#fair warning though this is unfinished

[greenwitchfromthewoods]

the anniversary. l Joel Miller

Summary:  he forgot about a very important date for you

Warnings:  +18, smut, angst, unprotected sex (don't do that), fingering, oral sex (f receiving), cum play, breeding kink or just talking about kids

 A/N:  somehow it came out the same way. I hope you like it. Thank you for every feedback, it means a lot to me.

The car quietly pulled into the driveway and after a moment the engine and the lights were turned off. He didn't get out right away, he just reached for the phone lying on the passenger seat and glanced at the last message Tommy had sent him.

He cursed quietly under his breath. This renovation had been causing them problems from the start and they wanted to finish it as soon as possible, but Joel's blood pressure rose every time he saw or heard that something would extend their work again. This time it was the same.

"Fuck." he hissed under his breath, resigned.

His gaze rolled over the quiet area immersed in sleep. It was already around midnight. Once again he had spent way too much time at work.

The car door slammed shut and his steps headed towards the door. The lights inside were dimmed, you had left them on just enough so he could safely move around the interior.

His gaze wandered to the couch in the living room, he was probably secretly hoping to see you there, but it was so late that he knew it was a foolish hope. You worked too, and you looked after the house and were there for Sarah while he was at work, which was... for too long lately.

His legs took him to the kitchen and the fridge, but when he opened the door he froze for a moment. There were several containers full of food on the shelves, and he definitely hadn't seen them there this morning. The cardboard box from your favourite cake shop looked completely untouched. And that bottle of champagne.

A cold shiver ran down his spine. Joel swallowed hard, feeling his throat tighten and a heavy stone sinking into his stomach.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

More pieces of the puzzle started fitting together in his head. Fresh flowers in the living room, candles standing on the kitchen counter.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck."

When his eyes stopped at the calendar hanging on the wall he knew he had fucked everything up.

His hand went to his hair and he ruffled it wondering how angry you could be at him. Joel would probably rather you were angry because the disappointment in your eyes would kill him.

He couldn't hide in the kitchen forever though so he headed upstairs. He glanced through the ajar door to Sarah's room. Her bed was empty. That's right, for a few days you both told him that she would be staying at a friend's.

Another stone fell into his stomach.

The bedroom you shared was dark, but a small lamp was on by the bed, your silhouette was outlined under the sheets. This view was one of his favorites. You were sleeping quietly breathing.

Joel took off his shoes and shirt, throwing it towards the laundry basket. He climbed onto the bed and gently kissed your shoulder, then once again until you purred quietly.

"J-Joel?" your voice was quiet and sleepy "Is something wrong? What time is it?"

"Late. Midnight or something." he replied, resting his arms on either side of you "Baby, I'm so fucking sorry..."

You groaned, hiding your face in your hands so he wouldn't see your embarrassment. You hoped that this conversation wouldn't happen, that you'd forget and go back to normal. But Joel didn't like unfinished business.

"I felt really stupid." you finally spoke up "For a moment I even wondered if I hadn't mixed up the dates. So I found the marriage certificate…"

"I messed everything up. I remembered that, at least at the beginning of the week."

"Yeah, I know. You worked a lot." your hand stroked his scratchy cheek "At least we have so much food that we don't have to cook tomorrow. And Sarah will be really happy about the cake I bought."

"That's not fair. You worked too, and then you came home, did all these things, and remembered our anniversary."

"Multitasking."

"I told you, you're better than Wonder Woman." you giggled, and that brought him relief "I'm so sorry, baby. I really am. I fucked it all up."

"You fucked up." You nodded, but your smile softened it "But we can still do something about it."

"Yeah?"

A sly smile appeared on his lips as your body settled beneath him. Your hands slid gently over his chest to his soft belly where your nails scratched it pleasantly.

He leaned down and his lips brushed yours, nibbling gently before his warm tongue slipped inside, caressing you pleasantly. A quiet groan escaped your throat.

You couldn't remember the last time Joel kissed you like that. The last few weeks had been quite hard, his late homecomings didn't make anything easier. In the evenings, you both fell into bed and before anything could happen, you fell asleep deeply.

Now, you had time and the house just for yourselves.

"Joel?" you murmured quietly as his lips moved to your neck. "Maybe you're tired, huh? I don't want you to be unconscious at work tomorrow."

A single movement of his hips and the large bulge hidden in his jeans rubbing against your thigh was a clear answer. He kissed your lips again and then sat up, removing the sheets from you.

"Oh, baby..." he sighed seeing that you were only wearing his shirt and panties "Even if I was on my deathbed I would ask for the opportunity to eat you out."

"God! Miller!" you laughed "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You won't understand." his large hands slid down your thighs squeezing them lightly "It's such a man thing."

His fingers reached for the hem of your panties and he slid them down without much trouble. He spread your thighs apart and you felt the heat flooding your neck. You were totally exposed to him, but Joel always made you feel totally sexy and desired even in a situation like this.

He settled himself between your thighs giving them a few kisses and squeezes. It was like a final countdown to what was about to happen. One, slow lick and the air left your lungs.

"So pretty." Joel mumbled and you bit your lip "I'm a lucky bastard."

You didn't have a chance to respond as his mouth closed over your heat. His tongue teased your button.

"Jesus!"

That was all that could escape your lips as you tried to catch your breath and control your body. Joel made sounds like he planned to eat you out completely and leave you barely alive. Unconsciously, your hips jerked trying to break free from the pleasure his mouth was giving you, but his hands held you tighter to the mattress.

"Stay." he mumbled "You're not going anywhere."

One of your hands tightened on the headboard of the bed and the other tangled in Joel's hair. You felt him slide his tongue into your heated pussy, in and out, his thumb making small circles on your clit. You felt his scratchy stubble on your thighs, his hands pressing you down to the mattress.

"I'm so close...so close..."

"I can feel it, baby. C'mon, let go."

His two thick fingers slid into you without a problem, finding the right spot. You clenched your thighs tighter, but that didn't stop him, his fingers moved faster and faster and after a moment, indescribable pleasure spread through your body.

"Oh my God!" you moaned "Fuck!"

Joel didn’t wait, freed himself from between your legs and unzipped his pants, freeing his hard cock. He gave it a few pumps, his hands were slick with your juices. But it was his eyes that were the most hypnotizing. Those beautiful, brown eyes turned almost black. You knew he wanted you so much.

Not a word was said. His cock touched your pussy and after a moment he easily slid into you, stretching your walls pleasantly. Joel lay on you, pinning you harder to the mattress with the weight of his body. His fingers slid into your hair and his lips crushed yours. You only had time to wrap your legs around his waist before he thrust in for the first time.

His cock pushed in harder and deeper. You wanted to catch your breath, but Joel's mouth was swallowing you and it wasn't until he buried his face in your hair, moaning loudly, that you managed to do it.

You loved it when he made such dirty sounds, but living with a teenager, he had to hold back. Now Joel gave you a real concert.

"You're so tight, baby. So fucking good for me." he moaned in your ear. "I missed that pussy so much. I want to fuck you all night long."

You couldn't answer. No grammatically correct sentence was able to form in your brain. Your pussy took over and the only thing that slipped out from between your lips was:

"Harder, Joel… Fuck me harder."

Joel got up and knelt on the mattress. He threw your legs over his shoulders and held them tight, then began to pound into you harder and harder. Every movement was precise and hit exactly where you needed him. His cock moved hard inside you and you felt yourself getting closer to the edge really fast.

"I'm close, baby!" he panted "Cum for me, I want to feel you."

"Joel..."

"C'mon, baby." His thumb found your clit again and rubbed it hard "Fuck, c'mon!"

Your body arched. You could feel your walls squeeze his cock, the muscles in your legs quivering, but Joel didn't slow down. A few more hard thrusts and he filled you to the brim, a groan of pleasure escaping his throat as he tilted his head back.

"Sweet Jesus..." he mumbled, lowering his arms and letting your legs fall onto the bed, "Fuck, I've missed this so much..."

His cock slid out of you, and some of his seed flowed out of you after it. He watched it for a moment, then his fingers lazily pushed it back in.

"You know..." he began as his eyes moved to your face, "We should start talking about this eventually."

"About what?" you asked.

Joel laid down next to you, sliding down his jeans and laying completely naked, still breathing deeply.

"About kids." he replied calmly, turning his head to face you, "I'm not getting any younger, and I'd really like to have a kid or two with you."

"A kid or two?" you laughed.

"Yeah, why not?" his eyes shone so beautifully when he spoke about it "I would like to see your belly grow full of our baby. You will be even more beautiful. Besides, you are a wonderful mother to Sarah, she adores you. Would you like that? Because if you are not ready, baby, we can wait with it. We still have time."

You stroked his cheek, smiling fondly at him.

"I think I am ready, sweetie. It would be a wonderful journey together, don't you think?"

"Definitely."

You moved closer to him and snuggled into his arms. You were happy and you didn’t want to give up this moment for anything in the world.

☆☆☆

Thank you for your time.

[st4rgzer]

now playing…DOWN BAD (spencer reid)

summary: in which passion takes a form of frustration when you can’t have what you want, the object of your adoration being spencer reid.

genre: fluff/angst

cw!: making out

a/n: i literally just wrote this, i apologize if it looks unfinished but i think that’s the vibe of the song! masterlist

you desperately tried to not look at spencer, strands of hair framing his face so effortlessly. the way his lips moved when he talked intricately about anything he could think of. his voice was sweet and melodic, you could hardly focus on what he was saying, though. he looks golden. rays of light hitting his honey eyes, the sun echoes through them. you can’t help but remember what happened the night before, if his eidetic memory had replayed that moment in his mind, like you had done.

his nose brushed against yours, mouth hovering over your lips momentarily. your breath short and expectant.

“you know i adore you” he spoke, his hot breath bringing heat to your cheeks. you are desperate to pull apart, to break eye contact. but it’s impossible, you’re helpless.

“you do?” your voice was breathy, eager and soft.

he nodded. you glanced at his lips momentarily. he ran his thumb over yours, tracing the shape of them. before dipping his head and placing one gentle kiss upon your lips. this didn’t last long, sweet short kisses turning into long and wanting ones. his hands came up from your hips to the side of your face, grabbing your jaw and kissing you like a starved man.

his teeth clashed against yours. messy kisses and breathless sounds filled the room, his tongue chased yours. you bit his lower lip slightly, earning a groan from him. his thumb caressed your cheek softly, contrasting the heat and passion of his kiss. before anything else could happen, he pulled apart.

your chest heaved at the absence of air you had just experienced, wondering why he had pulled apart so urgently.

“wait” he warned you, as you leaned in slightly, tugging on the hem of his shirt.

“we-we can’t do this” he sat up, shaking his head, mumbling incoherent words.

“what- why?” you whined, looking up as he straightened his tie and grabbed his blazer from the arm of the couch.

“it’s wrong- we’re coworkers for gods sake” he almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself rather than you. sighing as he looked at your disheveled state, lips swollen and hair fuzzy. his brows creased as he forced himself to look away and turn around.

“no, that’s not fair, you said!-“ you got up, hurriedly chasing after him. you grabbed his arm, making him pay attention to you.

“that is not fair spencer. there isn’t any reason why being coworkers has to prevent this from being something!” you begged, vulnerability seeping through you.

his eyes scanned you and for a second, you could see him falter. but he turned around and closed the door on his way out.

you were left there perplexed, brows furrowed trying to pinpoint something that went wrong. trying to figure out what was going through his mind.

‘for a moment i knew cosmic love. now i’m down bad crying at the gym, everything comes out teenage petulance.’

“fuck it if i can’t have him, i might just die it would make no difference” you complained to penelope, eyes puffy from your previous breakdown.

“sweetheart, don’t say that! i’m sure he has a good reason, and if he doesn’t, fuck him.” she rubbed your shoulder reassuringly.

“yeah that’s exactly what i want!” you cried, foolishly behaving like a teenage girl, understandably though.

“oh my god” pen sighed, dragging her hand across her face.

how dare he think it’s romantic, leaving you safe and stranded?

taglist: @ilovesadiesink @sp3ncelle @lvtilzs

*comment to be added*

[wosoamazing]

Qualifiers

Warnings: Knee Injury, IDK

A/N: Just a bit of a fluffy fic I guess, hope you like it, also I'm currently on mid semester break, so I hopefully will be getting more fics out.

“Steph, have you noticed they’re behaving? Like it’s so quiet” Caitlin remarked as she sat opposite Steph on the bus.

“No, they’re not behaving, they are just asleep.” She replied pointing to the seats where you, Kyra and Charli were all fast asleep, your head leaning on Charli’s shoulder. Everyone shifted their bodies so they could get a view of the three of you, all taking photos, finding the scene in front of them very cute.

“They’re so cute,” “Yeah when they aren't being menaces, Y/N is a really sweet kid though, she just has a lot of energy, I think that stems from….” “Yeah she is great, and such an amazing talent too,” Caitlin rescued Steph as she drifted off, hoping to cover the unfinished sentence, Steph was about to mention your ADHD to the team, all the girls at Arsenal knew about it but Steph hasn't asked you if you were okay with the Matildas knowing.

“How old is Y/N though?” Raso asked

“She turns 17 in June,” “Oh so she is like a baby” “Yeah,” Steph nodded, smiling at you.

“She lives with you and Dean right?” Alanna asked.

“Yeah. Her parents approached us when they found out she was singing for the club and asked if we could take her in, in a way, and we said of course. The club signed off on it and so she moved in with us”

“Wait, how do her parents know you? Or was it random?” “No, we knew them, well more specifically her Dad from our time at Melbourne City, most of you would know him too, he is like on the board or part of the leadership team or something for City as a whole, she explains it much better than I do, but basically he is between all the city clubs and so she couldn’t live with them because they didn’t want her to be alone for long period of time.” They all nodded

“How is she going at Arsenal? She’s been getting a decent amount of minutes hasn't she?”

