#i am exceptionally silly apparently

[amidnightqueery]

Dude I'm just getting into Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers and had no clue about their nationality but was like "Hmm, Anna sounds suspiciously Australian" NO ONE TOLD ME THEY'RE FROM MY CITY???? FUCK

[lastoneout]

You know what, I just realized something that I can probably add to my list of reasons I'm more ND than I think I am...

So in middle school I found out The Princess Bride was based on a book I immediately decided to read it. But here's the thing, unlike the movie's framing device of a grandfather reading the book to his grandson, the book has one that's basically like an autobiography?? Where the author talks about his grandfather reading him the book as a kid and how it affected him growing up and how, eventually, he decided to "abridge" the original and publish the version you're reading. The author even says Florin and Guilder are real places, and gives "history" on them.

I found(and tbh still find) this part of the book exceptionally boring. It's mean spirted and depressing, and an absolute slog to get through. But I kept trucking through taking everything as complete truth, even though I was pretty sure these countries weren't real places. Europe is big after all and I was in middle school, maybe I just hadn't heard of them before. Thankfully once the "real" book, the story The Princess Bride, actually starts the intersections start to make sense and aren't as boring and I quite liked them more or less, even if they were a little confusing at times. I also read everything after the "real" book ends, an epilog of sorts about the author not being allowed to abridge the sequel bcs Steven King?? Was going to do it?? But there was a bit of this "sequel" included so I read that too.

When my friend, who had leant me the book, asked what I thought, I said I liked it but I didn't understand why the author included all that personal history at the start where he complained about his job and family, it just didn't seem necessary to me and was boring as hell.

My friend informed me that all of that "personal" history wasn't real. The author made it all up. It was as much fiction as the actual story itself. It was satire, you see, and apparently??? very important to read bcs without it you wont "understand" the story. My friend genuinely thought it was super weird that I didn't realize it wasn't true, and also that I didn't like it.

But nah, I thought it was true!! Why would he lie like that?? What was it even satirizing(I still don't really know tbh)?? Why would I need to read all that bs to understand the book?? The story of 'The Princess Bride' made perfect sense on it's own!! I ended up kinda hating the book after that. I felt SUPER betrayed. He said all that stuff like it was true, what on earth was the point of lying?? Didnt he know people would believe him?? Why wouldn't I, after all I almost always tell the truth, lying about all that stuff was dumb and mean and I hated it.

A while later when I brought it up to my godfather he ALSO thought it was silly that I believed all that and didn't get that it was satire, and insisted that it was important for understanding the story.

I still don't get why it's important, and I refuse to read any of it again. When I re-read the book I just skip to where 'The Princess Bride' actually starts and then stop once it's "over". The rest of it is probably important, but to this day I think it's mostly mean spirited and stupid, and idk why he didn't just write the book normally or do what they did in the movie.

Anyway I figure this is like...normal, right? I totally don't have any deeper stuff going on with my brain. When I take assessments I insist I'm great at picking up on sarcasam and satire. Totally great at it. Yeah...

[feferipeixes]

ford has to do dipper's job for a day for the wip ask game? it sounds so fun!! also maybe the pearl in the mirror?

Okay so I went back and read the wip about Ford doing Dipper's job for a day, and I realized I'd written more than I thought I did! I am kinda interested in maybe actually finishing it. Basically the idea is that this is in the period of time where Ford is having trouble coalescing the idea of Dipper being a deal with his past experiences with Bill being so horrible. Cause it's true that Dipper is different now and he engages in a lot of uncouth behavior, but like it's not like he's on top of the world like Bill was. Dipper deals with a lot of hard stuff. And the very silly thing they end up doing is that Dipper bets Ford that he couldn't last one day doing Dipper's job.

Here's a sneak peek!

Before her stood a man of average height, looking to be in his 60's or so based on the gray hair, glasses, and wrinkles, but possessing a poise and confidence that made him seem much younger. He was wearing a red turtleneck sweater and a beige overcoat that seemed to be filled with trinkets (possibly instruments of torture?). He coughed and flapped his hand to dismiss the smoke still lingering about his head.  All in all, not what she was expecting.  "Um, are you Alcor the Dreambender?" Elliot asked, once it became apparent that the man wasn't going to speak first.  The man's eyes narrowed and he violently shook his head. "No. No! Certainly not. I'm... merely filling in for Alcor. You may call me Geminus."  Elliot gaped. "But... I summoned Alcor. Where is he?"  "I’m over here," came a voice from the far corner of the room. Elliot turned – as did Geminus – and saw the shadows coating the back of the room peel away. Behind them was a figure that fit her expectations much better, what with the suit and floating top hat, coal-black eyes and wicked grin. There was no doubt about it -- the demon back there was Alcor. Now what she didn’t understand was why he was sitting cross-legged in a school desk with a notebook and pen in his hands.

:3

I think The Pearl in the Mirror is the oldest wip I have; it's from early 2019, before I got into TAU. I don't 100% remember the full idea, but it has to do with Pink Diamond being given her original Pearl, then having her taken away by the other Diamonds. Then the Diamonds give her a mirror, which they say will teach her about gem culture in lieu of a Pearl doing it for her. It basically ends up being "what if Lapis Lazuli in the mirror happened to Pink Diamond", except it's a Pearl in the mirror. And when she frees her, it turns out to be her original Pearl, but under White Diamond's mind control.

After reading it over, I can definitely tell that my writing has changed a lot in the years since then. But here's a snippet from the beginning:

Pink Diamond stared at her new friend. A gem made to look just like her. That's what a Pearl was. That's what a Pearl was supposed to be. And, for now, that's what this Pearl was.  White Diamond had been in an uncharacteristically friendly mood that morning, and that should have tipped Pink off that this precious gift wasn’t all that it seemed. But Pink had been so burdened with loneliness, so bored with her own unimportance, that she was ready to accept any kindness her fellow Diamonds had to offer her.  “Yellow’s new colony turned out exceptionally well,” Blue Diamond said. “The planet had abundant resources for creating gems, and the organics were so primitive that their extermination posed no difficulty.”  Pink was barely paying attention. She was too busy looking at the pink Pearl standing politely beside Blue. She had the standard figure of a pearl, and a pale white complexion. Her pink hair was done up in two buns, one over each ear. She wore long pink gloves, pink leggings, and a flowy semi-transparent pink skirt. Her gemstone sat in her exposed navel -- just like Pink's.  “Pink,” Blue said, waving her hand in front of Pink to draw her attention, “listen. The three of us have decided that, with how well you’ve been behaving lately, and the resources available from Yellow’s new colony, it's time to start giving you some new responsibilities. You are a Diamond too, after all, and you will someday own your own colonies and lead your own gems. But before that, you need to learn how to be a Diamond.”  Blue motioned at the Pearl, and she stepped forward. “My Diamond,” she said, “I would be happy to-“  Blue shushed her. “Do not speak unless spoken to.”  “My apologies, Blue Diamond,” the Pearl responded.  "This Pearl is our gift to you, Pink," Blue said. "As I said, I believe your good behavior should be rewarded. At the same time, we want you to continue to grow and to behave. We're going to start to expect a lot more of you, Pink."  Yellow spoke up for the first time. "I made this gem just for you, Pink," she said. "She knows a lot about gem culture and about your new responsibilities. Don't make me regret this."  Pink gulped, and nodded. She still wasn't really able to focus on what the other Diamonds were saying. It was true that she was excited about finally being given more Diamond responsibilities, and being trusted to own a Pearl, but what she was most excited about was the idea of having a friend.  A flash of light interrupted her second reverie, and she looked up at White's almost blinding radiance. "Starlight," she said.  "Yes, White?" Pink responded.  White smiled. "I do hope this gem makes you happy."  A sweet gesture, but something about it made Pink's skin crawl. 

[unmarked-credits]

Hey everyone, please to enjoy the following silly crap I wrote for @xinambercladx. This was her request for the Valentine's Day exchange on the Duros Hoes discord server. She wanted a story about Bane walking one of her OC's home. I chose Yenem - you remember this gal -

- and came up with this. Only seventeen days late! Go me!

Anyway, enjoy👍🏻Hope you like it @xinambercladx !

***

The Heirloom

"Thank you for coming on such short notice," Yenem said. She looked annoyed as she adjusted her short, form-fitting glittery purple cocktail dress. A huge, fluffy white fur coat was slung over her forearm.

Cad Bane gestured for the coat, shifting a tooth pick from one corner of his mouth to the other. He took it by the shoulders and held it out for her to put on. 

"Oh! Why thank you," she said. She turned to slip it on, glancing back at him over her shoulder as she did so. "Is there a charge for this?"

He smirked. "Free w' de bodyguard package - if y'tell me how y' found out there's a bounty on ye before I did."

She sighed. "Sometimes when I am exceptionally bored, I run my name against the holonet. Turned up on the bounty boards," she said, retrieving her data pad from her purse. "And that reception was exceptionally boring."

He glanced through the picture window of the art gallery they stood before. Inside was a quite lively, quite crowded cocktail party.

"Doesn' look boring."

"Trust me, it was nothing but a room full of poseurs." She sighed and looked up at him, doe eyed, and took his arm. "Get me out of here, Bane."

"Yes ma'am," he said, tapping the brim of his hat. "Y'sure y'wanna go back to d'hotel? You'd be safer on my ship." 

"My things are at the hotel."

"Y' don need yer things."

"One of those things is what they're after."

"An' y' left it in yer room?"

"In the safe," she said.

"Hotel safes ain't safe."

"Was I supposed to go to the reception with an ancient vase beneath my arm like a glowball?"

He paused a moment, then shrugged. "I reckon it would have been less boring that way."

"Tch!"

"Tch yerself!" he said. "Come on,  den."

***

"I've never been to this part of Coruscant," she said as they strolled over a metal walkway overlooking a canyon of city lights. "Beautiful, in a way."

"This area's all right," he said. "It gets worse the deeper down y' go." 

"So I've heard."

"Dere's a real good tipyip stand couple blocks down."

"You want to stop for food?" she asked archly. "You seem pretty casual about this."

"Eh. De score on you is pretty small. We're not gon' be dealing wit any major players. Most of 'em will turn tail if de see you w' me."

"That's…reassuring."

"Dat's why you hired me."

"Indeed," she said, pressing close to him as they walked. 

He smiled slightly at this. "So tell me 'bout this hot vase y'got."

"It's not hot," she said. "I bought it perfectly legally at auction. But apparently it's a family hierloom and said family is desperate to get it back. I offered to sell it to them, and for only a slight profit. But they seem determined to obtain it by other means."

"So dey're gon' chase whoever has it?"

"I assume so."

"Hmm," he replied. "Well, you're makin' it easy for em in dat coat."

Yenem frowned. "What about my coat?"

"It's huge n' bright n' … foofy."

"Foofy?"

"Yeah," he said. "Y' look like a leggy wampa."

"Excuse me?"

"What?" he asked, smirking. "It's a compliment."

She balked. "Surely you can come up with a better compliment than that."

"Sure, sure," he said. He went silent for a moment as the walked past a well manicured hedge full of bright flowers that led up to the hotel. He picked one. 

"Yer the prettiest sheep I ever saw," he said, grinning, handing her the flower as they entered the hotel. 

"You're a terrible date," Yenem said, accepting the flower.

"I'm a great date," Bane said. "Y' wanna make dis a date, dat's a different pricin' structure."

"Oh?" she asked, intrigued. "What's the going rate for a date with Cad Bane?"

"Well, dat depends," he began, but stopped short, clocking something across the lobby. Yenem turned to follow his gaze. A human boy of about fourteen leaned wide-eyed against the lobby bar with an open clamshell full of tip-yip skewers. He looked startled to see Bane.

"Who is that?" Yenem asked.

"A little shit," Bane grumbled, gesturing the boy over. He scowled but obeyed.

"Boba!" Bane said as he approached. "What are y' doin here?"

"I was in the neighborhood."

"Dis job is kinda low rent for you, ain' it?"

"You're here," the boy shot back. 

"I ain' here for a bounty. I'm here to buy a vase from my lady friend."

Yenem turned to Bane in surprise.

"You're … buying a vase?" Boba asked skeptically.

"Sure am."

"Ohh," Yenem said, pulling her data pad from her purse, "Yes, he is. I'm drafting the bill of sale right now."

"Why do you need a vase?" Boba asked.

"Fer flowers."

"Since when do you have flowers and put them in vases?"

"You don't know my life," Bane replied haughtily.

Boba frowned. "Actually I do know your life, and -"

"Point bein -" Bane interjected, "is dat dis vase is now property of Cad Bane, and if de family yer workin' for wants to take it up wid me - and not her -" he said, gesturing to Yenem, "dey're more den welcome to. So you run along now an' you tell 'em dat." 

"Thumb print here," Yenem said, handing Bane the blank pad. He pressed his digit to the screen and handed it back to her. 

"See?" he said. "All mine.  Now get lost, Boba."

Tch," Boba said. "Whatever. Low paid job anyway. Later, Bane."

"Wait," Bane said.

"What?"

"Gimme one of those," Bane said, plucking a skewer from Boba's takeout box.

"Hey!"

"I said get lost," Bane repeated, shooing Boba away.

"Gimme my tip yip back!"

Bane tore a piece off the end of the skewer with his fang. "Fuck off, Boba," he said around the meat. " An' you tell de people yer workin' for -"

"Yeah yeah I'll tell 'em," Boba muttered. "Fierfek."

The boy stalked out of the hotel shaking his head.

"Well," Yenem said, bemused. "You made short work of that."

"Yep. Shouldn't be a problem for ye anymore."

"Elegantly handled."

Bane tapped the brim of his hat. "Whaddya say we head upstairs an' have a look at 'my' new vase?"

Yenem smiled slyly, pulling him towards the turbolift. "It's quite the piece," she said. "Has a naked lady on it."

"Y' don' say?" Bane grinned.  "I like it already." 

[bijouxcarys]

𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧' 𝐆𝐮𝐲 - 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍

Masterlist

“𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤,” 𝐈 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐦𝐦𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭.

“It’s not, it’s good! You don’t have to eat it.”

“Yeah, but it’ll be near the chips, and that’s not democratically friendly,” I pouted.

“There’s a reason you failed in politics, Maria,” she shook her head, heading to get her ketchup.

This was the downside of being broke—we had to share chips for lunch. I’d pay one day, she would pay the next.

The chips that day were exceptionally crispy, and I remember because everything seemed to be going my way. The lecture was decent, meaning Professor Ross didn’t drone on about his favourite thinkers for an entire hour and a half. We also got the full scoop from Cameron about how things were going with Marcy. Apparently, they were going more than fine, which brought immense joy to Emma. She was quite the little matchmaker when she wasn’t desperate for a shag.

I had managed to push aside most of the Roger and Patty drama and gradually came to the realisation that Brian and Freddie were absolutely right about his inclinations. He just couldn’t help it. Besides, I saw how happy he made Emma, and that was all that mattered to me. If she didn’t know, she couldn’t get hurt.

As if on cue, guess who plonked down across the table from me? Yes, you guessed correctly. Roger, the blonde drummer, flashed me a grin before shifting his gaze to eye Emma from across the cafeteria.

“For someone who’s just dropped out of uni, you sure do spend a lot of time here,” I remarked, popping a chip into my mouth and feigning interest in my notebook.

“Well, when you have a bird, you have to be there with her when you can. It’s called loyalty, Maria,” Roger replied, his eyes still fixated on Emma. I couldn’t help but scoff under my breath—it wasn’t intentional, I swear. Roger looked slightly confused and mildly offended at my reaction. But before he could question me, Emma sat down between us, holding a small pot of ketchup in her hand.

“Hiya!” Emma squealed, falling into Roger’s arms. He responded by wrapping his arm around her, and before we knew it, they were caught up in a passionate kiss—way to intimate for the middle of the cafeteria. Feeling slightly awkward, I focused my attention on the notes in front of me.

“Honestly, darlings, get a room. The whole world doesn’t need to be subjected to… this,” Freddie remarked, gesturing to the scene ahead before joining the table across from me. He flashed me a knowing smile, clearly understanding my discomfort. “Hello, darling, how’s your day going?”

With a stifled giggle, I glanced at Emma and Roger. “Yeah, I’m great.” I emphasised the word ‘great’ and then turned my attention back to Freddie. “How about you, Fred?”

“I’ve spent the morning designing and coming up with ideas that nobody else has even been able to muster up. How do you think I am?” he replied with a playful tone.

“Oh!” I squealed in slight excitement, sliding over to sit right next to me. “Let me see!”

“Calm down, darling, I’m not the next Givenchy… yet.” Freddie chuckled, sliding his folder over in front of me.

Grinning, I eagerly flipped open the folder, allowing my eyes to soak up the masterpieces that were fragments of Freddie Mercury’s mind. My gaze stopped on an outfit he had sketched up, but Freddie swiftly tried to turn the page over. I caught his wrist, preventing him from hiding it.

“Why don’t you want me to look at that?” I asked, both of us trying to stop each other from doing what the other wanted. I held onto his wrist, attempting to keep it away from the folder as I leaned closer to get a better view.

“Maria, it’s just a silly idea—”

“Oh, shut up! When has any idea you’ve ever had been a bad one, Farrokh?” I retorted.

“Call me that again, and I’ll tell Brian about the sexy dreams you have about him.”

“Fuck—just let me look at the drawing, Fred!”

“Fine!”

He finally gave in, pulling away from the folder and allowing me to have a good look.

“Fred… this is so cool.” I brought the folder up closer to my face, inspecting the details. It wasn’t as polished as his other sketches that I had seen here and there throughout my time of knowing him, but it was clear enough to notice the unconventional sleeves that resembled a mix of a poncho and bird feathers. It was flamboyant, bold, and undeniably Freddie.

