#cary was interesting as well

[tuttle-did-it]

Just going to leave this here.

Never mind that it starred two closeted queer actors.

Cary Grant as David Huxley in Bringing Up Baby (1938)

[shushmal]

There's an incredibly pretty girl at the front desk in Family Video, and Steve—Eddie's boyfriend of eight months—is leaning over the counter with a sly smile and half-lidded eyes.

Eddie pauses in the doorway, struck dumb for a moment as he takes in the scene, and then gleefully ducks down behind the nearest shelf.

"So tell me," Steve says, all low and intimate. "What kind of movie were you looking for?"

"Um," the girl says. She doesn't sound very enthusiastic—barely indulgent at best. Eddie wishes he could see, but any sight of him will ruin Steve's chances right now. He's got a pretty good mental picture though. "I really like those old black and white movies, the really glamorous ones, you know?"

"Oh, totally," Steve sighs, like he's swooning. "Like Cary Grant, Clarke Gabel?" Eddie can practically hear his smirk. "Katharine Hepburn? Ginger Rogers?"

"Oh, I love Ginger Rogers!"

"Really?" Steve says matching her excitement. "Well, you're just in luck! Robin here knows all about those old black and white movies, don't you Robin?"

Eddie presses a hand to his mouth to hide his snickering. Robin had looked like a hooked fish when he'd walked in, she's gotta be gaping stupidly right now. "Uuuh," he hears her mumbling, and tries not to snort too loud. "Y-Yeah, uh, golden age of Hollywood stuff, absolutely. I could? Show you where they are?"

"Oh my gosh, that would be amazing!" the girl says, her interest in the conversation now warmed by several degrees. Eddie is still a little in awe of how well his boyfriend can sniff out gay girls.

"I got the front here, Robin," Steve cuts in smoothly. "You ladies take your time, make sure you pick out a good one!"

Eddie waits another beat, listening at their footsteps shuffle away, before he pops up from behind the shelf. Steve, lighting up like a Christmas tree, beams at him.

"Am I a genius or what?" he whispers, grinning ear to ear.

"Your lesbian powers know no equal," Eddie says just as quietly, taking the girl's spot at the counter, leaning into Steve's space. Steve happily mirrors him, until they're tucked together, the world narrowing down to the two of them. It's Eddie's favorite place to be. "All hail Steve Harrington, blessid he, lesbian whisper. Come to aid all useless queers in the fight against singledom."

"Thank you, thank you," Steve says with an air of novel benevolence. "I promise to only use my powers for good."

"Dingus. Doofus."

They jump away from each other as if shocked. Robin glowers at them both, but the pretty girl behind her is giggling and standing way too close for friendly, just at Robin's elbow.

"Move it, lovebirds," she hisses as she rounds the desk. "I need to check Claire out."

"I think you already have," Steve says. His smile this time is down right evil.

Robin actually hisses at him, and hip checks him away from the register. Eddie does a bow, sweeping his arm out to give Claire the prime spot in front of the desk, before he turns back to Steve.

"My dear, if you could please," he simpers, all posh and nasally. "Show me to your finest, grossest horror movie, thank you my good sir."

"Ugh," Steve groans already heading off into the shelves, not waiting for Eddie to follow. "You're lucky I love you, Ed. Shit gives me nightmares."

"I know," Eddie sings, chasing him. "I love you too."

[a-pute11as]

Softie - Alexia Putellas

warnings - none?

words - 1.3k

Game day was your favourite, the build up of emotions, the performance anxiety mixed with the joy you felt every time you stepped onto the pitch. Nothing could ever beat the highs you felt when playing the sport you loved so much. Today was one of those days, well it was meant to be, yet the difference was that a very discoloured and swollen ankle caused by a dodgy tackle during international break meant you’d be missing out. The Barca medical team had decided it would be best to miss out on the upcoming away game, advising you to stay home and focus on rehab for the couple of days that your teammates would be away. 

Alexia had always been overprotective, both as your captain and girlfriend, she always had your best interest at heart and wanting her squad at full fitness meant she was quick to agree with the medical advice, even if that meant a couple days of prolonged separation. At first she did try her best to figure out a way you could successfully rehab whilst traveling with your team, but given the amount of walking an away trip often endured and the crutches you were temporarily restricted to, she decided against it. 

“Lo siento mi amor, we both know it’s for the best” Alexia hummed, her hand pressed against her cheek as you were saying your goodbyes at the front door of the shared apartment. Your body half limped against the wall as your crutches had been abandoned next to the sofa in your bid to say a proper goodbye to Alexia.

“Can you change your mind? It’s not too late for me to pack some things” You muttered, leaning into her soft hand as her thumb rubbed back and forth along your cheek. 

“Cari, you know what my answer is” She whispered, planting a small kiss on your forehead, leaving you to mumble in defeat.

You said your goodbyes and Alexia was soon gone, leaving you alone with the lack of comfort from your favourite person.

The next few days were full of rehab at the training center, consistent check ins from your girlfriend and a couple of facetime calls when she didn’t believe that you were doing your at-home recovery, something that Alexia often had to bribe you into doing.

You were now more stable on your ankle, meaning you could get around without the reliance on your crutches, allowing you the extra freedom of moving as you pleased. Ale was due home in a couple of hours and you knew she’d be tired so you set about the task of tidying your apartment. It didn’t take too long but the slightly limp in your step did somewhat slow you down and drain extra energy. 

After finishing you were quick to take a shower and put on a change of clothes, consisting of a pair of Alexia’s Spanish national team shorts and her hoodie. Stumbling back towards the sofa, you planted yourself on it comfortably, waiting for the door to open to embrace the person you’d had been missing. 

It didn’t take long for you to adjust yourself into a comfier position whilst the time seemed to drag. You searched for a questionable English reality show, one that Ale would ridicule you for whenever you asked to watch it together, she never got the appeal of British humour yet it made you feel at home. Your phone pinged as you made another adjustment to your leg to seek some kind of peace from the discomfort of baring weight on it had caused. 

Amor -

Get some sleep, the plane has been delayed slightly so i will be late home and i know you’re tired already

You furrowed your eyebrows at her suggestion of sleep, determined to greet her with wide eyes and a smile as soon as she entered the room. 

You -

Ale i’m wide awake, i’ll be here when you’re up so you can tell me all about it

In reality you already knew all about it, you had watched the match with Ellie, who was also kept back from traveling due to recovery, you had been receiving updates from both Patri and Pina about the ‘cute’ things Ale had said in passing conversations about you. As well as a message from Kiera asking if your girlfriend would ever not make up excuses for the time when you both snuck away from a team celebration to cuddle. Her usual excuse was to blame it on you, but in reality she was tired after a big win and didn’t want to look too soft to the rest of the team. 

*Incoming FaceTime call from Amor*

“Hola cari” Alexia smiled, as the phone lit up your face.

“Hi babe, everything okay?” You smiled back, stifling a yawn that tried to expose your tiredness to your girlfriend. 

“Just thought I’d check in before the flight, make sure you’re as wide awake as you say you are” Her smile shifted into a smirk knowing exactly the type of person you were. 

“No confias en mi, amor?” You questioned, tilting your head to the side, teasing her intentions. 

“No cariño, confío en ti, pero siempre estás cansada y siempre te quejas." She responded, mocking your head tilt with similar teasing intentions. 

“Ale who’s that?” Patri said, peering her head into the screen, a smile appearing on her face as she realised who it was, “It’s lover girl!” She added, using the nickname she had given you when you first let her know about your relationship. She was quick to take the phone from Alexia’s han for herself. 

“Patri, give her the phone back” You laughed, knowing she had every intention of causing some kind of trouble.

“No, venga, say hello to everyone” She held the phone up, announcing your presence causing you to wave at your teammates that had now focused their attention on the phone.

“Are you staying up to give your girlfriend a goodnight kiss?” Pina laughed, as she began to blow kisses towards the phone.

“Oye, dámelo” Alexia said, standing as she grabbed the phone from Patri’s hand swiftly, “The flight is boarding now amor, go to sleep”. You mumbled in response before saying your goodbyes and hanging up.

Even though you were determined to stay awake, it didn’t take long for your eyes to grow heavy as the comfort from Alexia’s borrowed clothes took over your senses.

“Mi amor, wake up” Alexia cooed, her hand running through your hair to stir you through your sleep.

Your only response was a few very tired grumbles as your eyes opened to the sight you’d been waiting for. It took a couple of seconds for you to realise what was going on before a sleepy smile overtook your face.

“Ale, you’re home” You smiled, pushing yourself up off the sofa and wrapping your arms around her quickly.

“Si, I thought you weren’t tired huh?” She laughed, placing a kiss on the top of your head. 

“It was an accidenttttt” You whined, “I got comfy in your clothes and they smelt like you so it made me tired”. 

“Oh nena, vamos a la cama” She suggested, taking hold of my hand and leading me towards our bedroom. 

“I’m not even tired amor” You announced, as if there was any use convincing her that you were telling the truth. 

Within 5 minutes both you and Alexia were settled in bed, your head resting on her chest as her fingers made their way through your hair slowly. Your hands ran up and down her chest as you both sleepily talked through how you spent your days and the parts you missed each other the most.

“Patri and Pina didn’t stop teasing me about you staying awake for me to get home” Alexia laughed slightly, “They don’t think I’m tough anymore”.

You sleepily laughed in response, “You’re a massive softie, I think they already knew that”. 

a/n - not sure how i feel about this one, so v sorry if its a lil shit x

[wileys-russo]

I know the beds in the village are supposed to be “anti sex” without technically being anti sex lol. I feel like jenni or misa (your choice who to write for) on the high of the Olympics would absolutely make it their mission to prove they’re not sex proof beds only to actually break them. Would love a little blurb about that if you have time 💞💞

cardboard beds II j.hermoso (18+)

"did you know-" you sighed as your airpod was suddenly tugged out and someone slid into the once vacant seat beside you on the bus, turning to look at the girl with a raised eyebrow.

"what happened to 'mi amor i can see you are tired, i will let you rest and go annoy someone else'." you mocked, your girlfriend gasping dramatically and holding your airpod out of reach as you tried to take it back.

"those are not my words, i do not know who has been calling you mi amor other than me...but if i find them, there will be trouble." jenni tutted with a shake of her head, allowing you to snatch your airpod back from where it was clasped between her slender tattooed fingers with a roll of your eyes.

"de todas formas. back to what i was saying-" your girlfriend made herself comfortable beside you, feet kicking up onto the headrest of the chair in front of you as patri turned around and pushed them off with a glare.

maturely jenni stuck her tongue out at the younger girl, one arm slipping over the back of your chair as she shuffled even closer to you. ”angry eyebrows.” your girlfriend teased, licking her thumb and smoothing them out as you made a noise of disgust and slapped her hand away.

no longer alone you gave up on any chance of a power nap after training, still struggling slightly to adjust to the routine of the tournament a couple of days in. you snapped your airpods into their case and zipped them back into your bag, flicking your girlfriends ear as she chattered away to ona in the row across from you

"you were saying?" you sighed cocking an eyebrow at the taller girl who grinned, sloppily kissing your cheek as you pulled a face and pushed her away, unsure how she never seemed to tire or have an off switch despite training hard in the french sun for the last three hours.

"sí as i was saying, oh wait actually-" she sat up a little straighter, eyes roaming the bus clearly looking for someone as the tiny sliver of patience you had left for her games started to dwindle even further.

"jenni! oh dios mio the point, find it." you groaned, elbowing her as she grunted but settled back into her seat. "vale. so our beds, cardboard sí?" your girlfriend asked rhetorically as you hummed tiredly.

"if that is all you suddenly realized after two days-" you started with a shake of your head as she dismissed you with a wave. "no no, let me finish." the girl shushed you as you sighed but nodded for her to go on.

"well-you know you look so pretty today cari, being an olympian looks good on you." jenni grinned interrupting herself, pointer finger poking your nose as you stared back unimpressed.

but knowing her well enough you could see she was clearly trying to bait you into some sort of reaction for her own amusement by testing your patience, a reaction which you wouldn't be giving her.

"vale the cardboard beds. so laia was speaking to one of the staff members who overheard someone from the argentina team speaking to one of the chefs say that they were supposed to be anti sex. introduced in the last games because everyone was found to be having sex in the village!" your girlfriend beamed, clearly proud of her little discovery as again you only hummed.

"aparentemente they will break and collapse if there is more than one person on them." jenni added on, wiggling her eyebrows as her face nearly split in two from the cheshire like grin which enveloped it.

"muy bonito. is that it?" you questioned, shifting slightly in your seat and closing your eyes hearing your girlfriend scoff beside you. "qué? you do not find that interesting?" jenni asked in disbelief as you shrugged, not particularly as moved by her discovery as she was.

"no realmente. a bed is a bed, a rumor is a rumor, rules are rules." you shrugged yet again, hissing as your girlfriends fingers darted beneath the fabric of your training top to pinch your sides, eyes flying open.

though before you could open your mouth to tell her off her lips pressed quickly but sweetly against your own, words dying out as she smiled charmingly and pushed a loose strand of hair behind your ear. “te quiero.” she grinned, bright green eyes locked with yours.

"váyase." you shoved her in response, scooting as close to the window as you could get and hearing the midfielder chuckle beside you. "vamos princesa, do you not feel curious about this? not even un poquito?" the girl asked with a pout shuffling closer to you again, squishing her thumb and forefinger together to leave the tiniest of gaps.

"no bebé, en absoluto." you smiled truthfully, hand slapping gently against her cheek. "so you will not eh...test this, with me?" jenni's chin rested on your shoulder and you pushed her head away as her lips grazed beneath your ear.

"will i test if the cardboard beds break by having sex with you, before the tournament even begins?" you asked quietly as you leaned in closer to her, well aware this was anything but a private space for this sort of conversation as your girlfriend nodded gleefully.

"mm....no." you breathed out against her lips, pulling right back and leaning your body against the wall of the bus, eyes closing again. "amor!" jenni scoffed, clearly not impressed with your answer as the corners of your mouth tugged into a smile and you shooed at her with your hands.