“Yeah she has. I think she really enjoys it”

“But wait, why does she play for Arsenal if her Dad works for City. Like are they not City fans?”

“Well I don't actually think she is allowed to play for city, but she grew up supporting both Arsenal and City, so I don’t think it really mattered. But I think the main reason is she can't actually play for city.”

“I think she’ll be good for the team, and she is a diverse player, I think Jonas being indecisive has helped that but I mean, it wouldn't hurt to have an all rounder, she is good at everything. I’m just glad she has settled in well, like I know you are all nice and wouldn’t be mean but she is just so much younger, even compared to Kyra. But to be fair she did already know Kyra so that helped. But if anything I’m seeing her more with Charli than Kyra so that is interesting” Caitlin added some food for thought.

“Yeah and something we need to keep an eye on.” Steph said referring to you and Charli spending time together, worried Kyra was getting left out.

_____

You were doing mini drills in teams, so you had a brief break. You walked up to Steph and gave her a hug, 

“Hey little one,” she said as she wrapped her arms around you to hug you back “you okay?”

You looked up to her “Yeah, am I not allowed a hug from my Stephy?”

“No, you are, of course you are. I just wanted to check if you were okay. You just seem a little off today that's all. But you know you can always talk to me about anything right?” Tony called both your names out as Steph was finishing what she said, so you let go of the hug rolling your eyes at her, before she put her arm around your shoulders and you walked off to Tony.

“Go have showers and get changed into clean training gear, the media team wants you both. Good work today though, love the effort.”

_____

“Yes Y/N” Tony said as you had your hand up, “Dad is calling me, I’m really sorry but could I answer?”

“Yeah sure, go ahead that is all good, let him know I said hi,” you nodded and walked out, normally Tony wouldn't let such a thing happen, but as you were younger he agreed.

You had just gotten off the phone with your parents, unfortunately they couldn't come to the game tomorrow, City needed your Dad for something, he was very apologetic and he had tried everything he could but City wasn't budging. Steph was right when she said you had seemed off today, because you were, you were just a little overwhelmed by everything that was happening, it was just lots of little things building to form one larger thing. You headed back towards the room feeling nervous for some reason, maybe you just weren't sure, you didn't really know, you hesitated slightly before opening the door, as you took a step in Steph immediately caught your eyes, she nodded to you and you made your way over to her rather than returning to your seat with Mini, Haper, Charlie and Kyra. A few tears left your eyes and Steph sat you down on her lap instead of you sitting down on the empty chair, you dropped your head into your hands and your body shook slightly as you silently cried. Steph rubbed your back as she looked up to Tony, who nodded at her and mouthed ‘go’.

“Hey, I’m going to take you up to my room, do you want me to carry you or do you want to walk?” You didn’t say anything but started walking, she followed behind, once you were out of the room you stopped and turned around to her, she picked you up and started heading for her room again. You weren't actually rooming with Steph but she knew you would want to be with her tonight, for some familiarity, so she placed you down on her bed before quickly going to get what you needed.

“Oh sorry,” Hayley said as she walked into the room, seeing you and Steph, you were still crying, you were just overwhelmed. 

“It’s all good, we’ve both had showers so if you want you can have one.” “Thanks.” 

By the time Hayley had finished her shower you were no longer crying however you still let out a shaky breath every now and then and from how you were playing with Steph’s rings she could tell you were still nervous. “Hey, you know you’re going to do amazing tomorrow, and if you make a mistake that's okay we all make them, and if you miss, that's okay as well, it happens, we’re humans we can't be perfect. But no matter what we are all going to be proud of you and the way you perform isn't going to affect how we all view you. You know they asked me how I would classify our relationship today, and I told them you were like my little sister. You know I love you right?” you didn't reply but nodded your head, she was a big sister to you, really everyone at Arsenal was like your big sister too you. A yawn escaped your mouth, “Lets get some sleep hey,” you shuffled around to be in a more comfortable position before you softly spoke “I love you too Steph”.

“Is she okay?” Hayley asked now that you were asleep. “Yeah, her parents just can’t make it to the game tomorrow and I think she is kind of scared, but she will be okay,” “Yeah, she is a great player, like really, I might head off to sleep now if that is okay with you,” “Yeah, see you in the morning.”

___

In the 22nd minute you scored your first national team goal, you were ecstatic however 5 minutes later that feeling disappeared when you were pushed, causing your knee to lock before twisting, you heard a pop in your knee, as a pain of wave rolled over it, the world around you went fuzzy, this couldn’t be happening, it couldn’t be your ACL, you couldn’t handle that, this was your first cap and now you might be out for 9+ months. You were quickly pulled back to reality by Tony calling all the girls over, who were surrounding you,  they all dispersed except for one, who was wiping your tears away, as the medics assessed you. They gave you a green whistle before they stabilised your knee and moved you onto the stretcher, Steph wiped away the last few tears that appeared on your face, before placing a kiss on your forehead, you were then quickly taken down the tunnel, left in your own thoughts, you were so badly hoping it wasn’t your ACL.

There were about 25 minutes of the game left when there was a knock at the door, “come in” the door opened slightly to reveal Steph, whose eyes immediately melted when she saw you, your knee was heavily strapped and in a hinged brace, a pair of crutches leant against the bed.

“Oh, Y/N/N,” she said as she approached you, wrapping her arms around you.

The physio explained to her that you had dislocated your knee slightly, but they were able to put it back in place, she also explained that you had to keep the tape and brace on at all times, until you saw the specialist back in London, she explained they had booked in an appointment for you as well as an MRI.

“Is there any idea of when she can play again?” Steph said, now holding your hand in hers.

“We aren't able to say anything yet, there is no way of knowing what other damage was done, until she gets the MRI, the specialist will be able to tell you everything though when you see them.”

“Okay, thank you, are we able to head out to the pitch, or does she need to stay in here?”

“No, you’re all good to go out. I’ll give you two some space, just let me know if you need anything.” Steph nodded, you looked up to her, her gaze meeting yours.

“Do you want to go back out?” You nodded, “Okay, let's go.” Steph helped you get off the bed and she walked beside you as you slowly made your way back out.

The full time whistle was blown and the stadium erupted, the Matildas had just qualified for the olympics, Steph picked you up and spun you around, “We’re going to the olympics baby!”, you couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t we it was her, their last number 20 did her ACL, maybe the jersey just came with bad luck.

[keferon]

I’m starved for some megop fics but I can never find ones I’m satisfied with. And you have a like a whole library of fics in your brain do you have any recommendations mayhaps?

Yes yes yes I do. Fair warning though - I don't like the way this fandom usually writes them. With Optimus being whining helpless little thing and Megatron being this brutal alpha male or something. I don't enjoy that. So the fics I have was mostly chosen by "anything but that⬆️" criteria.

First - parting storm clouds by cassette(Crescent_Blues)

This is my absolute number one MegOp fic. I haven't found anything better so far. It's short and I think unfinished but oh my god. I have never seen Orion Pax being so alive and..you know...allowed to be a person outside of his duty and reputation and popular fanons. It's 25k words

The second best I've found is Ethics and Employee Management: A Love Story by perictione (leclairage)

Imma be honest I mostly in love with the first half of this fic just because it has so many interesting thoughts and discussions and just in general. The way Optimus and Megatron are talking to each other is so fucking entertaining to read. Also this one is longer, 48k words.

And Gossip Session by Chocolate_Cheesecake

If you want something short and funny :)

5k words

[roanofarcc]

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

pairing. sasappis x ghost!reader

summary. (requested) as the two youngest ghosts at woodstone, you and sasappis understood each other and your laundry lists of unfinished business. at the top of the list for both of you? falling in love

warnings. dead!reader, fem!reader, mentions of death, sad sasappis, happy ending!!

masterlist

“Good morning!” you greeted cheerfully as you entered the living room where the rest of the ghosts were hanging out, lounging and waiting for today’s adventure to spring to life. Usually, when you awoke, you could gauge how the day would go from the looks on their faces. More often than not, they were a little bored as they awaited to see what Sam and Jay had on the agenda for the day, but today was slightly different. When you greeted them, the looks on their faces were a mix of boredom, worry, and confusion. 

“There you are,” Hetty said, standing up with a small huff. “Is Sasappis with you?” 

You furrowed your brows. “No, why?” 

“We not know where he is. We thought he with you,” Thorfinn said, looking slightly distressed at his seemingly missing friend. 

It wasn’t possible though for Sasappis to be missing. If he had been sucked off, or passed on to whatever awaited you after ghosthood, someone would have seen it. And it wasn’t like ghosts could wander off the property. You thought for a moment, longer than it should have taken you to realize just where Sass had run off too. 

“I’ll get him,” you said, starting toward the back door. The other ghosts began following you, but you paused and turned to look at them. “Um, maybe I should talk to him first.” 

You hadn't known Sass the longest, not by a couple hundred years, but the two of you had bonded as the youngest ghosts to haunt Woodstone. All of them had unfinished business, that’s why you all were stuck in the mansion, but you and especially Sass had so much unfinished business that it felt overwhelming at times. That was when you’d each need to get away from everything to mull it over. But as you quickly learned, mulling it over alone was even more isolating. Then, one day you stumbled upon Sass sitting alone by the large pond on the property. From that point on, whenever the two of you felt extra jaded about your untimely deaths, you’d find yourself by the lake with each other, slightly soothed by each other's company. 

There were protests from the other ghosts, except Thor. He knew Sass the best since they had been dead together the longest. He stepped forward and placed a heavy hand on your shoulder, offering you a nod before he turned around and did his best to explain to the others why it was best that you go speak to Sass first. While he did that, you slipped outside and headed toward the lake. 

You found Sass in his usual spot, with his feet pulled up to his chest and his chin resting on his knees. 

“Hey,” you greeted quietly, as to not scare him, before you sat down beside him on the slightly overgrown grass. 

He offered you a weak smile in return before his gaze returned to the rippling water. The rising sun glittered across the surface and it bathed everything in a warm orange glow. 

“Everyone was worried about where you ran off too,” you said. “I think they thought you got sucked off or something.” 

Sass shook his head. “Like that’ll happen.” The edge in his voice made you frown. “I’m never leaving this place.” 

“You don’t know that,” you said, gently. 

He laughed bitterly. “I’ve been here 500 years and still have unfinished business. I don’t think I’ll ever finish it all. It's not like it was one thing I wanted to do; I had everything left to do.” And it wasn’t fair. All of the ghosts at Woodstone had potential in their lives, lots of it, but died before they reached it. But Sass, one of the youngest at the mansion, had his whole life ahead of him. He had hardly started it before he passed, and after five hundred years it was probably hard to see a point of even trying to continue completing any unfinished business in a world so different than the one you’d been alive in. 

There was little you could say to make him feel better. Instead, you scooted closer to him and placed an arm around his shoulder. Like second nature, he shifted his head from his knees onto your shoulder, melting into your side as you both kept your gaze on the lake. You stayed like that together for a while, until the sun had risen, and the sky was a brilliant, cloudless blue. Only after that did he lift his head and turn towards you with a small, sheepish smile on his lips as he rubbed his eyes. 

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I didn't mean to dump that all on you. I just…” he trailed off with a sigh. “It’s just nice having someone who understands.” 

You brushed a couple of rouge pieces of hair from his forehead and smiled. “Don’t apologize. That’s what I’m here for. We both have unfinished business, a lot of it, but at least we died on the same property. I think that makes up for some of it, us getting to be…friends.” Friends didn’t quite feel like the right word. What you and Sass had was more than just friendship, it was a connection that no one else really understood. You were still practically just kids who had died on the verge of their lives starting and you were trying to figure it out.

Sass’s expression became unreadable for a moment before it turned into a small smile. “Yeah. Friends.” He stood up and offered you his hand before pulling you to his feet. Together, you walked back to the mansion, where Sass was swept up in whatever daily plan the other ghosts had to keep their boredom at bay. You, however, broke off from the group and found yourself in front of the series of photographs that Sam had put up along the upstairs hallway. She said it was a little homage to the ghosts of Woodstone, some of them anyway. She had found old photographs abandoned in the basement from the many lifetimes of Woodstone. There was a family portrait of Hetty that Sam had smartly cropped in the frame not to include Elias. There was a photo of Alberta on stage and a hand-drawn photo of Isaac and his regiment that Jay found for a couple bunks on something called E-Bay. It was sweet, you thought. There was even a photograph of you when you were a little girl at your aunt's wedding that took place at Woodstone ages ago. In the picture, you stared up at the bride with a stary gaze full of admiration and hope that one day you’d fall in love and have a wedding of your own. 

The list of your unfinished business was long, but near the top of the list was to fall in love. You’d come close in your lifetime, a couple of times, but you had died before anyone became serious enough to plan a wedding. As a ghost, you still sometimes felt like the little girl in the photograph, captured by the idea of love with a dream to feel it yourself. As foolish as it was, you still held out hope that it would still happen to you. How, you weren’t sure. But the large and bleeding heart of the little girl you had once been still existed inside of you, underneath cobwebs. 

“There you are,” a voice came from behind you. “We’re about to play charades.” 

You threw a glance over your shoulder as Sasappis approached you, seemingly in better spirits than earlier. “I might pass today,” you replied. 

He stepped in line beside you, nervously playing with the beads on his clothing out of habit. “I didn’t bum you out earlier, did I? Because I’m sorry if I did-” 

You cut him off with a shake of his head. “Stop apologizing for how you feel, Sass” 

“Sorry-” You shot him a look and he sighed, hanging his head. “What I mean is, I didn’t want my bad mood to rub off on you.” 

“There was a lot on both of our lists,” you said, earning a slightly confused look from him. “Our list of unfinished business. There was a lot we both wanted to do. I really wanted to fall in love like my aunt in this picture. Look how happy she looks.” Your aunt was practically glowing beside her partner, dressed in white with a look of pure admiration and love that one could feel radiating off of the framed photo. 

