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zepskies · 23 hours ago

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ehehe I know I'm on the right track if I can make you laugh, Wayne! 😂💜

Ah yes, classic man with his "I'm fine." He'd probably still say, halfway through bleeding to death 😂

😆😆 Dean:

Hahaha such a good point! Hard to argue with that 😆

lol right? If he's not complaining about someone else driving his Baby, then something's clearly amiss. 😂

Yup, and have Sam stich you up with tooth floss, right, big boy? 😂

ahhaha "big boy" took me out, but yeah that floss is really gonna cut it 😂

While she's filling out his form, I had Ross and Joey in my head, too 😂

omg YES, that's the idea lmao. And you found the kidney stones gif!! 🤣🤣 I raise you with:

Awww, yeah ❤️‍🩹 But that's such a good point! Since Dean survived the finale and nothing ever happened in that barn, he has to face his mortality in a way. The "Fuck, what happens when I'm old and wrinkly" phase 😅

Quite literally all of that (glossing over 15x20 like જ⁀➴), and I just like the grounded humanness of Sam and Dean having to deal with the potential resulting health issues from decades of hunting, getting knocked out and stitched back together again, living on the road, etc. 😂

The ending was so wholesome! And I imagined the reader from Midnight Espresso. She was so warm, caring, stubborn, and sassy, too. Totally gave me the same vibes! 😭💜

You know how to get me all warm fuzzy like, friend! loll I'm so glad this made you think of the Midnight Espresso-verse. 🥹💜💜 She's very much all of those things, and like Dean, a natural nurturer, so he has someone in his corner really looking after his wellbeing in the "healthy and cared for" sense. Not just the "ya good?" 😂

Oh, Beau... Not the prostate exam 😂🫶 Btw, I loved how you switched up the different doctors for each of them! The kind of doctor fit their personalities so well too and made it even funnier 🤣

ahaha I thought it was fitting for him!! 😝 Aw thank you for pointing that out! I try to fit each situation with what's best for the character, and on this one I felt like showcasing different kinds of medical situations would be a fun way to do that. For some reason Beau always gets the (hopefully) funny everyday domestic issues 😆

Aaaah, I love that you incorporated this!!! Totally sounds like something he'd do too. Probably Jenny, Denise, and Cassie heard the same thing. He went on about it for days lmao

You've been on a roll recently giving me such good tidbits! lol Omg yeeeees he'd be complaining the whole week of post-man flu, probably even asking Denice if she can spy anything weird down his throat 🤣

Ugh, so true... Been trying to get my husband to go to one (and also been trying to get him to have a weird mole checked out for ten years. The argument: it hasn't changed in all that time, so it's probably fine 🙈😂)

oh my Goooood - men. 🤣 He needs to get that checked out! And isn't/wasn't he a military man? What's he afraid of?? 😂

Dead 💀🤣🤣🤣 (And on a side note: that aspect should be more featured in fics lol)

*snorts* not gonna lie, I was pretty proud of this line lmfao (idk why it's the first time I've referenced that kind of thing - maybe bc I'm not personally turned on by it that much, but I agree that it's a legit thing that isn't focused on as much in fanfic lol)

Oh, I'd make so many jokes when he comes back. Probably buy him donuts and other hole-shaped treats 😆

DEAD. Deceased. 🤣🤣 But I love how your mind works lolll. HC that she "rewards" him by buying him a dozen 🍩🍩🍩

Fuck, Alex... Ben fucking killed me! The fact that you picked a therapist was just hilariously delicious 😂

Girl I haaad to! 😜 Like, he would never go to the doctor anyway because he probably doesn't get sick enough to have to go, but a therapist? He definitely needs that appointment lol (or 12)

So true! I imagine it's hard staying level-headed with this man-child when he throws a tantrum. You almost have to talk louder to get through all of his white noise 🙈

Literally! It's like trying to be heard while a vacuum is going off. 🙄

But I'm really glad you thought his behavior in this was in character lol. He's kind of tricky as a character, but also predictable in some ways 🥲

That broke my heart a little, although it's so true 😭❤️‍🩹

Oh yeah, I broke my heart a little too on that one. 💙 I feel like that would be one of the few ways to get through to him in this situation.

Pffff 😂 Reminds me a little of that Rick & Morty episode where Rick refuses to go to therapy. I already feel bad for that psychiatrist 😆

LOL oh yeah, definitely feel bad for Dr. David on this one. He's gonna get an earful 😂😂

And of course Russell, much like Dean, is too "tough" for a doctor. A bullet wound you say? Nah, totally heals itself lol

Michelle said it in the comments -- there's a reason why women live longer in general lmfaooo

Hahaha I fucking knew she was checking him for injuries! Would've done the same thing 😂🫶 (Also, Russell, what did you expect? Sex? In this condition????)

Oh 100% she was after she clocked the way he was coming in 😂😂 (Russell's clearly an opportunist! 😆)

Again:

You need a hospital not a hardware store, you big idiot!!! God 😂🙈

LOL this comment had me deadd 💀

But he's got pliers! And dental floss! And an old bottle of whiskey in the trunk! (which functions as both disinfectant and a pain reliever: 2-in-1!) 😝

Yes, honestly, please quit. I wouldn't be able to sleep dating that man. What if he never comes homes from a job? 😢😭💔

Right?? It would be so heartbreaking. Ooh or the angst of an "almost." 😬 I actually have a long distance relationship Jacklesverse bingo square that I think I'm gonna have to use on Russell 😅❤️‍🩹

And I'm really curious what her punishment would've been. I'd make him eat veggies only for a month. That would break him 😂😜

lmfao that'll do it! No meat or sweets? He'd break for sure. I can hear him already, half desperation and half his usual self -

"Sweetheart, man can't live on spinach alone. That's how you get kidney stones." 😆

These were all so wonderful and so effing funny, friend! You nail these HC every time!!! ☺️💜

Awww you're amazing, thank you!!! 🥰 I honestly love doing these HCs! It's always a nice little creative reset for me. I'm so happy that you enjoy them! 💕

HEADCANON: Doctor's Appointment

HC: How would Dean Winchester, Beau Arlen, Soldier Boy (Ben), and Russell Shaw react when you try to take him to the doctor?

Pairings: Dean x Reader || Beau x Reader || Soldier Boy x Reader || Russell x Reader

AN: This one is a request from my lovely friend @spnbabe67 over on Patreon! 💜

Tags/Warnings: Established relationship, literal man children, medical stuff, angst, mentions of PTSD, hints of spice, fluffff

Dean Winchester

"I'm fine."

Ah yes, the same two growly words you've heard for an hour already.

"You're not fine," you testily reply. "You're not even 'Winchester fine.' You wanna know how I know? I'm driving the damn car right now!"

Dean shoots you a warning look.

One, you can tell he wants to say watch it on how you talk about his Baby.

Two, he doesn't want to admit that you're right.

He shifts in his seat with his arms crossed, trying to cover up a wince. It's the only tell that he's uncomfortable, even in pain, other than the fact that you've managed to hijack his car and take him to this damn doctor's appointment.

Dean can count on one hand the number of times he's been in a doctor's office for a genuine ailment, and not just trying to fish for information while impersonating some form of law enforcement.

That's because he's more of a "pour some whiskey on it," patch it up, and forget about it kinda guy.

And if we're talking about hospital stays, then that's usually a "one step away from death's door" kind of visit.

But when you first noticed something was off with Dean (confirming with Sam on the side of your suspicions), you did your damnedest to convince the man that he should see a doctor.

You even make the appointment for him as convenient as possible, around midday, so he doesn't have the excuse of it being too early to disturb his morning, or too late to mess up his afternoon.

Dean is a grumbly grizzly bear who only rolls his eyes in the waiting room when you offer him the clipboard to fill out his medical history.

"This is stupid," he says. "It’s probably just gonna clear up in a week or so anyway."

"You don't know that," you say. And you heave a sigh. Sometimes this man requires every last ounce of your ever-thinning patience.

You reclaim the clipboard and do this part for him too, filling out his fake-ass insurance information with his fake-ass name.

You detail his history and current symptoms to the best of your ability, and you make sure to jot down certain visits to free clinics in his past that he'd probably gloss over.

When the nurse opens the door and calls him back to see the doctor, Dean still glances over at you, mostly annoyed. But underneath, you sense his hesitation.

You slip your hand into his and get up with him. You grace a kiss over his knuckles — a moment of solidarity — and you go with him to one of the back rooms.

You later have to bite your lip against the vindicated urge to say I told you so.

The doctor informs Dean that he likely has a kidney stone.

If possible, Dean is even more sour the whole car ride home. He's convinced all the vegetables you've been trying to get him to eat are the culprit.

"This is what I get for eating fucking rabbit food," he grumbles. He levies a finger at you. "See? I told you. Nothing good comes of it."

"Right," you snort. "Zucchini is what's got you're, uh, pipe all blocked up."

But seeing the disgruntled look on his face, you remember just how much pain he's been trying to cover up for the past week. How many times you've found him hunched in the bathroom, dreading a piss.

You reach over and try to soothe him, gently stroking his thigh.

"It's okay, baby. We'll get the official test results soon. In the meantime, just keep drinking lots of water and get some actual rest."

"Whatever," he mutters.

But underneath the embarrassment, the shit, I'm getting old bit cropping back up again, and the Dean Winchester quirk of not wanting to be fussed over, not wanting to be seen as weak or ridiculous — what finally surfaces past all that is you.

Specifically, how much you push him to take care of himself.

Besides Sam, you're the only one who manages to keep him in check, the only one who cares that much, that you'd literally try to steal his car.

Yeah, I love you tends to cut through pretty much all the other bullshit.

Dean might not always express it words, but he does it now, taking your hand off his lap and pressing a kiss to your wrist, right over your pulse point.

You briefly take your eyes off the road to glance over at him, smiling. He's going to be out of commission for a while until this little problem clears up, in more ways than one.

The great Dean Winchester.

Beats Death itself, too many times to count.

Felled by pebble in his...well...proverbial shoe.

You try to hide your amusement, if not your affection. You bite your lip hard.

"Shut up," he warns, even though his lips twitch upward.

Your snort of laughter escapes before you can reign it in.

Beau Arlen

Beau is resistant at first, but he's probably the easiest to wrangle into seeing the doctor, whether it's yearly checkups or a man flu gotten out of control.

("You know what, my throat still feels weird on the left side, especially when I swallow. Feels scratchy and, uh, kinda hurts. You think I should get it looked at? What if it's laryngitis, or pneumonia, or God forbid, throat cancer. I mean, throat cancer, honey! That's nothin' to laugh at.")

You wish he'd have that "proactive" mentality with other areas of his health too, like not overworking himself at the precinct.

But when it comes to one exam in particular, he's your typical male of a certain age.

No matter how many times you remind him and write down the appointment on the calendar stuck to the fridge so he doesn't forget, he conjures some excuse for why he couldn't make it.

At first it's begrudgingly amusing, but by the third time, you're concerned, and even annoyed that he isn't taking his health more seriously.

"Look, I know it's not exactly pleasant, but this stuff is important. You gotta take care of yourself," you say.

You know you don't have to remind him that he has a daughter, but you will pull that card if you have to.

"Yeah, I know. It's just, uh..." Beau trails off, hands on his hips. He doesn't know what to tell you to make you understand how much he'd rather not go to this appointment.

"It's just a prostate exam, babe. I'll bet it's not half as invasive as a pap smear," you say wryly.

Beau shakes his head at you. "That very well may be, but believe you me, no man wants a latex finger up his..."

You raise your brows and tilt your head with a smile. "Well, you know. Some guys actually—"

Beau waves a hand at whatever you were going to say next.

"You know what, forget I said anything. I'd rather just live my life not knowing what's down there. Really, I'm good."

You utter a laugh, but you sidle up to him and grasp the open edges of his jacket. You turn your face up to him with a more sensuous smile.

"You don't mind when I do it," you tease.

Beau actually blushes. His cheeks and the tips of his ears tinge pink.

He clears his throat, his hands settling on the curve of your waist.

"Well, that's different," he says. His voice pitches lower, his green eyes taking on a slight mischievous gleam. "You're just teasin' the cave. You're not looking for coal."

Laughter bursts out of you like a gut punch. Your forehead falls against his chest as your entire body shakes with giggles.

Beau wraps you up in his arms. He tries and fails to temper his grin, even though his cheeks are still burning.

"All right, fine. I'll go," he says. "But I don't want to hear a damn peep out of you when I get back."

Soldier Boy (Ben)

(Oh, good fucking luck on this one.)

Ben rarely, if ever, gets sick. Of course, he's also nearly invulnerable.

However, you've been trying to get him to see a different kind of medical professional.

"Excuse me?" he growls. The first time you suggest it, he dismissed the idea with a roll of his eyes, thinking you were just trying to get a rise out of him. He doesn't appreciate you bringing it up again. "You better be fucking kidding."

"Ben..." You try to ply him with a gentle hand on his arm, but he shrugs you off, too irritated to curb the impulse.

"I'm fucking crazy, is that it? That what you're trying to say?" His voice raises, notch after notch. "I don't need a goddamn shrink!"

"I didn't say you were crazy!" you say. It's hard not to match his volume, but you manage to stand your ground while he huffs and puffs and eventually storms out.

You get discouraged and frustrated yourself, but you cling to every scrap of patience you can muster up for this man.

It's gonna take a few tries.

You start to suggest that maybe he should start easing up on the weed and the booze too.

Any time he snaps at you, you remind him that for as much shit as you've put up with him so far, this is the kind of shit that'll send you packing. Leaving his ass. For good.

He volleys back with empty words. "Fine, fucking leave."

You know they're empty, because every time you've called his bluff and packed a bag, he stops you.

"All right, enough. You've proved your fucking point."

After that, he tries to cut back on the booze, at least. He watches you pour out the Grey Goose and the Patrón.

Fucking fine by him. He's lost the taste for vodka, let alone that frilly French shit, and the cheap tequila.

But choking off the vein of one vice just makes another twice as strong.

Ultimately, it doesn't fix the problem either.

There's the time Ben blows a hole in the roof of your house (after a nightmare, he refuses to admit).

And there's a second time too. A third close call, and Ben pushes you clean off the bed so you won't get hurt.

If that didn't do it, he finally gets the picture after the second pink line appears on that white stick.

It now lies on your nightstand while you and Ben lay tangled together, bare skin against bare, flushed, sweaty skin.

A celebration, if you will.

His big hand lies splayed over your belly, protective, possessive, and deep down...grateful.

You glance up at the patched ceiling. Ben follows your gaze. His contentment fades into a frown, just like yours.

Both of you are thinking the same thing, if in different flavors of concern. Anxiety. (Guilt.)

"It's different now. You know that, right?" you say quietly. "If we're going to do this, you and me together, then I need you to protect us. Protect us from you."

At this point, you know he won't see a psychiatrist for his PTSD; not if it's to help himself (God forbid he admit that he needs it).

But if it's to protect you and your child, his own child...

Ben swallows a few acidic ounces of his pride.

Despite every cell in body that fights against it, he gets in his car the very next day and shows up for the appointment you made for him with Dr. David.

("What kind of quack fucking doctor goes by his first name, anyway? Christ.")

After the first couple of painfully awkward sessions, it's not so bad, Ben discovers.

He has a willing (heavily paid) audience for all of his stories from "the good old days."

Every gushy detail.

Russell Shaw

Russell is always quick to give reassurances, to downplay, to tell you that he's good.

But the day he comes home from a job with his bag hanging from his fingertips, almost dragging on the floor, his movements stiff as a rail — your heart sinks into your stomach.

"Hey, baby," he greets you tiredly, even tries to kiss you, but you're too busy running gentle hands over his arms and chest. Searching.

"Hmm, someone's missed me. Miss Handsy-yy-ahhh..." His playful quip dies the moment you find it.

Under his jacket lies the shoddy patch job on the bullet wound in his arm, located a few inches below the shoulder, just barely hidden by his sleeve.

"What the fuck is this?" you snap, half in anger, half in worry as tears spring hot in your eyes.

Russell immediately goes into damage control, soothing a hand down your arm and meeting your gaze.

"Hey, I'm okay. It's just a graze."

"Yeah fucking right. You're still bleeding!"

"Ehh, yeah, but no biggie. I've got some tools in the car—"

"No! We're going to the hospital."

"Sweetheart—"

"Right now! Let's go."

The man doesn't have the heart to argue with you too much after that. He knows he should've taken proper care of this before he got home. He really just wanted to, well, get home. To you.

But he regrets scaring you. He regrets making you worry.

He brushes the tears from your eyes and is grateful you don't ask what happened. He can't really tell you, even if he wanted to. His contract work with Horizon keeps his lips sealed for your safety, above all other reasons.

Only now does he begin to realize just how fucking unfair that is.

It really hits him when you sit with him for an hour and a half in the Emergency Department, waiting after the guy who fell off his moped, a kid with a little green army man stuck up his nose ("Hey, retro," Russell whispers to you), and a lady who can't seem to stop hiccuping.

Russell takes in a deep breath. He leans over to your ear.

"You know, we could just fix this up at home. A little needle and thread and some alcohol. Perfect First Aid kit," he says.

You narrow your gaze at him. "We're waiting to see a doctor. And don't think I'm done with you. When we get home, prepare to get punished."

A little smirk tugs at his lips. He brushes said lips across the back of your ear. "What am I, a little kid?"

You smile slightly as well.

"Well, if you're not going to tell me when you're hurt and try to cover it up like a little kid, that's how I'm gonna treat you."

Russell chuckles. His hand slips over your thigh.

"Gotta say, I'm kind of liking the sound of punishment. What'd you have in mind, sweetheart? Gonna spank me?"

And he's willing to give you more ideas.

You roll your eyes. Despite wanting to remain strong, his touch, the sensation of his lips brushing your ear sends a shiver curling down your spine.

"Oh, you just wait."