"váyase hermoso."

though jenni forever a persistent woman you weren't surprised when this wasn't the last you heard about her little cardboard bed theory, exiting the bathroom after a shower and sighing seeing the small group gathered in your bedroom.

"qué estáis haciendo?" you asked sceptically, flicking your head forward and scraping your damp hair into a loose bun, not bothered to dry it before dinner.

"science!" misa announced happily with a grin, her laia and jenni all sat bouncing up and down on laia's bed across from yours. "you know amiga if you let them break your bed, you have to go talk to the staff about a new one, not them." you warned laia, the younger girl faltering for a moment, pausing to think on your words.

"ignore her codi, ella es una party pooper." your girlfriend teased as you rolled your eyes and took a seat on your own bed, watching the three of them goof around clearly trying to see if the rumours about the beds breaking were true.

"see amor! very strong cardboard." jenni laughed as her, misa and codi stood and jumped around on the bed now which somehow didn't crumple beneath their weight, misa swearing as laia tackled her and she hit the mattress with a thump and a groan. "didn't break!" your girlfriend cheered, letting out a war cry and diving on top of the other two.

"idiotas." you mumbled, slipping into your shoes ready to head down to dinner. then it went suspiciously quiet and you looked up, jolting at the three sets of eyes that stared back at you, with a look you knew too well.

"no no no-" you started, trying to get up and make a break for it but you weren't fast enough. "consíguela!" your girlfriend yelled, all three of them launching at you as you groaned beneath them the weight of them jumping on top of you.

"pendejos! get off of me." you grunted, managing to get an arm free and shoving laia who was teetering on top of the pile, sending her tumbling to the ground with a yelp.

misa unable to control her laughter rolled off next, landing on top of laia who groaned through her giggles, your girlfriend still on top of you with a grin.

"you are a twelve year old boy in a grown womans body jennifer!" you shoved her next as the midfielder rolled off the bed and onto the others, all three of them collapsing into a fit of giggles as you rolled your eyes and shot to your feet.

"mi amor venga it was a joke!" the taller girl laughed from the ground as you shot her a dirty look, the other two oohing at the site as jenni wrangled misa into a headlock and laia cheered them on and you left them to it, headed down for dinner.

~

as much as her immaturity could be infuriating at times, you'd been in love with jenni for long enough not to let her jokes or attempts to push your buttons really get to you.

so a few hours later that night everything was fine again, your girlfriend apologizing and sticking to your side being sweet all throughout dinner which meant you couldn't stay annoyed with her for long, ignoring the teasings from your friends about how whipped you were for one another.

"campeóna!" the tattooed midfielder hollered loudly as cata swore and thumped the table tennis paddle down onto the table and storming off, jenni undefeated so far the entire evening.

"alexia?" jenni offered it up with a grin, the blonde next to you chuckling but shaking her head firmly. “ni hablar” 

"oh vamos! no one will challenge the campeóna?" jenni announced, looking around the rec room as a few girls rolled their eyes, most already bested by the older girl at the game she was frighteningly good at.

"cari?" her attention turned to you next, eyebrows wiggling as a few of the younger girls cheered your name, alexia nudging you with an encouraging nod as your girlfriend did a little dance making you smile.

"no, you remain campeóna. but why don't you let someone else have a turn amor." you hinted, jenni pausing for a moment before giving in, leaving both paddles on the table as some of the younger girls all scrambled for them.

"movie?" jenni asked, taking alexia's space beside you as your captain headed off on a phone call, though you saw the slight smile in your girlfriends face and chuckled knowing what she really meant.

"sí claro, a movie."

~

"jenni, cariño we can't." you laughed, knocking away your girlfriends hands where they toyed with the waistband of your shorts, your shirt already removed and tossed over her shoulder at least twenty minutes ago.

you'd returned to the room she shared with misa when you left, a movie the last thing on either of your minds as jenni wasted no time pulling you down onto her bed, soft admissions of adoration shared among tender kisses.

"but princesa we can!" jenni argued with a grin, pointer finger trailing shapes around your hips, snapping the waistband of your shorts with a wink.

"no we can't! did you forget we are not sharing a room?" you smiled in amusement, pushing her hands away again and intertwining your fingers, your foreheads pressed together as you lay side by side on the bed.

"you do not need to worry about misa mi amor, prometo." jenni assured with a sly smile as you gave her a curious look and then it clicked.

"did you tell her not to come in because you want to have sex? jenni!" you gasped in realization, shooting up and narrowing your eyes at her as she merely smiled, folding her arms behind her head.

"qué? you do not want to?" your girlfriend questioned, eyes drinking in your half naked form with a smirk as you scoffed. though before you could speak, she continued on.

"mi vida we have had sex as liga f winners, champions league winners, world cup champions-" she sat up and pushed you back down, hovering over you with a wicked smile.

"-now how about as olympians?"

~

"jesucristo." you panted, head thumping against the pillow as you squeezed your eyes shut and tried to catch your breath, your girlfriends lips kissing softly at your shoulder letting you know she was still there.

"see cari? very strong cardboard." jenni teased, bright green eyes baring down on you with a cheeky grin as you halfheartedly smacked her chest, leaning up to kiss her properly.

"do you want to stop?" jenni asked pulling away, serious for a moment as her hands wrapped around your bare back and her brow creased.

"should we see how strong these beds really are amor? since you are so confident it will not break." you smiled suggestively, gently pulling her hands off and standing, making your way to her suitcase.

your girlfriend watched you curiously though seeing which pocket you unzipped her rosy pink lips curved into a grin of delight, sitting up and catching the bag as you tossed it to her, flipping your hair to one side of your head with a grin that matched hers perfectly.

"no." your hands fell to her shoulders, pushing her back slightly as you returned to the bed and she stood, stepping into the harness as you made yourself comfortable.

"dios mío." your girlfriend groaned as you got on all fours and she moved behind you, flinching slightly as her calloused hands found home in the dip of your back, fingers tracing the tattoos which littered down your spine.

you knew this was her favorite position, your back was one of the only places you had tattoos and your girlfriend made no move to hide how it made her feel to watch the taunt muscles clench and writh as she pounded into you.

which was exactly her plan now and you knew it.

you'd felt her holding back just a little before, as much as she could give it to you fast and rough jenni was also the most attentive lover and never did anything without your conventional say so.

so by putting yourself in this position, you were giving her all the green light she needed and jenni was going to go for gold.

“you look so pretty like this cari, arched out and ready.” jenni purred, her bare chest pressed against your back as her lips trailed open mouthed kissers across your shoulder blades.

your breath caught as you felt the cold silicone knock the back of your thigh, your girlfriends breath hot against your skin as she chuckled and shuffled back up to be behind you on her knees.

you smiled yourself feeling her hand grab the back of your neck, pushing you down even further, hearing her let out a grunt at the way you arched further, ass up in the air.

“mi niña buena.” jenni praised, a slap echoing around the empty room as her hand collected the flesh of your ass, tattooed fingers grabbing your hips and adjusting you a little.

“listo?” her tone shifted for a second, lining up the strap against you as you shivered ever so slightly, nodding in confirmation. “palabras por favor nena.” jenni ordered more firmly, one hand letting go of your hips to smack against your ass again.

“sí, lista.” you confirmed, a low moan leaving your lips as the head of the strap slid in, your forehead pressing into the pillow before you turned your head to the side.

having already made you come twice it didn’t take much for the strap to slide properly inside you, jenni grunting as she bottomed out and you moaned her name.

“faster!” your eyes rolled back as your girlfriend pushed the strap in and out of you at a tortuously slow pace, chuckling at your demand but speeding up her thrusts none the less.

“dios mío jenni!” you moaned arching even further as one of her hands grabbed a handful of your hair, fingers digging into the flesh of your hips as she pounded into you, the slap of her bare skin against yours filling the room.

you let out an animalistic groan as tattooed fingers threaded through your hair and tugged, your chin to the sky as your breasts pressed into the slightly firm mattress beneath you.

“now caríno just imagine we do this again-“ jenni grunted, slowing down her pace for a moment as you whined and she pulled sharply at your hair in a silent warning.

“-only this time you can hear my hips hitting yours, the pretty little noises you make as you squirm and arch that perfect ass up for me princesa-“ you gasped as without warning she sped up again, letting out a moan of her own at the way you clenched yourself around the thick cock, your back muscles rippling beneath the tattoos wound down your spine.

“-and this time you can hear the gold medals we’ll be wearing mi amor, clinking and slapping against our skin. olympic campeónas!” you could hear the grin in her voice as you neared the edge, knuckles white as you gripped the sheets beneath you.

jenni let go of your hair and instead moved both hands now to grip your shoulders, her front pressed to your back as she bottomed herself out over and over into you.

your head melted at the firm grunts which left her lips each time she thrusted, nails creating crescent moon dents into the tanned skin of your shoulders as her teeth nipped at your neck sending you into overdrive.

“mierda jenni, close!” you choked out, so caught up in your pleasure and the feeling of your impending orgasm just starting to peak, you failed to hear a crack which didn’t belong to either of you.

“good girl.” the midfielder grunted, accent thick with the english leaving her lips as she pounded into you even faster and you could have sworn you saw god as white overtook your vision, slipping and sliding and teetering before you fell off the edge and all but screamed her name.

but then right as the wave of white hot pleasure hit you and the coil in your stomach snapped, jenni pushed herself to have one foot planted on the bed, intending to ride you right through this orgasm and into another as fast as she could.

but it would seem the universe had other plans as suddenly the bed cracked and both of you let out a series of new noises, the strap sliding out of you as both you and your girlfriend collapsed on top of one another.

“jesus christ jenni did we just-“ you panted, still trying to recover as your girlfriend awkwardly shifted, the strap pressed into your back as the bed had concaved beneath you both.

“sí…we broke it.” she made no move to try and hide the disbelief in her tone, a few more seconds of awkward shuffling before you’d both managed to roll off and onto the floor, jenni sat up as you laid down still catching your breath.

“don’t! don’t you say anything right now.” you sharply warned as the midfielders lips curved into a smirk and she glanced down at you, no doubt some sort of cocky fratboy esque remark on the tip of her tongue.

collecting your thoughts you quickly slipped your shirt over your head, jenni standing and shimmying herself out of the harness as the strap hit the floor with a gentle thump and you winced at the feeling of pulling your underwear back on without a shower first.

“que? dónde vas?” your girlfriend questioned, looking away from where she stood grinning down at the broken bed hearing you move behind her, slipping on your shoes.

“for a shower.” you patted her chest, kissing her and pulling away much faster than she’d like as she caught your wrist. “i have one of those mi amor, good water pressure too.” jenni smirked, a chuckle leaving you in response.

“i don’t know how long you told your roomie to stay away caríno but i’m not getting caught with this and this.” you pointed first to the broken squished bed and than to your girlfriend whose eyebrows furrowed.

“i get picked on enough.” you winked, pecking her lips again and turning to leave as jenni scrambled to slip her training top over her head. “sí by me! and i’m not going to tease you for this. mi vida i am very proud of this!” jenni grinned wolfishly making you roll your eyes.

“oh estoy seguro de que.” you chuckled, unlocking her bedroom door. “i will come with you tonight, codi will not mind.” jenni moved to grab her shoes as you let out a laugh.

“oh amor, you are so cute.” you pouted, poking her nose as she frowned and you pulled open her door, grinning at her and stepping out into the adjoined living room with a sigh.

“since you love to tell and share everything you do with your best friend, you can fill her in all about this and maybe the two of you can cuddle tonight while they find you a new bed.” you winked, jenni’s jaw dropping as you strode off and left her stood in her doorway, spinning around and blowing her a kiss.

“buenas noches bebé! have a nice night.”

[cressidagrey]

Don't wait for the Sky to Clear - Thesan x PeregrynCaptain!Lover x FourthArcheron!Sister

Summary:

The Fourth Archeron sister makes herself a life in the Dawn Court. 

Warnings:

DEFINETLY NSFW. SERIOUSLY. THIS HAS NO PLOT.

Notes:

I...I have no idea where this came from. It popped into my head fully formed a few weeks ago...and this is the result. There is probbaly never going to be a second story in this universe, but it's...interesting, so you'll get it.

(thanks to @tsunami-of-tears for the super pretty dividers!)

“They are nearly as beautiful as you.”

Carys’ lips quirked up in a smile at these words. 

Said in that lazy drawl that she had become so used to over the last few months…her husband. 

Well, one of them at least. 

She let go of the flower petals she had fondled gently, beautiful, colourful tulips, dotted everywhere around the Dawn Court. 

“Flatterer,” Carys said lightly but took his hand as he held it out for her. 

She gained her feet and turned towards him, towards brilliant brown eyes, towards these beautiful white feathered wings that stretched vastly behind his back. Ardin quirked his lips at her.

“Just telling the truth,” Ardin quipped. “Finished with your flowers for the day?” He asked her and she hummed in agreement…pulling deep inside her for that kernel of power she had. 

The flower grew underneath her hands a few inches more. She smiled to herself. 

She didn’t have the power of death…or of the future. This was all the cauldron had decided to give her. She was quite sure that it had been its revenge for Nesta taking more than she should have. 

Carys should probably consider herself lucky that she hadn’t ended up with horns or something like that. 

Letting flowers grow…It was a nice party trick, she supposed. 

It was more useful on the potato fields further away from the Palace than it ever could be in little fields of tulips right here…but she would gladly take it nonetheless.

Granted, it had taken her months to master even that, but it was…it was something. It was all she could do and that suited her just fine.  

“Yes,” Carys agreed and Ardin leaned down to pick up her basket, in which she had kept the flower she had cut for the day, snatching it up and then offering her his arm…as graceful as any human courtier she had ever met had been. 

Sometimes…sometimes she missed it. Being human. 

Carys never voiced that aloud, because she knew that…there weren’t many people that would understand. And the ones that did understand… her sisters…well, that relationship was fraught with tension on a good day. 

Carys couldn’t even fault them. Especially not Feyre…Carys had managed to kick loose a diplomatic incident when she had left the Night Court. 

But she hadn’t been able to stay any longer. Not after…She had been half hysterical with fear. Fear of her sister’s mate of all people, after what happened to Nesta…after they had had enough of her drinking and…other things… and had…pretty much imprisoned her in the House of Wind.