He gazed at the photo for a moment. “You looked happy too.” 

“I was. I remember that the whole day here felt like a dream. That’s why I came back a couple of years later. I didn’t know I’d end up dying here. though.” 

After a beat of silence, Sass said, “It was on my list too, falling in love. Well, technically I was but I was too scared to tell her. Then I died and that was that.”

“Looks like we both fell short there, huh,” you said, laughing breathily in an attempt to lighten the mood. 

Sass’s brows furrowed and he pressed his lips together in a thin line as he stared at a spot on the floor for a prolonged moment. “Maybe…Or…” He snapped his gaze upwards, falling onto you. “Can I say something that might be, uh, a little crazy?” 

You smiled. “We’re ghosts living in a haunted house, Sass. There isn’t much you can say that could be crazier than that.” 

“I wouldn’t say that yet,” he muttered under his breath, but you still heard it. He turned his body toward you and rolled his shoulders back. “I missed my chance when I was alive to tell someone I liked them. I was scared and a little bit of a coward. But, you know, I’ve had five hundred years to think about what I would have done differently if I ever liked someone again. But I never thought it would actually happen.” He spoke quickly like he was trying to push out his thoughts before they got too jumbled inside his head. Even as he took a quick breath, there wasn’t enough time for you to say anything before he started again. “And maybe this isn’t…I don’t know. Maybe it’s a long shot and a stupid one. Maybe you just see me as a friend and that’s fine. But I,” his breath caught in his throat for a moment as his gaze fell off of you. “I like you.” 

Your eyes widened at his admission; speechless and breathless. You body moved without help from your brain as you stepped right in front of Sass and placed on hand on the side of his face, getting him to look at you. His eyes were swarmed with unease and nervousness, like the young kid he was and not a five-hundred-year-old ghost. 

“Really?” you asked, voice just above a whisper. He nodded. Your lips curled up in a smile. “I like you too.” 

He let out a breath in relief and matched your smile for only a moment before his arms encircled your waist and pulled you in closer before he pressed his lips for you. You hugged your arm around his neck and kissed him back like you had silently wanted to do for years. 

The kiss was short but sweet, as it was interrupted by a hardy laugh that startled both of you. “Thor knew it!” You both spun around to see all of the ghosts as they made their way to the usual room for charades. 

“About time,” Hetty scoffed. 

You gazed back at your photograph and smiled brightly at the little girl. You had been wrong. Not all of your unfinished business had to stay unfinished. Perhaps there were things you weren’t to accomplish in death just as the things you had accomplished in life. 

[ghostorbz]

Everyone say hi to my

obnoxiously long ZADR analysis!!!

I've said it time and time again, these two have a deep and complex relationship that most people just write off as "just enemies" when they really aren't!! It's kinda irritating,,, so I wanna analyze how they act and treat each other (though a zadr lens) Because to me it's pretty obvious they deeply care about the other. I'll go over multiple episodes, the movie, unfinished episodes, as well as the pilot and comics and try to explain their relationship. Though some episodes (and many comic issues) will go unexplained if they center only around one of the two, around a different character. or if I just really don't have much to say.

1. The nightmare begins

The first time these two meet is in the first episode when Zim enrolls in skool. Dibs first reaction is staring and pointing at Zim looking crazy. Explaining to the other kids how he's an alien. Ending off the argument by giving the other a stare. After class Dib immediately confronts Zim, showing off his alien sleep cuffs and chasing him around. Zim eventually gets away (or,, flies away I guess) just for Dib to show up at his house and bang on his door saying he's been waiting for this moment and he's prepared. Dib never thought to prepare for garden gnome lasers and gets his alien sleep cuffs incinerated. That's all. I know there aren't any moments that could really be viewed as zadr material here, I just thought it was a good idea to talk about the first episode. It's when they first meet after all!

2. Parent teacher night

Zim thinks of Dib while he's walking home. You could argue Zims only thinking of him because he's worried about parent teacher night, and sure. That's fair. I just wanted to bring it up because it's pretty cute. Dib in Zims head smiles and laughs, even tells him to watch out for the dog. If this really is what Zim is imagining, why would he include him being happy and warning him if he hates him. You can't hate someone that much if you're imagining them smiling and laughing while walking home.

Later on, Dib introduces Professor Membrane to Zim. He runs off only to come back and splash him on the face with fruit punch. A playful thing, nothing insane. Dib even does the same thing later on. Both of them smile while splashing the other. It's silly and harmless. An easy way to express their rivalry without hurting the other.

3. Dark harvest

I know last point could be debated. "Zim was only thinking of Dib because he was worried." BUT. YOU CANNOT EXPLAIN THIS TO ME.

This scene, right here. Literally what was he talking about.

"You see Gaz, to defeat my enemy I must study my enemy, then become my enemy, then move in with my enemy, then wear my enemy's clothes then-"

THEN WHAT?? I could be looking too far into this, but it just seems so intentional. Very intentional. If Gaz didn't interrupt him what was he gonna say? Seeing this bit in another show gives me that answer,,,

WAS Dib gonna say date? Maybe. Perhaps. But we don't know. Other than this part though there isn't anything else I can really mention. Other than the,,, organ harvesting,,, but I'd rather not! So lets move on

4. BattleDib

While this IS a Dib centric episode, I wanted to note he has a hologram of Zims head. How did he get that? It seems to me that he made it, but that begs the question, how did he get everything right? I mean it's an exact replica of Zim out of his disguise. Does he look at Zim that often? And why a 3D hologram? It's not like he doesn't have photos of Zim out of his disguise. He has photos of Zim in his closet. They don't seem like drawings either, they're definitely photographs. This makes me think. Is Zim comfortable enough around Dib to let him take photos of him out of his disguise just for himself? He doesn't even let Gir do that, as we can see with the photograph of Gir and Zim in bad bad rubber piggy (this is assuming Gir took the photograph. It seems like something he would do) So why Dib? Dib has been shown to sneak photos of Zim, but the ones in his closet have Zim posing in some way, and they're pretty close up

5. Planet jackers

This episode is so good. I love it. But we're not here to talk about that. What we're here to talk about is how out of all people to go to, Zim goes to Dib. Zim rings the bell and waits for an answer. He seems nervous too, looking back at Gir for assurance with a worried expression and sighing. To quote another analysis, "When the chips are down it's always, "You're the only person who can help me." Usually they say it's because the other person is the only one with technology advanced enough to help, but there's more left unspoken."

Even IF the other doesn't help, they still go to eachother. They trust eachother enough to ask the other for help. Even if it's hard.

6. A room with a moose

Zim tries to send his whole class away through a worm hole in space. When Dib finds out, Zim doesn't hesitate to tell him everything that's going on. Even saying,

"This wouldn't be as much fun without you sticking your smelly nose in here." "You're really one of the only people who can appreciate the amazingness of this plan, so I'll let you in on what it is." "My mission might not be as exciting without you around to annoy me."

Zim talks about Dib (relatively) positively here. Saying his mission is more fun with him, how sending everyone away would be boring without Dib intervening, and even trusting Dib and letting him know what exactly he's doing.

7. Hamstergeddon

When Peepi starts destroying the town Dib doesn't even seem mad at Zim, just pointing and going

"Anything you'd like to confess?"

He's somewhat used to Zims antics by now. Later on when Zims knocked out Dib thinks over if he really wants to capture him. Of course, Zim wakes up before he can make a decision, but this one part sticks out to me.

"Wait! Zim, promise me you're on our side this time." "I know not of sides, earth stink. But for once I agree with you, the hamster must be stopped."

Dib asks Zim to promise him. Later on he even defends Zim when the army guys try shooting at him. Sure, it could just be because they agreed to work together, but along with Dib overthinking if he wanted to capture Zim, this shows he doesn't really want Zim to get hurt.

8. Bolognius maximus

When Dib tricks Zim into pricking himself with the nail tack, Zim seems to lose hostility towards Dib, smiling while grabbing his hand. The moment Dib "opens up" and praises Zim is when he thinks he's done well. He appreciates Dibs applause, in fact, it seems like he wants it. Saying "finally" before talking about how great he is.

Although, Zim can't find a cure for the baloney thing himself and goes to Dib for help. Dib seems really happy by this, literally GLOWING. In one scene, Zim and Dib glance at eachother when they fail making a cure the first time. To me, it feels like they're looking to see if the other is okay (which is really cute,,, I'm insane about stuff like that)

In another scene, Zim is freaking out because another attempt at a cure was failed. Dib puts his arms out; it seems like he wants to comfort him.

In the end, they never find a cure and hide from the dogs together. You know what they say, together in every universe, even the one where they're baloney,,,

9. Halloween spectacular of doom

The episode that made me ship them,,, siigh,,,

Zim is worried for Dib in the beginning, thinking he could possibly be dead, or a zombie. When Dib ends up escaping the crazy house, he immediately goes to Zim.

"It's the only chance."

When Dib gets captured Zim comes just in time to save him. He's still mad at him, but he comes through anyway. And the line that single-handedly made me ship them,,,

"I'm not here because I like you, Dib."

Dib looks surprised when Zim says this, he knows their relationship as enemies, but for Zim to say it like that shocks him. I wonder if Dib is thinking it in the opposite way, like how tsunderes in anime often say the same line when they really do like the other person. He then calls his head big and Dib responds, it seems playful. Zim then could leave Dib dangling there but no, he protects him and moves him to the back of the machine thingy

10. Megadoomer

When Dib is trying to get his camera back, Zim playfully throws it back and forth so he can't get it. Is this important? No. I just think it's cute. They also wrestled in this episode

11. Tak, the hideous new girl

When Dib finds Zim in his house and confronts him, it could easily be read as Zim being jealous that Dib is spending time with Tak instead of him. Dib even said he was jealous!!

This is also another episode where they team up, so that's nice

12. Backseat drivers from beyond the stars

THIS LOOK. Also the music for this part is really good. Just thought I'd add that

13. Mortos der soulstealer

Dib shows Mortos photos of Zim while talking about him. Not only does he just have photos of his "greatest enemy", he has one of him in the bathroom putting on his contacts. Zim and Dib also wrestle again!! Later on when Mortos leaves, Zim checks up on Dib who's screaming and crying on the floor. Zim seems to be at least a little bit concerned for him.

14. The girl who cried gnome

Zim says,

"I don't care how delicious he is, he's evil!"

"He" referring to Dib. Okay man. It kinda seems like you do care.

15. Vindicated!

While Dib and Mr. Dwicky are waiting, Dib draws Zim in the dirt

Seemingly for no reason,,, they weren't talking about Zim when he was doing this. They were sitting in silence. So WHYY did he draw him,,,

16. The most horrible x-mas ever

This is the episode that made me want to make this post! Originally I had thought Dib was smiling right before he threw the mini santa suit into space but APPEARENTLY I was wrong. I'm still adding it though because this part was the specific reason I wanted to make this

But one thing I can note is that this (sort of) is an episode where they help eachother out! At the end when Zim had given up Dib comes and rescues him. Even if he didn't know he was saving Zim, he did.

Zim seems thankful for Dib saving him too, at least until he's dressed up as the easter platypus.

17. The frycook what came from all that space

While this is a Zim centric episode, at the very end the two chase eachother around. Zim is back on earth and he's immediately brought back to what's familiar. His best friend, his worst enemy.

Now that we're finally done with all the episodes (that I felt the need to talk about) We can get started with the other stuff!! Starting with,,,

18. The pilot

Which you can watch here!

While I'm not sure if the pilot is canon or not, I would like to bring it up. There's a specific scene before the two start fighting where Zim actually takes some time to appreciate Dibs food launcher thing

"An arm-mounted food launcher! Neat!" "You really think so? Thanks! I was up all night working on it." "Well it shows." "Oh, quit it."

They seem to be a bit more friendly in the pilot, canon or not, it's interesting to see!

19. The return of Keef

The whole point of this episode was for Zim and Dib to be friendly in order to make Keef explode, since there was no animation made for it, here's the transcript instead

This shows that the two are embarrassed to be seen hugging, but is it just because they're enemies? Or is there a separate reason? I don't think anyone at skool would believe them to be friends because they hugged once. Or maybe they're afraid it might cause other feelings,,, who knows. It sucks this never got made, I would've loved to see Zim and Dib hug, it would've been super cute!!

20. Mopiness of doom

For this part, I will be using screenshots from Soapy Waffles. While they aren't canon it's the best visualizer for mopiness of doom that I've seen. You can watch it here!

Quite literally the most important part of their relationship gets shown in this episode. I've ranted many many times about this episode and I'll do it again. Dib goes on to pursue "real" science with his dad, while doing this he becomes depressed and sad. Zim becomes closed off and never leaves his house, spiraling into a pretty bad mental state. But the second Dib runs out of that lab and back to Zim both of them seem immediately happier. While they are insulting eachother, it's with familiarity, love. This episode shows one needs the other to keep themself happy. They bring meaning to eachothers lives.

The first scene shows them trying to stop eachother. Of course for it to not work out. The next day when Dib breaks the news to him Zim seems happy at first, but when Dib doesn't stay to watch Zim sounds genuinely upset.

At home, Gir does something stupid but Zim doesn't have the energy to yell or even say anything back. Gir takes this as an immediate sign that something is wrong. Back at Dibs house he's doing really well with his dad and "real" science. Gaz questions him about it, and he's faced with the thing he truly loves and his fathers approval.

A while later, Zim completely lets himself go. It's been weeks and Zim hasn't showed up to school. When Dib is back at the labs, Gir explains to him that he needs to help Zim get out of his depressive state.

Eventually, Dib explains to his dad that he doesn't like "real science." He likes chasing Zim and he likes the paranormal. He runs out and goes back to Zim, who's in disbelief. The two fight but instead out of hatred it's out of affection. Things are back to the way they like it.

