#but yeah hmm. poor meow meow? yeah

[pocketramblr]

All my manifesting of AFO having the most saddest, most meow meowest backstory have come true.

It's very "poor" and "meow meow" but I'm trying to figure out if it's "sad", exactly

[clowningaroundmars]

aromantic mike chilton for @aggressivelyarospec week!!!! :D

accompanying story under the cut!

It didn't work out with Julie.

They had broken up and decided it would be best to stay friends. After all, with Mike... nothing really changed at all. Like... nothing.

And that was kinda the problem.

Julie didn't think herself to be too judgmental of a person, not after everything everyone's been through. She and the Burners worked hard, played hard, and succeeded together (oftentimes against all odds).

They slept in cuddle piles after dinner some nights whenever Julie could slip away for more than a day without arousing her dad's suspicions. They passed bongs around for a lung-hacking hit or two, went skinny-dipping in the lake at night, patched up each other's bloody wounds countless times.

And then somewhere down the line, Julie fell in love with Mike.

She had no idea when exactly, since she doesn't really do feelings like that, can't afford to with a life like hers. But it happened... somehow.

Julie couldn't quite place exactly what it was that initially drew her to him, especially at first. Sure, the guy was friendly, decisive, assertive without being too overbearing, and unbearably charming. But.

It was the charm that caught poor Julie totally off-guard, really. She'd often hear her father ranting and raving about his golden-prodigal-son-turned-traitor, and his ID photo in his file wasn't really much to look at, either. Julie would never admit it out loud, but she had snuck down to Motorcity for the first time ever with low expectations.

Later, she came back up to her pod in Deluxe with stars in her eyes.

But she wasn't in love with him then, no. She knew this because she was pretty sure her constant Mike Thoughts did not manifest until after the kids all went to Antonio's together for the first time.

It was summertime, around nine months after the group was (un)officially formed. The heat had Mike shirking his jacket and leaving it in Mutt, and his old t-shirt was getting a tad bit tight after all the exercise he was getting around the hideout, especially after Texas moved his workout gear in and Mike took him up on his offer for semi-regular sparring sessions.

And boy, did that Mike fella fill out. Mhmm.

Even Julie-- a girl who was mostly blind to typical male affections directed at her in school-- had to admit to herself that when Mike put on a little more weight in the right places, when his biceps bulged a bit as he flexed an arm and his shoulders got a bit wider... it took a lot more effort to wrench her studious gaze away.

Geez Louise.

Before long, she was doodling their initials and combining both of their names in her little sketchpad. Gag. Gross.

But Mike never seemed to pay attention to her the same way in return. She didn't catch him looking away from her at inopportune times, and he'd never lay a single hand on her aside from a typical friendly pat on the shoulder, or a comfortable lean on an arm while the Burners all lounged around during movie nights. Hell, he seemed more affectionate with his best friend Chuck than he was with her most times.

So she kept her thoughts to herself. Easy peasy. She kept secrets from her dad, from her friends, and now from Mike. Like everything else, she created a neat, separate file in her head and tucked that little secret away. She managed to conceal it for long enough.

Until it became too big to ignore.

And then it happened.

And it really just... happened. Julie hardly registered herself even doing it.

It happened like this: Mike had rescued Julie from certain death at the lake after she crashed an out-of-control 9 Lives out through the barricades and into the water, and they were panting and coughing up water on the sand after Mike succeeded in dragging her out. Dutch and Texas were busy racing around and distracting the Kanebots, luring them all away from the pair.

Julie didn't say anything. Neither of them did. Julie just... surged forward when she blinked the water out of her eyes and saw him, his angelic face hovering mere inches away from hers. She remembered the dewey drops on his long lashes and the warmth of his lips more than anything else.

And then she's pretty sure she blacked out afterwards because the next thing she remembers, she's waking up on the couch wrapped in blankets and towels, wearing Chuck's hoodie.

She doesn't ask anyone why Chuck opted to be the guy to lend his clothes to her.

(It wasn't Chuck who lent it to her though.)

After Jacob makes sure she has a steaming mug of soup in her hands and is generally fussed over enough, he bids her a goodnight and leaves a big holoscreen playing old-timey anime shows for her.

Shortly afterwards, Mike slips into the room on feet far too quiet for a rowdy teenage boy like him. Julie almost misses his entry and startles when she notices him casually leaning on a wall over to her right, almost blending in against the garish grafitti and street signs.

They sat down and spoke quietly, privately.

Julie appreciated that Mike had enough tact and forethought not to confront her in front of all of the guys. Thank god. Julie wouldn't even know how to handle the endless teasing that would inevitably assault her from all angles if they ever even suspected that she had a crush on Mike.

And how embarrassing, really! The only girl on the team falling for the charming and roguish leader of a group of rebels. Double gag.

It was by some miracle that no one ever suspected Julie's true feelings, and that the actual love interest found out before anyone else did. Lucky her!

And incredibly, Mike shared her feelings too! Who would've thought it! Definitely not Julie, that's for sure.

Mike hadn't even seemed to glance her way at all in all the time they had known each other. He always maintained the same level of friendliness with her as he did with the other guys. But he confessed then that he knew Julie was special, and that their bond that grew in the time they had known each other was special, too.

Wow. Look at them, both hiding their feelings so well! It's like they were meant to be.

So they agreed to go steady.

Eventually, they told the rest of the Burners. Well, it really was just that it was kinda hard for them to ignore when Julie would sneak her index finger over to Mike's hand and hook it onto his pinkie as they walked back to their cars after a quick errand run for the Skylarks or an easy mission.

So they decided to make the announcement at Antonio's, which Julie thought was perfectly poetic. It was where she first fell in love with Mike, and now here they were a year and a half later, making it official.

They didn't expect the other guys' reactions, though. The Burners received the news... lukewarmly.

"You guys were in love?" Texas spewed bits of pizza all over the table as he chewed with his mouth open. Ugh. Typical Texas.

"Oh! Wow... uhm. Congrats, guys." Chuck seemed to hide behind his hair even more as his shoulders hiked up in a nonchalant shrug.

Dutch rubbed his chin. "...Yeah. Uh, yeah...? Cool. Congrats, you two."

And then silence fell over the table.

"Is... is there a problem with this, or?" Julie dared to press.

Everyone silently exchanged glances.

Mike-- bless his heart-- misread the situation and clasped his hands together on the table.

"Guys, look," he started, "this isn't gonna change anything about the team. We're still gonna be friends, I’m not prioritizing Julie over anyone else on missions. It's just... we're gonna... we're gonna be the Burners, except I’m dating Jules now! That's all!"

Mike smiled warmly at all his friends. Chuck chewed on his lip.

Dutch bobbed his head thoughtfully. Then, after a while, he said "nah, yeah. We figured. I mean, you're a pretty great guy so it's not like we thought you were gonna up and abandon us or anything. It's just that... uh. So when did this uhhh, yanno, this whole thing start?"

Julie blinked.

Mike cocked his head. "Start?" He asked.

"Y'know, like when did y'all start liking each other? Because uh, no offense, but this is kinda comin' out of the blue for us. Literally nobody thought this was gonna be a thing. Tell us some stories!"

Mike blew out a breath and leaned back in the booth. Julie smiled.

"Weeeellll," Julie squinted with excitement and then let the cat out of the bag.

She told them all about it, how in this very same booth she watched as Mike's t-shirt stretched over his muscles all those months ago and how his smile seemed to shine brighter than the diner's neon signs. Then about how she leaned against Mike's broad chest after agonizing for hours over not being able to free him from her father's maximum-security prison that one time. About all the dreams she'd have of them together, the intimate late-night talks they'd have while having a couple of drinks on the rooftop of some abandoned building. How she loved his bright eyes and strong hands...

When she finished, she had a dreamy kind of look all over her face. Mike had a brow quirked, but he smiled back at her all the same.

Everyone exchanged glances again.

"So Mike. Was it like that for you?" Chuck asked eventually. It had a strange sort of lilt to it, like he was in on an inside joke that Julie wasn't.

She bristled a bit.

"Oh! Uh." Mike glanced around quickly. "Not... really? But Julie's super pretty, so when she confessed to me, I was pretty stoked."

Mike grinned like a goofball. Julie grinned like a goofball. The rest of the Burners looked skeptical.

"Hm. Cool! Well, great." Chuck turned back to his loaded pizza slice.

And just like that, things mostly went back to normal.

And, uh... Mike was right, this... really wasn't changing anything between them and the Burners. Like at all.

A small part of Julie was kind of hurt by it, but she tried to wave the feeling away. It was nonsense, and she should be happy. Mike loved her! He just wasn't a romantic type, that's all. He loved his friends, loved being a Burner... it was fine.

Right?

It was normal for her to have to remind Mike every now and then to go out on a date with her. He's a busy guy, and this was his first relationship. Julie just had to be patient.

Patient... patient. Yeah. She could be patient.

It was when Chuck joined them for their sixth "movie date" in a row that the patience was starting to run a bit thin, though.

Chuck and Mike settled side-by-side on the communal couch, swapping snacks as easily as breathing and nursing a popcorn bowl between them. Mike hooked an arm over Julie's shoulder though, so Julie said nothing.

It was a couple of months later when Mike makes a quiet confession to her as they laid together in his pristine bed one night.

"I don't really like kissing all that much," he mumbles, face half-buried into his pillows. "But I like holding you. Is that okay?"

Julie's heart sinks into the covers. But she nods anyways. "Yeah. That's okay."

"Really? Do ya mean it? It's not weird or anything, right? We can still be together but not kiss. Maybe I can give you forehead kisses instead?"

Julie sighed softly. "Mmnyeah, that's fine."

"It's not you, it's me, Jules. I just--"

"Mike. Trust me, I get it. It's okay, seriously."

Mike gave her a grateful smile back.

Damnit. Well.

Anyways, life continued on. Julie resigned herself to accepting the fact that her boyfriend was just simply a guy's guy.

Julie liked cars but Mike was all over Mutt. Loved the damn thing more than he loved her, honestly. She loved being a Burner, but it seemed like it was Mike's purpose, like he was more devoted to the city under the dome than he was to his girlfriend. And above all, Mike loved the Burners. All of them. He spent a bit more time with Chuck than he did with anyone else in the team, but he was always there for everyone just as passionately.

Which was. Fine.

Freeing Motorcity from her father's reign of terror was indeed way more important than holding hands with a cute boy!

Duh, of course, stupid Julie.

Whatever.

When they inevitably broke up, it blindsided Mike. He thought they were the best of buds! The bestest of buds-- aside from him and Chuck, of course! But while he loved Chuck fiercely, his love for Julie was... different. Fierce but different. He could never describe it in words but he knew what he was feeling was real.