Elain seemingly hadn’t thought about what that could mean for her or Carys…but Carys had thought about it. Carys had realised at that exact moment that if she didn’t do what her sister thought was the right thing to do…she would be the next one kept as a prisoner and the whole thing would be called an intervention. 

Nesta had needed an intervention after the kind of self-destructive behaviour she had indulged in, but the way they had gone about it…it had made Carys terrified. 

And so she had run. 

She had half a mind to take Elain with her but she knew her sister…Elain, most of all…most of all would do whatever she needed to be comfortable and taken care of. 

Elain could be surprisingly cutthroat if need be.

Carys, second oldest after Nesta…the one that had spent years keeping the household running while living in that bedraggled little shed, that had absolutely no talent at archery to be quite frank, but could haul the laundry and cut the wood and stack a fire…that could babysit some of the villagers kids and make sure that they weren’t outright going to starve…that tried to plant potatoes on the tiny plot of land they had and had only been successful half the time…who had mended and hemmed and done anything she could to at least earn her keep. 

Carys, who was considered the ugliest of the sister, to stoutly build, not pretty enough…who even her mother had considered unmarriageable, because who would want an ugly wife with no talents other than maybe cooking and sometimes planting vegetables…

If her mother could see her now…she would be horrified.

“You know, I would prefer it if you called me something else rather than flatterer,” Ardin quipped, pulling her out of her thoughts. 

“Consort?” She suggested drily. That’s what she had heard some people in the palace start to call Ardin, who hated it with a passion. 

But what else to call the husband of a High Lord? Prythian had never had that problem before. Or even a High Lord that had taken not one but two spouses. 

(Probably the one outright shocking thing Thesan had ever done in his life.)

Even when the law in the Dawn Court had been on their side…already changed centuries ago to make it possible for everybody to take as many spouses of any sex as anybody desired, as long as all parties did this of their own free will and were above the age of consent…

 Ardin had drily explained to her that in the ranks of the Peregryn, it wasn’t uncommon for a female to have more than one lover. Or even two. Some had a whole harem of sorts. 

Well, Carys wasn’t going to start that. Two were more than enough as far as she was concerned, thank you very much.                                                                                                                               

“Thanks but I prefer commander of the troops,” Ardin gave back and she smiled at him. 

“The right hand that speaks with the High Lord’s voice and commands in his stead?” She suggested and he just sighed. 

“Cauldron, Thesan came up with it, didn’t he?” Ardin asked and Carys just smiled, saying nothing. “You know, he likes reading poetry and pretends like we don’t know.” 

They did both know about their High Lord's penchant for that…about the sweet little nothings that were whispered in their ears…and the surprisingly filthy things he spewed when he was in the right mood…she loved everything that talented tongue said or did. 

“Husband?” Carys suggested next and he grinned at her, pressing her hand. 

“You could just call me by my name.”

“Ardin, then,” she agreed. 

“Though, of course, you could call me your cauldron-given gift whenever I please you enough to scream my…” she jabbed her elbow in his ribs, smiling apologetically to a long-suffering servant that crossed their path on their way up to their rooms. 

“Not here,” she hissed to Ardin between her teeth. 

“And here I thought we had ruined you so thoroughly that you don’t care anymore,” Ardin quipped. Her shoulders hunched. 

“Humans don’t talk about…that,” she said, her voice quiet. Her cheeks were reddening on their own accord.

She couldn’t help it.  

It wasn’t that she was…ashamed of her husbands. 

She wasn’t. 

But she also knew that if she was still human…this would have never happened. She would have never, never been the one that…She would have never…never taken two husbands. 

There wouldn’t ever have been pleasure like this in her marriage bed. It would have been duty, not love. 

And still…there was a part of her that wanted to keep it to herself. All of it. That didn’t think that anybody had a right to talk about it other than the three of them when they were alone. That thought that…

“I am sorry,” Ardin apologised to her, as he opened the door to their rooms. “I shouldn’t have teased you like that.” He sounded properly contrite now. 

“I should be over it,” Carys responded quietly. 

Overall the human ideas of propriety and modesty and what she shouldn’t do…she shouldn’t blush beet red whenever one of her husbands kissed her outside of the privacy of their rooms. She should be…

She should be able to give them…

“No, you shouldn’t be,” Ardin disagreed, grimacing. “This isn’t…” he stopped his own sentence, as they both heard the slow sound of water filling the bathtub and without a word, they changed direction…her basket of flowers forgotten on a console table.

The bathing chamber was…utterly fae…with a pool worked into the ground that was more than big enough for all three of them. Actually, they had taught Carys to swim in the same. It was more than big enough for that too. 

Thesan was there, lounging relaxed against one of the stone walls, one eye blinking open lazily as he took in the two of them entering. 

A smile appeared on his face, like the sun rising over the horizon and she swallowed at how lovely he looked. 

“There you are,” he greeted them. “I had dinner laid out on the balcony for late.”

“He’s the romantic one,” Ardin whispered playfully and she couldn’t help but smile at her husband as he watched her, dark eyes turning heated, as she started to remove her clothing. 

Ardin helped her after a moment, unlacing the back of her bodice… It was easy enough to slip out of the layers of light, gossamer soft fabric that swathed her body…to pull out the hair comb that held back her reddish brown waves…

She had given up on modesty with the two of them a long time ago. 

And so when she walked into the pool and crossed it to perch herself next to her husband so that she could press a soft kiss against Thesan’s lips…she smiled. 

“Good Evening,” he greeted her as she pulled back, a hand coming up to cup her cheek.  “Did you have a good time?” Thesan asked her. 

“Yes,” Carys agreed. “I gardened a little bit…fed the fish…fixed that shirt that Ardin ripped off you a few days ago…” she quipped with some amusement. “And you?”

“Sat through a meeting about property taxes,” Thesan answered with a hum, as she carded her hand through his damp hair. His dark eyes closed and she shifted, making herself more comfortable, perched on his thigh. 

“You like taxes,” she said softly. He did. It fascinated her that the actual reigning part of being a High Lord, of taxes and making decisions for his court…that was something that Thesan excelled at. He knew all of it by heart too…what was the highest selling export from the Dawn Court, what didn’t sell at all, what they needed from Day or Night or Summer and Autumn…or even Winter and Spring. 

He knew all of that, and he spent many late evenings sitting on his desk, working through his correspondence and doing exactly that. 

Carys left him to him. She wasn’t ready to dabble in politics. And quite frankly, she didn’t think she had any right to it either. 

She had only been in Dawn Court for what felt like a blink of the eyes for most faes, a footnote as far as the history was concerned. And she didn’t think she had any right to rule over faes that were far older and more experienced than she was. 

“It was actually quite interesting,” Thesan agreed with her. 

If she wanted to know something, Thesan was eager to explain it to her, to answer all her questions, but Carys herself kept her own political involvement to the walls of this palace, dealing with servants and cooks and laundry maids and whoever else they hired. 

This was what she had been raised to do, this was what she was good at…and when she got to use the math she had once learned as the daughter of the Prince of Merchant to calculate the expenditures of the palace and cut the fat so to speak…then she was more than happy to do that and spent the rest of her time growing medicinal herbs and do her best to earn her keep.

She left it to Thesan’s sister to deal with the nobility and some of the simpering ladies who treated her like a novelty…who stared at a cauldron-made female with fear and acquiescence. 

Carys had no plans to rule with fear. 

“And you, Ardin?” Thesan asked, closing their little circle of asking each other about their day.

“Oh, the usual. Dealt with some unrest, made somebody regret ever having been born…was an idiot.”

“Tell me something new,” Thesan gave back drily. “What did you do?” He wondered. One hand gently came up to card through her hair, gently making her lay back in the water so that he could wet her hair. 

“Ardin, you don’t…” she protested, but Ardin cut her off. 

“I teased Carys and I owe her an apology.”

“You don’t,” she protested feebly, as Thesan started to work soap throughout her hair, lathering it up, long skilled fingers, against her scalp. She nearly moaned from that alone. 

 “But I do,” Ardin disagreed. “I know that you like your modesty and your privacy and I knowingly violated both. I should not have done that.” 

“What did you say?” Thesan asked calmly, ever the mediator. Staying neutral in any conflict until he knew both sides. 

“Though, of course, you could call me your cauldron-given gift whenever I please you enough to scream my name,” Ardin repeated. “In earshot of one of the servants. I was out of line.” 

“I think that’s a bit harsh,” Carys protested. “The only one who overheard you was one sole servant. And you apologised for it! It’s not your fault that I am…unable to…properly acclimate.” The words were difficult to get out. 

Thesan’s hands stilled. 

“Is that what you think you are doing?” He asked her evenly. 

“I do my best, but…this isn’t the world into which I was born. Where I grew up,” she said softly, biting her lip. “Don’t get me wrong I love the Dawn Court but it’s not…”

It wasn’t home.

Not really. 

Home was the Human Lands and she had been ripped away from that. 

“You never talk about…being human,” Adirn said, as he crossed the pool. 

His wings stretched and then rippled as they were prone to be doing when they got wet. Chances were he would need to shake them out multiple until the feathers would be mostly dry again. 

(At least his annual moulting season was a few months off…the last one had been something. Adirn had been uncomfortable for days while Thesan and her had painstakingly plucked out every last loose feather from his wings.)

“I don’t…Nobody would…nobody would understand,“ Carys whispered. 

Not Thesan, born as the High Lord's heir…not Adirn, born into a tight-knit family, right in the midst of the Dawn Court…Adirn who had learned to fly as he learned to walk…Thesan who was so magical that it glowed on his skin… 

Neither of them were human in the slightest, from the feathers of Adirn’s wings to the pointed tips of Thesan’s ears. 

“We may not understand, but we would listen,” Thesan said quietly, just as Adirn reached out to touch her hands and she intertwined their fingers. 

Thesan’s hands smoothed over her hair and then down her shoulders, as she closed her eyes. 

They would. She didn’t doubt that for one moment. 

“I miss my ears,” she finally blurted out. 

Her ears. Her lovely, rounded ears. Her lovely, human ears. 

Her ears. 

“You miss your ears?” Thesan asked, quietly. She was surprised that it wasn’t Adirn, surprised that…

“I liked my human ears. They were small…they were…well formed. Nobody ever found something to criticise on them, like with the rest of my body,” Carys whispered. “I liked my ears,” she repeated with a sob the tears coming from nowhere. “And now they are…”

“They are beautiful,” Adirn said quietly, one hand coming up to trace the shell of her ear, the arch, the tip…

“They don’t feel like mine,” Carys whispered. “I look at my body and it doesn’t feel like my own sometimes.”

It was…it had grown lush with curves and had become so perfect…too perfect. 

She could no longer count her ribs as she had been able to after the worst of winters…could no longer see the hollows of her cheeks…

“It is yours, all of it is yours,” Adirn said, his hands sliding down carefully…over her chin and her neck and her shoulder. “Yours to do with as you please.”

She knew that. She did know that…but sometimes…a lot of the time…

It didn’t feel like hers.

“I am sorry,” Adirn apologised softly and she shook her head.

“You couldn’t have known that,” Carys assured him softly. A soft sigh left her mouth. 

It was just…

She wiped away a stubborn tear that escaped her and then Adirn pressed a kiss against her cheek and she breathed in the scent of lavender and warmth that clung to him. She tipped forward, leaning her head against his golden brown skin. 

“Want me to make it up to you?” He offered, his voice gravelly and she snorted because she knew exactly what he offered. Though to be honest…the idea of forgetting anything but her husbands…of letting them wring every drop of pleasure from her body…that wasn’t abhorrent. The exact opposite to be honest. 

“If you do all your apologising with your cock, we’ll have a problem, Adirn,” Thesan said drily and she couldn’t help but snort with laughter. 

“Only for you two,” Adirn hit back quickly. “What do you think, love? Whatever you want.”

She knew he was serious about it. There was seemingly nothing that he wasn’t willing to try at least once, nothing that he wasn’t happy to do if it meant that he got to touch her. 

She thought about it for a moment…anything she wanted. 

But the one thing she wanted most of all was to feel like she belonged with them, to them. That they took so much from her that she couldn’t even think about her lost humanity anymore. 

“Tell me what you want,” he coaxed her, and she swallowed. 

“I am spoiled for choice,” Carys responded and Thesan chuckled. 

“Want me to narrow it down?” he whispered, warm hands slipping over her hips and she considered it for a moment. 

“No,” she said with a sigh, closing her eyes. “I want your mouth,” she whispered softly, not daring to look at him. “Will you…” she could feel the blush work its way over her cheeks even now. 

“Are you offering me a feast for my taking, love?” Adirn asked her lowly, not teasing her at all. 

She shivered, the outright question enough to send the arousal that had been lowly thrumming through her into overdrive. 

“Yes,” she managed to nod. “I…And I want Thesan inside me while you do it.”

She wasn’t even sure where that had suddenly come from. But as she blurted it out, Thesan lowly groaned behind her, his hands on her hips tightening.

 “I am quite sure that would be a treat for us as well,” Thesan whispered into her ear…but it was the trembling.

One thick finger parted her folds suddenly and she whimpered at the sudden contact, at that knowing touch…“Already wet and ready for us, love?” Adirn asked her, drawing one finger up and finding her clit nearly thoughtlessly…she could swear she could nearly feel another gush of wetness leaving her…

“Always,” she managed to get out, her knees trembling and Thesan caught her easily, chuckling. 

Carys let him pull her into his arms…keeping her eyes closed and just…basking for a moment in their undivided attention on her…in their gentle touches and sweet kisses being pressed to every inch of her damp skin…

She felt Thesan’s magic drift over her skin and she couldn’t help the shiver that it brought out…“I’ll never get used to your magic,” she whispered…he just chuckled. 

“It can be quite useful,” he whispered… and as she weakly blinked open her eyes, she could see how just one push of his magic had reconfigured that massive pool so that there was a comfortable ledge for Thesan to sit on…wide enough that he could lean back against an incline…water still just so lapping at him. 