On top of that, there's this clip (which I think about constantly)

21. Enter the florpus

Keep in mind I'm not rewatching the whole movie to write this, this has already taken about 6 hours as of typing this. So if I miss a part,,, sorry!

Dib waited months and months for when Zim would show back up. He sat there waiting for ONE person. The one person who also happens to give him meaning in his life

Later on when Zims in his "cheesy cocoon of misery" he explains how he couldn't get Clembrane to make pudding the way Dib likes. With Dib replying that he in fact, doesn't love pudding. Zim still tried to do something relatively nice by trying to get Clembrane to make good pudding for Dib.

And even with everything they've been through so far, Dib is completely willing to work with Zim

Another thing I would like to mention is that the artists/animators for the movie made a ton of doodles in between working, some of them being zadr related! You can see them here

22. Issue 9

Finally onto the comic issues! I haven't read all of them yet, and since there's so many I definitely missed some stuff, but here's everything I could remember. Starting with 9. In this one part, you can see Dib falling asleep on Zims shoulder

23. Issue 12

Zim rescues Dib and tells him to never forget that he hates him. Which could be read as "don't forget that I love you"

24. Issue 13

I don't know what to make of this one actually

25. Issue 30

After Dib found out Zim had the limited edition soda he needed, he did multiple things to try to prove to Zim that he should have it. Though he wasn't very good at them. So Zim decided he wanted a compliment from Dib. Why? Absolutely no clue. After some (intense) thinking, he compliments Zim. Though this could be read as if Dib is embarrassed or flustered

26. Issue 40

I have talked about this before here, but I wanted to mention it again as it SERIOUSLY messed with my head. Knowing that it's canon (if comics ARE canon) that they're together in every universe is insane. I love them so much guys

27. The canon (?) invader zim ending

Okay,, I'm not entirely sure if this is entirely canon or not, but I would like to mention it. In this comic, Zim takes over earth and loses all of his hostility towards Dib and they go to another planet with bunnies and they're having a happy fun silly time. It's really cute!

And I think that's all for now,,, I know I probably missed some things, but I think I got a lot! This has taken like, 9 hours. So hopefully this is good!! I looove zadr so I enjoyed just talking about them :3 uhh BUT YEA!! That's allll I think maybe

[wileys-russo]

Thinking about golden retriever girlfriend lessi and how she would forever attack your neck from behind when you’re trying to study because she’s bored and needy and can’t sit still

book worm II a.russo

you exhaled heavily as your fingers mashed furiously against your keyboard, eyes trained with laser focus to the laptop screen in front of you, though struggling to stay open as your unfinished thesis glared back mockingly at you.

"baby, are you nearly done?" your gaze flickered upwards to the blonde looking down at you, toned arms folded over her chest and a slight pout on her lips as she stood in front of you with a frown, the sleeves of her training top rolled up having had to train in a harsh summer heat.

you forced your eyes away, knowing if you focused too much on her exposed muscles she would catch on and you'd shortly pay for it.

"no less i'm not, i told you this already...when you asked me five minutes ago." you couldn't help but roll your eyes at your girlfriends impatience, not having gotten more than ten minutes of uninterrupted silence since she'd returned from afternoon training, blowing off her team mates plans and making a beeline straight for your room.

you'd tried your best to convince the taller girl to return to her own dorm for even a few hours so you could concentrate, but with a false promise that she would use the time to work on her own papers, and a very convincing argument that you'd hardly know she was here, here she was....doing the complete opposite.

you loved her very very dearly, but she had the attention span of a fly and sometimes you felt more like her babysitter than her girlfriend, forever dragged away from whatever you were doing with requests that she needed you to entertain her.

which most of the time simply meant making out for hours on end, which was probably the only activity she could do for so long without growing restless and needing to move onto something else, her hands always occupied and roaming every inch of your skin she could pinch or bite at.

"but i'm bored!" the striker whined, collapsing backwards onto your bed with a dramatic groan. "then go hang out with your friends! i told you i needed to study, i have until the end of the week to finish this thesis." you sighed, not missing how the blonde perked up at your words, quick to sit up and give you a grin.

"alessia, no." you warned firmly, unsure what she would do next but knowing the cheeky twinkle in her eyes well enough to know it would not be to leave you alone in peace to do your work.

"so really then since you have another....four days. you don't have to do your work right now?" your girlfriend smiled teasingly, standing up from the bed and slowly making her way over to where you sat at your desk.

"no, that is not what i meant!" you huffed defensively, attempting to shake her off as her arms wrapped around you from behind. "but...it's true, no?" her hand darted around to shut the screen of your laptop as your head thumped down onto the desk with a long sigh.

"lessi-" you started, ready to practically beg for her to just leave you alone for an hour so your stress could ease. "mm?" the striker hummed, her lips pressing feather light kisses to your neck as your eyes fluttered close.

though as you felt her quickly bite at her favorite spot of your tanned skin, running her tongue over the red mark before placing a gentle kiss over the fast forming hickey, hands wandering a little lower, your brain began to go foggy.

"no! less you always do this." you snapped out of it, pushing your chair back slightly as the blonde stumbled away.

"do what exactly?" alessia accused with a frown as you spun around in your chair to face her properly. "kiss my neck and get all handsy when i'm trying to study and you want attention, it's not fair because you know i have a sensative neck." you glared at her as an amused smirk tugged at her lips.

"you're insufferable russo!" you groaned, spinning back around and thumping your head down against the desk again with a deep sigh.

"excuse me moody, your loving adoring girlfriend is trying to kiss you here if you don't mind?" alessia sung out in your ear, body pressed against your back and poking and prodding at your sides as you shoved her away and stood up quickly from your chair.

"and where are you going?" alessia crossed her arms and puffed out her chest, standing toe to toe with you as you stared her down.

"to the library, where i can study in peace!" "may i ask you a question before you leave?" "fine." "do you just not love me?"

"oh not this again!" you groaned loudly, throwing your head back. "because if you loved me, you wouldn't leave me right now when i'm simply bored and wanting to spend time with my girlfriend. just trying to be a good partner and make her feel good, just simply doing my best to love her as she deserves!" alessia threw her hands up with an overdramatic sigh, and you struggled not to break out into a smile at her antics.

"has anyone ever told you that you're a child?" "just this super attractive but really mean girl i'm seeing." "you should listen to her, she sounds smart." "she tries, really she's just a massive teachers pet with a big mouth."

the blonde grinned at the obvious offence on your face, quick to grab you by the hips and tackle you down onto your bed, crawling on top of you.

"now shut up and kiss me, book worm."

[whorejolras]

as promised: jess' les amis fanfic rec list ✨

this is mainly e/r, a little bit of e/r/c and a few courferre

This is just the stuff that was in my bookmarks on ao3 when I started writing this post (months ago lol sorry it took so long). Going through I was shocked to see so many of my faves weren't actually bookmarked so I will for sure do a part two when I find them again, and have also added heaps of new fics to my bookmarks since then, but for now 25 fics is enough 😂

many of these will be rated E and will have sexual content, some are straight up pwp ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ok first is my ultimate fave that isn't even on ao3 anymore, but thankfully is on the authors tumblr, and that's:

Gnomon by luchia

50-80k words (?) (bc it's not on ao3 i'm estimating)

rating: E

Enjolras/Grantaire

terrorist/assassin Enjolras my beloved ever. My fave are the "charming young man capable of being terrible" fics obviously. This one is my #1 e/r like in my head this is it's own canon. & this series has my fave e/r smut scenes ever. I still daydream about a Gnomon tv show...

- trigger warnings bc it's not on ao3 so doesn't have tags: murder, gun and knife violence, bombs, conversations about the deaths of children. this is not healthy relationship fluff but it makes for a 🥵 dynamic that's for damn sure.

also linking the rest of the series which is up on ao3 still, even though it is officially abandoned and unfinished - i am going to break my ultimate rule right off the bat and link an unfinished series bc I like it so much.

stupid terrorist boys by luchia

series, 5 works

200k words

rating: M and E

here we have gnomon's prequels, two sequels, and some one shots in between 🫶🏻

if you're here for kinky pwp Senselessly Happy and Unsuspecting could be good stand-alone (but it's better when reading in order). I would say read Gnomon first on tumblr then read the rest in order on ao3.

Silence Is the Speech of Love by lady_ragnell

50k words

rating: E

Enjolras/Grantaire, background Courfeyrac/Marius/Cosette

Enjolras is cursed for speaking out against the gods, Grantaire is there for him.

will I ever shut up about this fic? Never. fave fave fave. the world building, the mythological/religious system, the writing, the "I love you" "I don't think you do, actually" scene URGH!!!! I think of this fic every time i hear chopsticks. Everything happening with courf/marius/cosette, and the genius inclusion of social worker Fantine my beloved. This is one of those "could be it's own novel" fics.

and the sequel from Enjolras' pov 😭 - Left Unsaid

World Ain't Ready by idiopathicsmile

185k words

rating: T

Enjolras/Grantaire

yes it's the top fic yes everyone probably knows it but it's good for a reason. THE fake dating high school au fic that I broke all my rules for back in 2015. I refused to read unfinished fics, let alone T rated high school fics, yet I remember waiting for the updates for this one as it came out, messaging mutuals on the day the last chapter was released. and every time I reread I remember why. Brilliantly written, the pining, the angst, the miscommunications. All the Joly and Bossuet scenes.

honourable mention to the scene where Joly is so excited for the battle of the bands, then next scene starts with "I think it's more of a sitting night today" the realest simple yet most gut punching illustration of chronic pain that gets my ass every time.

Lovesickness by idiopathicsmile

11k words

rating: T

Enjolras/Grantaire, Joly/Bossuet/Musichetta

(we're gonna see a fair bit of idiopathicsmile on here)

this is one of my absolute favourites. not only bc I quote "hit by a truck full of shirts" all the time. a Joly pov fic!!!!!! my beloved!!!!! I'm a BIG JBM fan (they are essential to me when I'm writing grantaire) and love fics that stay true to his friendship with Joly and Bossuet. also I love when Enjolras is a giant dumbass who thinks his feelings for Grantaire is a mystery illness 😂

Still the Same by The Librarina (tears_of_nienna)

74k words

rating: E

Enjolras/Grantaire/Combeferre

ok ok ok. listen. Yes. in this fic, Enjolras IS an fbi agent... and u know i'm the first and last to scream acab always...

that being said this is fully still one of my fave e/r/c fics. Enjolras and Combeferre are married & Enjolras needs to work with art thief Grantaire (fave) on a case. also that one bit at the end when Grantaire *redacted* 👀🫣

cupbearer by illuminate*

*this one is locked, you need an account to view

series, 4 works

124k words total

ratings: T, M & E

Enjolras/Grantaire

this series!!!!!! VAMPIRE ENJOLRAS!!!! thrall Grantaire!!!! canon era AND modern au! REINCARNATION!!!! i'm eeeeaaaaattiiiing 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

More Than Just a Game by ecaitlin

36k words

rating: E

Courfeyrac/Combeferre

Fake dating courferre 😭 this one is so good for the desert scene alone 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 one of my fave courferre fics

Good Intentions by ecaitlin

95k words

rating: E

Courfeyrac/Combeferre, background Marius/Cosette, Joly/Bossuet, Bahorel/Feuilly, and Enjolras/Grantaire ofc

THE les amis hogwarts au. 95k of Courfeyrac pov is always a treat for the system. in their last year at hogwarts, Courfeyrac decides to play matchmaker for all his friends. shenanigans!!!! fuck jkr, but whenever I wanna reread harry potter again I read this fic 🫶🏻 fave courferre ever, and also fave background e/r

if you remembered me by nightswatch*

*this one is locked, you need an account to view

40k words

rating: M

Enjolras/Grantaire

one thing about me is I love an amnesia fic! Enjolras loses his memory and Grantaire helps him recover 👀 this one's for the hurt/comfort and miscommunication/not being upfront about shit fans. also there's some past Grantaire/Combeferre and i'm always a fan

Beautiful Music Together by lady_ragnell

31k words

rating: E

Courfeyrac/Marius/Cosette

a rare Courf/Marius/Cosette fic for your palette. established Marius/Cosette need a little help from their good friend Courf with their sex life 👀 while the three of them also work on a musical assignment together 😭 prequel to You Dance Dreams kinda 👀

You Dance Dreams by lady_ragnell

61k words

rating: E

Enjolras/Grantaire

(you can tell when i've found a writer who has a fair few fics and just gone nuts lol, lots of lady_ragnell too)

BALLET AU I LOVE YOU!!!!!! so set in the same universe as Beautiful Music Together, Combeferre ropes everyone into working on his opera, a Midsummer Night's Dream sequel. Grantaire dances as Puck alongside Enjolras singing as Oberon 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

In Defiance of all Geometry by idopathicsmile

51k words

rating: T

Enjolras/Grantaire/Combeferre

this is a top fave E/R/C fic and a top fave les amis fic of all time! Them living in a co-op and all the little details of how they make it work is sooooo real and anyone who wants to see accurately written community organising in les amis fic it's here! now for the ✨romance✨ - Grantaire moves in to the amis co-op and starts crushing on both Enjolras and Combeferre, who have both been pining for each other for years.

Years Since It's Been Clear by lady_ragnell

10k words

rating: E

Enjolras/Grantaire

Enjolras offers his spare room to grantaire - or the one where enjolras chases the sun across the living room floor like a cat. That image has lived rent free in my head for and I am not exaggerating here, 10 years.

Gonna need (a spark to ignite) by FinditAgain*

*this one is locked, you need an account to view

47k words

rating: M

Enjolras/Grantaire/Combeferre

soulmate au! soulmate au with E/R/C!!!!!!! enjolras and combeferre are soulmates who lost their bond as children. when combeferre and enjolras find each other as adults, enjolras is already in an established relationship with grantaire 👀👀👀

secret agent man by goshemily

30k words

rating: E

Enjolras/Grantaire

yes another cop one haha 😭 bc if ur not able to contradict urself with the media u like are u even a person? but also I wouldn't recommend if it wasn't a good read for the stairs scene alone 😅 Enjolras and Grantaire need to go undercover as a married couple in a small town.

