue name perfectly.