He gave her a smile as he handed her over to Adirn, making himself comfortable, his thick, long cock jutting out from his frame…He was ready for her, not a question about it. 

Adirn helped her sit on his lap, her back to his front and it only took a second before she could feel the thick, blunt head of Thesan’s cock at her entrance, her body shuddering and yielding near immediately. 

“Just relax,” Adirn coaxed her, holding her in place, just the tip teasing her entrance, even as she already wriggled…. “You know how this goes.”

She took a deep breath, her body going pliant and Adirn let her slide down, her body having no choice but to make room for Thesan’s length. 

She fluttered around his cock, against the heat of him so deep inside her…

Carys couldn’t help herself as she ground down as much as she could, feet grabbling for purchase against slick stone as Thesan’s arms slipped around her frame and immobilised her… completely. 

“Shush,” Adirn said with some amusement. “Be patient.” 

she blinked open her eyes, just as Thesan forced his legs between hers… stretching her not only from within but stretching her legs as wide as they went…

Like a butterfly pinned for viewing pleasure. 

And gods, clearly Adirn enjoyed that view, as dark eyes slid heatedly over her body, over her heaving breasts to her lewdly stretched cunt…her clit peeking out, swollen and wet…impaled deeply onto a cock and still wanting more. More. More. 

“I want to come.”

“Greedy, love,” Adirn clucked his tongue but made himself comfortable…kneeling in the shallow water and giving her a smirk as he was near enough to her wet, stretched pussy that she could hear his hot breath against her overheated flesh. “You already have a cock inside you and it’s still not enough?”

She knew that she was blushing furiously. 

“Get to your apologies.” Carys hadn’t yet mastered that haughty tone of voice. It turned breathy at the end. 

Adirn chuckled again, and then without a forewarning…he buried his face against her pussy, her whole body shaking, a whimper leaving her throat. 

“He does much better if you give him orders,” Thesan said nearly thoughtfully, biting back a groan as her body unwillingly convulsed around his length buried inside her…trembling. “Maybe you should give all of them.“

Adirn lifted up, opening his mouth in protest, but Thesan cut him off. 

“Get back to your apologies, Ardin. Our wife deserves them,” he pointed out reasonably and then cursed as Carys felt Adirn probe where they were joined, throwing her head back into a whine. 

By the cauldron, he was going to fucking kill her with pleasure. 

Thesan cursed and she managed a breathless laugh and Adirn redoubled his efforts. 

By now…By now he knew exactly what to do. It took him an embarrassingly short amount of time to throw her headfirst into her first trembling orgasm, her body clamping down around Thesan’s cock, him groaning, his arms tightening around her body as he buried his face into her neck. 

But Adirn wasn’t done. 

Not at all. 

He was set on absolutely taking her apart. 

And quite frankly…she loved every minute of it. Loved every minute of her heart thumpin in her chest, the pleasure lapping at every nerve ending…loved the feeling of his mouth pressed against her, her tongue licking inside her…loved the bitten-down groans from Thesan behind her, the way his cock twitched deep within her, the walls of her cunt clenchning and unclening without her doing anything, long since having forgotten the use of any of her muscles…

And she couldn’t think about anything but the pleasure her husbands wrought from her. 

 “I love being your wife,” she gasped out, somehow between moans and whimpers, her back arching against Thesan, who nearly seemed to shake against her, the hot length of his inside her stretching her, filling her…Gods, she loved it. 

.“You do excel at it,” Thesan told her, his voice wrecked…A hoarse shout broke out of her throat as Adirn did cauldron knew what to her body, her toes curling with mind-numbing pleasure…White hot and blinding. 

She actually blacked out. Adirn honest to gods managed to make her faint. 

When Carys weakly blinked open her eyes moments later, Thesan was softening inside her, the warmth of his release painting her insides…Adirn was cupping her face, Thesan peppering kisses to her cheeks. 

“Am I forgiven?” Adirn asked her, his voice light on purpose. 

“What did you do again?” she managed to bring out, her voice hoarse. 

Thesan laughed gently behind her, shifting to pull out of her and she moaned, feeling the soreness between her legs, as he moved her off him gently. 

She would never get used to the sheer size of them. 

Just a moment late, a warm hand gently cupped her and Carys whimpered at the trickle of magic, a warm kiss…taking apart any discomfort. 

“Can’t have you be sore tomorrow, can we?” he asked her, a bashful smile on his face and she sighed…in complete and utter happiness. 

“You are so good to me,” she said softly, reaching out to cup the bag of Adirn’s head, pulling him into a kiss. 

He tasted like her and like Thesan and she loved everything about it. 

[adoredawn]

✧˖° — adventures in babysitting

pairing: joe goldberg x fem! reader

type: imagine (1.6k+ words)

requested: no

summary: joe and love decide to get a babysitter for henry after dottie’s breakdown. who would’ve thought she'd spark joe's interest?

warning(s): one-sided pining (-ish). rushed plot / dialogue. no use of y/n.

note(s): not my gif. not my divider. this takes place during season 3! i’ve seen sooo little joe love on here, so i thought i’d write some! i haven’t written a full fledged fic in nearly 4 years, so please bear with me while i try to regain my skills. reblog & comment if you enjoyed it / want a part 2!

adoredawn’s masterlist

“if you want to make some calls to any previous parents i’ve worked with, there are some cell numbers i can give you,” you said with a smile, looking between the husband and wife before you. you sat opposite them on a plush loveseat as they were side-by-side on their gray sofa adorned with decorative pillows.

“oh that doesn’t seem necessary, we’ve heard great things.” love grinned as she patted joe’s knee lovingly. “cary and sherry just could not recommend you enough!”

you giggled and shook your head, smoothening out your summer dress. “i did have my hands full with those twins, that week and a half was a wild one…”

there was an uncomfortable silence. the house was eerily quiet for a toddler to be living in it, though it was his nap time. your eyes drifted down to what trinkets littered their coffee table. coasters, a book on home décor, and toddler toy keys.

as you had walked in earlier, you noticed their home was eerily clean. a family portrait of the three was already hung in a hallway and other pictures were framed on bookshelves and end tables. their home was modern, yet vintage at the same time. it felt like a showroom, but one you could call home.

you could feel their eyes on you, studying you, as you gazed around their home.

joe cleared his throat and sat up straighter, love looked at him expectingly and you mimicked his movements, snapping out of your thoughts. “so… how soon can you start? how’s your schedule?”

you opened your mouth to answer, reaching beside you to grab your purse and look at the calendar on your phone, but a cry rang from upstairs.

love sighed, “sorry about that, i guess nap time’s over! i’ll go get him and we can introduce you.” she sprang up from her seat and made her way up the staircase, glancing back once to eye joe.

joe watched as his wife traveled up the stairs to soothe their toddler, and as he turned back to look at you, he caught your stare. you momentarily forgot what he had asked, flustered. “oh-uh, well i can start as soon as you need. i’m available all week really. i’m taking a break from school for a semester.”

joe seemed to perk up, and leaned forward, forearms resting on his thighs. “huh, what’re you studying?”

“education, with a focus on advanced literature in secondary education”

he licked his lips and you couldn’t help but watch. your hands balled into fists in your lap, crescent moons forming in your palms from your nails digging in.

“you enjoy reading?” his voice buzzed lowly with curiosity and you nodded softly.

“mhm, i plan on being a high school teacher or a professor once i graduate.” you paused, looking behind joe at the staircase, and wondering what was taking love so long. you shook your head slightly, focusing your attention back on joe, trying to remain cool. ��do you read?”

“i do. i was a bookstore manager for some time.”

“really? that must’ve been fun-“

“here he is, say ‘hi’ henry!” love came down the stairs carrying henry on her hip. joe turned and watched them both come down, reaching for henry once love had sat beside him again.

you waved at little henry, and he barely paid you any mind, focusing on his mother and father. love turned him around to sit facing you, where you could see that his white pajama onesie was covered in blue moons and yellow stars.

“henry, say ‘hi,’ bubba!” love encouraged him, grabbing his arm to wave at you, causing you to smile and wave back. she looked up from him, to you, a serious look on her face. “do you want to hold him? he’s not very fussy around newer people.”

you hesitate, looking back and forth between love and joe, as if asking for permission, even though love has already granted it. meanwhile henry babbled, spitting drool over his onesie. “sure sure, i’ve got him,” you said confidently.

you stood and bent over the coffee table separating you from the couple, reaching for their toddler. as love passed him to you, henry giggled, flailing his legs and flapping his arms while he’s in the air, causing the three of you to also begin laughing.

you felt joe watching you as you held henry, and you tried your best not to return any glances, wanting to maintain your focus on henry.

you sat back on the loveseat, bouncing henry on your lap a few times. “hey, henry, how’re you doing, buddy? i’m gonna be your new babysitter.” you tell him your name, chanting it as you point at yourself a few times. he looks at you and smiles, grabbing at the bottom hem of your dress and tugging.

you couldn’t help but feel like you were being watched as you had henry in your lap. of course you were being watched, you told yourself. joe and love just wanted to make sure they would be leaving henry with someone who knew what they were doing. and you very much did.

after a few minutes of holding henry, he began to stretch his arms out, pleading to go back to his parents. you held him back safely as he whined and yearned to reach the other side of the coffee table.

joe grunted an “i got ‘im,” before he walked over to you and picked henry up off of your lap, his hands brushing yours. you felt a pang in your heart as you touched, but squeezed your eyes shut in an attempt to ignore it.

once joe got a hold of him, henry began to shriek. joe tried to calm him down, patting his back and rocking him side to side, but he didn’t let up. love quickly got up from her seat and took henry from joe, patting his back.

“it’s okay, forty, it’s okay, momma’s here…” love soothed him, and whispered “sorry!” she sat back on the couch, trying to calm him down.

joe ran a hand through his hair, frowned, and sighed. you watched him with a frown, and he caught your gaze, to which you stood and stuck out your hand. “it was really great to meet you you both.”

joe took your hand in his and shook, smiling softly at you. “it was nice meeting you, miss... i’ll walk you out.” you blushed lightly as he recalled your name and turned to love and squeezed her shoulder goodbye. she muttered a soft ��bye” and you rubbed henry’s back and said bye to him as well.

joe kissed love on the cheek as she settled henry down and followed behind you. you reached for the doorknob, and joe followed suit, his fingers brushing against yours again. they lingered for a second, and you turned to look up at him as you retreated your hand.

he smiled gingerly as he grabbed hold of the knob and twisted the door open. you’re both greeted by the gorgeous california sun and birdsong and you take a step outside. you turned, expecting to say your final goodbyes, but joe followed you out.

“thank you, again, for coming out to see us and meet henry. i assume love already gave you our numbers?” he asked as he closed the door behind him. he leaned against the door frame with both hands in his pockets and quickly looked you up and down.

you nodded, “yeah, it was no problem. and she did. do you have mine?” you began pulling your phone out of your purse before joe spoke.

“yes, i can send you a text to make sure it’s the right one?”

before you could agree, joe pulled his phone out of his back pocket and began typing. soon enough, you heard a familiar ding! from inside your purse, and went to read the message:

Hello, you.

you smiled, butterflies fluttering in your stomach, “i’ve got it, thanks.” you turned away to leave before stopping abruptly. joe had already turned to leave as well, and faltered as you came back. “sorry, uh, i was just wondering when would i be starting?”

joe stuck his tongue in his cheek, in thought for a moment, and you took this time to fully drink him in. he had one hand in his pants pocket, the other rubbing his chin. his dark curls fell perfectly over his forehead, and you wanted to brush them away to get him to look deeply into your eyes. his gray sleeves hugged the curve of the muscles on his arms so right, that you nearly melted at the thought of being trapped in them.

you couldn’t be thinking like this, you scolded yourself. you'd never suddenly gotten this rush of feelings when meeting someone before. he’s happily married with a kid that you’ll be taking care of. get. it. together!

“how about monday? i’ll be home for a few hours, and i don’t think love would mind if i stay and show you henry’s schedule.”

you nodded eagerly, “absolutely, just let me know when to get here. thank you, again, for having me!” you waved goodbye as you trekked down their concrete walkway and to their white picket fence toward your car. you covered your eyes from the sun and once you made it to your car, you searched for and waved at joe from across the street.

joe waved to you and watched as you settled into your vehicle. he didn’t take his eyes off of you until your car had driven out of his sight, eager for the weekend to fly by and see you on monday.

[noellefan101]

Adopting Child!Reader

Characters: Wriothesley, Nilou, Childe, Candace, Itto x Gn Child!reader(meaning this is all purely platonic)

Summary: They adopt you and you're now their child, what do they learn you to do and what do they like doing with you

Warnings: platonic, modern au for the most part, implied char x char in some(you can ignore it if you dont like the ship, or see them as friends), sigewinne is your sibling in wrios, arataki gang being the arataki gang

Note: this is one of those fics that i keep looking for but cant find, so i wrote it myself. i really like reading from a child's perspective but whenever i see a fic were a char has a child and its x reader, its always the reader being the mother which i hate. anyway, have fun reading, luv you.

Wriothesley

Sigewinne is his child, sorry, you cant tell me otherwise(especially when its modern au), so you and her would definitely play together. have a tea party, dress Wrio up in cute ribbons and stuff, kill all your dolls together after one cheated on the other. yk, normal kid things.

Wriothesley caries your bags whenever you need to get home from school, he hangs them over his shoulder while you both walk beside him.

If Sigewinne is a little older than you, instead of being the same age, she would try her best to help you learn stuff you maybe dont even have in school yet, but she just needed to help you with it anyway. she just wants you to be ready for it, and learns it better in the process as well.

He would invite his Boyfriend over for dinner once, and you thought Neuvillette's hair was pretty, though you were a little scared of the man. it turned out to be fine after a few other times of meeting him, and you warmed up to him quite quickly.

I dont imagine he's the best cook, but would definitely learn how to make something if you were sad and really wanted a specific dish. Will also make tea for you both a lot, making sure its just how you like it.

Nilou

I love the idea of Nilou, the sweetheart of sumeru, adopting a child and taking care of it. like yeah, she totally would.