“It was just an idea I had when I finished everything… I thought it would make a great costume for onstage,” Freddie explained, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

“You thought right. It’s so cool. Don’t throw that away or anything. Keep it,” I said, beaming warmly at Freddie. It was rare to see him so hesitant about one of his ideas; he was usually calm and confident in his thoughts.

“Why, thank you, darling.” He flashed a toothy grin at me, slowly closing the folder, the smile still lingering on his face.

“Rog, you should thank Maria,” Emma chimed in, her lips now free from Roger’s. He seemed slightly lost for a moment for a moment but managed to tear his gaze away from Emma.

“Oh yeah, thanks,” he mumbled, turning back to Emma. However, she scooted away from him, folding her arms.

“Um, without Maria, you wouldn’t be getting a chance to record jack shit. So be nice and say thank you to her before I slap you round the face.”

“I quite like the sound of tha—”

“Roger Meadows Taylor, don’t push me.”

“Sorry, ma’am,” Roger pouted, making Emma roll her eyes. He then fully spun in his seat to face me and Freddie. “Thank you, Maria. It honestly means a lot.” It was the first genuine smile he had ever directed at me, filled with gratitude.

“You’re welcome,” I replied, attempting to sound polite but unintentionally mocking his Southern mannerisms. This earned me a raised eyebrow from Roger.

“I still don’t know how we’re going to pay for a fucking session in Trident, but you know…” Roger mumbled, his attention returning to Emma.

“Oh, we have a very simple solution for that, Blondie,” Freddie interjected, winking at me as I slid back to my original spot in front of my notes.

“Hm, what’s that?”

“Sell your car, lovie,” Freddie slapped Roger on the back.

I bit both of my lips in anticipation, my eyes darting over to Roger.

“Okay,” Roger replied nonchalantly.

Freddie’s jaw dropped, leaning closer to the drummer. “Excuse me?”

“I said okay…” Roger glanced over his shoulder. “Did I stutter?”

I looked at Freddie, shock evident in my widened eyes. “Roger, we’re asking you to sell your car.”

“And I said okay,” Roger reiterated, his eyebrows scrunched up as he looked at me this time.

I turned to Emma, expecting her to be taken aback by Roger’s agreement to give up his seemingly most prized possession—apart from her. However, she appeared completely unphased.

“I feel like I’m in an episode of the fucking Twilight Zone. What’s happening right now?” I exclaimed, glancing over at Freddie for some semblance of understanding.

“Who’s in an episode of the Twilight Zone?” a familiar voice chimed in from behind me. I instantly recognised Brian’s voice. His hand gently brushed against my shoulder as he took a seat beside me, placing his tray on the table next to my notes. I couldn’t help but glance at his lunch—a simple combination of cheese and lettuce sandwiched between two thick slices of brown bread.

“Roger has agreed to sell his car,” Freddie announced, leaning forward on the table.

Brian chuckled under his breath, taking a sip from his water bottle. “Looks like you’ve finally pulled your dick out of the exhaust pipe and decided to focus on what actually matters, hm?”

I widened my eyes in surprise at Brian’s response, turning my head to look at him. The other three seemed equally taken aback by his words. Brian quickly stole a glance at me, setting his bottle back on the table. My gaze followed the bottle’s descent, hitting the table with a soft thud.

“Does that mean it’s about time you take your dick out from between the star dust pages of your astronomy porn?” Roger fired back, tightening his grip around Emma.

“Ladies, please,” Freddie interjected, raising his teacup to his lips. “Let’s not kill each other before we even get the chance to do anything with my talents.” He winked at me, lightening the tense atmosphere.

“Yes, because we are the vehicle for your talents to ride on, right Fred?” Roger retorted, raising an eyebrow.

Brian sighed, picking up his sandwich as Roger and Freddie continued their bickering, sounding like an old married couple.

“What’s wrong?” I whispered to Brian, turning on the bench to face him directly.

Brian turned his head, resting on his hand as if trying to shield himself from the commotion happening across the table. I watched as he chewed on his sandwich, his jaw moving up and down. He placed it back o the tray and shook his head.

“I’m just… stressed,” he admitted, pressing his lips together tightly. “That’s all. You don’t need to worry.” He extended his free hand, placing it gently on top of mine, his thumb tracing soothing circles on the back of my hand.

I knew he could sense that my worry wouldn’t easily dissipate. I didn’t need to say anything for him to understand.

“Seriously, Maria. I’m fine. Same thing as this morning, it’s just… a lot right now,” he spoke softly, his voice barely audible over the chaos caused by Roger and Freddie. While I knew offering the same generic words of comfort wouldn’t make much of a difference in this chaotic environment, I simply nodded my head and smiled in response.

“You got much else left to do today?” I spoke softly, my gaze fixed on our intertwined hands.

“A lecture. And I have to attend it, before you try and convince me otherwise.” Brian flashed a mischievous grin, his pointed teeth peeking through.

I rolled my eyes playfully, nudging him with my arm. “Excuse me, I have a lecture too.” I pretended to look offended, pulling my hand away from his. He pouted and leaned closer, wrapping his arms around my waist. For a moment, I thought he was going to give me a comforting hug, but to my surprise, his fingers found their way to my sides, tickling me relentlessly.

Now, those who know me are well aware that I absolutely despise being tickled. It has always been that way. So, when Brian’s fingers dug into my most ticklish spots, a burst of uncontrollable laughter escaped my lips. Brian didn’t let up; he continued to tickle me, enjoying my adorable torture.

“Brian! Stop!” I gasped between fits of laughter, attempting to free myself from his relentless grip.

I glanced over at Freddie, hoping to catch his attention and signal for help, but he was too engrossed in his argument with Roger to notice my distress just inches away.

“You might want to watch that attitude, Blondie. I heard John Reid is in town,” Freddie told Roger as Brian’s fingers still danced over my sides.

What? John Reid?

“And if he sees us in Trident arguing like a pair of ladies, we’ll get nowhere,” Freddie continued, an amused glint in his eyes.

Fuck.

“Brian, stop!” I yelled, nearly attracting the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. I managed to wriggle out of his grasp, smacking my hand on the table in front of me to emphasise my plea. Finally, Freddie’s gaze tore away from his dispute with Roger, fixing upon me.

“Did you say John fucking Reid?!” I blurted out, unable to contain my excitement and surprise.

“Yes, darling, I did,” Freddie replied, a tinge of confusion in his voice. “You know of him?”

“Know of him? She’s been up his arse since September,” Emma chimed in, rolling her eyes. However, her casual remark failed to convey the depth of my admiration for John Reid. Realising this, she elaborated, “She’s been studying him for her second-year project, and she absolutely adores the man.”

Embarrassment flushed through my cheeks as their attention focused on me. I cast my eyes downward, my notes in front of me adorned with an array of facts and timelines about John Reid’s illustrious career.

“But I thought you didn’t particularly enjoy the subject. Yet, you seem so invested in it,” Roger interjected, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, yes, the course may not be exactly my favourite thing in the world, but John Reid is so fascinating. Besides, I love the industry, and—”

“Maria, my love, you don’t have to explain yourself,” Brian said, shooting a disapproving look at Roger. “Roger just needs to argue with someone 24/7.” He tore his gaze away from Roger and focused on me. “I think it’s wonderful that you’re so passionate about your work, especially if it aligns with what you’re supposed to be doing for your work experience…” He leaned in, his tone slightly threatening in a playful way. Why did I find that so enticing? Why did I enjoy his towering presence over me? Fuck…

I couldn’t help but let out a shaky breath, a smirk dancing on my lips. In that moment, I completely forgot that Roger, Freddie, and Emma were sitting just inches away from us. I was completely lost in Brian’s eyes.

My gaze dropped to his lips as he smiled softly, leaning closer and planting a teasingly gentle kiss on my lips before pulling away and redirecting his attention to the others.

I’m almost certain that Brian knew exactly what he was doing when he shifted his focus away from me—I was a mess. It always embarrassed me how easily Brian’s charm and good looks could leave me flustered. I was just so… inexperienced.

The remaining minutes of lunch slipped away, and throughout it all, Brian continued to play with my fingers, offering me comfort and a sense of being cherished—simple gestures like holding hands could send me into a whirlwind of gratitude for the affection I received. A feeling of closeness was the key to my heart.

He even gave me butterflies when he casually removed his ring from my index finger and slipped it onto his pinkie, the cool metal leaving a lingering sensation on my skin.

When it was time for Emma and me to head to our lecture, I stood behind Brian, wrapping my arms tightly around him in a lingering hug, as if I would never see him again. His fluffy hair tickled my face as he leaned into my embrace.

“I guess there’s no need for me to come over later now that you’ve reclaimed what’s yours,” I murmured, a playful hint in my voice. I heard Brian chuckle softly, tilting his head to the side and looking up at me.

“Don’t you want to spend time with your boyfriend?” He raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that I loved it when he playfully referred to himself as my boyfriend, no matter how juvenile it sounded. But deep down, I could sense that he took my teasing to heart in the sweetest way possible—bless him.

“Bri, I’m just messing. I’m still going to come over. If you still want me to, that is…” I playfully said, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Of course, I want you to, silly. I’ve been looking forward to it all day,” he replied, giving me those irresistible puppy dog eyes that made my heart melt even more.

I couldn’t help but giggle and shake my head, leaning in closer to him. “You’re just too cute.” I pressed my lips against his in a longer, more lingering kiss before finally pulling away. As I turned to leave, I couldn’t help but notice the mischievous smirks on the faces of the other three—they were eagerly waiting for the moment Brian and I would finally get together and become that couple we always talked about.

“Come on, Emma. You’ll see Roger later,” I sighed, nudging her gently as they seemed completely absorbed in each other yet again. She gave Roger an affectionate hug before leaving with me.

“Isn’t Roger just the sweetest?” Emma chirped as we turned the corner, out of sight from the bustling cafeteria.

I couldn’t bring myself to lie, but I couldn’t reveal the truth either. All I could do was giggle and shake my head, a mix of conflicting emotions swirling within me. Little did she know that when I shook my head, it was because I genuinely didn’t know how to answer.

I felt a twinge of guilt. A nagging sense that I should set things right. But everything felt so great in that moment, and I didn’t want to spoil it. Sometimes, you get caught up in the whirlwind of emotions, and decisions are made without thinking of the consequences.

Things just happen, I thought to myself, hoping that everything would somehow work out for the best.

“I always thought that Roger would be the less educated one,” I murmured to Brian. He smirked, glancing over at the doorway to the living room where Freddie and Roger were engrossed in a game of Scrabble. Normally, Brian would join them, but since he had me as his company, he chose to be the true gentleman he was and stay by my side.

“They’re always at each other’s throats over that game. It’s a rare occasion when only one of us is the reigning champion. I tend to come up with some very long words,” he grinned, turning to put the kettle on the stove. “They’re just lucky I’m not playing.”

“I used to play Scrabble with my brother when we were younger,” I began, watching as Brian expertly prepared my coffee and his tea. “It was a bit challenging, to be honest.”

Brian raised an eyebrow. “It’s not that difficult of a game, Maria.”

“It was only difficult because my dog ate the O’s and the Y’s,” I laughed. “The number of times I got scolded for using the world ‘count’ without the O…”

Brian laughed, shaking his head. “I didn’t know you had a dog.”

“I don’t… We had to put her down. She had some nasty wounds from the neighbour’s dog when he attacked her,” I shrugged. The truth was, I didn’t recall much from that time. I was sixteen then, and by that point, I didn’t pay much attention to what was happening around me. Things had just started to go downhill, and I wasn’t accustomed to such a drastic change.

Leaning against the counter, Brian looked thoughtful, and the kettle started to rattle slightly. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that… That’s the thing about pets. They don’t live forever,” he frowned.

“I guess they don’t. But at least you still have pictures and memories,” I replied.

Brian smiled softly, his gaze fixed on me. “You’re so optimistic… sometimes.”

I chuckled, playfully nudging his arm. “I’m probably one of the most pessimistic people you’ll ever meet. You’re the optimist out of the two of us! You work so hard all the time and still manage to be nice to everyone around you. That’s talent.”

“Talent!” I heard a voice from the living room. “Damn it, I didn’t mean to say it out loud!”

I turned my head to find Roger banging his head on his hands, while Freddie wore a smug expression, clearly having spelled out the word ‘talent’ on the Scrabble board.

When I looked back at Brian, he was pouring the boiling water into the mugs. “Do you want to go upstairs? It might be quieter,” he suggested softly, picking up both mugs. I nodded in agreement, reaching out for the coffee mug, but Brian playfully pulled it away from my grasp. “I’ve got it,” he insisted, gesturing for me to walk ahead of me.

“I am perfectly capable of carrying a mug of coffee myself,” I protested, making my way through the living room where Freddie and Roger served as a comical obstacle course.

“Yes, but I don’t want you to spill it and burn yourself,” Brian stated matter-of-factly. I huffed, trudging into the hallway.

“I’m not a child,” I sulked, stepping aside to let Brian go upstairs first.

“Care to explain that look on your face then?” he smirked at me, shimmying past me and making his way up the stairs. I glanced over at Roger and Freddie, who were snickering to themselves, probably amused by the playful banger between Brian and me.

Brian’s room was a comfortable blend of normality—neither too extravagant nor too minimalistic. Poster adorned the walls featuring icons like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix, Conway Twitty. Books lay scattered around, their pages undoubtedly filled with astrophysics and other subjects beyond my intellectual reach.

I found myself standing awkwardly in the middle of Brian’s room, my hands fidgeting nervously. He placed the two mugs on the desk in the corner, turning around to meet my gaze. He folded his arms and looked away, the air thick with unease. The distant sound of Roger and Freddie’s bickering downstairs was the only noise breaking the silence.

“Um… Do you want me to close the door?” I managed to say, my mouth suddenly dry.

“Yeah… Yeah, that’d be good,” he replied with an awkward smile, observing me as I made my way to his bedroom door. Gently, I closed it, shutting out the noise from downstairs as it faded into the background.

When I turned around, Brian had settled on his bed, casually leaning back on his hands. He smiled at me, assuring me it was alright to join him. So, I gingerly sat down, letting myself sink into the comfort of the mattress. Brian handed me my coffee, which had cooled down enough to drink. As I took a sip, I noticed him shaking his head out of the corner of my eye.

I glanced at him, scrunching my eyebrows. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know how you can drink that all the time. I’ve never seen you drink anything other than pure black coffee,” he said, leaning back against the headrest.

“It’s nice, and it keeps me awake and alert,” I defended myself, smiling as I took another sip.

“You’re right. I must be a pretty boring person to be around if you need caffeine to stay awake,” he replied with a hint of self-deprecation.

I furrowed my brows, looking directly at the curly-haired guitarist sitting just a metre away from me. “Shut up, Brian, you’re not boring. Not to me, anyway.”

“I’m not?” He raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side.

“No,” I laughed, shuffling closer to him. “And who cares what other people think about you? All that matters is that you have strong people around you who remind you that you’re not boring and that you’re an incredible person. And if they’re not doing that, then they can just fuck off,” I shrugged, getting up to place the now half-full mug back on Brian’s desk.

He didn’t directly respond to what I had just said. Instead, he blushed, his cheeks practically glowing with embarrassment, a reaction I had become accustomed to whenever someone complimented him. As I walked back to the bed, I contemplated whether to sit closer to him. But I didn’t have to contemplate for long, as his long arms wrapped around me, pulling me down into the bed right next to him.

“You’re lucky I didn’t have that mug in my hand,” I chuckled, shuffling onto my back to get comfortable, my arm brushing against Brian’s.

We lay on our backs, gazing up at the plain, boring, white ceiling. In those moments, time seemed to slow down, and I allowed myself to sink into deep thoughts about my life. Despite the lack of money and a stable income, I realised how incredibly fortunate I was. I had remarkable people surrounding me, and I felt safe and secure. It was a feeling I had never experienced back home. And above all, Brian cared for me. I knew that without a doubt. He would do anything to make me happy, and he never failed to remind me of that.

The radio filled the almost silent room with a soft static noise as Brian turned it on. The background noise provided a sense of comfort. His hand sought mine, intertwining our fingers. “Maria?” he hummed, his voice gentle.

I squeezed his hand, giving him my full attention. “Yeah?”

“It’s entirely fine if you don’t want to talk about it, but… Why do you… do that to yourself?” Brian stumbled over his words, his thumb caressing my skin. I understood what he was referring to, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to open about it, to be so vulnerable.

But then I thought about the preciousness of the moment, the rare opportunity to be truly alone with Brian. I took a deep breath and turned my head to face him, taking in the beautiful contours of his profile.

“I wasn’t very happy growing up,” I began, my voice carrying the weight of my past. “It all started with my dad. We never had the kind of relationship I longed for. He was absent most of the time, and we never saw eye to eye on anything. We were complete opposites. My mum was the one working while my dad stayed home. So, I didn’t get to spend much time with her either. I don’t blame her, though. She had to provide for the family because my dad was too lazy to do anything.” A faint chuckle escaped Brian’s lips as he listened intently. “But eventually, my dad did manage to invest in some properties in Leeds, and now he owns most of the farmlands.” I shrugged.

“School was supposed to be my escape, but it wasn’t much better. I was constantly bullied for my weight, and the fact that I liked different things to everyone else. I felt completely alone as a child, and I couldn’t understand why it was happening, or why I couldn’t seem to form friendships with anyone. I had no one to be angry at,” I trailed off, my gaze returning to the ceiling.

“And so, I turned that anger inward… And I took it out on myself,” I whispered, feeling tears welling up in my eyes. “Things didn’t improve much after that. I was, like, fourteen, I think. It’s only gotten worse since then. I hardly have a relationship with my parents now. They want me to be a successful, fashionable businesswoman, but… I don’t want to do something just because someone else expects it of me.” I glanced at Brian, who was staring blankly at the ceiling.

“I’m rambling, right?” I whispered.