He loved Julie! So when she suddenly broke up with him, it was like getting hit with a sack of flour out of nowhere.

They were leaned up against Mutt's hood on a cliff overlooking Lake Erie when Julie finally broke the news. They were casually smoking a cigarette, passing it back and forth. Mike's idea of a "date." Anyways.

"I can't really keep doing this, Mike." Julie sighed out a cloud of smoke. She said it so matter-of-factly, as casually as if she were simply commenting on the weather.

Mike whipped round to look at her. "Keep doing what?"

"This," Julie threw her hands up and tucked them into her vest pockets after handing Mike the cigarette back. "This... 'relationship'. It's not working out."

"What... whaddya mean? We just started dating, it's kinda too early to tell--"

"No, Mike." Julie interrupted loudly. Her eyes were avoiding Mike's face carefully. "No... it's not. We've been together for months and we have never moved on from our friendship. You... just admit it, dude. You're just not into me."

Mike pushed himself off of Mutt and placed his hands on both of her shoulders, forcing them to stand face-to-face. "Julie, look at me." He had his jaw set.

Julie swallowed as she peered up at him from her bangs.

"I love you more than you can ever know. I know I’m messing up, but... but I’m trying, okay? Just give us one more chance, Jules. I can make it right, I know it!"

Julie took a step back, wrinkling her nose. "Mike! Just give it up, okay? I know you don't feel the same about me as I do about you," she pleaded, mortified. "It's okay! It's fine! We can just move on and let it go!"

"B-but it's not! No, Julie c'mon, bro--"

"Bro?!" Julie exploded, hands in the air now. "Are you hearing yourself right now? Am I your girlfriend, or your bro?"

Mike gaped at her like a fish, mouth opening just to close again. Then, he hunched his shoulders and shoved his hands in his pockets.

He kicked a couple of rocks off the cliff, watching the pebbles scatter and plummet dozens of feet below.

Then he ran his hands through his hair, a nervous habit of his, before returning back to Julie.

He exhaled loudly. "What... what's the difference? You... isn't that what dating is all about? Being best friends with your partner?"

Julie glared at him. "Yes! And it's also about being more than that, too!"

Mike scoffed. "More than friends? What does that even mean? Nothing is more important than friendship, Jules. Not in Motorcity."

"Nothing is more important than friendship?! Mike--" Here, Julie took a step back to pinch her nose and exhale. "Look. When I confessed my feelings to you for the first time, what were you feeling?"

"What was I feeling? Uh, I dunno, happiness I guess? What, did you want me to say that I didn't care? I care about your feelings, Julie! I do!"

"So you started dating me because you didn't want to hurt my feelings?!" Julie shouted.

"Where are you getting that from?!" Mike shouted back.

"Mike! You are just not into me! I can just tell! It's okay! W-we can just be friends, like how we used to be. I don't even know why you're fighting me so hard on this, I'm the one breaking up with you. You can't change my mind!"

"Right," Mike huffed, "because you don't love me anymore. No, I get it. It's fine."

They glared at each other for a beat.

Then, Julie shoved her hands back into her vest pockets. "No, Mike. I do love you. I just think..." she sighed, all the wind in her sails blowing away, "I just think it's best for us to go our own separate ways."

Mike startled. "Wait, what? Jules... are you...? You're not leaving the Burners, are you?"

"No, I'm not leaving the Burners." Julie says through clenched teeth. "I'm just gonna take a quick break and then when I come back? We're gonna be just friends again, Mike. Alright?"

Mike inhales deeply, his own anger trickling out of him like water as well. "... Fine. Fine, yeah. Whatever you want, Julie." He hangs his head.

They then stare off into the horizon together, watching the twinkling star-like pinpoints of light on the underside of the dome. Watching as the lake's waters undulate and shimmer in the darkness of the cool evening, a gigantic dark mirror reflecting the pinpoints back to the ceiling.

Mike idly scuffs his boot on the ground again, putting out their shared cigarette. In a sad sort of way, the dying ember of the smoldering stick being stomped out into rocks and gravel was a lot like their relationship: dead and done. And of course it had to be Mike to put them both out, huh. Right.

Real poetic.

Julie turns around wordlessly, climbs into Mutt and sits in Chuck's seat.

Time to go.

After a few seconds Mike nods once, fixes his collar and slides into his own seat.

The ride back up to Deluxe is quiet.

It was a couple years later when the kids were a bit older --but not that much older at the same time-- that they all filed past the doors of Antonio's and slid right into their usual booth.

Except this time, it had been a long while since they had the time to relax like this. These days, Kane's attacks were getting more and more savage, brutal... and cunning.

Kane's latest attempt at a hostile takeover of Motorcity involved way too many sneaky double-crossing spies all trying to break the Burners up and weaken the city's best defense. Sneaky bastard, that Abraham Kane.

But they thwarted him yet again, despite it all. They beat the bad guys, restored peace back amongst the gangs and the civilians, and saved the day.

It had taken weeks this time, but they succeeded.

So now to celebrate, they're placing their orders for the greasiest, most heart-clogging fast food on the menu and sitting back to happily sip at their drinks. They're finally enjoying their time together again, and Mike is especially pleased that everyone made it out alive.

Sitting elbow-to-elbow with his bestest friends in the world, Mike takes advantage of a lull in the conversation to clap his hands together and get everyone's attention.

"Okay, guys!" He announces. "So, I'm pretty sure we're all kinda fried after... y'know, everything. Everyone's probably too tired to care about what I'm going to say next! So... confession time."

"Hmhmm! Spill, then," Chuck smirks, his chin in his cyborg hand. It was a recent upgrade to his prosthetic, and it shone a beautiful silvery-blue under the diner lights.

Mike chuckles nervously. "Uh, I... I think that... I figured out that I can't fall in love!"

Everyone stares at him.

Chuck casually slurps his milkshake through a straw.

Dutch turns to him then. "Wait. You knew?"

Chuck sits up. "Uhh hahaha, whoa. Where'd that come from? You psychic or somethin'?" He deflects awkwardly.

"You're clearly not surprised," Dutch points out.

"Pfft yeah I'm not surprised. Who's been Mike's best friend since, like, kindergarten again?"

"Ah. And ya didn't think to let me know anything back when we were dating? Sure would've saved us a lot of time," Julie quipped drily.

Chuck holds his mismatched hands up. "Now hold on a minute! I didn't know back then, obviously. Besides, you two dated years ago for like... three seconds!"

"Two years ago, smartass," Julie snips back.

Mike clears his throat conspicuously. "Guys! Guys, no need to fight over me," he jokes awkwardly, "because I, uhm, I've decided I don't belong to anybody! I'm just me, and I'm not dating anyone. Like, ever."

Everyone turns back to him again.

With four pairs of eyes on him, Mike draws in on himself a bit as he continues. "Yeah, it's. It's something that I've been kinda discovering about myself and I'm still... exploring it. But I'm pretty sure I've never had a crush in my life. I was just walking through life distracted by everything else for so long that I never noticed it, but... yeah. I've just. I've just never felt love for anyone else before, I guess."

"Which is fine," Chuck blurts out suddenly. "It's... it's fine! That Mike's never fallen in love with anyone. It happens. Some people just don't experience a common thing most people do... like romance, or sex. Yeah! Totally normal!"

Dutch smirks at Chuck. "You too, then? You a non-romantic as well?"

Chuck shakes his head so hard his bangs swing. "No! Nuh uh, I'm a lover, not a fighter. I'm definitely a romantic!"

"Why so nervous all of a sudden, then?"

"Because," Chuck replies, "because... it's fine! To not ever fall in love or like... date, or kiss or have sex or whatever. We're in Motorcity now, and we can get to do whatever we want. And if we don't wanna date, then we don't have to!" Then he clamps his mouth shut.

Mike perks up then. "That's right! And ah, yeah! Speaking of, Chuckles... lemme tell ya, I really gotta hand it to ya. If it weren't for you, I'd've never figured this one out. So, thanks, buddy! As always, you really had my back on this one."

Chuck and Mike smile at each other and Texas raises a brow.

"Huh?" Texas says. "What's that s'posed to mean?"

Chuck titters nervously as Mike pulls up a screen and opens up a forum.

"It means that Chuckles here helped me find a site that explained everything I was experiencing! Or... not experiencing, really."

Chuck clears his throat, clearly relieved. "Uh, yeah! Well, after Mike's like, 10th girlfriend that one time he couldn't stop bringing people back home, he came to me all frustrated and stuff and... well, we went off to find my friends in the LARPing arena to see if anyone had any idea why he was burning through dates like Mutt burns through tires. And so someone suggested he might be aromantic, and uh... well, the rest is history!"

Dutch and Julie hummed in acknowledgement.

Everyone knew what that was like, how weird it was that Golden Child Mike all of sudden started bringing people home from parties and bars shortly after his breakup with Julie. Sometimes he even had two people on his arms, some men, some women. Never the same person after two or three times, though.

They were all perplexed when they first heard laughing and chattering behind Mike's bedroom door. Once the moaning started, though... well! Everyone poked fun at him the mornings after and teased him to varying degrees, but things were mostly chill in the beginning.

Everyone remembered Mike's frustrations after a while, though. How he could never quite land a steady relationship-- no matter how hard he tried, with whoever. It got to the point where the Burners stopped their teasing and became quite concerned after Mike introduced his 5th girlfriend in the span of like... 6 months, once upon a time.

It was shortly after his final breakup that Mike flopped down onto his best friend's messy bed one evening and finally had The Conversation.

It went well, all things considered. Chuck, patient as ever, listened to his friend and then when he couldn't offer any solid advice, he offered a distraction. The LARPing arena proved to be much better help than they could ever hope for.

Ever since then, Mike's been up late into the night often, completely engrossed in all things aromantic. He wanted to learn more about it, yearned for a community that knew exactly what he was feeling; so he stayed awake just swiping through sites and PDFs on his holoscreens, eating every bit of information up.

Now, it looked like Mike was at peace with himself and his station in life after all this time. That was a relief!

"Aromantic! That's it! Look at this, guys." Here, Mike grins and pulls up a photo of a striped flag. "This is the community flag. Look familiar?"

The colors of the flag had two shades of green at the top that then cascaded into white, then grey and then black.

Texas leaned forward. "It looks like Mutt!" He practically shouts.

Everyone laughs.

"Yeah, that sure is a you flag if I've ever seen one," Julie quips.

"Right? Like it was meant to be! So I guess I'm part of this community, then. I mean, this really is a kickass flag..."

"But what does that mean, though? That you can never fall in love with anyone, ever?" Julie asks.