And if you showed any interest in dancing whatsoever, she would teach you some small easy steps. and show you a few of her dances made for shows, if you thought it was too hard. she has her own dancing room(?) at home, and she would happily practice a little with you in the room so you can watch.

She's very supportive of whatever you're interested in, but you will learn to respect everyone no matter what, she cant have you becoming like one of those scholars who want all the creative arts gone. But she would still support you in becoming a scholar if that is what you wanted to do anyway, just making sure you're a nice one instead of those other beings.

Loves to bake with you, and really wants to show you all the best recipes so you can make them on your own once your old enough. but of course she bakes the best cakes on your birthday, and it's decorated with something you like or her and you dancing via a messy drawing using buttercream.

Would make jewelry with you, and then wear some at one of her shows. So the people would see all her professionally made bracelets, and then this very vibrant and childish one shining trough.

She loves matching outfits with you, so she will try her very best to find a shirt in your size that matches one of her dresses, it would be very cute but she respects it if you dont really like it at times.

Childe

He seriously just wants to protect you, and probably ended up saving you before taking you in and caring for you when he learned of your reason for being out there all alone. (picture dark alleyway with cold snow and a few adults with weapons trying to get money out of you or smt)

Doesnt really like the idea of you knowing about his job, but he can't hide it from you the same way he hides it from his siblings, so you ended up knowing pretty quickly. But he assures you he won't let anything hurt you, not even himself.

He would have his parents take care of you when he had to go out for a mission, but you would have to promise to not mention what he was doing or he would just have to hire a caretaker next time.

But it was fun playing with his siblings, and the food was great. Plus it was way nicer to be able to play with other children at home, and not have to go out for it. Teucer also had really cool toys, so you and him play together a lot when you come over.

Doesn't let you near any of his weapons, and doesn't wan tyou near any weapon until your at least 13. He can't have you experience the same things as him, no matter how much he likes fighting, he doesnt want you to grow up like he did. So he won't teach you anything of that sorts, only when he thinks it a reasonable time for someone to learn that.

Cooks all your meals for the most part, and learns you how to cook as well, he can also have you help him cut the easy things like a cucumber. Plus you've been sent to school with what to a child looks like a three-course meal from a five-star restaurant. is also really good at getting you to eat your vegetables.

Candace

She's very good with children, but never expected to take in a child herself. She has both no idea what she's doing and knows everything about what she should do, so its a process for the both of you.

She is very loving and knows to let you warm up to her first, but she gets carried away at times and can end up hugging you a little to much for your comfort. But she makes sure to give you lots of your favorite sweets in return.

Loves dressing you up, and would pick your outfits for your when you had school, but of course you picked an item first and then she jsut picked out the rest. For example; you would pick out a cute shirt with a little red car on it, and she would find some matching socks and nice pair of pants or smt, give you a nice red hat if it was needed.

Goes shopping with Dehya often, so she would sometimes take you with her and will explain everything she's getting, and how to use this makeup and what not.

Dehya also comes over quite a lot, and they both do your makeup if you wanted, or let you decorate them in glitters and stickers if you pleased. You now have a special bag with all your little brushes, eyeshadows and all that stuff at home, just so you dont accidentally ruin theirs. (she would not let you put makeup on too much, only once or twice a week. but then there is also something to look forward too)

Itto

Is very chaotic and should not be taking care of a child, also because he gets in trouble so much. But he can't just leave you out there all alone, no one else wanted you clearly, but they are the perfect solution to that. (they are all basically unwanted as well, so you were just like them in a sense)

But Kuki is more of the parent than he is at times, but thats ok, she's basically the parent to all of them at this point.

Anyway, he loves beetle-fighting, so of course you are gonna learn too. He has spent hours with you outside, finding beetles and teaching you the perfect ways to win over anyone. it's only when Shinobu comes and tells you that its bed time for you that you stop for the day, but you have tomorrow to have fun as well.

It's hard to adapt to being with the Arataki gang, but it is better than being alone, so you can have your own little place to be alone in for a little bit, in a corner of whatever they're staying in(an old house that is really cheap i presume, or a really cheap apartment. maybe granny's place or smt).

Taking care of you honestly got the whole gang to stop their antics just a little, and they don't end up in prison for stupid things as much. Kuki is especially thankful for that, but is still concerned for the gang. They teached you how to depend on others, while you essentially teach them to be more careful of what they do, win-win.

You might have cried the first time they ended up in prison while you were there, Shinobu has now taught you how to bail someone out of jail. You will need this in the future.

im thinking of making a taglist but im not sure, so tell me if you want to be tagged in smt

Thx for reading my lovelies, have a nice day, luv ya-Masterlist

You are welcome to reblog and like any of my posts, but you CAN NOT translate, copy or hate on anybody for liking my posts

[galaxy-fleur]

Replaying RE4R, and I am once again thinking of how Leon just straight up murders a guy the moment he attacks. Like yeah, sure, he lunged at him with a weapon, there is a bloody badge of an officer, things are sketchy to say the least, but still. It all happens so fast, I doubt he actually had the time to fully put two and two together quite yet.

And you can't tell me that Leon, a trained agent, just overestimated the power of his kick on accident. That ↓

Was a pretty much deliberate kick. What's interesting is that in the OG RE4, he at least tells the ganado to freeze a good couple of times (or maybe once, I don't remember the specifics, but my point still stands) before actually proceeding to harm him. Remake Leon, meanwhile... just breaks his neck without a second thought.

And his reaction right after makes it... pretty obvious, honestly.

There is no strong reaction there to offing an old man in his home. Now, granted, he hears a scream right after, so it's not like he has much time to stand and ponder over what happened! But the only thing he says right after is: 'This is not good.' And, yeah, true, but we do know Leon is capable of expressing some level of distress over something he finds disturbing, and he proceeds to do that literally a few minutes later once you start exploring the village. So really, it's an interesting scene and a very intriguing way of introducing this hardened version of Leon we'll be playing as.

I wouldn't be thinking about this as much if not for the circumstances surrounding it. Not like Leon is aware that this man is infected with anything. Up until the moment he gets back up, he could be just some disturbed, paranoid old man or something. And he did just walk into someone's house. He's an intruder here, really. But the moment danger presents itself, he eliminates the threat without a second thought.

I think it speaks volumes of the past 6 years that passed for him, and how they shaped him. We don't know much of Leon's job: what it entails exactly, what kind of work he does on the daily, how the entire structure operates. And before the events of RE4, it's not like he was a well-known agent, if I remember correctly. It's his successful rescue of Ashley that got him high in the ranks. His status as a Racoon City survivor didn't do that. Throughout RE4R, we see him regain his humanity through the connections with other characters, going from the cold, robotic way he caries himself at the start of the game, to the determined, emotionally-invested man we later see carrying Ashley to Luis' laboratory.

It's very neat to think about! And while we all love Leon for his kind heart and his drive to save innocent lives, he is more than capable of violence, and that's an aspect of him I wish was talked about more. That neck break was definitely not the first one for him, just saying.

[everybody-loves-purdy]

Based on the preview alone I genuinely feel that we could be getting one of the best warriors books out of Star.

We have already got an all time banger quote in “I would have lead RiverClan into a golden dawn, not a bloody sunset” and an excellent and intense fight scene. As well as some really interesting characterisation of Frostpaw. Poor girl has been through hell and back and still her number one priority is her clan.

Regardless of how the plot turns out at very least it seems Kate Cary is on top form with the writing here.

[whysosincere]

Leverage - MK11 Self Insert Fiction

Lord Raiden, god of thunder and protector of Earthrealm, has betrayed a fatal weakness; one that the nefarious sorcerer Shang Tsung seeks to capitalize upon. A self-insert fic inspired by Mortal Kombat 11 featuring Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Shang Tsung, and Todd Dakins/Richard Epcar as Lord Raiden.

Characters: Lord Raiden (MK11), Shang Tsung (MK11), Female OC/Self-Insert

Chapter 1: Evening in Nara

It is late afternoon in the ancient Japanese capital of Nara when the clouds begin rolling in. There's a distant rumble of thunder, and in a secluded alley, far from the ancient temples of Todai-ji and Nigatsu-do, a lone tourist walks the stone pathways. It is Y/N, and she has just completed meditation among the blooming irises of one of Nara's oldest public gardens. As the first drops of rain begin to dampen her clothes, she quickens her pace, knowing her hotel is still a decent distance away.

Unbothered by the approaching rain, she smiles briefly at the rumbling storm clouds as one might an old friend. The supple curve of her neck and tilt of her jaw from this motion do not go unnoticed. Unbeknownst to Y/N, numerous eyes had been keeping her in their sights since her arrival. She continued on her way, heedless of the danger that had begun brewing in the shadows of the city, and ignorant of the observations of an old acquaintance.

It is said that the crack and roll of thunder is caused by the beating of numerous taiko drums in the heavens; an invocation and performance by the thunder god himself. He held many names: Indra, Zeus, and Taranis were just a few from across the globe. The Japanese had bestowed the titles of Kaminari, Raijin, and during this degenerate age, many had come to know him as Raiden. In truth, this storm was not his performance, but instead the subconscious apprehension of his heart, given form and sound in the roiling clouds that swept over the mountain peaks.

The thunder deity had been watching Y/N from afar, his eyes filled with an intensity that the approaching storm could not match. His eyes flash, and his grimace intensifies as he watches the woman weave around the primitive utility poles and take advantage of the rain-blocking eaves along her path. He knew her from his brief tenure with the American military during Outworld's previous invasion attempt. While he hadn't worked directly with her, her very presence had impressed him. The unmistakable aura of valor and courage that all of his Order of Light shared, had manifested in her. Though to him, this event seemed as recent as one might consider the life of a single stick of burning incense, Raiden knew for a mortal, it must've seemed ages past. This is why he had cautioned his brother so sincerely against involvement with mortal lives – The spark of interest she had kindled had left an indelible mark on his soul, but time had slipped effortlessly away without him realizing.

When it had come to blows, Fujin had rightfully pointed out his hypocrisy – Liu Kang and Kung Lao may as well have been his children the way that he lavished them with attention. That attention stretched time for him, slowing what should have been a moment, into years of training, camaraderie, and perhaps something akin to paternal love – at least that's what Fujin had alleged through a furious gale of blades. Raiden had called him a fool. In truth, he had been fighting with himself – his brother Fujin simply caught in the conflict. For especially now, such a title rightfully belonged to him.

The sight of her brought him back to that tumultuous argument. His heart ached at the memory, and his hands of flesh and bone tightened into fists. Originally created for the purpose of participating in Mortal Kombat, he had not intended this human body of his to remain for as long as it had. This body of his was simply a tool, he had lied. One that he would discard as soon as its usefulness had expired. That is what he had told himself lifetimes ago… Now this heart of his beat faster as he observed the scene below, his eyes never leaving Y/N's graceful form as she moved through the city.

One other gaze observed these motions with equal intensity, but unlike the distracted attentions of Lord Raiden, this stalking creature was fully aware that his quarry was under careful scrutiny. If he acted without proper caution, the game would be up before it had even begun.

The sorcerer Shang Tsung was never without his contingencies. Never found lacking in ways to slip the grasps of fate. And now as he enjoyed an extended reprieve from the beckoning of his master Shao Kahn, and the incessant meddling of Earthrealm's champion Liu Kang, he had detected an amusing inflection in the humors of the skies. One that, should he apply proper leverage to, might remove the most vexing of obstacles from his plans. Lord Raiden had fallen victim to his own hubris: He was in love.

[lipstickhotchocolate]

Kind of want to combine my hyperfixations and redesign Stardew bachelorettes and bachelors in various eras of vintage fashion?

If I don’t end up drawing this, here’s my general vision so far just because (yes I am skipping the 30s and 40s because I don’t find them as visually interesting):

20s:

Penny. Her hair reminds me a lot of the pinned up faux bobs that flappers would wear and I think she would look AMAZING in a drop waist and cloche hat.

Krobus. His little trench coat get up gives me sort of 1920s Agatha Christie detective novel vibes.

50s:

Shane, because I think he would look dapper with a kind of Cary Grant and Marlon Brando hybrid inspired look? Like with sharp lines and but because he’s messy his sharp suit is ruffled after a long night.

Abigail. I know this isn’t the obvious choice, but due to my hatred™️ of Pierre and Caroline’s parenting style, Abigail’s story has always felt a bit like her breaking away from tradition, especially for gender wise. As such, I want to draw her in Beatnik style, with a black turtleneck, a beret, slacks, and huge dark glasses.

60s:

Harvey :). His fascination with planes means I absolutely have to draw him in the golden age of travel. I’m thinking a smart suit, kind of more early 1960s, inspired by the fashion in the original Bond films.

Haley. I would probably do a different part of 60s fashion to Harvey for her, more akin to the mid to late sixties Swinging London movement, as inspired by Twiggy and Mary Quant. Boxy mini dress, Gogo boots and a Bridget Bardot-esque bouffant.

70s:

Maru. The 70s were big for jumpsuits and women’s fashion got a lot more practical, which I think works well with her personality. I love Maru and I love flared jeans so 🫠 I also think I would give her big hair (I love her older game designs)

Leah. Leah’s hippie artist vibes work perfectly for the 70s flowery hippie fashion. Please put my girl in a loose fitting prairie dress or some bell sleeves. Her hair would also work with the long natural wavy look of that era.

80s:

Emily. I know her vibes are at a first glance 70s, but the style of her dress and her hair remind me SO MUCH of Winona Ryders wedding dress in beetlejuice? So the gothy fashion of the 80s with big spiky hair and mesh and craftiness remind me of Emily.

Elliot. Once again at a first glance 70s, but I will put this man in a late 70s/early 80s glam rock outfit if it kills me. With the massive hair and the sort of military inspired studded jacket and everything. Hear me out.

Alex: the 80s were probably the start of the jock character, and Alex to me reads like he could literally be a character in the breakfast club to be honest. He must be taken back to his roots.

90s:

Sam. In the 90s skater boy fashion was literally like… the thing, so this is obvious. Give him a baggy ahh flannel , a baggier ahh graphic tee and a baggiest ahh pair of jeans. And some fugly 90s man hair.