“No. Not at all,” he whispered back. “I was the one who asked, and I was genuinely curious. You’re a strong and brave woman,” he said, turning onto his side to face me, his upper body sightly leaning over mine. “And I adore that about you.”

A blush crept up my cheeks, a mix of vulnerability and power surging through me in his presence. This man had an incredible effect on me, and he wasn’t even aware of it.

I let out a contented sigh, my gaze fixed on his captivating hazel eyes. The world around us faded away as we shared an intimate connection, my heart pulsating with a profound sense of tranquillity. It was truly a beautiful moment.

However, the enchantment was momentarily shattered when the opening notes of a different song, “Let’s Spend the Night Together” by The Rolling Stones, began to play through the radio speakers. The softness in our eyes transformed into amusement, and we both erupted into laughter at the perfect timing. I cackled, trying to catch my breath as Brian buried his head in the pillow beside me, his body wriggling with laughter.

“You absolutely did that on purpose,” I managed to gasp out, clutching my stomach.

“How? I’m all the way over here!” Brian protested, his voice slightly muffled by the pillow. He lifted his head and rested it next to mine, his warm breath brushing against my cheek.

After a few seconds of the song playing, Brian pressed his lips to my ear and began to sing in a deep, melodramatic voice, clearly aiming to be funny.

“Don’t you worry ‘bout what’s on your mind…”

I giggled, the sensation of his breath tickling my ear and his hair gently grazing my skin.

“I’m in no hurry, I can take my time…” he continued, deepening his voice even more, his intent to bring humour into the moment. But unexpectedly, my stomach flipped as he hit an uncharacteristically low bass note. My laughter subsided, and I swallowed hard.

“Brian…” I attempted to dismiss it as a joke. “You’re lying on my hair…” I whined, rolling onto my side, my back turned to Brian’s chest. If he couldn’t see that every little thing that he did affected me, then I would pretend that it didn’t.

However, my wish for the awkwardness to dissipate went unanswered as I felt Brian’s chest press against my back, his arm reaching over to find my hand next to my face. His fingertips lightly stroked the back of my hand, tracing a path down my arm. The sensation was comforting, sending countless sparks cascading down my spine.

Before I could fully grasp the situation, his lips returned to my ear. This time, he sang in his usual soothing tone, devoid of any humorous intentions.

“I’m going red, and my tongue’s getting tied…”

I remained perfectly still as he planted feather-light kisses on my ear, his head nestled close to mine, enveloping me in his embrace. I sighed with contentment as Brian began to sway us gently back and forth.

“Can I ask you something, love?” he murmured.

“You can ask me anything,” I breathed out.

“You’ve… never done anything before, have you?” he speculated.

“Wow, straight to the point…” I joked. “If you’re trying to ask me if I’m a virgin, then… y-yeah, I am.” I admitted, an embarrassed flush rushing to my cheeks, my tone treating back to the shyness I had when I first met the boys.

Instead of responding, Brian leaned down and pressed a sweet and innocent kiss to my cheek, his lips lingering against my skin. “I wish I could truly show you how much you mean to me.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, stealing a glance at him. “I thought you already do that?”

He chuckled, sending shivers down my spine. “I do… But I want to show you in a way that will make you feel good and… loved.”

Oh, I knew exactly where he was heading, that charming space boy.

“Oh?” I managed to stutter out, feeling his lips trail down my cheek and to my jaw.

“We don’t have to do anything, love. I’m perfectly content with just cuddling,” Brian reassured me, looking up into my eyes.

“I want to, Brian… I really do. I’m just a bit scared,” I whispered, studying his face intently. “I don’t want it to hurt…” I started. “A-and… I don’t want you to be put off by me once you see… everything.” I turned my eyes away sheepishly.

His gaze softened, and he gently guided me onto my back, his form now fully hovering over me. “Maria Brennan, I think you are a breathtakingly beautiful person, inside and out. And all I want is to share the overwhelming feelings I have every time I see you enter a room, hear you laugh, or listen to your voice,” he whispered, his lips grazing over my nose. “As for it hurting… I can’t promise you it won’t. But I can promise that it won’t all the time. I’m here with you. And if you can’t handle it, and you need me to stop, I will. I won’t let anything hurt you, my darling.”

With those words, he dipped down and captured my lips in a passionate kiss, igniting sparks that danced all over my body. I lifted my hand and entwined my fingers in his hair, pulling him closer to me to let him know I did want this and that I was willing to try. He deepened the kiss in response, allowing his tongue to explore my mouth.

Brian continued to kiss me as I adjusted to this new level of intimacy, his tongue exploring new sensations that drove me wild. His hand journeyed from my cheek to my shoulder, his fingertips tracing patterns on my skin. Goosebumps erupted across my body as his hand purposefully grazed over my chest. I closed my eyes as Brian’s kisses trailed down from my lips to my neck, savouring the gentleness of his touch. He sighed against my skin, seemingly relishing the closeness between us. I bit down on my lower lip when I felt his teeth graze the sensitive flesh of my neck, his suction growing progressively stronger. A shaky breath escaped me as he did this, the sensation unlike anything I had ever experienced. I almost felt a tinge of embarrassment at how much I enjoyed the feeling of him marking me as his own, even though he had barely done anything, yet I could already be a quivering mess beneath him. So, I restrained myself, biting down on my lips to regain composure. However, Brian must have noticed because he pulled back from my neck, his voice a soft whisper against my skin.

“If something feels good, don’t hesitate to let me know,” he whispered, a smile evident in his voice, before shifting his head to the other side of my neck, repeating the same tantalising motions.

He lifted his head completely, gazing down at the marks he had left on my skin, a satisfied smile playing on his lips. Slowly, he leaned back, rising up and sitting on his feet. His eyes roamed over my figure, sprawled before him. Locking his gaze with mine, he placed his hands on my knees, parting them to settle himself between them. It felt strange yet exhilarating to have someone so close, his groin pressing against my most sensitive area.

Moistening my dry lips, I peered up at Brian, his eyes now filled with a burning desire. He pulled me up, so I was sitting, my legs still wrapped around him. His hands slid down to the collar of my denim jacket, holding onto it.

“Can I…?” he began, seeking my approval. I nodded, allowing him to push the jacket off my shoulders, letting it drop to the floor beside the bed.

“Brian?” I glanced down at his attire, admiring how snug his shirt fit him. “My mum is… very domineering and… protective. What should I tell her if she asks what I’ve been doing?” I naïvely asked.

A smile graced his lips as his calloused fingers came up to cradle my face. I leaned into his touch.

“You’re twenty-two years old, Maria. Your mother has no right to know what you’ve been doing,” he said, smirking slightly as he leaned closer. “Or who you’ve been doing.” The playful remark lightened the mood, causing me to giggle. “Just forget about her, my love.”

And with that, his lips were once again on mine. And I did just as he said – I let thoughts of my mum slip from my mind as Brian’s hands moved lower, fumbling with the buttons on my flares. I arched my hips upward, making it easier for him to remove the fabric, which joined my jacket on the floor. The absence of my trouser allowed my shirt to hang loosely, now untucked. His eyes never wavered from mine as he reached down and unbuttoned his own trousers. He discarded his shirt, revealing his upper body; the slimness of his frame, clothed or not, remained captivating—his partially exposed ribcage hinted at his fitness. Brian gently guided me back, laying me down. His hands descended to my hips, pulling me toward him before he lowered himself on top of me, our groins meeting in perfect alignment.

I bit down on my lip, the rush of heat spreading across my cheeks. Brian leaned in, his lips meeting mine in a passionate and longing kiss, wasting no time in igniting the passion between us. A soft groan escaped his lips, merging with mine, as I instinctively bucked my hips into his. The realisation that he, too, was affected comforted me—I could let out those sounds too. My hands travelled down his back, feeling the warmth of his bare skin for the first time. I smiled into the kiss, releasing a shaky breath when Brian’s hand slid down my leg, lifting it and holding it in place. Taking this as a cue, he pressed his body against mine, grinding gently at first to ensure my comfort. But when I emitted a small moan, he continued with a heightened sensuality. His own breathing faltered as he broke the kiss, emitting another groan. Halting his movements, he peppered kisses along my chin instead of my lips. His lips ventured lower, using his nimble fingers to unbutton my shirt and reveal my bra. Licking his lips, his gaze traced over my exposed form, before he began placing soft kisses along my chest, leaving marks that only I, and now he, would see.

“You alright?” Brian finally spoke after a prolonged silence, his lips now gliding down my stomach. I was a bit puzzled about his intentions, but seeing the comfort in his eyes reassured me. I nodded, meeting his gaze, which had a soothing effect on me.

“Tell me if it’s too much, okay? I don’t want to pressure you into anything you’re not ready for,” he added, accompanied by a gentle smile. I took a deep breath, diverting my gaze to the ceiling as Brian continued moving lower down my body, instantly evoking memories of a recent dream. This was like that dream, unfolding in real-time. It was happening, and it felt remarkably real.

Brian laid on his stomach, the mattress beneath us, showing his tenderness and placing gentle kisses on my thighs. His arm wrapped around my hips, keeping me settled. With his free hand, he traced the fabric of my underwear, bringing his face closer to my heated centre. As his touch made contact, my hips instinctively bucked upwards again, the fabric growing damp with each passing second. I watched his eyes flicker upward, gauging my response to this newfound intimacy. He wanted me to enjoy myself, never feeling obligated to engage in this with him.

“Can I take them off?” Brian whispered, his breath sending shivers across my soft skin. I looked up at him, my reaction evident. I nodded, my eyes closing. I could sense my nervousness, but he called me gently, capturing my attention. I opened my eyes and lowered my head to meet his gaze.

“Use your words, please,” he said. “Maria, darling.”

“Sorry… Yeah, take them off,” I nervously laughed, my cheeks flushing deeper with colour. Brian smiled at me, flashing a look in his eyes that reassured me of my safety. As my hips lifted, he effortlessly removed my underwear, casually dropping them beside the bed. His eyes hungrily feasted on the sight before him. This was the first time he saw me in my most vulnerable state, and I felt no reservations.

My heart raced as I took in the sight of Brian, the intensity of his gaze making my mouth go dry, leaving me speechless. I could sense my breathing becoming irregular, my body reacting to the desire flowing between us. Brian moved closer, rising onto his knees and crawling towards me, his eyes locked with mine. The emotions flickering in his gaze made it difficult to decipher what he truly felt.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, settling beside me and propping himself up on his elbow, his gaze fixed on my exposed body. I expected to stumble over my words, or offer a hesitant response, but something within me shifted.

“Please… Just touch me, Brian,” I whimpered, my eyebrows furrowing with longing. A mixture of vulnerability and desire surged through me, and my plea seemed to ignite a hunger within him. I watched as his eyebrows lifted, a smile forming on his lips, capturing the electricity in the air.

A shiver coursed through my body as the cool air kissed the delicate space between my legs, a stark contrast to the intense heat and wetness that consumed me. Brian’s gaze bore into my soul, his finger gliding along the slickness, eliciting an involuntary buck of my hips. I watched as his bit his lip, his eyes fixed on the glistening evidence of my arousal.

“You’re so wet…” he murmured, his finger delving between my folds and teasingly grazing over my throbbing clit, which yearned for more. A strangled moan escaped my lips as he circled his finger over the sensitive bud. His eyes locked with mine, his lips close to my ear, his finger quickening its movements, occasionally dipping lower to gather more of my essence.

“Does that feel good, angel?” he whispered against my ear, his words sending waves of pleasure through me. I parted my lips, intending to respond, but all that emerged was another prolonged moan as he added a second finger, doubling the intensity of pleasure. My eyelids fluttered shut, surrendering to the exquisite sensations washing over me.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he chuckled, his lips trailing along my jawline. “I’m going to put one inside, okay?”

I smiled inwardly, touched by his consideration and attentiveness. As his middle finger descended toward my entrance, he paused, maintaining a gentle pressure. At first, it was a mere sensation of fullness, but swiftly it transformed into a stinging pain as he pushed his finger past my resistance, reaching up to the first knuckle. I clamped down on my lower lip, biting down to stifle any sign of discomfort, not wanting to worry Brian. Yet, it seemed as though he sensed my struggle, as he pressed closer, his lips tenderly kissing my cheek and any reachable spot. Meanwhile, his thumb resumed its seductive dance over my clit, mingling pleasure with the temporary ache.

He remained still for a moment, maintaining that position. The initial pain gradually subsided, intermittently returning as he moved his finger, but the soft whispers and tender touches made it bearable. The room was filled with the sounds of his breath mingling with the raw friction of his finger and my wetness colliding. As promised, the pain transformed into an exquisite pleasure—a fucking sweet pleasure, to put it bluntly.

Before long, my own strained moans erupted from my lips, my head sinking into the plushness of Brian’s pillows. By now, he had inserted his finger almost completely, and I became a cacophony of moans, a tumultuous blend of discomfort and pleasure. It was the knowledge that Brian was the first person I ever let touch me in this way that intensified the experience, amplifying the pleasure to new heights.

“Wow,” he breathed out, his voice thick with desire. “You’re so fucking tight.” He chuckled, burying his face in the crook of my neck, a wicked smile gracing his lips.

An airy laugh escaped me, my heart rate momentarily skyrocketing. “S-sorry… I’m not used… Fuck… people saying stuff like that to me.”

He lifted his head, aligning it with mine, his forehead pressing against mine. “It’s okay,” he began, his gaze fixed on my lips. “I’m not used to saying stuff like that to such beautiful women.” Before I could respond, his lips crashed onto mine, delivering a feverish kiss. A moan and a whimper escaped me simultaneously as he slipped another finger inside, stretching me further. Brian pressed his lips harder against mine, muffling my loud cries and diverting my attention. My back arched as he quickened the pace of digits, a fiery ball of pleasure building within the depths of my stomach.

He finally pulled away, resuming the position with his forehead against mine. “I need to make you cum before… we move on,” he smirked, biting his lip as he observed me.

I would have found his remark incredibly dominant and laughed it off under different circumstances. However, I was consumed by the growing tingles pulsating in my abdomen. My vision blurred as a surge of something overwhelming approached. Now, I’m not foolish—I knew what an orgasm was. But the only times I had experienced it were when I pleasured myself, and even then, it was a rarity, occurring no more than three times in total. Yet this was different. This orgasm was building from within, Brian’s fingers reaching places my own could never reach.

“B-Brian…” I whimpered, gazing into his eyes. My breath became rapid as he continued his ministrations inside me.

“It’s okay, love. I’ve got you,” he assured me, plunging me into oblivion. And with that, my hips thrust into his hand, an intense wave of pleasure washing over my entire being, causing goosebumps to erupt all over my skin. To control my involuntary spasms, Brian pressed his forehead harder against mine, keeping my head anchored. He let out a strained breath as he endeavoured to sustain his movements until I rode out the exhilarating high. My hand instinctively gripped his arm, his muscles contracting forcefully as he matched the rhythm of his actions.

After the initial shock subsided, I gently pushed Brian’s arm away, my breathing gradually returning to a more steady rhythm. I closed my eyes, feeling a slight clenching in my lower muscles as he withdrew his fingers, leaving me with an inexplicable longing. Opening my eyes, I glanced over at Brian, observing as he sensually sucked off the remnants of our passion from his fingers.

My attention was quickly captured when he raised an eyebrow at me in a seductive manner. Perhaps it was his way of calming my nerves after witnessing him begin to wriggle out of his trousers, a tent forming in his underwear. My breath caught in my throat, still recovering from the erratic pattern it had taken before.

“You look completely worn out, love,” he laughed, clearly amused by my exhausted state. “That was just a preview.” He winked, a blush still lingering on his own cheeks.

“Well, I am exhausted!” I exclaimed, wiping my forehead. “I’ve never done that before, so…” I sat up slightly, keeping my gaze fixed on him as he slipped out of his underwear. My stomach tightened with anticipation as I caught sight of what he had concealed from me, springing up and brushing against his stomach.

“As much as I enjoy your admiration, I’d prefer it if you helped me with this,” Brian said shyly, pushing himself back against the headboard. It seemed he had become caught up in his arousal, momentarily forgetting my limited experience. “Oh!” He blushed deeply. “I’m sorry, love… Um… Have you ever…?” he trailed off.

“Um…” I murmured, swallowing hard. “No, I haven’t.” I laughed awkwardly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and positioning myself in front of Brian. “I mean, I obviously know what it is and more or less how to do it, but I’ve just never had a chance to do it before.”

Brian grinned, taking my hand and caressing the back of it. “It’s okay, Maria. I can always guide you.”

“Okay.”

For the next fifteen minutes, Brian became my mentor, teaching me the nuances of what he enjoyed and how to prolong the pleasure during oral sex. Needless to say, I found great pleasure in wrapping my lips around his substantial length, savouring the taste of his salty skin.

So there I was, kneeling over Brian’s lap, my mouth filled with him. Brian brought his hand up to my face, sweeping my hair over my shoulder to better see my expression as I took him into my mouth. I looked up at him, batting my eyelashes a little, eliciting a groan from him as he collected the hair in his fist.

“God, yeah, just like that,” he grunted, gazing down at me with his mouth slightly agape. I relished in the praise he bestowed upon me, feeling electric sensations travel down to my core, which was now reawakening with desire, clenching eagerly in anticipation.

A muffled moan escaped my lips as I swirled my tongue around the tip of his cock, my hand tightly gripping the base. The taste of his pre-cum lingered on my tongue, salty and arousing.

Suddenly, I was pulled away from his throbbing member and drawn up to his face. He pressed his lips forcefully against mine, immediately invading my mouth with his tongue. I clutched onto his hair with one hand and grasped his shaft with the other, revelling in the sensations that consumed me.

“Lay down,” he mumbled, his command prompting me to comply. I shifted to his side and lay on my back, anticipation building within me.