Mike closes his screens and clasps his hands on the table, exhaling a bit. "Uhh, well? Well, yeah! I can't ever fall in love... but it doesn't feel that way to me! Ugh, I'm probably gonna do such a bad job explaining this," he laughs self-consciously.

"It's okay, dude. Take your time," Dutch smiles warmly.

Mike shoots him a grateful smile back. "... It... it's like. Well? It's like... I've never felt butterflies in my stomach before, so I have no idea what that's like. But I like you guys, a lot. Like a lot, a lot. I love hanging out with you all even though I don't think about any of you guys like that. I love making friends-- like true friends-- and I can't stop thinking about how happy hanging out with people makes me. I guess I'm just way more platonic than romantic, because I am just... so bad at love! God, I've never had so much trouble with anything in my life before like I have with romance," he groans, grimacing.

"And when Mike Fucking Chilton says that, that's how you know he's struggling!" Dutch puts in.

Everyone giggles.

"Wow," Julie gives Mike a side-long glance. "Finally. Something that The Great Mike Chilton is bad at! We've finally got him, boys."

Texas leaps out of his seat and enthusiastically karate-chops the air. "Hoo-WAH!!! Finally! Something I got over on ya, Mike. Texas is better at romancing than you!"

Julie rolls her eyes.

Mike guffaws. "Psshhwhat? C'mon guys, I'm bad at plenty of stuff. This isn't the first!"

"Oh yeah? Name one thing!" Dutch challenges.

"Uhhm well uh, I...? I'm pretty bad at... hm." Mike drums his fingers on the table. "I'm bad at coding! I'm not nearly as good as Chuck at the software and tech side of things!"

"But ya could be! You could totally learn how to, if you'd just sit down with me for more than 20 minutes," Chuck points out.

Mike stubbornly folds his arms across his chest. "Well, I don't wanna! What're you gonna do about it?"

And just like that, the kids all return back to normalcy, bickering and quibbling about nothing as they finally receive their food from the waitress. Soon after, Chuck and Texas are throwing pizza toppings and wadded up paper at each other and Mike is mom-ing at them to quit it before they all get kicked out.

It was as if nothing even happened.

It was simultaneously comforting and also thrilling how easily Mike was accepted back into the fold; the Burners' Heartless Leader who could never fall in love.

On the inside, Mike was deeply grateful and his heart felt full upon learning this, though. It was a nourishing feeling that his bestest friends in the whole world who worked hard, played hard, lived fast and free alongside him... they loved him and accepted him back, no matter what. It was a much nicer and fuzzier feeling than any romance-filled relationship or hookup ever gave him.

Now, the Burners are finally leaving the diner, all tipsy and giddy from their impromptu late-night happy hour session.

Mike has a casual arm slung over Chuck's shoulder as they traipse on over to Mutt. Everyone casually daps each other up and offers quick goodbyes before climbing into their respective cars.

Mike slides behind the wheel and exhales. Chuck clicks himself into his secure harness.

"Well! That went pretty well! A little too easily, honestly but," Mike breathes.

Chuck's blonde head bobs. "Well yeah, dude. Of course. What'd ya think, that'd we kick you out of the team for that?"

Mike shrugs and turns his skeleton key into Mutt's ignition, bringing her to roar awake again. "I mean... no. But, y'know. It's weird, having a leader of a gang that can't ever fall in love, right? Like some heartless freak or somethin'. I dunno," he chuckled wryly.

Chuck frowns. "Mike. You're not a freak," he says firmly.

Mike gives his best friend a sidelong glance. "Chuck..." he speaks, voice low, "it's not like that! You know what I mean... it's just that sometimes people who are different don't get treated so well all the time, yanno?"

"Yeah, sure, back up in Deluxe," Chuck argues. "But it's different down here in Motorcity. It's good here for people like us!"

Mike hums thoughtfully as he drums his fingers on the wheel. "Yeah, you're right..." then, he smirks at Chuck. "So if that's true, then why didn't you come out, back there? I actually thought you were gonna do it. It even looked like Dutch suspected something, too!"

Mike smiles at his friend, who is doing his best impression of a carseat cover now.

"Mmnyeah... yeah, I could've." Chuck gives a noncommittal shrug, hesitating.

"What's wrong?"

After a few seconds, Chuck swipes at his bangs self-consciously and clears his throat. "Uhmm well... being aromantic and never falling in love is kinda... badass, don'tcha think? But for a guy like me, never wanting to have sex and being a dope for romance is just pathetic," he laments. "If people hear that I'm asexual and that I never want to bang anyone, I'd get laughed out of the room! It's not an asexual thing, Mikey, it's a me thing."

Mike throws Mutt into reverse and backs her out of their parking spot with practiced ease.

"Chuckles. My guy. Look, who cares what other people think? If you don't wanna bone, you're just not gonna. That doesn't hurt anyone at all, so screw anyone who says anything about it. If anyone gives you a hard time, call me up and I'll spin the block for you,"

Chuck bursts into a peal of nervous giggles. "Whoa, whoa Mikey, geez! Christ, thanks, man but that's really not necessary. I appreciate you, though,"

They smile at each other again.

Then after a beat, Mike adds, "plus, if they know about aromanticism, they're gonna eventually find out about asexuality, too, dude."

Chuck laughs weakly as he clutches his arms. "O-oh...! Yeah... yeah that's tr--"

Mike suddenly slams his boot down on the gas pedal and Mutt growls as she lurches into hundred-mile-speeds from a standstill. Her tires screech loudly on the pavement and she leaves a giant plume of smoke and dirt behind as everyone careens over a drop straight onto the Deluxian Supply Pipes.

"Miiikkee-eeyyyy!!! We just ate!" Chuck screeches, horrified. He clings onto the car seat with both hands as Mike laughs.

Chuck's screams and Mike's loud, joyous shouting and whooping can be heard far and wide throughout Motorcity as they race all the way back home.

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

BSD Dead Apple manga highlights!!

Kunikida is insane. "Oh yeah getting shot in the gut is no big deal dwai" and then he proceeds to run around and fight both his own Ability and Demon Snow after this. Jesus.

Kunikida's so resourceful tbh. I love watching him fight. Akutagawa's later fight with Rashoumon (where he demonstrates similar resourcefulness using the molten metal) is also cool for the same reason, because like it's one thing to be TOLD these characters are cool under pressure and smart as long as Dazai's not there to piss them off and a whole other to be shown it.

SO THIS CONFIRMS MY THEORY. I need a fight scene where Yosano detaches her limbs and uses them as weapons after she heals them omg she's so fucking badass. Side note the fact that Kenji and Yosano held up so long against their Abilities is so impressive? Like all of them are ofc but Undefeated and Thou Shalt Not Die are both like, extremely powerful. Your fighting a power that rearranged a mountain and a power that basically can't be killed. Like damn.

Lmfao Akutagawa's main priority is watching their Abilities fight each other

D A S H

I love how casually he says this lmfaoo Also LMAO AKUTAGAWA DO U HAVE SOME UNRESOLVED FEELINGS TOWARDS DAZAI OR SOMETHING?? HMM??

Confirmation Dazai fucking hates both of them. He was probably tearing his hair out internally this whole time. Literally him going "friendless behavior" at Shibusawa lmao- ALSO THE 'MEOW EXCHANGE. HE ACTUALLY MEOWED. THIS IS SO FUCKING DRY LMFAO.

Akutagawa's monologue is conveyed in a really cool way via manga adaptation... like DA has some great development for Akutagawa, Kyouka and Atsushi, but Akutagawa's in particular stands out to me because it doesn't really disprove his strength-based worldview?? He finds his own self worth through that view instead which is interesting, by overpowering his Ability instead of finding somewhere he's valued beyond it like say, Yosano.

This is also SUCH an interesting panel. "That I control Demon Snow/That I didn't want to hate her" it's like Atsushi has previously only seen Kyouka as a victim, as being controlled against her will and never wanting any of the violence she partook in when this kinda... confirms it's not all the case? DA as a whole kinda tries to break Atsushi's black and white worldview but I also think, between this and how well Akutagawa and Kyouka work together in DA, there was likely a part of Kyouka who knew she was good at killing and violence, and liked that about herself, if nothing else. The ability to not be completely helpless, even if her circumstances as a whole were not within her control.

"Are you fucking serious" he is SO DONE with Dazai's shit lmfao.

Soukoku are fucking insane. What do you MEAN you noticed Dazai's hidden message from a mention of a microscope. What do you mean you remember all your interactions with him that clearly. What do you mean-

Ohh my fucking god is that a tear in the last panel?? Oh my god did Chuuya mean he just doesn't want Dazai to stop him in Corruption. Chuuya cannot catch a fucking BREAK oh my god.

So Ango is also suicidal right?? Like sure he has a reason for saying this but also this is not a normal thing to say. He uses Chuuya's vow to kill him to try and stop Chuuya from what he sees as a suicidal mission later. Like this is not normal.

"Dazai doesn't care about the ADA!" shut the fuck up

Oh my god. This was so fucked up oh my god. Poor baby Atsushi oh my god.

The repetition of "I raised by claws" is SO chilling here omg. But I also find it so so interesting that I think Atsushi is... the only BSD character who just... wants to live. Not for other people, he definitely doesn't want to die. Like so many characters in BSD (Dazai, Yosano, Chuuya, Kunikida, Kyouka, Ango, arguably Akutagawa) are in some manner suicidal, or even the ones who aren't have reasons they life for. But Atsushi's base desire is just... he wants to live. That's where his Ability comes from. It's why he killed Shibusawa. It's so interesting.

So there are two sides to Fyodor's Ability. But he CALLS HIMSELF crime in this case?? Bc the Crime avatar is wearing what Fyodor was wearing. I've seen theories Fyodor himself is just the manifestation of his own Ability or something and tbh... that might have merit.

Tbh, I often wonder how Ango ended up working with the government. It's repeatedly mentioned how he dislikes and opposes their use of human lives as value metrics, or plans like this for the 'greater good', and yet he still does their bidding. He's still here. Even though no one listens to his oppositions. Why?

Anyway so if anyone has manga translations past Ch 13 please help I can't find any lol.

[yanderepuck]

Part TWO of what I think is 12 of the smut prompt wheel. We've got the man I hate the most. BUT BC OF THAT I THINK YOU GUYS DONT LIKE ASKING FOR HIM

I actually LOVE writing smut for Arthur even tho I think he's hella vanilla and relies on a strong dick game. Man is also a cuck. BUT THATS NONE OF WHAT THIS IS ALRIGHT. But yeah, send me some Arthur some time. I actually like writing smut of the poor meow meow

Here's yaoi hand man

Prompt: him using toys on you-

"Love, I said I needed some time alone."