Sebastian. Not really a huge redesign, but I’m incapable of not drawing him as like a mall goth / early emo kid (yes I know they’re different but similar style roots).

[decreeofthedeeps]

basic info about me cuz i figured it would make sense to have a post like this

firstly, if you're here to softblock me/remove me as a follower please just outright block me. i will get confused and refollow you if you don't. i do not intend to harass you i just genuinely cannot trust my own memory.

my name is caribert (pronounced car-ee-bear), you can also call me cari for short. my pronouns are he/him only. they/them is misgendering. i'm 18 years old.

anyone regardless of age is free to follow my blog, but i ask that only people from 15 to 21 years old dm me. mutuals in this age range feel free to dm for my discord!

i'm plural, but i do not disclose my origin publicly.

my gender is best described with the labels ftm, transsexual, transman, multigender, maverique, tboy/tguy, genderqueer, and genderfluid. i am also a crossdresser. my orientation is best described as aroallo queer.

my interests include minecraft speedrunning, wuthering waves, genshin impact, minecraft in general, roller skating, writing, drawing, stardew valley, gardening, politics, activism, and reading. talk to me about any of these!

info on my stances is under the cut!

my "syscourse stance" is that i am against misinformation and for the right to self-define and determine one's own lived experiences. i am against harassment no matter who it is or what they are claiming. if you promote, post, or share misinformation, if you harass others, or if you fakeclaim publicly you are not welcome on my blog and i reserve the right to block you.

i believe that plurality can have causes other than childhood trauma. endogenic plurals are safe on my blog. those who participate in harassment or fakeclaiming towards endogenic plurals are not safe or welcome on my blog. endogenic plurals who harass or fakeclaim traumagenic plurals (yes, even the exclusionary traumagenic plurals) are equally unwelcome on my blog.

alongside my belief in one's right to self-define and determine their own lived experiences, i believe that labels are simply shorthand used to roughly approximate the vast, complex, and beautiful assortment of experiences one could have with their gender and orientation. i welcome all queer experiences with open arms including queer experiences that seem strange or that are best described using labels that seem to conflict. what does this mean? this means mspec lesbians/gays and lesboys/turigirls are welcome on my blog, as well as other folks who use diverse or "contradictory" labels. those who participate in harassment of queer individuals on the basis of not understanding their labels are unwelcome and never will be welcome.

[miseta]

Chapter 11 ➺ Dangerous steps

Starting over In Madrid

Misa Rodriguez x Reader (Nicky/first person)

After moving to Madrid as the new Real Madrid photographer, Nicky's eyes can't look away from the pretty face of Misa Rodriguez. But how is she going to handle her growing desire for the Canarian goalkeeper when her working contract's strictly forbidding her to date players?

Chapter 1 ➺ A harder job than I thought Chapter 2 ➺ Clearly on a bad slope Chapter 3 ➺ Calmly panicking Chapter 4 ➺ Hell Clasico Chapter 5 ➺ Valleys and peaks Chapter 6 ➺ Paris est magique! Chapter 7 ➺ In the haze Chapter 8 ➺ Confusion and directions Chapter 9 ➺ A place for words Chapter 10 ➺ Not a cloud in sight TW: angst, blood 4K words

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧ 

I was faking insurance, directing my little team in the gym for the first time, the players doing their usual exercises but with a little nervousness with tree lens focusing on them. 

"Er… Stay in the back, Eneko… behind that machin, yes," I told the short bask cameraman. "Try to get the foreground blurry. I’ll come to check in a minute. Mariam," I turned to a very dark skinned girl, "you go all round the room, focus on moves and faces expressions." Both of them nodded in acknowledgment. As for me, I positioned myself at the door to get some wide shots. 

The sound of the shutters melted with of the footballers rasps, breathing heavily with efforts, the coach voice chanting instruction every now and then. 

During de work out session, I came to see both my assistants, clumsily correcting two or three presets. I tried to harmonized style between takes and shots, to think visuals globally. It felt weird to have people doing the work you did for nearly one year and to be in charge of not only yours but also of their result. 

To give me courage, I glanced shortly at my wrist, looking at the thin colorful laced bracelet. "Give me your hand and close your eyes Cari!", the brunette had said on our reunion night after the holidays and she had worked at attaching something to my wrist. "Open your eyes! Te gusta? It’s from Las Palmas, I wanted to give you something from my Island!" Now, the bracelet was becoming more of an amulette, reminding me the loving presence of Misa in my life in time of need. 

One hour later, stress had eased a bit, not yet replaced by insurance and I was relieved when everybody started to leave the gym. Hayley nudged me roughly as she walked. "Good job, Director!", she praised me happily, adding in whisper, "Don’t go near Misa, she was looking at you like she was going to eat you up!". She left me giggling stupidly in front of the camera.

I started to disassemble the equipment when the goalie approached. Her moist face was hard and focused but soften as soon as we crossed eyes. She winked at me before going out of the gym, my gaze following her an instant. 

"Hey Nicky! It’s great to see you smile like that! Being director suits you well! Want help to pack your photo things?" Lea voice rang closed by as I kept staring absentmindedly at the empty door way. I prayed hard I wasn’t blushing too. 

"It’s ok, Mariam and Eneko are going to help me but thanks Léa." 

"Ok, bye!" The new goalie waved to me. 

My phone rang at that time. My heart would still skip a beat every time I would saw Misa’s name appear on the screen. I opened her message quickly and read, "You like directing people 😮‍💨" and I knew there was no way I wasn’t turning crimson this time.

*** 

Days passed I started to take get my bearings with my little team, voicing my intentions more clearly, and dividing works between us better. My new position also came with more pressure. I spent many free hours in librairies and bookshops, trying to get what the best photography and visual tendencies were. I wasn’t interested in just doing my job, no, I wanted to create something different for the Real. I was sure there were things to do artistically with football photography and I wanted us to set the pace, to be visual ahead of other clubs. There was no more assisting brands photographs or following visual guidelines, I was free to experiment week after week, and was surprise the club would often chose the most avant-gardiste proposition without having to argue. As their trust felt good, it was also setting expectations toward me very high.

Thus, on Sven advice, I dragged the goalkeeper in every photo exhibitions of the capital, the girl often balking when she’d imagine we spend the evening watching Netflix on the sofa. At the gallery, I was amused to see her face giving away her thoughts so clearly. She’d frown when she didn’t like a shot and nod discreetly at the pictures she found interesting. When pressure would become overwhelming, on the eve of an important meeting or after a bad project review, Misa would always find a way to make me smile, her warm voice saying things like "You’re doing ten time better than esta mierda we saw at the gallery" or "It's true you have particular gorgeous models but nobody makes me look like a goddess like you do!". To be able to comfort each other was one of the best part of our relation. 

However, I spent less time on the field, taking pictures, that part resting now on Mariam and Eneko, and more in my office, scheduling events and shootings, or in meetings with the creative or commercial Real Madrid teams. It wasn’t the change I liked most. I missed being outside, even with the heat dropping, automne being on its way in Madrid, and sharing practice session with the players. Therefore, I was seeing Misa less, our working hours not really aligned anymore, but maybe that was for the best… 

Because since our return from holidays, Misa and I were having more difficulties to handle well our hidden relation. After our week of freedom in Formentera, the first days had been really though. The goalie had tensed every time we had been near each other at work, stoping a caring gesture or looking away quickly when she’d been staring at me tenderly. We had grown used to being a regular couple and coming back to reality was like dozen of little slap in the face, constantly reminding us our perilous conditions. 

That was the first reason I wasn’t mad not sharing working hours with the goalie most of the time, feeling the made up distance between us wasn’t doing our couple any good. Secondly, the few practice sessions I joined were a good opportunity to witness Lea Kofi constantly flirting with my girlfriend. She’d put on a show, joking and laughing between exercises, touching Misa’s shoulder or sweeping grass strands off her short. The most unbearable part was to know they showered together almost every day, having me pictured Léa’s hungry gaze on the naked body of the brunette pretty clearly. I was more convinced day after day I was right about Lea crushing on the spaniard goalkeeper, stirring jealously and frustration in a dangerous mix. 

*** 

Therefore, I wasn’t appealed when the three of us had to go to the long-planned goalkeeper meeting at the end of September. Travelling was a pain. Sandwiched between the two goalies in the car, I hadn’t foreseen they would casually chat over me all the way. We arrived at the reception hotel in the late afternoon. We’d be staying over the night and I quickly checked if the French goalie wasn’t relying on it to attempt something with Misa. However, Lea’s face remained unreadable, appart from her usual ready to tease smirk. 

Then, we attended a never ending speech, hiding yawn after yawn. Misa did not lied when she said those events were boring as hell. Even Lea who had try to entertained us with her funny comments about the monotonous sentences of the speaker had stopped and was drowsing in her chair. To conclude the presentation all the goalkeepers went on stage to say a few words about their training and their clubs. The event being first and foremost for medias, I joined the crowd of journalists and photographers to take some shots of our charismatic goalies. 

Finally, the speaker invited us to a cocktail at the hotel reception. When we arrived in the vast modern hall, tables were loaded with fancy food and elaborated drinks and my eyes sparkled at the prospect of tasting every bites and canapés. 

“Eres incorregible!” Misa whispered as I stuffed my mouth with the tenth appetizer. I shrugged, chewing the delicious bite. 

“They’re so good! Too bad you have a match in two days so you can't eat a lot... ”, I taunted her. “Hey! I didn’t force you to become a professional athlete!“ I laughed at her dark gaze before patting her shoulder. 

But Misa moved away at once. “Be careful! Léa keeps sticking to me since the meeting ended!”

“Relax Misa, I’m not doing anything suspicious…” I replied, confused by her overreacting. 

“Well... sí, perdon…” she bites her lips and before I could say something, she disappeared back in the crowd of guests.

What the fuck was that? I told myself, going after her and scanning the hall. Misa was nowhere to be found. I sighted heavily. An opened door in front me revealed a calm and cozy terrace, inviting me to get a bit of fresh air.

I went out, the wether was definitely colder now and I retrieve a large folded scarf in my bad and wrapped it around me. I sat in an armchair, in a quiet spot of the terrace and sighed again, my guts knotting themselves with the many questions swirling in my brain. Since our return, Misa was back at acting weird, not speaking out when obviously something wasn’t right between us. She was avoiding serious discussions, remaining silent or evasive when I would question her. My guts knotted themselves more tightly and I was surprised to feel a strong need to smoke for the first time since I had quit, years ago. But before I had time to wonder where I could find a cigarette, a tall figure with voluminous curly hair walked toward me. 

Lea dropped herself in the chair facing me, putting her cocktail on the small round table between us. 

“Olalala Nicky, I’m fed up, this meeting’s hell! It’s full of old white guys and all the cute goalies I’ve talk to have girlfriends”, she sighed. 

I chuckled at Lea, relaxed by her usual raw talking, but I tensed again, feeling this conversation could go dangerously private. I swallowed a sip of champagne, the bubbles dancing on the roof of my mouth and I realized I could as well take advantage of the situation. So I inquired innocently, “Too bad… Meaning you’re actively looking for a girlfriend?“

“I’m thirty and I’m tired of flirts, I want to find somebody. Plus, Spanish women, my god! They’re like… really hot! I’ve dated a spaniard when I was in France, a middle fielder of my club but I hadn’t realized Spaniards were really my type before coming here“, Léa chuckled. "What about you, Nicky ?"

I drank again, a new confidence flowing in my body, guessing she was close to confirm what I feared, “Me? Oh, there’s not much to say. I’m not searching anything right now. So you like to date footballers?” 

“Not necessarily footballers, but yes I’m more attracted by sportswomen”. She paused to drink, with a nervousness I never saw before. She went on, fidgeting in her chair, “In fact… Nicky, do you know if… are you aware if Misa’s currently dating anybody?”

My heart both sank and triumphed. I fucking knew it! I lent back in the chair, drinking the last sip of champagne very slowly and enjoying the silence stretching between us. I had an answered waiting since a long time but I took an evil pleasure at seeing L��a peering at me expectantly. 

“Oh Misa… don’t waste your time, she’s seeing someone indeed.“ I told her in a light tone, not feeling touched in the slightest when I saw her frown in surprise and then shrink on herself with disappointment. 

“Putain…  she does? Since a long time? I should have done something sooner… You know if it’s serious?”

I tried hard to remain calm but I felt my hairs bristled, my voice cocky in spite of my efforts, “It’s been months and it’s pretty serious, yep!” 

The French woman blinked and sighted, “Fuck, she’s fun… so pretty and talented… Damned! I guess I’ve got a crush… but thanks for telling me, I should move on then. I hope her girlfriend is knowing how lucky she is… ”

I couldn’t help but smile mildly at her words, feeling my tensed muscles relaxing. Yes, I was so lucky, lucky to have built something so strong with Misa, lucky to have that thoughtful and truly kind lover in my life, lucky to be the one that could sooth her after a lost game or a fight with a teammate, lucky she chosed me when obviously, she could have anybody. 

My anger had disappeared, replaced by compassion for the French goalie and I replied, a hint of possessiveness lingering, “I’m sure she is… Forget about Misa and don’t worry Léa, you’re fun, pretty and talented too, I’m sure you’ll find somebody in no time!” 

“Thanks Nicky.” Léa winked at me but was looking a bit down after our conversation. 

I didn’t wanted us to dwell on Léa disappointment, being, moreover, the least personne to be able to comfort her, so I stood up and announced, “My glass is empty, come on Léa, let’s go back inside“.

It wasn’t really late when the three of us went to bed, but I let an hour pass before I dared to go in Misa’s room, the farthest one from the French goalie. The brunette pulled me inside swiftly, wearing only a large T shirt. She closed the door with the less noise she could, and pressed her mouth against mine at once. I chucked at her eagerness, stroking her loose dyed hair. 

How lucky I was indeed.

“What?” the goalkeeper asked when I laughed again softly. 

“I was right” I told her with a smug face. 

Misa put another kiss on my lips, her arms enfolding my shoulders, “Right about what?”

“Léa has a crush on you, she told me!” I dropped, triumphant. 