“I’ve held this in for so long, Maria,” he confessed, rising onto his knees in front of me and gripping my hips, pulling me closer as my legs bent to accommodate him. I could feel his hardness pressing against my wetness, driving me to the brink of delirium. “To show you how much you mean to me. And how beautiful you are.” His voice lowered to a whisper as he reached over to the beside table, retrieving a drawer positioned just below it. He opened it and extracted a condom.

“And were you expecting this to happen, Mr. Astrophysicist?” I asked playfully, a hint of amusement in my voice.

“No… But you can never been too prepared. There’s always a chance of bringing back an otherworldly Goddess, even if it’s a rarity,” he remarked before resuming his dominant stance. With expert precision, he rolled the condom onto his shaft and returned to his position between my legs. One of his hands ventured downward, holding himself and rubbing his tip against my sensitive area, eliciting a restrained moan from deep within me.

“Please tell me if you want me to stop,” he whispered, receiving a nod of reassurance from me. That was all he needed as he slowly pushed himself inside me, stopping when just the tip was nestled within. I hissed through my teeth, holding my breath in response to the pain inflicted by his generous size.

“I’m sorry, darling,” he uttered in a low voice, nuzzling against me. He understood that there was little he could do to alleviate the pain until he was fully inside, but he could provide comfort as I embarked on the rollercoaster ride of my first time. Planting soothing kisses along my neck, he gradually eased himself deeper, stretching me so exquisitely that my grip on Brian’s skin left marked imprints from the intensity.

Relief washed over me when he was finally fully sheathed inside me. I took a moment to adjust to the sensation as best as I could, and Brian tried to grant me as much time as possible. Yet, his impatience grew, and the need to move became undeniable—for both of us.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I need to move,” he uttered with a mix of humour and an airy moan as he withdrew completely before plunging back into me. “I know it hurts, but the more I move, the less painful it’ll be.” He smiled down at me, placing a tender kiss on my nose, his actions laced with love and concern. “But please… Make sure you tell me if it gets too much.”

Brian’s gentleness towards me contrasted with the palpable desperation that had built up within him. It took an annoyingly long time for me to adjust, allowing him to truly let loose. I knew I would be sore the next day, but that was a small price to pay for the pleasure unfolding before me.

“Shit, Brian,” I exclaimed, torn from my distractions as pain seamlessly transformed into pure ecstasy. Brian’s smile, filled with pride, revealed his teeth as his thrusts transitioned from delicate and careful to ambitiously fervent. The sensation of his long, powerful member pumping in and out of me threatened to send my heart into overdrive, but I felt more alive than ever as his own moans harmonised with mine.

“Wow, you feel fucking amazing,” Brian grunted, supporting himself on his hands placed next to my head. “You’re so tight. I’m so proud of you for taking me so well, love.” He bit his lip, moaning louder. His gaze shifted, drinking in the sight of my body as I whimpered beneath him, my head falling back. Brian secured a hold on my legs, pushing them up slightly. Reaching for a pillow, he slid it under my hips, granting him deeper access. The new position brought him a sense of relief, and I eagerly embraced the heightened sensations that accompanied it.

Rather than simply thrusting into me, his hips snapped with a new intensity, striking a previously unexplored spot within me. The pleasure surged to another level entirely. The raw sounds of our flesh colliding, mingling with the symphony of moans and whimpers escaping our lips, filled the room, becoming the sole audible soundtrack. I silently prayed that Roger and Freddie were preoccupied elsewhere and wouldn’t burst through the door.

“Bri…” I whined once more, my desires vaguely articulated. Did I crave more contact? Brian’s response came in the form of a deep groan as he leaned forward, resting his forehead against mine, locking his gaze with mine.

“What do you want, baby? Tell me,” he entreated, his voice filled with a mix of tenderness and need.

“I… I don’t know,” I stammered, my breath growing irregular. “Fuck, I don’t know, Bri!” My back arched, an instinctive plea for more. I needed more of him.

“You want me to go faster?” he inquired, his voice growing higher in pitch. “Hm? Or do you want me to remind you how gorgeous you look while taking me so well? What is it, Maria?” His sweet voice rendered his explicit words easy to embrace, but it was the praise—the praise that made me writhe in ecstatic bliss.

And Brian, oh, he noticed.

“Ah, that’s it, huh?” he chuckled, planting a sweet kiss on my lips. “You enjoy it when I tell you that you’re the most perfect creature to have ever graced this Earth?” Thrust after thrust, his breathy compliments enveloped me, driving me to the edge of pleasure’s precipice.

I nodded, a whimper of confirmation escaping my lips. Brian’s thrusts quickened with each word that spilled from his intoxicating mouth, his desire to fill me evident in his every movement.

“I’ve wanted to fill you up since our first kiss, you little tease,” he playfully remarked, his pace accelerating. “And right now, all I want is to make you come undone and feel incredible. You deserve it so much… Do you think you can cum for me one more time, angel?”

My legs trembled under the relentless stimulation, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I surrendered to the impending release.

“Just one more time,” he insisted, lowering his head and burying it in my neck. His thrusts now possessed an animalistic fervour. “Fuck, yes… Shit, Maria, I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.”

“Brian…” I mumbled, my breathing escalating rapidly. “Holy shit, Bri, please don’t stop…” I transformed into a moaning mess, the fiery sensation reigniting in my core, sending electric waves between my thighs.

He held me close as I soared to my second peak of the evening, my muscles spasming uncontrollably while Brian continued to drive into me. He sustained his rhythm to help me ride out the waves of pleasure, but his own purpose was abruptly halted as his body convulsed above me.

A wild groan escaped his lips as he sank his teeth into the flesh of my neck, freezing his thrust deep inside me. His grip on my hip tightened to the point of leaving bruises that would bloom on my skin the following day.

We lay there in a state of blissful exhaustion, our hearts thumping against each other’s ribcages.

I heard Brian chuckle softly, lifting his head to gaze down at me. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” He smiled tenderly, gently tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I peered up at him, stray curls clinging to his damp forehead, his skin glistening with the sheen of exertion.

I could only shake my head slowly, raising my hand to caress his face as he leaned into my touch.

“Although I do think I’ll be a bit sore tomorrow,” I remarked, taking a deep breath. He rolled his eyes playfully before leaning in to kiss me with tender affection.

“Either way… I’ll be here to take care of you…” He whispered. “I’m glad we just did that. I’ve been boiling up inside for far too long, my love.”

I bit my lip, flickering my eyes up at the man I gave my innocence to, before sighing, “Me too.”

[justanothergreb]

So the talk I did today - smashed it, could not have gone better (bar the inevitable tech issues which still plague any online conference!) I feel really proud of myself; public speaking is not my thing but apparently as I have grown older, it’s something people very much think I am good at. Which is a lovely surprise for the quiet girl who never said much at school or in presentations in general. 

I am however still feeling a little down as I realise not many people seem to understand how important my career is to me and that this was a big deal. There were a 1000 of my peers at this conference and we got a good healthy turnout of just over 120 attendees (we were up against three other sessions, one of which was chatGPT-based sooooooooo). I’ve had 30 friend requests on LinkedIn, we’ve double the people in our little group to talk about our niche. I’ve told people to nick our ideas, borrow my team chart to push for what you can do if we’re properly funded as a resource. But still I feel like people close to me don’t get it. 

My mum had to give up her job when she married my dad. I remember it so well as a kid. She had been a rep for another of our city’s niche trades. She wore woollen Karen Millen suits to go to trade shows in London, she could tell you the code for every type of thing they made (she still can) and she gave it all up because of a man. A man who couldn’t cope that she wasn’t at home, the prospect of men talking to her at trade shows, enjoying herself, living life. She will say she didn’t mind, she’d always wanted to be a housewife, her vision of the 1950s little lady at home. But I could see she was miserable. No money of her own, stuck in a house on her own. I remember the argument where she was forced to give up a part-time job in a bridal boutique, refusing to go back. Instead she got a job as a dinner lady at my old school and a couple of cleaning jobs. She’ll tell you she is thick, but my mum is anything but when she puts her mind to it (and listens). I look at her and vowed I would never give up my career for a man or anyone else. 

I’ve felt recently like a lot of people don’t really get that my career isn’t some silly little job at a university and all I do is sit and send emails to students all day. Far from it. I’ve known since I was a teenager I wanted a job where I could help people. I toyed with journalism but the deadline pressure just did not appeal. Dad always thought I would go into law (Saz stop eye rolling and just LOL) because I have always been good at seeing both sides of things (quite the compliment when I think about it seeing as we argued. A lot. Also some of you stop laughing). Again I thought about it but I could never square having to defend someone who I knew in my heart was actually guilty, my moral compass far too strong-willed - and I am amazed at anyone in law who can defend anyone who is so clearly guilty or at fault (I secretly think they must be a little morally ambiguous because how can you sleep at night - see moral compass, exceptionally strong, unless it comes to a slightly Germanic looking man with nice thighs, then the compass is busted).  

Teaching seemed the obvious route and I blossomed as a TA in Germany. But the English school system is a mess and if we had had the option to teach a foreign language with a humanity (as in Germany) I would’ve been fine. Here the need to speak multiple languages well and truly screwed me over as unless you plonk me in France and keep me speaking it, my French disappears overnight. So I worked my little data and events job, tricking myself bringing the NHS and pharmaceutical companies together would help people. It mostly helped the pockets of the company I worked for. 

My decision to move back to some form of education was fuelled by a need to help and to be honest, I prefer older students. Bit more fun. When I applied for the job I eventually got, I applied because it said ‘events’ and it mentioned CV checking - and I bloody love a CV check. Ideal for me. I quickly discovered that most of my new colleagues were the same as me - wanting to help people. Whether it was a CV check, a chat about a job or helping someone to plan their career, we all wanted to help people. My predecessor, who I now realise had been keeping his eye on me from the moment I started (something about men with that name, clearly), was also in this vein. Particular of his website and clunky emails, his mission was to promote our offer to get students the support they needed. We bonded immediately when he discovered I knew how to work a website back end, could figure out social media quicker than most and would happily tell our director he was a tool (never speak down on a WP student background when I’m around). We both got if you get the messaging right, you maximise the number of people you can reach and therefore support. 

When I moved into his team just two days before the pandemic, it felt coming to work “home”. This was the team I needed to be on. Yes, I gave up some of my student contact but I could do much more in this job. When he decided to retire, I knew this was finally my chance. I’ve always wanted to be strategic, managerial, lead a team - something again nobody really understood. “You’ll never be a manager” was one of the things a former manager happily told me. “How dare you think you lead a team” she said, as I led a team on projects that she had nothing to do with and asked me to lead on. I enjoyed those brief forays into leading because you got to develop someone, watch them grow and make sure everything was OK. I cried in my interview as I got overwhelmed saying how much this job meant to me if I got it and I cried after when I got the job. 

My silly little marketing job is actually running a website which gets 20,000+ hits an academic year. It’s social media platforms which need to be kept updated constantly. It’s understanding how we use a 50 page brand guideline document so our posts don’t get pulled because we got the tone of voice slightly wrong. It's managing a team of 9-10 people who have different strengths, needs and roles. Including a student placement who needs the best experience while they are with us. And leading all my team to be the best version of themselves, so I cry my eyes out when they leave. It’s reading emails which go out to thousands of students ever week. It’s communicating out the most ridiculous offer known to man so we get to at least one student or graduate and get them to interact. It’s showing students for the millionth time how to access a fair dashboard or walking them to an employer stand. It’s making the difference for that one student. 

I was never going to be a doctor or a lawyer or some high powered business person. I was always going to my have my little niche. A niche that is important to me. A job that, for all my complaints, I absolutely love. And people just don’t seem to get it. And that’s sad to me. 

[captain-apostrophe]

I wasn’t going to keep replying but actually I am offended by something, and it’s your holier-than-thou attitude.

Whether or not you agree with my reason for being bothered by something it has nothing to do with you, and entering my life to tell me I suck because I didn’t handle that irritation in the way YOU approve of is kinda shitty of you.

What did you hope to achieve? Did you honestly think you were somehow being helpful? Did you just want to make me feel bad about myself? Was the implication that I must have no friends because I expressed irritation on the internet necessary?

As for my reason for being upset - sure, at a glance it might (apparently, since multiple people have read it that way) seem that I’m really very upset about how Americans measure their butter. It might look like “being sensitive for no reason”.

But if you actually read what I said, and look at its context, what I’m bothered by is American exceptionalism and the pervasive trend of online Americans acting as though other countries neither exist nor, importantly, matter.

There was that whole thread by Etsy sellers about how Americans are the only customers in the world who don’t include their country in their shipping information, and in that thread more Americans popped up to say that they didn’t need to because everyone knows that’s where they live. Because America is the only country, and the most important one, I guess?

I’ve read articles that stated statistics, along the lines of “this happens X times per year” - but what they don’t specify is that it happens X times per year in America. That’s a pretty important part of that information, isn’t it?

People will state laws and pop up to accuse - as an example I’ve seen - bartenders of serving alcohol to minors, because the legal drinking age is 21!

This level of ignorance and ethnocentrism isn’t just silly, it’s offensive, and if I’m offended by something this is what it is: I’m sick of converting measurements into the system 98% of the countries of the world use (and of the dogged insistence that this is the best way because it “objectively” makes more sense). I’m sick of knowing as much about America’s political machinations by osmosis as I do of my own country’s through research and concerted effort. I’m sick of the assumption that other countries are simply, factually, not as important as America.

I’m sick of being assumed American on the internet, but go off about butter, I guess.

It took a long time for me to realize america is the only country that measures our butter by sticks

[ickle-ronniekins]

tangled up

request: from nonnie! “love those sharing a bed tropes... not saying you should do it but you should definitely do it”

pairing: fred x fem!gryffindor!reader

word count: 2.3k

A/N: ummmmmm love this request, i'm in suuuucch a fred mood lately

warning(s): brief mention of war, ~implied sexual content~ i suppose

tag list: @mintlibri @seppys-return-to-madness @how-do-life-does @fopdoodledane @fredd-weasley @iprobablyshipit91 @semmelsemi @cottageoflove @laneygthememequeen @snakesonaplane-7 @keoghans @dreamer821 @wtfweasleyy @62442-am @the-hufflepuff-of-221b @obsessedwithrandomthings @thoseofgreatambition @harrysweasleys @sleep-i-ness @shadowsinger11 @shadychaoticcollection @haphazardhufflepuff @afriendlyneighborhoodhufflepuff @hood-and-horan @letsfightsomeorcs @theweasleysredhair @purpleskiesstorm @hxfflxpxffs @wand3ringr0s3 @finecole @angelinathebook @highly-acidic @purplefragile @90shermione @zreads @susceptible-but-siriusexual @hollands-weasley @andromedaa-tonks @bbstrawberry0421 @princessof-theuniverse @cappsikle @mytreec @imseeinggred @idont-knowrn @flyingserpxnt @auroraboringalis57 @godricsswords @jejegu @annasofiaearlobe @starlightweasley @alwaysasadaesthetic @thisismysketchbook @izzytheninja @imboredandneedalife @hemmoporro | message me to be added loves!

The cool October air had a bit of a bite to it -- it seemed as though Bill and Fleur’s wedding was ages ago. You wrapped a blanket around your shoulders to reduce the chill in your bones.

Suddenly two redheaded figures appeared with a pop! onto the field outside of your home. By what you could see, they’d apparated just before the line of protective enchantments -- a type of advanced magic only a very intelligent wizard could do.

“Bloody hell -- you’re a life saver, you know that?” George exclaimed as he finally reached you, wrapping you in a warm embrace. “I couldn’t be there for one more moment.”

Fred rolled his eyes and explained, “He means at Auntie Muriel’s. Being a bit overdramatic, are we, George?”

The elder twin shot his younger brother a look of amusement as George dropped his bag onto the floor and ran a hand through his hair. “Overdramatic? Tell me, Fred, would you like to go back?”

Fred then draped an arm across your shoulder and peered at his brother. “And reject our best mate’s offer to spend time at her lovely home? That would be so rude.” George swore he saw his twin shudder a bit, no doubt at the thought of returning to their Auntie Muriel’s to endure more yelling and criticism. George shot him a very sardonic look, and laughed lightly.

“Glad you two decided to come -- it’ll be nice having someone else in the house. I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in months,” you waved your wand to pull three teacups from the kitchen cupboard and started the kettle. You felt a sense of ease at having your two closest friends here. “Should be alright out here, at least for a while.”

Fred glimpsed around your tiny little house. It was small, but exceptionally tidy with a very cozy feeling to it. It looked much different than the Burrow, but still emanated that feeling of home. “Lovely place you’ve got.”

“Thanks, Freddie,” you replied, handing him a steaming cup of tea. He gingerly took it out of your hands. “Just one problem.”

The twins chorused together, “What?”

“I’ve only got one extra bed.”

If the room hadn’t gone so eerily still at your comment, you never would have noticed the small jab to the hip George gave his twin. Fred grunted a bit and stifled a cough. “Oh, no worry -- George already said he’ll take the floor.”

Fred earned himself an eye roll and another jab.

You waved them both off and blew on your tea. “Don’t be silly! I’ll take the floor. You two’ve just got to battle it out for who gets the bigger bed.”

As if on queue, George immediately hoisted his bag back over his shoulder. He began walking away and pointed toward your very tiny spare bedroom off of the kitchen. “This one here, yeah? Thanks again, Y/N, really appreciate you letting us escape the wrath of our aunt -- I’m absolutely knackered, hope you two don’t mind if I turn in!” and with a quick wave to you and Fred, George closed the door and you both almost immediately heard very loud snoring. You and Fred exchanged a laugh.

You made sure everything was in order for Fred before leading him to your room. But you noticed he hadn’t brought his stuff with him -- you saw his belongings near your front door. With a wave of your wand, you brought it forward.

“I’m really okay to sleep on the couch,” he told you, pointing back toward the front.

