#don't like this at all but this scene is impossible to capture in gifs

[normalbrothers]

TOMMY: Arthur, Frances was right. Linda was here today.

[sparrowlucero]

Instead of discourse about showrunners and lesbians and whatever, I'm gonna bring a different type of discourse...whats ur fav and least Dr Whomst monsters. Hard mode: only the practical ones.

ok so I do like all the obvious ones, I like the angels, I like the vashta nerada, I like the not-things, I like the eternals. Here's a few deeper cuts (focusing on the tv show specifically):

they peaked with these maggots. they rock. pretty sure they're made with taxidermy? really great puppetry. I really like this thing:

what a cool design for this kind of forgotten midseason episode.

this is such a fun design for a langolier-type monster. I love how their crest and tail gives them the silhouette of a grim reaper

The 60s cybermen rock. I feel like they're hesitant to use them often in the modern show because they do look very 1960s but I think there's something really uncomfortable and evocative about the cloth faces that's lost when they're cool metallic robots. The mix between looking like an old diving suit and the implication of there being a chopped up person inside is gnarly and I love it. Simple, creepy, iconic design.

My favorite design in the show is probably this:

The 456 from the spinoff series torchwood. They didn't need the puppet to emote or move a ton since it spends the entire season in a little tank obscured in mist, so they just went crazy with the design and made it really bizarre looking. Extremely top tier alien. Anyways, negative. I really don't like this satan. the satan kind of sucks. the impossible planet is great atmospheric sci fi horror; every image of build up in it is haunting and leagues ahead of the climactic scene where he meets the satan. It singlehandedly kind of kills the vibe.

Personally I would have just kept the actual appearance off screen, just have it be eyes in the dark or something. Apparently they also tossed around the idea that it would end up being a normal little girl who was chained up in the cave and I think that would have visually fit the rest of the episode better.

I'm really not big on the modern design for the sea devils (the green one on the right). I think the classic ones clearly took a lot of direct influence from real animals and generally is a pretty thoughtfully realized design, the modern ones seem like they were first and foremost using the classic ones for reference and didn't quite capture the nuance of the design. Sad, as I would really like to see design for these guys with modern puppetry.

I think this is actually a pretty contentious opinion but the work of the specific studio who headed this redesign generally wasn't my favorite. Apparently there was some sort of major, semi public falling out between the fx studio that had been working on the show since 2005 and the people who started running the show in 2018, and they were briefly replaced with a much less experienced studio. No hate to them of course (I think this was actually their first job like, ever, and a lot of the work was done in crunch time?) but the difference did stand out to me:

[first-class-feral]

brad dourif scrungly feature analysis: eyes

from the “Boys” dourif-hottie supercut music video:

I’d love to see an artist break this down!

For now, let me write you a novel about Brad's spectacular eyes...

The Strangeness

(Skip if you want to preserve the mystery.) BD's right eye is placed a little higher, and turned up as if tugged from the outer corner. I think it's part of that subtle something that immediately sets him apart. This unique, catlike, romantic asymmetry snatches your attention.

.

The glow

His striking, chameleonic blues capture light — even in B&W — which directors loooooove to exploit by lighting him obliquely:

It's a great way to crank up the eerie vibe of any scene, and I respect Star Trek for trashing that option outright with all-black contacts. (Of course, he still served an incredibly compelling outsider.)

(Edit: I put up a post just about this effect because they seriously do it all the damn time) (...because it's awesome)

Set in shadows

He has hooded eyes, deep-set and accentuated by heavy eye bags. The shadows and textures draw you in toward those luminescent irises, like picture frames that amplify each motion of his eyes.

.

Contrast

Sometimes he pops them wide open, creating these huge, expressive magnets...

...Or squints lopsidedly...

...Or interrogates, challenges, threatens — alert but defensive, like a prey animal on the edge of lashing out.

He’s said he chooses roles that "turn him on" (pretty clearly in an artistic sense); many of these blend menace and vulnerability, and our boy dumps emotion into every. single. line. This can manifest as an intense, wary, combative look, with eyes wide under neutral or furrowed brows:

.

Cry, baby

...And that's all before we mention the tears. He cries, of course, at will and liberally, and his eyes go red-rimmed and wet, highlighting them even more as he pins someone's soul to the wall with his gaze.

When he hovers right on the edge, they seem to shine in the dark.

.

Bared

At times, his fair eyelashes almost vanish, compounding his unusual look with a birdlike or reptilian tinge.

Obviously, the shaved brows in LOTR add to this effect.

A couple more things you'll notice here: he'll hold his eyes wide open for much longer than normal, drawing out these moments and making him seem even more alien.

And when he gets up-close in someone's face (which is often), he's constantly switching his gaze between their eyes — totally fixated, as if scanning for emotional feedback. In my opinion, it adds to that vulnerability: to the object of his attention, he must seem like a predator freezing them in place... but it's also desperate, like a prey animal trying to decipher the other person's intent, all senses tuned to pick up their slightest signal. (Gríma Wormtongue and Jack Dante especially have this pathetic air about them: grasping at sources of warmth while lashing out at the harsh, unintelligible world around them, allying themselves with uncontrollable destructive forces in an attempt to establish a place for themselves........)

.

TL;DR

The eyes — and how he uses them — are the standout scrungly feature, the main reason we can’t look away from this unforgettable weirdo.

The cat-eye asymmetry pulls focus;

His ice-blue irises are light traps, framed in textured shadow;

His full-bore emotional commitment ramps up the anguish and torment to an aching crescendo that's impossible to ignore.

Eventually I'll follow up on other contributing factors, but for now, I'll leave you with a couple of article snippets about The Eyes:

Imagi-Movies: Vol 1 No 2 — Winter 1993/94. Pages 11-13: "Traumatic - Brad Dourif". Link

SoHo News: November-December 1981. "Tension and mercy - Brad Dourif glowers for our sins" (an article all about his eyes! But they don't mention the asymmetry.)

[Gifs were mostly stolen from the GOAT, @exdeputysonso — with some of my own, mostly the square ones. Shout-out to @dragonsbloodsnowcone for inspiring this word vomit.]

Thanks for reading!

[sanvcnblvd]

[The Impossible Soul] by chamel

[The Impossible Soul] by chamel/@cha-melodius

(Alternate blue version to match the original lake scene’s colour grading below)

There is a certain kind of sadness I felt when I first watched A.I. Artificial Intelligence as a child, and even though I feel like this story is more inspired by elements of the TV series Westworld, I felt that the emotionality of the story matches a lot with A.I.

It’s a beautiful, poignant story that is masterfully written to have the same emotional gravitas that I feel is more commonly achieved through a longer, multi-chaptered fic. For those who are intimidated by longer fics, this is a great, shorter one to read.

I went through six different designs before settling on this one. Abandoned the others because the vibes and intentions were off for me (I felt it was moving towards more Dan-Brown’s-The-Da-Vinci-Code which I felt like did not fit the emotions of the original fic at all). Personally, I think I hit it out of the park, but I also think I got lucky in the end.

The cover is to show Henry during his manufacturing, with the original scene in the movie is of Henry underwater at the Lake House. The curved structure above Henry’s head is meant to be the structure holding the Hosts in the vat when they’re being manufactured (screen captures are from the show’s intro credits). I foregone adding in the structure directly behind/above the Host’s head because I felt it would be too distracting on the actual cover.

The full poster that can be added to the .epub file for your kindle/e-book reader is at the end of the post! If you need any assistance, please don't be afraid to ask!

[heartilywrites]

Hiii! Can i request a korra x reader fic where reader is lin beifong’s daughter and is also a soldier? Like they met when korra got arrested and later on reader joined team avatar

Thank u love u!

،، 𝓛ike it's magnetic ; Korra

request guide | masterlist

resume: an arrest for destruction of property couldn't get you anywhere, right?

content warning: fluff ; comfort ; angst if you squint your eyes enough ; Korra x fem!reader ; r is Lin's daughter which means a metal and earthbender ; she's also the lieutenant for the police force ! ; taking place in s1 ; no use of y/n

wc: 4.7k

a/n: i realize i can't do fics under 3k when the request needs a whole season for context, but i love doing it that way <3 HOPE YOU ENJOY, LOVE U TOO :D <33

“ There's no safety net that's underneath, I'm free falling all in you.

There was absolutely no way someone could prepare you for what one of the officers in the radio had just said.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I'm sorry, could you repeat again what you just said? A what now?”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “A girl from the water tribe just fire and earthbended and it's destroying some stores at the south of the city.” you frowned at the machine, turning around to look at your company, they shrugged. “We need reinforcement, she has a polar bear dog and is running away.”

After giving the order to follow coordinates to capture the girl, you quickly walked to the nearest window to look at the city. It was impossible... She had to be... No, the avatar was supposed to be in the South at this exact moment learning airbending! Or, well, at least that was what your mother told you.

They didn't pay you enough to be lieutenant, you thought to yourself while looking at the suspect in the streets, master Tenzin was supposed to be with her, what the hell was she doing in the city?

Once captured and brought to the station, you were the first one to hop off the transport and handcuff her before entering the building.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Hey! What are you doing?” she tried to resist with no success to get out of your grip. “Wait, where are you taking Naga? Stop!”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I'm gonna need you to stay calm, avatar.” you said in a soft tone, as if that was the magic word, she relaxed her muscles and allowed you to guide her. “This is protocol, you were disturbing the peace and... Destroying property.”

Korra turned her face to look at you, confused. “How do you know I'm the avatar? Most importantly, why just me? There were three men robbing people!”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Well, for once, I don't really know any water tribe person who can fire and earthbend too, do you?” a funny smile painted your face, Korra felt her face grow warm at the gesture. “And I know that, I already have men bringing them too.”

The girl blinked surprised, feeling an electric current traveling along her back when your eyes met hers. Mossy green with thin yellow areolas and sparkles of grey, she caught after you looked away.

Both walked into an interrogation room and you got rid of her handcuffs for a moment, offering her a seat you stood next to the table, alert at anything that could happen.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “What's your name, officer?” Korra asked calling for your attention once more, when you turned to her your mouth opened to answer, but were cut off with the sound of your boss saying your name. You tilted your head like saying 'that' to the avatar and turned completely.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Ma'am.” you greeted the older woman, standing straight. “We got the suspects, Song is bringing the remaining men from the scene.” with a quick finger movement you locked back the handcuffs before the woman could see.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Thank you, lieutenant, you can leave us.” you nodded and walked out of the room, but stayed close. There was something about Korra that caught your attention, besides the fact that she was the avatar.

Against any popular belief, being the only other Beifong in the city at the moment didn’t give you any special treatment and that would include meeting the avatar before she arrived. Your mother was too strict, she had no interest on you meeting the girl for security. Your own security.

She knew how being close to the avatar could mean putting you in danger too and since you were her only daughter, she didn’t want that. You acted the way she wanted you to, even becoming part of the police force was her idea, she said it was to have you secure and for you to being able to defend yourself; your ascent to lieutenant was all on your own.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Lieutenant Beifong!” a familiar male voice called for you, your eyes looked up from the papers on your hands and a smile took place.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Councilman Tenzin,” you greeted back. “Can I help you, sir?”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I'm here to collect a troublesome avatar.” he answered, a tired look in his face made you giggle a little bit.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “We have her, yeah.” you pointed with your head for him to follow you to the interrogation room. “Is she here for training?”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “No, she's here because she didn’t understand that our training needed to be delayed.” a small grimace appeared on your face, your lips and nose frowned.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “She seems happy to be here instead of... wherever she was hidden before.” you said in a small voice. Tenzin looked at you with a raised eyebrow.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Her place is not the city, not now.” he ended the discussion, you nodded and walked up to the door, announcing him to your mother.

After what appeared to be an agreement talk for all the parts, you saw the man and the girl walk out the room. Korra was the first to notice you and walk up to you, an almost invisible blush showed on her cheeks.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I'm sorry for the troubles.” she said, you brushed it off with your hand and a big smile.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Don't worry, I'm sure we will see each other again some time.” offering your hand for her to shake, she did and smiled big too.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Thank you, lieutenant Beifong, I'll see you around.” Tenzin said his goodbye, making you nod.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “You're a Beifong too!?” Korra opened wide her eyes, you nodded once more with a little laugh.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Chief's daughter.” you answer in a whisper before sighing. “Here to help and serve you, avatar.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Call me Korra, please, that's my name.” she presented herself, your eyes sparkled at her name and your own voice repeated it in a low tone.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Let's go, Korra, we have to retrieve Naga too.” the airbender called, breaking the eye contact between you two.

She turned a second time and mouthed a little 'bye' before letting go of your hand and walk back to the man. You stood there watching her leave, closing the hand that had the avatar's almost like feeling the absence of the warmth you felt when you hold it and then your mother's voice saying your name made you jump in place and almost run to her.

After that interaction, the southerner was almost everything you got in your mind even when you were working. You felt so intrigued to Korra, almost daily you found yourself wondering about her, not being able to look for her mainly because of your work keeping you busy with the new anti–benders movement taking strength.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “We need to have all the officers available in every entrance.” was overheard when arriving to the room with a files that needed to be approved. The man in the room left with one of the folders after the chief dismissed him.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I'm on duty tonight, I can go.” you said without anyone asking, putting the other folder on a little basket and turning to your mother, she was arms crossed. “You said you need all the officers. I'm an officer.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “You, young lady, will stay out of danger.” she said taking the folder in her hands.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Mom,” she side–eyed you, raising an eyebrow. “Chief, I can go. I'm a lieutenant whether you like it or not, I am more help than I am hindrance.” you defended your case.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “We are fighting equalist, lieutenant,” she began, letting the words on the air for a second before sighing. “I need you to be cautious and alert tonight, I don’t want anything happening to you.” the last part was said in a soft tone, you smiled.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I'll be on my best behavior tonight, chief, I promise.” she dismissed you and that was your key to get ready.

Getting ready took you just a couple of minutes before following everyone to the bus. You got word about it being a championship of probending and how Korra was going to be part of it just as the group was entering the arena. Surprised took over you at the new information and seconds later, excitement at the thought of seeing the girl competing.

You greeted Tenzin when reporting to Lin about how everyone was on their spot and how you would take one of the balconies to be near the teams just in case.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Lieutenant Beifong, is good seeing you.” the man smiled ephemeral to you, you copied the gesture with a big smile. “Korra will be so happy to see you, I think she estimates you since the other day.”

Your eyes shined with curiosity and happiness to the comment. “Hopefully nothing big goes on and we can see her win tonight.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I wouldn't be so sure, kid. Take position, the match will begin soon.” Lin talked before Tenzin could make more small talk, you nodded and said goodbye to the older ones.

