#generate closed caption from open captions

[witchybitchycrybaby]

And they were neighbors...

Benjicot Blackwood x modern!fem!Bracken!reader

Warnings: none, it's just pure fluff, modern au

Words: 1,3k

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Benjicot Blackwood groaned as his alarm buzzed on the nightstand, effectively interrupting his sleep. He slapped it off and lay back, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His thoughts, as usual, drifted to his best friend, his next-door neighbor, his... whatever you were to him. The Bracken girl, on top of that.

His parents would probably go bananas if they knew he had feelings for you.

Sure, your families couldn't stand each other, everybody in your small neighborhood knew that, but for Benji that war no longer mattered when it came to you. He thought about the way you looked at him, the way you always had an answer whenever he said something unhinged, and that smile… oh, that smile. He was whipped, completely and utterly.

How you managed to get so deep under his skin was beyond his understanding.

He'd had a crush on you for as long as he could remember. He never said a word about it before, though. He liked being your friend and he was afraid of ruining your relationship. The thought of you not reciprocating his feelings was always in the back of his head, so he simply kept quiet.

Today, however... Oh, screw it, it was high time to take the risk.

Benji rolled over and grabbed his phone from the bedside table. With his hair tousled on the pillow, eyes still half-closed, and a lazy smirk on his lips, he snapped a picture. He looked exactly how he wanted to feel: confident, yet charming. Perfect. He added a caption: "So, what’s it like living next to the most handsome guy ever?"

With a deep breath, he hit send. He quickly tossed the phone away as if it burned him. You two were used to each others smartass remarks, but flirting was an entirely different level. Seconds felt like hours, and he started to question his impulsiveness. What if you didn't get the hint? What if you thought hr was being weird? What if you didn't respond, choosing to ignore him? His heart pounded in his chest, and his mind creating the worst-case scenarios wasn't helping at all.

Finally, his phone buzzed. He grabbed it, expecting the worst. His heart skipped a beat as he opened the message.

"No idea. I'm pretty sure there's no one in our neighborhood that matches the description."

Benji's heart raced as he read your reply. It was good, really good even. You didn't make fun of him, you just took the chellange. He could work with that. His finger hovered above the screen, trying to come up with a response, when another message from you popped up.

This time, it was a picture. You were also still in bed, your hair a mess, eyes half-closed, looking even sleepier than him. You were clutching a pillow with a playful smile on your lips. His breath hitched in his throat. You were stunning.

"I figured I'd return the favor," you texted then. He grinned as his heart did a little flip.

"Cute," he replied, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could. "But I still look better."

"In your dreams, Blackwood."

"You are in my dreams, Bracken."

There was a pause before you texted back: "Cheesy much?"

"For you? Always."

He stopped for a second. Biting his lip, he thought of doing something riskier. The only thing he was worried about was your reaction.

"Speaking of dreams," he started again after a minute. "I dreamt I stole your pillow. I guess mine's just not as comfy."

There it was. He sent it. And you read it.

There was a brief pause before you answered, but when you did, relief poured over him

"Of course you'd want my pillow, my bed is generally way better, you know. It's not my fault you can't get some decent pillows."

"Nah, it's just the pillow. I've got the coziest setup, Bracken. You'd fall asleep in seconds."

"You're delusional," you texted, and he could imagine you laughing in your room. "I'd show you real cozy, but my bed is off-limits to annoying neighbors."

"I think you meant 'annoyingly charming'", he typed, his smile growing wider. "Admit it, Bracken, you'd let me join you if I asked nicely."

Your reply came quickly, "If you weren't so annoying, maybe, I'd have to think about."

This was it, the opening he was waiting for. Benji took a deep breath and went for it. "Alright, I promise to be on my best behavior. Now, would you be so kind, my lady, and open your window?"

That threw you off a bit. "Why?" You texted, your eyebrows furrowed.

Only seconds after you sent your message, you heard a soft rustling outside. Moving to the window, you pulled back the curtain to see Benji, climbing up to your window with a mischievous grin. Your eyes widened in shock at the sight.

"What the hell, Benji?" you whisper-shouted, quickly opening the window.

"Good morning to you too, y/n," he whispered back, there was a glint of mischief in his eyes.

You rolled your eyes but couldn't stop the smile creeping onto your face. "Are you crazy? If my parents find out you're here, they'll kill you. And then my dad will resurrect you just to kill you again."

Benji chuckled softly. "They'd have to catch me first. Now, are you going to help me in, or are you going to let me fall and have my ghost haunt you for the rest of your life?"

"You're insane", you said but grabbed his arm and helped him climb into your room. He landed softly on your carpet, glancing around your room. "Cozy," he said, sitting on your bed and bouncing slightly on the mattress.

You crossed your arms, raising an eyebrow. "What do you think you're doing?"

He stretched out on your bed, hands behind his head. "Testing the coziness, of course. You did say your bed was better, remember?"

You shook your head, sitting next to him. "You know, you could've just walk through the front door? Like a normal human being, Benji. Climbing through my window is a bit... dramatic."

Benji turned to look at you. "Yeah, but where's the fun in that? Besides, I needed to make sure I had your full attention."

You sighed, but there was no hiding the smile that appeared at your lips. "You've got it. Now what?"

He sat up, closer to you now, the playfulness in his eyes replaced by something more serious. "I like you, Bracken. A lot. More than a friend should like a friend. And I get it, our families, the whole feud thing... but I don't care about any of that when it comes to you. I just... I needed to tell you."

You stared at him, your eyes wide in shock and surprise. You though your mind glitched, trying to process his words. He looked so vulnerable now that he had exposed himself and his feelings. "Benji, I..."

But before you could say something more, he cut you off with a nervous laugh. "I know, it's crazy. I just... I needed to tell you."

Your hand reached out and grabbed his. You gave it a soft squeeze and intertwined your fingers. "No, it's not crazy. Actually... To be completely honest, I feel the same way too."

"You-you do?" He stuttered.

"Yeah. I guess I was just scared to say anything because of our families and all that. But... I’m glad you did."

A slow smile spread across his face, lightening it up. "Me too."

He leaned in slightly, his eyes searching yours. "So, does this mean I get to stay? Not just for the comfy bed, I mean."

You laughed, the sound filling the room. Oh, he could listen to it for eternity. "Yes, Benji. You get to stay."

He grinned, closing the distance between you. "Good," he whispered, before pressing his lips to yours in a soft kiss. It was brief but for Benji it was enough.

For now.

[randomshyperson]

Mess is Mine - Milf!Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Summary: Being divorced from Wanda Maximoff implies never getting over her.

Warnings: (+18), language, brief smut, divorced ladies who are very still much in love with each other, unspecified age gap, marriage going wrong, hopeful ending, mild angst, fluff.| Words: 3.949k.

A/N-> There's this divorced couple in a Brazilian soap opera with so much chemistry in their scenes together because of the intimacy gained during marriage (even though that didn't work out) and they won't leave my tik tok ; at some point, my brain thought about this fic. I would love to write more of this trope in the future.

General Masterlist | AO3 | Wattpad

--//--

Wanda had a persistent migraine, and the pile of work in front of her was not helping.

Still, all her stubborn brain could focus on instead of her real job was the stupid headline of the gossip magazine on her desk.

A cheap and badly angled photo of her ex-wife with colorful captions that read 'The newest business killer couple?" and dozens more insinuations about a secret high-society romance made her stomach churn.

Wanda tried not to be affected by the gossip, but you looked so happy in the photo that she couldn't help it.

The sudden opening of her door made Wanda jump in her seat, in one quick pull close the magazine and sigh with relief when she saw it was only Natasha.

"Why are you here?" Her long-time friend and co-worker asked. Wanda frowned in confusion.

"It's still my company..."

Nat rolled her eyes, walking into the office and taking long strides to her desk. "I meant in here, smarty-pants. The event is starting in an hour, the staff wanted some words of encouragement or something."

Wanda sighed wearily, massaging her forehead with one hand. "Can't you do that for me, Nat? I gotta make some calls."

Nat hummed in agreement, but her gaze caught the closed magazine on the table and she raised a brow at her friend. "One of those calls includes your ex-wife, I suppose."

Wanda chuckled dryly, taking the magazine out to one of the drawers and adjusting herself to reach the desk phone. "There's nothing else for me to say to her."

Her friend hid a smile that said that she didn't believe this one bit. "Okay, whatever you say. See you later, boss."

Wanda waved goodbye, with the phone to her ear. Her immediate instinct was to dial known numbers but she shook her head to push that ridiculous idea away and went back to work.

Several hours after the peak of the event when the company was filled with guests, from potential clients to journalists looking for any news like vultures at the carrion, Wanda was at her second glass of champagne, trying to keep the rest of her patience intact after having answered so many questions for gossip magazines regarding the headline from earlier in the day.

She absolutely did not want to discuss a possible romance between her ex-wife and the heiress of Bishop Industries. 

Years before, any of them would have been afraid to question her about something so ridiculous, but that was before you came along. And melted your way into the Business Ice Queen, the untouchable Wanda Maximoff, or whatever insensitive nickname they invented about her back then. Before breaking down all of Wanda's walls, making her a better person, and of course, before you left her.

It was definitely the alcohol's fault that she was thinking about this, and with these stupid tears welling up in her eyes. Wanda swallowed all the emotion, burying it deep and making sure that no one had noticed her broken expression. With an excuse to a group of investors who were boring her into a corner, she retreated to an area far away from the company's outdoor gardens, taking a deep breath to calm herself. The beautiful view of the state lake was most welcome.

So of course the reason for her almost minor breakdown had to show up wearing her favorite suit.

"Are you running away from your guests, Maximoff?" Your tone was casual, the smile provocative. She snorted to herself, crossing her arms and keeping her eyes on the lake. You didn't mind, walking over to her at a slow pace until you were beside her on the edge. 

"I just needed some air." She merely replies. With one hand in your pockets, you adjust your own hair, and Wanda hates that she can smell the shampoo, her body betraying her and shuddering as if your scent were addictive. 

"You're avoiding me today." You comment lightheartedly, studying her face. "I arrived an hour ago and it took me almost all this time to find you."

Wanda forced a smile, finally facing you back, but her angry look made you hesitate. "I thought your chaperone was keeping you busy."

You glanced back at the party, stealing a quick check on Kate at the food stand, chatting with a blonde girl, before turning your attention back to Wanda.

"I forgot how hot you get when you're jealous."

Wanda huffs away, her cheeks burning which she tries to hide by staring at the lake. "Don't even start." She warns between teeth. 

You chuckle, rolling your eyes, but don't insist. You turn your attention to the lake as well. "I wanted to let you know that the boys have already arrived in King Cross. I spoke to them and Charles on the phone."

"I know, Pietro texted me." She retorts more harshly than she meant to and bites the inside of her cheek as she sees you lower your head in upset. With a sigh, she mumbles, "I meant, thanks for letting me know."

You smile, nodding before turning your gaze back to the party. "What do you think of Miss Bishop?" 

Wanda locks her jaw; How dare you honestly. A list of curses lays ready on the tip of her tongue, but she remembers where you two are, and takes a deep breath. You were clearly trying for some kind of reaction from her, and she's not going to let you have this victory today.

"She's beautiful." Wanda replies. "As young as you were when I met you."

You chuckle shortly, raising an eyebrow at her. "What are you implying, Maximoff?"

Wanda shrugs her shoulders softly, turning to leave. "You're quite clever, Y/N, I'm sure you follow." She hits back, but you step forward into her path. You are suddenly too close, and Wanda finds herself holding her breath. She needs to take a step back to avoid stopping breathing for good.

Your eyes stare into theirs. "Not that this is any of your business, darling, but my relationship with Kate is strictly professional."

You assure her in a low tone, and Wanda swallows hard as your gaze moves down to her lips for a long moment before focusing on her eyes again. A smile forms on your mouth next. "Besides this, I've always had a thing for older women."

Wanda sighs heavily, using all her mental control to pull away at once. "Go pay attention to your chaperone, Y/N. Especially if she's a potential client."

You roll your eyes at the business tip; you already know them by heart, the vast majority learned from Wanda. And your ex-wife makes mention of leaving, so you slide your hand down her forearm gently, taking some amusement in seeing the way she shivers.

"I wanted to talk to you about something, Wanda." You let her know, with a serious tone but a tender look. The redhead swallows dryly at the closeness of your faces now that you're standing side by side, your hands connected. "Later, after the party, okay?"

"I-I..."

"It's important." You assure her, knowing her hesitation is so as not to break your agreement about relapses. With a gentle expression, you insist, "Please, it won't take more than five minutes."

She licks her lips, and you almost kiss her. Lucky for her she agrees and walks away because God knows you would have done it, right there in that garden for all the New York reporters to have a week's news about.

Without Wanda's perfume around you, you take a deep breath and try to clear your mind, having to wait a few more minutes in the garden for your heart to stop beating so fast.

As the event nears its end and Wanda needs to give a closing speech, you say goodbye to Kate before the parking area. You ignore all the journalists who try to insinuate something about you having taken the girl to the car and exchange a glance with Wanda in the small crowd before moving toward the elevator.

Wanda has always known you so well, and with a nod, she knows exactly where she has to go.

Her work floor is completely deserted as she makes her way to her own office. But she still closes the door as she enters, letting out a tired laugh at your figure sitting on her armchair.

Her smile fades when she sees what you are reading.

"Headlines nowadays are getting creative..." You wryly chuckle, laughing at your ex-wife's caught expression. "It says here that I might have an eye to the Bishop's fortune. How silly, you gave me almost half of yours in the divorce, why would I need more money?"

"Very funny." Wanda dryly retorts, reaching up to snatch the magazine from your hands with a tug, and raking the item into the trash afterward. She crosses her arms as she looks at you. "What did you want to tell me?"

You flashed a small, sideways smile. "You used to be more polite when you wanted to sleep with me. At least offer me a drink."

Wanda chuckled dryly, rolling her eyes and begrudgingly moving to the personal bar in the corner of the room. If she leaned over more than necessary to grab one of the whiskey bottles, aware that the position in the chair gave you a full view of her ass, neither of you said anything about it. She hid her satisfied smile as she heard your breath hitch at the image, and you hid your own reaction as you cleared your throat and looked away.

Shortly thereafter, two shots of whiskey were served on the glass table in front of you. But before the toast, you declared:

"I'm leaving."

Wanda frowned, and when you made mention of taking the glass, she placed her hand on your forearm. "Speak."

You chuckled, staring her in the eyes. "I closed a contract with the Ten Rings folks. They want me in Korea for the next four months."

Wanda lets go of your arm as if she had been burned and steps away from the table with an indecipherable, but very disturbed expression.

"B-but the boys.." She tries to formulate, but you rise from the armchair with a sigh.

"They'll be at school." You retort, even though firm, your gaze is almost pleading. For what, Wanda doesn't have the heart to wonder. "It's not as if they stay with us all the time, Wands. The boarding school takes up this time quite well. It will only be four months, and they've already invented the telephone and internet, you know?" You try to joke, but Wanda hugs her own body and faces you.

"Why are you here, then? You've traveled before."

"Not for that long." You say, taking steps toward her, and mentally thanking heavens that she doesn't pull away. "And not... not since we made the divorce official."

"Y/N..."

"I know, I know." You murmur with a sad smile, raising your hands to her arms uncovered by her dress. "Maybe it's stupid, but I wanted to make sure we're okay. That it won't be something...I don't know, that hurts us."

"More than a divorce? I find that difficult." She replies with restrained emotion in her husky voice. You sigh.

"Wanda..."

"No, you're right. It was stupid." She cuts off, pulling away so you don't see the tears welling up in her eyes. "Of course it's okay. But I appreciate that you respect the concept of shared custody. I imagine the kids already know?"

"Yes, I told them before I took them to the airport." You mutter upset, watching Wanda walk away to the window. "But Wands, I wanted to tell you in person..."

"And why is that, huh?" she retorts with an impatience that makes you flinch. And for this, Wanda loses it for good. "You know, I don't understand you! You left me! You filed for divorce, you wanted to break us up. But you keep showing up here, and at home, and everywhere, and now you want to come here and say you care-"

"I care, Wa-"

"Then why did you leave me?" she shouts back, almost regretting it when she sees the tears in your eyes. You laugh tearfully, shaking your head.

"We've had this conversation dozens of times, Wan." You say, much calmer than she is. "But you just can't accept that you're wrong, can you?"

"Right, I forgot that I'm the villain in your story." She sneers, wiping her face with the back of her hand. You give another sad laugh.

"I wish it were that simple, darling." You tell her, taking slow steps toward her. "If you were just the villain, the bad wife, the evil boss, everything would be easier. I could hate you, curse your names to all my friends, and spend all the divorce money on expensive, empty things out there, but it's not like that. You forget the part that I love you and tried to fight for us until the last second."

Wanda sobs quietly, looking down at the floor, "Don't do that, Y/N."

"But it's true, baby, you know. I'm not the one who broke any promises, Wands. I just got tired of begging for crumbs of attention from the person who swore to spend the rest of her days with me."

Wanda lifts her chin, and the determination in her gaze doesn't do justice to the tears. "You knew how much my career meant when you said yes."

You smile sadly, taking one last step to get close enough to hold her face. Wanda shudders as you wipe away her tears, as you have done so many times before, as if no time has passed and everything was fine.