“I’m not going to have you sleep on the couch,” you replied, shaking your head. “Besides -- you’re not staying out there. I might be a bit dramatic, but the couch is too close to the windows and the front door, and though I’ve been safe here for a while..” you voice trailed off a bit, and you swallowed down the nerves bubbling up inside of you. “Just -- we never know where the Death Eaters are. You take the bed, I’ll take the couch.”

You patted Fred’s shoulder, ready to head back out to your front room, when he took your wrist in his hand and whirled you back around to face him. “If I’m not allowed to take the couch, neither are you.”

You crossed your arms and swallowed. “Fine,” you replied with a grin. “Have got tons of extra pillows and a massive blanket here somewhere -- let me go and fetch it. Go on then, make yourself comfortable.”

“Merlin, you are being thick today,” Fred chuckled, and you noticed traces of the young boy you grew to love. He caressed small circles on the back of your hand. “Would you just sleep in your own bed?”

“But --” your breath caught in your throat. You glanced at your own bed, easily big enough for two, maybe even three, and went against your better judgement before you could overthink it. “Just share with me, then. Nobody takes the floor.”

A hint of nervousness flashed across his features before twisting into a cheeky grin. You continued on when he stayed silent, “What’s the matter, Freddie? You’ve been my best mate for the better half of the last twenty years. I mean, I’ve seen you in your bunny slippers, for Merlin’s sake --” Fred flinched uncomfortably at the memory of you catching him, late one evening in Gryffindor tower, in bunny slippers his mum had knitted for him as a child. You had never let him forget it.

His grin deepened alongside the crimson red colour of his cheeks. “Listen, woman, they are soft and keep me nice and toasty, alright?”

“Whatever you say,” you replied before sliding yourself underneath your warm blanket. You patted the other side of the bed in an accidental sensual way and realized how that must’ve come across. You quickly cleared your throat and turned off the light before you could see his reaction. “Erm -- there are extra pillows on the couch if you need.”

You felt his body slide in next to yours, and you could still make out some of his facial features from the faint light of the lightning strikes outside. He was definitely still grinning. “I’m fine, really.”

You figured out quite quickly that neither of you were able to sleep, especially because it was only eleven p.m. and because of the wild wind and rain that were howling outside of your window. The words were spilling out of you before you could help it. “Fred?”

He turned on his side to face you. “Yeah?”

You were laying on your back, looking up at your ceiling in the darkness. “Are you afraid?”

When he didn’t answer right away, you turned your head to face him too. Each time the lightning struck it was bright and vibrant, and highlighted his features in a more intimate way than ever before. He threaded his brows together and took a deep breath. “Yeah, I am.”

It was weirdly comforting hearing him say that he was afraid. The man who didn’t have a serious bone in his body was actually scared. It was strange and unnerving and brought a sense of solace to you all at once.

You sucked in a breath, worried that your normal evening anxiety would show solely through the look in your eyes. You turned away to glance toward the ceiling again when you felt Fred brush his fingers gently against yours under the covers. Your breath hitched at the contact.

“I think it’ll be okay though.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I suppose I can’t..” it was so weird, hearing him speak like this. He shifted again. “I just think.. we’re more prepared than before. Think there’s more of us this time. Besides, we’ve done our studying, and we’re all brilliant wizards.”

A smile tugged at the edges of your mouth. “You are kind of brilliant.”

“Wow,” he breathed, and it was almost a whisper. You noticed the way the edges of his eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Can I get that in writing?”

“Care to return the compliment first?”

“Hang on,” he replied, placing his hands behind his head in a bit of a relaxed state. “I need to bask in this for a moment.”

“Oh shove off, you git!”

You playfully swatted him before he retaliated. Soon enough you were both sitting upright, thwacking one another with pillows and laughing into the darkness of the night. Fred fell to the floor with a dull thump, and you stifled lots of giggles and shushed him as he slid back into bed next to you. “You’re going to wake up George!”

You weren’t sure how long the two of you were swatting at one another. It could’ve been hours, or perhaps days. But then the storm grew more fierce, and you found yourself scooting closer to him in bed. Fred always had a way of making you forget about everything going on around you. It was always surprising to you how you’d be able to drown out the rest of the world, as long as you listened to him talk, or as long as you watched him work on his inventions with gentle hands. Even in lessons, back in school, when he’d teasingly wink at you from across the classroom, you were pretty much rendered completely useless for the rest of the day. When it was just you and him, the rest of the world might as well not even exist.

He must’ve noticed how you zoned out, because he asked, “What’s on your mind?”

You turned on your side to face him fully this time. “Just reminiscing.”

“Yeah? About what?”

“Remember when we bumped into one another in the corridors during our fourth year -- I was sneaking sweets up from the kitchens, and you were attempting to sneak into one of the classrooms to finish working on inventions?” You smiled at the memory. “And then Filch was roaming around, and we nearly got caught?”

Fred laughed. You were happy that he remembered. “Never sprinted back to the common room so quickly in my life. That ruddy cat of his was clawing at my ankles.”

“Between the fact that I’d hardly gotten any sleep that night and the adrenaline rush, I was bloody exhausted.”

Fred snorted. “Yeah, you fell asleep in the armchair next to the fire almost immediately when we returned and began to snore rather loudly, if my memory serves me correct.”

You grinned, not skipping a beat. “Yeah, my snoring is almost as embarrassing as those slippers of yours.”

You expected him to groan and throw another pillow in your direction, but instead he just deepened his smile and reached out and placed his hand next to yours on the edge of his pillow, your fingers almost touching. “I dunno -- I thought it was cute.”

You really hoped the steady drumbeat sound of your heart was drowned out by the sounds of the thunder outside. You weren’t so sure though. “Yeah?”

He wet his lips and nodded. “I remember having to wake you up because it was nearly four a.m. -- fire had died out and you looked so uncomfortable in that armchair -- I just wanted to carry you upstairs. Except..” Yeah, jinxes by the professors at each respective staircase. Boys weren’t allowed in the girls dorms, and vice versa. You knew exactly what he was getting at.

You felt a swift surge of confidence overtake you, so you gently moved your fingers a few centimeters before you slowly intertwined them with his. He didn’t flinch. Your voice was softer than you expected. “What else do you remember about that night?”

It was an opening -- you didn’t want to be so blatantly obvious about it, but Fred could always read you like a book. You hoped he still could, after all these years. Luckily for the both of you, nothing had changed. He took the opening. “I remember wanting to kiss you.”

You bit your lip, hoping to suppress the nerves that were bubbling up inside of you like fizzy champagne.

Fred laughed cheekily. “Never got a chance, though.”

Before you could think more on it, you nudged his leg with your toes and scooted closer to him. You could see the steady rise and fall of his chest, you were so close. “Then kiss me now.”

His mouth parted slightly in surprise, but nevertheless he inched forward and caught your lips with his. They were soft -- softer than you ever could have imagined, and so was the kiss itself. He tasted faintly of mint, and and you found yourself breathing in deeper when he trailed one solitary finger across your jawline and down your neck. The feel of him against you warmed up your entire body in a way that the common room fire never could.

He sighed against your lips before reluctantly pulling away. “Mmm we should’ve been doing this the entire time,”

You laughed softly and brought your fingers to your lips, hoping to still feel that electricity. “Yeah, we probably should have.”

All thoughts of the war seemed to subside as he leant in to kiss you again. Somehow, being with him, your limbs entangled together -- it was enough to make you forget about the war on the horizon, everything that was about to happen. As far as you were concerned, as long as Fred was beside you, tangled in the covers of your bed, everything would be alright.

He tucked a piece of hair behind your ear. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes. His voice was rough and sensual and soft all at the same time as he wiggled his eyebrows at you. ���Thanks for inviting me to sleep in your bed.”

You grinned and raked your bottom lip through your teeth. “Yeah, well, like you said -- we should’ve been doing this the entire time. Figured I’d get a jump start on what we’ve missed.”

He laughed and wrapped his arms tightly around your hips. Goosebumps sprouted on your skin as he lazily trailed his fingers up and down your spine and told you, “Knew you were my favorite for a reason.”

[steveyockey]

one post by someone who liked the finale that said "spn is a tragedy and always has been u dummy" has really stuck with me like AM i the dummy....was i really so blind....DID they make it clear the finale was a tragedy.. .. also today i saw someone point out that the poster for s15 said "as it is written, so it shall end" like. chuck won truthers rise??

supernatural isn’t specifically anything. it’s primary function is to reflect of the world around it, which is why it’s so deeply infused with amerikkkan exceptionalism and white supremacy while also slowly trudging closer to an acceptance of gay identity that ultimately remains under scrutiny. to declare it’s always been tragedy is not some big deep revelation — it’s always been about coming to terms with the initial tragedy of mary’s death. that doesn’t preclude overcoming tragedy. in fact, it might be that the entire show is a treatise on whether tragedy can be overcome, on whether you can stand against god himself and demand a better story than the one you were dealt. the very reason you watch is to find out whether tragedy wins, and it’s not silly or wrong to have believed it was possible the show about the creation of free will would let its characters choose a tender ending. what makes the finale so tragic is not anything inherent about it but the way it scoffs at the story which preceded it — all your toiling on earth to change your fate ultimately didn’t matter because you get to live happy forever in heaven where nothing has consequence. you only know it’s tragic because you know that the angry man in your house now lives down the street for the rest of eternity. it’s only tragic because you dared to ask that supernatural say something meaningful about not only whether we win, but whether we heal. I was really struck by maj casgirl’s recent ending rewrite for multiple reasons, but the line I can’t get out of my head is when rowena tells becky she’s the appropriate choice for the new god not because it’s her story but because she loves it. to dismiss the whole show as apparent tragedy from the start doesn’t sound like love. and why even bother caring if not for love? why care about tragedy of it all if it doesn’t remind you what love is for?

[eliemo]

2 and/or 17 with logince? maybe with logan angst?

(this one got long whoops. past abuse tw)

Roman couldn’t even remember what Logan had done to set him off. All he knew was that he was annoyed, a small spark of anger alight in his chest, and he was pacing their apartment, ranting about how ridiculous his boyfriend was.

He wasn’t angry yet, it took a lot to get him truly angry, but annoyance and frustration was easy to pile up, and he had a habit of blowing little things out of proportion at times. Logan knew he tended to be dramatic, he teased him about it constantly, and his boyfriend was apparently content to sit quietly while Roman let everything out.

It had been an exceptionally long and stressful day, he and Logan bickering all the way back home until Roman decided his boyfriend’s nitpicking and exasperated tone was just a little too much for him to handle, pacing the length of the living room and letting his voice take over the entire room.

“Could you just give me a break? I can’t believe you sometimes!” Roman flung his arms out for emphasis, whirling around to face the other man on the couch. “You’re so—”

He stopped in his tracks, words dying in his throat when Logan flinched. Hard.

His boyfriend’s shoulders hunched, Logan curling in on himself as his hands flew up to protect his face, trembling as he watched Roman with wide eyes.

Roman lowered his own hands, frozen. “Lo?”

“I’m sorry,” Logan said instantly, like he’d done something wrong. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start a fight, I’m so sorry.”

“No, I…” Roman trailed off, realization dawning and guilt settling in his gut. “I’m overreacting. This is- this got blown way out of proportion.”

Logan slowly stopped blocking his face, but he didn’t look any less on edge as he wrapped his arms around himself, hunched over on the couch like he was waiting for a blow.

It was the exact same position he’d been in when Roman had found out what Logan’s ex had been doing to him.

“You’re mad.”

“I’m...annoyed,” Roman admitted, choosing his words carefully. “But I’m not mad.”

Logan just held himself tighter, terrified. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Roman said. “I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you. We can just...talk about it? If that’s alright.”

Logan hesitated, warily glancing at Roman like this was all some kind of elaborate trap. “We...we can do whatever you want.”

“I’m sorry, Lo.” Roman’s shoulders sagged, recognizing his boyfriend’s words for what they were- a desperate attempt to appease Roman and calm him down. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Logan said, sounding a bit confused. “I started a fight.”

“An argument,” Roman corrected. “We’re just arguing.”

Logan blinked, brow furrowing like Roman was speaking a different language. “That’s...the same thing, isn’t it?”

“Technically, yes.” Roman ran a hand through his hair, moving slowly to keep from frightening Logan again. “But I’m not...mad at you. It was just a silly argument.”

“Oh,” Logan said, still quiet and scared. “I don’t...understand why you’re not angry.”

“This isn’t something to be angry over.”

“Yes it is,” Logan argued, then froze like he would be punished for it. “I...I was being annoying and inconsiderate and I was talking too much and now you’re...you’re…”

“I was a little upset,” Roman said. “And that’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You could though,” Logan pointed out. “You should, logically. We were arguing.”

“I won’t,” Roman said, and his heart broke when Logan only started trembling more, choking on a sob as tears gathered in his eyes. “Oh, Logan I’m so sorry. Please don't cry, darling. It’s alright.”

He took a careful step forward, stopping immediately when Logan flinched again. His eyes were wide and cloudy when he looked at Roman, plagued with hazy fear.

“I…” Roman didn’t know what to do. Logan had been doing so much better but...but they hadn’t fought since getting together a couple months ago. “I promise I won’t hurt you Logan, I would never.”

“But you were upset,” Logan insisted. “And we’re dating now so I...I wasn’t supposed to...with him, I wasn’t supposed to argue—”

“I know, Lo.”

“We’re alone,” Logan said, like he was trying to rationalize the need for violence in a relationship. “Nobody’s around and this is your apartment and you’re...you were angry.”

Roman’s heart sank when the tears started falling, streaming down Logan’s cheeks as he hastily tried to wipe them away. Roman took another careful step towards his boyfriend, lowering himself to a crouch.

“I know,” he said. “But I won’t hurt you. I won’t ever hurt you, Logan.”

Logan swallowed, still looking like he was trying to figure out if this was a trick. “Even if you’re mad?”

“Especially if I’m mad.”

“Oh.” Logan wiped his eyes again with shaking hands. “What are you going to do if we fight, then?”

“We’ll work it out,” Roman promised. “I’ll talk it through with you like a mature adult. We’ll communicate and work together. I would never even think about hitting you.”

“Oh,” Logan said again. “I’m...so sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Roman assured. “I promise it’s ok.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you. I shouldn’t have- I should never have assumed, I’m just...I am used to arguments always being violent.”

Roman’s heart clenched, and not for the first time he wanted to get up and drive right over to Logan’s old house and give his ex-boyfriend a taste of his own medicine. He was bigger than that asshole, and filled with enough righteous rage for a lifetime.

Those thoughts hadn’t gone away since he’d first seen the bruises littering Logan’s skin, months ago now.

“Well,” he said, pushing his anger down. That wasn’t what Logan wanted or needed right now. “That’s something we can work on together.”

Logan still had his arms wrapped tightly around himself, and Roman had known him long enough to know when Logan was trying to work up the courage to ask for something.

He’d always had a hard time voicing what he needed. It had only gotten worse after the two years spent with his ex.

“Are you still annoyed with me?” he asked. “I understand if you are.”

“I’m not,” Roman said. “We’re ok, I’m right here. Can you tell me what you need?”

Logan didn’t speak for a moment, refusing to meet Roman’s eyes as he desperately choked back more rising sobs, and for a moment Roman was worried his boyfriend was still scared of him. He didn’t know how to fix this if he was.

“I just…” he trailed off, taking in a trembling breath before starting again. “If you don’t hug me right now I think I might fall apart.”

Roman didn’t waste any time after that, his own heart breaking at the terrified vulnerability in Logan’s voice. He still moved slowly, careful not to spook Logan again, sitting on the couch beside his boyfriend and wrapping his arms around him.

He pulled Logan to his chest, holding him tight as he buried his face in Roman’s chest and sobbed, the tension leaking from his shoulders.

“It’s ok,” Roman whispered, one hand rubbing Logan’s back, the other in his hair. Logan didn’t stop shaking, clutching desperately at Roman’s shirt as he broke down. “We’re ok. You’re safe, Lo. I promise you’re safe now.”

“Thank you,” Logan said, muffled by sobs. “I’m sorry, I’m—”

“It’s alright, darling.” Roman adjusted his hold, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to Logan’s hair. “You’re okay. Nobody will ever hurt you again, I promise.”

With Logan trembling in his arms, his terrified breathing the only noise in the living room, his voice still tainted with so much pain and disbelief, Roman knew he’d do anything to keep that promise.

[readyplayerhobi]

Flower | 29

; Hoseok x Reader

;Genre: Fluff, slight angst

; Warnings: Discussions of periods and contraception

; Word Count: 4.6k

; Synopsis: You finally decide to take a dip into the world of online dating and find the Flower dating app. One of the top matches for you proves to be a guy who looks to be your complete opposite; tattooed, pierced, a metalhead and oh…incredibly handsome. What happens when you throw caution to the wind and reach out to him?

; A/N: I know it’s taking a long time for me to update this but I hope you enjoy it :D Please reblog if you do and let me know what you think my commenting on this or sending me an ask!

; Flower Masterpost

-

“Hey, meeps,” You hear Hoseok’s voice calling to you from the end of the aisle, his new nickname for you now gaining its own nickname as well. “If sunflower oil is made from sunflowers, and coconut oil is made from coconuts...then baby oil…”

He trails off, raising his eyebrows and giving you a scandalous look as he holds up a bottle of baby oil. For a moment, you just stare at him blankly before sighing and rolling your eyes in amusement. Taking the bottle from him, you place it back down onto the shelf before linking your arm through his.

Thankfully, he lets you direct him back to the little section they have in this makeup and skincare store that’s fully dedicated to Korean beauty. This is one of those strange stores where they have tons of products that are basically on sale yet also have branded stuff alongside it. Not that you cared though; it had the Korean brands you swore by for your skin and you were more than tempted to try out the Japanese beauty stand next to it.

For someone who isn’t particularly bothered about the whole concept of skincare, though you had managed to convince him to at least improve his routine, Hoseok was being a pretty good boyfriend right now. He hadn’t complained about the half an hour you’d spent perusing the makeup to find new stuff to put into your collection and he still wasn’t complaining as you filled your basket with face masks.