Knocking a couple of times on the door you entered poking your head to see the team of probenders. Korra's face lit up when she saw you and a big smile painted her face while exclaiming your name, she gave you a small greeting hug while you giggled.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Hey, suspect, is so good seeing you here since someone doesn't like going to my work to say hi.” you poked her side making her laugh, your heart felt warm at the sound.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “It's been crazy days, I'm sorry.” she distanced herself making you want more proximity, but you had to get your head in your work. “Guys, this is the friend I've been telling you about,” she presented you by name to the two men and you smiled a little. “They are my friends and team, Mako and Bolin.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Great meeting you guys,” you said, both hands behind your back. “I'm here to ensure your safety tonight.”

A small talk began between the group and when the lights got low, everyone got in position. You decided to be near the edge for easy access and, conveniently, you were more attentive of the match. The first half went by smoothly, you were cheering for the fire ferrets and got to wave a couple of times to Korra, assuring her with pure gestures how it was okay to lose the first round.

Suddenly you started to hear electric shocks and the sound of metal hitting the floor, with a frown you tried to get a look of what was happening and before you could make any sound, you were hit by electricity into unconsciousness. Korra had fallen into the water by then, when resurfacing to look at you, she only caught your silhouette hitting the floor and seconds later, it happened to her too before she made any move to go to you.

Minutes that felt like hours passed and just as an explosion took place, you were able to get into consciousness and back on your feet. Seeing how you were again alone on the balcony, your mind quickly remembered Korra; with back pain you stood back up and ran to the edge seeing Korra submerge in the water, one look at the group of equalists trying to leave gave you the context.

When you calculated the distance you realize there was a chance she couldn’t make it in time with the limited water source, so you jumped to hang yourself to the roof with your metal cables and as suspected she started to fall back down after some height. You caught her by the waist, Korra looked up surprised at you and was met with a wink from one of your emerald eyes, she was thankful of how you were looking up planning on throwing her to the roof so you couldn’t see the way she blushed at the action.

It took you a moment after she was there to get up yourself and a second later, the chief made you two company. At first it was a fair fight until you got hit again by the electric glove of one of the attackers, a grunt came from you and made you drop to your knees with pain in your back... more than before.

Korra was quick to run your way and defend you as much as she could, you, on the other hand, took the hit as an excuse to stay down looking at her, amazed on the way she moved attacking the man and captivated on how good she looked fighting them.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Lieutenant!” your own mother screamed from a couple of meters away making you turn quickly at her. She had her eyebrows raised.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Right, sorry!” you were fast to stand up and help them fight as much as possible.

There was a point were Lin was able to hook to the airship, you were making sure she was well supported that got distracted and pushed by one of the men. Thankfully you were quick to use your cable to hook yourself and prevent a fatal fall.

You landed near Tenzin who helped you get up and a minute later, the same chief and avatar fell through the roof to where you two were.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Oh, thank the spirits you're okay.” Korra said when she saw you.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I'm a tough lieutenant, they can't take me down that easily.” you answered back, smiling, the avatar giggled. “That was... something.”

Korra nodded agreeing with you, her eyes looked up to the roof while yours stayed fixated to her face. “It was... I believe we will have a lot of work.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “We will...” you said on a low voice, when her gaze turned back to you, both blushed to the sudden silence and clash of eyes. “But, uhm, you can count on me if you need anything. Protection, defense classes, a friend.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Oh! Same to you! Well, no the defense classes since you don't have any other bending besides earth and metal. Which are really cool too! I wish I could metalbend too.” Korra spoke a little too fast for you to understand anything, winning a giggled from you, she blushed more and felt her heart race.

Your mouth opened to speak again, but got interrupted by your name being called. “We're leaving! We have a lot of work in the morning!”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “On it!” you screamed back before turning to Korra and smile with calm. “Okay then, you know where to find me. Don't get yourself in too much trouble, yeah? At least not when I'm not around.”

Korra mumbled a couple of positive answers, you took a step closer and gave her a kiss on the cheek as a goodbye before running to your mother when she called you a second time. The avatar stood still for a couple of seconds, not believing what had happened and smiling big afterwards, feeling like walking in clouds.

The next days were such a mess, work got more demanding than before, wherever the new chief was busy people looked for you asking for help or guidance such as had happened the night of your dismissal as police.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Lieutenant Beifong!” you knew that voice, a wave of relief washed over you after your eyes recognized her.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Korra, thanks the spirits you're here.” you said smiling ephemeral leaving the officers with their word in mouth, greeting her friends with your hand.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “What are you doing? You need to leave this people alone!” a small frown was painted on her face, you sighed.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “That's what I've been trying to negotiate.” your hand was quick to point over to Tarrlok, Korra didn’t have any doubt in believing you. She knew you were on her side, she followed you no farther than three steps away.

You let her do all the talk, standing with a straight back and serious face, your hand was brushing hers in a secret way, even if Korra felt it she tried to act as if nothing was happening.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “No one moves!” you order after Tarrlok had told them to arrest the crowd, turning back to the officers.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “What do you think you're doing, Beifong?” the man asked, anger and disgust filling his voice.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Ordering my men, the chief is not here and I'm the lieutenant. They answer to me.” you answered back with such calm, Korra looked at you amazed at how your voice changed from the particular soft tone she knows to an strict one, she had no doubt you earned the position.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Yeah, well, I'm the head in charge of this whole task force and you answer to me.” even when he was walking up to you, you didn’t flinch nor moved back. “Round them up!”

Half of the officers were a bit confused at the exchange, another part was hesitant since they were loyal to you, but wanted to keep their job and the last amount did it without any doubt.

When you started to hear the pavement break and some screams of fear, you grunted and broke eye contact with the man to help Korra get as many people out as you could. You were unaware of what was happening behind you until you got captured by cables and were forced to walk back to the police cars.

Seeing Korra lift two pieces of earth bigger than her with threatening aura made your heart skip a beat, feeling your ears burn and the officers took advantage of your distraction to hand cuff you.

'I'll get you out' she mouthed at you after you got into the car, a nod and a smile was your answer. You trusted Korra with your life by that point and you didn’t know it, but she trusted you with hers.

Being in prision was probably the most boring part of them all, you shared cell with Asami who you found to be such a sweet person and a great company while waiting to get out of prision and back into helping the avatar stop the whole equalists and Tarrlok's demeanor on the whole situation.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Hope you got enough beauty sleep, ladies, let's go.” the familiar woman's voice made you close your eyes, wishing for the earth to open and swallow you in.

When you stood up, a nervous smile took place in your lips. “Heey, moooom...”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “You and I will talk later, kid, we have a missing avatar we need to search for.” you felt your heart drop to your feet at the news.

It was almost impossible for someone in the group to deny how out of everyone, you were the most impatient of them all to find Korra. Moved by anger and impotence of the whole situation, you fought everyone who would interpose in your way of finding the avatar, having people pull you away from the unconscious bodies you fought with.

Lin surely made a mental note of that, adding it to the so said talk she wanted to have with you. When the group was able to find her wondering almost unconscious, you ran to her pushing everyone and asking to stop with the questions.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “You scared the fuck out of me.” you whispered while taking her into your arms, she was quick to hug you by the neck and smile.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I'm sorry.” she whispered hoarsely, her eyes wandered along your features. A worried frown and an anxious glow in those mossy colored orbs she had been dreaming of since the first time she saw them.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I'm just glad you're okay.” with such caution as if you were handling the most fragile of things, you left Korra laying at the bison's seat. Your hands cupped her face while small caresses were provided by both thumbs. “We'll take you to safety so you can rest.”

One of her hands rested on top of one of yours and a weak smile met your gaze before she started to fall asleep and after that, you never left the avatar's side.

No one asked one question to either of you when the girl got better and you two started to be inseparable, when fighting you both found a way to complement each other's style, helping the other with every attack, sitting as close as humanly possible and making sure the other was okay when needed.

When having to divide and hide from the equalists, you made your life mission to protect the avatar from being seen anywhere and, clearly, following her when she wanted to see how the things were going outside. The night before the armed forces arrive to the city, you saw her sitting alone next to the polar dog while looking zoned out.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Hello, stranger.” your voice made the avatar look up and smile, it was almost visible the way she relaxed at your presence. “How are you?”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Nervous, anxious...” she made space for you to seat, following her unspoken request you did. Her hand looked for yours unconsciously, you tangle your fingers together with a smile. “You know what's crazy? A few months ago I was in the south pole practicing for my firebending test.”

You giggled a little bit, she smiled at the sound of your laugh, feeling more calmed.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “And now... I'm in the middle of an all–out war.” her smile faded into a worry frown. Your body moved as closed as you could to her.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I was beginning my training for lieutenant.” you laugh after a couple of moments in silence, trying to lift up the mood. “Life will always take us to the most unpredictable of places, Korra, is up to us to use that for our own favor... But, at least I'm glad it took you to flee from the south, I got to meet you.”

Your eyes were looking at her face, but when she heard the last part, her face turned to you completely in an almost surprised way.

Her ice blue orbs had sparkles in it; the most cold tone of light blue, on the center of them a sunflower was painted, her pupils started to expand in such a slow way that it was imperceptible. You laugh to yourself at the thought of how you've never stopped to see all those little details until now.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I'm glad it was you who arrested me.” she confessed, even if it was on a jokingly way, you knew what she meant. A small laugh left your mouth.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “When we get that fucker thrown in jail, I want to take you out on a date.” you spat, feel the need to take advantage of the comfortable aura you two where involved in between all that chaos. “I know the best place in the city where can eat dinner.”

The avatar smiled big and nodded. “I would love that.” she said in such a soft tone, Korra looked for your warmth, wanting to have you in her arms. You didn’t step away, allowing her to hug you.

The final battle was a whole mess, the whole team was scattered all around the city fighting to bring down the equalists movement in just one hit. You went with the girl and Mako as reinforcement if anything went south.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Korra!” you exclaimed after getting backstage with the airbending family. She stopped to look back at you. “I need to go to my mother.”

Even if the last thing you wanted to do was leave her, there was this discomfort of needing to look for the ex–chief, to make sure she was okay.

Korra understood, she wasn't going to force you to stay, that wasn’t her. The girl walked up to you and without any warning, her lips met yours in a sweet, inexperience way that made you smile with such happiness.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Be careful, please.” you whispered over her lips, even if you wanted that moment to last forever, the clock was ticking, so you started to walk away. “Kick his ass and comeback! The two of you!” that was the last thing you said to the two before running after Tenzin and the kids.

And the next time you two met, Korra ran to your arms as soon as she saw you. “I lost my bending.” she whispered in a shaky voice, making you embrace the hug with a heavyweight on your heart.

You were sure to be by her side when the whole group traveled to the Southern Water Tribe in hopes that Katara herself could get Korra's bending back.

Resting your head in your mother's shoulder, you were holding her hand while she was alert to the door for the two of you. Once the older woman made her appearance, you stood up way too fast and payed attention with eagerness. Seeing the avatar show herself in the main room, you could only show her a smile from you and when she walked out your feet were the first ones to follow right away to her, calling for the girl.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Go, leave.” she said walking towards Naga.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I believe it would take more than that to stop me.” you talked back, raising one of your eyebrows. “We will figure this out, we–.”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “No, go back to Republic City.” she cut you mid–sentence making you stop your steps. “I'm not the avatar anymore, you can go back to the city and live your life as calm as you were before I arrived.”

Your eyes blinked surprised at the way she was talking and you took the remaining steps away from her so she could look at you in the face.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “What are you talking about? I can't live without you.” you were quick to say, looking for her eyes. “There's no way I can live moving forward without you and I get it now, you're all I needed in my life to feel complete.” her eyes looked brighter with the tears beginning to accumulate. “Korra, I love you.”

As if the air was pulled out of her lungs, Korra excused herself and left without looking back. You squeezed your lips in a thin line and sighed afterwards.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “She just needs time.” Tenzin said walking slowly to you, you turned and smiled weakly.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “I just want her to be okay.” you said in a soft voice, he let one of his hands rest on your shoulder.

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “She will be, Korra is stronger than she thinks.” the man answered, looking at the silhouette of the girl getting farther by minute. “You remind me of your mother, you know?”

You frowned with confusion looking back at him. “How so?”

‍ ‍ ‍ ‍‍ “Doing everything in her hands to ensure everyone's safety.” your eyes blinked a couple of times and your gaze got back to the front. “Maybe you should go after her to make sure she's okay.”

When you looked at him one last time, his eyes had a soft gaze in them, like looking on a mix of appreciation and encouragement. You nodded for a little bit and were soon quick to almost run after the avatar.

Arriving to were you could see Naga's prints, you looked amazed at the southerner in the avatar state for the first time, bending a big water wave only meaning she was able to get her connection with the elements back. When she was back, she saw you with such a big and proud smile on your lips; Korra didn’t waste any second to run to you ans hug you by the neck with her two arms and leave a shy kiss on your lips follow with the most sweet 'I love you too' you had ever heard said, making you almost melt at how good it sounded on her voice.

[sirfrogsworth]

Review of Blue Eye Samurai on Netflix

There are some spoiler-ish things below, but I think most of it is in the trailer, so I don't think I will ruin anything. I'll warn you during the most spoilery section, though the show makes the "twist" pretty obvious from the beginning.

Premise

Blue Eye Samurai is a Kill Bill-style revenge tale that takes place in 17th century Japan. The samurai is half white/half Japanese. The show states that no white folks were allowed in the country back then, so the samurai tries to conceal blue eyes with some sweet BluBlocker™ orange glasses. The Samurai is displeased to have white heritage and decides to try and kill all the "white devils" hiding in Japan.

Will some reactionaries complain there is a show all about someone trying to murder white people? I have no idea. But they're all bad white people, so I'm hoping it won't become a thing.

My Hot Takes

A few episodes meandered a bit, but I enjoyed the series as a whole quite a bit. If nothing else, the sword fights were epic and bloody. I would have watched it for that alone. And there is some gorgeous art direction where they really take advantage of the 2D styled, 3D animation. Plus, Japan is just really pretty. There is also a puppet show that was brilliantly mixed in with the story and the way they animated it was next level awesome.

They fell into cliche a few times. I think they were trying to do homages and tributes but ended up in Derivative Land and some of them felt a bit cringe.

They used "Battle Without Honor Or Humanity" which is that rousing instrumental song from Kill Bill and it was way too on the nose. Like, yes, this show is obviously a 1600s version of Kill Bill, but you're not supposed to make it that obvious.

Also, there was a Metallica song that equally made me roll my eyes and think, "That is badass" so I give them a pass on that one.

And there were a few sections where it felt like you were watching someone else play a video game. I don't know how else to describe it. As if the narrative melted away and suddenly a bunch of Prince of Persia obstacles appeared.

That said, the story was enjoyable, the actors were great, the characters were interesting, the animation was solid, and the fight choreography was top notch.

The nice thing about animation is you don't have to do any jump cuts during the action, so you get to really *see* the fights develop. Thankfully they didn't make use of a lot of impossible-in-real-life camera moves, so it all felt very grounded. As if these fights could actually be filmed in live-action. I suspect they may have even used motion capture or closely adhered to reference footage. Most of the non-fantastical choreography felt like something a stunt performer could actually do. They even had some legit Japanese samurai-style sword fighting moves before it got to the "John Wick with a katana" part of the show.