AN: lol I always have so much fun writing these. Let me know which one was your favorite this time! 💕

@waynes-multiverse You gave me another perfect little tidbit for Beau on Man Flu that made it into this one. 😂

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Dean, Beau, Soldier Boy + Russell Tag List (Part 1)

@kazsrm67 @foxyjwls007 @luci-in-trenchcoats @lamentationsofalonelypotato

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@deans-spinster-witch @sanscas @hobby27 @kaleldobrev @spnwoman

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@my-stories-vault @0ccvltism @rizlowwritessortof @cookiechipdough @mrsjenniferwinchester

@fromcaintodean @k-slla @jackles010378 @deanbrainrotwritings @alwaystiredandconfused

@mrlonelycat @deans-daydream @leigh70 @aylacavebear @kmc1989

@siampie @rubyvhs @winchestergirl2 @winchester-whiskey

#lovely review! 💕💕#the wonderful Wayne tag! 🩵#reader appreciation #lovely mutuals #zep replies

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bucketbueckers · 3 days ago

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I'D RATHER PRETEND

extra 4: forget

wc: 6.3k

synopsis: the four times tess and paige forgot they were on different wnba teams

notes: i think i would be a terrible ex bc every time i say im done w this series i end up coming back 😟 i went ahead and combined both of the ideas i linked in the poll since they were so close sooooo everybody is winning i think! also i will be moving all of the irp extras to the irp masterlist instead of clogging my main one so do not be alarmed if you can't find them. uhh thats all but as always i hope y'all enjoy 🫶

i. firsts

JUNE 6, 2025

For all intents and purposes, today was just another game.

It was an away game, which Tess always enjoyed – it was the competitor in her who thrived off of the home team crowd’s jeers, their disappointed groans when the game was tight and one of their star players missed a shot. It’s the kind of pressure that she craves. You walk into hostile territory, not even as the underdog, but something a little more intense than that. Something more personal. Hundreds of people fill the stands and all they know is that their team will beat yours. Tess could always be found in that sort of quiet that fills the arena when she’s made her point, when her wrist is bent from a deep three that she knows is going in – that shell-shocked, stunned, dominant silence that surges through her veins like electricity. That’s what basketball is to her.

Besides being a Commissioner’s Cup game, the second of Tess’s season, Tess was committed to treating this game just as any other. They’d steamrolled the Mercury only a few days ago so she was in high spirits going into this game.

…Which just so happened to be their first game against the Dallas Wings. Her first game against Paige.

She’d heard it all from the media throughout the season, even if they’d never said it to her face directly. How are you planning on navigating these games against your significant other? Will you play the game any differently? Is this personal to you? And even the ever elusive, Are you planning on throwing away your season to improve Paige’s stats and her Rookie of the Year campaign — which, what the fuck?

The point is – this has been the most anticipated game since the beginning of the season. While the Wings and the Sparks have both lost a few games each (losing was something that Tess and Paige weren’t quite used to – KP pulled her aside in the locker room after her first of the season, shrugged, and simply said, “Shit happens. Just make sure you have toilet paper,” and to this day, Tess really isn’t sure what that’s supposed to mean). Despite the culture shock, Tess and Paige were both on tears — averaging about twenty points a game each. Paige led her in assists, although they tied in rebounds and Tess led in stocks. Analysts claimed they’d be the deadliest backcourt the WNBA has ever seen if only they were on the same team. They had a few more years to go, but Tess did have to admit their games were near perfect complements of each other.

For as long as she’s been playing collegiate basketball and now, the few short weeks she’s been playing professional basketball, she’s gotten a lot better at tuning out the media noise. While this is a huge game for a lot of reasons – the narrative, the cup game, the first she’s played against Paige as professional athletes, Tess knew better than anyone else that she needed to keep her cool and treat it like she would any other game, even if she and Paige haven’t seen each other since their post draft “vacation” (if you could call it that – Paige was in between several interviews, show appearances, a victory rally, although Tess appreciated that she was just as committed to taking the time off together as she was).

So what if this was the first time seeing her girlfriend in person in almost a month? Tess and Paige were grown adults with grown adult jobs. They could handle the distance. They’re professionals. Which is why Tess is going to not geek out about it.

“Girl,” Rickea deadpans, causing Tess to look up from where she’s currently lacing up her sneakers in the Wings’ visitor locker room. “You need to get it together.”

Tess frowns, genuinely confused. “I’m tying my shoes and minding my business!” she exclaims. “What do you want from me?”

Kelsey snorts, sliding the Sparks warm-up sweatshirt over her frame. “You’ve been smiling all day,” she says. “It’s actually terrifying. Like you were even smiling while tying your shoes. Who does that?”

Tess, conveniently, focuses on her other shoe, making sure the laces are tightened to her liking. “I have plenty of things to be happy about in my life,” she defends. She can hear Cam laugh from the other side of the locker room, turning to Azurá and whispering something about here we go again. “My cousin’s pregnant again. Did I tell you guys that?”

The entire locker room chimes in with a chorus of groans – because truthfully, Tess hasn’t shut up about it. “So that’s really fun! I’m trying to talk her into naming her daughter after me. Tess Kennedy Jr.”

“What if she has a son?” Rickea asks, clearly entertaining this ridiculous conversation.

Tess wrinkles her nose. “She won’t. There’s no space in my family for a man.” Then, she remembers the topic of their conversation, trying her best to steer her teammates away from the conclusion they are most definitely making about her pregame mood. “Then, when we played the Mercury, I set a new career high. Very happy about that, too.” Rickea hums, gassing her up, much to Kelsey’s amusement. “What else?” Tess exaggeratedly taps her chin.

“Keep your secrets,” Kelsey goads, squeezing her shoulder. “Whenever you wanna admit it to yourself, just know that we know. And so will the cameras. So don’t look too in love with the enemy.”

Tess rolls her eyes despite the flush on her cheeks. “You guys have no faith in me,” she says glumly.

“I have faith in you,” Cam says brightly. “We’re happy that you’re happy. Just remember to have some dignity when you walk out.”

“Cameron.”

Cam’s laughter echoes in the locker room as she leaves. Still, Tess grins, satisfied with the tightness of her laces, and follows them out for warm-ups. She can handle this.

Tess, in fact, was not handling it.

Well – she was, but she didn’t want to. She’s not sure what Paige did to her to turn her into the kind of person who stares longingly across the court during warm-ups. Her brain knows that she and Paige have done this long distance thing long enough to deal with it, but having Paige so close to her seems to override that logic. A month isn’t even the longest period of time they’ve gone without seeing each other, but Tess just misses her, as trivial as it is.

She tries, though. She knows there were things they could get away with in college, but she has to remind herself that while she’s just playing basketball, this is her job now. There are a lot of things the media won’t let slide – she could already see the headlines that would tear the both of them down for distracting each other. Tess keeps her focus on her warm ups, listening to the trainers coach them through the exercises and Rickea’s endless complaining about the fact she left her favorite moisturizer at her apartment. It keeps her mind off of Paige for a few blissful moments until Paige jogs by, heading back into the tunnel, and she throws a disarming smile over her shoulder which erases all of the progress she’d made during warm-ups.

Despite the difficulty, Tess makes it through warm-ups in one piece, feeling ready for the game ahead. Everyone lines up for the ensuing tip off. That’s when she locks in fully, the responsibility and vigor of the game taking over. Paige is laser focused too, both of them worried more about the game in front of them, and they’re hardly one-on-one unless their respective teammates call for a switch.

The first switch happens five minutes into the first quarter — the Wings hold a solid six point lead, courtesy of Paige’s signature midrange pull ups. Kelsey is guarding Paige, but NaLyssa sets a screen for Paige. The Sparks had run this play enough in practice so Tess finds herself glued to Paige, effectively stopping the jumper that Tess knew she was squaring her feet for.

“You avoiding me?” Tess asks Paige, knowing her girlfriend can’t resist the opportunity to chirp when presented with the opportunity.

Paige grins through the sheen of sweat glistening on her temples and Tess knows she’s got her — hook, line, and sinker. She keeps the ball close to her person, knowing better than anyone else that Tess is one of the best defenders in the league, second to the bigs. “Nah,” she goads, dribbling the ball calmly between her legs. Her eyes dart around like she’s looking for an opening in the defense, which Tess doesn’t miss. “Figured I’d let you try to defend someone a little more your speed.”

“Scared you can’t keep up?”

“Come on, baby,” Paige coos. “Don’t make me do this to you on national television.”

Tess just smiles at her. She anticipates the pass before Paige even moves and she launches in the air, deflecting it back towards the logo. Kelsey manages to catch the rebound and Tess is already barreling down the court, Paige hot on her heels. Kelsey passes it low to get around Dijonai and Tess scoops it up, laying it in easily with her right hand, knowing that Paige was on her left. It was a pattern she’d picked up not only from watching her in film, but also training with her over the summer before their super senior seasons. Paige is probably the only thing she’s a master in.

Tess can’t help but feel a little proud of herself, glancing back to smile smugly at her girlfriend, who shakes her head with a flicker of impressed amusement in her eyes. Paige, seemingly forgetting that they’re supposed to be on opposite teams, gives Tess a friendly pat on the ass as Tess backpedals for defense. It catches her a little off guard but the game is moving too fast for her to dwell on it.

She refocuses, knowing they’ve already goofed off enough, and settles in for another three and a half quarters of rigorous basketball.

The Wings, ultimately, end up taking the win at the end of the game. Losing is one thing but losing to Paige is another. Tess had played her game, but basketball was a team sport for a reason. There were a lot of things they still had to work on if they wanted to make a dent in the playoffs this season. Similarly, the Wings had some things to work on, but they were just the better team that night.

Tess is still nursing the butthurt feeling when Paige finds her after the game, a radiant smile on her face. Truly, losing this game wasn’t the end of the world, a fact Tess was still trying to make peace with.

“Does this mean I’m on the couch tonight?” Paige asks a little coyly, which makes Tess roll her eyes as she pulls her girlfriend in for a tight hug. She doesn’t say anything, just sinking into Paige’s embrace with a deep sigh, tucking her face into the crook of her neck as her eyes slip shut. Paige is still damp with sweat, smelling something like adrenaline and victory, but Tess doesn’t care. She missed her girlfriend. A lot. Probably concerningly so. She’s sure that feeling wouldn’t ever go away — she’d just get better at dealing with it.

“Hey,” Paige murmurs, her voice softening a little, no trace of her previous tease. “You okay?”

Tess nods slightly, making a concerted effort to pull away. “Yeah,” she says, finally allowing that lovestruck smile to appear on her face, the one that she’d hidden for the better part of the game. “Just miss you. LA is an adjustment.”

The crease in Paige’s brows relax and the blonde smiles a little. “You’re happy though?” she asks, just to confirm, but she knows better. She and Tess have spent enough time on the phone at night to know about every little thought that went through their heads.

“I am,” Tess promises, grinning when Paige’s smile brightens. “But I’m happier now.”

Unable to resist, Paige asks, “Even when you lose to me?”

Tess scoffs, pulling away fully as Paige laughs. “You’re such an asshole,” she complains, but Paige doesn’t let her get too far before she links their fingers together. Begrudgingly, Tess admits, “I don’t think I can ever lose when it comes to you. Not in a way that matters.”

“The distance really has turned you into a lover girl,” Paige teases.

Tess raises a brow. “Says the girl who slapped my ass like we were teammates after I embarrassed her on TV.”

Paige at least has the decency to look a little caught. “I kinda forgot we weren’t just playing one on one,” she confesses sheepishly, which makes Tess laugh. “Didn’t even see your fuck ass purple jersey. Just my girlfriend doing something cool.”

“You’re lucky I love you,” Tess states. “Do you know what I have to hear in the locker room now?”

Paige sighs a little, kissing her teeth. “Trust, I’mma be hearing the same. Rike’s gonna laugh at me for the next week.” She doesn’t look too bothered though; instead, she nudges Tess with a coy grin. “The price we pay for love, right?”

Tess returns the grin, reaching out with her free hand to tug lightly at the hem of Paige’s Wings jersey. “Think you love me enough for a Bueckers-Kennedy jersey swap? Unless you’re too cool for my fuck ass purple jersey.”

“I am feeling charitable today,” Paige muses, but the excited expression on her face betrays her feigned nonchalance. She procures two sharpies from the scorer’s table, hands one to Tess, and pulls off her jersey. Tess tries not to stare too hard at Paige’s figure, but she knows she’ll be trending on Twitter after the clips surface. She can’t find it in herself to mind.

Bracing the jersey over her hand, she signs her name on the 2, and in the 5 she writes, “6.6.25 — long way from 2.8.21, but playing against you for the first time is always a date to remember. To my #5, I love you endlessly and I’m so proud of you.”

She finishes the same time Paige does and they swap their jerseys. Tess laughs in delight when she reads Paige’s message to her — the way she’s dotted her I with a lopsided little heart and how she scribbled in a tiny 2 next to the 5 on her jersey so it looks like 25. “6/6/25 — our first professional game against each other. Here’s to many more. I can’t wait for the first game we play with each other. I love you, #25. There’s no one else I want to do this with.”

“Looks like the distance turned you into a lover girl, too,” Tess jokes.

Paige wrinkles her nose, but the love and affection on her face is evident as she slips Tess’s jersey over her frame, looking far too proud. “Unlike you, I’m not ashamed to admit that,” Paige says, watching Tess do the same. The colors on their jerseys and their shorts don’t exactly match, but neither of them care. “I like this on you.” She tugs a little on the hem to be annoying and Tess swats her hand away. Paige grins.

“You mean it?” Tess asks instead of feeding into Paige’s ego. “You wanna be on the same team in the future?”

Paige’s face softens as she reaches for Tess’s hand. “Course I do. I know we haven’t been doing this very long, but you know I’m crazy about you. I can’t see myself settling down without you.”

Despite herself, Tess smiles, her expression far too tender to be standing in the middle of a basketball court with dozens of reporters milling about. She doesn’t care — as far as she’s concerned, she and Paige are the only ones in the room right now. “I feel the same,” she admits, taking in Paige’s beaming smile. “Just don’t think you can win a championship before me, though.”

Paige scoffs, but there’s no malice behind it, only amusement. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” she assures her, wrapping her arms around Tess’s waist and pulling her in to press a chaste, innocent kiss to her lips. “We’re 1-0 professionally right now. Think you can keep up?”

Tess laughs, knowing that at the end of the day, she truly doesn’t care about the win record. The distance is hard but it’s times like these that make up for it, when she’s reminded that she has everything she could ever need right in front of her. “You know I can,” she says confidently, and Paige’s grin is full of challenge.

“Then it’s game on.”

ii. i’m not arguing with a woman with pretty blue eyes (whatever you say beautiful)

JULY 2026

The All-Star break had been kind to Tess and Paige.

It was the first time in a while they’d been able to spend so much uninterrupted time together all season – the Wings and the Sparks had obviously been scheduled to play together, but in between flight times and team obligations, they were unable to spend a whole lot of time together before and after their games. With the All-Star game, which they were both (obviously) selected to play in, they both flew in the day before any of the festivities and were able to spend all of Thursday together. On Friday, they were basically attached at the hip for the Skills Challenge and the Three Point Contest (Paige shamelessly cheered for Tess, for the record). And on Saturday, they were on the same team for the All-Star Game. Tess wasn’t sure who allowed that to happen considering the two of them dominated from start to finish, but she sure wasn’t complaining.

It was the first time she’d played a game with Paige. Like, ever. At the All-Star game in 2025, they were on separate teams and they honestly spent the entire time talking shit to each other, much to the chagrin of their respective teammates, who accused them of flirting the entire time. It was most definitely not flirting – Tess at least had the decency to know her and Paige’s actual flirting was not court appropriate, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is that Tess enjoyed playing with Paige. Maybe a little too much because there’s still a lot of time before free agency and she’s honestly not sure if a team could afford them both.

It was back to business following the All-Star break. Tess’s first game back with the Sparks was against the Mercury, who, bless them, were still rebuilding, and got steamrolled by them. Her second game back, however, was at home versus the Wings.

To be honest, she and Paige had gotten a lot better at handling the pre-game emotions. Sure, this game was different considering they’d spent the entirety of the All-Star break together so they weren’t down horrendous like they usually were, but missing each other was something that became easier with time.

Still, during warmups, they shared matching smiles and Paige even wandered over to wish her well. “Good luck scoring without my passes,” she said, which just made Tess roll her eyes.

“You have terrible ball security,” Tess responded, which made Paige’s eye twitch. “Let’s hope you shoot better than you take care of the ball.”

They stared at each other for a minute before giggling like they weren’t pushing 25. Then, they launched into the handshake they’d perfected halfway through their rookie seasons, and the game was underway.

For the most part, it was a typical Sparks vs. Wings game. Tess and Paige always seemed to play their best when it was against each other, which led to exciting match-ups and close games. Tess and Paige usually weren’t each other’s defensive assignments, but when they were, the entire arena seemed to hold its breath – watching the both of them go head to head was like watching two titans clash. They knew each other’s moves, tells, and weaknesses, and usually, it always ended with one of them having to pass the ball to someone else.

Halftime comes and goes and the third quarter begins with the two teams tied. And that’s when Tess’s muscle memory kicks in. She has the ball at the top of the key, scanning for an opening in the defense. Dijonai is stuck to her side – probably one of her toughest defensive match-ups on the Wings with the exception of Paige, and the Wings are playing lockdown coverage. Paige is to her right, locked up with Kelsey, and Kelsey breaks away from her to receive the ball.

Tess and Paige ran this specific play numerous times during the All-Star game. She just needs to kick it out to Kelsey, who’s making the cut, but Tess is thinking too hard about how she was passing the ball to Paige that she accidentally passes to the blonde, instead of Kelsey fucking Plum, her actual teammate. Paige recovers quickly from her confusion and takes it across the court for the easiest layup of her life.

Tess is sure she’s never been more embarrassed in her life. She watches her coach rub her temples in exasperation while the Sparks fans groan. But her coach isn’t calling for a timeout or calling Odyssey over to sub in for her, so she dutifully ignores the blush on her cheeks and tries to lock back in.

Paige is defending her while Kelsey directs traffic, but before she can get too far away, Paige grins mischievously at her, chirping, “Look at you racking up assists all point guard-y and shit. Look for the purple jerseys next time though, a’ight?”

(If Tess drains a three over Paige’s outstretched hand in response, well…that’s no one’s business but her own.)

iii. The Foul (tess and paige’s version)

SEPTEMBER 2027

Tess doesn’t think it’s in her nature to be petty.