“What? Not this again!“ the goalie parted from me, clearly not pleased, “Why did she told you that in the first place?”

I was getting impatient with Misa’s mood swings, "She asked me if you were single, so I told her you’re not, obviously…"

“You told Léa I have a girlfriend?!” Misa’s face harden, making me mad.

“Yeah! Which is true, remember? Why does that even look like a problem?!“ 

But the goalkeeper was getting furious, taking one more step away from me, “First, I don’t see why you would speak up for me! I hate when people do that!” 

“Oh! I’m people now, great! Maybe I’m starting to get why you didn’t want Léa to know about me!” I spat, taking the step back toward her. 

Misa’s thick brows furrowed hard, her accent got heavier with anger “You’re ridiculous! And you’ve been fooled! Léa’s already asked me if I had someone and I said didn’t! Now, she knows I lied to her or at least that one of us lied! She used you, Nicky, to get personal informations about me when I wouldn’t give her!“

I felt something icy run along my spine, knowing Misa was right. I had been so dumbed. Still, The brunette’s word fed my own anger, “And can I know why you would lie? Why not say you have someone even if you can’t say it’s me?” I sensed my voice shake, hurt surging on top of my anger. 

Misa glared at me in the eyes, “You really don’t know anything about how things work in a sport team. Gossips spread fast, real and fake ones, moreover when you’re a little famous! Joder! You’ve just put me in the spotlights and yourself in danger! Everyone will want to know who’s my girlfriend by tomorrow, you’ve just put me in hell for weeks!”

I gulped my drying saliva, my heart drumming in my chest, frozen with the realization of what I had done.

The footballer begin to pace up and down in the room, her anger not easing “I told you not to worry about Léa, you didn’t trust me!”

I walked to her, my mouth parched, angst and hurt spreading in my body “It was the only thing I could say, the only thing I could do as your girlfriend… You can’t expect me to act like we didn’t exist!” 

The goalie silently put her fist on the wall, “I hate that! I hate being in a secret relationship! Secrets always bring trouble and pain!” 

I sat onto the bed, guilt choking me at the sight of Misa’s suffering, still hurt myself as she didn’t seemed to understand my position. I tried to hold them back but tears rolled down my cheeks anyway.

“I’ve never meant to…“ I began but my voice broke and I buried my face in my palm as sobs took over my body. 

We can’t go on like this. This is going to break us both.

I felt the mattress sagged beside me and my body being pulled against her warm torso. My arms wrapped around her at once, feeling the heavy load on my shoulders heavier as I felt so deeply in love with her, and I continue to cry until my running nose had me quit her arms to grab a tissue. 

After having blowed the hell out of me, I glanced again at the goalkeeper and saw her eyes were wet and reddened, traces of tears along her face. My heart broke a little more.

I was peering down as I spoke “I’m sorry, I just took the little freedom I could. I believed it was safe, for both of us.” 

“Lo sé”, Misa said and she sniffed. 

A few seconds passed, with us not really knowing what to say or do.

“I’m going to quit“, my voice rang in the stretching silence. 

Misa turned around at once, “Qué? No! Not now! You’re doing an amazing job as photo director. Real Madrid is full of opportunities for you!“

At last, we looked at each other again and her face was softer.

“But…“, I began. 

“I won’t let you quit for me right now. And about Léa, it will pass and I’ve been through worst.“ Misa hard tone had me quiet but her tender look appeased my angst, and for the second time this evening I realized how lucky I was to have her as my girlfriend. 

I heaved myself onto the bed, resting my back on the bed board and called Misa to joined me. It was her turn to snuggle up to me, having me amazed of how her large body could make itself so small nested against mine. I kissed her forehead, my nose grazing her loose baby hair and inhaling the vanilla scent of her shampoo that was so hers. 

“Te quiero, Cari... please don’t do that again….“ she said, her fingers folding the fabric of my night T-shirt. 

My hug tightened around the younger woman. “Te quiero tambien, Love. We’ll find way to make things work, I promise.”

***

One week latter, I pressed the doorbell of Misa’s appartement, exhausted from a particularly long day and waiting with apprehension at finding out the goalies’s present mood. 

"Hey Cari", the goalie smiling face greeted me, relaxing at once as she invited me inside. "You look terrible, qué passa?"

“Three meetings, one went good but the two other quite bad. Commercials didn’t like any of my propositions and Champions league visuals are not validated neither…” 

Misa mirrored my pout as I told her about my day and took me to sofa where we sat.

“Well, I have a good and a bad new to tell you as well. Let’s start with the bad one to be over it…“ Misa shifted her position to face me, taking a deep breath. “As I feared, the team’s new game is to guess who my secret girlfriend is… they even named it "la misacertijo" - the misa riddle. Yeah very funny jaja... So, that’s bad but what’s worst is that almost everybody is convinced she’s somebody working for the club. I know... it sucks", she added when she saw me wince. "But the good new is Caroline and Alba are pretty sure my girlfriend is… Toril’s assistant!"

We stared at each other in disbelief and burst of laughter. 

“What the fuck?! Where did they get that from?“ I wondered, whipping off tears of laughter. 

“I have no idea! I don’t even talk to her, maybe they found that suspicious. Anyway, that should protect you a bit. Hayley’s really embarrassed for us but she can’t do much. What about your good meeting?” 

“The good meeting was really good actually.” I smiled, “You know I’ve talk to Sven about showing my work? So, Ana is thrilled by the idea and she’s willing to organize an exhibition associating Real Madrid with my name! She’ll find the place and all!”

The goalie’s wide smile was the best reward I could get. “My talented novia, I want to be credited if you show photos of me!”

“Credits don’t work like that, Misa!” I chuckled, looking at her pretty face “but I guess you do inspire me, you’re my muse.” 

The goalie released a cute laughing noise, and started to pull a face. “Si, your muse! Should I pose like this? Or like that?” She said, her grimaces getting uglier, having me laughing out loud and loving her a little more as my tired body and brain emptied themselves from the stress of the day. 

I pull out my phone to immortalise Misa’s hilarious faces. In front of the phone’s camera, the goalie changed to exaggerated poses and I had trouble stabilizing my hands, shaking uncontrollably with laughter. As ridicule as she wanted to be mimicking model poses, I couldn’t help but being stricken by her features. From her thick brows to her full lips, something was really singular, even a bit raw in Misa’s face, making the beauty of it. In the meantime, her attitude was touching, usure and searching approbation, behind her charisma. 

I dropped my phone to take her face in my hands, pulling her into a swift kiss, “Fuck Misa! You’re so pretty doing nonsense I’d actually like to take pictures of you. I mean, more intimate ones, appart from the pitch and gym.” 

Misa froze, putting my hands down her face and glancing at me with a reprobative look, “Oh no, no, no! There’s no way I’m doing nudes! Madre Mia, Nicky, you’re obsessed with my body!”

“Pff, shut up! I’m not taking about nudes, I mean photographing you on our daily life. Nothing posed. Just relaying on situations… I just wanted to know if you’d be okay with that?“

"Like what? Me cutting vegetables? Me looking at TV? Me sleeping? Sounds like a bad vlog to me..."

Misa’s pout of disbelief made me melt, I’d always found very endearing she really didn’t know a thing about photography. 

I patiently explained, “Of course it sucks if you’re saying it like that. It’s more about capturing an atmosphere, an attitude, a mood. Many photographers do that, especially American ones… Let’s say it's kind of an artistic static vlog, ahah", I added at her still confused look. 

“Vale… when do we start?“

“I’ll grab my camera tomorrow, we could go out for the night, what do you think?“

“Yeah! I’ll pay diner!“ Misa’s eyes shone like they always did when we were planing to meet outside.

“Except if you’d rather go with Toril’s assistant of course?” I teased and we both laughed again.

“No, I don’t think so…”, the goalie leant toward me and start kissing my cheek, then my neck, before coming back to my lips. Bringing her palm to my nap, her kissing intensified with her lips still bearing her fading laugh. Our kiss quickly descended to something needy and rough and I started to loose my head as she put her weight on me to make me lie down on the couch. 

***

Rain was falling but the air was warmer than it had been for weeks. The bus parked at the east side of the stadium of Madrid CFF club. It was going to be an important match in the LigaF championship, and even if Real Madrid were the expecting winner, Madrid CFF had proven before being a tough adversary.

Thus, everybody was focused, headphones on, gazing straight forward and pace steady as they entered the stadium. As the players changed themselves, I headed to the pitch, closely followed by Mariam and Eneko, to set the cameras. We walked around the lawn, looking for the best points of view. I placed myself near a corner, Mariam behind a goalpost and Eneko at the pitch entrance. 

Rain stopped just in time for the warm up to start, before the first spectators had entered. Press was already here, setting their own army of cameras and microphones.

Misa set off to the cage near me, Léa and their trainer in her steps and they wasted no time before doing some passes and saves. I used the training goalkeepers to adjust my presets, lowering shutter speed to the minimum to get the moving bodies really sharp and perfectly frozen.

The sun was now high and bright on that first day of October and I took off my jacket to freshen up. I always wore a navy blue suit with a white shirt during the matches and I relished on lights rays warming the sun deprived skin of my arms. More photographers began to settle around the pitch, a few landing beside me. Misa did a nice catch and my chest swelled with pride. I took a few shots of her, sighing of ease, already longing for our moment alone together later.

The photos were a little too tightly framed and I wondered if I should change to my telephoto lens. I stepped back to take in all the view but my hill bumped against something and I tripped, loosing my balance and falling backward without nothing to hold back. I was even more shocked as my body crashed into something hard, the sound of exploding glass rang loudly in my hears, followed by a piercing pain in my left arm before I fell on the floor. 

Dizziness deafen me a moment, the stranger faces of the photographers coming above me. Pain pulsed hard from where I landed. Stunned, I grasped where my left arm was the most painful and frowned as I felt something warm and wet. I retrieved my hand, my breathing fastening as I discovered my palm red with blood. I swallowed hard. People seemed to talk to me but I felt disconnected, until the panicked face of Misa rushed at my side. My brain didn’t seemed to fully function, I just stared at her, showing my soaked hand and beginning to grasp words in what she was saying.

“… worry, Nicky, I’ll get help!“

“I’m going! you stay with Nicky“, the voice of Léa cut.

I closed my eyes, feeling nauseous, and other voices mixed altogether. I recognized Hayley’s in the middle of it. 

"Qué passa?"

"Oh my god, Nicky!"

"Nicky!"

"Ve a buscar ayuda, déjala!", the goalie’s high pitched alarmed tone made me regain my focus a bit and I dared a look at my left arm. 

It was crimson, blood soaking the sleeve above.

"Nicky, don’t panic, and don’t move." Misa said taking my sticky hand into hers. A part of my brain knew I shouldn’t but my eyes clung to her face like it was the only thing that matter. 

"Misa…"

"Help is coming Nicky!" Hayley’s reassuring voice echoed closed by and I started to fully come back to me.

"What… what happened? My arm…, my back hurts too", pain was becoming more vivid as dizziness faded. 

"You fell onto some kind of glass photo frame or something. There are glass shards everywhere, don’t move", Misa answered.

"Libere el paso, por favor!" A loud man voice resounded.

The brunette wanted to stand up but I hold her hand firmly in mine. “Nicky, let go, you’ll be in good care.” The goalie murmured and I reluctantly loosen my grip. Her large hand slipped away, stained, and both Hayley and Misa pulled back for the medical assistance to reach me. 

Strong arms lifted my body onto a gurney, my face angling to get a glimpse of Misa’s distraught look as the doctors took me away, an hour or less before the kick off.  

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

[yourlocaltreesimp]

You know that tired reader and yan chain thing where reader asks to use the yan links as pillows well can you make that a fic please

Ofc, ofc!

Cw: None. I describe joint pain, idc if that counts

Heroes? No. Pillows.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

You never once in your life wanted to know what it was like to be on fire, but now you could safely say you did. Your feet and back aches from so long of walking, hard soled boots making each bone in your feet feel like it was snapping with every step. The pain trailed up to your knees and shins until every footfall was pins and needles. Your back was tense from being upright and the heavy pack you opted to cary, spine unable to loosen, even as you sat down. The fire snapped and popped, the only light left within the area. Unfortunately for the chain -but you in particular- Time insisted on walking the extra ten kilometres so the group would make it to the village the next morning. You let yourself fall back into the packed earth to look at the darkening sky, stars peaking through. But laying brought you no comfort, only a swell of pained muscles and sore joints.

“Are you alright, My dear?” You’re pulled from your lovely pity party by time, catching onto the apparent pain wracking your body.

“Just tired, I’m ok” You tried to sound upbeat, but it came out strained and exhausted.

“Ah, perhaps I should’ve thought twice before pushing you to hard. Is there anything we can do to help?” His voice was always so soft when he spoke to you, sitting up, you saw his expression was the perfect image of his bleeding heart. You sighed as your bones felt hallow, the ground quite literally a rock. Casting your eyes around the camp, you saw the eyes of the heroes boring into you with interest. Whatever conversations they’d previously been having thrown out in exchange for you. No magic could help you, for you were not of Hylia. No flowery words could ease your pain. No food would remedy your exhaustion. All you wanted was sleep, a good one at the least.

“Do you mind If i use you as a pillow?” The phrase slipped before you could really stop it, your cheeks nearly as warm as the fire you stared into.

“I- Uh- W-“

“As long as we’re of use to you I don’t think any of us mind.” Everyone murmured their agreements, getting ready to sleep. Sky -who was already ready for sleep at that point- was the first to allow you some comfort, laying down and letting you rest your head and shoulders on his chest, Wolfie laying across his stomach. Wind Curled inbetween Sky’s side and your chest. Legend layer on the other side of Sky, head next to yours. Wild shifted you so he could lay right under you. Hyrule Wrapped an arm around your waist from next to you. Four managed to sprawl himself the whole way across your chest diagonally, over everyone else’s arms. Time and Warriors kept first watch but traded spots with the others as the night progressed. You’d never felt so safe in your life, surrounded by people that made your heart feel full and mind less tired.