Back in the day, samurai duels were more akin to jousting than fencing and usually only lasted one or two moves. It can be pretty exciting as long as you build tension and anticipation. But if every sword fight in the show was like that, it would probably get boring. But it was still nice to see it toward the beginning.

So the quality was a bit roller coaster-y at times, but I think it was a solid first season. And I am really hopeful they get a chance to smooth things out in a second. But it is Netflix, soooooo...

As far as content warnings, there is a lot of blood and sex and nudity. Women are very subjegated and some of those depictions are rough. There are some brutal torture scenes. And I think there is implied rape, but it isn't made super clear.

The nudity was surprisingly balanced which felt refreshing. So get ready for boobies and floppy cartoon peens. All the genitals get screen time.

Quick aside about erotic scenes...

There has been recent discourse about nudity and sexy time in media. My biggest issue has always been that men's bodies are rarely shown aside from the patoot. It is never balanced and I always felt uncomfortable with that arrangement. I know movies are a bit stuck because the MPAA has decided dicks in a sexual context are an automatic NC-17. But even in newer HBO-type content where they do show penises, they are usually prosthetics. Hyper real fake dicks on top of real dicks that probably cost tens of thousands of dollars to develop and apply.

Like, the folks with boobs don't get expensive prosthetics. Only the most famous actresses can opt for a body double. For years, if an actress wasn't willing to get naked they would just say, "Well, I guess we'll just have to find another actress."

And now if a guy doesn't want to get naked, apparently the response is, "Don't worry, we'll raise Stan Winston from the dead so he can make you a perfect megadick."

Women are usually asked to do the brunt of the nudity and I have long felt that wasn't fair and it was exploitative whether intentional or not.

I just think if you are going to ask actors to be vulnerable, everyone should do it or no one should do it.

I also think we need to see more normal non-porn genitals. Like, you can't brag about your progressive all-inclusive nudity if you slap a giant fake wang on every time.

/end tangent

And now, the spoilery part...

The big twist, which is really only a big twist for a character in the show and not the audience, is that the Blue Eye Samurai was born a girl. To avoid capture and death they essentially hid in a different gender identity. And I'm trying to decide if this is a trans story or not.

Sometimes it felt like the show was bluntly saying, "She's a girl. See, she has boobs and no penis. And we make a big deal about her getting caught naked. It's like Mulan!"

But then the show kinda/sorta implies that while identifying as a man was a tactic at first, the Blue Eye Samurai came to feel much more comfortable as a man most of the time and only revealed their feminine attributes to a select few. They also had a binding scene which felt like intentional trans imagery.

Since there wasn't the same concept of trans-ness in 1600s Japan as we understand it in modern times, I'm having trouble determining if this is just an homage to Mulan that wasn't thought very deeply about, or if this is allegory exploring a trans identity.

It is unclear if the identity was chosen purely out of necessity or if there was more to it.

Was it like... they tried on a coat because it was cold, but then they really liked how it fit and made it an essential part of their wardrobe?

Or was it just pure pragmatism? If they don't wear the coat they will die from exposure.

I'm worried they wanted to stay close to that line where they could say it wasn't a trans story if that ended up being more convenient. I don't know. I'm fine with allegory and I really enjoyed how they did it with Nimona, but this felt more deliberately ambiguous and it frustrated me a bit. It would be nice if we could just have blatant trans stories that didn't need to hide in ambiguity to avoid controversy. But maybe there were more obvious things I missed and my confusion is unwarranted.

I also think an argument could be made for ol' Blue Eye being genderfluid. Actually genderfluid would make a lot of sense. Their masculine side is the stoic warrior and their feminine side is their vulnerability, love, and humanity—reserved only for those most trusted. And when the two blend and they are a warrior woman they get super horny. So the entire spectrum is there.

I'm sure there will be a long complicated video essay analyzing this gender dynamic.

/end of spoilery section

In any case, I think if you liked Kill Bill, this might be a show that interests you. It has much less cultural appropriation and blatant stereotyping. No Pussy Wagon, but there is a cool horse. And they did use an all East Asian voice cast, so that representation was cool. And the co-showrunner was Japanese, and I think that influence definitely made a difference.

I give Blue Eye Samurai 7.5 Froggies out of 10.

[sokkastyles]

ATLA LA Ep 3 Thoughts:

I actually did really like the intro to Azula. The way the camera focused on her watching the rebels burn alive with cold satisfaction felt so true to the original character. The scene itself felt ameutuerish so it was hard for me to believe in the stakes of it. Like, who is this random kid with a ragtag bunch of misfits and why is the royal family so personally invested in him that Azula would even bother?

On that note, here comes Ozai's speech from the trailer. Again, everything feels too low-stakes for me to believe Ozai would even bother justifying himself to this kid. It's a nice speech, but it feels like it was written for the trailer and then plopped into the scene.

"Do not speak to me of loss." Love that line (although again, it feels too good for the scene). I fully believe Ozai believes that he is the ultimate victim in his life.

I was already spoiled for this and knew I would hate it but not only is Ozai praising Zuko to Azula a change from the original dynamic, it also does not make a lot of sense even if he's just trying to fuel Azula's insecurities. I can't imagine Zhao's letter puts Zuko in a good light. The Ozai of the original show would most likely focus on what Zuko didn't do (didn't capture the Avatar) and that he actually did find Aang and lost him would only be more fuel for Ozai to see him as a failure. In the original show, Ozai has a golden child/scapegoat dynamic with Azula and Zuko, respectively. And in this type of dynamic, even the scapegoat's accomplishments are subject to ridicule by the parent, and sometimes even intentionally sabotaged by the parent. This is why, in the original show, when Ozai hears that Zuko found and then lost Aang, he sends Azula to bring Zuko back as a prisoner, dubbing him a failure. The fact that Zuko got close to Aang both highlights how he didn't succeed in Ozai's eyes and is a threat to Ozai's need to make him a scapegoat, so it makes sense that when the possibility of actually succeeding at what Ozai thought was an impossible task is on the table, Ozai would pull Zuko back. I understand that the show is trying to "humanize" Azula but it actually trivializes the abuse both Azula and Zuko experienced to make it about what Zuko or Azula did instead of about how Ozai sees them, because abuse is never about how good the kids are at pleasing the parent, it is about the parent's insecurities and desire to take that out on a vulnerable party.

It also makes it kinda funny when Azula is like "lol Zuko didn't do shit." I'm not convinced this would actually work as the psychological manipulation it is intended to be because it would be too easy for both Ozai and Azula to brush off this as yet another Zuko failure. You just KNOW Zhao's letter was like "dear firelord, guess what your incompetent son did this time, neener neener."

I also understand that they're changing things, but you can't change Zuko's dynamic with Ozai this much and still have him burn Zuko's face. Publicly humiliating and physically mutilating someone you intend to be your heir is just not logical, and I don't believe that even Ozai is that dumb.

Aang is so cute I just. I do miss Katara's anger and thought we would see a flash of it when Aang went all "just feel your feelings" but it makes sense that she doesn't get mad at him because he admits he's not the best teacher because he never really needed to listen to his teachers, instead of OG Aang who was not very self aware about being a prodigy and that frustrated Katara, who had to work much harder.

I feel like they are building the antagonism between Zuko and Zhao instead of having them be rivals right off the bat like in the original. Which makes sense if the show wants to explain something that was not explained in the original, but I do miss the hints of a shared history from the original even if it was never explained. Not everything needs an explanation.

"Allow me to contact a few trusted sources." LOL Zhao stay sleazy.

Oh, I love Zuko getting mad at Jee for "gossiping about a superior officer" right after he does that himself. They really nailed Zuko as someone who is so desperately insecure about his own vulnerabilities that he vacillates very quickly between uncertainty and obnoxious swagger, and Liu portrays it seamlessly.

Aang info dumping about Omashu <3

Oh, it's Jet.

Sokka, Katara was supportive about YOUR crush just a few minutes ago, what gives??

I expect 100k fake married in Omashu jetkotara on my desk by morning.

Teo precious bb

The subplot with the bombings does bring an urgency to how the war has really affected people.

Azula absolutely would be two steps ahead and ready to undermine Zuko from afar behind her father's back even if she doesn't believe he's a real threat. That's not so different from the original.

"Uncle Iroh and I will go." 100k jetkotara fake dating.

Jet is such an inherently ridiculous character. I can't decide if the merging of his plotline with the machinist makes things more complex or less. On one hand, Jet is more obviously wrong. On the other, I like that Sokka's conflict is focused on his relationship with the machinist instead of acting the overprotective big brother with Jet.

The machinist encouraging Sokka to follow his talents, aw! Sokka is so clearly missing his dad and in search of guidance.

Love the Aang and Teo scenes

"We don't have to be afraid of our pain." This scene is so zutara-coded, I'm sorry. Still don't like that Katara has to be told about her own bending by the boys in her life. But the thing with her mom was nice.

"Father would never approve of these under-handed tactics." Oh, honey.

Azula and Zhao! Zhao and Jee! The betrayal! The drama!

The scarf!

"Things might get a little hot for us around here." When will the fanfic be on my desk, I ask you?

Aang being like "Zuko I read your diary, who hurt you?"

The first time we see Iroh firebend is to save people while sacrificing himself.

There was a lot of entertaining stuff in this episode! Unfortunately the mixing of several plot points and merging of what was before episodic content into a long two parter that takes up a fourth of the season makes the world seem smaller, but that was kind of inevitable when you adapt a show like this. The show still feels rather directionless, although there was one mention of getting to the North Pole this episode.

[liveforjeongin]

Annoyed

-tickle fic, if you don't like that you can keep scrolling

requested by: @astrxxii

warnings: a bit long(?

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Skz were recording the music video of "Megaverse", one of the tracks of their upcoming album " Rock-star".

It was Chan's turn, he was recording a scene on a elevator while all the other members were just fooling around with each other.

Chan finished his part and went to the camera that was recording the making film at Felix's request, since he was the one that had the camera.

Chan started to talk to the camera, telling Stay how the recording was going, how he was feeling about it, the meaning of the song, and many other things. Minho, meanwhile, got tired of bother Hyunjin, he needed a new victim, and of course Chan looked like the perfect victim for him.

While Chan was talking to the camera, Minho went to a spot behind Chan, kinda far from him, but close enough to be captured by the camera. He started doing some faces as Chan was talking, which made Felix laugh while recording Chan.

Chan noticed something was amusing his dongsaeng, he turned back and noticed Minho making faces at him, gave him a killing look, as a warning for Minho. Minho understood that if he did anything else, he'd be dead, so went back to bother Hyunjin instead.

Chan went back to talk to the camera now that Minho had gone, but Minho, who was decided on tempting his luck, started yelling things like the classic "how old!" to Chan, at what Felix laughed again and Chan gave Minho another killing look.

Oh... Minho was so dead now.

A couple hours later, Skz finished the recording of the video, so they went back to their respective dorm, luckily for Minho, Chan lived in the other dorm, he wouldn't go to his just to punish him... Right?

The maknaes and Minho arrived their dorm, but a couple minutes after, Felix, Jeongin and Seungmin left again, leaving Minho alone at home.

About 20 minutes after the maknaes left the dorm, Minho heard the doorbell ringing and stood up to open the door. For his surprise (or not), it was Chan standing at the door.

"Hi, Lino" Chan said calmly, entering the dorm.

Minho sighed in relief, Chan seemed too calmed, of course it has to be a reason he's there besides punishing him... Right?

Chan sat on the couch, smiling reliably at Minho. Minho closed the door and sat next to Chan, almost 100% sure Chan won't do anything.

They turned on the Tv and started watching a movie, Deadpool for the 10296th time.

Suddenly, Chan jumped on Minho, overthrowing him on the couch. He sat on his hip and pinned his arms over his head with one hand, making it impossible for Minho to move.

"N-NO! WAIT!" Minho yelled nervously, there was no way that was happening.

"Aw, come on, you knew this was gonna happen in the moment you started annoy me~" Chan replied, sliding his hand under Minho's shirt

"H-Hyuhung, please! I'm sorry! I won't do it again, I promise!" Minho was begging already

Chan smiled teasingly at Minho "You're sorry? Mmmm... I don't think you are yet" said, and started tickling Minho's sides merciless

"NOHOHOHO! WAHAIT! HYUNG!"

"No what, Lino?"

"NOHOHO TICKLES, PLEHEHEHEASE!" Minho begged through his laughter

"Awww... But I'm just getting started!" Chan said and started moving up on Minho's torso, getting dangerously close to his armpits

"N-No, hyung... Please... Don't do that..."

"Oh but I think I will~" and with that, Chan started moving his fingers on Minho's armpits, softly and slowly

"N-No" Minho was trying to hold in his laughter, getting extremely red in consequence

"Awww~ You're trying to not laugh, huh? Alright, you left me no other option" said turned his back to Minho, setting his arms free. Minho sighed in relief, but then noticed what Chan was about to do

"N-NO HYUNG! Please, anywhere but there..." Minho begged

"Awww, you scared I tickle your worst spot? Oh Minho... But I definitely will~ Or is that too ticklish for you?" Chan teased, making Minho blush

"N-No, of course not... In fact, I-I'm not ticklish" Minho replied, all blushed

"Oh? Is that so? Well, then you wouldn't mind if I do this" squeezed Minho's thighs once, both at the same time, making Minho squirm and blush even more

"O-Of course not... I-I'm not ticklish... I told you!"

"Mmm, right, you said it, but I remember differently" and with that, Chan started to squeeze Minho's thighs, his worst spot from far

Minho started to squirm and kick his legs aggressively, trying his best to not laugh, but really close to fail

"Oh come on... Laugh for me~" Chan teased and squeezed Minho's thighs faster, which made Minho laugh immediately

"OKAHAHAHAHAHAHAY, YES I'M TICKLISH, STOP IT, PLEHEHEASE. HYUNG I'M SOHOHORRY"

"You're sorry for what, Minho?" Chan squeezed faster, making Minho go insane

"IHIHIHIHIHI HAHAHAHAA HYUNG! IHIHIHIHIHI'M SORRY FOR ANNOHOHOHOHOY YOU! PLEHEHEHEASE NO MOHOHOHOHOHORE!" Minho answered through his laughter

Chan giggled at Minho's strong reaction, gave him a last squeeze and then stopped, getting off of Minho, sitting back in the couch, smiling down at him

"You okay?" Chan asked giggling when Minho sat breathing hard

"Y-Yeah... I deserved that... I know" Minho replied, resting his head on Chan's shoulder, closing his eyes

Chan chuckled "You certainly did" started to stroke Minho's hair

Minho fell asleep soon. It's sure to say that he did learn his lesson... But that doesn't mean he will stop annoying his only hyung, it wouldn't be him if he didn't

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I think I put too much context I'm sorry💔

I hope you guys like it, it's my first tickle fic so I'll get better with the time, I promise

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

Sorry I tried leaving this as comments on your reply to my ask but there was just too much waffle and it was all jumbled so I’m putting it here😂😂

Sorry it took me a MARATHON of time to reply to, I can’t explain how pleased it makes me that this comment made your day bc honestly every time you update it always seems to be during a v tough week and it’s just this ultimate stress relief and enjoyment that I so so love🥹

Just to quickly waffle about what you said, I’m so appreciative of how you fret over the characters sounding real bc it pays off SO MUCH and though I’m still of the mind that you’ve been given this unique ability to read their minds, I can recognise it must take so much studying of their characters and the words you choose and to have such a phenomenal skill <3333

And honestly I LOVE watching him have all these realisations through Suzy bc it’s so real and so satisfying and I’m so excited (but also terrified bc poor woman how do you compete with soul mates) to see how everything unfolds between them all.