At least, she’s not consciously petty. As in – it’s not the front she puts out to the world. Like the time she was feeling a type of way about Maddy Siegrist being weird in Paige’s Instagram comment section and she was being passive aggressive about the entire situation – Tess knew Maddy wasn’t even being weird. She was just upset that she and Paige were moving so far away from each other and regressed into an old version of herself that she didn’t particularly like.

Tess doesn’t like being petty. Or passive aggressive. But sometimes shit just happens and it’s so much easier to retreat into herself and to be silent (for the most part) because as much as she hates it, she feels things too strongly and can’t put her emotions into words in a constructive manner without exploding first. She hates hurting people – especially Paige, and she hates that it’s just so easy to hurt her, too.

The situation wasn’t even anything that deep. Tess knew that, but she’s not sure if her heart does. With the WNBA playoffs approaching, every top team in the league was working harder than ever to secure their seeding. Coach Roberts was working the Sparks to the bone and more often than not, Tess would drag her feet home and collapse into bed the minute she got in. Games were grueling, travel felt harder, and it’s at this point in the season where Tess has to treat herself with a little bit more kindness because it’s so easy for her to catastrophize.

It was nearing 10pm. Tess had just gotten home from an away game versus the Aces. Her body hurt – she took a hard foul from Deja Kelly (at least she got the free throws), she was exhausted, and most of all, she just wanted to hear Paige’s voice. Much like the Sparks, the Wings were at the top of the rankings and were fighting to secure their seeding. She knew Paige was working hard on and off the court. During times like these, it just means that they spend less time on the phone together – mostly because their practice schedules are so rigorous, they’re travelling, time zones suck, and when they do find themselves on FaceTime at night, one of them falls asleep fifteen minutes in.

But now? Tess is at her wits end. She just needs one thing and she’ll be fine. She’s sure there’s someone out there who will say that she has terrible emotional regulation, but all things considered, she really is fine. She has her friends and her teammates whom she relies on and her psychologist. Despite that, she’s just a little lonely in a way only Paige can fix and the exhaustion from the season just makes it worse. She glances down at her phone, taking in the lack of notifications.

Frowning, she opens her message thread with Paige, reading Paige’s last message to her from about an hour ago.

Just landed back in Dallas My phone is almost dead but I’ll try to FT when I’m home I love you 🫶

Tess had responded the same and Paige reacted to her message with the heart emoji. She checks her location, seeing that Paige is at her apartment. Tess knows she’s asleep – she knows this week has been rough on her in between training, playing, and travelling, and as much as Tess hates herself for feeling this way, she can’t help the way the disappointment blooms in her chest like a wildfire. It’s not Paige’s fault – it’s not either of their faults.

She shuts her phone off, plugging it into the charger and leaving it on the nightstand. She rolls onto her side, stretching out in a bed that’s far too big for one person as she pulls one of her pillows to her chest. Early in the morning, she’d be flying out to Dallas for their last game of the regular season against the Wings, and not even that knowledge can keep the frown off of her face.

With that said, Tess would, once again, like to reiterate that it’s not in her nature to be petty. And, truly, the subsequent silent treatment is more for Paige’s benefit than her own. Tess knows herself well enough to realize that when she’s in a terrible mood, speaking usually makes things worse. When she wakes up that morning, she finds an apology from Paige for missing their FaceTime. The worst part is that Paige is genuinely remorseful but Tess is just too stubborn to stop being upset about it.

When they make it to the Wings arena, they dress for warm-ups and head out. Tess is one of the last to leave the locker room, which is unusual for her, but when she makes it into the tunnel, she finds Paige waiting for her, a bouquet of flowers in hand. It makes her soften slightly, feeling a whole lot of guilt for being butthurt over something small, but part of her isn’t ready to let go of her anger.

“Hey,” Paige says, smiling gently like she knows she’s in the doghouse. It would make Tess mad all over again if she wasn’t aware of just how much Paige knew her – Tess knows that Paige knows she’s a little upset, but she’s more upset at herself for feeling upset right now. It’s a weird emotional balance Tess has never been good at explaining. The best thing about Paige is that she’s never needed her to. “I’m sorry for missing our call. I know you’re having a rough week.”

Tess offers a tentative smile, the sight of Paige doing wonders for her tired eyes. “It’s not an excuse to be butthurt. I know you’re not doing any better than me. I’m sorry too.” She takes the flowers from Paige’s outstretched hand, allowing her to pull her into a tight hug, one that she sinks into gratefully.

“I’m not,” Paige agrees with a forlorn sigh. “I passed out in my airport clothes last night. Now I got germs and pathogens and shit on my sheets.”

That makes Tess laugh, her chest feeling loose for the first time in a few weeks. It’s enough to remind her that this – being able to melt into Paige’s arms – is truly all she needed. Her bad mood dissolves, but she can’t bask for too long as Cam’s calling her from the end of the hall. Regretfully, they break away, but Paige presses a gentle kiss to her lips, one that makes her forget what she was moody about in the first place.

The game itself is different. Sparks versus Wings games always are. Maybe it has something to do with how Tess is playing against Paige again or how she’s playing with a smile on her face for the first time in weeks. Whatever the reason, Tess plays with a different kind of fire, a physicality that she doesn’t usually play with. Every time she’s defending Paige, they’re both grinning like they don’t have a shot clock ticking down or a seeding on the line, but the issue comes late in the fourth quarter.

The game is tied – as it always is – and Tess has possession of the ball with Paige sticking close by for defense. Cam steps in for a screen, but Paige doesn’t bite. Instead, in a rare move for the blonde, she accidentally barrels into Tess, who’s already off-balance from an uncharacteristic step-off. Tess lands flat on her ass while the ref calls the foul on Paige, who again, seems remorseful, but there’s a lingering, mischievous amusement in her gaze.

Paige steps behind her, arms wrapping around Tess’s waist and helping pull her up while she pushes herself to her feet. Paige is absolutely fucking shameless – her hands pressed tight to her stomach and her body pressing into Tess’s back like they’re in a dark corner of the club instead of in the middle of the court in a sold out arena. Tess turns on her heel, raising one brow in near disbelief at her girlfriend, who grins like she hasn’t done anything wrong, her hands in the air.

“You’re actually unbelievable,” Tess says, shaking her head, but she can’t keep the smile off her face.

“Was just tryna help you up,” Paige argues, still looking smug as ever, but she backs away, calling, “I’ll make it up to you!”

Tess rolls her eyes, a blush on her cheeks but her grin lingers. The ref passes the ball off to Kelsey to inbound and just like that – the game’s back underway, and all Tess can really do is smile.

iv. she wanted some of my deliciousness

OCTOBER 2028

Of course the first year the Sparks make it to the WNBA Championship, they’re up against the Wings.

Tess can’t even be surprised about it. Every championship she plays in always seems to have Paige on the other end of it, but honestly, she likes it this way. The games against Paige are always nail biters. They were the two people in the league who hated losing the most.

Knowing that, Tess really should have expected for the WNBA Championship to go to a game seven. Tess and the Sparks won the first match, then the Wings won the second and the third. The Sparks bounced back with the fourth and the fifth – both incredibly hard fought games for Tess, and then the Wings tied the series on the sixth game.

Tess has played against this Wings roster numerous times. She knows their strengths, their weaknesses, their physicality. But she honestly wasn’t prepared for how grueling a seven game, winner takes all series against them would be. Nobody made it more difficult for her than Paige did. She was on one from game one through game six, never once faltering, but Tess was never one to back down.

Game seven was different – for both of them. Paige was locked in from the get-go, banking in contested shots like it was effortless, directing traffic like she knew every one of the Sparks’ plays before Kelsey even called for them. She was a menace on defense, her expression one of pure fire, grit, and determination. More than anything, there was a simmering frustration. Tess could see that she was picking up the slack where her teammates were falling short. They were missing costly shots, forcing uncharacteristic passes that transformed into turnovers.

It all culminated late in the fourth quarter – the Sparks held a slim four point lead, one that Paige had cut from nine herself after a deep three and a contested midrange jumper. Tess was guarding her, her Coach having made the adjustment after she realized that Paige was taking the game into her own hands. Paige is at the top of the key, dribbling the ball and waiting for the perfect opening as her offense shifts. She steps forward, pressing Tess, but in her haste to set a screen, one of Paige’s teammates bumps harshly into Tess, sending her right into Paige’s body and knocking her down.

And somehow, in the haze of confusion, the foul is called on Tess instead of Maddy fucking Siegrist, and she’s pushing herself to her feet to plead her case to the ref when Paige starts chirping like it wasn’t her teammate’s fault.

“What the fuck was that?” Paige exclaims, her frustration and exhaustion bubbling over. Tess just blinks at her, the Wings staring at Paige hesitantly, unsure of if she’s actually pissed or if this was just a Tess and Paige thing that’s not actually that serious. They’re competitors – they argue and fight on the court, but off of it, it’s like it’s never happened. She waves her arms, gesturing widely in a way that reminds Tess of her father when he’s heated, and all she can do is raise a brow because there’s no way Paige is actually crashing out at her right now. “That’s a fucking flagrant, Tess, what the f–”

Tired of hearing her complain, Tess leans forward to plant a kiss right on Paige’s lips, shutting her up while the refs step in, pushing them away from each other. Paige just blinks in confusion while Tess grins smugly, always wanting to recreate that Diana Taurasi and Seimone Augustus clip but never having the optimal opportunity for it. “You can apologize to me later!” Tess calls, letting Cameron drag her away from the scene. “Coach, please tell me you’re challenging that call?”

Her coach does challenge it, the refs giving the personal foul to Maddy instead, as it should be. Tess watches Paige from across the court, her expression softening with guilt as she watches the replay.

(For the record, Paige does apologize later, after the celebrations and Tess has taken sufficient pictures with the championship trophy. And, she supposes, Paige makes up for it with interest a month later in Italy when she proposes, and Tess finds that she likes this ring a whole lot more than the one she’d won.)

v. bonus: the one time tess and paige remembered they were on the same team

MAY 2029

The last time Tess had ever played in what felt like a monumental preseason game, it was her first preseason game in the WNBA as a Los Angeles Spark. They’re preseason for a reason – the stats don’t count and they’re just a good way of seeing how your team stacks up against other people in the league.

But this game? This one is different.

She’s dressed head to toe in the Valkyries purple uniform, BUECKERS-KENNEDY stitched proudly on the back. To her right, Paige, wearing a matching uniform, last name on the back and all, stretches her legs out one last time before tip-off against Tess’s old team, the Sparks. And, to be honest, Tess can’t believe that they’re here, together, on the same team after so many years of being competitors. She can’t believe the Valkyries actually signed the both of them, that the team has welcomed the both of them in with open arms, but this opportunity feels more like a blessing than anything else. It feels like a Welcome to the first day of your future.

Tess and Paige had bought a house in the Bay. They would settle down here, retire as Golden State Valkyries. They both knew they’d end up coaching somewhere along the line. They knew they’d raise their children here when the time came. Right now, it just feels like the perfect prelude to forever, the perfect capstone to an arduous journey. While the hard part of it is over, Tess knows that the rest of her life will be an adventure as long as Paige is in it.

Paige catches her wrist, smiling softly at her when she startles. “You good?” she asks gently. There were still a few moments until tipoff, but the fact that Paige is taking the time now to check in with Tess makes her feel warm all over.

“Yeah,” Tess responds, unable to stop the smile from spreading across her face. “I’m perfect.” Paige’s eyes search hers, knowing instinctively that Tess wants to say more but granting her the time to find her words. “I’m just happy we get to do this together,” she admits. “You’re the only one I want to do this with.”

Paige’s grin turns a little tender, affection shining in her gaze. “How’s forever sound?”

Tess’s smile widens. “Perfect.”

They line up for tip-off, taking their respective places. Before the ref walks over with the ball, Paige calls out to her, “Remember to write this on your jersey, too. May 4th, 2029. Just another first game, yeah?” Tess is sure she looks a little strange – smiling before the game’s even started, but she can’t find it in herself to mind too much.

Paige assists her on her first three as a Valkyrie. It’s a little full circle, she thinks, for her first points to be scored with her wife. For Paige’s first assist to be to her. It’s every bit as monumental as she’d expected.

And, sure, it’s just a preseason match-up, but Tess finds that she really likes hearing, “Bueckers-Kennedy to Bueckers-Kennedy for three…it’s good!”

#paige bueckers #paige bueckers x oc #dallas wings #wnba

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batsandbirdbrains · 1 day ago

Text

I posted a few angsty ideas today so let’s have a silly one before bed

The one where everyone is confused by Batman and Robin’s utility belts

So like yj season 1 team & setting. I just cannot get this ridiculous idea out of my head where they keep having weirder and weirder shit in their utility belts but act completely unfazed. No one else can make any sense of it.

“Wait, do you keep kryptonite in your utility belt?” Conner asks Robin one day during training. Robin had whipped it out to win a spar. Conner is a cross between dazed and completely scandalized.

“Duh.”

“How much?”

“Normal amount.”

Conner is gaping at him, but Robin has already moved on to the next phase of their training.

Then a few weeks later, a few members of the Justice League are fixing up some equipment in Mount Justice when Robin appears next to Batman’s side, digging through his belt. He grunts, not wanting to move his focus from the tool he’s using.

“I need an eraser to throw at Wally’s head.”

Batman hums. Robin holds a bat-shaped eraser up victoriously, it’s the kind you stick on the end of a pencil, and then he races out of the room.

“You keep erasers in your belt?” Flash asks.

“Of course.”

Robin comes back in, startling Flash who hadn’t even seen him, and digs out another eraser. This one is also bat-shaped, but red. He leaves again.

“How many do you have in there?”

“Normal amount.”

They’re quiet for a moment, just the hum of the power tools, until Flash looks back at him.

“Can I have one?”

“No.”

Forty-five seconds later, something bounces off the side of Flash’s head. He looks down and sees a yellow bat-shaped eraser next to his foot. Robin’s laugh can be heard echoing from around the door.

A few days later, Batman and Robin are standing staring at each other in the mission room. They both have their arms crossed. Neither is saying a word. Everyone else is holding their breath, unsure of what’s happening.

Batman holds his hands out. Robin doesn’t react.

Batman flicks his fingers, as if saying “give it here.” Robin frowns.

Batman does it again. Slower.

Robin stares at him.

Robin groans and flings his head back dramatically, then shoves a hand in one of his belt pouches and deposits a lizard in Batman’s waiting palm. The lizard blinks.

“What the fuck, dude,” Wally asks. He can’t even laugh, he’s so confused.

Batman’s palm remains open between them. Robin frowns more dramatically.

Then puts another lizard in Batman’s hand.

Dick can’t see it, but he can feel the way Bruce’s left eyebrow raises under the cowl.

He puts a third lizard in Batman’s hand.

“I was gonna put them in an enclosure!”

“No.”

“Did you just - was that - how many lizards did you have in your belt?” Wally asks, tripping over the words.

“Normal amount,” Robin says, pouting.

“No more lizards,” is all Batman says before turning back to the mission board. Robin looks like he wants to stomp his foot and is barely holding back the urge to throw a fit.

Wally just wants to know where he found the lizards in he first place.

A couple weeks after that, Batman walks by a frustrated looking Robin who just finished a rough training simulation. Batman pulls a blue lollipop out from his utility belt and hands it to Robin.

Robin looks at it. Then looks at Batman. Then pouts at him.

Batman takes off the wrapper and holds it back out. Robin takes it.

“There’s lollipops in there too?” Green Arrow, who was walking with him to go discuss an upcoming mission, asks.

“Along with gummy worms. Sour and normal.”

“How much candy do you have in there?”

“Normal amount.”

Green Arrow shakes his head a couple times, then hurries after Batman when he sees he fell a few paces behind.

Is it a game Bruce and Dick have? Are they trying to get someone to snap? Or are they both just funky little guys who keep odd shit in their utility belts? The world may never know.

#dick grayson #robin #bruce wayne #batman #young justice #fic ideas #it started out sort of serious with the kryptonite shit then got more and more ridiculous #plus I liked the idea of Batman having the silly stuff and Robin having the more serious stuff #they keep their belts fully stocked in case the other needs something #I almost called it ‘the one with the normal amount’ but idk it didn’t seem to fit the way I’ve named the others

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whitechocolate355 · 2 days ago

Text

full court press

part - 1

pairing - paige bueckers x azzi fudd

word count - 3.3k

warnings - language

synopsis: this is a throwback to their aau days, where paige and azzi's friendship begins with an intense interaction... however, both girls seem to have different expectations on how their relationship will grow... so what will it be? friends? lovers? or rivals?

(repost since my other acc has been shadowbanned 😖)

hey guys ... this is my first post on tumblr and i'm so excited to share this pazzi aau storyline!! i don't know exactly what direction this fanfic might go so i'd love all feedback and suggestions on what to write next! honestly not my best work but i'm planning for some competitiveness/rivalry romance in the following chapters - what do y'all think? hope u guys have fun reading xx (and hope u guys enjoy the #ihatemybf moments as much as i do 🤭)

p.s. i'm nearing the end of my holidays so i might not be posting as much but i'll try my very best💋

chapter 1: ten minutes to turbulence

The breeze met Azzi with a soft embrace as she stepped off her plane, sweeping her brunette hair right into Buecker's face, who seemed to be standing a little too close to her for her to be a stranger…

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

Paige -

“Her hair smells so good” Paige thought, taking in Azzi's scent just inches behind her. Her curls captured the scent of lavender with a hint of vanilla that made Paige weak every time she neared her.

"WHATTT?" Azzi shouted over the noise, unable to hear the blonde's mumbling over the plane's engine

Fuck. she did not just say that out loud.

Thanking the lord that Azzi hadn't heard her, she composed herself, leaning in so her mouth brushed the tip of Azzi's ear. "I said,” she smirked. “I didn't ask for a mouthful of your hair, princess"

Azzi jolted, feeling weirdly electrified by her touch, which was strange since she had only met the girl 5 hours ago.

"Are you really blaming me when you're the one who chose to stand so close to me? Obsessed much?" she lashed back, rolling her eyes.