Leaves in the Void by myrmidryad

16k words

rating: M

Enjolras/Grantaire

this is one i've found since rejoining tumblr late last year that 😭 fully broke my heart bro 😭 space au, enjolras writes letters to everyone when he's accidentally isolated on a ship for what to him was eight and half months but was two hours for everyone else.

Blame Delicate Artemis by hyenateeth

22k words

rating: E

femslash Enjolras/Grantaire

posting omegaverse on main? more likely than you think!

this is porn with a tiny bit of plot, but also one of my fave for femslash e/r and also..... girl dick. that's all.

omega enjolras alpha grantaire canon era lesbians.

that's enough description to find its right audience I feel

Eyes to Serve, Hands to Learn by myrmidryad

94k words

rating: E

Enjolras/Grantaire

Grantaire runs into Enjolras at a kink club. enter 94,000 words of bdsm porn and pining. mostly dom Enjolras and submissive Grantaire, mostly.

Never Be Satisfied by torakowalski

15k words

rating: E

femslash Enjolras/Grantaire

dental dam mention! win!

Grantaire gives Enjolras some advice, lends some toys, and then offers some hands on help when she learns Enjolras has never come before 😏

potentially lovely, perpetually human by myrmidryad

20k words

not rated, does contain smut

Enjolras/Grantaire

lots of myrmidryad here too lol

two of my favourite tropes here. 1: supernatural Enjolras who's in control of his abilities except when it comes to Grantaire (see cupbearer series) and 2: nonbinary Grantaire my beloved!!! Enjolras has psychic empathy triggered by physical touch, so he refuses to touch anyone: until his touch starved ass accidentally touches Grantaire and feels what they're feeling 🥹

Witchboy by tothewillofthepeople

series, 8 works

84k words

rating: T, M

Enjolras/Grantaire

this one is a more recent recommendation that I loved, the world building and magic is so good, there's some great background eposette and patron minette which I'm always a fan of.

i'm not the moon (i'm not even a star) by serinesaccade

40k words

rating: M

Enjolras/Grantaire

amnesia fic and fake dating 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 this time we've got Grantaire losing his memories and waking up in a world where he has a really hot boyfriend, but apparently his 1.5 year relationship with Enjolras isn't what it seems 👀

and let's round this out with a classic

Thirty-Two Times by Ark

7k words

rating: E

Enjolras/Grantaire

the bottom R canon era bible 🙏🏻

i'm sorry i feel like my emoji use is very millennial. jsyk 👌🏻 is me clicking with my nails ok bye 😘

if you want more i'm whorejolras on ao3 go nuts 🙌🏻

[iliveiloveiwrite]

Healing Hands // Nikolai Lantsov

Request: Hi Millie! S&B s2 left me with severe Nikolai brainrot 🫠 I love my pirate prince so, if it's okay, I'd love to request a Nikolai x healer!reader 💙 I am a sucker for the patching up trope so that would be amazing. Thanks in advance! ☺️ And happy belated birthday! 🎉

A/N: First time writing for Nikolai so pls be gentle! I’m still getting to grips with his character and I haven’t read King of Scars yet so I only know of the show Nikolai and the trilogy Nikolai. Anyway! Thank you so much for your request, I hope you like, lovely!

Warnings: injuries, mentions of blood, nausea, dizziness. Pining, mutual pining. Mentions of a duel, stabbing. Pain. This is fluff, I promise.

Word Count: 1.4k

Were the grounds to the palace truly that uneven, or was he losing more blood than he initially realised?

Nikolai pondered this as he took a steadying breath against the wave of nausea that washed over him when he placed his left foot on the step first rather than using his right foot to power through. A silly mistake, the prince thinks, but a mistake nonetheless when black spots dance across his vision.

He slumps against a marble column, resting his forehead against its coolness. He could tolerate pain, could stand the sight of blood and deal with the accompanying adrenaline. What Nikolai found hard to cope with, was that he let his elder brother get the best of him.

It was this thought that spurred him on. The anger at being bested by Vasilly that kept him putting one foot in front of the other even though his left leg protested with every single step.

——————

The Healing Room was rather basic in its layout. A row of six beds placed against the back wall; each bed positioned under a window for air ventilation. Across to the furthest side of the room, shackled to the wall, was an apothecary cabinet filled to the brim with plants and herbs that could aid in healing. Most Grisha didn’t have much use for traditional medicine, but the palace hired its fair share of non-grisha too.

To the left of the room, there sat a desk. It wasn’t overly large; big enough for two just about. It was at this desk that he finds you; your face buried in a book, a streaming drink to your side and a pile of unfinished paperwork sprawled across the rest of the desk. If it wasn’t for the blood dripping onto the floor, making him dizzier, Nikolai could stand there and watch you all day.

Nikolai slumps into the door; the dark wood banging against the sage green walls, alerting you to his presence.

“Your Majesty!” You gasp, rushing to your feet, knocking into your desk and spilling ink over the pages of your new book. You barely give it more than a second thought; hurrying to Nikolai’s side. “What happened?”

Nikolai remains silent as you aid him across the small room to the uncomfortable bench where you healed the more dramatic of injuries. Nikolai tries his best not to wince as he settles down onto the hard wood, feeling every bump and scratch laid into the wood. The ceiling lights only further his nausea so he focuses his gaze on you. His eyes follow your every move; bustling from draw to cupboard, pulling out anything you could need before healing his wound with your powers.

A small, pained smile adorns his lips as you draw your stool next to him. Instinctively, you brush his hair back from his forehead. Nikolai leans into your touch; relishing in your gentleness, wishing it could be the first he felt when he came to consciousness in the morning.

“What happened, Nikolai?” You question, turning your focus to the tear in his trousers. A two inch gash stretches across the front of his left thigh; blood runs freely down his leg. The flow seems to have slowed some, but he’d already lost too much for your liking.

Nikolai lazily waves a hand in the air, putting on airs and graces. “It’s nothing. A simple scratch that needs treating.”

You shoot the prince an unimpressed look. “When you want to tell me the truth, Niko, I’m ready and waiting.”

Nikolai groaned, hating the use of your childhood nickname for him. You so rarely used it now; the nickname, like his childhood, a bittersweet memory. “You’re not playing fair,” He complains, throwing an arm across his face.

You snort, shaking your head fondly at the prince. “I never claimed to play fair. I have to know what happened in case I need to treat an infection before closing the wound.”

Nikolai sighs, knowing he had been bested for a second time that day. “Vasilly…” Nikolai begins, quashing the sudden rise of anger as he thinks back to the events of barely an hour ago.

“What did your brother do?”

“It wasn’t what he did. Am I upset he stabbed me? Yes, but I let myself get distracted and lose the upper hand.”

“How?”

“He said something he knew would get a rise out of me and I took the bait.”

“You know better than that,” You chasten, running your hands through his hair again.

He sighs. “I know but I can’t change what’s happened.” Nikolai feels his anger surge once more, “He was spouting nonsense about Grisha and their talents, stating what he would do when he was king. He made a nasty comment about you, and that’s when I lost my temper.”

“I can fight my own battles, Nikolai.”

Nikolai grabs your hand, squeezing it tightly. “You weren’t there to fight this battle. Vasilly knew what he was doing, and I knew too.”

“Then why did you respond?”

“I always will when it comes to you. I won’t stand for anyone badmouthing you even if they are their heir to the kingdom.”

You pull away from his grasp. Shaking your head, ridding yourself of the thoughts rushing through them, you bring your hands up to the all too familiar position.

“Ready?”

The prince grins. “Ready.”

Your hands move in their familiar patterns; the movements so second nature to you that you do not give it a second thought as you watch the gash on Nikolai’s thigh close, leaving nothing behind but a faint, light pink scar. You fix the prince with a stern stare, “I may have healed you but I need you to take it easy for the rest of the day. No duelling your brother, no swords, no guns. Do you understand?”

Nikolai pulls himself up, swinging his legs off the bench as he salutes you with a cheerful grin on his face. The colour has returned to his cheeks and the usual mischievous gleam has returned to his eyes.

Your feel your heart begin to race at the sight, knowing that any Heartrender in a sixty mile radius could most likely hear it’s pounding. “You scared me out of my wits, Niko,” You confess, taking a seat on the wooden bench next to the prince, resting your head on his shoulder.

Nikolai rests his head on yours; taking your hand in his. “I’m sorry,” He murmurs, meaning it.

“It seems I’m always patching you up when you’re here,” You admonish before your tone turns softer. “Or when you return from your travels, you seem to have new scars.”

“My healers aren’t as adept as you, darling,” Nikolai compliments; his tone flirtatious as he brings your joined hands to his lips, pressing a quick and gentle kiss to the back of your hand.

You hide your face in his shoulder, hoping he doesn’t feel the heat from the flush of your skin. “Don’t tell me that or I’ll be stowing away on your ship next time.”

Nikolai stiffens as the idea comes to him. “That’s perfect!” He exclaims, jumping off the bench, dropping your hand in favour of cradling your face with both of his.

“What do you mean?” You wonder, confused to his reaction but not wanting him to move a single inch. His hands on your face feels like the closest you could get to knowing what the touch of a saint is.

Nikolai keeps your gaze steady. “Come away with me,” He all but begs. “I leave soon and I don’t know when I’ll be back again. Come away with me.”

Your hands cover his. Nikolai’s thumb brush your cheekbones; his eyes shine with sheer happiness as his mind races with thought after thought of what it would be like to have you on his ship, to have you so close.

“I need you to promise me something if I’m to do this,” You warn, arching an eyebrow at the blonde.

“Anything,” He responds immediately, desperately wanting you to say yes to leaving with him, to say yes to a future with him.

“You have to promise to only let me heal you,” You state, dropping a hand in favour for poking him in the ribs. “And only me.”

Nikolai laughs; the sound ringing loud and true through the healing room. As he draws you in for an embrace, he knows that that would be a promise he could certainly keep.

[undiscovered-horizon]

Imagine one of the prospects hitting on you.

The clock behind the bar ticks but it's not audible over the music playing in the background. It wouldn't matter much even if it was - it shows the wrong time. The dust on its glass cover lays in a decently thick layer, similar to at least a dozen bottles on the shelf behind the bar.

You're slowly sipping on your drink. All the ice has already melted making the beverage taste mostly like an old freezer and tap water but you don't mind it, really. It is, after all, just a way to pass the time waiting for Jax to show up. Although you're not fond of that, you've grown used to it. Considering his line of business, there's not much he can do about it.

And there's not much you can do aside from waiting.

"Whatcha' doin' here all alone, doll?"

The voice belongs to a tall, lean man leaning against the bar just a few feet from you. He has chiselled features and well-kempt hair as though he mostly sits around. The leather vest he's wearing looks worn out and reused. A small patch on the front says "Prospect". His left forearm is covered with a tattoo of a mountain lion.

"Actually, I'm waiting for someone," you answer politely. To be fair, prospects hardly ever talk to you.

"Here?" he looks around the deteriorating and completely deserted clubhouse. "Must be a real gentleman to make ya wait on him, darlin'," he says sarcastically. A dry chuckle leaves his lips.

You furrow your eyebrows. "I'm so-"

Someone behind you puts a hand around you, the arm lays heavy on your shoulders. The mixture of sweat, motor oil and cologne is all too familiar.

"You can bet your ass he ain't," you hear Jax answer. You can't see his face, so you can only imagine the cold stare he surely has on his face. "Ready to go?" he turns to you.

"Sure thing." Leaving the warm drink unfinished and wetting the counter, you get up from the stool and let Jax guide you towards the door.

But then he stops with his face maybe a palm's length away from the prospect. Jax chuckles quietly, although his eyes show nothing resembling amusement. The prospect stares at him expressionless, if a little reluctant.

"This better be the last time," Jax warns him. To put him down another peg, he pats the man's face in a condescending manner.

Without waiting for the prospect's answer, the two of you leave the clubhouse, off to continue whatever plans you have for today.

[yamayuandadu]

The real life inspirations behind new characters in Touhou 19 (Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost) While I haven’t been posting much about Touhou as of late, I felt obliged to put together the customary post about the inspirations behind the new characters. The new game genuinely renewed my interest. In contrast with similar write-ups pertaining to previous games the research is not entirely mine - some of the sections are a result of cooperation between me and @just9art. Without further ado, let’s delve into the secrets of the new cast. Find out if Biten is the first “Wukong impersonator” ever, when a tanuki is actually a badger, and why Hisami both is and isn’t an oni. Naturally, the post is full of spoilers. Also, fair warning, it's long.

1. Biten Son - sarugami + Sun Wukong

Sarugami means “monkey kami”, the monkey in mention being the Japanese macaque.To my best knowledge, the term is actually not used commonly in English - the results on jstor and De Gruyter are in the low single digits, Brill outright has nothing to offer. Translations are much more common.

Sarugami are particularly strongly associated with Mount Hiei. You might have heard of it because of its association with Matarajin, though in this case he’s not exactly relevant. Instead, it is believed the monkeys act as messengers of Sanno (the “mountain king”), Sekizan Myojin and Juzenji. Sanno himself could take the form of a monkey according to medieval texts, while Juzenji can be accompanied by a deity depicted as a man with a monkey’s head, Daigyoji, known from the Hie mandala. Sarutahiko is also associated with monkeys based on the similarity between his name and the word saru. Bernard Faure notes that despite the clearly positive portrayal of monkeys as semi-divine beings in service of these deities, their perception in folklore and mythology can nonetheless be considered ambivalent, because they could be viewed as aggressive. There are even examples of sarugami being portrayed as monstrous antagonists to be defeated by a hero. The best known tale of this variety is known simply as Sarugami taiji. It is preserved in the Konjaku monogatari. Here the sarugami is a fearsome monster who terrorizes a village and demands the offering of one young woman each year.