And the LITTLE DETAILS that you should honestly trademark bc you do them so well 😭 but I literally have this growing list in my mind that I need to write down cause they make my heart flutter they’re so intimate and careful :’) I could literally waffle about them all day.

You’re so right, they have SUCH a special dynamic, and often I find it frustrating with real life ships bc it’s not like with films where though characters can be deep they have a specific kind of basis to them which fits a role. Real people are so complex and so it’s not 24/7 that someone gets them so right that you feel like you’re watching a segment of their lives (milex writers in general do tend to have an uncanny ability to write them brilliantly) but with you it feels like everything you write can just be added on to their actual interactions and it’s perfection.

I’m so so pleased that my ramblings had an impact on getting your confidence back to heights it should be at because I rlly can’t explain how brilliant you and your writing are so thank you thank you for all the work you put into it. I’m SO EXCITED for the next chapter 🥰🥰🥰🥰 and one day I’m gonna go into the absolute insane perfection that is the sex scene in chapter 8 bc the realism, build up, and EMOTIONS as well as pure sexyism (almost put sexism there which wasn’t quite right 😂) is just one of the best and sauciest things I’ve ever read.

💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

Also trying to add a cute lil milex hug gif to this is impossible bc they’re all far too sexually charged or emotionally unstable 😂

hiii lovely!! 💝 oh my goddddddd i swear your asks just leave me a blushing, giddy mess every single time 😭😭

i'm so glad to hear that my updates always seem to manage to coincide with a time where they're able to provide you with a little bit of comfort and escapism 🥺

honestly i've always just found other people fascinating, and have found myself imagining what the world might be like through their eyes for as long as i can remember! it's been so much fun to get to really delve deep into that in this fic, so i really love that you notice and appreciate that side of it 🥰🥰 aghhhhhh. it truly just means so much to hear that you feel i capture something real about alex and miles and their dynamic in this fic, thank you 🥺

also STOP your flailing about the smut scene is too sweet 😭 i am SO glad you felt all the build up and emotions worked, and honestly any time you feel like going into it, please don't hold back - i am more than happy to hear your thoughts! it was hands down one of my favourite bits of the whole fic to write, actually 🥰

once again your utterly lovely words have lifted my spirits so much, thank you for your kindness and generosity in taking the time to share your experience of reading four walls with me 💖 you're an absolute gem and i cannot WAIT for your to read chapter nine! (which will be posted tomorrow... 😉)

(god you were not wrong about the milex hug gifs, were you?! aghhh they're both so ridiculous 😭😭 anyway here, have them being their silly, playful selves having the best time together! sending you all the best vibes for your weekend 💜🌟)

[hopeymchope]

This doesn't really belong here, but oh well: Planet of the Apes time

The recent release of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes looked weirdly good to me in its trailer? Maybe 2024 is just sort of light on movies to feel hyped about, idk.

It's strange because the whole "Planet of the Apes" thing never really appealed to me. I know the jist, of course. Everybody has absorbed information about the 1968 original via cultural osmosis, even if I've never actually watched it. And I've lived through the entire reboot trilogy from the 2010s, so I'm vaguely aware of the basics of what they were doing from their promotional campaigns. But like... apes. I never cared before now.

Yet somehow, something about Kingdom's ad campaign convinced me to go back and stream the recent Planet of the Apes 2010s-era reboot trilogy, casually watching them for the first time.

Well, I MEANT it to be a "casual" watch, anyway. By the second movie, I couldn't tear myself away. And now I can't stop thinking about them??? I'm partly obsessed with the motion capture tech and performances, which are just gobsmacking. Andy Serkis, y'know? The MOCAP GOAT.

But I'm also pretty obsessed with some of the these characters. Casesar is such a deep and compelling character that he carries the entire series despite being a CGI chimp. Koba is impossible to tear my eyes away from, with a heel-turn that I both totally understood yet hated to see happen. I adore an orangutan named Maurice now. Absolute fave.

Quick rundown of thoughts on the trilogy:

Rise of the Planet of the Apes — This was... fine. It is a movie that exists, but I don't feel particularly positive OR negative towards it. There are some great moments in here, but the greater package is kind of "whatever." This just feels like it's mostly just prologue/setup to something bigger, and... well, that proves to be true. But it does introduce us to important characters and give us background on them.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes — This was so fucking great. ABSOLUTELY my jam. Suspenseful throughout, fantastic human and ape characters, performances are stellar on both sides. Gary Oldman is barely in it and still makes me want to curl up and cry in a scene he has with NO DIALOGUE, that guy is so peak. Hell, this MOVIE is so peak. I don't even want to say too much. The journey was worth it for 'Dawn' ALONE.

War for the Planet of the Apes — Is this as good as 'Dawn'? No. Is it a good conclusion to the story arc of lead character Caesar the chimpanzee? Eh... not really imo. Is it obvious by now that this series utterly failed ALL its female characters? HELL fucking yes; big problem. Is it still a really, really good movie somehow in spite of all that? Actually, YEAH. Director Matt Reeves really knows how to handle some intense emotional storytelling and some really suspenseful scenes that make it a still-powerful experience overall. I was still riveted by this thing.

....guess now I'll have to see Kingdom.

[buckets-and-trees]

First, how impossibly cute is Brambleberry Cove??? I adore that being the name of the town!

I have so much to say that I hardly know where to start!

I felt it! Steve can just have this wonderfully soft and warm effect that's so palpable - you're particularly adept at this, writing him in a way that's sweet without turning saccharine. BUT OH! I'M ALREADY READY FOR STEVE TO BE HOME!

This was such a beautiful moment captured - for Seaside Scoops, but also for Steve and who he is as a person - applying love and care, and then for their relationship that also could mirror the "yellowed with age and lack of upkeep" and how the reader feels like she's let everything go with him.

I also love that you so naturally incorporated Steve's canon drawing skills into the narrative.

OKAY, MOLLY!

What I love about this is that you wove these themes and imagery of the town, of ice cream, etc, into the story like wonderfully blended harmonies. But this caramel sound of the laugh? It made me just absolutely melt as a reader, but pump my fist in the air as your friend who loves your writing skills.

BUCKY!

Obviously I had a little happy thrill seeing him! And I loved that he was there, but he didn't overtake the story in any way - a beautiful side character use/moment.

And I love that he we know he absolutely was more than happy, eager, and ready to call Steve to take you home, undoubtedly knowing the torch Steve carried for you that maybe had returned to burning a little brighter now that you were back in town.

(And then later I love the mention/implication that Sam is one of the town's police, haha!)

um. everything about that. everything. I can't. surge of fluttering anda need down under.

This entire expository + smutty + emotional scene in the truck was LITERALLY SO GOOD!

I was heart-achey when the reader said not to steal away or minimize their first time togther. It was so beautiful!

and then

T h i s w a s e v e r y t h i n g.

I was literally breathless for how intense but tender this was while in the middle of all the heat and sexual intensity of the choking and just.

yeah.

couldn't breathe myself.

So, little aside of me reading this story... it's been a crazy week, and so I was saving this to the weekend to read. I ended up with an unexpected spot of time to start reading on Friday night, so I did, and I got through a good chunk of the truck scene, and then I was like, "Okay, we gotta stop here, we're clearly in a big smut scene, and then I'll have like 5k more to savor this weekend." But yeah, turns out I was basically almost done with the story. And I bring this up for a couple of reasons. First, the read up to that point just flowed so quickly, I didn't feel like I was hacking away at it, it just happened. Second, UM, MA'AM, I WAS READY FOR SO MUCH MORE! I JUST DIDN'T WANT IT TO END!

Which leads me to say that I genuinely think you should keep the idea of writing this into a novel close at hand, even if you don't do it right now. Your writing has always been good, Molly, it's why I'm always eager to devour your work and have been diligent about trying to read almost everything you've written in the last year or so (sometimes it's genuinely a character or kink I'm not into, and then I might pass, but often I still go for it because it's your writing), but I genuinely think that some of what you've given us here is your best work. This honestly has legs to stand on its own if you really wanted to pursue it. No pressure to, but I would encourage you to.

gif by sally @tvgif

first and last

pairing: childhood best friend!steve rogers x female reader

summary: after more than a decade away from your home town—and your childhood best friend—you return. everything is exactly the same, but also, entirely different.

warnings: 18+ content (minors dni!!!), fluff, angst, smut, drunken antics, some arguing, drunk masturbation (f) with an audience, semi-public, choking, dirty talk, praise kink, begging, boundaries, very light bdsm vibes, references to past sexual intimacy (piv sex, oral sex [f receiving]), nicknames (buttercup, baby), aftercare

word count: 8.8k

a/n: this is my entry in @the-slumberparty's Sundae Bar Challenge, and i've been working on it since june so i'm very excited to post it!!! i wanted to make a sundae i'd actually eat so i used the prompts Butterscotch (childhood friends) and Caramel (drunk/delirious/not in their right mind). it also might be a bit literal to have Steve working at an ice cream shop but whatever!!

i mentioned when i teased this fic that i'd thought about turning it into a much longer story/potentially saving it for a novel, but honestly i just don't know when or if i'll ever have time to do that. but these scenes don't necessarily follow right after each other, so if they feel disconnected, that's why. they're just the ones i wanted to write 😅

The sidewalk of Brambleberry Cove was warm from a full day under the August sun, the concrete gritty with sand beneath your bare feet as you walked the rest of the short distance to Seaside Scoops from your rental house a few blocks away. 

The sun dipped low on the western horizon, casting long shadows over the coastal town like stretching fingers reaching for the Atlantic Ocean. You could hear the steady sound of the crashing waves over the near distant sand dunes, their rhythm a background to your walk. 

It could’ve been a peaceful moment—you were back in your home town, surrounded by familiar sights and sounds and smells. But you were in a wretched mood, and all you could focus on was everything wrong with the world and your current place in it.

There was, of course, the throbbing pain in your big toe from when you’d stubbed it moments ago on the cursed, charming sidewalk, as well as the slight sting on the sides of your foot where your flip flop straps had torn. Your ruined shoes dangled from your fingers because Brambleberry Cove didn’t have a trash can on every street corner like the city you were accustomed to living in. 

In addition to those grievances, the straps of your bathing suit—which you hadn’t worn in far too long and hadn’t realized had become too small—were digging into your shoulders and hips uncomfortably. And, though you’d only been walking for five minutes from the little bungalow you were renting, your thighs were already beginning to chafe beneath the simple dress you’d thrown on. 

All told, you were not in the mood to appreciate the simple beauty of Brambleberry Cove. Instead of admiring the sun-bleached cottages that gave way to the small coastal shops lining main street, and letting yourself sink into the comfort of being back in your tiny beachside home town, you were fixated on everything wrong in your life—both in that moment and the larger scheme of things.

In your defense, though, there was a lot wrong in your life. There’d had to be to get you back to your home town after so long away. 

There was the dream job you’d lost, the ex who’d left you for someone else, and the friends who’d all promised to be there for you, but then vanished when you actually needed help. The only people who’d come through for you were your parents, who’d had a friend willing to rent a little Brambleberry Cove bungalow to you for a fraction of its normal summer price since it was already August and they weren’t going to make much more money anyway. 

You’d had to pack up and leave the city where you’d built your life for 15 years, and move back to your home town, which you hadn’t seen in nearly that long since your parents had moved out west shortly after you’d graduated high school. Being back home made you feel like you weren’t only taking a single step backward, but moving leaps and bounds in the wrong direction. It made you feel like a failure. 

But you tried not to think about all that on your short walk to Seaside Scoops, instead focusing on the pain in your toe and the digging ache of your bathing suit. 

By the time you saw the familiar neon sign for the ice cream shop, it felt like finding an oasis in the desert. You picked up your pace, ignoring the way your body protested, the soles of your feet no longer used to walking on the sandy sidewalk like you’d done countless times growing up in Brambleberry Cove. 

You could see through the window that there was a short line in Seaside Scoops, and you hurriedly pushed through the door of the shop. Once inside, you breathed in the familiar scent of sugar and hot fudge and reveled in the feel of the air conditioner ghosting over your sun-warmed shoulders. 

Surreptitiously, you shoved your ruined flip flops into the garbage just inside the door and got in line behind the couple with their two small children. You glanced around the shop, not really taking it in, and hoped whoever was working behind the counter was still lax on the ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service’ rule that had theoretically been in place since before you were born—but had never been enforced in practice. 

Finally looking to the counter, wondering idly if you’d recognize who was working or if it’d be some local teen that had been a baby the last time you’d been to Brambleberry Cove, you were shocked to see who was working at Seaside Scoops. Your belly swooped like you were standing on a boat on the choppy sea, your heart racing when you recognized the man behind the counter. At one time, he’d been the boy you’d shared so much of your childhood with, so many of your summers with. 

When you got a good look at him, you were almost surprised you recognized him so fast. He was no longer the scrawny teenager you’d left behind when you’d gone off to college and never looked back. He looked so different from the boy you’d known well enough you could recall his face in perfect detail, but, in so many ways, exactly the same.

On the whole, it was a shock to see the man Steve Rogers had become. 

Sandy brown hair fell on either side of his handsome, suntanned face, swept back like he had a habit of running his hands through it countless times a day. A short, well-kept beard decorated his strong jaw, bracketing a set of soft pink lips that were curved in a devastating grin. His bright blue eyes sparkled beneath the fluorescent lights of the shop, and when he spoke to the family in front of you in line, his voice rumbled like the distant roar of the ocean.

Seeing Steve Rogers for the first time in over 15 years made something loosen in your chest, anxiety uncoiling from around your heart and shaking free for the first time in a long time. A sense of safety and comfort washed over you, and you had the sudden thought that this was how you were supposed to feel about coming home. 

But you shoved that thought aside and continued your perusal of your childhood best friend, making note of all the ways he’d changed from the boy you’d known.

Thick, golden biceps were bare and bulging beneath the edge of his white t-shirt, and dense, brown hair covered corded forearms as Steve folded his arms on top of the ice cream case. He was tall—tall enough to lean over the case to talk to the kids with the couple in front of you, asking them about their favorite ice cream flavors and if they’d like to try anything new.