"Hmm, well I want attention."

You rest your chin on top of his head as he sits at his desk. He's been working, no, trying to work on something. He's been stuck for a while and before that has barely taken a break.

If he won't take a break, then you might as well force him to.

"I'm serious," he leans forward to start writing again.

"And so am I," you grab his shoulders and pull him back.

Arthur groans. He's not finding your cute teasing laughter appealing right now.

"I just need a few more hours-"

"Fiiine," you sigh loudly and dramatically. You start dragging your feet to the door. "I'll see if anyone else cares that I'm not wearing underwear. Theo said something about-whoa!"

Suddenly your arm got pulled back and you're in Arthur's arms. Holding your arm to stay in place he grabbed your jaw to have you look up at him.

You give him a playful smirk. "Someone is interested," you tease.

"You're being a brat," he squishes your cheeks with his hand.

"Who? Me? I could- ohhh!"

The hair at the nape of your neck was tugged and you couldn't help but moan.

You press your body against him the best you can, practically humping him as you stand. "Maybe you should give your toys more attention," you purr and with your free hand, loop your finger around his belt loop, keeping him close to you.

What could you say, you're horny. You get a little rowdy when it gets this bad.

He lets your arm go and quickly pulls up your skirt. You were right, you aren't wearing any underwear.

"You're so naughty," he smirks and two fingers thrust into you with no warning. If it wasn't for his hold on your hair you might have fallen with the way your knees buckled.

"Maybe my toy does need attention," he has you walk backwards. Fingers staying knuckle deep until he pushes you on the bed

He quickly gets his clothes as you wrestle to get yours off. He's on top of you, kissing you roughly the moment he's finished.

As you move farther onto the bed, he crawls after you, never leaving your lips until his fingers thrust into you again. Once your lips part, his free hand wrapped around your neck, pushing you down onto the bed.

Your moans don't stop. He makes sure to get between your legs so that you can't close them as his fingers thrust into you harder.

Your body squirms, your hips buck up, your hands dig into the sheets under you. You start whining. It feels so good but it's not what you want.

"Ar-Arthur!" your legs try closing as his fingering gets rougher.

With all the force and strength he's using, he suddenly stops, staying knuckle deep. You look up at him, panting. You didn't get the cum but his fingers so wonders.

However.

You still feel bratty. You aren't satisfied just yet. Your whole face changes. You go from a panting messy submissive, to a cocky brat with a smirk.

"Is that all you got?"

Arthur frowns, clearly upset at the teasing. "You want to be a brat? I'll treat you like a brat."

He smirks as he sits on your lap. Leaning over he grabs his ascot on his night stands and grabs each of your arms to tie them, then tying them to the headboard.

Once he is done he gets off of you and starts going through his dresser. When you look over you can tell what drawer it is. The drawer with all the toys in it.

"I think I'm going to have to gag you for this one," he chuckles and walks over holding a vibrator you haven't seen before.

Just by looking, you swear it's bigger than him, at least thicker. By seeing your eyes go wide he can tell you're a little nervous.

"No worries, love. I'll make sure it fits."

You start squirming again as he gets back on the bed.

"No no! I'm sorry! I'll behave! I want you!"

"Brats don't get rewarded, silly," he chuckles, sounded light hearted. "But it is ribbed so you should enjoy that."

He gets your legs spread open once again and starts sliding the vibrator into you. You pull on the fabric around your hands and moan.

"Arthur!" The two fingers he used couldn't have prepped you for this, but that's partially why it felt so good.

Your hips lift off the bed again as he slides it in as far as it will go.

There's still a good amount of it sticking out and he gives it a few pushes, having it hit your cervix. Each time you let out a pitiful whine.

"Now don't get too used to this," he turns it on all the way.

"Ohhh!" Your body squirms more.

Arthur sits back and smirks, watching his brat be reduced to a moaning mess. "Breaking toys is so much fun."

He gets up and your legs immediately close, rubbing together, and lifting your hips off the bed.

"Can't have that," he tsks and grabs rope from the same drawer in his dresser. Making a semi loose knot around each of your ankles, then tying them to each to the posts at the foot of the bed.

"Ar-Arthur!" you keep squirming, but he's gotten insanely good at knots.

He leans over you, and presses the vibrator into you again, making sure it didn't push out any.

"Yes, love?"

He has that shit eating grin on his face.

"Ung-ohhh! Ahh ahh!" the vibrator being pushed again and again gets you seeing stars.

"That's what I thought," he pushes hair out of your face and stands back up, going back to his desk, not bothering to put his clothes back on.

"Maybe once I have this finished, you'll have learned your lesson."

~~

Tag list~

@kissmetwicekissmedeadly @fang-and-feather @xalxtusxiao @namine-somebodies-nobody @ana-thedaydreamer @evil-quartett @ameyoruakiikemenseries @yrenesposts @p1nkpandomium @tele86 @damekathearasi @lokis-laugh @candied-boys @breadmercury @aquagirl1978 @xenokiryu @nightghoul381 @vampiricpancake @lulu-the-smol-floof @faust-bite @nuttytani

[marvelobsessed134]

Can you write a tommy lee fic like tommy, reader and crüeboys are drunk and they find a homeless cat(English is not my native language but i hope you can understand what i mean lol) so drunk tommy wants to adopt it and trying to explain to the guys that the cat is their child (It's silly but it would be nice if you wrote it <3)

Can we keep him?!

Requested: yes, by anon

A/n: I absolutely love this idea!

Pairings: Tommy Lee x fem!reader feat. The rest of the motley boys

Summary: what the request says

It was a normal Saturday night for you and the band. Getting drunk and doing stupid shit. Tommy had his arm loosely around your shoulders as the five of you walked down the street. It was dark, the only lights were the yellow street lights. You were all laughing until you heard a meow.

You stopped dead in your tracks. “What was that?” You asked.

“What the fuck do you think? It’s a cat.” Mick responded dryly. “No shit, Mickey Mouse. I mean where is it coming from.” You replied, part of you having no idea what you were saying.

Tommy walked into the alleyway, “Guys, I think it’s coming from here.” He motioned towards a cardboard box. You all walked towards the drummer. And lo and behold, a small kitten was in the box. The poor thing was covered in fleas.

“Oh my goodness.” You said, your voice higher than normal as you crouched down to see the cat. “Aww aren’t you a cute little baby?” You cooed as you picked it up.

The cat licked you. “I think he likes you, babe.” Tommy said, crouching down next to you.

“How can you tell he’s a boy.”

“Obviously by his balls.” You hit him on the arm after that, “Ew, that is disgusting. Don’t say that about a cat.”

Held his hands up in defense. “Guys, we should keep him.” You said.

“No, we’re not bringing a cat in my apartment.” Nikki said.

“You’re apartment? Mind you who pays the rent half the time?” You shot back.

“Dudes, he’s basically our child now we have to keep him.” The drummer said and you nodded with a smile.

“Yeah! We can all have shared custody of this little guy.” You piped up.

“Honestly not a bad idea.” Vince said. However Mick and Nikki were still hesitant.

“Ha! Three against two! We win, we’re keeping him.” You stated.

“Fine.” Nikki sighed.

You ended up taking him home and cleaning him of flees while Mick went out the store to buy supplies such as food and toys.

“We should name him Flamethrower.” Tommy said.

“Hmm I was thinking Harold.” You replied. The two of you were sitting on your shared bed, you were holding the cat in the air.

“How about Harold The Flamethrower.” Tommy proposed.

“Yes!”

And that’s how you got Harold The Flamethrower.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Hey CJ, you mentioned that you disagree with a lot of your old TWDG opinions, any that stand out you wanna share? Also i agree with what you said about wanting to play the series for the first time again with no prior knowledge - i would love to meet louis character for the first time again.

Yeah, some opinions have changed with time and moving on from being a hardcore, active fan in the fandom. I'm pretty sure I've talked about some of them more recently, like how I used to not like Jane but now I've become something of a "Jane apologist," if you will.

I was also super vocal about hating the Clementine comics when the 12-page comic dropped, and I'm pretty sure I was shitty about Tillie Walden... which I look back on now and feel embarrassed. In fact, I specifically remember calling attention to the fact that Skybound turned off comments on the first book trailer and on their instagram, twitter, etc. and being like, "look at these COWARDS! they know we hate the comic and that Tillie's a bad artist, they're trying to shut us up!" ........but then I heard they turned them off because Tillie was getting threats, and it caused me to dig around and see the vile shit fans were saying.... It gave me pause to think things through and I feel very differently about it all now.

I've also changed my mind on Minerva. Like Jane, there was a loooong period of time where I didn't like her, but now? I think she's great. A real tragedy.

In fact, real talk, I think my perspective on most of the female characters in TWDG has shifted dramatically. I've done a lot of thinking on this just in general; I'm much harder on female characters than male characters. I can pretend like noooooo I was always soooo fair... but no, not always. I'm sure it's from some deep-rooted, internalized misogyny I have that I'm working on, but I also think the games sometimes neglect those characters, too. Which makes it easier to brush them off as just "poorly-written" and "bad characters" if I don't like them when that's not always the case.

Or let's be real, we all know how this goes; the games give us a flawed male character and fans are like "he's my blorbo, here's a 50k essay about why he deserved better and a list of my headcanons and the twenty AUs I've written for them-" but then a female character's just as flawed and fans are like "lol she's poorly written, here's an essay on why-"

Don't look at me like that. I know I'm guilty of this. I know y'all remember Mitch. Back in the day, Mitch was my boy and I used to write about him all the time but like... god forbid I put that much effort into writing about Violet or Minerva, right?

Or even look at Kate, for example. Past CJ would've talked about how much she doesn't like Kate and she hates the forced romance with Javi, she's just there as a way to make David and Javi fight, etc. But you ask me about Kate now and I'm like, "Girl, ANF did you so dirty, you didn't deserve this."

Or how about Bonnie in S2? We all love to hate on Bonnie, but like... she's such an interesting character?? She's a recovering drug addict so desperate for a place, and you can see Carver's manipulation at play in the way she talks about him to Clementine. It takes seeing him physically beat Kenny within an inch of his life before she's like "Yeah no, fuck this, we're leaving tonight." And we give her shit about Luke's death and being mean to Clementine but frankly? Yeah, she's mean to Clementine and that's fine.

What, it's okay for Kenny to lash out and call her a stupid kid when Sarita dies because he's your poor meow meow and it makes his character soooo morally gray and complex? But Bonnie lashes out about Luke's death and suddenly she's just a massive piece of shit? No complexities or anything? There's no grey morality? No underlying motive or emotions behind the choice to abandon the group with Mike and Arvo?? She's just a bitch??