In contrast with the sarugami, I do not think Sun Wukong, one of the protagonists of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, needs much of an introduction. We reached the point where even in the west he is recognizable enough to warrant toys based on him (there’s a Lego Wukong on my desk right now). Biten's design has many callbacks to traditional portrayals of Wukong, including the staff (which in the novel is a pillar stolen from the undersea palace of a dragon emperor) and a very distinctive diadem (in the novel making it possible to pressure the unruly Wukong into obeying the monk he is meant to protect). As a curiosity it’s worth noting that “fake Wukong” is not a brand new idea - in the novel itself, one of the enemies of the heroes, Six-Eared Macaque, actually impersonates him for a time. Wukong is effectively himself a “divine monkey”, seeing as despite his origin as a literary character he actually came to be worshiped as a deity in mainland China, Taiwan and various areas with a large Chinese diaspora. The topic of Wukong worship itself came to be an inspiration for literature, starting with the excellent The Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal by Pu Songling, a writer active during the reign of the Qing dynasty, in the early eighteenth century.

2. Enoko Mitsugashira - “immortal yamainu” + Cerberus

Enoko gets the least coverage here, because there really isn’t much to say. Yamainu, “mountain dog”, isn’t really a supernatural creature, it’s an old term for either the extinct Japanese wolf, a type of feral dog, or a hybrid between these. It can also be used as a synonym of okuri-inu, a youkai wolf believed to accompany travelers at night.

There’s actually a distinctly Journey to the West-esque component to Enoko’s backstory, but I have no clue if this is intentional. In the aforementioned novel, many of the antagonists, who are generally demonic animals, are motivated by the desire to devour the flesh of the protagonist, the Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang, because it is said to grant immortality. Granted, given the obscurity of the figure Zanmu is based on - more on that later - perhaps this is an allusion to something else we have yet to uncover. Cerberus, being probably one of the most famous mythical monsters in the world, does not really need to be discussed here. The illustration is included mostly because I like Edmund Dulac and any opportunity is suitable for sharing his illustrations. I do not think it needs to be pointed out that Enoko's bear trap weapons are meant to evoke Cerberus' extra heads.

3. Chiyari Tenkajin - tenkaijin (+ mujina) + chupacabra

While my favorite animal youkai not yet featured in Touhou is easily the kawauso (otter), I was very pleased to learn we sort of got a mujina since I wanted to cover this topic since forever, but never got much of a chance. Technically Chiyari is actually meant to be a tenkaijin, which is not a mujina but a slightly different youkai (a will-o-wisp or St. Elmo’s fire-like creature, specifically) who in the single tale dealing with it takes the form of a mujina after dying, but as there is not much to say about it beyond that you will get a crash course in mujina folklore instead.

Today the word mujina is pretty firmly a synonym of anaguma - in other words, the Japanese badger. The animal does not substantially differ from other badgers, so I do not think much needs to be said about its ecology. However, historically the term could be used to refer to the tanuki regionally, or interchangeably to both animals, so in some cases if insufficient detail is provided it is hard to tell which one is meant. This ambiguity extends to the folklore surrounding them, and generally if you know what to expect from tanuki tales, which I’m sure most people reading this do, you will instantly recognize many of the plot elements typical for mujina ones. In other words, it is yet another yokai which typically takes the role of a shapeshifting trickster. Some supernatural phenomena could be basically interchangeably attributed to mujina, tanuki, kitsune or kawauso. Mujina are commonly described taking the form of Buddhist monks, which is one of the many similarities between them and tanuki.

The most famous depiction of a shapeshifting mujina comes from Toriyama Sekien’s Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki (The Illustrated One Hundred Demons from the Present and the Past). The accompanying text compares the creature to the supernatural versions of kitsune and tanuki, and states that the artist relied on a tale according to which a mujina was able to successfully impersonate a Buddhist monk until accidentally revealing its tail. 

What makes the mujina special is that it is actually the oldest recorded example of a youkai of this sort. A mujina tale already appears in the early Japanese chronicle Nihon Shoki, dated to 627. It reports an incident of a mujina transforming into a human and singing somewhere in the Michinoku Province. I feel like this alone is a good example of why you should be wary of people who seek to present Nihon Shoki or Kojiki as historical truth. Western audiences as far as I know were first introduced to mujina by Lafcadio Hearn. To my best knowledge, the fabulous shapeshifting badgers however failed to gain the popcultural recognition enjoyed by tanuki and kitsune. They did appear in Shigeru Mizuki's stories every now and then, and I found a mascot character based on them, but overall there isn't all that much beyond that.

Naturally, there isn't much mujina in Chiyari's design, and she instead most likely owes her distinctly spiky appearance to the other inspiration behind her character, the chupacabra. Mujina are not really portrayed as bloodthirsty, but the poorly documented tenkajin apparently is, which is presumably why ZUN decided to connect Chiyari with the chupacabra, the best known modern blood-drinking creature, who first appeared in tall tales from 1995 and subsequently took popculture by storm after spreading from Puerto Rico to mainland USA and Mexico. I am not a chupacabra aficionado so I have little to offer here, sadly.

4. Hisami Yomotsu - yomotsu-shikome

Judging from what I’ve seen on social media and on pixiv, Hisami is shaping up to be one of the most popular new characters (she’s my fave too). In sharp contrast with that, her basis is pretty obscure. So obscure that there isn’t even any historical art to showcase, as far as I can tell (note that this blog claims night parade scrolls might have something to offer, though - I was unable to verify this claim for now, sadly). As we learn from her bio, she is supposed to be a yomotsu-shikome. They’re called the “hags of Yomi” of Yomi in Donald L. Philippi’s Kojiki translation. The term shikome can be literally translated as “ugly woman”. Nothing about them really implies femme fatale leanings we are evidently seeing in Touhou but I’m not going to complain about that. Yomotsu-shikome appear only in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, and in both of these early chronicles they are portrayed as servants of Izanami after she died and came to reside in Yomi, the land of the dead. Nihon Shoki states there are only eight of them. The distinct grape vine motif present on Hisami’s clothes seems like an obvious reference to Izanagi’s escape from Yomi following his meeting with Izanami, portrayed in the myth recorded in both of these sources. When the yomotsu-shikome started to pursue him, he threw a vine he used to hold his hair at them. The plant instantly bore fruit, which the entities started to eat. They later resumed the chase, but were once again held back, this time by a bamboo shot. According to the Nihon Shoki, they eventually give up after he creates a river from his piss (sic) to keep them away.

Yomotsu-shikome are sometimes compared to oni by modern researchers. Noriko T. Reider in her monograph about oni argues that alongside hashihime and yamanba (pictured above) they can be effectively grouped with them. Another researcher, Michael D. Foster, is more cautious, and states that despite clear similarities it’s best to avoid conflating oni-like female demons with female oni proper, especially since the latter have a distinct iconography and a distinct set of traits. Norinaga Motoori, the founder of kokugaku or “national learning”, a nationalist intellectual movement in Edo and Meiji period Japan, claimed that oni were based on yomotsu-shikome, which is a pretty dubious claim. It is ultimately not certain when the term oni started to be used, but it is safe to say it has continental origin. And, of course, oni permeate Japanese culture in a way yomotsu-shikome do not.

5. Zanmu Nippaku - Zanmu

This was the toughest mystery to solve, and I am fully indebted to 9 here, since they figured it out, I am merely depending on what they directed me to. Research is still ongoing, and it feels like we just started to untangle this mystery, so you can safely expect further updates. Zanmu appears to be based on the Buddhist monk… well, Zanmu. You can learn a bit about him here or on Japanese wikipedia; it seems there are quite literally 0 sources pertaining to him in English, and even in Japanese there is actually very little. Their names are not written the same, ZUN swapped the sign for “dream” from the original name for one which can be read as “nothingness”. If the unsourced quote on wikipedia is genuine, the reason might be tied to the personal views of the irl Zanmu. What little we’ve been able to gather about him is that he was active in the Sengoku period, and apparently was regarded as unorthodox and eccentric. This lines up with Zanmu’s omake bio pretty well. Seems the real Zanmu was also unusually long lived, and was able to recall events from distant past in great detail, though obviously the figure of 139 years attributed to him in a few places online has to be an exaggeration.

Yet more puzzling is the reference to Zanmu’s familiarity with Ikkyo you might spot in the linked article. Whether the famous Ikkyo who you may know from the tale of Jigoku Dayu is meant is difficult to determine. The chronology does not really add up; on the other hand the logic behind associating one eccentric semi-legendary monk with another in later legends isn’t particularly convoluted. As 9 pointed out to me, if ZUN was aware of this link, and the same Ikkyo really was meant, it is not impossible the connection between Zanmu and Hisami is meant to in some way mirror that between Ikkyo and Jigoku Dayu. As you can easily notice, it’s pretty clear the historical Zanmu was male. It does not seem his Touhou counterpart is, obviously.  I would say we should wait for more info until declaring that we have a second Miko situation on our hands, with a male historical figure directly reimagined as a female character without any indication we are dealing with a relative rather than the real deal. There’s still relatively little info to go by so I would remain cautious (though naturally this is not meant to discourage you from having headcanons).

Neither me nor 9 were able to find any connection between the historical Zanmu and oni… so far, at least. Therefore, what motivated ZUN to make Zanmu an oni remains to be discovered. As a final curiosity, on a semi-related note it might be worth pointing out that while not as common as their male peers, female oni are not a modern invention, and already appear in setsuwa from the 13th century. A particularly common motif are tales describing a woman turning into oni due to jealousy or anger. Further reading:

Jason Colavito, The Secret Prehistory of El Chupacabra (2011)

Bernard Faure, Gods of Medieval Japan vol. 1-3 (2015-2022)

Michael Daniel Foster, The Book of Yokai. Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore (2015)

John Knight, Waiting for Wolves in Japan. An Anthropological Study of People-wildlife Relations (2003)

Noriko T. Reider, Japanese Demon Lore (2010)

[ellabism]

do you have any fav ellabs fics? I just scrolled down your blog and love all your writing about them (thank you!) and I relate 100% like yes mood I agree.

I trust your taste completely if you’d spare me a crumb I’d love to read whatever is your fav, no worries if you don’t have the time/energy I always have your blog to feed my ellabs need now lol

hi! thanks so much for asking! i don't mind making a list of my personal fav ellabs fics. just buckle up because ive dissected this ao3 tag through and through.

also fair warning a lot of these fics are unfinished and i don't think they're ever going to be finished ): read at your own risk

why does my heart cry?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/52598836/chapters/133047805

a recent ellabs fic on my radar. absolutely love as its currently being updated! give it some love, the author gets inspired by positive comments! this fic also has warnings of r word so read at your own risk.

assumptions

https://archiveofourown.org/works/53457232

NSFW! a really really hot one-shot. really really good. that's all.

are we destined to go full circle?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/53028508

another one-shot fic. a really good premise, i love it so much.

i'll touch that fire for you

https://archiveofourown.org/works/49341436/chapters/124510642

modern day ellabs as ex girlfriends. very toxic still in a modern aspect and i love it.

unbroken

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30771995/chapters/75953900

MY ABSOLUTE FAV! i love this fic, though it takes a while for updates, definitely worth the wait!

where stolen roses grow

https://archiveofourown.org/works/47851273/chapters/120635659

REALLY cool concept and new take on how ellie's immunity affects her body. i love this one

paper bag

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45841327/chapters/115369633

a modern ellabs fic. i love the premise for ellie and abby here and how they interact among abby's friend group. i feel like not many fics implements abby's friends. also ellie is an ex prisoner. hot as fuck

we've fallen (so far)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25757314/chapters/62552452

a cool twist on how santa barbara ends up. i really hope the author will come back to this one i love it ):

there is a crack, a crack in everything-that's how the light gets in

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30440616/chapters/75056037

ADORE THIS FIC SO BADLY ITS SO CUTE! fair warning it gets into really deep and heavy things. read at your on discretion. but it has a cute lev and ellie bonding moments and i LIVE FOR THOSE! they're bffs in my mind.

you're the one who saved me

https://archiveofourown.org/works/38285101/chapters/95661985

another twist on the events in santa barbara. really cute fic and i wish it kept going.

the way sorrow tastes

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29521575/chapters/72534786

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this fic. i'd give an arm an a leg for it to get frequent updates again. another fic that has r word content. read at your own discretion.

the good fight

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28929720/chapters/70981443

an actual finished ellabs fic! love this one so bad

retribution

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26692549/chapters/65108920

this fic has a special place in my heart because of the ellie and lev dynamic that's in it. if there's one thing to know about me, is that i love the idea of ellie and lev bonding like siblings. they'd get along so well. another fic i'd give up an arm and a leg for for more updates.

my god damn christmas present

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28408266

HEHE this one is so cute. a modern ellabs take with having a whole family. a cute wholesome little one-shot.

handsy

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25475419

NSFW! another really hot one-shot. had me drooling.

the collector

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25041016/chapters/60645616

NSFW! i love this fic. ellie selling her artowrk and abby being a collector. it gets hot. so so hot.

tail lights

https://archiveofourown.org/works/35929312/chapters/89580607

REALLY GOOD, WELL WRITTEN fic by one of my friends actually. the slow burn is saur good. but unfortunately there will not be a tail lights 2. sorry yall

tiles

https://archiveofourown.org/works/51887800/chapters/131198848

NSFW! really hot one-shot of them having fun at a party.

well, there's my list. i told y'all it would be long.

as i made this list it made me sad realizing how many of these amazing fics are abandoned ): i wish some of these authors will have the energy to get back on these, cause so many people adore them.

i will edit and add more if i forgot any. enjoy, happy reading!