The kids, a boy and a girl, both stared up at him with wide eyes, shyness and wonder clear in their twin expressions. They looked to their parents for permission before shyly revealing what flavors they’d like to try. Steve gave a deep, hearty chuckle at their timidness, and complimented them on their choices, which seemed to make them both loosen up a bit.

Inexplicable heat flushed through your body at the sound of Steve’s deep laughter, and the easiness with which he interacted with the kids. You’d never been particularly good with children, mainly because you’d never had much of a chance to interact with any, and you’d never felt any particular desire to be around them. But seeing Steve looking like he did talking to those kids made your belly swoop again and something inside you pulse with a need you didn’t want to fully unpack.

Shoving those thoughts into a box in the back corner of your mind, you forced yourself to look away from your childhood friend and up at the menu that listed all the ice cream flavors. You’d been to Seaside Scoops hundreds of times in your life, if not thousands, and, at one time, you’d had the list memorized. 

Hopefully you still had that knowledge tucked away somewhere in your brain, because you weren’t taking in anything you were reading as you not-so-patiently waited for Steve to finish up with the customers in front of you.

It felt like forever, and by the time the family took their cups and cones of ice cream toward the side door that opened up into an outdoor seating area, you’d already cycled through three rounds of the same argument with yourself about why you should leave Seaside Scoops without talking to Steve. You couldn’t imagine your first conversation in 15 years going well.

But you couldn’t leave without talking to him. Not when he was right there and it had been so long and you were dying to know everything that he’d done in the last 15 years since you saw him last. 

Still, it took you a few extra seconds to gather the courage to lower your eyes from the menu board and finally look at your childhood friend. When you did, your gaze caught immediately on Steve’s, and your heart gave a little flip at the devastatingly charming smile on his impossibly handsome face.

“Hey there, buttercup,” Steve rumbled, his tone as friendly and familiar as it had always been. All of a sudden, it felt like no time had passed at all. 

“Hi, Steve,” you said, trying for the same casualness he’d achieved, but your voice sounded faint and faraway in your ears. The corners of your mouth flickered in a tremulous smile.

You couldn’t understand the surge of emotion filling your chest and rising in your throat, pricking at the backs of your eyes like you wanted to throw yourself into your oldest friend’s arms and sob about everything wrong in your life. 

The same deluge of emotion had hit you when you’d stubbed your toe on your walk to Seaside Scoops and you’d had to stand there by yourself, sucking in deep breaths of salty Brambleberry Cove air, nails biting into the flesh of your palms to keep yourself from breaking down. 

Just as you’d done then, you beat back the emotion, blinking your eyes rapidly to rid them of tears. Still, a thought needled you as you stood across the counter from Steve—the knowledge that if you did let yourself break down and cry, he wouldn’t hesitate to fold you into that broad chest of his, wrapping you up in his thick arms and holding you so securely, the world might not seem so grim anymore. 

You chalked it up to nostalgia and the rough time you were having, forcing yourself to take a deep breath and paste on a bright smile. Casting your eyes around Seaside Scoops, you pretended to give the place a real look, though you didn’t really notice much as you continued to blink back tears. 

“You work here now?” you asked lightly, looking at the new standee in the corner.

It was a cartoon shark holding up a sign advertising Seaside Scoops and their many ice cream flavors. But what caught your eye was that it looked a bit like the shark Steve had drawn for you when you’d gotten a bad grade sophomore year and wanted to cheer you up. It even had the same little sailor hat sitting perched on top of his head—which only made sense because sharks didn’t have blowholes, he’d told you at the time.

You’d smiled then, and you smiled again remembering it.

“Uhh,” Steve started, and you turned tear-free eyes back on your old friend, your gaze drawn to the way his bicep bulged against the sleeve of his t-shirt as he scuffed the back of his neck. There was a little bit of a sheepish tinge to his smile. “I actually own Scoops now,” he said in a rush, like he was confessing to something, though you couldn’t imagine what. “I bought it when Mr. Wallace retired down to Florida.”

“Oh,” was all you could think to say, glancing around the ice cream shop with a keener eye.

The shark standee wasn’t the only new thing in the place. Everything, from the tables and chairs to the menu board and counter, looked slightly newer than you remembered. Nothing was wildly different, which was why you hadn’t noticed it when you first looked around. Everything just looked better than it should if it had aged a decade since you’d last stepped into the shop.

Something about it made you think Seaside Scoops looked exactly like your memory of it—but the polished, perfect version in your head, instead of the place as it had been. Yellowed with age and a lack of upkeep. It was genuinely astounding what Steve had done with the place and it took you a few moments to find the right words, though they still felt pale in comparison to the bittersweet nostalgia in your heart.

“The place looks great,” you said with a half smile as you turned back to Steve. A small thread of pride wormed through your heart at seeing what your oldest friend had accomplished and your smile widened when he brightened under your praise. “I like the shark,” you said, hooking a thumb over your shoulder at the standee. 

A bit of pink tinted Steve’s cheeks above his beard, and he cleared his throat. 

“Is a dipped twist still your favorite?” he asked, clearly trying to change the subject and your smile dimmed just a little. The Steve you’d known had been shy about showing his art to anyone but you, and it seemed that you’d been gone long enough to be lumped in with everyone else. 

You swallowed back a lump in your throat and nodded. “Yeah, that’s still my favorite,” you answered, more than a little surprised Steve remembered your order.

Sure, you’d gone to Seaside Scoops together countless times as kids. It had been your hangout spot for most of your childhood, and even into your teen years. You’d study together over a cup of cookie dough with sprinkles for Steve and a cone of vanilla and chocolate softserve dipped in chocolate sauce for you. But that was more than a decade ago.

Your heart gave a heavy squeeze when you remembered the night before you’d left Brambleberry Cove, the way Steve reminded you of the promise you’d made as children—that you’d always be friends. Your stomach twisted into knots as you were confronted with the reality that you hadn’t kept up your end of the deal. You’d left, and you’d allowed your oldest friend to become a stranger. 

You wondered if Steve remembered the promise you’d made, the reminder he’d given you as a parting gift, or if he’d forgotten. You wondered if he’d ever want to be friends again.

Steve’s back was to you, his wrist flicking expertly beneath the softserve machine as he filled up a sugar cone with the twist of chocolate and vanilla. You forced yourself to push aside the memories of the past, blinking back more tears before Steve could catch them in your eyes. 

You and Steve weren’t friends anymore, and you needed to accept that. It was unreasonable to hold him to a promise he’d made more than two decades ago, especially when you were the one who’d left and had barely tried to stay in touch between college classes and exploring your new city.

With a great amount of effort, you kept your mind blissfully blank as you let your gaze trail idly over Steve’s broad back, unable to stop yourself from noticing just how wide his shoulders were, or the way they moved beneath the soft, worn cotton of his t-shirt. He really did fill out the shirt well, his sides tapering down to a thin waist. And his ass looked particularly good in the curve-hugging denim of his jeans. 

As Steve turned around, you raised your eyes quickly and arranged your expression into one of innocence. Steve paused, giving you a shrewd look like he would’ve done when you were teenagers and you were hiding something from him, but then he just shook his head and laughed under his breath, turning to the chocolate sauce where he’d dip your ice cream cone. 

“So, what brings you back to Brambleberry Cove, buttercup?” Steve asked, his gaze focusing on dipping your ice cream just right, a look of determination on his face that was endlessly endearing. 

You grimaced at the exact moment he glanced up at you, and he chuckled at the face you made. The sound was smooth as warm caramel and sent a new wave of heat rolling down your spine. 

“That bad, huh?” he asked, genuine interest in his tone.

Although there was a point in your life when you could’ve told Steve anything, and the urge to do so still lingered deep in your bones, you knew your relationship was different. You couldn’t dump all your problems on your childhood friend after not talking to him for 15 years. You didn’t even know if you were still friends anymore. 

Plus, there was a small crowd gathering behind you as the late dinner rush started to filter into Seaside Scoops. Even if you’d wanted to tell Steve everything that had happened to you in the 15 years since you’d last seen him, it wasn’t the time. 

So you just gave him a sad smile and accepted the ice cream cone from Steve’s hand, ignoring the butterflies and ticklish warmth that fluttered through your body at his touch. You gripped the sugar cone tight—but not too tight—so you didn’t fumble it. 

“Yeah,” you whispered in answer to his question, leaving it at that. There was an awkward beat, and your eyes dropped to the ice cream that was already beginning to melt despite the air conditioning in the shop. Thankfully, you had an easy way to move past Steve’s questions. 

You pulled some cash from the wristlet where you’d also stashed your phone and I.D., asking, “What do I owe you?” because you figured it must’ve been more expensive than what you remembered. And you didn’t want to risk looking up at the menu and catching Steve’s eye, not wanting any of the emotions or heat that seemed to flood you whenever you looked at him.

But a large, warm, golden hand closed over your fumbling fingers, startling you enough to look up into the sky blue eyes of your childhood friend. Your lips fell open in surprise as tingling warmth worked its way up your arm from your hand, wrapping around your heart and making it beat harder. 

For a long moment, you simply stared at each other. Steve really had grown up and changed so much, the evidence in the weathered grooves of his forehead and the lines between his brows, but his eyes still looked the same—soft as clouds, warm as the summer sun. 

“It’s on the house,” he murmured, his voice low and earnest, the thrum of some emotion you couldn’t identify laced through his words. “It was nice to see an old friend,” he said, giving your hand a squeeze before he pulled his away.

It wasn’t until Steve straightened up to his full height that you realized he’d been leaning over the counter, and your faces had been very close together. Heat crept into your cheeks at the realization that Steve had been in your personal space, and all you’d thought about was his eyes. 

Shoving all the money in your hand into the tip jar, you muttered, “Thanks, Steve.” As you zipped up your wristlet, you noticed that some of your ice cream was in danger of dripping onto your hand.

Without thinking, you licked quickly around the edge of the sugar cone, a soft moan slipping free when the cool sweetness of the ice cream hit your brain.

Steve made a strangled sound that dragged your attention away from your treat, finding your childhood best friend looking away and coughing into his fist, a deeper pink flushing his cheeks. You quirked your eyebrow in confusion when he looked back at you, but his expression gave nothing away and you had to wonder if you’d imagined the noise. It had almost sounded…aroused.

Shaking that thought clear from your mind, you gave Steve a smile and began to step away from the counter so he could help the next customer.

Steve’s eyes lingered on you, and he offered you one last charming, friendly smile, raising his hand in a wave. “Don’t be a stranger, buttercup,” he rumbled, his low words managing to reach your ears over the chatter in the shop. He gave you a long look, emotion swirling in those familiar eyes of his, and your breath caught in your throat.

The intensity of his gaze and the warmth in his parting words hit you straight in the gut, and you stood stunned in front of the register while Steve turned and walked to the other end of the ice cream case to help the next people in line. 

For a long moment, you couldn’t get over the way Steve had been able to read your mind, to pluck the thought that you were strangers to each other out of your brain and then tell you he didn’t want that to be the case. Your mind raced with questions. Did he still think of you as friends? Did he remember the promise you’d made all those years ago to always be friends? How did he know the exact right thing to say? 

But then the rational side of your brain resurfaced from wherever your heart had momentarily buried it, and you remembered his farewell was a normal thing for people to say to each other. Especially people who hadn’t seen each other in a while and likely would again because they both lived in a very small town. That’s all it was, just a normal goodbye. 

Not Steve Rogers somehow reading your mind because he knew you so well. 

With those rationalities ringing in your head, you dashed out of Seaside Scoops and it wasn’t until your feet had carried you to the next block that you remembered your broken shoes and stubbed toe and chafed thighs. 

But those problems didn’t seem quite so bad anymore. Not with the delicious ice cream cone in your hand, and the sunset casting Brambleberry Cove in gorgeous, golden light—and especially not with Steve’s warm, honeyed voice ringing in your head, calling you buttercup. 

It had felt so normal to hear the nickname roll off Steve’s tongue that you hadn’t even thought about it, hadn’t realized how long it had been since you’d last heard it. But, just as it had when you were younger, it filled your chest with a bright, golden warmth. You grinned to yourself as you strolled back to your little bungalow, licking up the melting ice cream as fast as you could.

Your mood was decidedly better, and you enjoyed the walk home, refusing to think too much about why exactly you felt lighter and happier and less miserable about being home in Brambleberry Cove than you had before going to Seaside Scoops. It was just the ice cream, obviously. There was no other reason.

“You’re staring.” Steve’s voice was low, the undercurrent of laughter in it almost mixing with the sounds of the distant waves. You could hear them through the open windows of his truck as he eased the vehicle down the winding road leading away from the docks on the north side of Brambleberry Cove. 

His comment dragged you out of your drunken haze, and you took a deep breath to get your bearings. Your lungs filled with the salty nighttime air of the sea and the earthy leather interior of your childhood best friend’s truck, a small smile curling the corners of your lips and your eyes sliding closed. When you forced them back open, you realized he was right.

Huh, you really were staring at Steve. 

Your head was swiveled to the side, your cheek pressed to the brown leather of the seat back, your eyes fixed on the profile of his face that was highlighted in the glossy silver of the moon and warmed by the golden light of the town’s street lamps. 

You couldn’t find it in yourself to feel embarrassed or ashamed for staring at Steve, though. And it was at that moment you realized you were drunk. 

It didn’t surprise you. After all, you were the one who’d thrown on some jean shorts and a cute top and then took yourself to Shanty’s, the only place in Brambleberry Cove to go if you were a local looking to avoid tourists. 

You’d been happy to see Bucky Barnes, your other oldest friend after Steve, manning the bar. But you’d been much less happy with him when he’d insisted on calling Steve to take you home after you’d downed more than your fair share of liquor. 

It was probably for the best, though. You were drunk and horny and if you weren’t careful, you would’ve gone home with Brock Rumlow. Just thinking about it made you grimace at yourself and your poor almost-decisions. 

Focusing back on Steve, you couldn’t fault Bucky too much for calling your old friend to pick you up—not when it had ended with you able to watch his side profile while he kept his eyes on the road. It felt practically shameful to indulge yourself so much. That is, if you’d had any shame left, but you’d drowned it all in alcohol.

“You’re still staring, buttercup,” Steve rumbled, the humor clearer in his tone. The edges of his mouth were flickering beneath the silvery golden light of Brambleberry Cove at night and you knew he was trying to suppress a smile. It was fascinating to watch, but then Steve rubbed his hand across his mouth, scrubbing through his beard, and it broke you free of your drunken trance.

“I just can’t get over how different you look,” you huffed, raising your arms and flopping them back against the seat in your best approximation of a shrug. “And how exactly the same.” 

Steve barked a laugh, the sharp sound bringing a smile instantly to your face. You’d never heard him laugh like that, and you couldn’t help but love that you were still discovering new things about him, even after knowing him all your life. 

He glanced over at you, his expression bemused like he was sure you were drunker than he’d thought. You probably were, but that didn’t stop you from being right, and you tried to convey that in the brief moment he looked at you. 