And do I even need to talk about Sarah? Hmm? We all know how Sarah was received and how fans still talk about her. Again, Sarah has a complete meltdown over losing her father and people get hurt, and fans wish death upon her... but Kenny has a meltdown and brutally beats up Arvo or threatens to smack Clementine or a number of things.... "that's fine, he's just really upset, he lost his family, y'know? everyone keeps trying to GASLIGHT me that he's bad but if you really think about it, Arvo totally deserved to be abused and it's actually Clementine's fault Kenny hit her because she tried to stop him-"

I just... the lengths we go to justify and defend this violent, toxic character but then act like Jane is the worst, I can't-

It's so funny to me whenever I see someone in the fandom complain about wanting more morally grey, flawed female characters because like... y'all couldn't even handle Jane. Or Lilly. Or Sarah. Or Bonnie. Rebecca. Eleanor. Christa. Minerva and Violet, in a lot of cases. So like... what do you actually want?

Note that I'm guilty of this, too, and I've asked myself that question... haven't fully worked out the answer yet.

That's the major thing that comes to mind about opinions I had that I've changed my mind about. I think a big factor in that is letting twdg go and getting invested in other fandoms, doing a lot more reading, getting back into writing, etc. Obviously I've really gotten into the Dragon Age fandom and that's what triggered this "journey of self-reflection~" when it comes to how I perceive female characters. Like, you want flawed, morally-grey ladies? That's your series... assuming you can actually handle it.

But I also recently finished a playthrough of Fallout New Vegas and remembered my love for Veronica Santangelo, like... I don't care that the game doesn't technically have romance, that's my girlfriend, I love her. Then the other night I finished my first playthrough of Life is Strange True Colors [I know, where the fuck have I been, right?] and I spent 40% of the time looking at flowers, 10% being sad about Gabe, and the other 50% trying to figure out who I liked more, Steph or Ryan.

I've also been reading a lot of wlw novels which is just..... THAT'S a whole mess I won't get into because this is already long enough and you didn't ask. Just know that's also another factor in this reflection.

And to answer the other part of your ask: I miss Louis. I would love to play TFS again for the first time again, that was a fun time.

[bropunzeling]

11, 22, 37!

11 Three tropes that are fine but overrated

oh gosh hmm. some of these are gonna come across as hypocritical lmao and also insert a healthy dose of "for me specifically" but: (1) i think soulbond/soulmark tropes can be done well, but mid executions of the trope focus a lot on ~finding~ the person rather than interrogating what it means to have bonds or marks or things of that nature, and leave a lot of interesting nuances about choice and free will and conflict between romantic relationships and other things you might want (career, friendship, autonomy, etc) on the table. i wish more takes on the trope let it be messy! (2) hurt/comfort done well is really fun but when people are just like. aggressively making their little guy sad and pathetic and a poor little meow meow whose never done anything wrong it gets grating. i love a sad guy but i prefer when they're sad because of shit they did to themselves instead of external factors. (3) curtain fic/established relationship stuff can be fun sometimes but like. there still needs to be a smidgen of conflict or growth or change or a shift for me to be interested. there has to be a point imo! even when i write my silly self-indulgent post-fic time stamps its important to me that there's a point to it beyond just "im love them" (though im DO love them)

22 What is it about watching the same two idiots falling in love over and over again?

i think the thing is, there can always be a new dimension to how these two idiots fall in love!!! every story is an opportunity to get at some new nugget of like, how people are, or what it is to be vulnerable and open and willing to risk heartache. with two different people you have so many opportunities to look at different shades and facets of their character. especially with rpf where real life events can shape characterization in real time. The Trade opened up a whole new dimension of matthew that creates new angles to investigate matthew&leon and what it means to fall in love with someone thousands of miles away and who you see even less (or, someday, for my break up/make up agenda)! jamie getting dealt to philly opens up new ways to poke at the jamie/trevor relationship by adding distance and tragedy and the potential of falling for other people! even picking a new trope or time period is just so fun for being like, now how would they be under THESE circumstances? also like, i LOVE flip-flopping who gets to be down bad immediately and who is oblivious because it's not only a fun creative challenge but also just opens up new worlds. idk! there's so many possibilities and so many facets to explore and to me that's delightful.

37 Do you research before writing or while you write? Is it fun or boring for you?

id say i do some up front, just to nail down the broad beats of the story and to minimize how much reworking i have to do later on (or for period type fics, to make sure that i dont introduce plot points that simply cant have happened in that time frame!), and some i do as i go -- for example, for a while there i just HAD the battles of alberta in 21-22 down pat because i was using them so often to shape story beats, but the games in between i had to look up as i went. i also am constantly pulling from new articles or features that offer new bits of characterization i want to use. tbh with the current wip i DO feel very wobbly because i don't have my normal anchors of the schedule/have to make things up, which is simultaneously freeing and hard because it's so much easier for me to write about sports games that really happened than the fake ones im constructing for the narratives 😂. but yeah id say mostly i research as i go!

[msfbgraves]

Oh my gosh, I love the idea of a Silverrusso Hunger Games/Ballad AU! Of course Terry would be Capitol, and of course he’d be Daniel’s mentor and fall for him big time. 

Daniel would be District (12, not Covey), and while he’s small, and tiny, and adorable—he’s also cunning, and brave, and can be a murder-kitten if pushed far enough. Terry probably exploits all these traits of Danny boy’s for views and sponsorship before and in the Arena because he knows a showman when he sees one, being one himself. Terry would be excellent at strategy and playing 4D chess, and Daniel would, as you said, be a good boy and listen to whatever he instructs him on. Daniel’s own natural charisma, charm, cunning, and Daniel LaRusso Derangement Syndrome help him win against the odds of course. 

I agree with you that Terry would only return to the Capitol if he got to keep the pretty little thing. Which would be a very interesting setting, because Terry would of course become President, with Daniel by his side as his Capitol Consort. Make it Omegaverse and that’s even more set in stone. Daniel never loses that natural goodness and kindness despite it all, so who can say what happens in their marriage, and Terry’s tendency towards mass genocidal pastimes? Hmm. 

Or maybe Terry runs away with Daniel. They make do for a while on their own, as they’re both very charming. I do agree that Terry would find District 13, and make himself the leader. Probably take over Panem eventually too, for better or worse. All with his doe-eyed boy by his side as his own personal cheerleader.

The stuff of legends. 

Yes, I've seen Terry as Capitol mentor floating around since the first trailer, and with Daniel "Why didn't you kill him?" LaRusso as tribute - why shouldn't those odds be in his favour? I have to say that, though, with those very cringey commercials - Daniel isn't great with cameras, but like with the tournaments he's fought, he takes to the arena like a duck to water. (One of the few very clear differences between Ralph and Daniel, in my view!) But Daniel is just so adorable and we all know he looks even prettier roughed up, so especially with all the extra whump the book puts the tributes through he'd be so strangely alluring - and when the first thing he does is save the smallest tribute "because it isn't fair", and definitely would mercy kill another, he will win swarms of fans and donations. Terry's first thought at those antics, as that is not what they'd discussed, is: "The second that brat gets out of the arena, I am putting him straight over my knee!" (Which he does, the first time they meet again!)

Now I have a huge villain crush on Terry, he is my poor little meow meow through and through, so I believe that he wouldn't be as desperate as Coryo for acceptance. And I really think that's canon. Terry knows how to blend but he doesn't like it, he likes to push the envelope of respectability. So of course he makes former District boy John Kreese his absolute bestie, openly. So I think if the Dean would be "ugh, I hate your father", he'd be like "I hate my father, sir, you're not special", and with Gaul's "What are the Hunger Games for", he'd be like: "An outlet for sadism." And she'd be like "Oooh, you're very good at it, Mr. Silver." He'd be like: "Yeah, I like to watch, what of it? Not like I made it up." And so he'd only return to the Capitol (because yes he'd totally cheat, of course) with Daniel, but I don't actually see him becoming President? With his penchant for nuclear, I think he's always been obsessed with 13. Terry is not very obsessed with ruling people, I don't think. He's obsessed with very close relationships and personal survival, which is actually something he and Daniel have in common! I see Daniel getting Terry to become more of a rebel when in the Capitol, but if they're not allowed back, and Terry is absolutely fine slumming it in 12 and having all the sex with Daniel (the man loves playing at poverty) he'd take off when they don't let him take his Danny boy to officer training in 2 because: "I am not letting them send you down a mine, sweetheart." (Plus they've totally tried to recruit Daniel for rebel missions.) The reason he's taking over 13 is that none of these people know to have any fun and that's no way to live and he ends up ruling the whole of Panem kinda sorta by accident, with Daniel acting as his conscience. Also to let Daniel reunite with his Ma and brood of other half starved LaRussos because he won't ever shut up about it otherwise.

[thelargefrye]

“with the stars” for the title for a fic?

WITH THE STARS

pairing : poly!ateez x f!reader genre : magic shop au warnings : language, mentions of cheating (not by anyone important!)

“hey minnie, have you seen byeol?” you ask your boyfriend as you enter the front of the store. mingi looks up from his magazine and over to before his face shifts into one of thought.

“hmm, i don’t think so,” he replies and you sigh before turning to go back upstairs to your shared apartment.

“where is that damn cat?” you say as you climb the stairs. your heels making a nice clicking sounds against the wooden stairs, some of them even creaking under your weight.

“sangie, have you seen byeol?” you ask once you enter the living room and see the black haired male resting on the couch.

“did you check yunho’s room?”

“yunho’s room, no,” you say before thanking your boyfriend and making your way to your tallest boyfriend’s room.

“yuyu have you seen byeol?” you asked seeing yunho sitting at his desk, his board shoulders on full display for you to look at.

“yeah, she came in here about two hours ago,” he says turning his chair around where you are greeted with the sight of byeol sitting in yunho’s lap.

she looks content and you almost feel bad for coming over and picking her up. she lets out a little squeaky meow at the sudden movement but quickly purrs when she realizes it’s you.

“oh thank god, i have to pee so bad,” yunho says reaching over to kiss you as thanks.

“for how long?”

“two hours!” he says as he rushes out of the room and you chuckle before walking out of his room and back down the stairs to the shop.

when you return to the shop, san is now down there. leaning opposite of mingi across the counter, san is teasing mingi who has a light blush covering his cheeks. mingi always was the easiest to tease and get flustered.

“sannie, stop teasing mingi!” you say as you walk over to the two. san chuckles at you as he watches with his own cat-like eyes as you kiss mingi, bidding him goodbye before you’re walking towards the exit of the shop.

you let byeol out of your arms and she does well with staying right beside you. san trails behind you, arm wrapping around your waist as he quickly kisses your neck as you both walk down the sidewalk.