Caught off guard, Paige didn't realise Azzi had such an attitude, pinning her as the shy, pushover, girl-next-door (not that it wasn't Paige's type) and it certainly didn't help that the flight had left Paige in a trance, making her question whether God had put the brunette next to her as her soulmate, or a test to her self-control.

During the plane ride, Azzi's adidas shorts had ridden up her legs, putting her tanned skin on display. And her arms— the same toned arms that lingered on Paige's shoulder for too long— kept verging near Paige's, sending a thrill down her spine each time their skin touched. She had to fight the urge to look next to her, because she knew she'd never be able to look away.

So when the flight attendant came around with snacks (Paige's favourite: Lays chips with ketchup packets), she groaned and pulled her hood back towards the window, knowing she would have no control over how her body reacted if she looked remotely in Azzi's direction.

Yet, why was she so... turned on by Azzi's comeback? Intrigue began to flicker as she smirked at the sight of the cute, brown-eyed girl. Maybe basketball won't be the only activity amusing her for the next few weeks...

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

Azzi -

Shuffling through the aisle of the plane, Azzi groaned as the single file line seemed to move at a rate of an inch per hour. She had already been exhausted from the load of homework assigned to her over the summer, despite being the youngest in her class by a year.

As she made her way into her row, she was too tired to look over to where she was sitting, not realising she had fully sat on a girl's lap instead of her seat until she heard an awkward "um... excuse me"

Azzi's eyes widened, immediately springing off the girl's lap. "Oh god I'm so sorry" She apologised, redness only intensifying as a passenger pushed past her, causing her arm to reach over the blonde's shoulder to stabilise herself. Shit.

An instinctive hand grasps onto Azzi's side, steadying her at her waist.

Azzi looks down in surprise, almost yelping at the touch of the blonde's hand.

Of course this is happening to me. Azzi thought, cursing the world for her already bad start to her trip.

"You alright there?" The blonde asks, reluctant to remove her hand from Azzi's waist.

Azzi nods in silence, unable to muster words with the girl's hand still resting on her waist, slowly inching towards her hips as if it belonged there.

Breaking the silence, the girl replies, "Listen, I'll just move over. It seems like this window seat isn't doing you any favours right now" Whilst shuffling over one.

Azzi inhaled sharply at the absence of the blonde's hand, secretly wishing it had lingered a little longer.

"Thanks" she sighed. But she knew this wouldn't be the only string of bad luck, considering the past week...

Paige -

Paige had just been mindlessly staring at her phone when the chaos started.

After recovering from the initial shock of a girl (who was exactly her type) falling helplessly like an angel into Paige's lap, some dude in the aisle— with his oversized bag swinging like a wrecking ball —shoved past her. The force knocked her sideways, and before Paige could even register what was happening, the girl's arm shot out, grasping onto Paige for balance.

The brunette's hand landed on Paige’s shoulder. Fingers splayed. The touch was a quick, instinctual.

But Holy hell, did it do something to Paige, as if the involuntary lap dance wasn't enough of a turn on.

It wasn’t a dramatic moment — not really. but Paige’s heart did a very dramatic thing anyway, stuttering like it had missed a beat. Her pulse hiccupped in her throat, and for a second, she froze. Azzi’s fingers were warm, firm — they wrapped for a split second around her shoulder before she immediately pulled away, looking flustered.

“Shit, i’m sorry!” Azzi’s voice was quiet but hurried.

Get yourself together, Bueckers.

The contact was brief, less than a second, but it left behind a static hum.

Getting flustered over a hand on her shoulder? now that was a first— which happened to be quite rare these days, considering Paige's extensive dating pool.

The girl pulled back quickly, her eyes wide with the sudden embarrassment. But all Paige could focus on was the electric buzz where the girl's hand had been.

“Sorry,” she said, half-wincing. “Didn’t mean—”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Paige said too fast. her voice jumped an octave. “Totally cool. Normal. People grab shoulders on planes all the time.”

She tried to sound unaffected, but her voice cracked at the end, betraying her. She could feel her pulse thudding in her neck, and her brain was still half a second behind.

She reached for her water in a desperate bid to look normal.

In the same motion, Paige leant over, trying to act casual and avoid meeting azzi’s gaze for too long.

Bad move.

The plastic cup wobbled before Paige even processed what was happening. Fingers fumbling, she hit the rim instead of the cup, and time slowed in that cruel, mocking way it does when you're about to embarrass yourself.

“Oh sh—” paige’s hands shot forward,

The cup tipped, arced through the air like a doomed free throw, and the entire contents of her water splashing across her lap.

Paige hissed under her breath. “Fucking hell”

Azzi blinked, surprised. “Are you okay?”

“I’m great,” Paige said, dripping. “Incredible reflexes. You saw that save, right?”

Azzi’s mouth twitched, trying to suppress a quiet giggle. “If you were going for a waterfall, you nailed it.”

Paige laughed— mostly to cover up the fact that her cheeks were burning. “I swear, i’m not usually this much of a disaster.”

Azzi gave her a half-smile, her voice softened. “Blame it on the plane turbulence?”

"More like Paige turbulence" she sighed, muttering under her breath.

Azzi offered her a napkin from her stash, her eyes softer than they’d been before. “You can have mine. I don’t spill things.”

And damn it, Paige smiled. Not the cocky, easy kind either— the real one, the kind that tugged at her lips like it hadn’t been used in a while.

“Guess I’ll just have to keep you around then.”

Azzi didn’t answer right away.

But her eyes remained on Paige. lingering.

Azzi -

As she finally settled into her new seat, her phone buzzed. Then again. Then—BUZZZZ!

"You sure you don't want to get that?" the blonde asked, and the hotness rushed over Azzi's cheek all over again.

"Sorry" she muttered for the millionth time, reaching for her phone to check what could've possibly made her phone this mad.

* Matt sent 4 texts*

Matt: "hey baby, i know you're mad about prom but i swear the girl threw herself onto me"

Azzi: "oh so is that why her selfies ended up on your snap story that night?"

Matt: "i don't even know how she took my phone in the first place i swear"

Azzi rolled her eyes. She was clearly not in the mood to do this right now.

Matt: "baby? i know your flight doesn't leave until 11"

Matt: "please, i have something to tell you"

Matt: "i've been thinking, and i think—

i might be in love with you"

Matt: "just think things over, will you?"

Matt: "hope this will cheer you up ;)"

*Matt🔥 sent you a snap*

Surprisingly, finding out her boyfriend had cheated on her with 2 girls at her first prom was not the worst thing on her mind. Actually, part of her was kind of relieved. Relieved to the point that she hadn't even bothered to tell him she knew about the other girl he got with later that night.

What was the worst thing though, was the thought that matt had sent her yet another shirtless pic, flexing his non-existent abs.

God, is this man trying to make my day worse?

Unless there was someone on God's green earth that had a thing for toneless stomachs and flabs for arms, (which was certainly not her), she assumed matt's snap was an attempt to violate her peace. And it certainly worked.

When Matt first started showing attention to Azzi during trig class, the overbearing snickering from his friends and the constant "Yo, Mrs Henderson" to get her attention was tolerable, maybe even sweet. But after a few days, the novelty began to wear off.

"You haveeeeee to date him, he's so cute" Nailyssa giggled with excitement. "And plus, think of all the senior parties we could go to" her best friend pleaded, beady eyes looking to her with desperation.

Azzi sighed. "When do you ever stop thinking about parties?", knowing she was the one having to save Nailyssa's drunk ass from random parties at 3am.

"When you stop thinking of basketball" she shot back teasingly, sticking out her tongue before going back to her innocent, doe-eyed plea of desperation.

So, when the third week of his pathetic courting came around, Azzi felt cornered into going out with him, especially with hundreds of phones shoved into her face when Matt held a torn out notebook page to his chest that read, "Will u be my gf?" with handwriting that almost convinced her she had become dyslexic.

She later found out that the note had been written last period.

10 minutes before he asked her out.

Catching herself mid zone-out, she felt a set of eyes peering from the side of her vision. "Sorry, did i do something?" Azzi asked, wondering what the hell she had done this time.

"No, uh— that guy sounds like a dick. You deserve better" Azzi looked at the girl in confusion, quickly glancing away when met with her intoxicating blue eyes.

Before she could think, she sputtered "Well, he's not all bad..." in defence, gazing down. Why would she say that?

Part of her felt bad for Matt, because while his actions were inexcusable, she clearly never gave him much attention, let alone affection. Guilt began to fill her mind.

"Oh yeah?" the blonde challenged, a hint of fire in here eyes. "From what I've seen he looks like a Class-A prick" Paige laughed. "I bet you can't say one thing you like about him"

"Who even told you that you could look at my phone?" Azzi scoffed, pretending to look offended when she really was trying to avoid the lingering question.

"Uh, i think my actions can be justified given you've given me an involuntary lap dance, then touched my shoulder, then made me knock my water bottle over all in the span of 10 minutes. You should be glad i'm not asking the flight attendant to switch you to a middle seat right now" she laughed.

Azzi felt the heat rising to her face again— a feeling that was beginning to feel all too familiar. "Hey— don't blame me for the last part, my hand went nowhere near your water bottle" Azzi protested, struggling to argue her point.

"Still avoiding the question, i see" she smirked, her eyes darkening.

"Who even are you?" Azzi asked flustered, deflecting her response for as long as humanly possible.

"Paige." she answered mindlessly. Her gaze refocused, leering at Azzi. "Now hurry up and stop avoiding the question" she beckoned, waiting for her answer with a smug look on her face.

After a few too many moments of silence, Azzi finally begins, "I guess— his zest for life?" Azzi responded, surprising even herself that she was able to come up with at least an answer.

Paige stared at the girl for a few moments, analysing her response with an inexplicable expression on her face.

Is she checking me out right now? what the—

Paige burst into laughter, covering her face with her hand.

As Azzi looked quizzically at Paige, she couldn't help but note the absence of Paige's soaked jacket, leaving only a plain white tee, fitted around her toned body. The outline of her black Nike bra was so apparent, she was sure she could trace it from memory.

Azzi gulped. Just from Paige's palm in her face, her arm tensed, creating a subtle outline of her biceps. Her rock hard biceps.

God, what training does this girl do?

This is definitely what matt thinks he looks like when he stares in the mirror...

Wait, what was she doing?

No. Clearly she just had a thing for biceps. Everyone has them, Right? She thought as she attempted to reassured herself.

And plus, being attracted to someone as cocky as her? That's laughable. She chuckles.

Torn out of her reverie, a smug grin meets her eyes. "Staring at something?" Paige asked with a little too much amusement.

Caught.

"Paige, in order for me to stare at something, there'd have to actually be something there" Azzi retorted.

For a moment— silence.

Shit. She thought.

Had she pushed the wrong buttons?

Welp, this was going to be an awkward plane flight, but at least her ego—

"Ouch—" paige slowly began. "Y'know, that would hurt a lot more if i thought you actually meant it" The blonde snickered, clearly entertained through Azzi's cute defensiveness rather than the selection of movies in front of her.

Yup, laughable. Azzi sighed, thinking to herself.

"Don't worry, you can feel them if you want, I don't mind" Paige offered, her grin turning devilish.

"You're too much" Azzi scoffed, relaxing into her neck pillow to avoid Paige's brutally honest conversation.

When Azzi finally stirred awake from her much needed nap, she felt a familiar gaze coming from a certain blonde next to her.

Paige had been staring intently at her face, as if examining her.

"Why are you staring again? do i have something on my face?" Azzi asked, quickly opening her phone camera as self-consciousness overcame her.

"Just wanted to" she shrugs, maintains eye contact, clearly not caring about being caught. Her mouth opened with a slight part, breathing deeply as she diverted her gaze to Azzi's lips, before quickly revisiting her eyes.

What. The. Fuck. Was. That.

Before Azzi could react, Paige sighs, "Listen, um. on a serious note, no man should treat you like that. I mean, you're gorge—"

The plane began to rattle as it prepared for takeoff, bumping the passengers on and off their seats.

Azzi turned back and began to ask Paige to finish her sentence before a sudden hand enveloped hers.

As Azzi looked toward Paige with surprise, she was met with a complete different person. Paige looked straight ahead, terrified. The blonde was shaking, her heart beating so loud that Azzi could feel it through Paige's grip.

At the sight of this, Azzi's hand immediately softened around Paige's, brushing lightly against Paige's hand with her thumb in reassurance. "Listen, just take deep breathes. turbulence will be over in less than a minute" she reassured her.

Paige nodded, blinking her eyes shut. Her hands squeezed Azzi's in comfort and gratitude, sending butterflies in her stomach.

What is this girl doing to her?

Paige -

Paige should’ve pulled her hand back. She really should’ve. But there was something calming about the way Azzi’s thumb twitched slightly in her sleep, her grip loosening and tightening with each breath.

She was supposed to be focusing on her form, her footwork, her free throws —hell, maybe NBA 2k stats— not the girl snoring lightly beside her, with one arm draped into Paige’s seat and the other still interlocked with hers like they were... something.

Paige shifted her face toward the window, but kept her eyes open. In reality, she was just watching Azzi from the reflection in the dark plane window, hoping to finally go unnoticed.

The sky outside was just navy and cloud now, but her thoughts were louder than any storm.

She pulled her hoodie tighter around her head, letting the hum of the plane lull her into stillness. But the space between them felt warmer now. Just, aware.

From the corner of her eye, she could tell Azzi wasn’t sleeping either.

“You’re not one of those people who actually sleeps on planes, are you?” Paige murmured.

Azzi didn’t move. “Why?”

“Just asking. You’re really committed to the whole mysterious silence thing.”

Azzi smirked faintly into the hoodie. “I like quiet.”

“Bet you don’t talk to matt either then” Paige said teasingly, voice drifting between tired and curious.

Did azzi really love a man like that? The thought made her heart ache.

Why should she care? She had only met the tanned girl 3 hours ago. except... why did she care?

A few beats passed. Paige looked over for her response, only to see the girl had nuzzled into her pillow, her breaths slowing.

Instead of getting her answer, she let herself turn to fully watch Azzi. Her strong jawline softened in sleep. The way her lashes fluttered. Her shirt had ridden up slightly, revealing a set of defined abs on the tan skin, hinting at a shimmering diamond: at the base of Azzi's core.

God damn. Paige huffed, biting her fist to suppress the inexplicable things that diamond stud was doing to her body.

Nope. No thoughts. Just focus. Focus on— basketball. The trials. Beating out 164 of the best girls in the country. Not... whatever this was.

Still, she didn’t pull her hand away.

Azzi -

As Paige drifted into a seemingly deep slumber, hands still firmly attached to Azzi's, Azzi was relieved when she remembered that she wouldn't encounter Paige after this flight, because Lord knows what this girl could do to her if she had the time.

Azzi sighed, might as well rest up too then.

She closed her eyes, but her mind didn’t. It couldn't. not with Paige's earlier words still floating around in her head, infiltrating her every thought.

That line — "you’re gorg-" was stuck in a loop in Azzi's brain, playing and replaying in Paige's husky voice.

What was she going to say? Was she about to call Azzi gorgeous?

Azzi groaned into her neck pillow, wracking her mind with frustration. The turbulence could not come at a worse time.

Did she mean to say that? Why did she have to stop there? Did she stop herself on purpose?

Paige had said it so casually. Like it meant nothing.

But, maybe it did.

Azzi turned away slightly, pretending to adjust her pillow. Trying to piece together this girl who flirted like it was her first language yet froze during takeoff like a terrified puppy. The contrast was… weirdly endearing.

Before she could spiral too deep, Paige nudged her thigh.

"Hey," she said, a soft whisper. "What are you going to Nevada for, anyway?"

Azzi paused. "Family trip" she smiled, pursing her lips. She had automatically given into her first instinct to lie. Why did she lie?

She sank further into her guilt as Paige was looking at her with that same open face she had when the turbulence hit— no teasing, no bravado. Her fingers tracing Azzi's hand.

Azzi sighed, at least she wouldn't have to see her again to explain.

Or so she thought...

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

When the plane touched down, Azzi shifted slightly, careful not to alert Paige, whose head had tilted forward now, chin tucked to chest. Paige's nerves had dissipated with a single, oddly familiar touch upon departure. And now, her arm had slipped away in the descent. The comforting weight no longer in her hands.

Azzi flexed her fingers, unsure why they felt colder.

She shook herself out of it. It was just a flight. A conversation. A coincidence.

Tomorrow, the real game began. And Paige? Well, she wasn't even on the starting five.

It was time to set her priorities straight.

Still, as she watched her stand and stretch, laugh with the flight attendant, glancing back reassuringly— Azzi couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if this moment wasn't the last time they met...

But as she began to stir out of her seat, Paige's backpack laid just inches away from Azzi. Inside, contained the same AAU practice jersey Azzi had in hers.

As if fate decided for her, this wouldn't be the last she'd see of Paige Bueckers.

Except... she should've known what's coming, because a bad luck trail really does follow Azzi Fudd. All. The. Damn. Time.