"I am so proud of you, Wands, for all you have accomplished with your work. I only wish I had been as important as this building." 

You place a long kiss on her forehead, pulling away afterward. You offer her one last sad smile before closing the door on your way out. Wanda starts to cry as soon as you have done so, even though she tries very hard to keep her tears away.

–//–

You burned a pancake to answer the door, but all the irritation over the ruined dish vanished when you saw Wanda standing in front of you.

It had only been a few days since you had last seen her, and now all the furniture in your apartment was already packed away and covered with rags, prepared for the time you would be away. Wanda's party dress gave way to a casual suit that made you swallow dryly and become self-conscious of the sweatpants and sports top you were wearing. Wanda wouldn't have picked anything better.

"Are you going to let me in, detka?" Wanda asked with some teasing for your moment of shock. You immediately recovered, making room for her to enter and closing the door once she was in the hall. "Sorry for disturbing your breakfast. I wanted to see you before your flight."

"Oh, don't worry about it. And I'm not going until the afternoon." You clarified somewhat clumsily by her presence, one hand still holding a spatula and the other adjusting your hair. "I made pancakes if you'd like..."

"I would love it." Wanda assured with a smile that made your stomach twist. It wasn't fair that your ex-wife got more beautiful every time you looked at her, honestly.

Wanda followed you back into the kitchen, and to both your surprise, you fell into a light conversation about work and the boys while preparing and serving food, completely different from the tone of the conversation the last time you had seen each other. 

But it was a time bomb, of course, so you weren't surprised when Wanda suddenly bit her lip, assuming a more tense posture. 

Finishing chewing your pancakes, you asked:

"Why are you here, sweetheart?" 

Wanda raised her eyes to you, and you stared back at her, patiently for her to clarify. 

"I wanted to say goodbye to you properly." She said, spinning her own stool around first before tipping her hands around yours to spin you toward her. You raise a brow in curiosity, but the question of what she was doing dies in your throat as she leans in and brings your lips together. 

It has been exactly three months, eighteen days, and sixteen hours since you last kissed Wanda, and you only realize how much you missed the feeling when she does it again. It's as intoxicating as it is overwhelming, and you gasp into her lips, breaking the kiss at once as you stand up, taking good steps away from the countertop.

"Wanda, we talked about this." You remind her in a husky voice, pressing a hand over your face. It's ridiculous how much your skin is burning and your heart is racing for something that lasted less than three seconds. "No relapses. You promised-"

"It's not a relapse." She assured, reaching up and grabbing your hands to place them around her waist. You grunted at the sensation, closing your eyes as Wanda slipped hers over your shoulders, too close for you to think about anything other than her. "It's a parting gift. So you'll have a reason to come back."

"W-what...?"

Wanda presses closer and brings her mouth to your ear. "Just stop overthinking it and accept the gift, detka."

With encouragement, she bites the lobe of your ear, and you give up resisting.

With a tug on her waist, you bring your mouths together in a kiss much hungrier and more passionate than the first, which elicits loud, almost primal moans of need from both of you. Wanda pushes and pulls, and by the time you stumble to the back of the living room couch, your pants are already open and there's nothing covering your torso; much like the woman in front of you, who as soon as she throws you sitting up against the cushions, your breathing out of rhythm and your lips swollen from kissing hard, makes a show of removing the rest of her clothes.

She has time to smile mischievously at your look of pure adoration at her completely naked body in front of you before you pull her onto your lap by her thighs. Wanda climbs on you with a needy grunt, burning from the inside out in anticipation for you to touch her again.

Your touches are almost desperate, your kisses mark her skin. It is your gift, but you also seem determined to make sure that Wanda has the memory of this morning for quite some time. 

When your mouth closes around her nipples, she whimpers to the ceiling, arching her back and steadying her hands in your hair, a soft plea that you not stop.

"Yes, baby, just like that." She encourages over the stimulation on her nipples, breaking into an excited whimper when you simply use your free hand to masturbate her. At any other time, you would have taken your time to work her up until she was begging for your touch, but now, in the urgency you two were sharing, it wasn't necessary. She was ready for you. 

Your fingers penetrate her without delay, and Wanda digs her nails into your shoulder, breaking into a breathless moan. You give one last hickey on her hardened nipple before you move your face back up to hers, kissing her with intensity as your fingers dance inside her walls with the mastery of one who has done this a dozen times, one who knows her like the palm of the hand she so deliberately grinds against in the intention of relieving herself.

"G-god, detka! Right here!" She breaks the kiss into an affected moan, practically meowing as you repeatedly hit that sensitive spot inside her. The wetness grows in your palm, Wanda oozes into you, and to help her, you bring your free hand to her hip, coordinating her movements as she begins to fail. "I-I'm going to..."

"Don't talk, show." You interrupt her with a proud little smile, moving your mouth down to bite the sensitive spots on her neck. "Come to me, baby, I've got you."

That's all she needs to reach the first climax of the morning, and she is not surprised that you don't stop at the first. Or the second, or the third.

You are on your knees on the living room floor when your first alarm goes off. Breathing as out of breath as Wanda, on the couch with her torso exposed and her legs spread from which you against your will need to remove your face to turn off the alarm when you pull away.

She covers herself when you disappear to the kitchen because she knows it's because of the flight, and when you return, the cell phone goes on the coffee table and you sit on the floor next to her on the couch. 

There is a long silent pause, where only your breaths can be heard. Wanda skirts a hickey on her own thigh and you sigh.

"We shouldn't have..." But you can't complete, it because your voice fails you as if you are going to start crying. You look away, and Wanda lets herself fall to your side on the floor, where she reaches for your hand.

"Detka, look at me." She asks, and you have to wait a moment until you sniffle and do so with difficulty.

"I told you it hurts me, Wands. I can't-" You take a deep breath. "I can't heal if this keeps happening. There’s no getting over you if we keep doing this”

She shakes her head. "I don't want you to get over me." She says and you huff, trying to pull her hand away, but Wanda squeezes. "I love you, you know I do."

"Love is not enough." You retort bitterly, your eyes filled with tears. "Loving me doesn't mean you won't hurt me. Nor that you won't ignore me. Those are just words, Wanda. I haven't felt loved by you in a long time."

She releases your hand from the shock of your words, and watches you create a physical distance between you as you walk away. You slip away to the bedroom, muttering that you need to get ready for the flight, and she tries to make a decision the whole time you are in the shower.

When you return to the room, wearing a set of travel clothes, Wanda is wearing your sweatpants and her own dress shirt. Your chest aches to see her wearing your clothes again.

"Wanda, you'd better go, my flight-"

"I love you, detka." She cuts you off with eyes bright with determination as she stares at you. You swallow dry, but can't resist when Wanda reaches up to touch your face. "I will make sure you know it. You'll know it so deeply that you'll be able to feel it in your bones. And you'll never doubt it again."

You sniffle lightly. "Wanda..."

"Don't worry about it now, detka." She interrupts you more gently, caressing your face. "Have a great trip. I'll be here when you come back home."

You sigh, and Wanda doesn't let you say anything more, kissing you in a calmer, but somehow much more intense way than before. 

She leaves the apartment before you, with a wink and a request that you call the boys before and after the flight. 

And even before she gets to the first floor, Wanda has already texted Natasha about her early retirement procedure after her well-deserved family vacation.

[adripakoffee]

Hold on and let me yap about my goat Swansea rq (not rq, this is almost 2k words lol)

CW: SUBSTANCE ABUSE, MOUTHWASHING SPOILERS

I'm gonna use "probably" and "most likely" a lot in this because so much of this game is from Jimmy's perspective and he dgaf about Swansea until close to the end.

Okay, so Swansea is first and foremost, a very tired, very ragged mechanic who's probably pushing 60. He doesn't want to be on that ship. He doesn't want anything. He wants, at least at first, to just be done with this job and get paid. He respects Curly but he's annoyed by and dismissive of everyone else on the ship, especially Daisuke.

So much of Swansea's character is reliant on and paralleled to his relationship with Daisuke. When he meets Daisuke, Daisuke is happy and optimistic. He looks forward to things and tries to impress Swansea when Swansea doesn't want help.

The main reason Swansea doesn't like Daisuke ties into his alcohol abuse. Daisuke is always, at almost every point we see him pre Anya locking herself in medical, happy and energetic. Swansea hates this about him because that's a state of being he hasn't achieved, in his own words, in 15 years. He can't imagine being that happy while sober and it pisses him off. He's half jealous because of that and half jealous because Daisuke is young and has a long life ahead of him. Swansea does not like the life he built for himself while sober, but that's for later. Especially after they get laid off, the only one who has anything ahead of them was Daisuke. Swansea would have trouble getting another job both because of his age and because a lot of things on Earth were being automated.

Of course, after the crash, that jealousy becomes something else. Because Daisuke is the only one who has anything ahead of them, he's the only one whose life matters. Swansea loves his family, but he doesn't really like them. He's most likely worked with Pony Express the longest, so he knows they most likely won't be saved. They have one chance left, one cryopod for one person. He's saving it for Daisuke because Daisuke is only one with a chance.

Now bringing up Anya. I think it was 2 months in when Anya told him about Jimmy. Here I'd like to correct some things I said in other posts. In my Anya rant I said "He has the one last working cryo pod set aside for her specifically and refuses to let anyone into the room where it is." He felt bad for her, no doubt, but he probably doesn't actually do that. He, more likely, tells her "Hey, there's actually a crypod left. I'm saving it for Daisuke. It's not like either of us have things waiting on the other side of this." Swansea isn't responsible for Anya in the way Curly was. He respects her well enough as coworkers but they're not at all close. He doesn't feel any real need to put her in priority, especially with the dire situation at hand. I don't think he doesn't care, it's just not something he sees in his jurisdiction. And I'm not saying there's nothing he could've done. Had literally anyone at any point in the game killed Jimmy, a lot of problems would be fixed. But, unlike Curly, Swansea doesn't have as many options.

When they open the cargo hold and he starts drinking again, he rediscovers happiness. I'd actually like to apologize for something quickly. I made a short comic in which Swansea comforts Anya after she tells him about Jimmy (which he doesn't actually do, smh bro) and in the caption I had said "I love you sm Swansea I wish you weren't an alcoholic 😔" (It's also my most popular fanart on here and I'm very thankful for that ^^)

I don't blame Swansea for his alcoholism. It's an addiction just as much as anything else and no one should have to go through that. I personally though have had bad experiences with alcoholics and I'm generally uncomfortable around them. I definitely worded that caption poorly and I apologize for that, but I had meant it in an "I wish you were sober" way. I know that the caption had rubbed people the wrong way, so I wanted to apologize.

So Swansea is drunk and happy for the first time in fifteen years. Despite his intoxicated state, he still has his one goal and that's to save the last cryopod for Daisuke. He knows that's what he wants and he sticks to it. It's just him and the ax against the world. Eventually, Jimmy takes the ax to get the extra painkillers and the ax kinda just disappears for a while. Like I have no idea where it went but Swansea has it again by the time he offs Daisuke.

Speaking of which, Swansea kills Daisuke. Framing-wise it's probably my favorite scene in the game, like the breathing and Swansea's speech. Chat, I love this scene. Anyways, Jimmy offers Swansea a drink as a "peace offering." Swansea is never sober at this point in the game but even he can appreciate a good cocktail, especially when he's been slogging mouthwash for months. Honestly, he doesn't trust Jimmy like AT ALL at this point, but Daisuke helped him with the cocktail.

Swansea is kinda putting his hopes in Daisuke. Like obviously, he's placing hope in Daisuke's survival, but I think he's also seeing this optimistic, bright-eyed kid who's struggling as himself at the start of his sobrity. Daisuke said that the reason he got this job was because he was directionless in life. He had nothing to look forward to and no goals. The difference between him and Swansea is Daisuke's parents got the job for him and Swansea had to do it himself. So in that way he started to appreciate how happy Daisuke was, which is more reason to hate that he's there.

Swansea passes out from the cocktail and when he wakes up Anya is dead and Daisuke is in critical condition. Anya's gone which means they're out of a medic so that makes Daisuke's situation a lot worse. But because Jimmy used the Isopropyl to knock out Swansea, they're out of disinfectant. They have to use mouthwash which is established early on to have too much sugar to be disinfectant. So they kinda made it worse because Swansea and Jimmy are idiots who didn't listen to Anya. After a few hours of Daisuke slowly bleeding out, Swansea mercy kills him. it. looks. so. cool. During this speech, Swansea says something along the lines of "Stick a kid with a bunch of sad-sack adults and see what he learns. Bootstraps and all that." He really hates that Daisuke is here, it's just that the reason has changed. Before the crash, Curly and Daisuke were the only two who weren't like clinically depressed. After the crash, only Daisuke can find it in himself to stay optimistic, but even his faith is dwindling (Jimmy is optimistic too, but that's because he's crazy).

Right after that, he chases Jimmy around with the ax until Jimmy ties him up and shoots him. This is when Swansea lore drops about himself. He explains that he literally has not been happy or enjoyed his life in 15 years. He's done everything he's supposed to when it comes to leading a good, healthy life, but it's not at all fulfilling. He hates his job, he doesn't look forward to seeing his family, he just killed the last speck of joy on this metal space coffin, and he has nothing to live for. He's already fallen back into addiction so even if he got back to Earth, he'd ruin his life all over again. He'd be happy, but his life would be ruined. And then Jimmy shoots him.

Now here's a little health fact! Swansea was dying the whole game. People suffering from alcohol abuse often end up drinking Listerine when other alcoholic drinks aren't available. Now I'm just speculating and projecting, but Swansea is definitely a beer guy, that's his go-to. His tolerance suggests he was a craft kinda guy (which has an ABV between 5 and 10% (idk this is from memory)) or someone who drank a lot really quickly, but the mouthwash was 14% ethanol. That, in and of itself isn't the main problem, though it is noteworthy that he was already drinking more than usual. The main problem is that drinking mouthwash will absolutely destroy your stomach and intestinal linings. Mouthwash isn't just alcohol and flavoring, there's other chemicals in it too. On a good day, you'll get a nasty stomach ache, but you'll live. One to many though, and you are dead or in a coma. Like no joke that will kill you, especially if you drink a lot of it in such a short amount of time. That's why they keep saying "that stuff will kill you before anything else will," because it's actively killing them. Swansea probably knew this but he's prone to self-destruction so he probably didn't care. Anyway, hope you enjoyed that little health fact, I love reading medical journals ask me anything.

While writing this, I paused and started scrolling on tiktok and I saw a video where someone was complaining about the sudden villainization of Swansea in the fandom. I've literally seen nothing like this, but in the video they said one of the critiques people had of Swansea was that he was just as bad as Curly for not doing anything about Jimmy. That's insane, that is a batshit crazy take and I rebuke it. For one, Swansea was never Jim's friend. He never set people up to be victimized by Jimmy, he never enabled Jimmy's behavior or tried to comfort him when he was the problem. This was just a crazy thing to say, please learn to comprehend thing beyond the main text.

Um.. uh... conclusion paragraph, I love Swansea and I love to pretend he was more proactive against Jimmy for Anya's sake, but he wasn't so it's whatever he's not real anyway. I feel like this ended up being really long, like longer than the other two but idk.

Here's the link to the Anya rant and the Curly rants I also did, that I should probably edit upon further reflection

[btdemaru]

hi could you do the obey me characters reaction to like a male mc with long hair/piercings and is just really into like goth/mallgoth type fashion/makeup/music in general?

Obey me! Brothers X M!Goth reader

Note : idk much about this style/fashion so please i apologize if it's not correct! I tried doing alot of research of what the style looks like tho

Warnings : -

🖤 Lucifer

Would love your style alot, i like to think that he'd love to match with you from time to time. And will be intrigued to see your piercings, even perhaps asking to see it up close or touch it.

He loves every goth style that you choose and will not question you and no matter what part of the style you prefer.

Lucifer does listen to the music you play and sometimes would ask if he can join in or share headphones/airpods (ykwim).

If you do your makeup, he'd secretly glances at you from his desk. Probably trying to be subtle too 😭

💛 Mammon

Will swoon. Will be lovestruck. Will be in awe. Mams in LOVE.

of course this mf wouldn't show it (it's obvious though). Would ask alot of question like your color palette or why you like this style and basically just loves to hear you talk about it.

He doesn't mind metal/dark music and is open to listening to the playlist you have or even the one you made for him!

If you try to get him going to the cemetery or basically doing some scary stuff like even going to a so called 'haunted house' or a scary escape room it'll be a huge no no for him, even if he did go mams wouldn't be much help as he'll only be loud.

Will try to do your eyeliner (if you wear) or eye shadow but fails miserably making your face look all bad and messy makeup everywhere.

💙 Leviathan

He wouldn't mind, not big on it but he doesn't judge or hate it. Will let you do your thing, he doesn't know much about it so he'll ask you a few things to cure his curiosity.

Doesn't really listen to the music you do but isn't opposed to trying, turns out he actually does like ot after playing a song or two.

If you have a tongue piercing he'll zone out while staring at it. Totally not thinking about you using it on hi-

💚 Satan

We all know he likes to read, so when you walked in the room he's already analyzing your style all the way back from the first originated in the '80s following the punk subculture of the '70s.