[jewishcissiekj]

Since Asajj Ventress appeared in recent media and is set to appear in future shows and Star Wars content, I've seen a lot of people starting to read Dark Disciple. but besides that book, there are so many stories featuring Asajj over her 22 years of existence. So if you are looking for some recommendations and entry points to Asajj outside of the TV shows, here are some recommendations to get to know her a bit better, in both the Canon and Legends timelines:

(for anyone looking for a definitive list of everything she's ever been in, I also have that)

for anyone looking for just the list of recommendations without all my babbling, scroll down to the bottom, it'll be there.

Canon

Dooku: Jedi Lost Audiodrama - Script by Cavan Scott, preformed by full cast (also available in Script format) Starting off, this masterpiece. Telling the dual story of Asajj and Dooku, Jedi Lost is genuinely some of the best Star Wars content out there, in my opinion. Taking place early in The Clone Wars, it tells Asajj's journey battling her ghosts and uncovering her Master's history. It requires only the context of the prequels and The Clone Wars, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who likes the Prequels, Dooku, or Asajj.

Brotherhood - by Mike Chen Continuing with the book that serves as an introduction to Asajj in canon (chronologically), Brotherhood presents an interesting take on her first meetings with Anakin and Obi-Wan. She's far from the main character here, only supporting the book's plot as the villain and the initiator behind some of the troubles Obi-Wan faces on Cato Neimodia. This Asajj is more calculated, working behind the scenes while still facing off face to face against Obi-Wan and Anakin, and it uniquely handles her character. The book is a Clone Wars adventure taking place before and it requires only the movies' and TCW's context, once again. *While technically taking place after Hyperspace Stories #5, it contradicts that issue's events and makes more sense if it takes place before, so I listed it first (for more info on the contradictions you can go here)*

Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories #5 - Written by Amanda Deibert, with art by Riccardo Faccini (Variant cover by Cary Nord) Taking place shortly after Anakin's knighting, before The Clone Wars show, this is a short and interesting comic story for Asajj. While tying into an over-arching plot of the series, this issue stands alone well. Simply put, Asajj is sent to retrieve a mysterious item by Count Dooku and encounters Anakin and Obi-Wan in the process. It has fun art, fun dynamics, and it's really good.

Worthless - a short story from Stories of Jedi and Sith - written by Delilah S. Dawson with an illustration by Jake Bartok This one is not as set on the timeline, but we do know it takes place while Asajj is still working for Dooku. In short, without too many spoilers, Asajj falls into a pit and has to trust on a Clone Trooper's help to get out. The story is a part of an anthology, but it completely stand-alone on its own. If you can read it on its own, I recommend it, but the rest of the book is also very much worth it if you want to buy it for the story. Dawson captures a version of Asajj that rarely gets attention, before the Nightsisters, and manages to show her identity and tell a wonderful story without that tool that's often overly used (in my opinion).

Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle #3 - Written by Cavan Scott with art by Francesco Francavilla & Nick Brokenshire Jumping forward in the Timeline, we have another Asajj story by Cavan Scott! It has Bounty Hunting, A baby Sarlacc, pretty art, fun coloring, and Asajj. So what's not to love? Like Hyperspace Stories, Return to Vader's Castle also has an over-arching plot, but that's 4 framing pages of Vaneé being a bitch and has no effect on the rest of it. Solid stuff. (it is also the source of the first picture in this post)

Sisters - a short comic story from the Age of Republic Special - written by Jody Houser with art by Carlos Gómez Next, we have a wonderful short story taking place just before The Clone Wars episode "To Catch a Jedi". In just a few pages, Jody Houser brings conflict and personality to Asajj's time on Coruscant. And there's gorgeous art.

Legends

While Legends, and especially the comics, have some of my favorite stories with Asajj, it's hard to recommend individual issues. They can be stand-alone but still connected and ingrained in the ongoing story of the comics. But I tried to hand-pick the best for introduction and knowledge of who Asajj is a character there. So I won't recommend the 12 issues she's in, I set myself the limit of sticking with the same number of recommendations I had for canon.

Star Wars: Republic: The New Face of War - 2-issue Comic arc - written by W. Haden Blackman with art by Tomás Giorello Although I'm assuming you all have at least a passing familiarity with Asajj's character, introductions are still important. And, yes, Asajj first appeared in a different comic and after a month or so in Clone Wars (2003), but chronologically, in-universe, this is her first appearance. The Face of War is comprised of issues #51 and #52 of the Star Wars: Republic comic series, and although Asajj is only in the last page of #51, it's necessary context. This one isn't a must for me, but it sets the ground for her. And it's good. Giorello's art brings a unique perspective to Asajj's character, and by that I mean it may not be to some people's taste. So take your pick with this one.

Star Wars: Republic #53 - written by W. Haden Blackman, with art by Brian Ching If the last one isn't a must, this one is. It is a stand-alone adventure, almost feeling like a (better) TCW episode. Obi-Wan is off to infiltrate a Techno Union base with a team of all-star legendary Jedi that are introduced, and everything goes wrong when they run into the Confederacy's best, Durge and Asajj Ventress. I say it's a must because it establishes the nature of the rivalry between Obi-Wan and Asajj, and gives us such a sense of who those people are. It also lays the foundations to my next comic recommendation.

Dark Heart - short story by August and Cynthia Hahn This one, a 1784-word story, originally published on Wizards.com as a part of The Living Force roleplaying campaign, is definitely not a must, but it's barely 2k words, just read it. In all seriousness though, it captures Asajj's essence and I just. love it. You can read it right now, that's the link in the name, it's up online for free legally. While it is a part of the RPG campaign, I read it individually and had no trouble at all.

The Cestus Deception - by Steven Barnes (The Japanese cover is prettier and has Asajj, ok?) Obi-Wan Kenobi and Kit Fisto head to the planet Ord Cestus to try and convince Ord Cestus's government to ally with The Republic. But under the surface, a mysterious scheme had developed and it gets messy. Never ask me to write a publisher's summary. Asajj is the villain of this one, and I don't have much to say about it, but it is good. Fair warning: it hasn't aged the best in my opinion, and not even in a politically correct sense, some of the descriptions and relationships were questionable at best. If you like Kit Fisto and political adventuring and Clone Wars fights and a mascarade ball, if I remember correctly, this one's for you. It's not much of a story for Asajj but it is a fun read.

Star Wars: Republic #60 - written by W. Haden Blackman with art by Tomás Giorello I have never ever not once said it but this right here is my favorite Asajj story of all time ever. It does require context, though, so here's it: after the battle of Jabiim, Alpha-17 (Legends Arc Trooper, you may have heard of him) and Obi-Wan (a staple in Asajj's stories, he needs to gtfo women's business) are blown up and declared dead. Turns out Asajj Ventress has been holding them in her castle on the planet Rattatak and this is the daring story of their escape. In this issue, Asajj's origin story is revealed, before the Nightsisters had anything to do with her. More than any other Legends issue, it differentiates greatly from anything you know about Asajj in TCW/Canon. She's a warlord, with armies at her beck and call, a military commander, And it's fun. Her origin story is told in this issue, and it's such a great story that shifted my understanding of her a lot. The art, once again, is by Giorello, keep it in mind.

Yoda: Dark Rendezvous - by Sean Stewart (Japanese cover, once again) Last but certainly not least, the Legends Clone Wars book I've heard the most positive reviews of, and was not disappointed in the slightest. It is as good as they say. The story doesn't focus on Asajj, and she isn't even the main antagonist, but she gets a meaningful role in it and has her place and her arc in the story. It's also my favorite approach to how Asajj would act when she has to deal with children. Worth the hype and an excellent book to read unrelated to Asajj.

Alright, that's all! I hope you check out at least one of these, they're all great. As said before, I also have a complete list of everything Asajj in chronological order. Feel free to ask me anything about the list and the things in it. I can also give a complete comic reading list for her, since it's a bit more than just the issues she appeared in. For anyone struggling with the accessibility of these recommendations, I have a hopefully comprehensive guide in the complete appearances post. And now just this list because I promised that:

Canon 1) Dooku: Jedi Lost Audiodrama - Script by Cavan Scott, preformed by full cast (also available in Script format) 2) Brotherhood - by Mike Chen 3) Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories #5 - Written by Amanda Deibert, with art by Riccardo Faccini (Variant cover by Cary Nord) 4) Worthless - a short story from Stories of Jedi and Sith - written by Delilah S. Dawson with an illustration by Jake Bartok 5) Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle #3 - Written by Cavan Scott with art by Francesco Francavilla & Nick Brokenshire 6) Sisters - a short comic story from the Age of Republic Special - written by Jody Houser with art by Carlos Gómez

Legends 1) Star Wars: Republic: The New Face of War - 2-issue Comic arc (Star Wars: Republic #51-52) - written by W. Haden Blackman with art by Tomás Giorello 2) Star Wars: Republic #53 - written by W. Haden Blackman, with art by Brian Ching 3) Dark Heart - short story by August and Cynthia Hahn 4) The Cestus Deception - by Steven Barnes 5) Star Wars: Republic #60 - written by W. Haden Blackman with art by Tomás Giorello 6) Yoda: Dark Rendezvous - by Sean Stewart

tag list: @thechaoticfanartist @charmwasjess @metalatl @redsandspirit @slutshartsstuff @housepartyfortwo @karma-malfoy @thelivingforce

[worlds-oldest-teenager]

I’m interested. How do Apollo and Artemis’s desire to protect each other drive a wedge between them?

I'm glad you askeddd. Thank you for being my first anon ever btw. (@crowmakeska-boom idk if you are the anon but anon, whoever you are, sorry for the wait). This is probably not a very good meta cause it's mostly vibes, gut feelings and filling in the blanks with below the bare minimum of textual evidence but oh well. 

First I'd like to talk about why I think Artemis and Apollo's relationship is kind of distant. They're a confusing duo. When you first meet them in the titan's curse it may seem they don't like each other much or atleast Artemis seems to not be paticularly fond of her brother. Calling him “irresponsible”, “lazy”, “big headed”. But reading between the lines reveals how much the two of them care for each other, especially on Apollo's part from all the illegal help he was dishing out to the questers.

But then when you read some more, their relationship just feels a tad too distant to completely take what they say as just banter. When we see them on Delos in Blood of Olympus the distance is literal. They're recycling banter that's getting old and you can tell that even if it had been lighthearted before, it’s definitely getting on both their nerves now (stolen from fsinger lmao). They’ve both been playing the part for a long time but it feels like they don’t have the closeness anymore to recognize they’re both just playing parts. 

So what happened?

I think it's their need to protect each other that's causing this rift between them. From my point of view Artemis & Apollo are protecting each other from different things but Olympus is at the core of it for the both of them.

The twins have a very different experience of Olympus. Since her introduction Artemis seems pretty critical of Olympus. According to the hunters she's the only one who can get the ball rolling during solstice meetings and she's shown to not really act the Olympian way. Taking the sky off the shoulders of a mortal girl. Shrinking herself down to make the human heroes feel more comfortable and demanding they get rewarded.

It wouldn't be far fetched to assume that she's never fit in with Olympus and doesn't agree with most of the views of her family.

Then there's Apollo.

Who fits in so perfectly with the messed up inner workings of Olympus or so people think. He's perfected his mask over the years and no one is the wiser about the abuse he's gone through or even the fact that this isn't actually who he is.

To me, Artemis wants to protect Apollo from Olympus' true nature. In her head she's got every part of Olympus figured out and for the most part she has. Even if it's not something that works for her I think she would want to protect her younger brother from knowing what the kind of people he surrounds himself with are truly like.

I feel like Artemis would be conflicted on it for other reasons too because if Apollo is aware of the kind of people the Olympians are and he's alright with that, what kind of god is Apollo?

So she'd much rather think of him as stupid and irresponsible cause those atleast mean that it isn't he isn't a bad person. But I feel deep down she doesn't really believe completely that what she knows of her brother is correct.

But then she sees the way Zeus loves Apollo and cares for him and in her mind it's the right decision to let him live this way. He is safer now than they ever were as children.

Apollo on the other hand wants to conceal their father's true nature from Artemis. We know that he cares deeply about appearing fine on the surface because of how others would worry and who would worry more than his older sister.

Artemis and Apollo may be the protectors of youth but the first ever youth they protected were each other. It's the foundation of their relationship and caries on into the present day. Both of them feel a desperate need to protect each other.

I would go so far as to say that this is THE relationship they have with each other. The both of them never find comfort in each other, only protection. You can tell that comfort is not something they usually derive from each other from the way they're both completely blindsided by simple things like an "I love you" , a hug and just concern in general.

Comfort from each other is not a priority for them no matter how much they crave it. The twins purpose to each other is to protect.

So of course Apollo would never tell Artemis about the way Zeus hurts him.

I also think there's a little bit of denial on Artemis' part on just how abusive Zeus is. Cause Apollo is dropping hints. Even the way Artemis talks during Blood of Olympus makes it clear that she understands Zeus is gonna massacre the guy. She just doesn't want to believe it will be permanent.

And it's got a lot to do with the fact that she wants to protect him. Because if she acknowledges this isn't a situation Apollo is gonna come out from unscathed that means that she's incapable of protecting him. That means that she's failed to protect him before and cannot protect him again.

So she'd much rather pretend that Zeus is persuadable and not that bad. That it's Apollo's fault Zeus comes down so hard on him and if he were a little better and a bit more like her he could be safe.

And this would hurt Apollo because Artemis can pinpoint exactly what Zeus is like. But instead of comforting him she confirms for him that this is his fault. That if he could be better none of this would happen. Artemis helps prevent but never helps heal because helping her brother heal means he was in a position to be hurt in the first place.

All this mess and miscommunication and disbelief stemming from the fact that they love each other and never want to see each other hurt creates an impossible distance between them.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Slowly but surely they're trying to comfort/ seek comfort instead of just protect each other.

I wept on my sister’s shoulder. I felt like if I let go of Artemis, I would fall back into Chaos. Huge parts of my identity would shake loose, and I would never be able to find all the puzzle pieces. “Whoa, there.” She patted my back awkwardly. “Okay, little fella. You’re all right now. You made it.”

Apollo's trials sucked. But I'm glad it's given the twins the opportunity to bridge the gap between their relationship again.