Steve’s gaze slid quickly down your body, not like he was checking you out—more like he was checking to make sure your seatbelt was still buckled and you weren’t in danger of doing anything ridiculous. You were only in danger of saying ridiculous things, at least, according to him apparently. He shook his head after he’d turned back to watching the road.

“You’re gonna have to explain that one to me, buttercup,” Steve said, a little bit of gruffness in his tone. He cleared his throat before he went on. “Usually when someone we went to high school with comes back, they tell me they never woulda recognized me.” 

You gave an unladylike snort, drawing another surprised laugh out of Steve before he bit off the sound to let you speak.

“Well those people should have their eyes checked,” you muttered scornfully, pushing yourself up from where you’d been slumped against the warm leather seat. You twisted your body in your seat so you were facing Steve, your eyes tracing the lines of his face from across the cab. “You still have the same eyes,” you pointed out vehemently, as if Steve was arguing with you, even though he wasn’t. “And your nose still has that little bump in it, and your lips are still so soft and full…”

You trailed off, realizing far too late that you were saying your inside thoughts out loud. Sinking your teeth into your bottom lip, you watched Steve as he processed what you’d said—the way his fingers scratched a little nervously at his beard, those twin lines forming between his brows. Your gazed traced every curve and line and divot in his face, examining his expression, wanting to memorize it and save it for the rest of your life. 

“I don’t think any of those people noticed those things,” Steve murmured, his voice so quiet you almost didn’t hear it over the slight breeze drifting through the windows while he drove through town. 

Your heart lurched at the implication of Steve’s words, but you couldn’t bring yourself to take them back, even if they were dangerously close to revealing something you hadn’t even had the courage to admit to yourself yet. 

Instead, you focused on your anger at the hypothetical people who weren’t recognizing Steve just because he’d grown up, gotten tall, gotten buff, grown out his hair and his beard and looked altogether very different to the skinny teenager he’d been.

“If they didn’t see those things, they didn’t really see you,” you muttered to yourself, indignant on Steve’s behalf, but trying to keep it to yourself. Apparently, you weren’t good at moderating the volume of your voice, because Steve snorted at your remark. 

“No, no one ever saw me as well as you did, buttercup,” Steve said, his voice low and warm, and your heart promptly rioted in your chest. 

There was something so dizzyingly wonderful about hearing Steve say such intimate words to you in that deep, caramel voice of his, genuine affection shining through his tone. It took your breath away for a moment, and your brain short-circuited. 

It was on the tip of your tongue to tell him…something. The thing you hadn’t admitted to yourself yet. But you were still you, and your brain tripped at the last moment, and instead you blurted, “Do you ever think about our first time?”

Steve choked on a snort, his eyes darting to you with honest surprise. You couldn’t blame him. You’d had no idea those words were gonna spill from your mouth until they were out, but you supposed they weren’t as bad as what you’d almost confessed, so you didn’t try to take them back or change the topic of conversation. You waited with bated breath for Steve’s response, and whether he remembered your night together when you were both 18.

When he saw you were anticipating his answer, he spluttered, “You mean when I came three seconds after getting inside you?” 

You began to smile, because he remembered, but then Steve continued talking.

“Y’know, I told Bucky about that once,” he said, his eyes fixed so fully on the road that you got the impression he didn’t want to meet your gaze and your stomach plummeted. “I was drunk, and didn’t know if it really counted as sex. Bucky was no help, of course—he said he didn’t know either since it was so quick.” 

Something new was swirling in your gut, and for long moments you could only sit there on the warm leather of the truck and stew in that hot, feral feeling. It must’ve showed on your face because, when Steve finally looked over at you after you’d been quiet for so long, the truck lurched forward, his foot pressing too hard to the gas.

“Don’t worry,” he rushed to say, guessing at what was upsetting you and guessing wrong. “I didn’t tell him it was with you.”

“Don’t you dare,” you snarled, the words bursting out of you with a ferocity you’d never used in your life, let alone when talking to Steve. But you were furious all of a sudden, and it wasn’t until the words were spilling from your mouth that you understood why you were so angry. “Don’t you dare try to take this away from me, Steven Grant Rogers.” Your voice was seething and barely recognizable, but you couldn’t stop. “You were my first, and it was perfect—because it was you.” 

Steve glanced over at you, something like shock written across his face, but when he looked back at the road, his brows settled low over his eyes. The muscle in his jaw popped and you knew he was grinding his teeth together, taking his time to gather his thoughts before he spoke. It took him a long moment to respond.

“You deserved better.”

The noise of your scoff was loud, even to your ears, and you strained against the seatbelt still buckling you into the passenger seat as you leaned toward your childhood friend.

“You ate me out until I came three times, Steve!” you cried, holding up three fingers as if the adult man your friend had grown into somehow didn’t know how many three was. “No man has ever made me come so many times in one night as you did then.” 

When Steve still didn’t look at you, just kept driving with his hands gripping the wheel and the muscle in his jaw popping, you huffed an exasperated sound and flopped back into your seat. Your back was to the leather as you crossed your arms over your chest and stared out at Brambleberry Cove through the open passenger side window. 

The silence grew until it was suffocating, and you needed to break it. So you said the first thing that came to mind. Again.

“You’re who I think about when I touch myself, Steve.” Your words drifted from your side of the truck to the other, carried on the light breeze floating through the cab. “I think about you and that night, and it gets me off every single time.”

Steve made a strangled kind of sound, like a growl that was torn free from his throat against his will. Then he was quiet, and he was quiet for so long, you thought that was the only reaction you’d get to admitting the truth. Until…

“I think about you, too, buttercup.”

The confession hung in the air between you, settling heavily onto the leather bench seat in Steve’s truck, the air rushing in through the open windows buffetting around it. 

You didn’t feel Steve’s admission sink into you. There was simply a before and an after. And in the after, you were moving. You were unbuckling your seatbelt and scooting across the seat toward Steve until your bare knee brushed against the denim of his jeans. 

He shot a startled look in your direction—which, in a distant part of your brain, you registered as completely adorable—before quickly pulling over to the side of the road. He was just throwing the truck into park when you slid into his lap, straddling his thighs and pressing your chest to his. 

“We should do it again,” you purred, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and leaning close. When Steve didn’t respond right away, just kept giving you that surprised look, you thought he might not have understood you, so you explained, “Have sex.”

Steve closed his eyes and a light tremor shuddered through his body as his hands settled respectfully on your waist, a few of his fingers brushing the skin where the edge of your tank top didn’t quite meet the waist of your shorts. Then, it was your turn to shudder, the feeling of his warm, calloused hands against your bare skin making heat flood between your thighs, your core warming and your body melting into your old friend’s hands.

“Please, Steve,” you whispered, tipping your head forward until your lips were a hairsbreadth from his, so close you could taste mint chocolate chip ice cream on his tongue and it took everything in you not to lick into his mouth desperately. Your voice was practically a whine as you went on, “Let’s see if we can do better this time.” 

Steve’s hands shifted to your hips, his fingers digging into your soft flesh hard enough to almost hurt, and you thought he was going to give in. But then he swallowed audibly, his adam’s apple bobbing in his throat, and he pushed you gently away, his head tilting back against the leather seat so your lips no longer teased him with an almost-kiss.

“You’re drunk, buttercup.”

Steve’s voice was a delicious rasp, and you couldn’t help but shiver at the sound of it even as the meaning of his words settled into your drunken mind. You pouted at your childhood friend, hoping the fact that he hadn’t pushed you off his lap entirely meant he wasn’t saying no.

“And horny,” you said, the words slipping from your lips on another whine. Of their own volition, your hips squirmed on your oldest friend’s lap, trying to get closer, trying to find some kind of friction to work against the aching heat pulsing between your thighs. But Steve’s firm grip held you in place. “Stevie.” His name was nothing but a pathetic whimper. 

A low growl rumbled in Steve’s chest, and then one of his hands was abandoning your hip to cup your face, tilting it up so he could loom over you. The lines of his face were hard, stubborn, and the look in his eyes left no room for argument. 

“You know I won’t touch you when you’re drunk,” he bit out, his voice soft, but as firm as his hold on your body.

A memory slammed into you—you and Steve planning your first time together. You’d made a deal at the start of high school that if neither of you lost your virginity through all four years, then before going off to college, you’d lose it together. 

When the time came, you’d been a little nervous, even though it was Steve, and you’d joked that you could take some wine coolers to the beach and get it over with, just like all the other kids in your school. Even then, Steve had looked at you stubbornly, and said, without a shred of willingness to waver, that he wouldn’t touch you if you were drunk.

Back then, it had sent a shiver down your spine, and it had much the same effect more than a decade later in his truck. Your body trembled with arousal, and you pushed feebly against Steve’s hold—not really trying to break it, just enjoying the feeling that came from realizing how strong he was. Those biceps and corded forearms of his weren’t just for show.

“What about just the tip?” you murmured, the words tumbling past your lips before you could think better of them, knowing there was no use trying to argue with Steve when he’d made a decision. But you were clearly thinking with something other than your brain, because the words kept coming. “That’s not sex, just the tip—please, Steve.” You were begging shamelessly, but your shame and embarrassment were still nowhere to be found since you were still definitely drunk.

Steve’s jaw ticked so hard, you could’ve sworn you heard the muscle pop in the quiet of his truck as he ground his teeth together. 

“Buttercup,” he growled, a warning in his tone. “That’s not happening.”

Your fists gathered in the front of Steve’s t-shirt and you yanked on it restlessly, not trying to do anything more than annoy him. “Whyyy,” you whined, drawing out the word until it was nearly a wail. Unslaked heat burned in your blood and, while you knew why he was refusing to have sex with you, in the moment, you couldn’t understand why your oldest friend was torturing you.

Steve’s hand slid down from your cheek to wrap around the front of your throat, and you stilled immediately, something about the possessive, dominant gesture making you calm. That was new, Steve hadn’t done anything like that when you’d first been together, but you liked it more than you would’ve expected. Your lips were still parted, your panting breaths gusting out of them, your heart racing, and you were finally calm and quiet.

Your oldest friend’s eyes roamed over you, taking in your reaction. At first he seemed surprised, but then a glint of something you’d never seen before sparked to life in the depths of his blue eyes. You watched his gaze drop to your mouth, and nearly whimpered at the way the corner of his lips flickered in the ghost of a smirk. But then he fixed his gaze back on yours, pinning you in place with that stubborn look in his eye, though it was slightly dimmed in favor of that new, hungry glimmer. 

“I won’t fuck you only to wake up tomorrow and find out you regret it,” Steve said, enunciating all his words clearly despite the fact that his teeth were grinding together “That you only wanted it because you needed to scratch an itch.” 

Your lungs dragged in a soundless gasp and you finally understood his reticence, even if you couldn’t imagine ever regretting doing anything with Steve. But when you opened your mouth to protest, Steve’s fingers squeezed the sides of your throat. 

Your words died on your tongue, and your mouth went slack, your eyes going hazy with pleasure. You couldn’t have been more obvious that you liked the way Steve choked you if you tried. And he read your enjoyment easily from the expression on your face, that look of hunger sparking brighter in Steve’s eyes before he went on.

“When I fuck you again,” he growled, his words a promise. “I don’t want you drunk on anything but my cock.”

“Stevie,” you whined his nickname again, the name only you were allowed to call him, your lips forming into a pout. It hadn’t escaped your notice that he’d said ‘when’, and not ‘if’, about having sex with you again, but you didn’t want to push your luck. And besides, unslaked need was still burning brightly through your body, consuming most of your focus. “I need…something, please.” You let out a little whimper and squirmed in his lap again, unable to stop yourself.

Steve huffed a laugh, his thumb stroking down the side of your neck, over your thrumming pulsepoint, while the fingers of his other hand slipped half an inch into the waist of your shorts, only far enough to dig harder into your soft curves.  

“I’m not going to touch you more than this, buttercup,” Steve began, his voice a low, delicious rumble that you swore you could feel in the clenching of your core. “But I didn’t say anything about stopping you from touching yourself.”

Your eyes widened in excitement, and you wasted no time in acting on the implication in Steve’s words. Holding his gaze, one of your hands slipped free from his shirt and trailed down your body. When you reached between your thighs, the backs of your fingers brushed against a thick bulge in the front of Steve’s jeans. 

It twitched against your soft touch, and you gasped in delight, loving the proof that Steve’s body recognized you just as much as his mind.

But when you twisted your hand, intent on giving Steve’s bulge a friendly squeeze, his hand darted down from your hips to your wrist, his fingers circling around you and stilling your hand. “Buttercup,” he rumbled, another warning. 

A shiver raced down your spine and you reveled in the way it made you feel to hear Steve say your nickname like that. It occurred to you that it was new—you’d never heard him say it quite like that before, with frustration and arousal flooding his tone. 

You wanted to hear every flavor of your nickname on Steve’s tongue. You wanted to hear him whisper it like a prayer, and groan it into your lips while he kissed you. You wanted to hear Steve shout your nickname while he came with you. 

But the look in Steve’s eyes was stubborn again, and you knew you’d have to wait to hear all the ways he could say your nickname. 

“OK, Steve, ‘m sorry,” you mumbled, twisting your hand in his hold and pressing the tips of your fingers to the seam of your shorts, your hips jerking forward to seek more of the friction you offered yourself. 

Steve’s hold loosened, but he didn’t let go of you entirely, like he didn’t trust you just yet. But you didn’t care, your fingers were pressing into your clit through the thin denim of your shorts, and you were rocking your hips to grind against them, your wetness soaking through your panties almost immediately.

The moment when your fingers found just the right spot, you sucked in a sharp breath, your spine arching and your hips pressing down hard against your hand. Your head tipped back, your eyes narrowing into slits as you held Steve’s gaze. You moaned while you rubbed tight circles against your clit through your shorts.

“I’m going to come embarrassingly fast,” you huffed in warning, your chest heaving already with labored breaths. 

But Steve only smirked, a touch of smugness in the curve of his lips.

“Don’t worry, buttercup, I remember exactly how sensitive your sweet little clit is,” he rumbled, and you moaned loudly. His fingers flexed against your throat, digging in enough to quiet your sounds and making your eyes widen as your hips lurched in their rhythm. He chuckled at your reaction before continuing on.

“I remember sucking on your puffy little pearl, your thighs squeezing my head, my fingers buried deep in your tight, warm hole,” Steve purred, seemingly knowing exactly what to say to drive your pleasure higher. “I remember the exact way your pussy gripped my fingers when you came, like you wanted me deeper—deep enough that you could feel me in your belly.” 

“God, Steve,” you groaned, your head falling back listlessly on your shoulders, too heavy to keep it up. But Steve’s fingers dug into the back of your neck, and you understood the wordless command immediately. You lifted your head and caught your oldest friend’s eye while you kept rubbing your clit, pushing yourself closer to coming apart in his lap. 