Compliments you from your hair to piercings to makeup and clothes or even your boots.

I dont think Satan really listens to music but he does like to write/read and literature generally so maybe dark poems are things you guys can do.

man probably can't stop looking at you and would buy you jewelry or matching silver rings.

🩷 Asmodeus

Literature isn't really his thing but probably watches and admires you while you're doing it.

Will try matching you clothes with his own color palette and asks your opinion on it.

Asmo thinks you're hot. Definitely. 100%.

He's the type to bring you bouquet of black or red roses (whatever you prefer really), or even do your hair

Feel free to do his hair in return or putting your style of makeup on him, he'll take alot of pictures and posts it with the caption that you did the makeup.

Music? Yes. Listens to any music you play if he's in the mood he'd even asked for a a little makeout

🧡 Beelzebub

He doesn't mind it tbh, since i like to think that his twin also has a similar style.

50/50 on the music, he prefers pop punk but open to any music genres you exposed him to.

Would ask if you could do his eyeliner. (He moves alot) so you practically have to do it again and again for it to match so it's not lopsided.

Beel still loves you no matter what style you wear or what you do/listen to.

🩵 Belphegor

DING DING DING. love at first sight.

Belphie always asked you to dress him up or pick his clothes jusy cause he's too lazy to do it himself 💀.

Blasts music together while he just lays there like a dead person while you do your makeup/hair

Would always crawl to your lap whenever you're doing literature or writing about some gruesome poems he'll be there just deep asleep.

Doesn't really bother to go to those creepy dark places unless you're the one carrying him.

Would fiddle with some of your piercings if it doesn't hurt you.

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

Again im so sorry if there's a mistake i did about goth styles while writing this.

[ellastone-olsen]

Undisclosed desires - Agatha Harkness

DO NOT COPY ANY OF MY WORKS. MINORS DNI 18+ ONLY

Summary: Agatha is your mother's best friend with whom you like to spend time. Everything is great if you don’t remember about your little (big) crush on her. What if one movie night something doesn't go as usual?

Pairing: moms best friend!Agatha Harkness × f!reader

Warnings: NSFW, dom!agatha, sub!reader, age gap (A45 R21), mommy kink, face sitting (A), thigh riding (R), masturbations (R), little stalking i think, pet names, oral (both), a little fluff

DISCLAIMER: ENGLISH ISN'T MY FIRST LANGUAGE SORRY FOR GRAMMAR OR SPELLING MISTAKES

Word count: 2.7k

AN: hi guys this is my first work in English and the first work that I generally post on tumblr. I hope you'll enjoy <3

Agatha met your mother when you were just over 18. It was a typical weekend when the older woman walked into your house, talking sweetly with your mother. Out of curiosity, you went downstairs from your room; honestly, you didn’t often have any guests in your house after your parents’ divorce.

When you appeared in the kitchen, Agatha had her back to you, your mother was the first who notice your presence. "Oh my god Y/N you scared me! You can't walk so quietly!" Agatha immediately turned to your mother’s screams. The first time you looked at her, you forgot how to breathe. She seemed beautiful, even attractive, you of course knew about your “mommy issues” but how quickly your admiration for the woman grew into a little crush... you knew it wasn't right.

But that didn’t stop you from finding her social media “I’m just curious to know more about her” you told yourself, of course that was partly true. It started as a sweet, innocent thoughts about her beautiful curly hair, blue eyes and the sweet smile that she gave you when she came to visit and the three of you were sitting in the kitchen. “Y/N, you’ve already entered your second year of college, how are your studies?” she asked either out of politeness or out of pure curiosity. You were always happy to answer any of her questions, and then sneakily watch her facial expressions and gestures while she told your mother something about her failed Tinder dates. Deep inside you were jealous and hoped that these dates would remain a failure.

Later your relationship became closer one. This happened after about a year of her frequent visits in your house. At first sight it looked like she was your aunty and you were her favorite niece. At least that's what it looked like to your mother. Considering that Agatha did not have children (you also learned this from her social media), she was happy to spend time with someone who wasn't your mother. So your phrases like “Agatha and I are going to the mall today” or “I’ll stay at Agatha’s for the night” were not something surprising. Your mother was glad that you were spending your free time with a person whom she could trust and know that everything would be okay with you, even though you are already 19.

You loved staying at Agatha’s house, looking at her in her home clothes, and in the morning waking up and hearing “I made you a breakfast, superstar” by the way she cooks divine. At each of these weekends, you were talking (sometimes she tried to ask you about your possible boyfriends or girlfriends, which made you blush and go away from the topic), cooking some crisps and towards the end of the night, sitting down to watch movies on her big plush sofa. “Aggie, I’m cold,” you said after which you moved closer to her and hugged her in secret dying from such closeness.

Even later, you caught yourself having terrible frank thoughts about her. They fell on you like a bolt from the blue. So once again going to her Facebook and opening a new photo you began to look at it more carefully than always. It was an ordinary photo where she stood in a black light dress with straps with a V-shaped neckline, holding her hand to her face, covering her smile and the caption “at home you can look the way you want😘.” The focus of attention first moved to her lips, then dropped to a thin hand with a neat black manicure, thoughts concentrated on each of the fingers, about how you could... Even lower to the neckline on her dress which opened up a view of her breasts but left room for imagination, the light fabric did not hide the outline of her nipples and then...

You were already lying on the bed in your room, your mother had long gone to bed. The same photo of Agatha was open on your phone while your fingers traced circles on your clit. Then they moved lower, collecting abundant wetness at the entrance, and when one finger entered you and your gaze was again drawn to the photo on the phone your back arched. You imagined that it was Agatha doing all these things to you; the second finger slipped inside filling you so well and the pace increased. All that was heard in the room was shaky breathing and a quiet whine, “Fuck Aggie...yes that’s it, yes mommy please,” the other hand came down to rub the clit and then it happened. You saw stars looking at the woman's photo, wishing that she would shut you up with a kiss now. When your breathing evened out, you took your phone and typed one message, “Tomorrow is the weekend, can I come over for the night?”

Saturday was your favorite day of the week because Agatha wasn’t at work like on weekdays and you could spend time together. Right now you were walking through the parking lot to her car so that she could take you two to the cafe that you had been telling her about for a long time. "How are you doing, superstar?" The woman asked while watching the road. You loved that cute little nickname she gave you so much. “Well, in general, everything is fine, except for small problems with writing a thesis, you know, it turns out to be not easy I’m very tired” you said and felt her hand gently covering yours and squeezing. Raising your eyes, you were met by her familiar smile, “You can handle everything, you know that you can always ask me for help?” you just nodded, and the older woman continued to watch the road.

The day passed too quickly when in the evening the two of you walked into Agatha’s spacious but cozy apartment. "So I think that after such an eventful day we can immediately move on to watching a movie, how do you look at it, superstar?" You went to wash your hands and called out to her from the bathroom, “As much as you want, I’ll like any of your ideas. For now, I’ll go change clothes and come back to you,” you said, wiping your hands and taking your bag with things.

There are two bedrooms in Agatha's apartment , one for her and one for guests. You were always located in the second one but more than once you were just a guest in the older woman’s bedroom. Speaking as a “guest” we can say that you just came in a couple of times to find out how long it would take her to get ready and briefly examined the interior. All you remembered was the purple tones of the room, a large bed, a chest of drawers with a bunch of jewelry and cosmetics on it, and above that was a regular oval mirror. Apparently there were also a couple of intricate paintings and a bedside lamp. You respected this part of the woman’s personal space and did not poke your overly curious nose into it.

Your bag was thrown on the floor of the room that had already become yours, your street clothes were scattered on the bed, your makeup was washed off and you were already wearing the soft plush pajamas that Agatha had given you last Christmas. “I’m here,” you called out as you returned to the room, where the older woman had already carefully prepared snacks for the movie and selected a two-hour thriller for tonight. “Come here,” Agatha patted the spot on the couch next to her and you landed there, covering yourself with the blanket and resting your head on her shoulder.

The movie went quickly and you didn’t notice how you had already started to fall asleep when a sharp poke in your side woke you up, “Hey don’t sleep, you’ll still have time for this tomorrow,” Agatha said grinning. You jumped up sharply which made her laugh. Here on the TV screen there is a chase, explosions, the main character miraculously escapes when suddenly..."OH MY GOD" you screamed and crawled with your head under the blanket when moans came from the TV speakers and a sex scene appeared on the entire screen in front of your eyes. You weren’t ready to see this right here right now, especially in the company of an older woman, and you behaved like a blushing virgin. Agatha’s laughter came from above, “Come on Y/N, you’d think you’ve never seen anything like this before. Get out of there”. The blanket was thrown off you and a picture of naked people appeared before your eyes again. Your eyes widened as you looked from the TV to Agatha and back. This whole situation has made your cheeks warm up and you can already feel a faint pulsation between your legs.

“Oh, is it really such a small thing that has embarrassed you so much, superstar, you’re already a big girl, why are you blushing so much? Or maybe... oh..” the woman looked at you more carefully, studying how quickly your chest rises and falls, noticing how you begin to squirm in place. The gears in her head are spinning intensely and a thought arises.“Oh sweet girl, let me help you. Come here,” the woman moves you closer to her, squeezing her thigh between your legs, encouraging you to ride her. You're about to explode. “Aggie, what are you doing? What..” you are stopped by her hand covering your cheek, “Oh baby you have now confirmed my suspicions on this matter,” your heart is about to jump out of your chest, “What do you mean, Aggie?” The woman moves you closer and already runs her lips along your neck to your ear and whispers, “About your little crush. Did you think I wouldn’t notice this? Or maybe I’m too dumb and won’t put two and two together mmm?” You pull back to look at her dumbfounded. What's happening now? Does she want you too? Did she know all along? A swarm of thoughts race through your head as her hand grabs your hair and pulls you back towards her. “You’re thinking too loudly honey, let mommy think for you.” The nickname she gave herself completely drives you insane and you groan. “Oh fuck” comes out of your mouth.

The woman laughs and lowers her lips to your pulse point. Her hands grab your hips, encouraging you to grind against her thigh. When you do what she wants Agatha looks up from your neck, “Such a good girl you’ve had a crush on me for a long time, haven’t you? I bet you’ve been thinking about this moment. Tell mommy, am I right Y/N?” Your breathing is unsteady and you feel like your underwear is hopelessly wet, the thoughts in your head are confused. "Mmmh yeah you're right." The answer seems to suit Agatha as her lips immediately find yours in a careless kiss and your whole world explodes. The woman’s hand reaches under the elastic band of your pants and she strokes you through your underwear, feeling how wet you are. With such contact you moan into her mouth and beg, “Oh Fuck Mommy please please I need more.” Agatha shushes you and takes her hand out of your pants "Hush baby, you'll get what you want but first mommy needs to cum. Can you do that for me? Make mommy cum and I'll return the favor."

She pulls you encouraging you to get off of her and begins to undress until she is left in only black underwear. You stop her hands when her fingers cling to the edge of her panties. “I want to help you. Can I?” She nods and you kneel in front of her, taking off an item of clothing and seeing how her sticky wetness stretches. You start biting and sucking on her inner thighs and are almost to the top when she stops you. “No, not like that, lie down on your back.” You do as she says and she ride you, moving higher up to your head, “I want to sit on your pretty face baby, will you let mommy ride your face?” Your pupils dilate as you nod impatiently "Please." Agatha lowers her dripping pussy onto your mouth and you suck and lick her clit, and then push your tongue into her hole, causing the woman to arch and move her hips. “Oh god that's such a good girl. You're going to make mommy cum baby. Mommy's gonna cum all over your face." These words turn you on more and you start working on her pussy harder until the woman lets out her last moan as she cums into your mouth. She continues to sit on you while you lazily lick her clean, and then stands up and grabs your legs, opening them wide.

Pants with panties tossed somewhere to the side, the sweater is also pulled off your body and you lie in front of her completely naked. “Fucking god you’re even more prettier than I imagined”. Agatha mutters and turns you over so you’re sitting on her lap again. Your breasts are right in front of her face and she takes one nipple into her mouth while she roughly squeezes your thighs, feeling your wetness on her leg. You hold her shoulders with your hands and stand up. “Please Aggie, I need to cum so bad.” Agatha releases her nipple from her mouth and growls “Wrong name.” Your forehead presses against her shoulder as you whimper “Please mommy make me cum.”

She spreads the wetness all over your pussy and teases your clit. Two fingers circle at your entrance and she pushes them inside, to which you moan and bite her shoulder. "Fuck, you're so tight, what if I add another one? You're so wet you can take it can't you baby?" You hum into her shoulder in agreement and three fingers slip inside “Ride me” Agatha takes your waist with her free hand, helping you move and you start bouncing on her “Mommy I’m so full. Feel so good” you moan. The room is filled with the sounds of skin slapping against skin and the smell of sex. Incomprehensible whimpers and requests not to stop escape your mouth while you try to push yourself deeper onto Agatha’s fingers. Your hand reaches for your clit and draws circles on it. Abundant wetness flows down the older woman’s hand and she feels your walls squeezing around her. "Mommy I'm going to cum. Oh God I'm going to cum Aggie, mommy don't stop please." When Agatha's fingers deliciously hit that right spot inside you over and over again, when you hear "That's such a good girl. Cum for your mommy, cum all over my fingers baby" it happens and you explode, cumming on top of her. Agatha finds your lips and pulls you into a kiss, brushing the sticky hair from your forehead and whispering how well you did for her.

After a minute, you catch your breath and get off of her, lying down next. You are silent. Agatha is silent. You don’t believe what just happened and how this is even possible. The gears in your head start working again and you try to decide what to do next. She wanted you, does this mean that your feelings are mutual or was it just sex for one time? A soft blanket covers your naked body and a hand strokes your shoulder. You hesitantly raise your head to Agatha, she is the first to break the silence.

"You're thinking too loudly again, superstar." Her hand gently strokes your cheek. "I understand your doubts and fears, baby. Let's just go to bed for now, do you agree?" You nod and get out of bed still in the blanket, taking your pajamas with you. Your legs slowly drag you into your bedroom as Agatha’s question hangs in the air. "Where are you going?" She gently hugs you by the shoulders, leads you into her bedroom and lays you on a soft, large bed where you fall into a calm, deep sleep.

[sleepingdeath-light]

home again ; yandere!wally darling

requested by ; anonymous (09/05/23)

word count ; 2031

content ; platonic yanderes, memory loss (the puppets all had their memories forcibly wiped), references to child/teen reader, obsessive protectiveness, author’s first time writing something platonic so… yeah

note ; i haven’t written anything like this before (sfw yandere stuff) so apologies if it seems a tad off. similarly i’m still adjusting to writing wally’s character in terms of dialogue and such, so that may also seem a smidge ooc.

fandom ; welcome home

pairing ; platonic wally darling x gender neutral!reader

read also on ; ao3

It was a beautifully melancholy evening: the stars and moon were obscured with thick, grey clouds that loomed overhead like ragged old curtains; the air was thick with dust and pollen that clung to your skin and clothes like a man hanging onto the edge of a steep cliff, digging their claws in and holding on with all the relentless might you’d come to hate; your room was only dimly illuminated by the pale blue light emanating from your monitor, the low hum of the vents the only sound to compliment the clicking of keys and the tapping of the mouse. Quiet, drab and dull; how very typical of spring.

But at the very least it gave you all the excuse you needed to sit behind a screen and doomscroll. Tired eyes skimming over articles and activists decrying the latest tragedy, thousands of crabs in the metaphorical bucket of social media all fighting for the attention of bystanders — only taking pause when you came across something all too familiar, yet at the same time entirely new.

‘Does anyone else remember Welcome Home? It was pretty popular when it aired back in the 70s and my friends and I are trying to create a complete archive for it’ — the caption read. Below it was a highlighted link and a picture that had been burned into your brain since childhood: bright swatches of paint adorning every surface, all seeing eyes as big as can be, and in front of it, that permanent smile carved into yellow felt. Wally Darling and Home, you remembered them both clearly enough — clearer than you’d have liked, even.

It had been decades since you’d actively thought back on Welcome Home, on your brief stint in stardom, and frankly you’d have rather it’d been kept that way. You still held a bit of a grudge over getting axed: ‘too mature’, yeah right! Every kid loves astrology and nobody is too old to talk about their feelings… you were only 14 for crying out loud! Too mature, your ass.

But perhaps, you reasoned, it wouldn’t be too bad to take a quick trip down memory lane. Sure you’d loved the show when it aired, but you stopped watching after your section was cut, so maybe it would be cool to see what changed in the interim — and, either way, your experiences would probably be helpful to the archivists. So no harm, no foul.

————

The site was easy enough to navigate but man you didn’t expect to get so emotional when you went looking through the recovered art. They looked exactly the same as you remembered, all of them — which is kind of silly to think about since puppets and tv show characters in general tend not to change since, well, they were meant to stay consistent. Frank was always going to look terribly stern, and Julie was always going to come onto scene with a new fabulous hairdo, and Eddie was always going to trip over his own feet on his rounds, and Wally was always going to open and close each episode with a nod to the audience. These things were staples of the characters and the show’s structure so of course they’d be the same.