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

#pazzi fics #paige x azzi #pazzi #azzi fudd #paige bueckers #azzi35 #wbb #uconn wbb #paigebueckers #paige buckets #uconn basketball #uconn womens basketball

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cyberdragoninfinity · 23 hours ago

Text

alright dana needs to wail and bark and holler about yugioh vrains now or shes gonna explode

GOD. VRAINS, HUH. YUGIOH VRAINS. I finished it a little over a week ago and even though I've been mad busy it is eating at my brain like it's out to kill me, and I suspect it's gonna keep doing that for a While. 8) Anyway time for my post-yugioh spinoff watch tradition of typing up my thoughts in a little (big) retrospective so so LEMME GET STARTED!! I SET MY MONSTERS IN THE LINK ARROWS TO MANIFEST MY CIRCUIT!!!!! LINK IT TO THE VRAINS BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

[as always, for this anime from almost 10 (?!?!) years ago]

ok i can't talk about VRAINS without talking about the. circumstances surrounding my life while I was watching it. if i may be a bit emotional and Real Talk for a moment. tw talking about loss of a parent, but I started watching vrains in mid-October, a few weeks before my dad would pass away in early November. And then I finished watching it last Sunday, a few days before my family would scatter my dad's ashes at sea on April 24th. And let me tell you it is almost downright hysterical just how About Grief (especially Familial Grief) vrains is. I kept jokingly calling it "truly Such a yugioh to watch for someone whose dad just died"--literally why are there THREE. THREE!!!!! DEAD DAD/PARENT PLOTLINES GOING ON WITH CHARACTERS IN THIS SHOW. THREE!!!! FUCKING GOD LMAO. like it's not the first yugioh to be About grief but jesus mary and joseph the way grief, loss, the idea of preserving the memory of those we love and how they can live on in our hearts forever, the way all of that is so intrinsically baked into vrains and the way it tells its story is A) genuinely so moving and sweet and also B.) ABSOLUTELY INSANE TO EXPERIENCE GIVEN HOW THINGS HAVE BEEN GOING FOR ME THESE LAST FEW MONTHS. SLASH POS. SLASH LOTS OF LOVE

all that to say yugioh vrains is just so "i experienced this piece of media at the exact transitional period of my life where i needed it most," and that's going to be special forever for me. the effect it's already having on me is of a magnitude i can't even fathom yet. it's going to sit with me for years. IT'S GOOD. IT'S REALLY FUCKIN GOOD. This yugioh made me bawl my eyes out like three different times over the way it shares themes of how grief and trauma can puss you to extremes,and how keeping close the bonds we have with each other, even when the people we care about have to go to away, is so so crucial and helps us move forward. There is love and there is loss in every inch of this fucking yugioh and it's incredible, I see why it's such a beloved series. I KNOW NOW. I SEE THE PEAK. I FEEL IT.

I do also absolutely see why it seems like a lot of people hold this as one of if not The most "serious" yugioh. And I get it! It handles some really fuckin grim, heavy topics (most all of them really remarkably well and gracefully!) BUT ALSO. I GOTTA SAY. THIS YUGIOH IS SO FUCKING FUNNY. AND SO GOOFY. AND SO RIDICULOUS. AND THATS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE EXPERIENCE FOR ME. I watched the dub primarily as I usually do (+ all of s3 subbed and some other eps subbed) but let's be real the original is hilarious too. You get your 18 episodes of Ai being one of the most tragic, miserable saddest yugioh villains of all time but before then and even during it he is so STUPID. SLASH POS. HE'S BOUNCING AROUND BEING AN ANNOYING LITTLE FUNNYMAN LOONEY TUNE AND IT RULES. I WILL NOT STAND FOR VRAINS COMEDY ERASURE. the comedy makes the heavy shit hit even harder!!! FROG AND PIGEON ROCK YOUR WHOLE WORLD.

also, re: the dub. again i know im dubliker3000 im always hyping up the dubs but vrains miiiight be my favorite of all of them, alongside the arc-v dub. YES it didnt translate the end of yusaku and ai's duel maybe the best it could have, but being completely real it's still a perfectly serviceable ending (i actually like the very VERY end of vrains more with the dub version--yusaku reiterating that he'll do whatever it takes to find his friend is SWEET and i LIKE IT) and writing off the whole dub because of it is really silly. it is not NEARLY as bad as the way some people act 😭 there's something really particular about like...the way characters talk and word things in the vrains dub that I just really like. characters joke around a lot of course but they also talk in this very This Feels Like How People Talk IRL way to me and it's so engaging. it's very believable is a way i'd put it. idk maybe it's just that I watch a lot of live action comedy shows but some vrains dub dialogue would slot in so perfectly in one of those and i love that lol ALSO THE DUB PERFORMANCES JUST RULE. DUB WINDY YOURE EVERYTHING TO ME.

OK oh my god im rambling already lmao--let's break it down in my little subsections I like to do in these posts!!

Stuff I Didn't Like: Gotta say, there isn't a Whole lot that I just straight up don't like in vrains, but also. oh my fucking god. why does this series hate women so much DFHGSYDFGY IM SORRRYYY BUT IT'S SO ROUGH. ARC-V HAD THE BAR ON THE FLOOR RE: YUGIOH GIRLS AND SOMETIMES VRAINS JUST STARTS DIGGING.INTO THE BEDROCK. vrains only has like 5 women of note in it and all of them end up experiencing some sort of horrible fate at one time or another (except Hiyami maybe???!? shes too busy wanting to fuck akira i guess) AND IT'S JUST SO..... MAN. the world if VRAINS liked aoiskye more. she's so cool and theyre constantly putting her through the most horrifying experiences imaginable for the entire run of the series. they fucking mind control virus'd her by like episode EIGHT. THEY DID THIS SHIT TO HER

AND DONT GET ME STARTED ON POOR MIYU. FUCKING INSANE THAT THE LOST INCIDENT IMPACTED SIX KIDS BUT ONLY HALF OF THEM GOT TO LIKE. ACTUALLY BE CHARACTERS. JIN FANS NEED FINANCIAL COMPENSATION. big deranged smile...it's fine.... i'll fix it myself...gripping my Windy Kid character concept/design so tight in my fist......

IT'S LIKE. vrains has SUCH cool characters and concepts but you can really feel the pacing crunch on some of them it's a dead horse at this point but this show had 120 episodes and LIKE EIGHT OF THEM ARE RECAP EPISODES. IT'S LIKE YOU CAN FEEL THE STRUGGLE THROUGH THE SCREEN.It is a goddamn MIRACLE that this show made it to air and was cohesive At All with the all the stories of production issues I keep hearing about it.

HM. what else did i actually dislike......oh right lol it's not really a Major general dislike and more me exaggerating as a bit but it's hysterical that multiple people were like "ohhh Spectre's gonna be a Danaguy" and then the second he started dueling I couldnt stand him and wanted to beat him to death with a golf club JHDFHGYUYDF SORRY TO EVERYONE HE'S JUST SO FUNNY TO RAG ON. unfortunately the way he treats skye makes my skin crawl and not even in a cool way. MY FRIEND CALLED HIM "INDUSTRY PLANT DANABAIT" AND SHE'S RIGHT. he's like baby's first yugioh weirdguy. he's a chat-gpt generated danaguy. he's a government danaguy psyop. he's We Have Yuri Arc-V At Home.hes FINE i just like him only in the hyperspecific read i have on his dynamic with revolver. WHY IS HE THE SINGLE MOST INCONSISTENTLY DRAWN YUGIOH CHARACTER. I DONT LIKE LOOKING AT HIM. GET HIM OUT OF MY HOUSE.HORRIBLE WHITE BOY. SLASH NEG

OK. ok. ok. im calm sorry about that aside. ACTUALLY. WAIT. ONE MORE THING i wish with my whole heart that Soltis Ai still sounded like a shrill little funnyguy IT'S SO SAD THAT HE DOESNT!!! IN THE DUB ESPECIALLY!!! I LIKE HIM BUT HE SHOULD BE ON THAT DUB!MARIK SHIT. POUNDS MY FIST ON THE TABLE. ALAS. L for enjoyers of when yugioh characters sound Fucking Annoying 💔

OK IM DONE. THAT LEADS REALLY WELL INTO TALKING ABOUT VRAINS' CAST, THOUGH. SO.....

Favorite Characters: im saying this with so much genuine love in my heart: it's so funny that i had like a solid half dozen people hedging their bets on either Spectre or Ryoken being the vrains guys to Do Me In and then I watched the show and instead I got the needle blown clean off the Danaguy Meter by THESE FUCKING THINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOW COME NONE OF THE DEAD DADS IN VRAINS MAD ME CRY NEARLY AS HARD AS FLAME THE LITTLE 🔥🤓☝ FUNNYGUY DID. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT. THIS GUMBY SHIT IS SERIOUS

sniffles. i love the Ignis a perfectly normal amount. im so enamored with their interpersonal complexities. All of their decks are crazy cool. I love their funky elemental noises they make in the sub when theyre moving, I LOVE THEIR DUB VOICES, SO SO MUCH. theyre just so fantastic. everything a goddamn ordeal in area family. bonzi buddy polycule born from traumatized six year olds and their brainwaves.. I love that I spent the entire series wondering what was gonna be the spark that sends Ai over the edge into becoming the s3 villain and the answer literally is "his whole family died and he's going mad with loneliness and grief" YEAH SURE I'LL BE FUCKING NORMAL ABOUT IT!!! WHAT THE FUCKKKKKK. THESE GUYS GONNA HAVE ME SLAMMING MY HEAD INTO THE WALL FOR MONTHS. WHEN I DESIGN SOLTIS FORMS FOR THE OTHER FIVE IT'S OVER FOR YOU GUYS

but of course even among the six of em i WILL play favorites. I have a feeling Flame and Lightning and Ai too maybe will have a delayed effect on me and will have me going insane over the summer but for now let the record show my absolute tippy top fav is MY STUPID FREAKLET ONE-EYED EAR OF CORN.

WINDY HAD ME BY THE THROAT FROM HIS DEBUT EPISODE. HE'S PLAYING DANA BINGO TO FUCKING WIN. what do you mean he talks with the insane winding cadence of a donald trump speech at 1.75x speed in the dub and nobody has noticed this before. what do you mean he got his original personality mangled and reprogrammed into a violent dangerous little freak. what do you MEAN he almost DIES and loses an eye from a computer virus. WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE COMMITTED A VEHICULAR MURDER. WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE COMES BACK AS A HORRIFYING GOO MONSTER JUST TO TRY AND KILL SOMEONE ONLY TO DIE HORRIBLY ONCE AND FOR ALL AND ALL OF THAT WAS LIKE THREE MINUTES IN THE MIDDLE OF AN UNRELATED EPISODE!!!!!!!!!!! EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM IS INSANE. AND FOR MEEEEEEEEEEEE I LOVE YOU WINDYYYY 🌽🌽🌽🌽🌪️🌪️🌪️🌪️

ANYWAY. ANYWAY. ASIDE FROM THE MICROSOFT CLIPPY GANG vrains cast is so fuckin solid, man, it's hard for me to pick top favs from the non-goober cast. It's mega basic but I love Soulburner, I'm a sucker for fire-motif characters, he's just a sweet kid and his dynamic with Flame makes me cry my eyes out. AND I LOVE YUSAKU TOO one of my biggest fears going into vrains was that i wasnt gonna click with him as a yutag, since he isn't as Big Personalityed as guys like Jaden or Yuya, and I also was on the fence about him based on his dinks lines, but actually seeing him in show? god hes so fucking COOL. HE WAS SO BRAVE AND SO LOYAL AND SO AUTISTIC AND SO WONDERFULLY WRITTEN. you couldnt ask for a better protag with this show!!!! Or a better rival, ryokenvarisrevolverGUN does kick ass on like every level.

I also love the amount of VRAINS characters who are either A.) Just Some Guy, B.) Some Grownass Adult With a Job, or C.) Both. it's fucking awesome. Kolter and Akira and Emma are some of the realest ones alive. Shiima is so FUNNYYYYYY. and well nobody else likes him but I think Blood Shepherd is fucking hysterical and his aura is off the charts. Grownass 30something cowboy AND he's got crazy sibling drama. Don't worry Kenneth I'LL like you (also that's my dad's name, another little insane thing in the 'vrains came to me when i needed it most' jar)

ough im not even gonna bother ranking my top 5 characters in this show yet. i need to mull on it more. I WILL say special shout out to Bohman and Harlin/Hal because theyre going to make me fucking insane if I think about them anymore. AND THEY WERE EVEN YUGIOH SIBLINGS. GOOD GOD.

Favorite Season/Arc:.MOOOOMMMMMMM IT HAPPENED AGAIN.

like. it's so funny to me that the shit that happened with 5ds when i watched it (enjoyed the first season, but the second half/season made me absolutely frothing rabid dog crazy) happened AGAIN with vrains. I DONT KNOW WHY. I CANT EVEN FIGURE OUT WHAT IT IS THAT MADE SEASON 1 NOT CLICK AS MUCH FOR ME!!! i liked it a lot, it's absolutely some of the best yugioh, it has one of my all time fav duels in it!!! but then. well. season 2 rolls up and just starts kicking my ass right out the gate. AND THEN SEASON 3 ALSO STARTS KICKING MY ASS. AND THEN IM DEAD ON THE FLOOR.

seriously props to this beleaguered production team, they really make those last 17 episodes BITE. .the grief IS endless and you WILL feel it. I wish the season could have been longer to really explore some of the intricacies floating around in there more, maybe do some more stuff with the other higherups at Soltec/those fucking shareholders, but man they really make the most of the hand theyve been dealt.

but yeah Season 2 is my favorite im so fucking sorry i promise im not setting out to latch onto the least enjoyed parts of a yugioh every time they just keep cramming all the danabait back here. every introduced character this season I'm hooting and hollering over. Theyre getting thick in the weeds of what it means to be alive and it rules. Windy blast. Lightning is building Jesus Christ in Garry's Mod and well I simply can't be normal about it. That stretch from ep 68 to ep 80 or so is like the most insaneo dana psyche blast in a yugioh since the Ark Cradle. The Yellow Dog Run. They Killed Earth and Crafted His Corpse Onto Gore's Brain. OH WELL OK!!!! Also the season finale made me cry so goddamn hard. bobcat (grief themes) got you.

Favorite Duel: This is actually a hard question; I always like thinking about my favorite dues in a ygo beyond just my first favorite, but with VRAINS' it starts to get tough to single out individual duels I like beyond. Two In Particular.

First up, i fucking LOVE the Playmaker vs. Akira duel in season 1. This is, gun to my head, absolutely my favorite vrains duel. The setting's cool, the monsters are cool (Tindangles one of the sickest archetypes I've ever SEEN), you get clobbered by the Lost Incident lore and Yusaku gets MAD mad and it goes hard as hell. AND THAT SHIT YUSAKU DOES. WHERE HE SPECIFICALLY LETS THE DUEL PLAY OUT LONGER THAN HE NEEDED TO JUST TO KEEP THE MONSTERS REPRESENTATIVE OF AKIRA AND SKYE'S BOND OUT OF THE GY. MAKES ME CRAZYYYYYYY thats one of the most moving things ive ever seen in a yugioh duel!!!! i dont ever wanna hear people say yusaku doesnt care about people EVER AGAIN!!!

And secondly, to absolutely nobody's surprise, the Revolver vs. Windy duel makes me start spinning around and barking and doing flips and shit. It's got EVERYTHING. Windy being a little freaklet, his crazy ass airships, Revolver rolling up in his kickass s2 fit and busting out a GODDAMN SYNCHRO SUMMON!!!! WINDY ALMOST DYING IN ONE OF THE MOST HORRIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES IVE SEEN IN A YUGIOH. WINDY AND LIGHTNING'S WEIRD GAY THING THATS MAYBE BURNING A HOLE IN MY BRAIN A LITTLE. THEY MADE THIS ONE IN A LAB TO BLOW UP MY BRAIN. it's also just a really fun duel, I love that they keep passing Magic Cylinder back and forth like a blunt. Borreload Savage Dragon also shreds harder than hell we all know but I'll say it again.

Beyond those, it's like... I genuinely really enjoy most All of the other duels in the show (except like. some of the filler duels and the times poor Skye loses -___- MOST OF THE TIME FOR NO GODDAMN REASON. her duel with bohman can stay because it does crack my skull in a little but it's on THIN FUCKING ICE!!!!) They're just really fun to watch, stuff like the Speed Duels adds an engaging new dimension to how duels unfold and tons of decks in VRAINS are just Fuckin' Cool. Runner-up duels I would maybe slot into my favorites tier include the absolutely agonizing (/pos) Kolter vs Playmaker duel, Revolver vs. Soulburner (DUEL THAT MADE ME CRY BIG AND A LOT) and uhhhh Soulburner vs Bohman........ . .. .... it's not a Good duel like. like At All. but Random Windy Event in the middle of it was so catastrophic to my ecosystem it earns my favor ❤

Other Miscellaneous VRAINS Gushing and Howling: UGH. GOD. IT'S JUST REALLY GOOD. IT'S REALLY GOOD AND IT MADE ME CRY SO MUCH MORE THAN I EVER EXPECTED IT TO. I'd always been a bit wary that VRAINS wasnt gonna do much for me in the grand scheme of yugiohs--i cant even say why??!? maybe just me being stubborn??!??! EITHER WAY. ANYWAY. it took a minute for it to really catch me in its claws but it GRABBED ME. AND DID NOT LET GO. after arc-v it is fucking crazy to see a yugioh that actually Delivers and Earns its themes and messages. EVERY TIME THE YUGIOH IS ABOUT THE BONDS WE HAVE WITH EACH OTHER I FEEL IT IN MY CHEST. BUT THIS TIME ESPECIALLY. TRULY ALL WE HAVE IS OUR LOVED ONES. EVEN WHEN THEYRE GONE, THEYRE NEVER GONE FOREVER

^i liked both the dub and sub of the last episode in equal measure but i WILL say the sub one made me cry more. the montage of all the families and friendships in this damn show got me good

I definitely think I watched the last season of VRAINS a Particularly insane way (dub first, then immediately followed by 1.8x-2x speed sub version) but honestly it was the perfect way for me to experience it and i'm not kidding--VRAINS' dub AND sub compliment each other, both bring their own little details to the table that for s3 just help paint this even more nuanced, complex picture of the Absolutely Endless Abyss of Grief and Sadness Happening in There. Should you watch yugioh this way? PROBABLY NOT. BUT ALSO IF YOU CRAZY LIKE ME GO FOR IT IT MAY DO SOMETHING TO YOU !

ouughgh also ALSO!!!! i LOVE just how true it is that duel links VRAINS world really does pick up where the show leaves off, and i cant WAIT to go back and reread vrains world events now that I know the characters and the story better. IT'S SO CRAZY COOL THAT DUEL LINKS INHERENTLY CARRIES THE TORCH OF VRAINS THEMES OF MEMORIES, HOW THEY LITERALLY CAN MAKE THE DEAD LIVE AGAIN. GUGHGH IT MAKES MY DUEL LINKS LORE SCHOLAR ASS GO BANANASSSSS

also when they put windy and lightning in dinks im gonna be SO annoying thats a threat and a promise<33

just. AUGH. MAN. VRAINS!!!! im so so glad i watched this when i did, maybe i'm booboo the fool finding genuine comfort and solace in the funny card game children's cartoon but between this and the yuri duel links event yugioh has really been helping hold my psyche together in the wake of losing my dad. vrains is POTENT and I fucking love it. Those showrunners were apparently going through all the levels of Dante's hell trying to bring this show to life and for all their struggles the end result pops off pretty fuckin hard. I'm so excited for it to sink further into my bloodstream in the coming months. The grief may be endless but so is the love. I cannot fucking believe they had to put the Funny Roomba Robot down like a sick dog and well we just all have to be cool with it. sniff. it's fine.