[munson-blurbs]

IT'S SPOOOPY HALLOWEENIE!

Dum-Dum.* Kit Kat. Eddie.

*"I don't know what that is" - in an Australian accent.

Idiots in love/Artist!Reader/Eddie Munson

Warnings: drug use (weed), reader can be read as gender neutral, mention of Billy Hargrove, sitting on Eddie's lap

WC: 778

Divider credit to @saradika (also, Dum-Dums are a brand of lollipop)

Knock knock.

The sound of someone at the door startles you, drawing your attention from your unfinished sketch and to the curly-haired boy clutching a piece of paper in his ringed hand.

“Sorry, uh,” Eddie says with a nervous laugh, “didn’t mean to scare you.” When you don’t reply, he looks around the otherwise-empty classroom. “Is now a bad time, or…?”

You gather your thoughts, heart pounding a mile a minute at the sudden interruption. “N-No, you’re fine,” you stammer. God, he’s so cute. Cheeks tinged red with bashfulness, free hand shoved into his back pocket, frizzy curls brushing against his denim-clad shoulders. “Something I can help you with?” you ask when he remains standing in place.

“Oh! Um, yeah.” He shuffles over to you, as though reminding himself to put one foot in front of the other. “You draw, right? Like, sketches and stuff?” He winces at his stilted attempt at an opening, especially given the fact that your sketchbook is open right in front of you.

“Mhm.”

“Cool.” Eddie nods. “Could I ask you to draw this? It’s for my uncle’s birthday next month.” He hands you the photo, and your heart instantly melts. It’s a picture of him and who you assume is his uncle, and Eddie can’t be much older than ten years old. He’s wearing a blue shirt with an S in a diamond hastily drawn on the front. A faded red towel is tied around his neck in a makeshift cape. The older man stands behind him, half a KitKat bar hanging from his lips like a cigarette. “It was my first Halloween with him.” The first time I ever celebrated Halloween, actually, he thinks, but keeps that information to himself.

You carefully study the photo, careful not to leave fingerprints on it, even though there’s already a smudge in the corner. “I, uh, I don’t know what those stains are,” Eddie mumbles. “I can’t offer a lot of money, but if you smoke…” he mimics taking a pull from a joint, “I can hook you up for free.”

“You sure?” You wrinkle your nose. “I don’t want you getting in trouble or anything.”

Eddie dismisses the notion with a wave. “What’s he gonna do, call the cops?”

“Fair enough,” you agree with a smile.

You hadn’t realized that when Eddie had offered to smoke you up for free, he’d meant smoking with him. Over the next few weeks, any free time that wasn’t spent drawing the photo of him and his uncle–whose name was Wayne, you’d learned–you spent with him in a haze of marijuana. Sharing giggles, splitting family bags of potato chips when the munchies inevitably hit, snuggling up on his couch and sleepily watching sitcom reruns consumed your afternoons. To an outsider’s perspective, it looked like you two were together. Truthfully, you had no idea what you and Eddie’s status was.

“Oh! I almost forgot,” you sit up suddenly, shifting under the blanket and reaching for your backpack. “I finished this last night.”

Eddie’s bloodshot eyes go wide, and you swear that their glassiness is fueled by more than just pot. “This is…wow,” he breathes out, shaking his head in disbelief. “This is even better than I imagined.” He doesn’t know the technical terms for what you’ve done, but you’ve perfectly captured their enthused expressions, the joy in their eyes evident even just through pencil shading. “You’re amazing.”

And maybe it’s the compliment, or the high, or the way he’s been nestled into you for the last forty minutes, but you tilt his head towards yours and kiss him. Your mouths collide clumsily, and he seems shocked at first, but he quickly eases himself into it to deepen it. One hand cups your cheek while the other pulls you onto his lap so you’re straddling his lithe waist. 

“Wanted to do this for a long time,” he murmurs into you, not wanting to fully break the kiss. “Ever since I first saw you, I thought you were so goddamn pretty.”

“I’ve had a crush on you since you jumped on the cafeteria table and called Billy Hargrove out for leading all those poor girls on,” you admit with a laugh. “He turned bright red.”

Eddie inhales, shrugging his shoulders haphazardly. “Earned myself a pretty little black eye for that.” His nose nudges yours as he leans in to kiss you again. “But it was totally worth it if it meant you noticed me.”

You pull back slightly, taking in his beautiful brown eyes, the tiny patch of stubble where he’d missed shaving, the flyaway hairs on his temple. “Can I keep noticing you?”

“I’d be sad if you stopped.”

--

[nhasablogg]

Unfinished Gallavich fic

Fandom: Shameless

Characters: Ian/Mickey

Summary: Ian finds no rhyme or reason to when Mickey tickles him.

A/N: As promised, before I leave this blog I leave you with an unfinished Gallavich fic I started writing for the abandoned throwback week. I hope you enjoy it xx

Words: 1k

Ian only started questioning it because Mandy did.

“Listen, I grew up with him,” she said, closing the fridge door and handing him a coke. “And while we’re not the most affectionate family, I have dealt with my fair share of tickle torture from him. He’s merciless. Unfortunately for him I’m worse.”

She shot him a smile and Ian tried to imagine what that had been like. Mickey, who had softness hidden so deeply inside of him that even Ian only saw it in flashes. But since he’d seen the softness at all and therefore knew it existed, it shouldn’t have been so difficult to wrap his head around this. “So you’re saying he’s a mean tickler?”

“He’s rough and taunting and not at all playful when he gets you. Not at all gentle.” She cracked her can open, took a sip. “He must like you a lot.”

It was a new thing, Mickey tickling him, and usually it was a private thing, only Mandy was close enough to them both that Mickey had become careless. Mickey had become carefree. When Ian had absentmindedly complained over the frequency of his tickle attacks, Mandy had rolled her eyes and told him it was nothing compared to what he was capable of. “He barely pins you. Is always quick and gentle. Face it, Ian, he just wants an excuse to touch you and make you laugh.”

And Ian, who had also grown up with siblings but was now stronger than all of them, immediately recognized the difference between wanting to mess with someone and just wanting to be close to them. Mickey was doing his best to be close to him.

The realization made him both more eager for the tickles and more wary of them. He tried to analyze the situations leading up to them, only Mickey never did it when Ian thought he would. Would pin him to the bed and kiss him raw when Ian tried to provoke him, only for fingers to sneak to his sides when he’d barely said a word. He was just missing the pattern and suddenly longed to understand, even though up until then he’d been fine with not comprehending everything about Mickey.

“What?”

Ian averted his gaze. “Nothing.”

Mickey huffed and poked his arm hard enough that it almost hurt. “Stop playing coy.”

“I’m not!”

Mickey didn’t say anything. Ian bit his lip and tried to keep from smiling. He could imagine Mickey throwing himself at him, worming his hands under Ian’s arms and keeping them there until Ian talked. And when Ian refused he would go for a spot that was worse.

Only Ian knew Mickey wouldn’t do that. Knew that Mickey would tickle one spot for only a moment before rolling off of him, or lean down to capture his mouth with his own. He wasn’t sure if he wanted Mickey to be rough. To tickle him until he was screaming for mercy. Most likely he didn’t want that. Had endured enough of that from Fiona and Lip growing up. But-

But.

He wasn’t sure what his but was.

Mickey was still watching him, eyes narrowed, not liking that Ian had been looking at him and now barely would. Ian, who desperately wanted to laugh, wondered if that would tip him over the edge. “I will give you something to laugh about,” he would say, and Ian’s laughter would turn to shrieks.

But Mickey only huffed again and grabbed his arm to pull him closer. “Whatever, loser,” and Ian did laugh then and Mickey didn’t do anything about it.

*

Days later, coming out of the shower. Tired. Sore. Fingers suddenly scribbling over his bare belly without warning and stopping out of nowhere, coaxing the briefest of giggles out of him. Unexpected. Almost sweet.

What the fuck, Mickey.

*

“Don’t do that.”

The warning in Mickey’s voice didn’t scare him, but the lack of revenge made Ian stop in his tracks. He’d thought that if he curled his own fingers over Mickey’s skin that maybe he would retaliate and Ian would get one step closer to figuring this whole thing out, but Mickey was the type of ticklish who wouldn’t react at first only to threaten your life if you continued. Ian had thought about testing the waters there, only he respected his boundaries too much. He was looking at him now, hand still on Mickey’s ribs, but unmoving. Mickey was watching him too, strangely relaxed but frowning. Would he get him back if he curled his fingers now? Ian wasn’t even sure he wanted it, but he felt he couldn’t let this go.

“Ian.” His warning lacked heat, as if he didn’t believe Ian would do it.

Well, that was a challenge if he ever heard one.

The carpet was thankfully relatively soft when they landed on it, with Mickey pinning his arms above his head. He was frowning and Ian had to laugh. Provoking him with how little this bothered him. But Mickey only resorted to pulling his hair and biting his jaw, which could’ve tickled if he had intended for it to do so, but he didn’t. And so Ian stopped laughing. Ian had to beg for more instead, entirely wrapped around his finger, and Mickey was only mean for a moment before kissing him roughly, and then, after another moment, softening as he let Ian’s arms free.

*

Later, when Ian was nearly asleep, an adventurous single finger dipping briefly into his belly button and making him bark out a sudden laugh, and when he turned to Mickey he still had his eyes closed and wasn’t smiling.

*

Ian couldn’t let it go, but he was pretending as if it wasn’t consuming him. Since Mickey did it whenever, maybe he needed to just act as normal as possible to get him to do it. Maybe that was the key. Sneak attacks, although they didn’t last long. But exactly how long does one wait for something like this? Ian kissed Mickey’s cheek each morning and pulled him closer each evening and would make him breakfast without commenting it and argue with him in the afternoons and pretend as if he wasn’t thinking of tickles of all things. 

……

It had no rhyme or reason to it. Mickey simply did it when he needed to do it, and so Ian would endure it for him.

(Not that he hated it.)

(But shh.)

[yaniiiiism]

stars and raindrops. -k.sm ✬ // 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 two.

chapter two ^^

☆┆pairing : kim seungmin x fem!reader ͏ ☆┆ info : sadfic , fluff , melancholy , unrequited love (cough cough) , feelings , mature themes , suggestive , bsfs , one sided , uni au , happy ending (?) ͏ ☆┆ personas + bg : uni students ; best friends ; trio of jisung, seungmin and reader. music students! ☆┆ word count : 1.5k ☆┆warnings : sad, seungmo's a sweetheart but just clueless. notes at the end !!

𓍯 ִֶָ ! ❀,

ii ) ❀ think i like you, best when you’re just with me, and no one else.

"I think I’ll head out," she said quietly, pushing back her chair. 

Jisung’s eyes shot up. "Already? You’ve barely touched your food," he pointed out, his tone surprised. "Class doesn’t start for another hour."

She grabbed her bag, forcing a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. "Yeah, but I've got some work to catch up on before class. You know how it is."

Jisung’s gaze lingered on her for a moment, as if he wanted to say something more. But in the end, he simply nodded, offering her an understanding smile. "Okay..? Min and I’ll see you after class then,"

The blonde beside them looked up at her, noticing the dimness in her eyes. He decided not to comment on it, as he brushed up a little wave of his hand, “I’ll see ‘ya ‘round,”

She nodded,  "Yeah, I’ll uh.. see you guys later."

With that, she slung her bag over her shoulder and made her way out of the canteen. The pair that had sat across, were too busy in their own little world, chatting away to notice the girl leave.

Her footsteps echoed lightly in the hallway as she moved away from the lively chatter behind her. Once outside, the cool air hit her, and she took a deep breath, trying to ease the weight that seemed to be pressing on her chest.

She didn’t want to be around anyone right now—not Jisung , and definitely not Seungmin. All she wanted was to be alone. 

With her thoughts and herself. 

Even though she knew that solitude would only intensify the ache she was trying to suppress. 

Her steps quickened as she made her way toward her classroom, but she wasn’t really thinking about the lecture ahead, in an hour. Her mind idly wandered back to the scene earlier, as she shook her head as if the simple motion would erase the feelings she had no control over.

But the truth was, no matter how hard she tried, Seungmin would always be the centre of her thoughts.

It wasn’t fair. It was like she was trapped in this cycle, forever watching him from a distance, forever hoping for something that was never going to happen.

In the quiet of the moment, she allowed herself to feel the full weight of her emotions, the heartache she had tried so hard to hide as she entered the classroom, empty, and sat at one of the back benches. The classroom was still and silent when the girl had stepped inside, her converses tapping softly against the polished floor as if the room itself was holding its breath

There was no one here to witness her vulnerability, no one to judge her for the tears that now slipped silently down her cheeks. She wiped them away quickly, angry at herself for caring so much, for letting it hurt this deeply.

And yet, despite the pain, she couldn’t stop herself from caring. That was the cruellest part of it all.

The rows of empty desks sat like quiet sentinels, and the air was thick with the scent of lingering chalk and faded echoes from the lessons of the day before. It was the sort of peace that felt fragile, the kind that would break with the slightest shift of noise or movement. 

The light filtered through the glass window beside her, in soft beams that painted the edges of her notebook with warm, golden hues. Pulling out the well-worn journal from her bag, she ran her fingers along the cover, feeling the familiar texture of the leather-bound pages beneath her fingertips. 

The familiar pages were her sanctuary, her place for scribbling down fragments of thoughts, half-written poems, unfinished lyrics that flickered through her mind like fireflies, elusive yet persistent.

She opened it to a blank page and let her pen drift across the paper, not thinking, just feeling. Words flowed from her hand, unformed and raw, like the mist of a dream just before dawn. 

She wasn’t sure what she was writing—maybe a verse, maybe a melody that only her heart knew the rhythm to. It didn’t matter. This was the one place where her thoughts could spill out unfiltered, unjudged. 