But, still, you somehow felt like they should have changed in your absence. A small part of your mind, an irrational part surely, crying out that they were alive and that living things were made to change — which was silly. And, frankly, a little embarrassing that you’d even had that thought at all.

So you pushed that idea to the very back of your mind where it belonged and continued to scroll through the various pages of the website. Art from official books (you were sure you even owned the ‘ask Wally’ type book and that it was still at your parents’ place), merchandise like pop up figures (the sort that were found only in cereal boxes and magazines), promotional posters and even one piece from your short tenure on the show. You remembered posing for that photograph, being told to smile and to wrap your arms around Eddie and Wally — but for some reason you couldn’t quite recall what their puppeteers were called.

Or if they even had any puppeteers in the first place.

No. That can’t be right. They were puppets, characters, they had to have someone controlling and voicing them — but none of the promotional art nor your memories supported that basic truth. It didn’t make sense.

None of it made sense. This was why you’d tried to forget that show so desperately after you left. It messed with your head far too much to be worth the effort so why bother burning out over questions that could be explained by a faulty memory.

A memory that could, in picture perfect detail, recall the route from Howdy’s store to Home as clear as crystal — as if it were your own route to-and-from primary school. A memory that could replay patchy conversations between Wally and Julie, bittersweet bickering over hairspray and hairpins that you could only recall in pieces, but that still rang clearly as if you were thinking of childhood friends. A memory that was imprinted with the feeling of warm felt embraces and puffs of warm air from stencil cut mouths that would have been impossible if they weren’t alive. Moving eyes, small bodies, freely walking, freely talking — alive and well and clear as day in your mind as normally as recalling your parents arguing over a cup of freshly brewed coffee on the mornings of each shoot.

The distinctly strong smell of the synthetic hairspray Wally used that would hang around him and mixed with the scent of oil paint like a cologne — that burned your nose if you hung around too close to him in the early morning. The sheer joy of Howdy picking you up and tossing you in the air as a congratulations for your first scene done well — caterpillar fuzz that stuck to your clothes for days, as strong as velcro. The way you and Julie squealed when Barnaby shook back and forth and sent droplets of muddy water raining down on you and on her freshly done up hair — and the joke that followed her exasperated tirade as you, through giggles, explained frustration to the audience through a camera they seemed to not be able to see.

Memories that kept unearthing themselves the deeper you went into the site, eventually culminating with you tearing up at the sight of old friends you’d been forced to leave behind. Silly, perhaps, but you recall telling the audience that it was healthy to cry and to let it all go — so at least your teenage self would be proud of your emotional vulnerability.

After a good hour of this, and more than in need of a break, you finally clicked on the attached message board and typed up a simple few sentences. A greeting and a farewell all in one before you closed down your computer and went to bed.

‘I used to have a segment on Welcome Home when I was a kid. I was meant to do astrology and emotions, before I got cut for being too old lol. This brought back so many memories. Thank you, all.’

————

Wally hadn’t meant to linger — really, he hadn’t — but there had been something oddly familiar about his latest visitor that he couldn’t quite place. Even from behind the screen he was trapped within, even as he watched their message load in, he could tell that they were different. It was their eyes, those tearful knowing eyes — he was sure he’d seen them before in that somewhere different, somewhere brighter, that came before the end he and his neighbours were trapped in.

When he saw their eyes he saw himself, a twisted altered reflection of himself that was filled to bursting with the warmth and awareness that he was created to hold within himself. A child’s eyes in the form of someone who he didn’t know yet he knew he must have once. A lingering, niggling feeling in the back of his skull, like fingertips brushing and scratching and digging into his fabric brain — rearranging and scouring and destroying and reaching for something that he couldn’t quite find.

He winced and squinted and stared through the screen to no avail, tilting his head and watching them as they flicked from screen to screen to screen desperate for a sign that he could use to place this familiar stranger. Unable to do so until finally — finally — their note came through and he was able to read the short greeting they’d left behind.

Then, and only then, did those forbidden memories come flooding back. A formidable tidal wave, a whirling rapid, of bright lights and experiences and conversations that had been torn from him and shredded in the writer’s room of their long gone creators.

He knew you, he’d always known you; the child too old for their youth that visited their neighbourhood in the beginning. Who always wore a beaming smile and treated them all with a grace beyond their years, spreading kindness and joy to his friends and to the audience only the two of you knew about. Who was far taller than his measly 12 apples of verticality but who never made him feel small. Who spoke eagerly of the constellations and painted the most wonderful pictures of stars and moons and planets far beyond their reach that he did his best to capture in his paintings. Who was only 14 but felt more like an adult than he did sometimes — he, who was crafted and sewn without a childhood — but who wasn’t above play and foley.

The child who was the absolute most; his favourite transient neighbour. All of their’s, actually.

How could he possibly have forgotten you?

You with your broad toothy grins, and your warm eyes that shone brighter than the stars you loved, and your arms that were big enough to carry even more apples than he could have ever dreamed of. You, who he promised to protect and keep away from the horrors of the world, theirs and your own. You, who never turned down a favour or plea from his neighbours.

You. Just you.

Wonderful, lovable, unforgettable you. His child of flesh, not felt, but he loved you all the same.

And he didn’t get to see you grow up, because his creators deemed you unbefitting of their world and cut you from their memories as ruthlessly as they’d cut your segments from their show. Welcome Home didn’t feel very much like a home after that — even if they didn’t quite recall what was missing.

Wally didn’t even want to think about all of the horrors and harms you’d faced throughout the years you’d been apart — he could see the wear hanging heavily in the downwards quirk of your lips and the dampened glint in your eye. He knew he’d sooner kill someone than let them hurt you, he’d threatened it plenty alongside Howdy and Eddie and Frank — they all loved you as dearly as him, once.

But in his current predicament he couldn’t do much to protect you. Couldn’t coddle you, couldn’t warm you, couldn’t sooth you with those sweets you used to love (if you even loved them anymore, it had clearly been quite some time), couldn’t do anything to help. He couldn’t even communicate with you, to apologise, to tell you he still loved you and that you were still welcome in their neighbourhood.

So he did the only thing he could; he drew you a picture. A silly little simplistic drawing, scratchy and crude, depicting a strong memory he had of you. The two of you, hand in hand, with your arms overflowing with apples you’d managed to steal from Howdy (oh how he missed such trivial things) — he hoped you remembered these moments as fondly as he did. Then, to the illustration, he attached a small message, a plea just for you, before settling back down behind the screen and hoping — praying — that you’d come back.

‘I’m sorry for forgetting you, friend, please come home’

[spiderrmax]

main 4 + gen. dating hcs

synopsis: what the title says! general dating headcanons author's note: i always feel like my cartman is ooc. am trying tho i swear. also this was typed up b4 i got requests :) am working on those currently!

Stan Marsh

Is a very chill boyfriend

Was nervous at first though. Definitely got nauseous on your guys first few dates but it died around a few months into your relationship.

The type to send you cat relationship posts with only a caption of “us”

Lets you borrow his jacket when it’s really cold

Enjoys holding your hand; will grab at it unconsciously whenever he’s near you

Doesn’t care a lot about school but will take notes for you if you are absent

Will text you random updates throughout the day. “Cartman and Kyle are fighting again.” “I just saw a cute kitten” “listened to that song you recommended. Was good.”

feel like he's the type to make spotift playlist of songs thay remind him of you or songs you recommended him

Doesn't mind doing the matching couple things as long as it’s not too corny. Will buy matching converse or sweatshirts

Not the biggest on pet names, unless you’re upset or it’s in private; he goes for the classics: babe, love, beautiful

He will always partner up with you if you guys are in a class together. The teacher will mention partner work and you guys instantly make eye contact.

Kyle Broflovski

Is very sweet

A stereotypical romantic; i talked about this in my love language post but he definitely googles ideas for dates and gifts. would have a pinterest board just called "y/n" filled w anything he wants to try and recreate

Any google doc notes he has instantly gets shared to him

if you guys are on a doc at the same time he is definitely talking to you in the comments. he has to reply to every "hi!" you type. he can't help it.

Cliché but he loves study dates. he will always meet you at the library to study and chill for a bit. He will unconsciously stare at you and gets embarrassed if you point it out. The date always ends with him taking you out for coffee or lunch/dinner depending on the time.

Isn’t very open about your relationship; likes keeping most stuff behind closed doors.

However it’s not a secret. People know you are together. although not the biggest PDA fan will hold your hand if someone is looking at you too long.

In the early stages of your relationship, he’d get flustered so fast. You’d smile and wave at him in the halls and he’d turn a bright red.

The kinda guy to drag his thumb over your knuckles when you guys hold hand

I think he'd be a forehead kisser. It's so domestic and he'd love doing it.

Will always walk you home from the bus stop/school. Even if it’s a bit out of his way.

Is extremely comfortable around you. Will let you see his hair and take his hat off in closed doors. Will laugh when you try to wear it, because it doesn’t fit, but finds it cute. is only slightly amused at your attempt to impersonate him.

Eric Cartman

Is so cocky he’s dating you

Constantly brings you up in a conversation. He doesn’t even mean to most times, but it happens so casually

Doesn’t really enjoy sharing, but will give you some of his snacks if you look down. He’ll say you owe him but won’t really hold you to it.

Spam messages you constantly, especially if he knows you aren’t doing anything. They get more clingy as he messages you until you reply. Then he plays it off like he didn’t even want your attention; he was just bored.

Loves when you wear his clothes. Doesn’t like when you do it so much in public but once you had to borrow a shirt because you spilled something on yours. He just stared at you, in awe of how good you could look in something of his.

Will try on assignments he is working with you on. He respects you more and knows his slacking off will directly affect you. He still doesn’t put in 100% effort but you don’t have to carry his whole weight.

Loves calling you those really obnoxious pet names. Finds them so funny because you hate them.

Loves it even more when you call him a pet name. At first he will mock you for calling him something like "honey," but then he won't be able to stop thinking about it. Will reluctantly tell you you can keep calling him that stuff. But not in front of the guys.

This also applies to kissing. He will mock you the first you kiss his cheek as a goodbye but now he leans his head towards you if you're getting up to go.

His love language is making fun of you. Will call you stupid and ugly constantly but will throw hands with anyone else who dares try and call you that.

Kenny Mccormick

loves loves LOVES showing you off

Will bring you up in conversation, but isn’t as braggy as Cartman gets. Just loves you so much.

He is also with you as much as he can be. wIll walk you to each of your classes even if it causes him to be late.

The type to carry any books you’re holding while you walk. Will even balance them in one hand so his other is free to grab onto yours.

The type to wait by your locker to walk you home. He will rush to get there before you do.

Will pull down his hood when he’s with you for the sole reason he loves when you play with his hair. Enjoys putting his head in your lap, it’s his way of inviting you to do it.

loves listening to you talk! no matter what you are rambling about you have kenny's full attentions.

 Although known as a serial flirter/perv, it dies down when he gets into a relationship with you. He’s very loyal and won't risk your relationship or your trust

Comes over to your house a bunch. Your parents are used to him coming over frequently. He probably has clothes left there and his own toothbrush.

Loves playing video games with you! Even if you’re bad. Will have you sit between his legs so he can help with your hand placement if it’s a single game. (In mario kart, his go to is princess rosaline or daisy)

[tryingtodotheright-thing]

Hello, Sunset - 6

AN: This is my longest chapter to date. I really suck at writing dialogue, which is just my real life awkward self presenting in fiction. I would love to hear what people think about this chapter or just the story in general. Need some inspiration as I'm stuck on the next chapter. The writing gods have left me and there's a metaphorical brick wall between my ideas and the blank Google doc ... PAIRING: Seungcheol x fem!reader GENRE: exes to lovers, idol verse, angst WORD COUNT: 4,650 WARNINGS: reader has anxiety and depression, swearing, mentions of alcohol Text in blue is spoken in Korean.

PREVIOUS / NEXT

1 December 2023 - 6 January 2024

There wasn’t really any time for melancholy, not for Y/N. She wanted to wistfully brood about her 10 days in Asia and play the nostalgic CARAT post concert, but the end of the year was relentless. Y/N travelled back to Tokyo the very next day to catch her flight home to London. She used the weekend to reset her body clock and catch up on her emails before she was back at the office on Monday. 

By the time she landed in London, her episode on Amazing Saturday had already aired. She didn’t think the episode would have a huge audience. She had hoped to make an impression on the Korean audience but wasn’t expecting to suddenly be trending on Naver or anything. She had turned off the airplane mode on her phone whilst briskly making her way through the long route from the gate to baggage collection. It was a good thing her phone was silent as suddenly the notifications piled up. She opened up Instagram first as that’s where the most notifications were from and saw that Josua had tagged her on a post.

It was the second time he’d done that since they had met back in September. Then, it had been a picture they had posed together for a magazine at the Marni show. This time, it was a clip of her getting the one shot for getting the most accurate answer for the God of Music quiz. He’d captioned it to say ‘Thank you for answering SVT’s quiz, Y/N’. The post had thousands of likes already, including fellow SEVENTEEN members such as S.Coups, Seungkwan and Vernon. Her followers on Instagram had also increased, she guessed as a natural effect from this interaction. She was following Joshua already so she liked the picture and closed the app, too tired to think about her actions or do anything more.

The click clacks of her heels echoed as she walked the short distance from her cabin to the one of the Global HR Director and her line manager, David. Unlike the confident sounds of her footsteps, Y/N felt timid as she opened the door to his office once he beckoned her to come in through the glass windows of his office. David was not someone to mince his words or beat around the bush, especially as someone as busy and senior as he was in such a huge corporation. 

Y/N walked out of his office thirty minutes later with relief. She’d need to talk to Sian and Emma first before she officially accepted his offer but she thought this was the best option for everyone without Y/N having to give up her career in HR completely. Her decision was solidified as she received positive response to her various promotion activities in Korea as they came out on broadcast and YouTube over the next few days. Sian and Emma began to receive interest from Korean shows and entertainment companies. The questions varied from whether she was interested in appearing on more shows to her plans on promoting in Korea and needing a local agency to support her promotions to even writing music for idol groups. Eun Ji was ecstatic at the idea of her living in Seoul and declared that Y/N would live with her. When she ran through her doubts of the move, Joshua reassured her as someone who had taken the same leap. Vernon and Seungkwan, who Y/N kept in touch with regularly since meeting them a few weeks ago, promised to visit her regularly so she wouldn’t be lonely. 

By the time her slot at the Jingle Bell Ball was over a week later, Y/N felt fully confident in her decision to resign from her job in the UK and take the consultancy role. It offered her more flexibility whilst still allowing her to keep putting to use the qualification and skills she had developed over the past seven years. Her first focus would be working with regional leads in Japan and South Korea to support the planned restructures and optimise the local operations. She would be assessing the situation, proposing a solution and would oversee the implementation of it when it is accepted but won’t be the person delivering the change. She was actually excited to step out of her comfort zone and expand her experience further by dipping her toes into consultancy whilst putting to use her language skills in another country. It honestly felt like an offer too good to be true. It also gave Y/N time to prepare for her EP release that had been planned for the end of the summer and her European Tour that would kick off in the autumn of 2024. She hoped she would get lots of inspiration to write in the new environment.

Things moved quickly once she accepted David’s offer. A flat in Hannam-dong in Yongsan had been leased under her name by Emma. Whilst her company had offered to organise this for her, she had preferred to find a place that suited her specific needs and had negotiated with David so the company would contribute a fixed amount to the rent instead. David put her negotiation skills to the test but Y/N thought she handled it quite well. She had a decent deal by the end. She spent the next few weeks saying a temporary goodbye to her life in London, catching up with friends in between her end of year performance schedule. She’d gone from the one watching the countdown to NYE on BBC to the one people watched performing as the country counted down to the dawn of a new year. A few days later, she was back on a plane to Incheon, this time on her own. Emma wouldn’t be joining her in Seoul but would be making plenty of visits as needed. W Music had a partner in Seoul who would organise any assistance Y/N needed. Y/N leaned her seat back and gazed out of the window, taking a sip of the red wine the stewardess handed her earlier. She hoped 2024 would be a year to remember. 

Current

Y/N had gone to bed immediately after her bath. The fight or flight response in her body had slowly disappeared until all that was left was exhaustion. She had dragged herself from the bathroom to her bedroom, not going through any of her night time routine but falling straight into bed instead. The blackout blinds in her room hid the world from her and equally hid her from the world from her. It was the Bank Holiday Monday so she had allowed herself to lie in and when she checked the digital clock on her bedside table once she arose from her deep slumber, she saw it was close to 11am. She decided it was time to face the world and couldn’t hide any longer. 

“Alexa, open the blinds.” The automated blinds came to life and with a soft whirring noise, it let the sunlight into the spacious cream coloured room. Closing her eyes briefly to allow them a relief from the bright rays, she patted around the bed for her phone. When her attempts were fruitless, she sighed in defeat before getting out of bed to look around the room for it. Not seeing it anywhere, she slid her feet onto her soft slippers and moved to the living room. She had success as she found it face up on the sofa. She tapped on the screen to bring it to life but it didn’t work. Letting out a groan, realising the phone had run out of battery, she moved to the kitchen island and planted her phone on top of the wireless charger. Leaving it to collect power so she could turn it on, she used the time to make her morning smoothie. 