“i got the order,” san says as you both walk down the street. waving and saying hello to a few townspeople here and there. byeol leads the two of you, doing well to dodge any obstacles that might cross her path.

“some poor guy wanting revenge for his girlfriend cheating on him with his best friend,” san explains.

“really? revenge?”

“yeah, i know but a job is a job.”

“not a very good one if you ask me,” you say and san hums in response as byeol finally leads you to an apartment complex. this is where you assume the client lived.

“no wonder his girlfriend cheated,” you say as you take in the aura around the complex. it was dark and negative. nothing good came from this building and you wondered how many people were being affected by this one guy’s energy. “his aura is a little powerful,” you mumble once you step inside the building.

“don’t try to think about it too much,” san says as you both get in the elevator. he gives your shoulders a nice rub before he kisses your neck again.

a frown paints your lips as something in the back of your head tells you something just doesn’t seem quite right about this job.

“let’s just get in, do the job, take his soul, and leave.”

send a fake title and i’ll show what kind of fic i would write for it

[stabbyfoxandrew]

“Isobel, your aunts and uncles probably didn’t even know how to spell your name until last year.” — wow none of these family members are pulling any punches here are they?

Briony and Isobel…my autocorrect hates spelling both of them…they are not having a good time right now…hmm

‘even in unflattering light, even scowling, Alistair Low was extremely good looking. Not that it mattered’ —Gavin to the best of your knowledge he’s going to try and murder you. If you asked him, I’m sure he’d have a long list of ways he’d like to do it. And you use this descriptor anyway—

Briony’s different kind of exes—Isobel and Finley—are now also both champions. And she isn’t. Ouch, that’s got to sting (and wow I can’t even believe I’m writing that. She’s sad she doesn’t get into the murder tournament with her former best friend(?) and former boyfriend(?))

They started ‘training’ Alistair when he was seven?!? Like that?!?! Alistair and Hendry’s interactions are adorable (in the terms of the violence of this book let’s say that word fits, okay? For now, at least)

Fuck oh fuck right after I said that please tell me I’m wrong. No no no oh fuck you Lowe family I’m not sad you’re sad (why?!?!??)

Oh a vessel this is not going to end well

Part 2 (50-100ish) done. (Thanks for letting me do this by the way <3 I’m probably going to head to sleep right now but I’m enjoying it so far thank you!! And also just saying this again because yeah but if you want me to shut up please tell me I promise you it won’t bother me).

Hope you have a good morning/afternoon/night/evening (idk time zones are weird) 💖💖💖

—💖💖

I know! Isn't that so sad that they didn't care about her at all until she was useful to them! :((( Super sad. Also yeah Briony and Isobel (actually all of them) are just Going Through It for like 800 pages. :')

GAVIN IS THE BISEXUAL KING OF THE WORLD. I love him. :') He's a loser, he's supposed to die first. He's a kicked dog who wants to bite! He's, sigh, he's Jean-coded to me. Okay. He's... He's just very special to me. TWT I can't call him a meow meow, because I feel that Alistair moreso gets that title, but Gavin is THE Character.

I know!!! Poor Briony. :')) Something she wanted for so long and she doesn't even get it. Because of the fucking government?! Like hello. What the fuck?! Also yeah, like I would be relieved but go crazy girl? :')

And that is why he's so fucked up. They've been training him to be a monster his entire life. Also I know! I love them. They're so sweet to each other. They're all each other has-

GOD. I KNOW. IT HURTS DOESN'T IT? I saw it coming but had to suffer through several pages of Alistair figuring it out. TWT Poor codependent boys. :( It's so fucking tragic. It broke my heart man. :(

Gavin just 'Yeah I'll let this insane guy fuck with my ability to use magic and also my life force :) sounds good'. IDIOT (said with love)

You're totally welcome babe! I am very excited for you to read more! <3 Also, really, I promise I swear you can't annoy me.

Also! It was night when I got this. But it's 4:15pm now. : ) I live in the eastern time zone btw!

[thekimspoblog]

More chatting about BCS w/ @brilliantalpaca

Them: I read the whole thing, Ill reblog it later because there is some stuff I want to give my two cents on

But this is wild to me

Hello? He graduated from law school? Why is blud in charge of the mail?

Me: I mean OP is right; Jimmy isn't OWED a partnership at HHM. The problem is that when Jimmy and Kim ACCEPTED that the firm wasn't going to promote them and struck out on their own, HHM still interfered. I do think Jimmy has a bit of a NiceGuy complex, but not nearly as badly as Walt did. "NiceGuys finish last, so if you're pulling ahead you were never really that nice" is definitely a theme of BCS. But "Who is watching the watchers? Who gets to decide who the gatekeeper is?" is also a theme. Plus... Kim is a god and when she asks for something, you give it to her or you die. Granted, Howard and Chuck had no way of knowing that last part, but still.

Them: The whole middle part is so cracked

Cooked with gas

In any case, and considering Jimothy started a law firm inside a beauty parlor, I think he would have been happy at HMM the second he stopped to push a cart, at least for a while

Like, I dont think the man is ambitious for power or a title or authoritas, but for respect

Thats why he leaves the firm at... You know, the cocobono table place, sorry its been a while

So I think if his brother had respected him a little bit more, well

Me: On the one hand, he just wanted to work next to his brother and his girlfriend. But like... he got that opportunity with Davis and Mainn and he hated it. That place was stuffy; he needed his freedom. It's one thing for Chuck to say "I don't think my brother would be a good fit at my firm. Even if he is talented, his eccentricities are a liability; I don't want to hire him"; I mean that's basically the same conclusion Kim reached. The problem is we never see Howard do any actual work, so the impression we get is that HHM siphons off labor from its employees, then refuses to compensate them adequately or even acknowledge their role as contributing partners. And again, there was definitely some sort of discrimination going on with the way Chuck penalized Kim for associating with Jimmy.

Them: They also put him an intern-copter on his ass, which would sit badly with anyone

And Chuck actively tried to prevent him to practice

Which is very messed up

Me: Again, I can't really blame them. Frankly Jimmy should have treated Erin with more respect; she had worked there longer and even if she was kind of passive aggressive about it, she was just trying to show him the ropes.

Them: I can't blame them either, but thats because I know Jimmy

In any case, trusting the narrative at one hundred percent and confusing Jimmy with a poor little meow meow is something I'm guilty of

Ill admit that

When he usually makes his own bed

Me: Under normal circumstances, I would say wanting to get someone disbarred for sabotaging you is pretty understandable. But again, Chuck started it by stealing Mesa Verde. Jimmy loved Chuck, but he wanted Chuck to admit that he too could be a bit of a hypocrite and a sleazebag. That he wasn't better than Jimmy. And the truth is he really wasn't.

Them: He really really wasnt, he just dressed it up better

Chuck is such an university profesor its insane, they nailed him

Me: To by a hypocrite is to be human. And honestly I think you're an irresponsible lawyer if you CAN'T acknowledge your own biases.

Them: I also didnt realize that yeah, we never see Howard doing... Work on his own, huh?

Like he's there at meetings, with Chuck at the Mesa Verde hearing

But what does he *do*

Me: I assume Howard does actually do quite a bit of paperwork. But this is a tv show, so if they didn't want us to see him as a symbol of the owning class, as a wage thief, they should have framed the story differently.

Them: It is implied, if not stated, hes riding his dad coat tails, right?

I dont know, he may actually just... Be there

Well, no, hes at court at times

Because if we didnt had anything, you know, to a point that becomes a conscious choice even if hes a secondary character ok a tv show

Me: The main reason I'm inclined to cut Jimmy some slack is that on some level, Jimmy knows that he's just plain bad at making choices for himself. He wants to be bossed around, just by someone he trusts. He spent half his life outsourcing his ethical code to his brother, and the other half just following whatever marching orders his wife gave him. So at least in the later seasons of BCS, the best defense to the idea that Jimmy is a bad person is simply "That part was Kim's idea; you want to complain, take it up with management". Right or wrong, he's a man who can biblically submit to his wife; that kind of puts him in a whole other moral universe.

Them: The show also makes ir very easy to fall into the "Jimmy logic hole", where everything he does gets justified by a slight that happened six episodes ago

Me: But like I said, this is why him going to prison is kinda fucked. Instead of growing the hell up and thinking for himself for once, Jimmy surrenders and turns his agency over to the ultimate daddy; the government.

Them: Lel true

Thats actually a good reading

Me: I think it's best to think of Hamlin-Hamlin-McGill-McGill-and-Wexler as just one big firm that ended up cannibalizing itself; neither half of the entity ever became fully independent from the other, and eventually fighting over clients sunk both halves of the business. Kind of fitting with the theme of wildflowers growing on an unmarked grave, I like to think about Iris's relationship to that business and that building. This big, bombastic story we spent six years chronicling, in just two short decades nothing will be remembered about it besides a "how I met your mother" anecdote. George Hamlin wanted to build a family business... well, he got one.

Them: The causes of the firm's undoing bring writing on its own foundation

You know, George Hamlin bringing his son and Chuck bringing his brother

Kim getting dragged into the drama of the whole thing and doing what she does in the show

Me: yes exactly

Them: It all becomes inevitable

Me: Instead of having a long(er) life in prison, my timeline ends with Jimmy dying at age 69 from a heart-attack while fleeing a protest-turned-riot, being remembered as a beloved patriarch martyred for a righteous cause. It's a happier ending than what Vince and Peter would leave him to, but it's still supposed to feel a little perverse: this was the path Kim put him on when she got him out on parole, and on some level she knew this. Iris blames their mother for what happened, and they're not wrong, but at this point remorse is an emotion that doesn't come easily to Kim anymore. She gave him the best life she could, but nothing lasts forever. Still, nothing is set in stone. Jimmy will be a martyr for Kim's revolution if he lets her make him one. But saying "no" to her - AND MEANING IT - is the hardest thing to do. Especially when he knows she's right; that Iris is going to inherit a police state if the parents don't act preemptively.

[epickiya722]

I wanna give some thoughts as a GF fan

A lot of people give Mable shit for being boy-crazy, and though yeah, she does sometimes go overboard, i have yet to see so many people giving that much shit to Dipper for being Wendy-crazy.

Like, whole fucking episodes are dedicated to Dipper doing something stupid so he can chase after Wendy, a girl not only much older than him, but who also has no interest in him other than a platonic friendship. And that plot point is used against him multiple times. And you know what happens?

He learns how to handle it better. (Or tries to, at least) Bc just like his sister, he's a dumb 12 yr old that is no more resistent to manipulation and stupid impulses than she is.

So let me get this straight, let me try to wrap my head around this.