“I remember how big your cock felt inside me,” you confessed, spurred on by Steve’s own filthy words. “I remember how long it took for you to sink your thick, fat cock into my tight pussy.” You paused only to take a quick, hitching breath. “I was already so close when you came, and I remember, I thought, maybe if you hadn’t been wearing a condom, maybe I would’ve come, too.” 

The lines of Steve’s face shifted, hardening, his jaw ticking wildly and his eyes going molten fierce, like the blue at the center a campfire that burns too hot to sit near. 

“Don’t fucking say that, buttercup,” Steve growled, his voice gravelly like he was chewing on seashells. “If I hadn’t been wearing a condom, I would’ve come so much faster—I never woulda made it all the way inside you. Woulda been coming with just my tip inside your warm, wet pussy, baby—woulda been too risky, buttercup.” 

Your eyes wanted to fall closed as you moaned, but you didn’t let them. You couldn’t tear your gaze away from Steve, not with that furious and ferocious hunger in his eyes, his desire for you etched into every single line and curve of his face. 

You were so close. You just needed a little more to push you over the edge.

“Fuck, Steve, I know I shouldn’t, but I love the thought of you coming inside me, filling me up, making me yours,” you confessed, the words bubbling up from the very depths of your soul. It was on the tip of your tongue again, that thing you hadn’t admitted to yourself. Instead of letting it free, you moaned, long and loud, your fingers rubbing faster against your clit and your hips grinding against your hand. 

“Christ, baby,” Steve gritted through tightly clenched teeth. His fingers were digging into your hip again, diving further beneath the waist of your shorts, nearly skimming the edge of your panties. His other hand tightened around your throat and dragged you into him, until your face was right in front of his and he could watch every twitch and change in your expression as you pleasured yourself. 

“Come on, baby,” he said, his voice urgent with need. “Come before I do something we’ll both regret.” 

The hand that wasn’t wedged between your thighs pressed to the center of Steve’s chest, just above his heart, and a moment later, you felt his warm palm cover it. He was still holding your throat, his fingers digging into the sides hard enough that you knew he could feel your fluttering pulse beneath his touch. And you could feel his heart pounding beneath your palm, the rapid pace nearly matching the frantic one in your chest.

“Come, buttercup, come for me,” Steve commanded, his eyes holding yours. For a moment, it felt like he could see straight into your soul. It was a scorching intimacy you hadn’t felt since that night you’d first been with Steve, and you were helpless to it.

“Stevie,” you cried his name as your pleasure rose up and consumed you, sending you over the edge into a earth-quaking orgasm. Your body writhed in Steve’s lap, your hips grinding gracelessly against your hand as you collapsed forward, leaning into the grip of his hand around your throat. You sobbed your pleasure, the waves of your release wracking your body for long moments.

Eventually, the final swell ebbed and the last of your energy receded with it. Your damp forehead fell against Steve’s cool, dry one and you struggled to catch your breath. His hand slipped from the front of your throat around to the back of your neck and he smoothed it down your spine. 

He held you close, whispering in your ear, “Such a good girl, buttercup, you did so good.”

Once you finally settled, Steve shifted, his beard grazing your lips as he pressed a kiss to your cheek. 

“Can I take you home now?” he asked.

You huffed a laugh and slumped against his chest, laying your head sleepily on his shoulder. “I don’t think I can move yet,” you said, slurring your words with tiredness. And drunkenness.

Steve chuckled, but made no attempt to move you. You only felt him lifting his arms around you, though his hands didn’t settle on your body. 

“If you see Sam while you’re back in town, don’t tell him I did this,” Steve murmured in your ear. Then you felt the truck rumbling to life and getting back onto the road and you realized where your oldest friend’s hands were. He was driving you home, with you still sitting boneless in his lap.

When Steve arrived at your rental house, not too long after, he helped you down from his truck and looped an arm around your waist, getting you into the bungalow. Thankfully, you were sated from your release in his truck so you didn’t try to proposition him again, just dutifully did as he said, changing into your pajamas in your bedroom while he waited outside the closed door. 

Then he let you lean against his broad chest while you brushed your teeth and washed your face, before guiding you back to your room and tucking you into bed. Last, he pressed a sweet kiss to your forehead that was so comforting, and made you feel so safe, your eyes fluttered closed and a soft smile curled your lips.

Before he could leave, your hand darted out and grabbed Steve’s wrist with surprising precision given your state and the fact that your eyes were closed. You dragged them open again, blinking away the bleariness until your childhood friend’s face came into focus. 

“I don’t regret anything we’ve done together, Stevie,” you mumbled, the side of your mouth hitching up in a lopsided smile. “I’m glad you were my first.” You lost the battle with your eyes and they fell closed. You also, apparently, lost the fight against biting back your feelings, murmuring sleepily, “I want you to be my last.”  

For a long moment, Steve was quiet. He seemed to wait until you were just on the edge of sleep before responding to your drunken confession. 

“Tell me that again when you’re not drunk, and I’ll believe you, buttercup,” Steve murmured, ducking down to press a kiss to your hand, still wrapped loosely around his wrist, before carefully extricating himself. 

You were snoring before Steve closed and locked the front door of your bungalow behind him. He walked down the short path to his truck, which sat at the curb, a subtle smile on his lips and a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

[sapphireplums]

𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭.

description || druig never thought he was even capable of jealousy, but when it comes to you, nothing was impossible.

pairing || druig x fem!reader

word count || 1,088

warnings || fluffy fluff! SPOILERS FOR THE END CREDIT SCENE

a/n || i really want to watch dunkirk again after writing this haha. feedback is appreciated!

AFTER BIDDING GOODBYE to your family, you decided it was best to leave earth for now and join Makkari, Druig, and Thena to find other Eternals in the universe.

You were a little reluctant to leave Earth at first, knowing that you've lived a majority of your life there, but when Druig asked you to come along, you couldn't dare to refuse him.

It was nice to be back on the Domo, with some fond memories reminiscing back in your mind. You looked out the clear glass window as you left Earth, the beautiful blue planet getting smaller as you flew higher into the universe.

You heard a pair of footsteps increasing behind you and turning around, you saw Druig with his soft smile appearing on his face. He grabbed your waist gently and pulled you towards his body, the leather on his jacket touching your bare skin.

"What are you doing here all alone, my love?" His tone was filled with tease yet genuine curiosity.

You turned your body around, facing the clear window, Druig not letting go of your body. His body was now pressed against your back, his arms still embracing your waist.

"Just looking at the beautiful world we saved. It's really beautiful." Druig saw the bright smile on your face, making his mood even better. He always loved to see you happy, your smile being the light of his day.

"Yes, it is, but it's certainly not as beautiful as you, Y/n." You turned your head and looked at Druig in the eyes. As you stared into his sapphire eyes, Druig couldn't help but place a gentle kiss on your lips. His kisses always started as gentle, but there were times where his eagerness go the best of him which led to interesting events.

The two of you walked back to the main room, hand in hand where Thena and Makkari were at. Makkari gave you a smile while Thena gave you a gentle nod. You sat on top of one of the tables skimming through books, while Druig went to get a bag of chips.

When he got back, his mouth was already stuffed with them, making his cheeks look like a chipmunk. You couldn't help but capture this moment so you took out your phone and took a quick picture.

"I still don't understand why you're so obsessed with that cellular device while you should be obsessed with me." His snarky remark made you slap him gently across the chest while snatching the bag of chips out of his hands in the process.

He gave you a playful glare before placing a small kiss on top of your nose. "You're lucky I love you very much."

You continued to eat the bag of chips until the sudden sound of something down the halls of the Domo caught your attention. Everyone stood up, on guard for any possible threats that were to come. Druig instinctively put his body in front of you as a shield, not daring to let any threat come your way.

But when a troll appeared out of a portal, your head tilted in confusion. He didn't seem to be a threat, more like a character from a fairytale story.

"Um, you see that too, right?" You asked Druig while the troll continued to talk.

"Yeah, I see it too," Druig whispered softly to you, his body still in front of yours.

Still not sure what was happening, your mind wandered in confusion, but when another person came out of the portal, your inner thoughts dissipated.

"Hello, fellow celestials. My name is Eros, I am the brother of Thanos." When Eros mentioned Thanos, your eyes widened slightly, not seeing the resemblance at all.

You stood aside from Druig's protective demeanor and cautiously looked at the other celestial, curiosity laced in your eyes, not seeing how he was related to Thanos.

"Love, stay behind me," Druig's voice appears in your head. You gave him a look then looked back at Eros.

"It's okay, Dru. I don't think he's a threat," you thought back. Druig was about to pull your body behind him until you walked up to Eros, his eyes gleaming towards your presence.

"Well, well, well, hello beautiful. What's your name, darling?" Eros asked you, his voice clearly flirtatious. You let out a nervous laugh before answering him.

"I'm Y/n, that's Makkari, Thena, and Druig." Eros gave a warm smile to everyone in the room, but when his vision went towards Druig, all the Eternal did was glare at him, not liking the way he was looking at his girlfriend.

"Nice to meet you all." Eros paused and looked back at you, flirt laced in his eyes once again. "Especially you, doll."

That's when Druig lost it. He didn't like the way this man was looking at you and the nicknames he was giving you pissed him off even more. He was the only one that could call you those named and the sudden urge of possessiveness overwhelmed him.

"Sorry, mate, she has a boyfriend and her boyfriend doesn't like when other people flirt with her," Druig said, his arm possessively wrapped around your waist. You couldn't help but smirk at Druig's claim on you. It made your heart skip a beat.

"Oh, well my apologizes, you have a very beautiful girlfriend though." Eros attempted to walk by you and Druig, your boyfriend's glare still digging into Eros' skull.

But as Eros walked by you, he sneakily winked at you hoping Druig didn't see, but oh boy, was he wrong.

When Druig saw his flirts didn't stop, Druig nearly pounced on him, but you held him back, preventing him from doing so.

"Can I kill him?" Druig asked you nonchalantly. Your eyes widened and you stood in front of Druig, not letting him get closer to Eros.

"No! Don't even think about it."

"But I didn't like the way he was staring at you, love," Druig admitted, finally looking into your eyes.

"Dru, I love you and only you." You pressed a soft kiss on his lips, him returning it swiftly.

"I know you love me and I love you so much, sweetheart. It's just that I don't trust him." Knowing Druig wouldn't stop worrying about you, you negotiated with him.

"Look how about this, if he tries anything again, you can just mind control him, okay?" Druig let out a genuine smile, yet it was filled with mischief and temptation.

"Deal." Druig kissed you on the cheek before walking back into the room with the other Eternals, his eyes still on Eros just in case he dared to do anything.

[jessie-writes-things]

Cherry Cola Kisses

How's your day going? I brought some cherry cola flavoured tea and then shat this out. 😅

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Neutral Reader

Genre: fluff

Warnings: kissing. swearing. unedited nonsense.

Summary: I don't know, just a random scene that doesn't go anywhere.

You never liked summer growing up. It was too hot, too sticky, too bright. Grass gave a splitting headache if you sat outside too long. You missed your routine: get up, go to school, go to work, sleep.

Start over.

You reached over and took a sip of your drink before placing it back in its make-shift cupholder among the tree roots.

It was a hot, sticky, bright day and you sat in the grass, a tall evergreen by the river giving you enough shade that you didn’t worry about heatstroke. Watery eyes scanned the pages of the book in your lap, inky words worn and faded, near impossible to keep up with as you raced to the end of a line, not quite beating the sneeze that squeaked by.

You thought your sleeve covered hand was enough to catch the sound. Turns out you were wrong.

For the first time in hours, Steve moved, startled awake and pushing himself up on his forearms to look at you, one eye darting around the field while the other remained closed against the bright light.

He soon calmed down, his chest still moved fast but at least he didn’t look like he was about to jump up and round kick someone, if he could even manage that. ‘What the fuck was that?’

‘A sneeze.’ You giggled at his annoyance. ‘That’s what happens to us peasants who can’t handle grass.’

Steve held you gaze for a moment, straight faced, then flopped back down onto his back, arms in the air. ‘C’me here.’

‘I’m busy.’

‘C’me here.’ He whined, drawing out ever last syllable like it was his dying breath. ‘You’re being boring and I’m lonely.’

‘I’m being boring?’ You closed the book, carefully slipping it into your bag before making a slow crawl over to him. ‘You fell asleep for an hour.’

You easily slipped between Steve’s legs. He caught you in a vice grip, dragging you down, chest awkwardly pressed against chest, your chin resting just above his heart. Things stayed like that for a while, quiet, peaceful and you mapped out the lines of freckles that appeared along his golden skin in the light.

‘You’re staring.’ And he was smiling, fingers brushing up and down the length of your spine before that got too tiring, stopping at the hem of your loose t-shirt.

‘You’re too beautiful not to.’

‘Peasants can’t look at royalty.’

You shot up, well, as much as you could with his hands pressing you back down, mouth gaped wide in shock. You wanted to come up with something witty but all the air pushed out your lungs in a choked laugh and all you could splutter out was, ‘Wow. Just, wow.’

‘I’m joking.’ His eyes were open again, smile plastered across his face. ‘The pretty ones can.’

There were no words. Nothing to hold up against his cockiness.

Kind Steve won.

And for his prize, he wanted a kiss. Even with the uncomfortable positioning, he made it seem so easy, swooping down and capturing your lips. God, his lips were so soft, a little dry from spending hours in the sun, but they were warm.

His hand slipped under your shirt, stopping at your hips to guide you up and over, knees now either side of his hips, all without breaking away just so his tongue could join in.

You’re the first to pull away, stuffed nose making it hard to breathe. Meanwhile, Steve stared up at you looking cocky as all hell as he raised a brow at you. ‘What?’

‘You’ve been drinking my coke.’

‘No.’

‘Yes.’

‘No.’

‘Yes.’ He punctuated his argument by lifting his hips and flipping you in one fluid movement, your back hitting the rough material of the picnic blanket below. ‘Your mouth tastes like fake cherry.’

‘I was thirsty.’ You rolled your eyes at his little pout. ‘I’ll remind you, you fell asleep for an hour. What?’

‘I was looking forward to drinking it.’

Dear God. ‘I’ll buy you a new can when we head back.’

‘Nope, that’ll be too late. I’ll die of thirst and then what?’

‘When the king dies, peasants rise?’ That cracked his façade, a small smile peaked through. You couldn’t keep a straight face either. ‘I’m sorry I drank your damn coke.’

‘It’s fine.’ Steve pressed down on his arms, staring at your lips that now hovered an inch below his. ‘Guess I’ll have to take advantage of the flavour while it’s still there.’

____

Tags: @grogusmum, @bunniesofsteel

I titled this wrong and it took me 3 hours and 40 notes to realise 💀😅

[zaraquinn]

dear billy…

—————

billy hargrove & fluff (sad)

word count: 839

younger sister!reader & billy hargrove / max mayfield

requested by: @loxbbg

a/n + additional notes: had to change this one up because it is a challenge, so I ended up having this from Max’s perspective. Hopefully, this still fulfills this request! also sorry for taking so long to get this done.