Ten minutes later, she sat on one of the high stools by her kitchen island with a large glass of avocado and banana smoothie. She turned the phone on, making sure to keep it on the wireless charger. She saw that she had missed calls and clicked on the Phone app to see who had tried to get in touch. Some were older notifications she had dismissed like the missed calls from Sian and Emma. There were also recent missed calls from Rachel, Eun Ji and Joshua. Joshua didn’t normally call so she assumed he was concerned about her non-reply. 

As she wondered if it was finally time to grow up and call Joshua, her phone began to ring. It was an unsaved number but Y/N recognised it straight away. It was an incoming call from SEVENTEEN’s main Manager, Shim Jae Hyun. He’d been the first person she’d spoken to after Seungcheol had sent her the text to break up and blocked her number immediately after. Y/N could still remember the pity in his voice as he’d told her that Seungcheol had informed him of the breakup, and had asked that Y/N not contact anyone related to himself. Y/N had responded with a distressed ‘I understand’ and had immediately cut the call. 

Since then, she hadn’t spoken to anyone related to Seungcheol, including the members. Some of the members, particularly Vernon and Seungkwan, had tried to speak to her when they became aware of the break up but she’d already blocked them. The only remaining connection was Joshua and even then, she didn’t pick up or answer his calls. They hadn’t spoken since the day before the break up, when Y/N had called him from the airport to confirm she’s boarding and to ask him to check in on Seungcheol. Despite his persistent attempts, Y/N hadn’t spoken to Joshua since that day. He eventually gave up and stopped calling her and would send the occasional texts to see how she was, which she would read but not respond to. Seeing the two ticks to show she was reading it was good enough for him. It’s what he’d pleaded for her to do at the very least.

She assumed Jae Hyun-nim was calling due to the statement that had been published. She let the call go to voicemail and instead took a screenshot with his number displayed and sent it off to Emma and Sian, knowing one of them would contact him. She didn’t want to have a dialogue with PLEDIS or HYBE and Sian had stressed that everything should go through her or Emma. She put the phone back on the charging pad and returned to her room to pack her bag, knowing she had a flight to NYC that evening. Lily, Sian’s first assistant since Emma’s official promotion a year ago, had sent over the flight ticket details as well as some outfit options for Y/N to choose from her various interviews in NYC. Lily would organise it so any of the outfits Y/N selects would be delivered to the JW Marriott Essex House hotel in Upper East Side, where she would be staying this time. Normally, would have a longer visit and so would have gone for one of their long stay apartments but the impromptu plans meant she would be staying in one of Marriott’s hotels instead. The next few hours passed in a blur and Y/N found herself once again on a plane.

25 January 2024 

The black Porsche Cayenne lit up as the engine turned on. The car was a Christmas present to herself and she’d be paying it off for the next few years but Y/N was in love. She loved driving and one of the first things she organised was to ship her car to Seoul as soon as she decided on her move and yet, it only arrived a few days ago. Y/N was excited to take the car for a spin, having been taking taxis whenever she needed to leave her flat. She’d spent the first week in Seoul setting up the place whilst staying with Eun Ji and had to then relearn her bearings when she officially moved in. The three weeks since landing in Seoul had been tremendously busy and Y/N was excited to have a night to relax and catch up with a friend. Joshua had returned to the country only a few days ago after wrapping up the last concert of the Follow Tour in Macau. The two had been keeping each other up to date on life but it wasn’t the same as talking in person. Their last meeting hadn’t been the personal catch up they had originally planned for so to have some time together where they could speak more openly was much needed. 

Y/N arrived first at the Mexican restaurant in Itaewon and had immediately ordered some nachos for the pair to munch on whilst they caught up and debated what to order. She’d just taken a sip of her virgin Pina Colada when Joshua walked in. Y/N enveloped Joshua in a warm hug, and they stayed in the embrace for a few seconds, soaking in the comfort they gave each other. As they parted, Joshua grasped Y/N’s right hand tightly and shook it in excitement.

“I can’t believe you’re now living in Seoul!”

“Me neither, Joshie!”

He looked at her tenderly before letting go of her hand to ruffle her hair as usual. She’d given up dodging this move, knowing that it was his way of showing affection. She grinned at him, the smile stretching across her face all the way to her eyes which had shrunk to accommodate the happy expression. A waiter arrived with their nachos and the pair took their seats. Joshua ordered a Margarita. They spent the next hour catching up candidly with no inhibitions in between taking sips of their drinks and crunching on the nachos. They’d ordered more drinks and food, Y/N choosing to stay sober as she didn’t trust a stranger to drive her car. It was another thing for her to become accustomed to in time but she wasn’t quite ready for that yet. 

Joshua was feeling light, having let off a load from his shoulders. He’d met Y/N at a time when he really needed a friend who was removed from his world but would yet understand his trials. They were less than six months apart in age but often, he felt she was the older one and by many years. Maybe it came from their different life journeys. They’d both had their own challenges to overcome and different demons to fight. She saw him so clearly that he often felt she was his soulmate, like a twin who shared the same heart and mind. Their closeness after such a short period led to misconceptions initially, even from his bandmates. He’d been asked if they were dating, Coups being the latest one to quiz him on this when he’d shared his plans to meet Y/N. Joshua shared this anecdote with Y/N, laughing without restraint at the idea. Y/N looked disgusted at the idea, wondering what was wrong with everyone. She begged Joshua to make sure he set everyone straight. 

“Don’t worry, I told him you’re like a sister. Your bias won’t have the wrong idea, so don’t hurt your pea brain worrying.”

She glared at the teasing, huffing at the elder. 

“Who’s the pea brain here! I’m not the one who mistranslated that time we were out …” 

The banter continued, the two bickering away, fully immersed in their own world. It was nearing 9pm when Joshua received a call. 

“Coups-yah. What’s up? Me? I’m in XXX restaurant in Itaewon with Y/N. Oh, you’re nearby?” 

Joshua looked at Y/N with a sly smile as he hung up on the phone. Y/N was immediately on alert.

“What have you done, Hong Jisoo?”

“Where are your manners? It’s Jisoo Oppa!”

“Pfft. Manners, my ass. I know you’ve done something that’s about to piss me off. Out with it, Joshie. Don’t test my kindness.” 

He shrugged and put on an innocent look, widening his eyes and shaking his head, saying he had no idea what she was talking about. She threw a fry at his face, unfortunately missing the mark widely. This made Joshua crack up in giggles and Y/N reluctantly joined in, unable to hold on to her irritation. Y/N was going to suggest that they call it a night and head home when the bell by the door jingled. Joshua, who was facing the door, stuck his neck out to see who it was and his eyes lit up in recognition. He waved his hand at the newcomer and Y/N twisted in her seat to see who it was. It was S.Coups and with him was Jeonghan. 

“Did you miss me that much? You saw me only a few hours ago when we did the Weverse live.” 

Joshua said to S.Coups as the 95 liners reunited in front of Y/N. The waitress arrived and relocated them to a bigger table at the back, hiding them away from the rest of the customers. As they all took their new seats, Y/N bowed at Jeonghan and S.Coups and greeted them. She asked after their health and asked if they’d eaten. S.Coups, who was sitting opposite her, nodded whilst Jeonghan responded, “Coups bought me an expensive dinner. I wanted to go home and rest afterwards but this guy-”

Before Jeonghan could finish his sentence, S.Coups began speaking. He asked about her move and if she was properly settled in her flat. 

Y/N was surprised he knew the details and it must have shown on her face, as he felt the need to clarify that he’d heard from Shua. When she looked at Joshua, he had a devious smirk on his face.

“I didn’t know you paid so much attention to what I say, Coups-yah. Jeonghan-ah, did you know Coups paid this much attention to me?”

Jeonghan, who suddenly looked wide awake, seemed to have caught on to whatever track Joshua was on and enthusiastically exclaimed, “I didn’t know either, Joshuji. I don’t remember you telling us about Y/N’s move and this is my first time seeing you since you came back.”

Turning to his left, he questioned when S.Coups had heard the news. Y/N was a little perplexed about this entire conversation. She didn’t understand why it was such a big deal but she did realise that the angel, who was really a devil in disguise when he was up to his tricks, and his best friend were on the same page and up to something. It seemed that S.Coups had also sensed the danger and looked panic for a second before saying that it might have been Vernon who mentioned it, he couldn’t remember. 

Feeling sorry for the man in front of her as he pouted, she decided to answer his question to move the conversation along. 

“I’ve just about settled in and I was saying to Josh earlier that my car finally arrived so I feel like I’m finally set. I’m about to abandon all of it for two weeks though. I’ll be in Japan travelling to Tokyo, Sapporo and Okinawa for work from Monday onwards.” 

S.Coups nodded again at her and gave her a thousand watts thankful smile. Y/N felt her heart stutter like her old car used to whenever she’d try to speed and the sem-automatic would whine as it stayed stuck in the lower gear. His smile was too blinding and Y/N had to avert her gaze to her glass, fiddling with the stem of it as she tried her best to calm the flutters. 

“Oh, you didn’t tell me you were flying out so soon! We’re on holiday for the next few weeks so I thought I could show you all my favourite places.” 

Joshua was disappointed at the missed opportunity. Y/N reassured him they had plenty of time and that she’d be back on the 10th. The group enjoyed a few more drinks and Y/N slowly loosened up as she got used to the presence of the others. She didn’t see Joshua as a member of SEVENTEEN on most days. To her, he’d become family and so she didn’t get the nervousness that she got in the presence of the rest of the members. Yoon Jeonghan was too beautiful to be real and it was intimidating. 

And then there was S.Coups. Well, no explanation was really needed here. This was someone she admired and found attractive. It was just a celebrity crush, she’d thought. Although she had her head screwed on and knew what she saw wasn’t a full picture of any celebrity, with S.Coups, so much of it was real. She’d gotten to know him through Joshua and the couple of interactions they did have, she’d felt sparks. She knew it was all one-sided and with time, she’d get over it. But right now, she couldn’t be sensible about it. It was the way he would stare deeply into her eyes when she spoke giving his full attention, or the way he’d poured her a glass of water when he noticed her glass was empty, or even how the corners of his mouth would twitch in amusement whenever he caught her sneaking glances at him as Jeonghan told a funny story. She was deeply attracted to the man in front of her. His tight black t-shirt and rich perfume pulled her in. When she caught herself leaning forward one too many times, she knew it was time to go home. She pulled the typical I’m-going-to-freshen-up-but-really-pay-the-bill act and found herself scolded by a whiny Joshua as they all walked her to her car. 

She saw the tired, droopy frame of Jeonghan and told them all to get in, saying she’d drop them off. They tried to refuse the offer but Jeonghan must have been really tired because he got in quickly after thanking Y/N. Joshua sat upfront and inputted the address for the dorm. 

“Coups-yah, are you going to stay at the dorm tonight?” 

It took a beat for S.Coups to answer and the others realised he’d wanted to return to the place he shared with his brother. He said he’d call a taxi from the dorm. 

“I can drop you off, I really don’t mind.”

Y/N turned into the apartment complex that housed SEVENTEEN members. Joshua and Jeonghan got out of the car and S.Coups followed. He seemed to have a non-verbal conversation with Joshua before he turned back to Y/N and asked if she was sure. She nodded and smiled gently in response. 

He lightly hugged the members goodnight before getting back in the car, this time in the front seat. Joshua called out for her to text him when she got home safely and then headed in. 

“And then there were two.”

“Sorry?”

“Oh, sorry. It’s a phrase in English that people would usually say when a big group would suddenly get smaller.” 

She explained as she manoeuvred out of her parking spot. She pulled off and started driving towards the main road as S.Coups set the navigation to direct her to his brother’s place. It was a 20 minute drive and Y/N told herself she can behave for that long. They drove in silence that had started off comfortable but soon became filled with tension till it was stifling. She cleared her throat and suggested that S.Coups put on music if he’d like. 

“You can turn on the radio or you can use my Spotify. My phone is connected via Bluetooth.” 

She quickly unlocked it with her fingerprint and gestured for him to take it. He’d looked slightly stunned at her nonchalance as she gave him access to her phone. He timidly took the phone from the stand it was resting on and scrolled through the app. In the meantime, it began to play from where she’d left off earlier. Red Velvet described the throes of a crush and the longing to greet them again through the song ‘Hello, Sunset’ and Y/N blushed as she listened on. How fitting that this is the song that plays, she thought. She saw him tap along to the music as he scrolled through her phone. Their journey was elongating thanks to the traffic that was building up as the Saturday night deepened. As the song drew to a close, he tapped on the song he’d searched for and Dino’s voice blasted through the speakers. How cute, she thought as she realised he’d chosen to listen to the maknae’s mixtape, ‘Wait’. He bobbed his head along as they listened. The car had come to a standstill in front of the traffic. 

“I really love this song.” 

“Yes, maknae did a good job.” The pride in his voice was clear. She hummed in agreement. 

“I’m sorry. Because of me, you’re delayed.”

He apologised suddenly and Y/N found herself lost in his intense stare again when she'd looked at him to respond. She inaudibly mumbled that it wasn’t a problem and that she’s going the same way. It was as if her ears had popped, all noise surrounding them dampened whilst the sound of her heartbeat grew thunderous. She couldn’t even blink, worried he’d disappear if she closed her eyes for a second. He lowered his eyes, breaking the hold on her briefly as they dipped down to her lips before returning to arrest her again. He held her breath as a prisoner. Was she imagining it or was the distance between them slowly narrowing? She had no thoughts. Her brain simply wasn’t functioning to think if this was a good idea or not. Their noses were nearly brushing when they jumped apart when the car behind honked its horn. Y/N realised the queue had eased and quickly put the car in motion. S.Coups turned to look outside the side window, his expression hidden from Y/N when she tried to take a glimpse. 

They arrived at S.Coups’ place a few minutes later. Tablo’s version of ‘Eyes, Nose, Lips’ played in the background as both occupants of the car stalled, not sure whether to mention the moment shared earlier. In the end, both had decided to ignore it. S.Coups thanked Y/N for the lift. He’d gotten out of the car and walked around to her side, leaning down to speak to her. A breeze sent her a whiff of his perfume again. 

“Well … thanks again.” Y/N smiled but didn’t say anything.

“I should get going. I mean, you should get going. It’s late.”

She nodded and bowed at him to take leave from the driver’s seat. She was about to roll up her windows when he called her name. With no formalities. The butterflies instantly multiplied. 

“Y/N. Text me to say you’ve made it home?” It was a question but it wasn’t. She nodded, slowly then quickly. 

“I saved my number on your phone. I, uh, I didn’t send myself your number.”

Who was this shy man? Was he the same person with the deep voice and passionate eyes? 

“Sleep well.”

Y/N placed her keys in the enamel dish by the entrance, took off her boots and walked to her room. She texted Joshua to confirm she’d made it and wished him a goodnight. She paused for a second before she searched through her contacts. She found the newly saved number under Coups. 

Saturday 27 January Hi, it’s Y/N.  I made it home safely. Have a good night. 23:20 Goodnight. 23:21

A week later, Y/N was getting ready for her first date with S.Coups.

[tasteleeknow]

oooo fluff requesttttt~ how exciting 🤩🤩 um…

cuddling after a long and tiring day + chan

i've done a smut version of this (sorta) so it'll be fun doing pure fluff!

pairing: chan x fem!reader genre: fluff. established relationship. word count: 500

He usually got home late but for the past few weeks he was so late you'd usually be asleep. You'd attempt to keep your eyes open and wait for the door to beep, signalling his arrival. But you were exhausted, always. You couldn't remember the last time you felt well rested. So you always fail, falling unconscious without his arms around you.

You leave the bedroom door open again tonight, just like every other night, blinking your eyes open each time they drift shut for too long. Then you hear it: the beep of the door unlocking. You resist leaping out to greet him, closing your eyes and pretending to sleep instead. You could surprise him, roll over and wrap your arms around him when he climbs into bed.

The sound of him dropping his belongings and shuffling around is the only sound in the apartment. You expect him to pull his clothes off and head into the en suite bathroom but instead his soft footfalls approach the bed. His lips press to your forehead gently, leaving a prolonged kiss against your skin. You keep your breathing steady as he pulls back and sits at the edge of the bed. His deep sigh prompts you to give up the act, blinking your eyes open and sitting up.

"Did I wake you?" he whispers, reaching out to pull you into his lap.

You shake your head, hands pressed to his chest. "Was waiting for you."

"Why?" he frowns. "Did something happen?"

"Always try and wait for you," you whisper. "Usually I fail."

"You do? I told you I'd be really late for awhile."

"I know," you thread your fingers into his hair at the back of his head. "Don't like sleeping without you."

He groans, dropping his head into your shoulder. "Don't say that. Makes it harder."

He sounds as exhausted as you felt. You want to wrap him up in the blankets and not let him leave the apartment until he's practically bouncing off the walls with energy. Instead you lift his head from your shoulder and press your lips to his. "Come to bed, hm?"

He nods. "Quick shower. The quickest."

He sits back between your legs when he's done, letting you blow-dry his hair for him. It takes much less time than yours does and you drop the hairdryer over the edge of the bed the second it's dry enough to not make the pillow wet.

You snuggle into his chest, letting him pull the blankets up over you both. He's warm and his skin is a little damp from his shower. You press your hand over his heart, willing it to be calm and steady. "Have nice dreams," you whisper.