I love your Yugioh VRAINS..... I love Yusaku and Kolter's friendship, I love the goofy dub sandwich vs. taco hotdog running gag, it feels just SO 'stupid unfunny bit two friends would take to the grave' and it's perfect. I love Ryoken's absolutely hilarious character trait that he keeps running fucking boomer traps that havent been relevant since 2006. I love his deck full of the fucking ugliest dragons I've ever seen in my life. slash POS. I love the Gore, everything about him, what if the Rock played a fuckign trading card game--it's fucked up what happened to him in s2 but i DO admit 'they stitched a dead Ignis into his brain chip' Makes Me a Little Sick in the Head, SO. YOU WIN THIS ROUND YUGIOH. I LOVE GOUKIS. I LOVE DINOWRESTLERS. I LOVE STORMRIDERS. I love love LOVE how absolutely raw as hell extra deck summons go in this series, ESPECIALLY the legacy mechanics--Synchro and Xyz summons in this hype me the FUCK up!!! I love how ridiculously cartoonishly evil Soltec is, I wish we got to see them more as an antagonistic force. At least got Queen tho. RIP Magnum Cuntquake i wont forget you.

I love Ai and Yusaku's dynamic, I love that Ai just Says Shit and yusaku doesnt say a goddamn thing. Ai might be my favorite 'yutag duel partner' character, thinking about it.... what can i say i love a character who's nonstop annoying AND sad :,) I love all the different flavors of Yugioh Siblings we get in this one, with halfsiblings and stepsiblings and 'regular' siblings and more--I like them all!!! I love that technically like half the action in this show takes place inside a hot dog food truck. I love the data storms, fuck it, ride the cyberspace tornado and pull a duel monster out of it NOW!!!! I love Ryoken's stupid yacht that becomes a key location in season 2. I love the Harlin vs Blue Maiden duel episode for just completely smashing my kneecaps in with this fucked up and miserable AI 'family.' I love Flame's insistence on sharing the meaning of his name literally every possible opportunity he can get. I love all the different ways characters announce that they're creating their circuit when link summoning. I love the back half of the Yusaku vs. Bohman duel, when Flame tells Ai the Ignis will live on in his heart and Darkfluid gets summoned and me well I'm just a puddle of tears on the floor.

ok I'm officially outta steam I can barely read my screen <-- *doesnt have her contacts in* thank you for everything VRAINS you are in fact peak. ask your parent's permission before going online and meeting a little elemental booger made from your trauma. peace on earth my final message GOODBYE.

I LOVE YUGIOH!!!!!!!!!!!

#ygo posting #WE'RE SO BACK. IT'S POST-SERIES DANA RAMBLE TIME BABEYYYYYY #posting this and immediately going to bed. it ended up shorter than my arc-v one but still like. 3.8k words long #i had a lot to say...... i really enjoyed this one moreso than i ever thought possible ;_; waahhh #anyway GOODLUCK AND GODSPEED IN THERE. GOODNIGHT I LOVE YUGIOH #dana's ygo spinoff roundup retrospective

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writtenapoiogy · 15 hours ago

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sudden desire | prev chapter <<< chapter two >>> next chapter

satoru gojo x f!reader (18+) SMUT, angst, & fluff

art by linobii_

chap wc; 2.8k (sorry its so short next chap will be longer!!)

chap warnings; angst, no smut, or fluff, more talk about feelings, interrupted conversations, gojo yearning after reader, and alcohol consumption

a/n; i dont know why it took me forever to write this chapter im so sorry i really hope you all enjoy this chapter and story so far just as much as im enjoying writing it!

series masterlist

It had been three months since you last saw and spoke to Satoru. A week after that night at your apartment, you gathered all of his stuff and took it over to his home. You tried not to be cold with him but you had to for yourself. If you two were casual again you couldn’t trust yourself to not let him fall into your bed again.

Within those three months you had only been on four dates.

And not a single one of them met the requirements you set. Requirements that all eerily reminded you of the man you were desperately trying to forget.

Desperately trying to let go of.

Satoru on the other hand—couldn’t get you out of his mind. He tried to check your socials but you barely posted up there. He contemplated asking Mira what you had been up to but Suguru had mentioned how she was becoming a bit of a bridezilla as the wedding drew closer. And he couldn’t possibly ask Suguru cause that would be weird and raise suspicions right?

He could not wait for tonight. The Rehearsal Dinner. He would finally be able to see you again.

You, however, were thinking of all the ways to evade him these next three days. You finished packing your bag and got dressed for the night.

Satoru was actually going to be on time for once in his life.

He had his outfit planned at the start of his day and packed his bag the night before. And one thing about Satoru Gojo, he was never punctual. He wanted to make sure he looked good for you. He just wanted to be able to talk to you again. He missed you and he wasn’t afraid to say it.

Satoru stood in the corner directly across from the entrance of the restaurant as he waited for you to arrive.

And, yes, you heard that correctly Satoru was actually on time. He wanted to get there as soon as possible so he had more time to get to talk to you.

He felt like he had been on vocal rest. Not realizing just how much you and him talked, just how much time the two of you actually spent with each other.

His heart felt like it was lurching out of his chest every time he thought about you. Every single time you crossed his mind. In the past three months which was ninety-one days, he had been counting, he had contemplated confessing to you and Suguru. He was seeing what his life would have been like without you in it and he wasn’t liking it. At. Fucking. All. But he couldn’t risk the only family he had now could he?

Satoru was standing at the other side of the room, directly across from the entrance. He wanted to see you as soon as you walked in. His eyes shifted to the door every time he heard it open. Not paying any attention to the dull conversation being had right next to him.

And when you finally showed up he choked on his drink as soon as his eyes landed on you and he is so glad he didn’t have a coughing fit. You were in a beautiful navy blue cocktail dress that hugged your curves just right.

You arrived late. Twenty minutes late to be exact and you couldn’t stop cursing at yourself. You were the maid of honor and the sister of the groom for God’s sake.

You could feel his eyes on you as soon as you entered the building. The hair on the back of your neck stood up. You needed to avoid him to the best of your abilities. You made a huge deal about not wanting to waste time with him when you could’ve been finding the one and you have nothing to show for it. You made a beeline straight for Mira and gave her a hug, apologizing for your lateness.

Mira accepted your apology before getting everyone’s attention. “Looks like everyone is here, lets get this show on the road, shall we! Everyone can grab a drink to hold them off till dinner if you’d like.”

Right when the words left her mouth you felt Satoru’s presence right behind you and his cologne engulfed you. “Your favorite,” he spoke dangerously close to your ear. You turned and he handed you a champagne flute and you took it with small thank you—refusing to look him in his eyes. Those eyes that can make your knees weak in a second. Those same eyes that bore into yours as he took you apart multiple times.

Satoru frowned when he realized what you were doing. It may have hurt but he was anything but not persistent. He was going to find a way to talk you. He dipped his head down trying to meet your eyes, “You look beautiful.”

You briefly met his daring blue eyes before looking away. You spat out a quick excuse and dipped away from him. “I think Mira’s calling me..”

Satoru laughed at your weak excuse. Hearing your voice alone made him feel like he was floating. His eyes followed your every step as you walked away. He craved for you to be his and you were slipping through his fingertips like water. If only he could find a way for you to be fine with still being with him in secret. No one to perceive or attempt to ruin something so beautiful. If only you would see it his way if only you would see the good with keeping it between the two of you. If only, he thought.

The walk through of the ceremony went smoothly and you made it the whole time without sparing one glance at Satoru. You were really proud of yourself. But now was time for dinner and of course the laid back couple choose a buffet and not a fancy dinner where you could attempt to avoid the tall man with the piercing gaze.

You sipped on a glass of water making sure not to drink a sip of alcohol because you couldn’t trust yourself. You knew you would find yourself in bed with him, again. History forever repeating itself and you had to be stronger than that. The only way you would sleep with him again is if the two of you were actually together. You didn’t want to hide in the shadows. Love deserves to be shouted from the tallest skyscrapers.

You saw him approaching you from your peripheral and immediately tried to get out of his field of view. But Satoru was already hot on your heels.

He wrapped his long fingers around your wrist, capturing the bracelet he got you underneath his touch. “Hey. Could you just talk to me? It’s weird.”

“We did talk, Gojo.” You continued to walk and he followed with your wrist still in his hand. You couldn’t lie and say that his touch didn’t light a fire beneath your skin.

“Don’t call me that. We’re closer than that.”

You finally stopped running and took a deep breath when he eventually let go of your wrist. “What do you want?” You turned to face him. You looked around you two to make sure no one was looking.

“I want to talk to you. I haven’t heard from you in like three months. Okay?” He said like he hadn’t been keeping a mental tab of how many days it had actually been. “I’m kinda having hard time adjusting.”

“What are we supposed to talk about? My dates?” You mumble around the rim of your glass before taking a sip of your water.

“You’re seeing someone?” He asked quick. Too quick. But the thought alone made a small crack in his heart form. He mentally slapped himself in the face for being so eager for your answer.

You kept your head down, “no.. I’ve, um, just been on a few dates.” you fidgeted with your bracelet. You lifted your head up and finally held eye contact with him for the first time that night. “No one really fit, I guess.” And no one did. No one fit that mold. That mold of your heart that Satoru Gojo had shaped piece by piece and brick by brick himself.

Satoru felt the air in his lungs get sucked out of him. Your beautiful eyes finally meeting his. He was struggling to find the words to say to you and before he even had the chance, Suguru was calling out to you stealing away his only opportunity to talk to you, alone.

He didn’t know if hope is what he was searching for. Hope that maybe you would cave and be his under his circumstances. Satoru dragged his hands down his face and then headed to the open bar. He needed a drink.

Right after dinner finished you hurried to you car after hugging the bride and groom goodbye. You successfully went the rest of the dinner without having to talk to Satoru, now you just had to make it to the car. But who were you to think it would be that easy when dealing with Satoru Gojo. You heard the door open up behind you and you didn’t bother turning around—already knowing who it was.

The white haired and blue eyed man called out to you but your feet never stopped. You kept heading for your car to escape his presence for the evening and peacefully cry by yourself. He met you right when you went to hop into the driver seat. His grip on the top of the door was strong. “Would you please just talk to me? Please?”

You threw your purse into the passenger seat and turned to face him. “Did we not just talk?”

“No. I wanna talk about us.” He insisted.

A loud sigh left mouth and you shut your eyes, “We already did.”

“No, you did.” Satoru started.

You narrowed your eyes at him with a heated glare.

“You were angry and I didn’t want to go back and forth with you, so would you please.” He was so close to dropping to the ground and begging you just to talk to him.

Knowing him and knowing he would not let up. “You have five minutes.” You cross your arms and focus in on him.

“Ten.” He tried to negotiate.

“Five.” you declared.

“Eight.”

“Five, Gojo. Before I change my mind and pull off.”

You didn’t have to tell him twice. If this was his only chance to talk to you this weekend than he was going to make the best of it. “Your brother would actually kill me.”

You scoffed, “This, again?”

“Yes. This again. Because I don’t think you understood the last time. You think this isn’t what I want. This is all I want. You’re all I want.” The alcohol in his system made the words fly off his tongue like butter. But he couldn’t help but feel like his words were a little too late. “But you and Suguru are the only family I have. I can’t lose that.”

“If you really wanted me you would fight back. No matter what my brother might say, You would fight for me. You would fight for us. Satoru, I’m not trying to take your family away. I of all people get family.” Your mom and dad had passed in a terrible accident when you were nine years old and since then you’d never been able to see time the same again.

His eyes traced your face and his features softened. “I know. I know.” He nodded. “I miss you.” He really did, more than anything. He missed your voice and the way you said his name. He missed your laugh and the way you would look at him when no one was looking—when you thought he wasn’t looking.

“You could’ve had me.” Your head falls to the side. The facade you had put up slightly breaking. You were exhausted. He was the only thing getting in the way. “We both agreed we could never be casual after that. After everything. This is me not being casual.” You let your words hang in the air for a moment. “And have you ever considered that maybe Suguru wouldn’t give a shit. That maybe he would just be happy for us?”

Satoru let your words sit. He wanted nothing more than to just be able to reach out to you and kiss you. He hated seeing you like this. So broken. So exhausted and hurt. As if almost on cue, Suguru walked out with his bride to be wrapped around his arm. Satoru turned his head when he heard the door open.

Suguru looked like he was absolutely glowing. Both him and Mira. And Satoru thought, he would do anything to be with you like that. Happy and nothing able to penetrate their bubble. But nothing was ever that simple for him.

Your gaze followed his and found the happy couple and you felt the smallest lump in your throat form. What you wanted and who you wanted was standing right in front of you but still so far away and it was eating you alive.

They walked up to the two of you, “What are you two up to?” Mira chirped. “You looked so tired I thought you’d be half way to the cabin by now.”

“Guess I slowed her down making sure she made it to her car.” Satoru responded a charming smile adorning his face.

“How sweet of you, Satoru.” Suguru said, ruffling his best friends hair. “Can always trust you to look after my baby sister.” Oh he had no idea.

Satoru shoved his hand out of his hair, “Of course man. Always.” His eyes briefly met yours with a hint of something more. Something deeper. He would always keep you safe. He would protect you no matter what and Suguru had no idea just how much.

You cleared your throat. Hushed secrets lingered in the air. You needed to get out of there. “Goodnight you guys.” You walked over to the two of them and gave them a little dual hug. “I can’t wait to see how beautiful the wedding turns out tomorrow.” You kissed both of their cheeks before heading back to your car.

“We were gonna go check out a bar down the street, the two of you are free to join us. If you’re up for it.” Mira spoke.

Satoru’s head snapped in your direction. He felt his heart leap at the thought of being able to spend time with you again. “Like old times.” His smile was wicked and he knew it. An underlying tone to his words. Reminding you of that night. That first night.

“No, I should probably get going. Gotta make sure my favorite couples day all goes according to plan.” You offered a half smile as you attempted to hide your pain. “Goodnight, Gojo.”

Satoru had just finished his third beer and immediately went to open the next.

“Phew you might wanna slow down there, best man.” Suguru said to his best friend but only received a glare in return. “What’s got you so in the mood to drink yourself into a coma.”

“I don’t think four beers s'enough to do that Sugu.” Satoru slurred.

Mira had kept her eye on the white haired man since the night had begun. He was more quiet and reserved than normal. His eyes never left the entrance till you walked in, of course and that’s when she started to piece some things together.

How every time the four of you hung out these past two years, you and Satoru always migrated towards each other. Most days felt like a double date rather than a hangout and that never bothered you two now did it. Most people would’ve been appalled at the implications but you two embraced them. Embraced the idea of you two being a couple.

“You seeing anyone, Satoru?” Mira blurted out. Her eyes taking in every little movement of his features. Looking, searching for something.

“No.” Satoru responded sharply.

“You know, now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve heard you mention a girl in a while.” Suguru added.

“Got other things to worry about.” Satoru offered in hopes to change the direction of the conversation. He couldn’t help the wave of guilt that flooded his body. Guilty that he betrayed Suguru. Guilty because he knew Suguru trusted him with you. Your overprotective brother that threatened any boy that merely looked in your direction, would gladly leave Satoru Gojo alone with you cause he knew he would keep you safe.

And just like you said those few months ago, Satoru had betrayed that trust that night he took you to bed. And he was willing to take that with him to the grave. He was ready to take his love for you to the grave. Or so he thought.

Satoru went deafeningly silent and Mira took note of it. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure about her findings, but she had an inkling that there was something more going on between you and Satoru Gojo than you had let on.

a/n; i finally found a writing flow that works for me and am able to write more than a 100 words in one day so i really hope to get these next chapters out in a timely manner and not take a month to write one AGAIN IM SORRYYY. chap 3 will be longer and angsty and we'll see some jealous satoru so stay tuned!

taglist; @gojoful @tqd4455

taglist is still open comment under this post to be added!

#gi*°:⋆ₓₒ sudden desire #satoru gojo #satoru gojo x reader #gojo x reader #gojo satoru x reader #gojo satoru #jujustu kaisen #jjk #jjk gojo #jjk satoru #jujutsu gojo #jujutsu satoru #satoru gojo fanfiction #gojo satoru fanfic #gojo satoru smut #satoru gojo smut

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not-delusional-at-all · 2 days ago

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Instagram Model

(Gaz x Femreader)

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT 18+

(Mentions of: porn and sex)

Gaz follows several Instagram models. He thinks they're all sexy and loves looking at them. He uses their pictures to wank to when he doesn't feel like looking at porn.

There's one Instagram model that's his favorite. This one specific one is his go-to when he doesn't want to jerk off to porn. It's you. You're his favorite Instagram model.

It's a bit of a problem that he goes through your page multiple times a day to see if you've posted anything new and to simply fawn over all of your past posts. He comments how beautiful you are every now and then. You've never liked the comments. You probably haven't seen his comments. There's so many. You can't keep track.

After following you for months, Gaz gets this crazy idea to DM you to shoot his shot. Surely, you wouldn't answer or even see it in your message requests. You have a following of over 200k, you're not just gonna reply to a stranger asking you out.

His message was just a dorky pickup line. He didn't think you were going to reply, otherwise he would have picked something smoother to say to you.

But he was mistaken. A few days pass and you reply. His heart skipped a beat when he saw you replied. You told him it was funny. That he was funny.

He wanted to push the envelope a little bit to see if you would reply again. He told you how beautiful you were. Again, he didn't think you would reply.

But sure enough, you did.

This sparked up a full conversation and you followed him back after talking to him for a few days.