If anything, he’d managed to entertain himself quite well. 

But you think he was being good purely because you’d gone with him to a concert last night. It had been for one of his favourite bands, Metallica, and he’d ended up with a spare ticket as Jungkook had ended up ill with food poisoning. He had been about to go on his own, but you hadn’t liked the thought of him being lonely so you’d gone with him.

You’d recognised some of the songs they’d played from whenever Hoseok played them in the car or the house but it hadn’t been your scene. Still, it had been fun enough and you’d more than enjoyed seeing Hoseok happy as he’d rocked out to his beloved band.

It did mean that you were exceptionally tired today though as the two of you hadn’t gotten home from the stadium they’d performed in until after 2 am. That had been the closest performance apparently and you’d been shattered, sleeping until well after 11 am. Hoseok had promised you a day of relaxation, which you’d jumped on by asking him to do a full Korean skincare routine with you tonight.

He’d agreed, and you’d eagerly dragged him out to this store to replenish your supplies. The makeup was just because it was there and you couldn’t resist it. Already you were coming up with ideas for looks in your head that you could create and then put onto your Instagram. Moving places had meant that you hadn’t done many looks lately and you were eager to change that.

Especially now that you had a yard to take nice photos in. Hoseok and you had both been working hard on the weekends and evenings to transform the yard from the overgrown mess it had been into something nice. Nothing too amazing or expensive as it wasn’t your own house but nice enough that it made from some pretty aesthetic photos.

Placing a final bottle of moisturiser in your basket, you smile at Hoseok and hold it up proudly. He just looks at you in amusement for a second before smiling back.

“All done! We can go to pay now.” While you pay for all your new stuff, he goes and waits outside for you. Which you discover means he intently window shops at the video game store, getting that look on his face when he wants to do something.

Feeling that your bladder is a little too full right now, you glance over to where the public restrooms are and move over to Hoseok. “You can go in if you want, I’m going to the restroom so I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He takes your bag for you like the gentleman he is before disappearing inside, immediately making a beeline for the Playstation 4 section. You have a feeling he might be about to drop some money given how interested he’d been in some of the new games that have been released in the last few months.

Any thoughts of games are wiped from your mind very quickly though when you’re on the toilet. The sight of red staining your underwear has your eyes widening in horror as you realise that your period has decided to make an early appearance. For a moment you simply stare, brow creasing before you reach for your bag and grab your phone.

The period app you use says that you shouldn’t have started for another four days and you curse your body for doing whatever it likes. Scowling at the stain, you attempt to clean it before sighing in defeat, acknowledging that at least you were wearing black jeans today.

Another rummage in your bag causes you to find another problem, this one sending ice water running through your veins. Grabbing it and placing it onto your knees, you visually scan through every space and almost pull out the entire contents before letting out a small sound of despair.

You had no tampons.

Cursing to yourself quietly, you finish up and make do with an almost ridiculously large amount of toilet paper. Rushing out, you wash your hands before moving over to the machine that always had condoms, sanitary pads and tampons.

Only to see the ‘sold out’ sign on both the buttons you need. Groaning quietly, you do a little dance of frustration as you realise there are not even any other women in the restroom for you to ask. Not that you would. As if your social anxiety would allow for that!

So instead you have to slink outside and into the game shop, lip jutting out in a slight pout as you become hyper-aware of yourself. Can other people smell the blood? What if you leak through all the toilet paper and it does somehow show through your jeans?! What if you leak through onto a chair!

Hoseok wanted to get something to eat after this and you were dreading having to sit there for ages. Playing with your fingers nervously, you move over to where he’s crouched in front of the PS4 stand. He already has two game cases in his hand and is reading the back of another one, your bag of goodies on the floor between his feet.

Glancing up at you, he grins brightly before showing the cover of one of the cases he’s got.

“Look! The Spider-Man game is on sale! You want to play this, right?” Absentmindedly, you nod. The back of your mind takes in the fact that he’s also got Divinity: Original Sin 2 in his ‘buy’ hand and the other case he’s considering is the Doom remake. You wish that you could let him browse more but the drug store wasn’t close by and you didn’t want to just abandon him suddenly.

Still, the thought of what was going on down below was overwhelming and you found yourself shaking his shoulder slightly.

“Hey, are you done? Can we go?” Reaching down, you take your bag back and stand back as he rises, the crease between his brows letting you know he’s a little confused as to why you’re suddenly rushing him. He knows full well that there’s nothing important you need to do.

Still, though, he doesn’t question it and instead nods slowly. While he goes and pays for the games he’s buying, you go to wait by the entrance. Wrapping your arms around your waist, you realise that the low ache in your back that you’d had for a day or so was one of those early symptoms you got of your period.

Only you hadn’t thought anything about it. Not when you’d spent a few hours last night stood up. You’d just thought it was because you’d done a lot of work in the yard combined with the concert. Apparently not.

You’re pretty much already walking in the direction of the drug store by the time Hoseok comes out, causing him to have to jog to catch up with you. All you can think about is whether or not walking faster or slower would make things worse.

“Woah, hey, where are we going?” Hoseok asks, matching his speed to yours. You’re just thankful that there are not too many people out shopping today because it would only increase your stress levels if there was a big queue that you had to wait in or something.

“Just, to this store.” Admittedly, you’re not being very open and honest right now. But you’re embarrassed. Hoseok is fully aware of your periods and that they’re very much a thing that happens. They’d become a little more irregular recently as you’d had a copper IUD put in around a month before moving in with him.

Nothing drastic or anything, but then again they were also sometimes longer and a little heavier than you were used to when you were on the pill. It wasn’t exactly something you enjoyed talking about with anyone though; Soyeon and Chungha were pretty open about this kind of stuff but you had always mostly stayed quiet whenever they talked about it.

Which was silly. They were women who fully understood what you were going through and Hoseok understood that it was a monthly event. So it wasn’t like he’d be shocked to find out or anything. If anything, you’d probably done a bit of a bad job in explaining some things to him as you’d always got too shy whenever he’d asked things.

That was bad, you were well aware. But you’d only really got comfortable talking about sexual things with him. You knew that there were guys who thought it was gross that women bled for a week or so. Hoseok had never made those kinds of comments, but still. You were a work in progress.

“We’ve already been in here, why are you dragging me like Jason Voorhees is running after us with a knife?” He whines when you enter the store. You’re not surprised he’s confused because he’s right, you had come in here earlier and picked up what you needed. Still, though, he follows close by.

“I thought we didn’t need anything else.” Comes from him next, his lip pouting and you get the sense that he wanted to spend more time in the game store. A rush of guilt and shame washes over you, causing you to grip his hand even tighter as you shuffle awkwardly in place for a moment.

Finally in the store though, you realise just how silly you’re being with him. It’s not like he’s going to get outraged or upset. And you’re sure he’d have been much more willing to come along if he hadn’t been dragged along half the street with no idea what was happening.

Leaning into him, you cough slightly before swallowing as you feel yourself go hot with anxiety.

“My period started.” You whisper, keeping the words quiet enough so that he can hear them without having anyone else overhear. Though the rational part of your mind knew that you shouldn’t give a flying fuck what anyone else thought. It was a natural, bodily function and all that.

Your mind has never quite done things rationally though.

Hoseok has heard you though, you can tell by the way his head tilts to the side ever so slightly. But his expression is blank for a moment before his brow creases in obvious confusion, lips pursing as he contemplates what you’ve just told him.

“Okay...so why are we here?” Annnnd there it is. That famed male obliviousness to female problems. You couldn’t get annoyed at him though, not when he was good with you on everything else. He was cute.

“It’s early? And I have nothing to use. So I need to buy some.” His face changes immediately when he understands finally, mouth curving into an ‘o’ shape as he lets out a noise of recognition. It then contorts into worry for you, his eyes glancing down to your crotch area with wide eyes.

“Wait, so that means you’re...just…” He creates a rushing gesture with his hands, imitating a waterfall as he makes a ‘whoosh’ noise with his mouth. It’s a little too loud for your liking and you hiss at him, poking at his stomach before quickly pulling him over to the menstrual health aisle.

“I’ve used some toilet paper but it probably won’t last. It’s come on pretty hard and fast today. Please don’t laugh.” You beg him and his face sobers immediately, eyes darting over your own as he takes in your distressed appearance. Licking at his lips, he inhales deeply before nodding.

“Okay, you use tampons, right? So like...which ones? You never keep the box.” Automatically he starts to look over all the boxes of tampons; staring at the brands, types and absorption levels like he’s reading signs in Mandarin or something. It makes you want to laugh, despite the situation.

You appreciate his eagerness to help though, even when he points at random boxes with absolutely zero knowledge of what it was.

“What’s the difference in the brands? Is there a difference? Or is it like...when you buy those store brand biscuits and realise they taste the same as the branded biscuits only to find out that they’re made in the same factory and just relabelled?” That makes you snort with amusement, particularly as he’s now holding up a box of Tampax and a store brand to try and see the difference.

He’s not finished yet though, and even though you still feel the urgency to just grab some and run, you can’t help but let him entertain you. Because that’s what he’s doing. You’re not oblivious, you’ve realised over time that if you’re feeling anxious or uncomfortable or shy, Hoseok will often use humour to distract you away from your negativity.

It’s nice, which is why you let him carry on for a minute or so more.

“What are the drops for? And what’s the difference between regular and super? I mean, I think you’re pretty super but is this like...super big or something? Wait, is this plastic?! How does it absorb blood if it’s plastic?” Rolling your eyes at him, you bite your lip to stop the laughter that wants to escape before reaching past him to grab the box you usually buy.

Lifting it, you decide for a quick crash course in tampons. As your boyfriend, you never know when you might need him to run out to the store for some and the last thing you need is him bringing the entirely wrong type back.

“I use Tampax, purely cos it’s just the brand I’ve always used and I’m familiar with it. Super and regular are like the absorption so you’d use a super for the first few days when a period is heaviest. Hence why I’m getting these. The drops are the absorption rating too basically and it’s not plastic, that’s just the applicator that makes it easier to insert.” You say it all pretty quickly, but quietly enough that only he hears. 

Not that there’s any need, the store is loud enough that your conversation can’t be overheard and on top of that, there’s no one in this aisle anyway. But Hoseok nods thoughtfully, scanning the front of the box carefully.

“When we get home, I think I need a crash course in periods because I’m feeling pretty useless and dumb right now.” Laughing, you lean up to kiss his cheek quickly before heading in the direction of the cashiers.

“We can do that for you. It’s better to be educated after all. This is where I find out that you have this bizarre knowledge that is unbelievably wrong and I cringe.” Hoseok doesn’t answer back to that, causing you to look back and chuckle at his meek shrug and wince.

“What can I say? I’ve never had a girlfriend long enough to learn and education in high school was terrible. I’m not even gonna try to defend myself.” Humming lightly, you grin at him as you pay before heading out of the store. Looking in the direction of the toilets, you twist your lips as you consider your options.

“You want to eat at that place, right?” You ask, nodding your head towards the Japanese place that was down the opposite end of the street. Hoseok looks that way and nods, confirming his desire to you. Already you can feel your stomach rumble as you imagine the delicious food.

“Okay, we’ll just go there and I’ll go straight to the restroom in there. Come on.” Reaching you, you take his hand and smile up at him, your walk not so hurried now compared to before. Not that you aren’t completely aware of the fact that you’re free bleeding from your vagina right now, but walking faster might just aggravate it more. 

You had what you needed, so now you could relax a little more.

-

“Why are there so many steps in this? Don’t you get bored?” Hoseok mumbles, his words a little slurred due to the fact you’re rubbing serum into his cheeks. He’s already been here for ages in the bathroom as you’d used a cleanser to clean his face before exfoliating and then using toner on some cotton pads. 

You could tell that he was amused by the whole situation, even though he’d seen you do this many times before. But it was different experiencing it for himself you supposed. Still, he looked so adorable and you cooed to him, squishing his cheeks even more in amusement.

“No. It’s relaxing. You’re supposed to relax.” That makes him scowl, the expression not nearly as intense as he was going for given you’ve got his lips in the cutest pout. Still, you’re finished with that part so you let him go, laughing as he runs his fingers over his skin.

“I’m not relaxed. More...manhandled.” Scoffing, you roll your eyes as you get to work rubbing the serum you need into your skin, focusing on your eyes. The dark circles beneath them were far too...well dark for your liking.

“Okay, how’s your skin lately? Dry? Oily?” Frowning at you, he twists his lips as he considers your question. He’s been taking better care of his skin than he had been before dating you, but you knew that he still didn’t care that much. Surprisingly though, he has an answer for you.

“Dry?” Nodding to yourself, you reach through your box of face masks and pull out a moisturising one. Handing it over to him, you take your own and rip it open, pulling out the mask and carefully putting it on. Hoseok watches you intently before opening up his mask, his face immediately twisting into a cringe.

“Ewwww, oh my god. Why is it so slimy?!” He whines, holding it over the sink like it’s some monster that might kill him. With the mask on your face, you can’t laugh properly like you want to.

“Stop being a baby and put it on.” With a little more whining, he does so, lining it up and putting it onto his face. What follows is then complaints that it’s also cold and feels weird, causing you to roll your eyes at him once more as you help to smooth out any creases in it.

“Right, we’ve got to keep this on for twenty minutes so let’s go watch some Netflix,” Looking over him, you take in how he still manages to look handsome even with a white sheet mask on. “It’s not fair that you always look so good. Honestly.”

Hoseok just shrugs before licking his lips, his reaction immediate as he registers the foul taste. “Oh fuck me, what the fuck. This tastes fucking vile!”

“...you’re not meant to eat it, babe, they don’t make it for the taste.” He washes his hands in the sink to get rid of the remaining residue before following you out to the couch in the living room, Netflix still paused on the large television screen. Kasumi is curled up on her cat tree, fluffy body small as she sleeps quietly.

For around ten minutes, neither of you speak as you continue to watch Warrior Nun. It’s surprisingly got both your attention hooked, so you’re a little surprised when Hoseok suddenly speaks up and distracts you.

“Hey...I know this is a weird time to talk about this but after your whole period thing today it reminded me. So, I’ve been thinking lately. You definitely don’t want kids...right?” He looks at you and you get the impression he would raise his brow if he could. When you nod in response, he blows out a breath slowly.

“Okay...how would you feel if I said I wanted to get a vasectomy? I mean, I know you’ve said you don’t want kids but there’s always a chance that you might and a vasectomy is pretty final. Despite what people say.” Now it’s your for your expression to be mostly hidden by your face mask, your eyes widening until your eyelashes are uncomfortably touching the edges of the holes.

“You want that? I thought guys normally got all weirded out at that prospect. And I don’t want kids, ever. Full stop. Are you sure?” Of all the things you were going to be discussing tonight, you did not expect it to be this. It’s almost amusing that Hoseok has decided right now is the time for something so serious, when you both look so silly.

“I do. I just...I don’t want to risk a pregnancy and I know you’re scared of that too. Also, it’d put less stress on you, I know most birth control is usually aimed at women except for condoms and it’s a lot easier for me to get a vasectomy than for you to get anything done.” That makes you snort in acknowledgement, shifting on the couch until you pull your leg up and wrap your arms around it.

“Yeah, because god forbid a woman not want to fulfil her natural duty and pop out a kid, right?” 

“I’ve been looking into it, I’m pretty sure I could get one. If not, I’ll just talk the doctor’s ear off until they let me. Because it’s gonna happen. It’s way easier and less stressful than anything you have to do.” His dual concern for not wanting to cause an accidental pregnancy that neither of you wanted along with not wanting the burden to fall too heavily on you warms you, causing you to reach out and grasp his hand tightly as you squeeze at it.

“Is it easy? Or quick?” 

“Apparently. Some guys say it doesn’t hurt at all, others said it hurts. But...I’m pretty sure I want it. I just wanted to check with you that you’d be okay with the idea too. As I said, it’s final.” Hoseok smiles at you as best he can, causing you to shuffle a little closer to him. You’d like to rest your head against his shoulder but you’d just get it covered in face mask gunk.

“I mean, it’s your body. It doesn’t have anything to do with me.” Pointing this out to him, you look up and tilt your head, your statement almost a question.

It makes him sigh and focus on your hands, shifting them until he could interlink his fingers with your own. You let him do so, figuring he should probably be taking the lead in this conversation. It is about him after all.

“We’re in a relationship. A serious relationship and this decision would affect both of us. It’s cutting off the chance for biological kids, despite people saying you might be able to reverse it. I feel you should have a say too.” Nodding slowly, you hum lightly as you consider his words carefully.

“Well, if you want it then I’ll support you completely. I never want children so you don’t have to worry about that. It’s your decision, but I just want to make sure you think it over properly and do research, okay? Don’t go rushing into it.” That makes him snort in amusement.

“Meeps, if there’s one thing you should know by now; it’s that men do not take decisions regarding their dick and balls lightly. You can be damn sure I’m going to be 100% in my decision if I’m going to let someone come near my balls with a scalpel or somet.” The way he says this is so matter of fact that you can’t help but laugh, the sound not as big or bright as you’d like it to be given you still had your mask on.

“Man, I can’t believe I’m talking about someone knifing my balls while I’m sitting here looking like a dollar store Michael Myers.” Hoseok points at himself, his bemusement clearly obvious despite his poor Halloween costume and you giggle softly.

Reaching out, you run your fingers through his hair that’s currently being held back by a bandana and smile at him softly. “Come on, let’s go get these off and start looking human again.”

Hoseok follows you immediately, already peeling the face mask off and making casual comments about how the mask isn’t as slimy as it had once been. You take off your own and drop it into the small bin in the bathroom, making sure that he does the same.

“Okay, rub it in and pat it dry. Make sure you get the excess to go on your throat and stuff, it’s good for your skin there too.” Hoseok looks in the mirror, his face shining obscenely from the residue leftover and grimaces.