People in the GF fandom gave Mabel shit for being A 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL with crushes, yet are hush-mouth when her brother of the SAME AGE chasing after Wendy, an older girl who doesn't have romantic interest in him.

... FUCKING WHAT?!

Both of these characters are kids who are bound to make mistakes because who doesn't when they're a kid, yet the GIRL is the one the fandom hates on.

Hmm... smells like absolute bullshit, Mabel deserves better, so unfair to her. I could not tolerate the GF fandom if I was in it. Like...? What the hell??? Shoot, even in the fandoms I'm in, I'm in a little corner because behavior like that? Yep, hate it. Especially, against female characters.

Like, even if that female character is in the complete wrong, if you want to practically execute her and yet go "oh my poor little meow meow" to a male character who has done nearly the same actions, I'm giving the BOMBASTIC SIDE-EYE. 😒

[boypussydilf]

The entire A.C. Doyle Sherlock canon for that blorbo fandom ask

OH THATS FUN

blorbo (fave) i mean. sherlock holmes yeah. hes the original blorbo, like, culturally. hes the most blorbo, ever. this guy is popular for a reason its bc he fucking rules

skrunkly (baby) Hmmmmm. Generally “sweet little shaped baby” or “invokes cuteness aggression” are things I would think about child characters or like…. generally….. Not the demographic of characters you find in victorian era mystery stories. That being said maybe - now give me a second to figure out which story he was in and what his name is,.. ah! percy phelps from the naval treaty, who almost faints because sherlock revealed that he had solved the case to him in simply too dramatic of a manner.

scrimblo bimblo (underappreciated fave) “Underappreciated”, but not “obscure”……… Well, it’s not the case within Sherlock Holmes Fandom, but in the Greater Cultural Mindset, Watson is probably still like….. wildly underappreciated by the average person. People just don’t know that this guy rules.

glup shitto (obscure fave) IM ANSWERING THIS ONE FIRST BC ITS THE ONLY ONE I KNOW 100% FOR SURE: KITTY WINTER. I LOVE KITTY WINTER. FUCKING LOVE HER. she appears in One Story, like Most Characters, and NEVER GETS TALKED ABOUT BY ANYONE, BC NO ONE KNOWS SHE EXISTS, and she’s SO GOOD, I LOVE KITTY WINTER.

poor little meow meow (pathetic/problematic fave) hmm. i can think of no one, really. maybe, MAYBE mycroft. mr “hears information that could get a man killed if people find out he shared it, puts it in the newspaper anyway”

horse plinko (little friend to torture for lols) i suppose also watson again. it’s funny.

eeby deeby (get superhell’d) there r so many options. so many bastards to beat over the head and shove into a river. because they are, after all, mystery stories. but i’ll say charles augustus milverton bc i like his story. and good news! he’s dead! and sherlock and watson let his murderer completely get away with it bc the guy deserved it! proper #girlboss moments (he was killed by a woman he blackmailed)

[hollowisthyname]

Do it with squip inc

FUCK YEAH LETS GO

blorbo: hmm c!henry and victoria tbh (and all of mine but thats not fair)

skrunkly: bilbo and all the creatures !! the sillies <3

scrimblo bimblo: hmm lavern/markus (i want to dunk him in milk)

glup shitto: matt my beloved !!! the greatest time anomaly

poor little meow meow: zopp the poorest little meow meow

horse plinko: The AssholesTM (ash and mage)

eeby deeby: anima and victoria (again)

[lightvsdark18]

Unexpected Visit to The Devildom 2.2

Followed LovesOfLauryn and Lavi Alraune's playthrough.

"Yeah, I can see it."

"Hm, we got nothing to lose."

"You need him to sew clothing?"

"Ten outfits by tomorrow?!"

"Three? Who said I was joining?" She helps.

She's a light sleeper, she heard them.

"I wouldn't say that."

"Yeah, it sucked."

"No problem, Asmo." Sweet smile.

Luke's comment catches her off guard.

"Mammon, be nice."

"Asmo, calm down and relax."

She thinks Simeon is referring to her before asking her.

"Just show the results."

"Asmo, come on..." "Obviously."

Secretly laughs to herself and gets death glares from Lucifer.

"Go thank him now."

"I'm glad I could help."

"You can on the cheek, not on the lips."

"... You're acting different."

Looks over at the giggling two and narrows eyes. Then gets weirded out by Levi.

After Beel's explanation, she finds it funny as well.

"Levi, just tell us what you did."

"Stop looking at me like that. Use your words, Levi."

Pats his head.

"Yours, you started the game."

"Because you're the eldest?"

"Gees, be a little hopeful."

"I mean, he is the avatar of greed and he is greedy."

"Is there a curse or something to make him honest?"

"Who's your favorite beside me?"

"Dude, stop yelling."

"Mammon, he's not you."

"So you would rather tell Lucifer you like him repeatedly instead of telling us what your wish is?"

"I already knew that."

"What?! What ya do mean you knew?!"

"Mammon, you make it pretty obvious that you're in to me."

"What? Say that again?"

She looks at him a bit sad because she knows she has to break his heart. "Mammon, I love you as a friend."

"Before you start planning a murder on your brother, tell us your wish."

"Why not ask Lucifer to do it?"

"You're now your own on this, Levi. I have no interest in making Lucifer kneel in front of Satan."

"First off, I'm not a part of this plan. Second, Satan wants you to kneel before him."

Smiling and chuckling in the background. (Just strangle him, Satan.)

(Simeon, how date you.) (Poor Luke.)

"What do you want, Asmo?"

"No, not really." "Have to charm me in a different way."

"Hmm, I am curious what you guys looked like in the past."

Surprise at him bringing out the photo album. "You have photos?"

Enjoys looking at the baby pictures. (I think it's an aesthetic attraction.)

Shrugs. "I don't know."

"Was hungry?" "Then where's the problem?" "Should I stand outside while you two make it?"

Is sitting in the common room while the two deal with the drink.

"Not sure."

"Yeah, if it means I can suffocate you in my chest. Sorry, for the dark humor."

"Belphie, don't push it. I'm willing to help Levi and grant your wish."

(Satan, Levi, you're troublemakers.) (Ha)

Tries to make up a lullaby.

"Tell me what your wish is, Levi."

"Levi, just say it." "Are you serious? Why were you embarrassed by a simple request?" "Yeah, I'll game with you."

"Stop being so loud. I'm heading to my room."

Stares wide eyed at Lucifer, and is a bit impressed.

Lucifer, what the hell?

"And he threw me against a coffin in the underground tomb and almost killed me."

Calling Diavolo baby. Chuckles.

"Beel..."

Throws hands over her ears.

"Help them, please."

She told Solomon his cooking sucks on day one because she's not a coward like everyone else.

"No, please explain." "Not the candle part."

"I'm too worried about Beel to stay here."

Glares at Satan with the look of you can't be serious and you have two seconds to say sike. "You better be joking because it's not funny, Satan."

"Sorry, Diamond."

"Well shit."

"Not happening."

"Don't underestimate me."

"But I'm right here. Don't look behind you."

Milady's girlfriend's voice is heard. She freezes in place, then reminds herself it's fake and continues.

"Keep your heads forward, guys."

"Why didn't someone hold Levi's head forward?"

Places hands under her armpits.

"What? It just looks like you have ink on your hand." Yeah, say that to the person who has glasses.

"Don't touch!"

"Meow."

"Yeah, but they're sometimes a headache."

"Like you." Solomon frowns.

"Thousand years? How old are you?"

"No promises."

"Stealing a book, Solomon?"

(The thought conversations is terrible in a good way.)

"You can really read people, Solomon."

Takes off shoe, freaks Mammon out.

"Resist the temptation."

Holds Beel's hand.

"Mammon! Don't be rude."

"Solomon! Why did you say that?" Grabs Beel's arm.

"Let's get this over."

"Satan, stop bullying your brother. Mammon, come on."

"Are you... okay? You look pale."

Picks up Satan to prevent him from pulling his "prank."

(How can you tell which candle is who's? Does it have the name of the person on the side of it?)

Doesn't say nothing, walks over, grabs her candle and makes the others freak out as she places a drop into Beel's.

Stumbles a bit while landing.

"Yeah, I like your old selves."

"What is it?" Hugs back. "I guess so."

"Give him some space! Beel, carry him up to his room." Beel obeys and picks up his brother. Milady turns to Asmo and Mammon. "What happened?"

"Could the reaper's cave cause this?"

Casts a spell.

"Acted sooner? You know what's going on?"

It's my fault..?

"Are you okay? You seem confused."

Her mind is swirling with thoughts of Lucifer forgetting everyone and her being at fault for the phenomenon.

(Well, there can be another one if you find another descendant of Lilith, slap the seven pacts on them and boom! You have another big problem.)

She's silent, dead silent as she listens to Diavolo's explanation.

"Severing the ring means severing the pacts between Katelynn and all of you as well."

"You guys would be free of me." (I literally said that after reading that)

Everyone, including her, freezes at what she said. She didn't mean to say that, it just came out.

"What do you mean "free of me"? What are you trying to say?!" Mammon questions, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Kate, do you think we feel trapped in a pact with you?" Asmo concernedly asks.

She's silent.

"... Katelynn, you will revert to the state you were when you first came to the Devildom. And the effect you've been having on the three worlds should dissipate as well. And Lucifer's memory might return as well. Solomon will be in charge of performing the ceremony to sever the ring."

"... Hey whoa. You mean you've already made up your mind to do this? Just like that?"

"There's simply no other way, Mammon." Mammon grows quiet and clenches his fists.

Diavolo walks up and stands in front of her. "I'm sorry, Katelynn." Then leans down to hug her. "I'm so, so sorry I couldn't come up with some other way to deal with this... some other solution."

She's motionless in his arms, blankly staring over his shoulder.

Pats Luke on the head. He opens his mouth to protest, but her sorrowful expression convinces him not to.

"You there? I have a name."

Looks at Asmo, flips hand and stares at him confused. (Lucy, you're talking about Solomon)

"Yeah, I understand..."

"He cares about his loved ones very much but tries to hide it."

"His passion about what he loves and is very talented."

"A loveable nerd and fellow cat lover like myself."

"He may seem full of himself, but he does care about others when they get close to him." Gives a "wtf" expression to Lucy's comment.

"A loveable guy who cares deeply about his family."

"... I'm not right person to ask about him." "I have my reasons."

"Someone I respect."

"A loveable guy who cares deeply about his family."

Places arm on his back. "It's going to be okay, Beel."

"Where are you?" "What's wrong?"

"Just move him if it's such an issue."

Doesn't take a picture, but does call it cute.

(Cuddle pile!)