He tightens his arms around you. "Don't wait for me anymore, hm? Want you to get enough sleep," he whispers.

"But I love you," you argue.

He huffs out a breathy laugh. "Yeah, and I love you. That's why I need you to sleep well.... helps me," he mumbles.

"You hold me?" you ask. "Even when I'm asleep?"

"Mm," he hums. "Just like this. Every time, promise."

You press your lips to his bare chest. "Alright."

please reblog and share your thoughts. caption, tags, replies, or ask box, i read it all. feedback is what motivates me to write more!

↳ general masterlist

[poomphuripan]

Professional Body Double // My Stand In - a Masterpost

Series Title: My Stand-In (ตัวนาย ตัวแทน)

Director: Pepzi Banchorn Vorasataree (KinnPorsche The Series)

Action Director: Khom Kongkiat Khomsiri (KinnPorsche The Series)

Producer: Yuan Wan Thabkrajang (I Feel You Linger In The Air)

Executive Producer: Poppy Parnsuk Thongrob

Episodes: 12

Aired: Apr 26, 2024 - Jul 12, 2024. Every Friday 8.00 PM.

Original Network: iQIYI

Original Novel Title: Professional Body Double (职业替身)

Author: Shui Qian Cheng (水千丞)

Genres: Adult, Drama, Mature, Romance, Supernatural, Tragedy, Showbiz, Angst

Content warnings: Abusive lover, noncon, house arrest

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

Official Synopsis

Joe, the stunt man of famous actor Tong, happened to meet Ming. Having developed a deep relationship, Joe didn’t realise that Ming had always seen him as Tong’s replacement. When the truth is revealed, Joe has to take work on a foreign set where an accident takes his life. When he wakes, Joe’s in the body of a young man named Joe who’d met with an accident on the same day. With help, he’s soon living the same life as he was before—with the same people—and he meets Ming once more. In this life, Ming wants Joe back at his side as before and Joe doesn’t know why. Ming, who’s kept all memories of the old Joe, tries to find the truth about Joe’s continued life in order to return Joe to his side and give him the explanation he never had the chance to.

Main characters

Joe (Zhou Xiang/周翔)

Height: 181 cm

Birthday: October 20

Age: 29

Zodiac: Libra

Occupation: Actor, Stuntman, Martial Arts Body Double, Martial Arts Instructor

Personality: Gentle and generous, optimistic and open-hearted, mature and considerate. Independent. Easy going, not very ambitious, caring towards people around him. His parents and sibling passed away when he was 8 years old.

Ming (Yan MingXiu/晏明修)

Height: 188 cm

Birthday: September 6

Age: 24

Zodiac: Virgo

Occupation: Actor, President of a Mechanized Heavy Industry Company

Personality: Haughty, selfish, lacking in patience, stubborn and persistent towards things he has decided upon. Extremely attractive, cold, indifferent. Youngest of the three Yan siblings. Comes from a wealthy, prestigious family with millitary background.

Supporting characters

Sol (Lan Xi Rong): Young attractive popular actor who was once close to Joe. Sol likes Joe. Played by Porsche Tanathorn.

Tong (Wang Yu Dong): A popular action movie star. Tong is Ming’s crush. Tong is dating Ming's sister, May. Tong eventually marries May and becomes Ming's brother-in-law. Played by Mek Jirakit.

Wut (Paradorn Vesurai): Joe's brother-like close friend, who's also his boss.

Jim (Jiang Yuan): Ming's personal secretary and right hand man. Played by Billy Possathorn.

Mike (Yan Mingsu): Ming’s older brother. Played by Inntouch Naphat.

May (Yan Ming Mei): Ming’s older sister. May eventually becomes Tong's wife later on. Played by Shu Nunnicha.

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

Where to read the novel

Chinese raw

English translation

Indonesian translation

Vietnamese translation

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

Where to listen to the audio drama adaptation

Season 1

Season 2

Season 1 & 2 on YT with Vietnamese subtitles (Note: OP gonna private this video once the series has finished filming, so if anyone wishes to grab a copy/listen to it, now's the time 🤗)

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

Production

Director Pepzi and Executive Producer Yuan first posted a photo captioned "Our new series project" hashtagging the Chinese novel title on 16 February 2023 so pre-production starts around February 2023. Yuan tweeted that My Stand In is the series that took longest to cast (8 months). 6 October 2023 was the fitting for My Stand In. Production begins filming on 16 October 2023.

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

For latest updates on My Stand In series, you can follow YYDS Entertainment on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, IG, Tiktok.

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

Source

[phonetik]

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Looking Ahead: Shaping the Future of Accessibility

As technology continues to evolve, so too does the landscape of accessibility. PhonetiK.ai remains dedicated to pushing the boundaries of innovation, harnessing the latest advancements in artificial intelligence and natural language processing to deliver unparalleled closed captioning solutions. By championing accessibility, PhonetiK.ai not only transforms the digital experience for individuals today but also paves the way for a more inclusive tomorrow.

Conclusion

In a world where communication knows no bounds, closed captioning serves as a cornerstone of accessibility, empowering individuals to connect, engage, and thrive in the digital age. With PhonetiK.ai leading the charge, the future of inclusive communication has never looked brighter. Embrace the power of closed captioning and join us on a journey towards a more accessible world.

[writer-in-theory]

Happy Birthday, Eddie Munson — steddie.

Summary: Steve meant to slip the birthday card into Tina's locker, but the smile on Eddie Munson's face made it all worth it—even if he forgot to sign the card. Prompt: C1 - Secret Admirer Pairing: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson Rating: Teen Word Count: 5.4k Content Warnings: Language, Minor Self-deprecation, Hospitals Read On AO3: Here A/N: This is another fill for @harringroveson-bingo !!

When Eddie was fifteen, he had a secret admirer.

It was simple and unexpected, just a birthday card slipped into his locker the week of his birthday. It was one of those corny ones from the general store, with a little bumblebee on the front with text that read ‘Hap-Bee Birthday’. The inside had a handwritten note tucked in the corner, the words shaky and curved like the writer had been in a rush.

Happy birthday, gorgeous. I hope you have a day as sweet as you are, you deserve it.

There was no name, no hint as to who would have bothered wishing Eddie “The Freak” Munson a happy birthday when no one had seemed to care before. He’d tried to look at every face in his graduating class that day, searching for a smile or nod, even a pen streak in the same bright blue that had been used on the card. Yet, no one had given him anything. In fact, besides Uncle Wayne, the only person who’d even acknowledged his birthday at all was that secret admirer with their silly little card that Eddie would treasure. All Eddie could do was tuck the card into his locker for safekeeping, leaving it there front and center for two weeks before he finally took it home to stash in his room. 

The next year, when Eddie had grown older and a little meaner, hardened by the crueler words his classmates had learned through high school, he hadn’t been expecting anything. And yet, despite his worries, when he opened his locker on November 5th another card was waiting for him. It was the same dorky kind of card, this time with a pair of otters holding hands and a caption that read ‘Happy birthday to my otter half’. 

Immediately he was grinning, looking down either side of the hallway in an attempt to find whoever had left the card behind. When no one stood out obviously, he turned his attention back to the card, hands shaking as he opened the card in search of another handwritten note from his admirer. Sure enough, in the same blue ink was another note. Eddie couldn’t help but think that his admirer was working on their handwriting since this one seemed more intentional with far fewer shaky lines and near-illegible letters. 

Happy birthday, gorgeous. If today is half as wonderful as you are, then it’ll be a damn good one.

Still no signature. There still wasn’t anything else to go off of, except for the fact that they were clearly still in school too. With only one note per year though, Eddie knew it would be near impossible to find out who was sending him birthday cards. So he’d hold onto the ones he had, keeping them close for the reminder that there was someone in the school who understood him. There was someone—though they were obviously too scared to admit it—that saw Eddie as lovable. 

He wanted to know all about them. He kept the cards in a box in his room, occasionally pulling them both out to re-read. Maybe he could find some clue hidden within the words, something that would give him a hint as to what his admirer was like. Eddie didn’t even need to know their name yet, but longed to know anything that might explain why they’d chosen him. What kind of music did they listen to, and what did they want to do after school? Were they in the marching band? Did he already talk to them?

The cards continued. Senior year, he had another, resting on top of the books stacked in his locker as usual. 

Happy birthday, gorgeous. If being like you means being a freak, then I want in. Don’t let Hawkins High get you down, you’ll show them someday.

Then, more curiously, his first repeat year came with another birthday card on the 5th of November. Considering he’d been the only one who’d been held back (and only because the teachers were refusing to help the “poor damaged Munson boy”), that meant his admirer had to be in the year below his.

It also meant that when May rolled around and Eddie didn’t graduate again, he inevitably had to say goodbye to his admirer forever. He still held onto the slim hope that somehow, his admirer would find a way to sneak a birthday card to him. It never came though, not even when Eddie had spent the night before wishing on every plane in the sky he’d call a shooting star, wishing for just one more chance to find this person.

By the time March rolled around, Eddie had forgotten entirely about his admirer. Between cheerleaders dying in his trailer, and pretty ex-jocks storming into his hideout yelling about magical wizards and a girl who can move things with her mind, an anonymous birthday wish seemed like the last of Eddie’s worries. 

But when he lay on the ground of the Upside Down being torn into by demon bats from Hell, all Eddie could think about was that he hoped his secret admirer would find happiness. They deserved it, for ever thinking that Eddie Munson could be more than what Hawkins made him out to be.

When Eddie was thirteen and Uncle Wayne’s old dog died, Wayne had told him that death was sometimes the peaceful thing. It could be a good thing, it allowed those who had lived all the life they needed to rest. That seemed like a load of bullshit when Eddie woke up after dying, because nearly every square inch of his body felt like it was on fire. It also felt much colder than what he assumed it would be, given where everyone in Hawkins told him he was going after. 

Death also looked like a hospital, for some fucking reason.

“Eddie?” Turning his head, Eddie was met with the sight of his Uncle Wayne slumped over in a stiff hospital chair, looking like he hadn’t slept in days. It looked like he was seconds from melding right into the chair, exhaustion carried in every joint. 

Eddie had half expected to see the kids if he ever survived any of this, all of them gathered around him in the hospital. He’d at least assumed Henderson would be there, with Steve Harrington in tow like the ex-jock never had anything better to do than drive Dustin where he needed to be. Harrington, who was every bit as sweet, charming, and funny as Henderson had claimed he’d become, who’d made Eddie shamefully wish for even one more day of the Upside Down shit if only it meant spending more time with him. Eddie might’ve even hoped for Buckley and Wheeler, who’d begun to worm their way into his heart too, the bastards. 

He supposed it only made sense that it was just him and Wayne again, together against the world as it had always been. 

“Hey, Wayne,” Eddie tried to laugh through the scratchiness in his throat, sending himself into a coughing fit severe enough to have him sitting up and clutching his chest for relief from the burn. Wayne simply sat with him through it, reaching out to rub his back until the coughing subsided. “Sorry,” Eddie winced once it was over, not oblivious to the worry in Wayne’s eyes.

“Don’t you pull that shit ever again, you hear me?” Wayne stared at him seriously, not even trying to hide the tears making his eyes glassy. 

Suddenly Eddie felt twelve again, sitting in a hospital bed exactly like this one while his Uncle Wayne told him that he was moving to Hawkins, Indiana. He’d felt small in the massive bed then too, squirming against the itchy sheets and tight bandages, wondering when he’d be able to smell fresh air that didn’t make his throat itch again. Wayne had held his hand then too, finally answering the questions with blunt honesty that no other adult ever gave him. He’d been the first to tell Eddie that the way his dear old dad had taken him on jobs, how he’d tried a getaway chase with little Eddie in the front seat could have ended with a greater tragedy than being bored in a hospital for three days.

He wondered how much anyone had told Wayne about what happened. This wasn’t the face of someone whose entire world had been turned around with admissions of monsters and hellscapes, but then again Wayne Munson was one of the strongest people Eddie had ever met in his entire life. Nothing would ever surprise him about Wayne, not even if he’d admitted he’d known about the Upside Down all this time.

“Sorry, Wayne,” was the only thing Eddie could even think to say. His head rolled to the side, squishing half of it on the pillow so he could properly face his uncle. “I’m sorry.”

“You should be,” Wayne forced out, though his entire body language relaxed after scrubbing his face harshly with his hands. His next sentence was spoken much softer like he was finally coming to terms with what had happened. “Putting yourself in harm's way, risking yourself for those kids...I’m proud of you, son.”

It wasn’t the first time Wayne had told him that. No, it was like he’d heard it somewhere in some self-help book on how to raise traumatized nephews because the man seemed to tell him it every day. Washed the dishes while Wayne was working? Proud father moment. Failed high school a second time but hey, his grade point average had actually gone up from the last attempt? He might as well have earned his degree that day with the way Wayne had whooped and hollered and shone in pride. 

It was far too much to hear now though, remembering far too plainly what it had felt like to be eaten alive, to know that those moments could have been his last. He didn’t want to spend any time considering what it would have been like if the group hadn’t gotten him out quickly enough, or consider what Wayne would have been telling the group instead if he’d died a hero. Would he still be proud of him?

“No more hero moves, cross my heart,” Eddie answered, trying to give that same cheeky smile that used to make his uncle howl with laughter. “Everyone’s okay?”

“They were worried somethin’ terrible about you,” Wayne told him, gesturing to the other side of the hospital room. 

Eddie wanted to cry when he turned his head. It was all cheesy stuff—little stuffed bears and balloons, and even a crayon drawing signed by Holly Wheeler. They all cared enough to leave him something, to wish that he’d get better even if they couldn’t be in the room when he’d woken up. There was one, though, that stood out to him even from the collection of items gathering on the counters on that side. 

“Is that a birthday card?” he asked, turning to face Wayne again. “Who left a birthday card?”

Had his secret admirer really heard about what had happened already? Had they come by, leaving behind the card that had been missing the last November?

“So many of those kids’ve been in here, I have no idea who left what,” Wayne admitted, though did stand to hand Eddie the card. It was the same silly kind he might have found at Melvald’s, this time with a little strawberry and a caption telling Eddie to have a berry happy birthday. It was the note written inside of the card, though, that had Eddie blushing furiously.

Get well soon, gorgeous. I know it’s not your birthday yet, but I couldn’t stand the thought of not being able to wish you a happy one ever again. Stick around for quite a few more, for me.

Eddie kept the card close to him, right there next to the pillow on the bed. Even when the nurses came in to check on him, and Wayne had left to get ready for work, the card had stayed there to help him through every bit of his hospital stay. It was a lifeboat in the vastness that was his hospital stay, contingent on how well nightmare-inducing monster wounds healed over the next few days. Even when everyone else had to go back to their own responsibilities, his secret admirer remained there for him. 

In the morning, he had a new visitor. 

“Eddie!” the familiar voice screeched as the boy sprinted into the room, quickly followed by a pair of white Nikes and another voice calling after the first, “Hey, no! He could be sleeping, don’t yell.”

 Nothing could ever prepare him for the speed at which Henderson rushed to his bedside, immediately wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug. “You’re awake! You can’t scare us like that, Eddie, it’s not cool,” Dustin said after pulling from the hug. 

“Hey, couldn’t let Harrington be the only hero,” Eddie teased, sending a pointed look to the man standing in the doorway of the hospital room. “You can come in, I don’t bite. Or maybe I do now, d’you think this is how vampires are created?”

“You’re not a vampire,” Dustin scolded, though he was laughing too.

“You’re feeling better, Munson?” Steve asked when he finally moved away from the doorframe, eyes tracking the hospital bed like something might attack him if he dared turn away.

“I’m feeling about twenty pounds lighter,” Eddie teased, “I’d highly recommend the demobat diet.”

There was something so odd about making Steve Harrington laugh. The sound snorted out of him at first, like a burst of water from behind a dam as though he hadn’t truly intended to let it out in the first place. Then he’d seem to realize where he was, or rather, whom he was with, and then he’d grow red in the face and the laugh would peter out. Steve would wipe his hand over his mouth like he might be able to stuff the laugh right back in. 

Eddie found himself longing to hear the sound in all its glory. He’ll add that one on the checklist after ‘graduate from Hawkins High’ and ‘clear his name of murder’.

“You’re a hero, Eddie!” Dustin told him as if being able to read his thoughts. “Hopper and Owens’ team of freaky government people—no, I know, trust me—spent all weekend working on a story. No one thinks you’re a suspect.”

“Just like that? Some government suits wave their hands and I’m just fine?” Eddie questioned, instinctively looking to Steve for some kind of confirmation of what Dustin had said.

“Yeah. Some people in town aren’t taking it too well, but mostly...you’re free,” Steve confirmed, smiling brightly. 

Apparently, they’d told the town it was an earthquake and not the death of an interdimensional monster that had been created in Hawkin’s very own freaky ass lab. Wayne had been told a little of what happened after he’d questioned the whole cover story, but mostly they left it for Eddie to explain when he was ready. 

Though there was some damage to the town, it wasn’t enough to completely destroy the town’s functions. School was still continuing, and as much as the Party begged to stay home so they could visit Eddie, their parents said no. Dustin had wanted to come sooner, he’d told Eddie about four times the entire visit, but their lives were all hectic after the final battle.