The world outside the window was muted, distant, and the gentle sound of her pen scratching against the page became a kind of music, a rhythm that matched the slow and steady beat of her pulse. 

The words fell like autumn leaves, drifting lazily down, one by one, never in a rush, yet always finding their place.

When soon, the door creaked open, and a few students wandered in, their laughter breaking the fragile stillness like stones dropped into a still pond. They didn’t notice her, too wrapped up in their own jokes, their own conversations that danced like threads in the air. 

She barely glanced up, letting the sounds fade into the background, like the murmur of wind through trees. 

And soon, the professor arrived not long after, shuffling to the front of the room with a weary air, his voice a monotone hum as he began the lecture. 

She closed her journal softly, pressing the pen between its pages, her heart still lingering on the thought of him. The class dragged on, words from the front of the room becoming a muffled echo, distant and unimportant compared to the storm inside her. Seungmin had become an inescapable thought, one she couldn’t untangle herself from, no matter how hard she tried.

Her hand moved almost on its own, lazily copying down the notes that appeared on the board, her writing as absentminded as the thoughts that wandered through her head. 

The words on the board didn’t mean much, just symbols and shapes that barely registered. But still, her hand continued its steady march across the page, filling line after line with neat, indifferent script. 

Outside, the clouds were thick and grey, as if the sky itself was preparing to weep. She glanced out the window, feeling a strange kinship with the clouds, their heaviness, their quiet resolve to hold back the storm just a little longer. 

She let out a soft breath, turning her attention back to her notebook, where the half-full page waited, still unfinished, still raw.

And the final bell tolled, a distant chime that seemed to echo with the relief of freedom, and everyone rushed out.

As she left the classroom, a familiar voice called her name, drawing her from the haze of her thoughts. She turned, spotting the duo of the puppy and squirrel, waiting near the exit. 

Jisung grinned widely, waving her over with exaggerated energy, while Seungmin stood beside him, hands tucked casually into his pockets, his quiet presence enough to pull her focus in an instant.

“Y/n!” Jisung’s voice was bright, breaking through the cloud of her mood like sunlight as she ran to them. “Are your classes done? We were planning on going to the park again,”

She gave him a faint smile, pulling her bag higher on her shoulder. “Yeah, I'm done, let’s go!”

Jisung threw an arm around her shoulders with a laugh as the three left the premises.

Seungmin’s eyes rolled up in annoyance, as he watched the two of them, his gaze lingering on her a moment longer than usual. “Ji just wanted an excuse to leave campus,” he stated, glancing at the guy in question.

“Okay, so what?” Jisung huffed, his tone defensive. “Plus, I'm being a good friend too. Going to the park is way better than sitting in that stuffy classroom.”

They crossed the campus, the sun now hiding completely behind the clouds. The air was thick with the promise of rain, though the storm still held off, waiting just on the edge of the horizon. Jisung chatted animatedly about either his on-going song, or nothing in particular, filling the silence as they walked toward the small garden just opposite the university. 

It was a quiet spot, usually empty except for a few students taking a break between classes. The three of them had been there countless times before, and somehow, it always felt like a place untouched by the chaos of their everyday lives.

“Ice cream?” 

“Race you.”

That was all he said to the cheeky guy, before he practically sprinted away, only to be followed by him whining.

She glanced at the two, idiotic, guys, eyes only blinking as she was left alone dumbfounded, while they ran like maniacs to the small van. 

There was something about him as continued to run, laughing ecstatically at the loud complaining by the guy behind him. 

The way his broad smile made her feel as if all her worries had simply been brushed away by that alone. The way his eyes twinkled, even despite the dull evening, clouds shading the sunshine away. As if instead, he was the sun. 

Radiating warmth, even if he didn’t realise it himself.

Her hands quickly fiddled through the chain of her bag, hurriedly grabbing her phone. As she pulled it out, she put it up, opening the camera app quickly.

Snap!

Probably, more than 15 shots were taken, each a witness to the moment as it lulled away slowly, each snap being a canvas to his smile, his precious, wide, smile.

Oh, how he didn’t even realise how he made her heart skip a beat, a quiet kind of warmth that spread through her chest, a low chuckle leaving her lips.

Oh, how she would’ve stopped the time right there, if she could.

“Hey, wait up for me!”

_ 　｡　　　⊹　　　.　　　✦⁺

a/n ♡︎

HELLO HELLO HELLO LATE UPDATE IM SORRY💔 IVE BEEN SO BUSY W STUDYING SHSHSH lmk if u liked this chp <33 tysm made another spam acc for skz @loveforseung ALSO I HAVE AO3 NOW !! user's same as @loveforseung go follow !! also making a masterlist for all of my posts, plz lmk if u wanna be a part of it ! <3 have a good day ~ – love, yani ♥︎

[daisygirlwrites]

First Look (König x fem! Reader)

Summary: The 141 Task Force team up with KorTac for a huge operation. A certain Sargent and Austrian catch each others' eye.

Warnings: None

Paring(s): König x fem! Reader, Simon "Ghost" Riley X Reader (Platonic) , John "Soap" Mactavish x Reader (Platonic), slight! ghostsoap (if you really squint)

Word Count: 1,930

Note: No use of (Y/N), use of (L/N)

a/n: hey hey! i'm so excited for you all to read this! also, if it seems "unfinished" it kind of is! it was getting a little long and i decided to make the next one kind of a standalone, but you can consider this "part 1". anyways, thank you so much for reading and i would love to hear any feedback!

taglist: @bobfloydsgf , @imalovernotahater , @cutiecusp , @neon-lights-27

gif credit: @bloodlst

It was going to be a long assignment. Multiple missions under one huge operation; rescuing government officials and journalists, all spread out in different locations. Some of those who were higher profiled already had ransoms, so finding them wasn’t so difficult. But for the rest, that was a different story. And with how time sensitive this mission was, the higher ups from NATO thought it would be best to get other companies involved. The 141 Task Force wasn’t too keen on working with another PMC, considering the last time it happened, the whole thing ended up in flames. But since it was direct orders by NATO themselves, they aired their grievances amongst each other. 

You weren’t there for the first introductions with the KorTac team, helping out Laswell for a bit instead. However, you did manage to sneak into the meeting room undetected, stepping in place besides Ghost. You watched your captain and another man with a nice beard talk quietly to each other, laptop open in front of them. The rest of your team file in, as well as KorTac’s. You took a quick look at each member but it was the last person that caught your eye.

König developed a six sense of knowing he was being looked at. It started during his last year of grade school and stuck with him since. And right now, he can feel a set of eyes on him, but he couldn’t figure out who. Leaning against the back wall of the meeting room, he takes a scan of his surroundings. Horangi, Hutch and Roze are sitting in front of him, looking at files while Aksel stands with Task Force 141’s captain, both hunching over a laptop. To his left side, towards the front of the room, there are two men in a conversation. One had a mohawk and talked in a heavy Scottish accent while the other was sporting a baseball cap, listening on. Then there was Ghost. The one person he’d actively avoid making eye contact with. Hearing the stories and meeting the man himself were very different experiences.

The Austrian was sure it was him. However, he failed to notice the short figure next to the lieutenant, though to be fair, you are five foot four. And with the all black outfit that you had, save for the red tinted ballistic goggles, it was like you were Ghost’s shadow.

On the other hand though, you noticed him immediately, watching the man having to duck under the door. Even when he was trying to blend into his surroundings, his tall frame made him stand out. You didn’t mean to stare for so long but every time you tear your gaze from him, like a magnet, it’d come right back. It was frustrating, feeling like a high schooler again but you kept looking at him. 

Ghost glanced down at you, noticing your eyes fixating on something. Or someone, he thinks to himself as he follows your eye line, which is on the tallest person in the room. His gaze shifts back to you and then to König, repeating a couple more times just to make sure that you were clearly checking him out. Slightly leaning down, enough for you to hear him whisper, “You should take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

Snapping out of your trance, you glared up to your lieutenant. Even with the skull balaclava covering his features, there was no doubt he was sporting a shit eating grin. Without a second of hesitation, you jam your elbow, hitting the area below his ribs. This, of course, has little effect on the man and honestly, made him amused instead of annoyed.

This interaction didn’t go unnoticed to König, now realizing that there was another person in the room. With how close you were standing together and the almost matching outfit with Ghost, it dawned on König that you were the Sargent that he hasn’t been introduced to. He’s heard about you as well, people saying that you were another legend in the making by being mentored by Ghost himself. However, he didn’t anticipate how small you were compared to the others. 

He also thought you’re very brave. Or insane, König hasn’t made up his mind yet. To elbow a superior was out of the question. To do that to someone like Ghost was a death sentence in his book and yet, König watched him do nothing.

His train of thought were interrupted when the door slams open. “Let’s get this started,” Laswell announces as she walks in. He look back towards you, just in time to see you whip your head to the front of the room, your braid hitting Ghost's arm in the process.

You paid attention during the briefing but you couldn't shake the feeling that you were being stared at. It was probably Ghost, though when you flick you eyes up at him, he was focused on the screen in front. That means it was the tall guy that you were shamelessly checking out earlier. Karma came back to bite your ass.

------------------------------------------------------------

And it did once more! After the brief was done, Price asked if anyone had questions. Ghost looked at you, and you swore you saw a glint of mischief before he turns back at the captain. "Price, I want the big guy with Crash and I."

Price raises an eyebrow but he doesn’t question it, giving the lieutenant a nod before dismissing everyone to gear up. You basically had to jog to catch up to Ghost, harshly whispering to him, “What the hell is wrong with you?!” 

He doesn’t take a glance at you but he does respond with, “Did you hear that he took down twelve AQ soldiers by himself?” Your jaw falls upon hearing this yet you don’t say anything and shake your head no in response instead. 

“I have my reason for things, Rook, not just to mess with you. Remember that,” he takes a glance at you, bringing his hand up on your head, giving it a small pat before he leaves.

It didn't take you long to gear up. Stepping outside, the only noise you heard was the plane starting up. No one else was there yet and honestly, you preferred some quiet time. The calm before the storm. You give yourself another pat down, making sure you had everything you needed and adjusting the straps on your vest. 

Being lost in thought, you almost missed the sound of footsteps behind you. Turning your head, you expected to see your skeleton partner, but you were met with a sniper hood instead.

“Oh! Um, hello,” you gave him a small wave. Oh lord, why are you so awkward, you’re a grown woman for goodness sake, you curse to yourself. Glad you had your mask on, your cheeks were on fire. And he was much taller up close, having to crane your neck up to make eye contact with him. You noticed that he doesn’t meet your eyes, shifting every so often. Arms behind his back, he rocks on the heel of his boots. 

After a couple seconds of this, he pauses and gives you a nod. “You must be Sargent (L/N), it’s good to finally meet you,” König held out his hand, which you took, giving him a firm handshake. He tries to ignore how small your hand feels. “Everyone calls me König.”

“Call me Crash then.”

“Crash? That’s an interesting name.” “König is too. What are you the king of?” This made the Austrian blush and more intrigued by you. 

“You know German?” “Just enough to order a drink,” you answered him honestly. You were feeling bold, heart beating fast, the next words tumbling out quicker than your brain could process, “Maybe I can buy you one if the mission goes well.” You’re screaming at yourself at this point. Flirting with the new guy?! That was against your rules. Oh god, Ghost is gonna roast you when he finds out about this.

Before König could respond, a certain Scotsman smacks the back of your vest, startling you. “Did I hear ya talkin ‘bout drinks? Count me in!” You shoot him a glare, trying to convey that he interrupted something but Soap ignores it, giving the tall man a wink. 

Ghost was the next person to join the group outside, slightly confused on why you were trying to kill Soap with your stare, but he understands that Johnny is Johnny. He walks up to you, “You good there Rook?’

“Not to be dramatic, but I wanna die.” You answer him.

“Same here, you ain’t special.” 

-----------------------------------------------------------

Ghost sat in-between you and König during the plane ride. You didn't know if you were jealous or thankful for that. Probably the later, especially with the what you consider one of the worst introductions you've experienced.

You didn't know anything about the man. Hell, you don't even know his real name and here you are, flirting without reason. Or maybe not, you did kind of expect him to be dark and brooding but your first official interaction, you notice how nervous he was. How he wouldn't look at you in the eye at first but even with the sniper hood covering his face, you saw a slight crinkle around his eyes, as if he were smiling. Never said a word before or during the meeting, however, when you spoke to him, you didn't think his voice would come out softly. His appearance and actions were a juxtaposition, and that drew you in more.

The stories he was told about you had one main thing; you were like Ghost. You had the skills, efficiency and that you were the protégée to the man himself. But they fail to mention how short you were or how confident you stand or how easy it is talking to you. The 141 Task Force gave him the same welcome along with the rest of his teammates, however, you surprise him in many ways. You said hello first and even knew some German. Did you flirt with him or were you just being nice? He kind of wish for the first option. What if she thinks you're too weird? How would she react when she sees my face? What if I'm not what she's expecting?

"Get ready, we're dropping in ten!" Price shouts over his shoulder. This causes the both of you to snap out of your thoughts. Those can wait, they have a job to do.

----------------------------------------------------------

The mission went off without a hitch. Besides a few scratches here and there, the team managed to secure and rescue three government officials.

You've taken a few hard hits but it was nothing you couldn't manage. The rest of the team weren't in bad shape either. In fact, most of them were in a good mood, considering how well the mission went and there were no casualties.

Getting off the plane, Soap jogged up to you, telling you to change into your civies. "Gotta celebrate the new team and a successful operation, don't cha think, Lassie?" And with that, you watch him run in front of you, throwing his arm over your lieutenant's shoulders and hearing Ghost quietly tell him to "Fuck off." This caused you to giggle, taking in the happy moment, something rare in your line of work.

König was behind you, staring again. Listening to you giggle was like a breath of fresh air. How you manage to do such an content action after being in battle just an hour ago, it amazed him.