"Mammon, do you really want to disappoint me?"

Smiles and pats Levi's head.

"Are you worried about Lucifer?" Smug face activate.

He reaches for her head but pauses and pats her shoulder instead.

"The what?"

"And does Lucifer get if he wins?" Bruh, I'm not an object.

"As long as I don't have to open my wallet when we hang out, then I guess I'm fine with it."

"Really?"

Pats his head. "I won't."

"Having fun?"

Hooks index finger with his. "... Is this how we usually hold hands?" -Lucifer

"Sometimes we went into the town together."

"Cheekier? Yes."

"It's okay. It can more fun for you."

"I'm not. It's a nice view."

"... It was about Lord Diavolo."

"... I want to know how you feel about me."

She looks down at the floor, nervousness and sadness filling her body. She told Asmo and Mammon how she sees them, telling Lucifer shouldn't be difficult. However, a part of her wants to tell him more than that, tell him what's weighting on her mind. Maybe it's because he's a different person right now and feels like she can be open with him, or maybe he's the person she knows she can depend on.

"... Can I tell you something that has been bothering me out? I know it's kinda cruel since you don't have your memories, but there's something I need to get off my chest."

"Of course, you can tell me anything." She takes a deep breath and looks at him in the eyes.

"I know you and your brothers are in love with me since my first year here. I have been keeping my distance and been trying to be careful with what I say or do to you guys because I, I only see you and them as friends, a second family even."

Her eyes slowly look down. "I didn't say anything back then because I was afraid you and them would want nothing to do with me if I rejected you. I don't want to lose you guys and I feel guilty for not feeling the same way you seven feel for me."

She wipes her eye. "I... we can talk more about this after you get your memories back."

"Good night."

(You walk in and just see a man in your room.)

"Is there any other way to solve this issue?"

"... And who would that be?"

"... It would be Lucifer himself." Panic, heart racing, standing stiff as a board.

Rips her hands away from him, upset.

"Well, one of us."

(Oh, it's the red text, you know he's threateningly serious.)

The room is buried in silence as she hides the dagger behind her leg, feeling suffocated by her panic and fear.

He slowly walks closer as he speaks while she backs away from him. She shakes her head with a weak "No." He reaches for the blade just for her to pull away. "No, we're not doing this."

"... This is the only way and I refuse to allow you to get hurt." He reaches for it again, seeming to fight her for the blade.

She yells "Stay!" just for him to resist the command. He gets his grip around her wrists and aim the dagger at himself. "You really aren't one to do as you're told, are you Kate? But you're too upset right now. You need to be calm and focused to fully restrain me, and you're not."

She stares up at him with such heartbreak as tears roll down her cheeks. Then a hand rests upon of theirs and pushes the dagger away. "Don't worry, there's no need for that."

She glances over to see Simeon. "You really are brave. I can't imagine how hard this has been for you. Now then, I have a little something here you should have..."

He takes her hand and slides a golden ring on her finger.

"Yes, I can hear you..."

"... Lucifer was about to stab himself, but... Simeon showed up before he could."

"... Because I care about him, and... I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

"I'm glad it's over. *Sighs* I need vacation after this... Thank you for showing up, Simeon."

"Help you with what?" "Sure."

"Still feeling uneasy, but beside that I'm okay."

Flashback to her waking up and having a panic attack: body tense, tears pouring out of her eyes, and having trouble breathing properly. When she calmed down enough to move, she hugged Lucifer tightly and quietly told him to never do something like that again. He just chuckled and hugged her back.

"Behave, you two."

"I'm not the better dancer, just warning you."

(Mr. Steal your girl) "Ow."

[We Need To Talk] and [I Don't Want To Be Alone]

"No comment." (Doesn't mean that in a bad way)

(Showed up in February and leaves in April, so their reactions make sense.)

Gets interrupted before she could answer Beel.

"Okay." Doesn't go to Diavolo after class and lies about him saying no which really isn't a lie.

Agrees with Solomon.

"Hmm... I probably should learn how to control my power, so yes."

"What did you get?"

Pulls Satan out of the pile. "You good?"

"You shouldn't have a messy room in the first place."

"Thank you." Pats him on the head, then chuckles and hugs him.

"What are you doing?"

"Why didn't you invite me to look at the clothes before putting them in boxes? Maybe I wanted new clothes."

"There's something I need to ask."

"Does it have to be something physical?"

Smiles at phone when Asmo speaks up. "I won't."

"What are doing you?"

"Give me something dear to you so I can summon you."

"Will I see it in the human world?" Takes a picture of the twin stars.

I wish for the brothers to be happy.

(Lucifer, stop being petty)

"Thank you, Levi. Oh, you probably heard but I need something you hold dear."

Smiles and hugs him.

"Hey!" Smacks his back to save him.

Gets her snacking on.

"Thank you." Wraps an arm around his shoulders.

"Is that a grimm on the floor?"

Takes it with a smile. Then pats him on the head.

"Why do you have that?" (His office is horny jail.) "You good?"

"Give me something you hold dear."

"There's nothing I want you to do, just take care of yourself."

Turns and walks towards the door just for it to slam in front of her. "I'm not letting you escape that easily." Fuck.

[The Confession]

(Luke, you're 10, why are you walking in a land full of demons alone?)

"You can come visit when you get permission from Michael."

"Why?"

"I don't want to go too, but after what happened and not seeing the sun for awhile, I want to go back to my world."

"Adult stuff."

Smiles. "Could I have a hug, Luke?"

"I won't."

Nods.

She slowly gets tired and accidentally falls asleep at the party, then wakes up in a sack and gets confused at what are the brothers doing?!

Kidnapping is not your only option!? Starts struggling.

"Guys, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"What do you mean? We're sneaking you out with us." -Mammon

"Guys, I love you, but I want to go-" then Cerberus shows up.

What? Lucifer, you can't be serious?! Then Satan grabs her hand and drags her with them.

Satan is still holding her hand. "I want to go home. I love you guys and I love spending time with all of you, but I want to go home to the human world."

Lucy repeats what she said to him. (Wholesome expression to immediately smug one).

(He said he loves me ;-;)

Walks up to the portal and waves to everyone. "See you later." And walk into the portal and returns home.

(The items they gave her is either in her phone, on her person or in the plastic container under her bed.)

After a month of returning home, Milady and her now ex-girlfriend agreed to just be friends because their relationship was never romantic and was looking for something good in the moment.

[gnattyplayssims]

1929 Pt 1 - Another Breakup

It had been a few months since prom and Lizzie was adjusting to life as a young adult. Doing her best to leave behind the broken hearts of her youth and move on. Kinley was also a young adult now and one summer morning the cousins met to do some early morning shopping.

"Yeah so he just showed up out of nowhere a few months ago and started helping on their farm."

"And no one knows anything about him?"

"I guess he was in the war but other than that...nothing."

"Ooooh a soldier."

Kinley giggled, "You would be into that. Wait...that's him!"

Lizzie followed her gaze to the man staring at them over his newspaper. "That's him? Kinley, that's Will, the guy I told you about."

"No way!" She whipered so he wouldn't hear. "The really sweet one!?"

She nudged her to shut up as he pretended not to have noticed them.

He hid behind the paper and Kinley whipered "Lizzie, there's no way he was at prom. He was in the war so he'd be much too old to have been a student." But Lizzie wasn't listening as she made her way toward him William glanced over his paper looking away quickly to avoid her eyes

"Well well well, if it isn't my new friend Will."

"Friend? I don't know about that. I was just there at the right time. Friend is a bit strong"

"Hmm, I don't buy it."

Kinley slipped toward the Gnome's Arms, "Um, I'm gonna find us a table."

"So you work at that barn?"

"Actually, I live there. The owner rented out the barn for the dance. I helped set up and tear down and whatever else they need in exchange for a roof over my head and 3 meals a day. No one was supposed to go up there during the dance."

"Your homeless?"

He glared at her, No."

"So what then?"

"I'm not homeless, that barn is my home. And I'm making an honest living to live there."

"What about your family?"

That dark look she had seen at prom came over his face again but he didn't elaborate past a simple, "No."

"So you're homeless and alone?"

"Not homeless!"

"But you're not denying the alone part."

He shrugged, "I guess I just haven't found anyone worth keeping around."

"I think you're lying."

He sighed, "That night was...nice. You're easy to talk to but it didn't mean anything. I gotta go."

Then he was gone.

The next few months passed by in a blur as the Mizrahi's fell into a solid rhythm. Rachel still struggled with poor health and often slept in the middle of playing. Reuben was such a good baby much like how his dad had been at that age, bringing much needed joy to the family.

There was something really special about having his own kids and David loved being a dad. Rachel especially held his heart. Maybe it was because he had almost lost her, maybe because of the way she'd curl up on his lap when she was tired She was his little princess.

"There you are Belle!" the cat looked up as Lizzie entered the room "Where have you been hiding all night?"

"Meow!" Belle complained as Lizzie scooped her into her arms

"Don't give me that It's time for bed and I have so much to tell you. Remember that guy with the newspaper?!"

Meanwhile Kye and Jessie had been going steady since prom and to his credit Kye really had been trying but he could tell she still wanted more than he was ready to give. "I love how pretty Finchwich is at this time of year. It's so romantic! Don't you think?"

"Yeah."

"Hey Jessie?"

He turned toward her. "What is it?"

"Ah, I was just thinking. I think there's something I owe you"

"What...?" Before she could finish the question he'd pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her lips. For a moment she stood there in shock before returning the kiss

She wrapped her arms around his neck. She'd waited for this moment but it wasn't really how she had imagined. He was kissing her but stiffly. Like he didn't really want to. She opened her eyes then pushed him away. "You don't want this, do you?"

"What!? Of course I want this!"

For a moment she just looked at him, not believing. Finally she sighed, "I know you said you'd try, but if this is too much..."

"No, that's not it. I really like you and I want to make this work"

"Me too"

He wrapped his arm around her."I told you I don't know what I'm doing"

But Kye could only avoid the truth for so long and the truth was, being in a relationship terrified him. Every step of the way it seemed she wanted more than he could give. Every day she seemed to put more pressure on him to open up. Until one day it all caught up with him.

"I just don't understand why it's so important for me to say it out loud."

"And I don't understand why it's so hard. If you loved me it wouldn't be hard to say."

"I love you okay, is that what you want to hear?"

"No! I want you to mean it!"

"Well I don't okay!"

"Fine, I'm sorry for trying. I thought maybe if we gave us a chance, you'd trust me. But even after 5 years you're still not honest with me!" "I am being honest with you."

"Well maybe it's yourself you need to be honest with. Good luck finding someone to love you until you do."

1929 Pt2 - William's Story