It made sense, it did. It didn’t help Eddie’s loneliness in the moment, but he’d get through it. He was used to pushing through the tough moments on his own. 

“What’s that?” Dustin asked, not bothering to wait for approval before he was snatching the card from under Eddie’s pillow. “Birthday? I thought it was in November.”

“It is, you nosey little brat,” Eddie laughed, reaching out for the card again. “I’ll have you know, I have a secret admirer.”

“Seriously? Who is it?”

“If I knew that, they wouldn’t be very secret, would they?” Eddie said. “I don’t know. Went to high school with them. I’ll find them eventually, if they want me to.”

Dustin change the topics quickly when the idea of romance and secret love grew to be too boring for him. It was easy to listen to the kid talk, every once in awhile throwing in a comment that would reroute the conversation more often than not. It was nice, relaxing. If Eddie closed his eyes, he could almost imagine the Upside Down had never happened and he was sitting back at Hellfire Club with all of his friends.

Dustin stayed until Steve was reminding him of the curfew his mother had set for him. He’d hugged Eddie tight then hurried out of the room, leaving Steve to awkwardly raise a hand in goodbye with the promise to be back again soon.

Eddie hoped Steve kept his promise.

The birthday cards kept appearing. Eddie tried to stay awake to catch the suspect but time and again, he’d inevitably succumb to the pain medications pumped through the drip line, waking up to a new cheesy card. No one on the staff seemed to want to tell him who it was either, either saying they hadn’t seen anyone drop it off or that there’d been a handful of people his age who came to visit and it could’ve realistically been any one of them.

“I’m starting to think it’s a joke,” Eddie explained, setting the wooden box Wayne had brought over for the cards back on the side table. “Harrington, have you seen anyone else coming in here?”

That was the other odd change. Steve Harrington came to visit him nearly every day, even if it was a quick visit before or after his shift at the Family Video. He told Eddie it was because the others were busy with their families, and weren’t allowed out of the house after disappearing for a day and being accused of being in a cult, but Eddie couldn’t help but think it was because he was a hair lonely, too.

“Me? No, haven’t...haven’t seen whoever it is,” Steve answered, rubbing at the back of his neck and tugging at the hair there. “Do you have any ideas?”

“That’s the thing!” Eddie shouted, feeling the excitement building in him at the chance to talk about this with someone. No one else had seemed to understand the significance of it all, that they were more than just birthday cards but promises of something good and worthwhile being in Hawkins. It was the promise that, somewhere out there, someone had looked past all the rumors and dramatic gestures and had seen him. They’d seen him and wanted to stay.

Apparently, Steve Harrington understood it too. The Harrington-Wheeler breakup scandal had been well-known throughout the school, and it hadn’t been difficult to see the downward progression in the jock’s moods after the infamous scene—so it was easy to figure that Harrington understood deeply what it meant to not be wanted. 

“He doesn’t leave many clues. I know he graduated in ‘85 but that’s all I can figure out.” With little to do in the hospital, it had been the perfect time-consuming activity for Eddie to pour over each and every card, searching for anything that would tell him more about this person.

“How do you know it’s a ‘he’?” Steve asked, hands fidgeting with themselves in his lap. He’d said it out loud, hadn’t he? Eddie hadn’t meant to reveal his second theory, especially not to the King of Hawkins himself who might’ve once beaten him up for such a confession.

“The handwriting, mostly,” Eddie conceded. “Don’t worry, big boy, just ‘cause I like guys doesn’t mean I’ll come onto you too.”

“No! No, I know that Eddie, I do,” Steve rushed to correct, even lifting off the chair a little in his seriousness. “I—Shit, I’m...I like guys too. And girls. I just like people, I guess.”

There weren’t many things that could leave Eddie speechless. The time he saw Judas Priest in concert, the first time a guy had ever kissed him when they were high in his van, and now Steve Harrington telling him that he was bisexual. All Eddie could do was stare, even when Steve began to blush and curl his shoulders inward under the look. 

“It’s not that big a deal, man,” Steve tried to brush it off, rubbing at the back of his neck again as if to broadcast his nervousness.

“Jesus H. Christ, this is a huge deal, Steve!” Eddie shouted excitedly, moving as well as he could to sit cross-legged on the bed, facing the chair Steve was bent over in. “This is the hugest fucking deal. You, Steve “The Hair” Harrington, like to suck dick with the rest of us. You know what this means?”

“What does this mean?” Steve asked, with the sort of fond exasperated look that made Eddie want to take a picture and keep it close, forever. 

“It means you’re a certified, genuine freak!” Eddie cheered, hardly minding the strain in some of his healing wounds when he raised his arms in the air to cheer. “Welcome to the team, Stevie, how’s it feel?”

“Honestly?” Steve asked, tugging his hand through the front swoop of his hair. It was almost irritating how often he could stick his hands in the mop and still have it look devastatingly perfect. “It feels pretty good, man. If I’d known this is what it was like? I would’ve been a freak a long time ago.”

Then the man seemed to realize what they were talking about. He shook his head a little, head dipping like it was too much to make eye contact with Eddie at that moment. “Anyway, your secret note guy. You’re really serious about finding him?”

“He’s remembered to wish me a happy birthday every year for four years, Steve,” Eddie answered nearly immediately. “He remembers me, every year, and always takes time out of his day to let me know that. Of course, I want to find him.”

“But what if...what if he’s not what you’re expecting? What if you get disappointed?”

It was a possibility, Eddie supposed. It could end up being all a joke, or just someone who wanted to pay kindness to someone who needed it without really wanting any kind of relationship in the end. It could all still be a dream, too, and he’d wake up back in Hawkins High without having anyone in his corner. 

“As long as they’re real, I can’t be disappointed,” Eddie admitted, hoping it didn’t sound as cheesy or desperate as he felt.

They didn’t talk about his secret admirer again. Instead, they talked about plans after school and how all the kids were doing now that they knew with absolute certainty that this Upside Down shit was done for good. Steve stayed until sunset and one of the nurses came in to remind him that he still had to follow visiting hour rules too.

A week after the Upside Down, something went wrong.

They were calling it some kind of infection, and it had spread too quickly to stop it early. By the time they had any idea what was going on, Eddie was sweaty and gross, too out of it to understand anything. In brief flashes of consciousness, he thought he heard the staff telling Wayne that this was scary serious, that there was a chance he wouldn’t pull through after all.

It felt a little like he was on another planet, in those days when his body was fighting off some strange bacteria. There was no pain, no town of people to worry about when he recovered, just simple blissful nothingness.

And then he recovered. 

It was like a rope was connected to his belly button, yanking him harshly back into his body with a pained groan. They were clearly still pumping him full of pain medication, but the overwhelming soreness that came from days spent in a stiff hospital bed still hadn’t eased.

“Eddie? Are you awake?” a voice sniffed out to his left, followed by the sound of a chair scraping against the floor and hurried footsteps over to his side of the bed. “Eddie?”

The room was too bright, as always. He wished hospitals had a dimmer switch or at least some way to turn off the fucking lights that were clearly trying to blind every patient in the whole damn building. Eddie winced, blinking through the blurriness that came from having his eyes closed for however many days he’d been out. Still, he wasn’t wholly convinced that he wasn’t still out, considering the sight before him now.

Steve Harrington was on his knees by the bed, holding onto one of Eddie’s hands between both of his own like it was a lifeline. Those big brown doe eyes were glassy and full of tears, letting some of them slip down in glossy tracks down his cheeks. The sight reminded Eddie of those Greek paintings he’d seen on a field trip to a museum in middle school, where the tragic hero looked absolutely gorgeous in their complete and utter sorrow. He hadn’t understood at the time why anyone would want to capture people in their grief forever, but looking at Steve’s fragile expression now, he almost understood.

“God, Eddie, I thought you were gonna d—” Steve winced, cutting himself off before he could say the word they both were thinking.

“Hey, can’t get rid of me that easy,” Eddie chuckled, voice a little deeper and rougher from disuse. “Please don’t cry, Steve, I’m not worth all those tears.”

“Stop, please,” Steve suddenly begged, eyebrows drawing together in near frustration even as a new wave of tears fell over his lower eyelids. “I wish you’d stop talking about yourself like that.”

“It’s okay,” Eddie told him, shrugging his shoulders as best he could in bed. “It’s really okay.”

“It’s not okay, Eddie, it’s not!” Steve pressed, using his free hand to scrub harshly at the tears on his face before reaching behind him on the chair for something. “It’s not okay. You keep letting everyone around you act like you’re not the kindest, funniest, most badass person in all of Hawkins. Like, for some reason you don’t think you’re worth the effort either and that...that fucking sucks, man.”

Eddie’s pretty sure he died and went to some version of heaven, because after the kind of speech he thought only existed in the cheesy romance films Wayne liked to watch when he thought Eddie was asleep, Steve pulled out a birthday card.

A fucking birthday card. 

“I’ve wanted to tell you for so long, but every time I try to talk I just mess it up,” Steve continued, holding out the card with a shaky hand for Eddie to take. “I’m no good with my words but...but I can do this, so...”

The inside of the card was filled to the brim with writing, the words as small as possible while still being legible. Eddie’s hands quivered as he tried to read, having to rest the card on the bed finally to make it even possible for him to focus.

Happy birthday, gorgeous.

I know your birthday is November 5th, but somehow I can only find the courage to tell you how I feel in these cards.

It was an accident, the first time. I meant to put it in Tina’s locker next to yours, and then even worse I forgot to sign it. But maybe it was for the best I had because you never would have thought it was something good if you’d known it was me, back then. I wasn’t going to do it again, but I saw that smile when you read it. I saw it when you opened your locker days later, I saw how your entire face would soften like it was the most prized possession you’d ever had, and I knew then I was hooked.

I looked forward to November every year after that. I wanted to be the one to make you smile, to bring you some sort of happiness. There was so much I wanted that I never thought I could have, but most of all it was you. I wanted to know everything about you, wanted to see what you kept hidden away from everyone else in the school. I wanted to know who Eddie Munson was.

And hell, I did. The Upside Down never did anything good, but maybe just this once I can say something good came out of being involved: I got to know you. 

Then you almost died, Eddie. Twice. You almost died twice and I thought I’d never get the chance to tell you everything. I thought you’d die never knowing that you’re the most radiant person I know, and that every moment I get to spend with you I feel like the luckiest person on Earth. 

I really like you, Eddie, and I knew maybe from the moment I first saw that smile that I would love you too. 

Eddie read over the words once, twice, three times as if to make sure they actually existed and wouldn’t change on him. It didn’t seem real that after all this time, it was Steve who’d been his hope for so long. It was Steve Harrington who’d been able to see right through him from the start and didn’t run from what he saw. It was Steve Harrington who was the first person who made him feel entirely capable of being loved in that way.

“What the fuck,” Eddie hissed out, fingers running gently over the words like that might help him take them in better. “Steve, what the hell.”

The slight crumple in Steve’s expression should’ve clued Eddie into how his statement was perceived, but all he could do was stare with wild eyes at the man who’d just poured his heart out to him. 

“I’m sorry, Eddie. It doesn’t have to mean anything, we can pretend it didn’t happen. But I needed you to know, I just needed you to know,” Steve hurried out, the tears beginning to build being the only thing that snapped Eddie out of his complete shock.

“Like hell, we can pretend,” Eddie returned just as quickly, “I don’t wanna pretend. Stevie, you...it was you.”

“It was me...surprise,” Steve said, voice lilting oddly like it was dripping with every ounce of self-deprecation that existed in the man.

“Steve, I really want to kiss you but I can’t move, help me out?”

It was Eddie’s turn to shock Steve then. He nearly laughed at the way Steve’s eyes widened impossibly further, eyebrows reaching as far up his forehead as they’d go. Even his lips parted at the statement, leaving him looking like he might combust if Eddie said another word. 

Then, all at once, Steve was rushing to his feet and leaning over the bed. Large hands were grabbing at either side of Eddie’s face and Steve’s lips were pressed to his own. He was gentle at first, hesitant to give Eddie time to back away from the move. When no such thing happened, Steve pressed harder, one hand moving further back to tangle in Eddie’s unruly hair. 

It was magical and impossible and absolutely glorious all at once. Eddie never wanted the kiss to stop, wanted to remain in this moment for however long the universe would allow him to.

He’d blame the breathlessness and the shock for what he said after.

“It’s November 7th. My birthday, it’s November 7th.”

Steve was still leaning over him, face so close Eddie had to go slightly cross-eyed to focus on him. The proximity allowed him to see every minute change in Steve’s face as the confusion set in, however. The little wrinkle between his eyebrows, the slight downturn to his lips as he thought about what Eddie had said.

“But...I gave the first one to you on the 5th. You knew I was getting your birthday wrong and it never upset you?”

Eddie shrugged a little. “It was close enough.”

“Well,” Steve started, laughing as he tossed the latest birthday card toward the end of the bed so he wouldn’t crush it as he leaned further onto the bed. “I’ll get it right this year, gorgeous, I promise.”

“You better, I’m looking forward to it,” Eddie teased through the burning feeling that washed over his cheeks. 

Their second kiss was somehow even better than the first, as magical as Eddie’d been dreaming about for years. 

TAGLIST: @alessiamargaux @minispice-1 @shadetea @emily19990 @alexxavicry @raven2008 @whoringrove @strangerleaves @blackpanzy @goodproofingwater @greetings-and-salutations @doralovesit @lesbianpinkhairedjughead @kerlypride @singmeyoursimpsong @im-sam-fucking-winchester @angel_wings_and_tattoos @itch-my-b0nez

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[mlmxreader]

Tío | platonic!Alejandro Vargas x m!reader

anonymous asked: Hello! I love your work man

Can I request Alejandro x male reader but reader is a teenager (or just younger in general) and Alejandro is an uncle figure for him

summary: Alejandro is so, so proud of the man, the soldier, that you have become.

tws: smoking, mentions of violence

Alejandro loved it when he was sent to work with the Gurkhas for a while, as it always gave him a chance to see his adopted nephew; it always gave him a chance to see the young soldier who he had taken under his wing a long while ago, and had kept an eye on ever since. The complete lack of blood relation didn't matter, as far as you and Alejandro were concerned, he was very much your uncle. The young soldier from Nepal who Alejandro had met through none other than Price, he had practically watched you grow up; from a private, to one of the most infamous Gurkhas alive, Alejandro's pride in you could only ever be compared to that of a father's. He took the chance to visit when he could.

Six pack boxes of Red Bull sat on the desk, the ashtray half full, the stench of Marlboro cigarettes harsh in the air, the sound of 'Adrenaline' by Joe Ford and Hacktivist loud as Alejandro smiled; he found himself nodding along to the song as he admired the decorative medals and trophies on the wall. You certainly were accomplished, clearly thriving as a Gurkha. He couldn't be prouder, his hands clasped behind his back as he read the letter from high command, congratulating you on a job well done; he took a picture, and sent it to the group chat that he was in with Rudy and task force one four one, captioning it with how proud he was. But then the door opened, and Alejandro had to act quick as he stuffed his phone into his pocket, just in time for you to grab him as you hugged him tightly.

"Tío Ale!"

Alejandro grinned as he held you close to him. "(y/n)! How are you?"

"Did you see the letter?" You asked, excitement in your voice. "The one high command sent?"

"Sí, I did," he nodded. "Well done, muchacho!"

You grinned, tapping his shoulder as you pulled away, making your way to the desk so that you could light up a cigarette. "It's thanks to you, y'know, Tío."

He scoffed, sitting down at the desk and putting his feet up on it as 'Reprogram' by the same band started to play just as loudly. "How so?"

"If it weren't for you, Price wouldn't have recommended me to the Gurkhas," you explained, "if he hadn't have done that, then I wouldn't be where I am now... I owe everything to you, sāthi."

Alejandro scoffed as he shook his head, resting his hands on his stomach as he watched you for a moment; he could hardly believe that you were the young soldier from Nepal that he had met all those years ago. He wondered where the time went, wondered how the time had slipped through his fingers so quickly; he had done his best to capture it all as much as he could, suddenly wishing that he could pause time just so that you wouldn't grow up so quickly in front of him. He couldn't wipe the proud smile from his face, though, wanting to let precious time go by just so that he could try and remember the moment; he felt like a father watching his child grow up, go to school and start going out with friends, a sort of bittersweet joy and pride.

"You okay?" You asked, chuckling softly.

Alejandro shook his head. "It's nothing, sobrino... you're just growing up so fast."

You shrugged, leaning against the wall opposite him as you cleared your throat and tilted your head to the side. "Yeah, but... I'll never stop being your bhatījā."

"lo sé," he whispered, nodding. "I know, muchacho... you're getting bigger every time I see you... where'd the time go, eh?"

You couldn't help but to laugh, shaking your head and daring to sit with him, leaning on the desk as you grinned. "Slips by, don't it?"

Alejandro nodded again. "I remember when I brought you with me to meet the others in the task force and you were half asleep at the table."

"Please don't," you chuckled, shaking your head. "I'll never live that down."

He tittered. "No, you won't... I'm proud of you, niño. Really."

"I know, Tío," you murmured, nodding. "You remind me every time we're in the same room."

"I mean it," Alejandro said seriously, running a hand through his hair. "I'm really proud of you, sobrino. You've done well, really well."