“Ew, this feels...gross,” One hand presses to his skin, rubbing it in and cringing. “Is this what it feels like when I cum on your face?”

The comment is so random that you pause for a moment, all thoughts disappearing as you comprehend what he’s just said. A glance at him makes you realise he’s being completely serious, his expression focused on rubbing his face as you’d told him. It’s moments like this that make you love him even more, the blasé comments he makes that are so funny and yet also x-rated.

“No...not really. That’s more...well it’s not all over, you know? And it’s thicker than this. And I don’t know why I’m explaining this to you. You know what your cum feels like.” A snort from him gives away his bemusement.

“Yeah, but I’ve never smeared it all over my face before.”

“Maybe you should. Experience it for yourself for once. It’s not all that good for you by the way, despite what people say. It has protein but it’s not enough to make it worthwhile or anything, so don’t think I’m going to be asking you for your special facials anytime soon.” Looking away from him, you grab the next item on your routine before looking at him with a smirk.

“Damn, there goes my plan to be self-sufficient. Could’ve made a whole organic spa thing out of it.” 

[introvertguide]

Duck Soup (1933); AFI #60

The next film on the AFI top 100 is a throwback to before the Golden Age of Hollywood when "talkies" were new, Duck Soup (1933). This film was the last attached to a 5 feature contract that the Marx Brothers had with Paramount pictures. It was moderately well received at the time but has since become the most critically acclaimed of the Marx Brothers films. The movie is only 68 minutes and is absolutely packed with gags. It is not, however, packed with a storyline or plot. I want to very briefly go over the summary because that is not what this movie is known for. Let's unnecessarily start with...

SPOILER ALERT? THIS MOVIE HAS NO PLOT. IT IS ALL ABOUT SITE GAGS AND SET PIECES. READ AWAY!!! IT WILL NOT DO ANYTHING TO HURT THE EXPERIENCE!!!

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

The film starts off with the wealthy Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont) insisting that a man that she is sweet on, Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho), be appointed leader of the small, bankrupt country of Freedonia before she will continue to provide much-needed financial aid. Meanwhile, neighboring Sylvania is attempting to annex the country. Sylvanian ambassador Trentino (Louis Calhem) tries to foment a revolution and to woo Mrs. Teasdale, and he tries to dig up dirt on Firefly by sending in spies Chicolini (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo).

After failing to collect useful information against Firefly, Chicolini and Pinky are able to infiltrate the government when Chicolini is appointed Secretary of War after Firefly sees him selling peanuts outside his window. Meanwhile, Firefly's secretary, Bob Roland (Zeppo), suspects Trentino's motives, and he advises Firefly to get rid of Trentino by insulting him. Firefly agrees to the plan, but after a series of personal insults exchanged between Firefly and Trentino, the plan backfires when Firefly slaps Trentino instead of being slapped by him. As a result, the two countries come to the brink of war. Adding to the international friction is the fact that Firefly is also courting Mrs. Teasdale, and, like Trentino, hoping to get his hands on her late husband's wealth.

Trentino learns from his femme fatale spy, Vera Marcal (Raquel Torres), that Freedonia's plans of war are in Mrs. Teasdale's safe and tells her to assist Chicolini and Pinky in stealing them. Chicolini is caught by Firefly and put on trial, during which war is officially declared, and everyone is overcome by war frenzy, breaking into song and dance. Chicolini and Pinky join Firefly and Bob Roland in anarchic battle, resulting in general mayhem.

After a fierce battle, the end of the film finds Trentino caught in a makeshift pillory, with the Brothers pelting him with fruit. Trentino surrenders, but Firefly tells him to wait until they run out of fruit. Mrs. Teasdale begins singing the Freedonia national anthem in her operatic voice and the Brothers begin hurling fruit at her instead.

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

There are many exceptionally good and bad aspects of this film. On the good side, there are a couple of amazing set pieces that the Marx Brothers did like no other. The mirror scene in which Groucho and Harpo stand in front of each other and Harpo perfectly mimics his brother's movements was outstanding. Specifically, there is a point where Groucho stands outside the reflection and moves in a ridiculous way past what he thinks is a reflection. The mirroring between the brothers is exceptional. Add in the same dressing gown and cap to the actual resemblance (they are full actual brothers) makes for quite an effect. This mirror gag was first done on film by Charlie Chaplin almost 15 years earlier, but this is likely the most well known and best done example of the bit by real people. It was repeated by Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, The Pink Panther, Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo, and the Smurfs. That kind of mirror quality action was only repeatable through animation, apparently.

The constant wardrobe changes during the frenzied war scene have caused full speculative articles to be written. Groucho starts out in a Union officer suit, then appears in a Confederate officer suite, then a British palace guard uniform, and then in what looks to be a boy scout officer suit, and finally a Davy Crockett hat? The deep cynicism and anti-war sentiment of the brothers was blatant. It is summed up by the line "while you're out out there risking life and limb through shot and shell, we'll be in here thinking what a sucker you are." The United States had just gotten out of a war and many militaristic leads felt the need to show off. This lack of care after feeling so dominant following WW1 was the mindset that in part led to the Stock Market crash and the Great Depression. There was turmoil brewing in Europe and many Americans wanted nothing to do with it after seeing so many young boys getting ripped apart by trench warfare and machine gun fire. The brothers were satirizing all of those figures that we use to teach boys to want to fight for their country. They also went after what they believed were the causes of many wars: money and moral indignation between powerful men.

Although the film gives the audience insight into the mindset of much of the population during those extremely turbulent times between wars, it also boasts some of the most unsophisticated humor of a new visual medium. The silly songs do not translate well and sound like something created by a child. With truly clever artists like Frank Zappa, the Dead Kennedys, and national treasure Weird Al Yankovic, the Marx Brother's songs just sound lame to me. I think the same of Groucho's one liners. With comedians like Mitch Hedberg, Paula Poundstone, Steven Wright, and Jimmy Carr, the work of Groucho Marx feels seriously dated and quite cringy.

The real let down for me in this particular film was the fighting between Harpo and the Lemonade salesman. In fact, the character of Pinkie was "The Joker" levels of psychotic. I know he represented the constant undermining of communism. That is fine and makes a good point. Practically speaking, though, he reveled in causing problems for no reason and he was a constant nuisance. I have been around a lot of teachers and they sat that students who act like that are the bane of everyone's existence. It may be witty, but it is not funny. I have seen movies like Borat and Jackass, who are at least very creative in the way they cause problems and mostly harm themselves. I legitimately hate the character of Pinky and find him devoid of any real humor beyond the mirror scene. I also realize that Chicolini is a play on Mussolini, but I didn't really find him funny either. I want to emphasize that these are my opinions and I welcome comments on why Pinkie and Chicolini are hilarious.

There are some things that I do forgive and almost find charming. Directors from the silent film era had to emphasize that their actors over dramatize their lines so that the audience could get even a modicum of tone. This over-the-top dramatic speaking continued with many actors into the era of talking pictures. You can tell that this film was made near the change over because a lot of the actors talk like they are making one continual speech. Just about everyone is projecting for the cheap seats, and I totally appreciate it and smile. I also appreciate that the Marx Brothers absolutely jam pack the film with gags. I don't think many of the gags are funny, but I acknowledge that the movie is 68 minutes of constant jokes and the Marx Brothers made a concerted effort to give their audience the most bang for their buck. Good for them.

So does this movie belong on the AFI top 100? I am actually going to say no. I think that Horse Feathers is a funnier film and has the iconic football scene that got a screen cap on the cover of Time magazine. If the AFI was going to choose a Paramount produced Marx Brothers film, this one seems to me to only be second or third choice of the five. Would I recommend it? Sure. It is definitely dated and the jokes will not make a lot of sense any more, but some of the scenes have become iconic and it is fun to see what has been so heavily referenced in current media. It is a pretty fun movie to sit back and just experience for an hour, so I would give it a shot.

[mysticalmayhem1930]

A Tale of Two Weddings: An Asgardian Affair

A Loki x Eva story

Part Two of Loki’s Dragon

>>Part Four<<

A/N I don’t own any of the Marvel characters. Just my own creations. This was originally posted in Wattpad. But I rewrote the parts as I transferred them, so there are some differences.

Summary: Eva begins her recovery

Pairing: I originally wrote this as Loki x Eva but it can be read as Loki x Reader if you desire.

Link to previous chapter

Link to next chapter

Link to Masterlist

Overall Warnings: Smut, Fluff, Angst, Adult Language

>>>18+ ONLY<<

Loki awoke with a start, and it took him a few minutes to get his bearings. He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Hey sleepyhead, you awake yet?"

"No five more minutes...." She replied grumpy. She shifted and let out a yelp of pain. His hand on her side "darling are you ok? What can I do for you?"

"Yeah I'm fine for now, I just found a tender spot, which apparently is everywhere on me. Can you help me stand up? I'm afraid I'll fall. And I need to stretch my legs.”

"Of course darling" as Loki assisted her Thor came in. "Morning Brother, I trust you got some rest last night? And good morning to you Eva, nice to see you're up and around. Loki, I was talking with Mother earlier and she agrees, you will get better rest in your room than here..."

"I've told all of you I'm not going anywhere without her." Loki snapped getting defensive.

"Well let me finish, I know you are constantly giving her energy and need rest to regenerate what you give to her. So I've got some help for you if you need it on the walk down. And I will carry Eva for you. That way it's more comfortable for both of you, knowing you will not leave her side, giving you both more room to rest."

"Thor, thank you, I don't know what the turning point was, but we seem to be getting along much better lately. Thank you for doing what I can't at this time."

Loki had started down the hall with some servants incase he didn't make it on his own.

Thor looked at Eva "sooooo how am I going to do this?"

"One arm under my wings against my back and the other under my knees, duh." Eva said sarcastically. “And I want this blankie.” She held fast to the fabric.

"Won't that hurt your back? Lifting you like that? And if you must, but there are blankets waiting for you in Loki’s room."

"Just roll me on my side towards your chest so there's less contact on my back. And I want this one, it smells like him…You don't have any armor on do you? Cause that's very uncomfortable..."

"No only a tunic. You should be quite comfortable then if I let you keep the blanket?”

"Yeah, and it’s a blankie… thank you for doing this for us."

"Hey I'll be your big brother soon. It's what we do for family" he lifted her "how's that? Does it hurt much?"

"It'll do," she snuggled into his chest "mmm soft Thor." And relaxed into his arms "you smell like lavender, did you know that? Loki smells like the woods and citrus."

"Umm thank you. Look please don't be upset with Loki for those protection runes... especially the one he gave you.. it came from a good place. It's hard for me to see him this vulnerable, but his heart is in the right place. He is also struggling to accept help, as you know he likes to be in charge. So if he is a little more short tempered than usual please give him some slack. By the gods he loves you more than anything."

"Mmmm I'll always give him the benefit of the doubt, I love him more." She said giggling.

"What is up with you today... you're acting exceptionally like Loki today...rather silly…"

"They gave me something for the pain. I don't know what it was buuuuuttt, I may be all dopey on it" she said into his chest.

"Joy, Loki's going to be disturbed by this, can't wait to drop you off with him." Thor mumbled. As he entered Loki's room."Brother, where are you? Your woman is acting very strange... time to give her back to you." He called out.

Loki came slowly from the library looking paler than usual and frail, holding a few books. He placed them on the bed and motioned for Thor to put her on the bed.

"What do you mean strange?"

"She is talking nonsense, from what I gather the healers gave her something to take the edge off bringing her down here. Sooo she's kinda loopy. By the way she thinks you smell of the woods and citrus."

"Okay I don't know what I am going to do with that information... what's up with the blanket?"

"She refused to give it up as it smelled of 'her Loki' it was just easier to wrap her up in it and bring it than argue."

"Got it, so just take everything she says for the next few hours to use against her at a later date.. just kidding I think it's kind of cute. Can't wait to hear what's on her mind." He said as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Thor I hate seeing her like this. There's nothing I can do to make it better..."

"Loki, I think all she expects is for you to be here for her as much as you can." Picking up the blanket "she wanted you near her and your scent comforted her during our walk down here."

"Give back now, ‘Soft Thor’ " Thor covered her again with the blanket "thank you" she mumbled.

"I have something better than that blanket," Thor said "Loki's here with you" Loki touched her face. She smelled his scent on his fingers and smiled.

"I am here my princess, and will remain at your side until you are fully healed. If there is anything you need please let me know." She snuggled into his side and laid her head in his lap. "By the way what the hel is 'soft Thor'?" He said laughing as he took off the blanket and covered her in the blanket from his bed which he figured smelled more of him.

"I have no idea Brother, you'll have to ask her when she is awake. But for now I'll take my leave to give you some time alone. Keep in mind the healers will be in and out every few hours checking on her."

"Again thank you for your help Thor."

Looking at her sleeping in his lap he began reading. Occasionally looking down and checking on her while he stroked her hair.

[mudpuddless]

Andy breaks into the White House to get her Rodin back and has fun scaring a president. 

Andy sighed. This was the second most boring break-in this week.

One would assume the White House would have high security or something similar, but alas. She would be the last person to complain.

She thought briefly about informing the head of security about this, but then again, this security breach was increasing the chance for interested parties to get a little creative with their political investments, namely spying, torture and assassination.

She better inform head of security. At the beginning of the next term at least.

As she made her way across the Oval Office - which was the hardest to break into, but she liked the challenge - she mapped out the rooms in her head.

In the old times she'd come here for fun. She and the other members of the Old Guard, the five leaders behind the worlds collective criminal organisations - Not that anyone knew that. They would sneak in and spend the night in Jeffersons bedroom when he was away in Virginia or eat Buchanan Barnes candy from the secret stash he kept in his office. Those were the good old times. The digital age had come and break-ins were to be planned and taken serious and such silly matters more.

She pulled open the doors of the Oval Office and turned right, then took a flight of stairs up, until she finally reached the presidential suite. According to her informants, who were always right (those were the perks of being friends with Sebastien le Livre - also known by his associates as Book, partially because he could get you information on anything and anyone) the President and the poor woman married to him were in the bedroom, which was fine because the bust Andy was after - Rodin had sculpted it in her likeness - was in the living room.

She pulled out a set of lock picks and got to work. The lock gave in in less than three minutes.

Apparently the security didn't plan for people to get this far.

Apparently the security hadn't planned for a thousand year old Scythian warrior to break into the presidential suite while looking for a certain bronze bust. Those poor bastards.

She opened the door with skilled ease, stopping the door at a precise 50 degree angle to prevent it from creaking.

Her rubber soles made no noise on the light carpet. for a moment she looked around, soaking in ever little detail; the furniture, the curtains, the view and, in a cabinet to her left, her bust.

Few places were as constant, as unchanging as these rooms.

She shook her head lightly to chase away the nostalgia as she slowly made her way towards the cabinet, taking care to stay close to the sofas in the middle of the room to avoid creaking floor tiles. the cabinets glass doors opened easily and without noise, which was nice because she really didn’t want to deal with that right now, not when the bust was right there. When the doors where fully opened she slid of her rucksack and pulled out her gift. It was a bust and it was bronze but it wasn't sculpted in her likeness and it wasn’t a Rodin.

After the American presidents had hidden her Rodin for so long she wasn’t going to steal it back only to leave another one in his place.

Instead it was a bust of the previous president - a democrat and an black man. scandalous - and thus a good choice for her to place in the living room of the idiot that called himself President nowadays.

The bust was smiling and Andy couldn’t decide wether it was a comforting or a condescending smile, which was exactly what she liked about it.

The idiot would throw a fit. Carefully she pulled the Rodin off it’s shelf, her leather gloves giving her a good grip - she hadn't forgotten how heavy that thing was - and slid it in her rucksack.

(Fingerprints weren't really an issue when you were a person who didn’t legally existed, or existed in dozens of alterations, depending on how comfortable you were with identity fraud.)

Careful she placed the Rodin in the rucksack and the not-really-a-Rodin-but-this-will-be-hilarious-trust-me in it’s place. She closed the latch of her backpack and put it on, ready to leave.

Suddenly there was a groan from behind one of the doors, the one she knew was the bedroom

Time stood still. Judging by the tone it was the president who was awake, not his wife. Andy eyed the door. She was an exceptionally skilled warrior, had honed her training for thousands of years, had adapted and changed with the technologies of the world and had yet remained her self. She could escape without anyone ever knowing she was here.

The sound of bare feet on carpet came closer and Andy knew it was only a matter of seconds until the door would open.

She hesitated and settled her stance. Complete calm washed over her, mixed with childish glee.

She was in the White House, in the middle of the night and the most powerful man in the western world - the law abiding part of the western world - was stumbling towards her, completely oblivious he was not alone.

She shrugged and grinned to herself. "Might as well." Andy thought.

The door opened. The man was old, white and rich. That wasn’t the issue.

She know plenty of nice old, white rich men, men who were much older and much richer than this man would ever be, namely Book and Nicky.

The problem with this specific old, white rich man was, that he was also, plainly speaking, and asshole.

She had always liked to give assholes a piece of her mind and here she was.

Andy took a step forward, into the moonlight that fell pale and cold onto the floor.

The man saw her, gasped and grabbed his chest in shock. He was wearing a wifebeater and underpants which Andy was eternally grateful for.

"Mr. president."

He stuttered and Andy noticed with amusement that the top part of his hair was missing.

"Who-- who are you. how did you get in here?" His voice was exactly as nasal as it sounded on TV which was somehow sad. His poor wife. Andy tapped her com and immediately Joes voice was heard, laughing.

He was probably talking to Nicky, which was perfect because Andy had an idea.

She spoke calmly. "We are the ghost of your sins. You shall revoke the healthcare changes you made earlier today or you shall face our wrath."

The man stuttered. Joe snickered in her ear. "Ey boss! since you’re already on it, remind him to raise the minimum wage for me, would you?"