Weeks went by and he revealed where he lived. You guys lived near each other amazingly enough.

You eventually exchanged phone numbers and you suggested meeting up. You guys met up at a local coffee shop. It went great, so great that you somehow ended up back at his place and he wasted no time at all bending you over the back of his couch and fucking the shit out you.

He gave you the best dick of your life and his dream of fucking his favorite Instagram model came true. You and him both definitely plan on keeping each other around.

Checking your DMs for once was definitely worth it.

#call of duty #cod #kyle garrick #kyle gaz garrick #gaz #gaz x reader #kyle garrick x reader #fempov #call of duty x reader #task force 141

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sometimeslwish · 2 days ago

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Something Just Like This (With Rafayel)

T'is the fishies turn! I made the fucking mistake of posting this a day earlier than intended and I had to redo everything *face palm* Anyways, now you know why him and Caleb gave me so much trouble, it's hard to be specific and mention everything when there's so much variety. I said I was going to be more specific about the tags on each post, but... how do I do that when I'm not even going into extreme detail?

Word count: 1,637

Tags: voice acting, just general +18 content, Rafayel putting his whole pussy into his art as always, nothing too explicit, just mentions of fluff, smut and angst, Raf being a bit of an art critique near the end.

Social media handles

YouTube

madebyrafayel (speed paints and some art tutorials)

legendsoftheseaasmr (va account)

Twitter

madebyrafayel – it started as his secondary art account for the more mature stuff, then it became a mess of art, audio sneak peeks and him interacting with Thomas and the fans.

Instagram

madebyrafayel – the most aesthetic out of all of his accounts. It's a well balanced mix of his art, photography and little moments.

How it started

He woke up one day, started drawing, and while thinking about the drawing, he decided he was going to do voice acting. No fanfare, no big "I just found my calling" moment, just a quiet "yeah, I'm going to do this". The moment he was done with the art, he wrote down the storyline and everything about the character he was going to play, made a new account for his voice acting and set out to buy the things for his set up. He lives quite a cushioned and calm life, so he wasn't in any hurry to succeed or be good, he just wanted to have fun.

— He doesn't talk about the account on his instagram or twitter, doesn't mention his plans to anyone. Simply posts videos and lets it grow on its own. He's content with people stumbling onto it.

— His first audio is a merman god audio (God Of The Tides). It's elaborate and the sound effects are quite realistic. He records all the parts for it in one sitting, slowly editing and posting them as he goes. Again, he's in no hurry, he's enjoying his time.

— Obviously, people recognize his art and talk about it, some even try to get his attention and ask if that's him, but he says nothing and lets it fester.

— Thomas comes along after a year and a half, and by then he's revealed that yes, that va channel with art awfully similar to his is actually him. He became his editor and unofficial manager.

— His posting was a mess, sometimes he'd post three consecutive weeks in a row, on others it would take a month or more for him to post. People could see the shift in time management the moment he went from posting randomly to posting bi-weekly. Now he posts his audios on Fridays.

Channel

— Deep blues, watercolor corals and sand tones, a little bit more and the account itself would have a wave animation along with the sound of the shores.

— The intro of his videos is a little animation of himself. It starts with a view of a chibi version of him fiddling with a little fish trinket while he waits for the listener, when they approach, he'll turn and say “Hey, cutie! Wanna hear a new story?” and then pull you along into a room as he starts narrating. He'll stop talking once the place and time has been set and then the sound effects will start and throw you into the first person pov.

— He likes going an extra mile by marking timestamps in his videos, he usually divides them into three acts.

— He draws art of the characters, it's the only thing you see throughout the video. It's always a full body picture that gets zoomed into so the details are slowly shown as the video progresses. You can tell a series is coming depending on how elaborate the drawing is.

— His content is M4A, and very occasionally he's specific about gender. Pet names vary depending on theme, setting and character, but the only one that is truly his is “cutie”.

— Sirens, mermaids, water fairies, spirits, whatever type of sea/water creature he can come up with. Played a naga once, never did it again, no matter how much the fans begged. He'll switch it up and play humans while the listener is the water creature every once in a while.

— His merman god character makes a comeback every once in a while. It's his most famous series along with The Lemurian Painter (a sequel to The God Of The Tides, where the god has fallen along with his people) and Abysswalker (the third installment to the God Of The Tides series, where lemurians have gone extinct and the seas have started to dry up)

— Some characters are connected and make references to something that happened to the others, it's a nice easter egg the fans always look for.

His sfw content

— Summer at the beach. A lot of his audios are set around water, be it a tub, a river, pool or even the beach or in the sea.

— His videos are as elaborate as his art, sometimes even more, you can tell he's putting his entire pussy soul into it. He has playlists for each oc he makes, it's almost like a little multiverse for each one.

— Changes his voice, accent, speech pattern and entire demeanor depending on the character. He's fully immersing himself into the acting and having a blast.

— He does a little bit of everything; friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, strangers to lovers, doomed romances where a character dies, tooth rotting fluff, dark romance. He has no qualms about playing angel and devil. He'll play an assassin one day and a sweet painter the next.

— All of his oc's have an alternate version of themselves, the sweet ones get a yandere version and the rougher ones get a kinder version. He likes experimenting with their background and seeing how they would be if things went differently.

— He actually cries whenever a crying scene is involved, and sometimes he takes a selfie and posts it; that's all the fans need to know that an angsty audio is coming.

— He deviates from the water theme a little when doing cute dates; cute dinner dates, cooking/baking at home, going shopping, doing art together, car rides, lots of mundane and seasonal, cute things. He did a pottery date once and it was so realistic that if you actually went to do pottery while listening to the audio, you could pretend he was actually there.

— Sleep aid by humming. Sometimes he full on sings depending on the character, and the fans love it so much that there's an account dedicated to posting the clips of his singing. He has also done a few chronic pain audios, most of them focused on hand related pains.

— Alternates between being soothed by the listener and soothing the listener, it's concerning how realistic he can get with the audios.

His nsfw content

It takes him creating a very specific oc before he starts doing nsfw audios. The character is a shy, clumsy little thing that gets flustered easily under the listeners attention. It's the character’s first time and it ends up breaking the dam and opening the door for his other oc's.

— It's as varied as his fluffy moments; it can be a romantic moment for established lovers, a one night stand or even crazy sex between two yanderes. He does a lot of things thanks to his many oc's and the scenarios he puts them through.

— Those are, of course, linked to a different app. The tamer ones are more accessible than the ones with hard kinks, it's based on patreon tears.

— Accessible: oral (f & m receiving) hand jobs, fingering, prone bone and a bit of body worship, anal stuff, first times (in general), playing with toys, phone sex and just things that you'd consider vanilla. The aftercare for these is light, even if it might not even seem like it because of how naturally it flows into the scene.

— Paywalled: Monster fucking, light bondage, dom & sub dynamics, degradation, spanking, daddy kink, mommy kink, dub-con and cnc, you name it, he's probably done it. Whenever he does those, he ends them with more thorough aftercare scenes.

Extra things

— The most common ones, the ones that prevail throughout the characters are: praise kink, body worship, being vocal in bed and switchy dynamics.

— Thomas and Rafayel bother each other a lot on social media. Rafayel constantly complains about having Thomas breathing down his neck and Thomas constantly complains about Rafayel in general. Sometimes it looks like they are actually arguing but if you look at their private chats, they're just chilling and having a normal conversation.

— Sometimes he'll stream while drawing, as a teaser for what's to come. You never know what he'll draw, whether it'll be an elaborate drawing or a simple one. He'll chat with the fans then and talk about the characters, he gives so much content about them that the fans can make fanart and fanfics about them. He hypes up their art and offers criticism when they specifically ask for it, even encourages them when they do fanfics. He's made a few commissions here and there just because he felt like giving something back.

— Doesn't really care about showing his face and fans don't really care about it either. Yeah, he looks great and beautiful, but that's the last thing on their minds when he's voice acting and playing a character.

— He does this thing where he talks to Thomas randomly in some audios. It isn't weird because sometimes he has to give him pointers of what sound effects he should add– he's very specific, sometimes he'll even tell Thomas to remind him to look for a specific sound effect that came to mind– but it's different from the usual thing because he'll randomly go like "Thoooomaaaaas, I know you're theeeerreee" (kind of like what markiplier does with his editor where he has a whole skit) Thomas always films those moments and posts them on twitter, there are fan made compilations of them.

— There's also the occasional blooper reel, especially the ones Thomas finds too funny to not post. Rafayel always yells at him for it, saying something along the lines of "You're ruining my reputation!"

Series masterlist.

#somsplaylist #love and deep space #love and deepspace #l&ds #lads #lnds #lads fanfic #lads headcanons #rafayel #rafayel headcanons #love and deep space rafayel #lads rafayel #love and deepspace rafayel #rafayel love and deepspace #l&ds rafayel #lnds rafayel #rafayel fanfic

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badmilkk · 3 days ago

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How do you think Pony or Darry (or maybe the whole gang) would react if Soda and Two-Bit let their relationship out of the closet

They seem like they're closeted because homophobes yk

I'm so glad you asked me that because I have a whole structured timeline about their relationship based on my headcanons. This is a bit of a long post but I don't caaare... (There are drawings at the end anyways)

Their relationship is post-canon, so Dally and Johnny are sadly dead. They started getting closer after Sandy left Soda. Darry was really busy at work, Pony hung out very often with his new group (Curly and Scout and more random characters I guess XD), and Steve was taking his relationship with Evie very seriously after seeing how badly things went for Soda, so these two started to get together since they were a bit lonely. Two-Bit had liked Soda for a long time, but he obviously kept it all a secret and would occasionally hook up with some girl as a way to disguise it and to distract himself, thinking he would forget him that way. But well, that didn't happen lol. Soda started to like Two-Bit after Two didn't gave damn about anything and began to half-flirt with him and have very strange acts of kindness and courtesy. At first, he didn't understand his feelings, but then, looking back, he understood everything. He had already suspected that he liked guys for a few years but hadn't stopped to think about it, plus, back then he had internalized homophobia 😔. Things started to happen between them one night when they were half-drunk after some party or something and they kissed. The next day, unfortunately, they both remembered and started avoiding each other out of embarrassment until Soda had a talk with him and told him that their relationship was wrong and that they should stay away for the good of both of them. Two-Bit was super depressed because he was very much in love but he listened to him and they were like that for a few weeks. They avoided each other while hiding it from everyone and acting like nothing was wrong. Everything exploded one day when Two-Bit finally spoke to him and they had a long conversation where they were honest with each other on the rooftop of the Curtis' house (for some reason??) and they confessed their feelings and blah blah blah... But there was no kiss!! They just hugged and that was it because that was still something new for them hehe. During the following days, they half-avoided each other because they were very nervous, but they would steal glances or touch hands, or sometimes Two-Bit would take advantage and start flirting with Soda. Until finally one night Soda snuck into Two-Bit's room through the window, they hung out, and they had their first official kiss without alcohol involved. Some nights when Pony had a sleepover with Scout in his room (this is another ship I like a lot), Soda would sleep in his old room, and taking advantage of this, Two-Bit would sneak in through the window and spend time or the night with him. Sometimes Soda has also snuck out to spend the night at his place. They started going on dates. Pony once caught them in a too affectionate situation 🫢🤨 when they thought no one was around and started to overthink it but kept it a secret. Then things started to fall into place and he already assumed that those two were at least friends with benefits.

When Soda (and Steve) went to war, in my head it was like a year and a half or so until they returned. Well, there was a time when they stopped receiving letters from both Soda and Steve and everyone assumed the worst, thinking they might have died. In a moment of weakness (and maybe a little drunk), Two-Bit confessed to Darry and Pony that he was dating Soda. Darry took it really badly and Pony finally confirmed his theory, and although he took it a little badly, he tried to show his best support (remember the homophobia of the 60s aaaa). Darry didn't want to talk to Two-Bit anymore ☹️. Upon returning home from Vietnam, the only one who knew they were coming back was Darry, as he kept it as a surprise after some phone calls with Soda. First, they reunited with Pony. Later, he told Soda that he already knew about his relationship and they had a little chat, but everything was fine because Pony understood that as long as they were happy and didn't hurt anyone, it shouldn't bother him that they were two men together. The next day, Pony accompanied Soda to Two-Bit's house and they had a super cute reunion. Time passed and Darry tried to soften up but it was very difficult for him. He fought with Soda many times about this because it was a huge shock, but over time he got used to it, "forgave" them, and accepted their relationship (what choice did he have XD). Steve was more of the same. He ended up finding out because Soda told him and they argued a lot too. He was hurt for being the last to find out blah blah blah there were problems blah blah blah homophobia of the time blah blah blah but Darry and Pony talked to him and made him see reason. Everyone got used to it and finally they were all happy!!! Although, of course, they couldn't act like boyfriends in front of other people, and they also don't really like being too close when they are around the gang. I couldn't tell you how long their relationship lasts, but for some reason, I feel like they don't end up staying together in the distant future.

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biowaredisasterbisexual · 2 days ago

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Shameless Self-Promotion Saturday Sunday/Sunday Accountability Post

Thanks for the uno-reverse tag, @skullypettibone!

I am not sure who has been tagged yet, so I’ll just throw some gentle tags out there to as many people as I can bug off the top of my exhausted head (I slept for 3.5 hours, please forgive me): @hyperions-light, @ofcrowsanddragons, @bygonesigh, @dymme, @basedonconjecture, @corvus-frugilegus, @mageofquandrix, @mythals-whore, @galluslonging, @jouskaroo, @wukodork, @znthra, @operative-arrow, @the-sparrohawk, @davrinsleftpectoral, @becausedragonage, @littlemissgeek8, @uchidachi, @thedissonantverses, and last but never least — anyone reading this who wants to! Show off and tag me so I can yell about you!

The idea: We make a post and show off, what cool stuff we created over the past week. Art, Screenshots, writing (anything from a questionnaire about your OC to the 100K epos...) anything we do is worth to be seen and to be promoted. And by tagging people, commenting, and reblogging, we share the love and boost ourselves, and other's confidence. No matter what form you choose, whether you reblog your initial post, or create a new one with teasers, you decide!

I have, once again, managed to accidentally put this off until Sunday, so I’m combining it with my Sunday Accountability Post, which I make each week to create a false deadline and trick my ADHD into letting me work.

So this week we closed out BELLARA WEEK 2025!! As I did for Taash Week 2025, I challenged myself to write a ficlet every day based on the prompts and really push myself creatively. So: Bellara Week 2025 Ficlet Series!

I also posted up the second-to-last of the Getting Into Trouble series: Testamentum, a Neverook fic taking place post-Tearstone and pre-Endgame. Angst, Disaster Rook Lore, a reunion!

The next one-shot in that series, if I ever manage to get it to a place I feel is good enough, will be the finale. I know. I can’t really believe it either. 🤯

But all is not lost for me. I did also work on both the finale and on The Ventus Job, the GIT sequel, this week. So here’s a snippet of TVJ below the cut.

“So, what’s the plan, Trouble?” Neve asked him later. Kind of a fool’s errand for her, honestly, because Rook was still far more interested in letting his fingertips run over the soft skin of her stomach than he was in a pre-party strategy session.

He smirked, leaning in to kiss her collarbone. “This?” He offered, before letting the edge of his teeth graze over her. He couldn’t help the sense of accomplishment when she shivered.

“Your cousins will be here in,” she checked the magical clock on the wall, “an hour.”

“Plenty of time.”

At that Neve laughed, pushing him away gently and he grinned. “You and I both know it’s not. Try again.”

“Try to…?” She flicked his breastbone, and he chuckled. “Alright, alright. So, we get dressed. You look amazing, I look roguishly charming,” he began. Neve smirked, and he grinned.

“You accompany Livinia. I accompany Sabine.” It was going to be a long night. Whatever face he made made Neve snicker, though, so maybe his suffering would be worth it. “And I accept thanks in the form of sexual favors or chocolate, by the way.”

She prodded his side and he continued, “We get in. So there’s the easy part.”

#shameless self promotion saturday #sunday accountability post #neverook #neve x rook #rook x neve #neverook fanfiction #getting into trouble series #bellara ficlet series #The Ventus Job #my fanfic

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sutherlins · 3 months ago

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↳ #STREETS by @xblackreader [WIP - 13K | Rated M]

☆ a resurrected socmed au “his record, background and hearsay from news outlets and media won’t change her mind. Sydney Adamu is in love with Carmen Berzatto; guilty or not.”

sutherlins fic appreciation week (please show the fics love, kudos, and comments on ao3!)

This fic has made me lose my mind multiple times. I've yelled about it on ao3, I've yelled about it in DM's, and now consider this me yelling about it on main. The amount of work and thought that has gone into this fic is incredible. Each chapter blows me away, the writing is next level and the social media/texts add so much. You can't help but be pulled into the world of Carmen 'Alleged is crazy I did that shit' Berzatto and Sydney 'America's sweetheart' Adamu. It's funny, it's hot, it's sweet. I love it so much 😩 I got yelled at to chew my food because I devoured the last chapter so fast but call me Carmy Berzatto bc munch fucking munch!!!

Please go read if you haven't already, and show some love over on ao3! (ps. I'm doing 7 of these this month and intend to make this a monthly thing!)

#the bear #the bear fic #sydcarmy #sydcarmy fic #carmy x sydney #sydney x carmy #im being serious when i say i adore this fic #going to post one of these this time each day for a week and then ill do the same next month bc my rec list is long and narrowing this down #to 7 was v difficult #literally spun a wheel to pick posting order for these bc i love them all so damn much #please leave comments and love on ao3 !!!#movieposterficedit #faw #streets #xblackreader #ourblackdahlia #and yeah the week is going fri - fri lol idc im on the good pain meds nobody can tell me shit rn

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onesnoopyaday · 4 months ago

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I AM AT MY LIMIT

Snoopy #90

30/12/2024

description under the cut

[description: a cartoon-style drawing of Snoopy's head. Snoopy is a white dog with black ears. His eyes are shut and his mouth is a horizontal line. There are two large blue teardrops, one under each eye. The text "I am at my limit" is handwritten across the top of the image.]