You shook your head, taking a last few drags before stubbing the cigarette out in the ashtray. "You don't have to keep reminding me, y'know... I know you're proud, Tío. I know."

"I'll keep reminding you," he shrugged. "Just don't be a idiota engreído."

You laughed softly. "I won't, bhatījā... pratijñā."

"Good," he cleared his throat. "You gonna show me around?"

You nodded, practically jumping out of your seat and rushing towards the door, grinning like an idiot; Alejandro got up slowly, and when you tried to run off, he laughed as he told you to slow down, he wasn't as young as he used to be after all. But you were so excited, so eager to show him where the Gurkhas trained and lived when they weren't out on missions; he felt tears prick at his eyes, so proud of you when you showed him how they had trained you to decapitate enemies with the infamous kukri blades. He really did wonder where the time had gone between him meeting you and taking you under his wing as a young soldier, to seeing you perform flawlessly on the training fields with your kukri; you were dangerous, capable of fatally wounding someone without thinking twice, belonging to one of the most brutal, infamous, and most elite forces to exist.

But to Alejandro, you were still that young soldier from years ago that he had watched grow up. You weren't a Gurkha to him, you were his nephew, and he loved you to pieces and although you told him not to tell you so much, he really was just that proud of you.

if you liked this fic, REBLOG IT - you SHOULD reblog it; spam likers WILL be blocked. as will blogs that refuse to reblog or to give feedback. if you don't wanna reblog, then you'll get blocked; reblogging is the BARE MINIMUM. don't just "like", REBLOG

[befemininenow]

Extra caption no. 69 of 69: Close the closet door and open a new road!

This is it, the final extra caption post! What better way to conclude this chapter than to use one of two of the most captioned pictures as part of my last Flashback Friday: the one where a woman opens the door and takes a peek outside closed doors and the other pic where the woman looks towards the far road. It can be interpreted as a metaphor for curiosity of the outside, for conquering fear, for moving forward, whatever meaning you have.

But as a transgender girl (or trans woman since I’m an adult), the pics have a meaning. I’ll share my thought for the first: coming out of the closet is a very challenging process. For many, it’s easy to keep a front (i.e. a fake image) to satisfy even those that may not like you. Everyone is satisfied, everyone... except you.

It’s very difficult to be your authentic self because everything has at least a boundary. In the case of being transgender, it’s becoming more apparent: anti-trans laws, restriction of HRT, document changes, hate propaganda, persecution, acceptance by loved ones, etc. But even if all of this did not exist, there is one major barrier to your coming out: you. Staying inside the closet is a real-life nightmare. It drains your energy and will in place of “safe solitude”. You question yourself daily and look at someone foreign to you in the mirror. It gets to the point where you begin to despise yourself. Some people will start to notice your drastic change and may ask “what’s wrong?” But in fear of letting them down or losing them for life, you decline and continue to be who you’re not.

But in the rare times you’re happy, it’s when you dressed up as a girl. It’s not because of a dare or a thrill. It’s because you wish to look feminine, to learn about the other side, to stay in touch with femininity, to be looking at... to be, you.

It’s okay to let go. Fighting those tears will hurt you more. But I promise you, girl, everything will be much better here. The few that hate you are too vocal... because they’re afraid of becoming irrelevant. The general majority are quite indifferent, but they will not let hate prevail either. In reality, there is more support for you to be yourself, for your right to exist. But that may only happen if you leave that dark room.

It will be tough, yes. You will lose close friends and loved ones and possibly gain a few enemies on your way. There will also be more obstacles to prevent you from succeeding. But nothing will be impossible when you finally become yourself. Leaving as a woman in that quiet, wide road is as satisfying as it sounds. You will meet new adventures and new companions that will be part of your new chapter, the chapter of transition into your feminine self. And it all starts when you finally let the beautiful girl in the collar blouse out...

[pablitogavii]

Double Trouble

Summary: Reader is best friend with Pedri's gf and the four of them go on a double date after a match at Camp Nou.

*Pedri's gf is called Francesca :)

Pairing: Pablo Gavi x Reader

Warnings: none I can think of :)

You and Francesca were sitting on the backseats of Pedri's mini copper while Gavi sat on the passenger seat as the four of you drove to Camp Nou for their next game.

"You guys nervous at all?" you ask out of curiosity

"No!" boys said in unison making you and Francesca laugh from the backseat knowing that was far from the truth.

"Did yours have a nervous stomach last night too?" Francesca said mocking Pedri and you giggled nodding your head noticing Pablo's side eye.

"Yep!" you answer much to Pablo's dismay..see, he acted all tough and cocky around his teammates but truth is they are both two big teddy bears.

"They are totally lying!" Pablo fought back with Pedri's support before all four of your laughed in response.

"We're here..okay stay close ladies or you might get snatched by fans and paparazzi reporters" Pedri said after parking the car before the two boys got out first causing immediate screams. They opened the doors for the two of you taking your hands before walking through the crowd.

They made sure that the two of you were in the middle with them on each end just in case and everyone was screaming at the fact that you were both wearing your boyfriend's jerseys snapping ungodly amount of pictures before you entered the camp.

"Alright, we are off to the changing room for the warm up. Come here amor..." Pablo said pulling you on one side while Pedri pulled Francesca to the other.

Pablo's arms wrapped around your waist while yours were around his neck and he leaned into a passionate "good luck" kiss.

"Good luck, amorcito! I will be cheering for you up there!" you say after pulling away and he kissed your nose playfully.

"I will play for you, mi corazón. You be good with Fran up there" he said and you blushed nodding your head before pecking his lips one more time and letting him go off with Pedri.

You joined Francesca as you both turned your backs to the boys taking a picture together meanwhile they looked in adoration at their names flashing on your backs.

"We are so lucky, hermano..." Pedri said what Pablo was thinking in that exact moment.

"Let's go win for our girls!" Pablo added before they departed to the changing rooms the image of their girls in their jerseys forever engraved in their heads.

You and Fran got to your seats smiling at each other before noticing your boys getting onto the pitch for a warm up. They were stretching and passing the ball around before both looking at your direction waving with big smiles on their faces. Of course you waved back sending them kisses before they returned to warm up session.

"They are so adorable!" Fran said and you smiled nodding your head taking a video to post on your story with a large caption "visca barça!"

As the game started, even the commentator spoke how on fire Pablo and Pedri were from the initial second already making a chance before the first three minutes passed.

"Barely ten minutes of the game and we already see a magnificent play from Barça Golden Boys..that's that La Masia schooling..and here is another chance..Balde passing to Gavi who passes to Lewandowski back to Gavi..Pedri..GOOOOOLL! GOL! GOL! GOL!" the whole camp went on their feet as you and Fran cheered loudly hugging each other shortly after.

At the same time Pablo hugged Pedri as the rest of the players surrounded them celebrating the beautiful start of the game.

"Some questioned Xavi's choice of using most young players from La Masia for the starting team but this proves what a talent he has in this team..this is new Barcelona..new generation!" commentator spoke as the game continued and you were focused on Pablo gripping his jersey noticing how the opposing team started fouling players a lot more out of anger.

One of them slid into Pablo's legs making him fall and you flinched in worry feeling Fran's hand grab your while you were trying to see if he was seriously hurt. Pedri rushed to check on his friend while the opposing player received a yellow card for his foul.

Pablo sat up turning towards your side of the stands raising a thumbs up knowing how worried you get and you caught your breath smiling again thankful that he was alright.

"Everything is fine, amiga" Fran reassured you and you smiled leaning your head on her shoulder thankful to have her besides you. Being best friends with her felt like the most natural thing in the world, you both understood each other and had similar difficulties when it came to dating footballers.

"Looks like Gavi decided to get his payback right away! He is dribbling past the opposing players like it's nothing..passing to Pedri..back to Gavi and GOOOOOLLLLLL!" once again you cheered smiling proudly while kissing the barça sign of his jersey you were wearing.

"Unstoppable duo! Gavi and Pedri! Pedri and Gavi! What a tandem!" everyone was chasing their names and the both of you were so proud in that moment of your boys.

"Gavi! Pedri! Gavi! Pedri!" chants were all around you

They ran away from the celebrating crowd rushing to stand in front of your stand and point at you while hugging each other. You looked at Fran before you both got up turning around and showing their names on your backs which the big camera caught displaying it on the big screen as everyone cheered.

"Beautiful..scoring for girls they love! What an amazing passion from these two young talents!" commentator said and you both turned around sending them kisses before the game continued.

The game ended with 2:0 score and you were excited to celebrate with a double date dinner the boys promised if they won and not only did they do so but they both scored goals.

"I'm proud of you boys! What a game!" Xavi greeted them with big hugs and pats on the head.

"Sir..um..can we??" Pablo hinted and Xavi smiled nodding his head

"Go and tell your girls I need them here all the time if that means you two play this good" he said making the boys chuckle before rushing towards the halls to find the two of you.

You waited while chatting to each other when suddenly you were both hugged from behind by the pair of sweaty arms making you jump and turn around to kiss your boys.

"What are you doing here so early?" Fran said making you giggle at Pablo's disheveled state but you could tell just how happy he felt right now which warmed your heart.

"You didn't even change" you say moving his sweaty curls from his forehead and he leaned into the touch.

"Xavi let us come give you a quick kiss before changing" Pablo said pecking your lips again and Pedri did the same with Francesca.

Soon enough fans noticed them starting to rush begging for pictures but they grabbed your hands and pulled you away into the restricted area before taking a few pictures politely.

Soon enough they changed and you were ready to head out when everything cleared.

"Can we go to a sushi restaurant?" Francesca offered and you nodded enthusiastically that being your favorite food as well, one of many things the two of you shared.

"Whatever you want girls" Pedri said with Pablo's nod and you quickly hugged your boy kissing his lips a few times making him smirk at your little excitement.

This time you sat back with Pablo while Francesca sat at the passenger seat holding one of Pedri's hands while the other one was on the steering wheel as he drove.

"I'm so proud of you!" you say with your head rested on his shoulder and he pulled you closer kissing your forehead lovingly.

"I said I was going to play for you princesa" Pablo answered and you smiled looking up so he can give you a quick peck on the lips.

"We're still beating their asses at cards later! Right, amiga?" Francesca said and you nodded high fiving her before turning to Pablo's raised eyebrows that made you shrug.

"We won't let you win like always Pedri said seeing Pablo's smirking face knowing that the moment you two give them pouting faces, they will fold and let you win.

"You're just jealous we are a better duo!" you joke making Francesca laugh while the two boys groaned rolling their eyes.

"We are the Gavi and Pedri duo of the card game!" Francesca added making now boys join in on the laughter.

The dinner was amazing as the four of you talked about random things and enjoyed being together after such an amazing game. Some fans asked for pictures and the boys of course complied showing gratitude for their support before the four of you went to your Pablo's shared apartment for the promised card game.

"Here are the drinks!" you brought some beers and popcorn to snack on while playing. You all loved moments like this, where you could be carefree and enjoy being young together.

It was tied after two rounds and it was the final one that will determine which team won. You knew your cards were shitty as you noticed Fran's were too so per usual you used your "special methods".

You moved to sit closer to Pablo leaning your head on his shoulder while Fran went behind and hugged Pedri smirking towards you. The boys hid their cards smirking at each other knowing what was happening right now..you were going to lose and wanted them to give up.

"I love you Pablitoo" you whisper kissing his jaw while he looked down at you still deciding weather to fold but your puppy dog eyes were making it impossible to make you sad.

"Mierda! What do we do hermano?" Pedri said being in the same exact position and Pablo smirked at his friend holding your chin up and smiling in defeat.

"Look at them..we have to give up" Pablo said and Pedri agreed as they yet again allowed you to win the game and the two of you cheered doing their infamous "celebrations" still wearing their jerseys as they both laughed.

"Good thing we don't play fútbol against them.." Pablo added and y'all laughed out loud.

If you like this, I might make it a mini series :) Comment your thoughts <3

[burnwater13]

The Armorer speaking to Din Djarin and Paz Vizsla (out of frame) in the Mandalorian covert on Nevarro. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 1, Episode 3, The Sin. Calendar by DateWorks. Caption reads: When one chooses to walk the Way of the Mandalore, you are both hunter and prey. - The Armorer.

So who exactly was the Mand’alor? Grogu was pretty sure that he wasn’t the Mand’alor, but what about his dad? According to Bo-Katan, whoever won the Darksaber in battle was the new Mand’alor. But even though his dad had done that, she didn’t bow, or curtsey or even nod her head in his general direction. 

Then his dad had given it to her or let her keep it after that weird creature on Mandalore had attacked him and carried him away. Yes, Bo-Katan had defeated that creature, but so what. She had managed to pick up the Darksaber from the floor of the cavern. She used it as a tool to fight with, but it wasn’t like the creature was using it to fight her. 

And okay, even that transitive property of winning a fight with a person who won a fight with a person who had last handled the Darksaber was enough to make that legitimate ownership of the Darksaber, why was that even a way of becoming Mand’alor? That seemed kind of silly. The Armorer hadn’t even believed that was the proper way to become Mand’alor. If anyone was going to know, Grogu figured they would. 

But as Grogu thought back on the few interactions he’d had with the the talented beskar smith, he was pretty sure that she had never said anything about how a person actually became Mand’alor. Why was that? It seemed like a pretty important thing to know, particularly after they’d figured out that Mandalore the planet wasn’t just a glassified wasteland of a planet. 

“Buddy, the point is moot. Bo-Katan is Mand’alor because the Mandalorian people have proclaimed her to be Mand’alor. It’s as simple as that.”

Grogu hated it when his dad read his mind like he was some sort of Jedi. He knew that the people present on Mandalore had rallied around Bo-Katan because she had been the last Mand’alor and she’d led them into that battle with the Imps that no one knew were still on Mandalore. But of course, from his perspective, a lot of that happened because of his dad and the Armorer. None of it really had anything to do with the Darksaber. It was just a thing. What power did it actually have?

According to legend it had been made by Tarre Vizsla, a Jedi, who also happened to be Mandalorian. But how Mandalorian could he have been? The Jedi started training people at a very young age. It didn’t seem logical that they would have let any particular youngling maintain any sort of deep attachment to a home world when they didn’t let them maintain an attachment to their own family. Why would have Tarre Vizsla cared about them or made a lightsaber out of beskar? How would he have even gotten the beskar?

“Grogu, that was a long time ago and even Mandalorians don’t know the answers to those questions. How do you think a person should become Mand’alor?”

There was his dad again! Just butting right into his thoughts again.

“Buddy, in case you didn’t notice, you’ve been using the sign language the Sand People taught you to do all this ‘thinking out loud’. I couldn’t avoid understanding you.”

Grogu chirped a rather sharp rebuke to his dad. He could have closed his eyes and let Grogu rant in peace. But no, not his dad. Not ‘The Mandalorian, Din Djarin’. He couldn’t…

“Okay, kid. Maybe we should just head back to the ship. You seem pretty over stimulated already.”

His dad reached down to pick him up but Grogu dodged his hands quickly and reached out and grabbed the giant Mythosaur shaped lollypop that he’d been considering since they entered the candy shop that had opened right next door to the Cin Vhetin. This was the one piece of candy he wanted. He just hoped it worked.

“Grogu, I know the legend about the Mythosaur and I’m pretty sure that riding a Mythosaur shaped lollipop around New Sundari won’t make you Mand’alor. Sorry, buddy.”

Dank Farrik! His dad had figured him out. Grogu wanted to have a proper pout about that, as he’d learned Mand’alors were allowed to do that when things didn’t go perfectly their way, but that wasn’t going to happen. His dad was a Mandalorian and scooped him up, lollipop and all and went over to the proprietor of the shop. 

“Is that all the little one wants? No fire stacks or popping eggs?”

She spoke in Mando’a and Grogu was glad that he was able to keep up with her. He’d been practicing when his dad was asleep because according to Din Djarin his accent wasn’t perfect. Uff. 

“Nayc. He’s already pretty wound up about this one.”

She grinned at them both. Grogu liked her instantly. She had pretty green eyes. 

“Every one who hopes to become Mand’alor, children and adults, ask for this particular confection at least once. I’m sorry to say I have never seen it work, but there is no fault in wishing for it.”

Din Djarin sighed.

“Now, he’ll want to come here everyday to try again.”

Grogu laughed and nodded his head. He was definitely going to do that. 

“Perhaps you should ask him why he wants to be Mand’alor. Most of the children have a pretty simple reason for that wish.”

“What the heck. Grogu. Why do you want to be Mand’alor?”

Grogu signed his response as quickly as he could because he didn’t want his dad to stop him.

The Mandalorian shook his head. 

“Did you catch any of that?” 

“Not if you don’t want me to, but I will say that is a very popular sentiment among the foundlings who have returned. They would like to see the smiles and laugh lines and tears. They think that there’s no reason to hide now that they have been returned to Mandalore. Perhaps they are right.”

“Perhaps they are.”

Grogu sighed and let his dad think that was the last word they would have on the subject for the time being. As long as Din Djarin understood that someday soon he could take off that helmet and let Grogu see those brown eyes again Grogu could wait patiently. Eventually he’d ride a real Mythosaur and his dad couldn’t deny him because he’d be Mand’alor for real.