————

“Max! You can talk to me! Talk to us!” “Max just wait, please!” Stopping in her tracks, Max turned around, shoving her hands in her pockets as she faced Lucas and Y/N. “I told you, I’m fine.”

Lucas and Y/N look at each other for a split second, seemingly unconvinced. “Then why do you keep pushing us away? Look, I don’t need a letter, I don’t want a letter! Just talk to me. We’re your friends! She’s even your family.” Lucas points at Y/N, referencing the step-sister relationship. They used to be close, especially with El that summer. Max, who couldn’t even look at her in the eye, now does, but the horror replays in her head.

———

Max, runs and holds herself back beside Mike and Y/N; the bright lights from the fireworks explode and paint the scene almost poetic, but she sees horror. Terror, in their eyes as El, is on the floor, weak but Billy, above her, stops with tears coming out of her eyes. A hand, El’s hand reaches to touch Billy’s, and it was that look Max knew.

“Shit!” The Mind Flayer, whose roars shake the building violently, captures everyone’s attention as the fireworks and explosions slowly stop one by one. “Y/N! What are you doing? No!” Max’s voice screams as her eyes follow Y/N who bolts towards El and Billy and gets on her knees beside El.

“Y/N,” El says weakly; tears staining her cheeks for a solid moment, the mention of Y/N knocks the control the Mind Flayer had on Billy, and he notices her. He looks at her, those matching blue eyes mirror each other as his brow furrows. “I love you.”

He pushes them away and faces the Mind Flayer’s wrath, protecting El and the others.

Max and Y/N scream his name, watching him perish.

———

“Max! You can talk to me, right? I’m your family! I know how you’re feeling, I’m still grieving too, just please…” Y/N said, her voice breaking as she reached her hand out to take. Max kept silent. Looking at her sister’s hand, but did not take it. “I know.” “Then talk to us! She’s right here. I’m right here.”

Another beat of silence passes as Max shakes her head, turning around and heading deeper into the graveyard. “Okay? Just, wait in the car. This won’t be long.”

———

"Dear Billy, I don't know if you can even hear this. Two years ago, I would have said, 'That's ridiculous, impossible.’ But that was before I found out about alternate dimensions and monsters, so... I'm just going to stop assuming that I know anything."

"So much has happened since you left. Your dad and Y/N were a total mess. He and my mom started getting into fights. Bad fights. I don't think he could stand being here without you, So he left. And he didn't leave Mom much." “For Y/N, at first she was the only one I could talk to—to make me feel better. We were close, and, I clung to her because she was the closest I could get to you. But, it soon changed; she stopped feeling anything after a while. And maybe so did I.” "Mom’s taken an extra job, and we moved to that lovely trailer park off Kerley. Ever since you left, everything's been...A total disaster. And the worst part is, I can't tell anyone why you're gone."

"I can't tell them that you saved El's life. That you saved my life or Y/N’s life. I play that moment back in my head all the time. And sometimes I imagine myself running to you, pulling you away; going beside Y/N. I imagine that if I had, you would still be here. And everything would be...everything would be right again. I imagine that we...That we could've become friends. Good friends, like...like a real brother and sister. Like you and Y/N. because I knew, even though I was jealous, and we hated each other, that Y/N would help and try to get us to get along. More than Mom and Dad ever did. She loved you. And you loved her. And, I don’t know. Maybe I wanted that too."

"And I know that's stupid. You hated me. I hated you. But I thought that maybe...Maybe we could try again. But that's not what happened. I just...I stood there and I watched. For a while, I tried to be happy. Normal. Normal for Y/N, who was shattered without you. But I...I think that maybe a part of me died that day too. And I haven't told anyone this. I...I just can't. But I had to tell you. Before it's too late."

"If you can even hear this—I hope that you can. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Billy. Love, your shitty little sister, Max."

———

stranger things request post:

masterlist:

[darcyxpalmer]

A coincidence for some of this - no, all of this - really did feel just too easy, almost impossible of an assumption, but she didn't have any better theories for now, so even if they were her finite explanations for everything, Darcy still kept them in the running at least. Even if a mass grave above a tunnel leading into what seemed dark nothing was probably extremely intentional.

"Yeah, coincidence feels-- yeah, agreed, but I haven't managed to figure things out enough to have anything more concrete to go off. It all just-- doesn't makes sense, really." None of it did, but truth be told, considering that it was a mass grave, Darcy also hasn't had the stomach to dig around everything so closely. They'd have to, eventually, the place could have clues, but for now... the tunnel it was. "But as for the tunnels, I am pretty sure there is a bigger tunnel system all under us than we can even imagine. I mean, Tej and I found one that leads to the vulcano somehow. And we're in this one now, which leads to who even knows where." Hopefully they'd know soon enough.

She didn't like the idea of other people either, but it was something they had to think about. "What are we even going to do, if we end up running into somebody who was absolutely nowhere near the beach? Who is clearly part of everything behind the scenes?" If Darcy could do anything, she'd probably capture them and bring them back to the beach to prove her point, to get help from the others about getting as much information out of the person as possible. But it was also kidnapping, which might not go over too well with other people. With Ash.

She gave a small shake of her head at Ash's next question. "No idea. But somebody extremely wealthy and with a vision. That, or the government."

And even though Ash dismissed her own theory already even as she was telling Darcy about it, Darcy tilted her head, giving it a bit more thought because there were elements of it that would make sense. "Maybe-- okay, no, I don't think we are in a survival tv show in the same sense that you thought, like I doubt it's something similar to what Alex ran in the simulation, but there are cameras everywhere, they are monitoring us from the getgo. Maybe they do stream what is happening here to the public. Maybe they are legally obligated to - kind of how NASA has 24 hours to release any satelite photos and footage they make. Or they aren't just recording us to observe us but have the intent to release some of it once the experiments reached certain parts or we are finished." And then another thing popped into her head, "And maybe there is actual footage of what happened to those who we found at the entrance of this tunnel, too." If they could get their hands on those footages...

"Have you been in these kinds of shows before, by the way? It sounds like you know a lot about how they work and what goes on behind the scenes."

Ash raised her eyebrows when Darcy mentioned being into a different kind of fun. Yes, hydroslides were fun, but Ash was used to a different meaning of the phrase. Ash let out a breathy laugh, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm game for all sorts of fun. I mean…" She motioned with her flashlight against the walls of the cave. "If you couldn't tell." But it was a definite green flag that Darcy was just as game for the cave system as she was.

Ash had been on weirder first dates.

The temperature plummeted even a short distance into the rocky tunnel. Ash's questions had incited Darcy to rattle off a few theories. Ash loved it when people got talking about something they were passionate about. That was how she now had a good working knowledge of microphones and aerospace tragedies.

"A coincidence feels too kitschy…" she said, screwing up her nose. "Out of anywhere to dig a mass grave they put it on top of this tunnel? Unless the whole island has a tunnel system like Swiss cheese?" That wasn't a comforting thought. "I don't like the thought of other people being in this tunnel system with us." But as she cast her flashlight about the tunnel, it was obvious that this place was man made. The walls were too straight, too level. She could even see a few scrapes along the wall, the kind she imagined heavy machinery would leave behind.

"Whoever is behind all of this?" Ash asked Darcy, hoping to get her to elaborate. She went on first; "When I first got here, I thought for sure this was all a reality TV set. Like, with some fucked up ethics board approval, but still, a TV show. I don't know how they'd swing those murder-robo-hornets, though. Or the powers. But anyway, earlier I wanted to go exploring the tunnels earlier, because I figured if the producers wanted to set up a covert HQ it had to be there. It's the only place to hide the light pollution, generators and crew. And it would be easy to secure." Ash felt a little foolish with her pet theory, given how resolutely it had been slammed by those she told it to. "I'd just been signed to one of those island survival shows before coming here. Timing, right?"

[imerdwarf]

I've Given All I Can

Summary: You and Bucky feel as though you're pulling apart from each other, your worse fears come true one night at a party but is it too late?

Warnings: Low self esteem, angst, language, Bucky is an idiot, tears, heartbreak, implied smut (but nothing explicit) at the end 💜

Author's Notes: Happy evening 😍 this is for @the-ss-horniest-book-club's Drunk Drabbles 💜

Bucky has that unreadable look in his eyes again as he watches you change clothes. Your jeans feel too tight around your waist and your shirts pull across your stomach, accentuating the bulge from your food baby from all the binge eating junk you've eaten the past few weeks to help you feel better.

In truth, eating like that made you feel worse about yourself. You thought of yourself as the worst human alive because you couldn't stop it, you couldn't stop anything from going wrong with your body and your mind was in overdrive.

Your self esteem issues were eating away at you, you felt helpless as if you were screaming into a void alone and nobody was around to help you. Your mind would play the cruelest tricks. For example, how your mind would pick up on the facial expressions your boyfriend Bucky would give other women in the compound. He looks at them how he used to look at you when you first started dating, and it's been a while since you have seen that look from him.

For Bucky it was completely the opposite though, he's felt this distance between the two of you for a while and figured it was because you weren't interested in him anymore. He knows of the stress you've been under, how your insecurities are eating away at your thoughts and he longs for the day he sees your beautiful smile again.

He just knows it won't happen anytime soon and quite frankly, he doesn't even know what he should do anymore. Trying to talk to you was impossible because you would only grunt in response or not pay any attention to what he was asking or you would just change subjects which has been the case lately.

He doesn't know what do to, he wishes you would just tell him what he needs to do to make you love him again. He stares blankly at you as you change into jeans and a sweater, making no attempt to look away when you catch his stare and that look on his face.

Bucky stands and leaves you alone in the room, the door closes behind him and it's then the waterworks come to life. Tears roll freely down your cheeks as you crumble to the floor, hugging your knees to your chest, you rock back and forth feeling your heart break in your chest. You would give anything to have Bucky wrap his arms around you right now, it just seems he feels disgusted being near you and touching you.

While you were crying in your shared room, Bucky made his way to the kitchen where he saw Sam sitting on the stool sipping a coffee and scrolling through some files on the glass tablet.

"Rough mission?" Bucky asks, taking a seat opposite him and playing with the strings on his sweatpants.

"You could say that," Sam coughs into his bent elbow and looks over at Barnes to notice that worrying look in his eyes, "what's wrong?" He adds with a frown.

"Nothin'" Bucky sighs and runs a hand over his face. He looks tired and almost defeated.

"Come on man, I'm good for some things ya know!" Sam chuckles to encourage the man.

"It's just me and Y/N, things aren't... so good lately, feel like we're drifting apart." Bucky sniffles, saying it out loud was almost reality.

"Well, as your friend, I would advise you to sit down and talk about things, tell each other what's on your mind and hug it out even." Sam has a point but he doesn't understand that Bucky has tried to talk to you about this in the past and got nowhere. Now you were barely speaking.

"It's not that simple Sam," Bucky sighs and shakes his head.

Now it's Sam's turn to sigh, "nothing ever is simple. Just act like an adult and talk like adults, it's gonna be alright, man! Anyway, I got to go. I have a support group to motivate, let me know how things go." Sam grabs his backpack from the stool next to him and leaves quickly, leaving Bucky to think over his irrational plan that he thinks might work.

1 week later

Tonight is the night of one of Stark's extravagant parties and everyone is invited. It's also the night Bucky has a plan that he wants to execute to hopefully bring the two of you back together again.

He stands in front of the floor length mirror and adjusts his bowtie for the umpteenth time. His black suit is tailored to fit him perfectly and he knows how much you love him in black.

Your own dress was a gift from Natasha. It showed a lot of cleavage and thigh, normally, a dress like this was not something you would have chosen.

And by the time you got downstairs to the party, the room was already crowded ranging from the less fortunate to the billionaires. You had to shimmy past a couple of people to reach the bar, you were hoping your dress might spark some interest from Bucky tonight but he's nowhere to be seen.

You take a seat on the barstool and order a martini, the bartender hands you the drink and you thank him with a smile, spinning on your seat to sip your drink and scan the room. A boisterous laugh grabs your attention and your eyes follow the offensive sound. Your eyes narrow in on the gorgeous blonde standing in the corner, but it's the man she's with that makes your heart drop into your stomach.

It's Bucky. And her hands are holding onto his biceps as he presumably tells her one of his jokes. He's smiling, he's laughing and it's the happiest you have seen him for a while. Was he miserable because of you? Were you holding him back from happiness? The scene unfolding was answering all of your questions and more when Bucky takes her hand in his and pulls her to the dance floor to dance alongside the other 'couples'. They look so happy and so lost in each others eyes that your eyes well up and the room feels like it's closing in and suffocating you.

You can't breath, you need air and fast. You slam your glass down on the bar and stand up, taking off your heels so you can get out of here even quicker. You don't excuse yourself as you barge past the happy smiling attendees.

Wanda sees everything unfold from where she was stood. She saw the way Barnes had approached the blonde woman and started flirting with her as soon as you arrived at the party. She also sees he's none the wiser of the fact you've already left the scene upset and heartbroken.

Wanda approaches the blind idiot and pulls him away from the woman he's with. "what the -"

"I could ask you the same question Barnes! What the hell do you think you're playing at? You're cheating on Y/N now? My best friend?" Wanda is seething, and the urge to punch the smirk of his face is harder to resist.

"Did it work?" He asks with a smug grin looking around the party.

"Oh yeah, if your plan was to break her heart and make her cry, it worked perfectly!"

Bucky frowns and his lip quivers slightly, "nononono! That wasn't the plan! Fuck, where did she go?"

"Who knows." Wanda shrugs, she wouldn't tell him even if she did.

Bucky rushes past her and starts to look in every room until he finds you slouched against the wall of one of the vacant offices down the hall.

"Baby!" Bucky rushes in and kneels next to you, his big arms immediately pull you into his chest. You try to pull away but his grip is too strong and you end up sobbing uncontrollably into his chest. "I'm so sorry baby."

You pull your face away to breathe, your palms flat against his chest, "you're leaving me," you croak, looking up at him through wet eyelashes. The room around you feels like it's spinning, this feels like a really bad dream.

Bucky staggers for a moment, digging his fingertips further into your flesh. "Absolutely not baby! No way! I'm so sorry you gotta believe me doll, I was just trying to make you jealous because I thought you weren't interested in me anymore and-"

"I thought you weren't interested in me!" You argue, fighting back the fresh tears threatening to fall, "you haven't touched me in so long I didn't know what to think."

"Then it's my fault doll, I read the whole situation wrong and I should have talked to you like an adult, please let me make it up to you and I promise I'll show you just how much I love you and want to touch you." His nose nudges against yours and his face dips slightly to capture your lips. His lips are soft and you quietly moan into his mouth as he spins you both around and presses you up against the door ready to make good on his promise.

Taglist: @smokeybluebrooke-lyn @pinkdiamond1016 @whatrambles @bestofbucky @ladyeliot