#peanuts #snoopy #art #90 #based on that emoji face meme but i can't find the original ANYWHERE #at least not the entire image unedited. other than on like redbubble listings but i don't want to link those haha #if someone has a link to it please send it to me!! so i can link it in the post. thanks :)#also i have decided to start doing descriptions for each image (which i have been meaning to do for a while)#now that people actually follow this blog and interact with it and stuff #tbh i should've started doing them a long time ago #but the idea of retroactively going back to every post and adding a description kept putting me off... which is silly because it's only #gonna become more work the longer i leave it. so you know. just gotta start doing it #i will endeavour to add a description to all the previous snoopys of the day soon 🤞#anyway i made this because i sent a friend the original emoji image (taken from a redbubble screenshot LOL)#because we have been trying to book a place to stay for a group trip (6 people)#and like i did all the research and made a list to start us off (while letting people know they could add to the list) and sent that around #and made a poll for people to vote for their preferred place #and some people in the group have been taking FOREVER to respond with their opinions about accommodation #like to the point where all the other good places on the list have been booked up now and there is just one left #which luckily is the one with the most votes #and today i was like (about to book that one) ok well before i book i'm just checking that everyone is ok with these dates?#and some of them were like ohhh actually no. we haven't booked our flights yet so we're not sure which days exactly we'll be there #WHAT DO YOU MEAN!#in fairness i should've checked that we were all on the same page about dates beforehand #but like. the trip is literally in like 5 weeks AND during a public holiday like omfggggggg everywhere is gonna be booked out #do you know how hard it is to find accommodation for 6 people #and i don't even know the people who haven't been responding/haven't booked their flights/whatever #they're friends of a friend (who will also be coming on the trip) and i know nothing about them #i think i would be a lot less annoyed if it was just my friends because we would've just hopped on a call and sorted everything out in like #one night. otherwise we know + trust each other enough to make decisions for each other if we can't/don't want to be involved in planning

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radioactivepeasant · 1 year ago

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Snippets: Free Day Friday

Well, not a snippet. A whole durn one-shot. No title yet, so let's just call it "Responsible Adults, or, Damas Wants A Raise"

(This mentions a hilarious headcanon that rose from a discussion of game weapons with @troblsomtwins829 and @segaphantom , one I intend to use from now on, where it was decided that red eco shockwave ammo is what Wastelanders give their kids when they're first learning trigger discipline, and Jak is the equivalent of a kid bringing down a grizzly bear with a plastic baseball bat. Also featuring swears borrowed from Watership Down because rabbit language is a lot of fun tbh)

It should have been a perfectly straightforward event. Fourteen candidates who had finally passed the initial terrain tests to Kleiver's satisfaction, finally able to go at it with weapons. Only Scatterguns for now, of course. Live ammunition would wait for those who passed their first trial. Those left standing would receive their gate pass and first amulet, everyone who had dodged the lava but not their comrades' shockwaves would be scraped off the sand and delivered to the on-site hospital. They would have to wait another month to retake their trial.

It was standard procedure.

They'd done it hundreds of times.

But this time, it was immediately apparent that something was amiss.

One man broke out of the pack before Damas could even explain what was expected of a first trial. He ran between the cover provided by the matter formers like his life depended on it, gun swinging uselessly on his back.

Well. That one probably wasn't going to last.

Damas sighed and checked the tiny screen that showed him the Arena from a closer view. Oh. That was the Krimzon Guard who had turned up at the temple, begging for clemency in the wake of Praxis's death.

Well if he survived this, his record was clean. But if he didn't-

Well that was one less Krimzon Guard in the world.

Behind him, down the stairs leading to the interior corridors of the Arena, Damas heard an alarm siren. He frowned. What could be so urgent as to sound an alarm back there? Was a patient coding?

The king twitched one ear back to listen for details while glancing periodically at the ring.

"All personnel, all personnel, be on the lookout: an unaccompanied minor is missing from Ward 2. Light hair, underweight, believed to be experiencing medical distress-"

Damas blinked. How on earth had a patient gotten out of the children's ward without someone noticing? Oh, Dr. Petros was going to spit fire when he found out.

"It's going to be one of those days," Damas grumbled, rubbing his forehead, "I can already tell."

He was correct.

A chorus of surprised voices began shouting in the stands, and Damas squinted down into the Arena. Amidst the chaos, the tattooed soldier formerly of Haven was still fleeing for his life. He occasionally fired behind him, but focused mainly on looking for a way out of the Arena. And now Damas could actually see his pursuer.

The figure was small -- tiny, compared to most of the candidates in both height and weight. It wove in and out of the combatants with an unusual speed and grace. But something was wrong.

"What the-"

Damas stood.

"Asa," he said into a handheld radio, "Don't activate the lava. Can you get eyes on the field and tell me if I'm actually seeing someone in hospital scrubs out there?"

"If what?!"

The man running the matter formers went silent as he peered out of his booth further down the wall.

"Bloody Frith! That guy doesn't even have a gun! They're not allowed to be unarmed for trials!"

"No, no they are not." Damas tightened his jaw. "But if he's unarmed-"

Then what's the Krimzon so afraid of?

The mystery candidate passed near the drone camera, and Damas almost dropped the screen entirely.

"Embleer Frith!" he swore, "It's that kid!"

It was the boy he'd found in the desert, barely alive, the one with a dead man's beacon in his hand. It had only been two days! Foundlings weren't permitted to take Arena trials until they had been declared medically sound for three consecutive days after their rescue!

Damas suddenly remembered the call from Petros, informing him that the young man was not, in fact, an adult from Haven. That he was in reality a young boy, covered with some deeply concerning scars. And the doctor had been very insistent about the foundling not being of age for combat trials.

The alarm from the hospital continued to blare, and Damas had a sinking feeling that the unaccompanied minor and the kid he'd hauled out of the desert were one and the same.

Who had allowed this?! The foundling definitely hadn't passed the terrain test yet -- he hadn't even reached the minimum age allowed to compete yet! He never should have gotten past Kleiver in the waiting hatch!

"Oh don't tell me," he breathed.

The Arena had been compromised. And that meant that the results of the fourteen candidates' initial combat trial were compromised. If Kleiver didn't have an incredible explanation for this, heads were going to roll.

Below, the boy had caught up to his quarry. Every single blast of the Scattergun, he dodged. Then the former guard shouted something; Damas couldn't make it out, but from the footage his lips seemed to be forming the word "free" or "freak".

Yells of both excitement and alarm filled the stands as the renegade patient just

Changed.

Purple sparks flickered over his body, like lightning. Every part of his body the sparks touched drained of all color. This was not the pallor of the dead, this was the white of bleached bone, and teeth. Black horns rose from ragged hair. Black claws were barely visible on each hand. At this distance, even his eyes looked black.

What. Was. That.

The KG screeched, firing without aiming. But the demonic boy launched too quickly to be tracked by the drone, taking the guard to ground. Damas knew without looking that the man was dying. He didn't even scream. There was only a pitiful gurgle as claws pierced his throat.

Damas turned the volume as far up on his screen as he could, just in time for the monstrous form to recede, to vanish as though it had been a mere hallucination. Spattered with blood, the boy from the desert stood up on shaking legs. Just barely, the drone caught his vicious hiss.

"Not so funny when you're the one with a mouth full of blood, huh, Tyber?"

He spat on the dying man.

And then his knees buckled.

Damas had seen enough.

"Stop the trial!" He commanded, waving guards towards the Arena. "The Arena is compromised! Get the candidates back to barracks, and send Kleiver to me, immediately."

He started to leave the booth, then turned back to the radio again.

"And find whoever was in charge of Ward 2 this week! And for the love of the Precursors get that kid out of my Arena!"

Oh, heads were going to roll.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Jak could hear shouting long before the creaking wooden platform reached the top of the shaft. He'd already been tense when the two big Wastelanders pulled him off the cot someone had dropped him on. If one of them hadn't been carrying Daxter, it was very likely that Jak would have tried to kill them, too. Now he started tugging experimentally at his arms, checking their grip.

"Quit!" One of them scowled at him. "The king’s mad as it is, don't make it worse!"

"-Didn't drag that kid off death’s doorstep just for you two to send him right back!" A raspy voice was yelling, "So you tell me, Rezzik, how a patient -- who Petros already told me was a minor based on musculoskeletal scans -- got into the Arena -- unarmed -- during a combat trial!"

The voice that responded was the skinny guy Jak had shoved away from him when he first woke up.

"Sire, the boy just-"

"I didn't ask about the boy! Tell me what you did! You were in charge of the children's ward this week, not the boy! When I want to hear the boy's side of things, I'll ask him myself!"

The other guards holding Jak's arms sucked on his teeth nervously.

"Oh, he's pissed," he whispered. "I wouldn't want to be the nurse right now."

"Or Kleiver. They're in deep weeds," the other agreed.

The elevator locked into place and, for a moment, Jak forgot the shouting. They were inside. And there was water. Water. Inside. Vast pools of it like an indoor oasis. Trees lined the room, dropping the temperature by several degrees. And this had been built by hu'men hands! How?!

"Well there he is." The raspy voiced man -- oh, Jak had seen the guy with the staff on that balcony of that stadium -- made an impatient gesture in his direction.

"Back from the dead, are you? You've certainly caused a fuss, young one. Care to tell me exactly what you were doing unarmed in a combat trial?"

"A combat what?" Jak answered the question with a question.

The man with the staff steepled his fingers in front of his mouth. He inhaled sharply and wheeled to face the skinny medic.

"Rezzik!"

Rezzik put his hands up defensively. "He was unconscious, my lord! He wasn't expected to even be lucid until Se'enday!"

The king dropped his face into his palm.

"Oh my gods," he groaned, "He doesn't even know where he is, does he?"

"Uh, "he" is right here," Daxter snapped.

Every person but Jak jolted.

"It talks?!"

"Oh what the rot what the rot-"

"Oh that's so cursed-"

"Why does it talk?!"

Daxter whistled sharply.

"Yes yes, I'm a miracle of premodern medicine. Moving on! Who are you mooks, where are we, and what's all this about Jak and a combat trial?!"

Jak glowered at the ground.

"Saw Tyber. From the prison. He's dead now."

Daxter's ears drooped and his eyes widened. "Oh..."

He reached down to pat Jak's shoulder.

"The creep had it comin', Jak. You did good."

"Well. Considering you apparently weren't conscious until now, you can't be expected to have known," the man who was probably the king groused, "but entry into the Arena is restricted to those aged eighteen and older for a reason. So. What I need to know is who let you through that gate."

He pointed at the sullen man with the big mustache.

"Did he or did he not make any attempt to stop you?"

Frankly, Jak couldn't remember much about how he got onto that field.

"Wouldn't have mattered if he did or didn't," he muttered, "he couldn't have stopped me."

The king narrowed his eyes at him. Then he seemed to actually see him.

"Ah, what are we doing- Jin, Faro, let go of the kid! Get him some water for the gods sakes, he just passed out on the battlefield!"

Then he turned to look at the guy he'd called Kleiver.

His voice was much quieter now. And somehow that was more frightening.

"Kleiver, you know the procedure for new arrivals," he said softly. "Three days' recovery and approval from Maud or Petros before First Trial. So what made you let a boy in hospital clothes through that gate?"

The big man sneered. "Did you see the anklebiter?! He was out for blood! He ended up fine, di'n't he?"

"Fine?! Look at him!" The king gestured sharply in frustration. "He's wearing pajamas!"

"If he'd passed out two minutes sooner he could've died!" Rezzik gasped, appalled.

"Sire, this clearly wasn't the hospital's failure," he said, turning to the king. "This oaf put my patient in danger and-"

"Enough." Damas held up his hand, face hard.

"You are both to blame for what ultimately derailed the trials of fourteen candidates. Rezzik, I leave your penalty to be decided by your superiors. But Kleiver-"

He glared.

"Your only chance at retaining your position is if that boy had an extremely valid reason for hunting down that candidate."

Jak edged away from the guard offering him a canteen. "What counts as valid to you?" he asked pointedly.

The king paced to the edge of his dais, watching Jak with eyes a little too knowing. He folded one arm behind his back and studied him with none of the fire that had been directed at his own people.

"Newcomer, I will ask you only once, and you need only answer once. The man you killed: did he give you those scars?"

Jak went rigid.

They'd seen his scars.

They knew.

Nausea rocked him, crawling up his throat and tasting of shame.

"Boy?" The king pressed, "Did-"

"No." Jak practically spat the word out. "He kept me from escaping. He laughed. And now he's dead. Got a problem with that?"

The king scoffed slightly. He glanced back at Kleiver.

"You are fortunate today. I will retroactively approve an exception for the boy this once as a case of justified retribution. Do not let it happen again."

"Sire," Rezzik piped up again -- guy just didn't know when to keep his mouth shut -- "Arena exceptions must have signed affidavits from the guardian of the minor, mustn't they? As the attending physician, shall I-"

"Don't be a pot-stirrer, Rezzik," Damas said flatly.

Jak muffled a snort and exchanged amused glances with Daxter. At least he wasn't the one getting yelled at.

"No," Damas said, tense again and gritting his teeth, "Since apparently I am the only reasonable adult in this entire godsforsaken room today, I'll complete the affidavit."

He waved dismissively at the group.

"Do not compromise the trials of our candidates again. Negligence costs lives, and weakens our city, gentlemen."

Kleiver looked like he had a few choice words to say about that, but he dipped his head respectfully and marched away without a word. Jin and Faro cringed at each other, then made to grab Jak's shoulder.

"Come on, kid. You need to go back to the doc-"

Jak shoved Jin away and stumbled back.

"Don't touch me!"

Rezzik raised his hands placatingly, approaching as if the boy was a frightened baby animal.

"Hey, hey, it's alright, we only want to help you! I know you must be scared, but if you'll just let us get you back on the IV-"

Jak didn't hear anything else after that.

They were going to inject something into him.

They were going to strap him down and inject something into him-!

His breath shortened as he ducked Jin again. Faro was surprised enough by the elbow strike to his gut to loosen his grip on his gunstaff, and that was all Jak needed.

He ripped the weapon from the guard's hands and swung it in a wide arc, eyes wild.

"Get. Back."

Daxter snarled next to Jak’s ear. "Nobody touches my pal. Keep your filthy needles to yourself, or better yet, stick them up your-"

"Hey! Come on!" Faro complained, "That's custom, kid! You can't just jack a Wastelander's peacemaker, that's just not on!"

"You're not taking me back."

Jak swung the gunstaff again.

"I'm not going back there!

You can't take me back! I won't go back!"

Damas frowned and started down the steps. "What the bloody bones did you people do to make him do...that?!"

"That's...that's what I was trying to tell you before, sire," Rezzik said meekly as he backed away from Jak, "We didn't release him from care, he had some kind of...panic episode. Ripped out the IV and nearly killed Jessop on the way out."

The grinding of teeth was audible even at the bottom of the stairs.

"Petros is going to strangle you if he finds that you didn't take precautions with newcomer trauma," Damas said sharply.

"But we didn't know-! He was unconscious!"

"Get out."

Damas pointed to the elevator.

"Send Petros up here with his file after he deals with you."

When the guards didn't immediately follow the medic, Damas growled. "All of you get out! I've had enough foolishness for one day!"

"Sire," Jin gulped, "The uh, the boy-?"

"He's fine. I have to ask him questions for paperwork now thanks to at least one of you."

That left Jak and Daxter alone with the really really pissed off Wastelander King. (He hadn't even known there were enough Wastelanders to have a king!)

For almost a minute the man paced, swearing very colorfully under his breath. After six or seven very slow, deep breaths, he finally seemed to get control of himself again.

"How do you see needle scars and not think "hm, perhaps someone should stay with him to explain when he wakes up"? It's not that complicated!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned.

"Is it the full moon this week? It must be. Everyone's lost their twice-rotted minds around here."

He took another deep breath, and after letting it out slowly, he sat down on the edge of the dais.

"Well, I can hardly think of a worse introduction to Spargus than that, but I hope you won't hold it against me."

Jak kept the staff clutched tightly in his hands, but didn't aim it at the man yet.

"Who are you? And what's Spargus? I know it isn't in Haven. Nobody cares what age you are in Haven."

"Definitely not Haven." Damas buried a curse in his hands.

"Gods I hate that place."

Daxter scowled. "Join the club."

"My name is Damas. I am the king of the territory of Spargus, and the man who pulled you out of the desert that surrounds us. And you are going to be an interesting case, I can tell."

Damas used his staff to drag a box from the side of the throne to just beside him. After some digging, he came up with an oddly shaped piece of metal.

"Ah. There it is."

He looked up.

"This is a battle amulet. Earning three grants adult newcomers citizenship and equal legal protections in the city."

"What if you're not an adult?" Jak challenged.

"Then you're already a citizen, but you can't vote until you're nineteen." Damas dismissed this as if it barely warranted mentioning.

"Now, understand this, boy: I am giving you your first amulet. And I will give you the modular gun. But you will not be allowed to take further trials until you pass eighteen years of age. I will hold your gate pass until such time as you can show me you have learned to survive in the wastes out there."

"You're keeping us here?!" Jak bristled.

"You're a minor. You had heatstroke. It happens. And since my people want to be idiots today evidently, you and I are going to be stuck with each other for a couple years. So you'd better get used to this place." Damas turned and stood up to stretch.

"Frith-rot-it. I have to go get the bloody intake forms, make a whole folder now- Do we even have more guardian ad litem forms?!"

He stepped somewhere behind the throne and seemed to vanish. "Amuse yourselves while I'm gone. No drowning in my throne room.".

And then he was gone , leaving the boys with more questions.

"What...what just happened?" Daxter asked.

Jak didn't have an answer.

#fic prompts #writing prompts #long post #jak and daxter #dadmas #king damas #jak and daxter au #free day friday #reluctant dadmas and even more reluctant son #Jak is stuck in the tower because they can't get him back in the hospital #playing with ideas for what would make messing up an Arena fight so serious #Kleiver almost got fired because of Jak and he holds a grudge #Damas thinks he and the kid will stay out of each others way but the kid has night terrors #Damas has been jumpscared in his own hallways 17 times and its been one week #Jak's never had real constructive rules and boundaries before he doesn't know what's going on

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