Andy took half a step towards the man and continued, voice steady. "You shall raise the minimum wage so that the American people may prosper and America may be great again."

The man flinched at the mention of his famous campaign line.

"Boss."

There was Nicky, just as she had guessed. After a thousand years together they couldn’t surprise her anymore.

"Tell him if he doesn't change the healthcare system we’ll haunt his every waking hour and ..." Nicky trailed off.

She took another half step and was now standing right in front of the president, who had taken to cowering on the floor.

"Look to it that public healthcare is implemented or we will haunt your every waking hour. You shall only find peace in your sleep and don’t think we won't be watching, waiting to strike.”

Muffled laughter sounded through the coms. "Book just came in, I think he wants to say something too" Joe explained.  

Andy smirked.

The man shrunk back in fear, something she would never get tired of seeing. "Don’t forget I am powerful enough to make our threats come true, so be fearful, espèce de crétin demeuré, tu as de la merde dans la tête ou quoi?. N'oublie pas pourquoi la guillotine a été inventée."

Joe and Nickys laughter echoed through the coms while Book continued to let off a string of curses.

The president, who was only a man like any other - and all men were afraid of Andy, even the stupid ones - was cowering on the expensive carpet, shielding his face with his tiny hands.

Andy left smiling.

By the time the man looked up from the floor, the ghost - woman - nightmare -dream had disappeared from the living room. It - she, he reminded himself, she couldn’t have been an real ghost after all - had left no traces.

There had probably not been anyone here at all tonight, his imagination had played tricks on him. It had probably been just that. A nightmare.

He went back to bed, unsettled by his dream but at peace with himself.

He didn’t have to act upon the demands of nightmares, he was the president of the United States, the most powerful man in the western world (but he always forgets that he is talking about the law abiding world when he says that to himself).

When the man woke the next morning and found his Rodin gone and replaced with a bust whose smile could only be describes as condescending he remembered the threats. His scream could be heard all over the White House.

[deepperplexity]

Title: Train Ticket Madness [pt.1]

Imagine request by avisfortunae @ Wattpad: "I wonder if Snape has ever been on the internet?"

Summary: "Snape is trying to travel by train but in muggletowns all over the country technology is taking over! So now you need a smartphone or a computer to buy a ticket or refill your travel card - Snape, of course, has neither. So he is forced to visit the nearby library to ask for help, with a disgruntled sneer. But there he is met by you - a muggleborn witch/wizard and former student - who gladly but nervously assists the impatient professor." (Summary accepted by the requester.)

Pairing: Snape x Muggleborn Reader

Setting: Public muggle library in a small town

ABBR.: │ (y/n) - Your Name │ (y/l/n) - Your Last Name │ (e/c) - Eye Colour │

Word Count: 4243

Warnings: Some sexual hints, some sensual thoughts, PG13, Swear words

Masterlist page // Masterlist post

The library was calm, just the ordinary seniors who were reading the morning newspapers and a few commuters who were waiting for time to pass until they could catch their trains; most likely headed for work or school. You, however, already were at work.

It was a temporary station as a librarian in a Muggle library situated in a sleepy little town where nothing ever happened - but you loved it. The friendly people, the routines, the quiet and the calm. It all suited you rather well actually. Lulling around the little library placing books, helping users and keeping everything organized.

It was quite nice most of the time. When the library users behaved as they should and there were no significant malfunctions in the computer systems - as long as those two things worked then your day usually worked out perfectly fine.

As part of the morning routine; you were just turning on the four computers in the library for users when your usual morning was about to become highly unusual. As you rose from having pushed the little start button on the forth computer you brushed the hair out of your eyes and what you saw stunned you. You were literally shocked into a fixed state.

In the doorway, leading out of the library, stood none other than your previous potions professor. Professor Snape, in all his black glory, stood with a sneer and a disgruntled look that covered his pale face in the doorway of your library. What the devil is he doing here?! The thought crossed your mind so rapidly that you barely had time to register it.

You shook your head, your heart was beating a little harder and you closed your mouth as you had apparently been gawking with open mouth and wide eyes. He's not my professor any longer, he's an ordinary user and he looks to be in need of assistance. That's all, okay (y/n), you can do this.

You put on a professional smile, straightened your back a bit and walked over with as much confidence as you could muster up in your rattled state. But, for every step your feet took your heart beat a little harder, your breaths were drawn a little quicker and you could feel a stupid blush spreading over your chest, throat and face. Despite trying to calm yourself down you were a nervous wreck. Chill, stop, just calm down. There is no way in hell that he knows. Just treat him like any other user.

As you got closer your old professor spotted you and started to move towards you, it only took him three strides and then you were just inches apart. "Professor Snape," you said and he gave a curt nod, "I'm surprised to see you here of all places, how can I help you today?" Your voice was calm and friendly, professional. You, however, felt anything but calm.

Professor Snape gave you a weird expression with a raised eyebrow, "You work here Ms/Mr (y/l/n)?" You nodded and locked your hands in front of yourself. A self-defence thing to physically block out others; that you had been working on getting rid of. Yet the professor intimidated you instantly triggering the habit.   "Well," he said with that gruff voice, "I'm in need of a ticket and the infernal machine at the station is turned off or malfunctioning in some way." His voice was low and yet it made you and the air around the professor vibrate with force. His force. The power that you sensed crawled beneath that pale skin of his.

You gave him a wider smile, an attempt to calm yourself a bit in all honesty. "Well just download the app to your phone, connect your email and bank card and then you're good to go, professor," you said with a cheerful voice that barely managed to hide the unstableness you felt. Your pulse quickened still and it felt as though everyone in the damn library could hear your pounding heart.

He gave you another raised eyebrow and you mentally smacked yourself - he probably doesn't have a smartphone; or even a phone... Damnit (y/n), use your head and stop embarrassing him - and yourself for that matter!

You cleared your throat and loosened your hands that had been clenched for a while at that time. "Umh, or you can just use one of our computers to order your ticket. I just started them, please follow me, professor." You turned around and exhaled shakily. You started to walk and the black mass of glorious male fell in behind you. You squared your shoulders slightly, another attempt to calm yourself - you were still failing miserably at that task of course. He did that to you, he had done that to you for many years. Not that he's aware of it. And that's my own fault I guess. But come on, he's unobtainable and closed off. It's not like he'd even ever look at someone like-

"I believe it should be Mr Snape, Ms/Mr (y/l/n). Since I'm no longer your professor there is no need for you to use that term." He said as both of you walked towards the computer you had started only moments earlier; that effectively interrupted your wayward thoughts. Well, I enjoy calling you professor... Mr just sounds, not like you or adequate tot hat power sensation you give of... "Umh, I'd like to keep calling you professor, if you don't mind." You breathed out with caution.

The blush grew ever redder, it made you feel hot and bothered and so damn silly. "Very well, Ms/Mr (y/l/n)." What this man does to me... It's been two years already! I need to just get over these stupid, silly emotions! Pffth, who am I kidding... You can't just get over love, no matter who it is you love or how unreasonable that fucking love is... When the other is exceptionally, annoyingly gorgeous in every damn way it's impossible to get over it. 'innit?

You pulled out the chair for professor Snape as you also moved the mouse and the screen flicked to life. You tried hard to ban your thoughts but they remained persistent as professor dark and dangerous was so damn close to you. You could literally smell him; sage, peppermint and a distinct smell that was all his own. If you could have bottled it you would have. For fuck's sake, this is stupid! But fuck he smells like heaven. Or hell perhaps? I have no idea but I want to bury my face in that chest and just inhale that- wooh tiger, calm down! Your face was getting hotter by the second. You knew nothing good could come from your silly thoughts, only pain and agony. Possibly a muffled orgasm - half-enjoyed in a weird position - in the staff bathroom later...

"Here you go," you said with as much ease as you could force and straightened up as the professor sat down, "the printer is over there and it's free of charge for the first 3 papers." You forced another professional smile for a second before spinning on your heel and heading away from the man clad in black that made your knees weak, your skin burn and your heart pound. Not to mention your mind apparently gorging in heady thoughts not fit for work.

But the retreat was short and you had no time to gather or calm yourself down before the intimidatingly perfect man was stood right behind your back once more. You felt him before you saw him. "Professor?" You said questioningly as you turned around to face him once more. He seemed highly uncomfortable - and that made you curious as hell. What was going on with the otherwise stone-faced man? He almost seemed embarrassed, but that wasn't possible, was it? No, not professor Snape. He'd never be embarrassed, would he?

His gaze shifted slightly from side to side as if he was checking if anybody was within earshot - but you were alone in the furthest end of the library. Hidden among bookcases and displays. "Will you help? I..." He cleared his throat, "I have never- I have never used the computer or the internet's thing..." His gruff voice vibrated through you and for a second you were dumbfounded. You just stood there for a moment until your brain kick-started.

For fuck's sake don't embarrass the man! Speak (y/n)! "You-? Umh, sorry but, what?" Snape narrowed his gaze and you wanted to shrink, fall through the floor or maybe do a little dance? After all, you could help the all-knowing professor Snape with something he was not knowledgeable in. This is just not happening...

"Do you intend to gawk forever or will you be a professional and do your job?" His snarky remark made you giggle and shrink at the same time. It made you weak at the knees and strong pounding erupted, well, somewhere else. "I'll- I'll help professor, excuse me, I'm sorry it's just... Never mind." You walked back to the computer and grabbed a second chair on the way.

"Please, sit." Snape took the seat next to you and the heavenly smell hit you once more, it distracted you on most levels, to be frank.   "Umh, well first we need to go out on the internet and type the address for the ticket company," you said as you followed up your words with actions on the computer. "And then we need from and to where your heading, and at what time." The professor looked on the screen, he's leaning closer, isn't he? Fuck that smell again... You inhaled without thinking about it.

"I need to go from this station to, to Cokeworth." You nodded and typed in the destinations - but you could not quite help but wonder as to what was in Cokeworth and why the professor was taking the train? Surely he could just apparate? "Strange apparatus," the professor mumbled beside you as he leaned even closer as he inspected the screen as you typed.

The page loaded, the screen flickered slightly and the alternatives arrived. "Here's your options professor," you said while your eyes were fixed on the screen. The professor's thick, pale hand appeared and he pointed at one option. You would not have chosen that option but okay. You clicked it and the trip appeared. It showed two train changes and then a bus trip.

"Now you just need to pay and print and your good to go." Your voice was cheerful - a giddy feeling filled you since you could actually help the man you adored and held so high - and you turned your head rapidly. Your face very nearly got pressed against the professor's face. He was so damn close you could see the details of his skin and the exact colour variations in his onyx eyes.

Your breath caught and the professor stared into your eyes for a mere millisecond but it was enough. You leaned back so hastily the chair seemed to disappear and you had definitely landed with a hard knock against your back had it not been for professor Snapes eerily fast reaction. He had grabbed your hand and held you up as you laid parallel with the floor yet had not completely fallen thanks to his ice-cold grip around your warm wrist. Where your pulse was pounding as if you had just run a marathon or two - revealing how flustered you were by him.  

You looked at his hand, the strong grip the only thing that kept you from falling, and then your eyes wandered up the length of his arm clad in black and all the way up to the professors face. The perfectly glorious face clad in pale skin framed by long black hair with two deep eyes, hooked nose and thin lips as the centrepieces of its composition. So fucking beautiful. His eyebrow arched as you looked a little too long perhaps. Surely the rumours aren't true? About his, his mindreading - are they?

"Your pulse is racing, Ms/Mr (y/l/n). Are you, are you alright?" You shook your head and pulled yourself up with a shaky movement. From almost falling or from his touch? You couldn't quite tell at that moment. "I'm, I'm so sorry professor Snape," your voice was shaking a bit and you felt a bit woozy. Having been so close to his face was apparently a bit of a shock for your whole damn body and mind. Everything was tingling and your mind was actually blank for a moment. That never happened.

Professor Snape let go of your wrist and you instantly felt bereft. But you also became painfully aware of how close you were sitting. His knee was touching yours and if you leaned in just a tad your chin would touch his shoulder. His smell made you woozier and his proximity was just too much to handle when the thought of never getting what you had longed for for so many years hit you as hard as a goblin would pound REJECTED on a pour mans loan application at Gringotts.    

You rose from the chair in a panicked movement. It toppled but didn't fall. "I, you, I have, you just need to pay and press print," you stuttered out. Your pulse was truly racing, your heart pounded, the world felt fuzzy while you felt torn apart. In a desperate need to get as far away from the man as you were to get closer to him than his own clothes were. Your head was spinning with thoughts, his smell pressed its way into your nose and you felt helplessly broken for a moment. Memories of longing for him during classes crept up and it made you feel small and unimportant all over again.

"Ms/Mr (y/l/n)? Are you alrig-" "I'm fine!" You held your hands up and backed away as the professor rose from his own chair in sublime composure and grace. "Are you su-" "I'll send Melinda over and she'll help you with your train ticket." The words were rushed out of your mouth and you couldn't look at the man any longer. The perfect man you had before you. I love you insanely, intensely, irrevocably. Forever. I...  

You felt hopelessly entangled with your emotions and thoughts, all things were screaming at you to kiss the man or to run away screaming - neither option felt like an actual option. So the thought reappeared as tears were hardly kept at bay by your weak will. I love you insanely, intensely, irrevocably. Forever. But you...

A cold hand lifted your slimmed chin with power. Forced your head to tilt and your eyes to leave the floor. His touch felt different. His face looked different. Stained with horror and something that looked like regret. Or perhaps disgust? You couldn't quite tell. But why was it even there? "(y/l/n)... I, had no idea you felt that way." Your eyes widened, it can't be? Can he read my-? "I can and I apologies for doing so but-" OH MY GOD NO!  What have I done?!

Your face turned pale, you felt the red colour leave and a cold sensation took its place. He had just read your mind, but how much had he read? Surely he hadn't, before, had he? You were certain he had not read your mind earlier - those thoughts would have warranted some sort of reaction from the man - had they not? Perhaps you were of so little interest that they meant nothing to him?

You shook your head, it didn't matter. What mattered was that the man you loved above all else had just read your mind as you were silently confessing to those feelings of passion and affection. "(Y/n)," his voice was dark and ruff as he spoke your name, "I apologies, I usually do not pillage or invade others thoughts but you-" You janked your head away to avoid eye contact with the man you were certain felt disdain for your feelings, or perhaps for you. Judging by the look of horror he wore.

"Don't, just, don't. I'll leave." The words left your mouth as the tears dried up without ever having been spilt. You felt disgusted by yourself; simply because of what you read in his eyes a moment earlier when your world had crashed around you. Your fantasy world that is - the world where you were free to be with him and he had wanted you. Now that was all smashed and crumbled. Shot to hell so to speak. Not even your thoughts were you allowed to have of him any longer.  

He said something but you didn't have the strength to bear his words and they were muffled out unconsciously as your legs took you away from the computers, through the library and into the staff section where Melinda was sat by her desk - tapping away at the keyboard that you couldn't hear.

You said something to her, she stood up with a strong nod and the next moment you were getting dressed in your own office section. You changed your shoes, put your jacket on and closed the office door. You felt weirdly numb; detached. The world fell away from around you; turned in to a foggy mushy mess of grey. It felt hollow.

You left the building through the back door for staff only and embarked on your walk home - not even remembering your bicycle. Your thoughts didn't even come, it was eerily quiet in your head and your body felt bizarrely disconnected from it.  You were just walking apathy without awareness of your surroundings.

Did he really mean that much to you? Were those silly fantasies really that important? Was he truly that essential to your daily life? Yes, yes he is evidently that painfully and alarmingly fucking important to me. Apparently. All this for a stupid ticket. Because of the muggle world using so much technology... Fucking train ticket madness!  

You sighed a helpless breath out. Your head sank even lower as your shoulders hunched and it felt for a moment as if nothing could fill the void that took up more and more space in your chest for every step you took away from the library. "(y/n)!" You halted mid-step as your name was called with a deep, gruff voice that echoed around you in the short tunnel you apparently were in. You knew the tunnel but that voice felt otherworldly.

You shook your head and took another step - sure that your broken heart filled your head with hallucinations of the man you loved so deeply. "(y/n)! Stop!" The command stopped you right in your tracks. The voice was stern and brusque, almost harshly bitten out - yet it was not. It sent shivers of pleasure and sorrow down your spine as the wind picked up slightly. Howling and whistling through the tunnel.

"Don't run from me young lady/man," Snape said from right behind you, "not after a confession like that." Your face contorted into a sneer for a second and then you turned; a sharp spin on your heels and you were face to face with him. "I made no confession!"  you yelled with a shaking voice, "you read my mind and-" "And I did apologies for that but you-" "You had no right!" Your voice wavered and lowered, "you had no right..."

Your hands were balled into fists and your lip quivered slightly. "I had no right but you gave me no choice." You huffed and turned your face away from the glorious man casting pain and sadness into your life with his internet ignorance and train ticket need. It had been a normal day, you had had a good morning - especially the shower you had indulged in before work that had given you time to fantasies about the man standing before you. Before that whole world crashed. Perhaps that was the last time you came with him on your mind? Probably not, he'd always be there but differently now perhaps?

"(y/n)? You gave me no choice, what did you expect when you acted the way you did?" Your head whipped back so your eyes met. His onyx to your (e/c) ones. "Well, I'm so damn sorry for trying to help you with your train ticket and internet ignorance!" you yelled with a snarly voice, "I'm so damn sorry that this stupid little girl/boy has trivial feelings and stupid little thoughts and ridiculous hopes and absolutely senseless dreams about someone like you! How dare I even think of such an amazing man as you with my tiny brain and feel passion with my worthless little heart?!" His eyes grew darker - how was that even possible?

Your words were harsh, but not towards him. Your words were nastily cruel, but not towards him. Your anger was directed toward him but the callous meaning behind the words was how little you thought of yourself in comparison to the man standing before you who had for years occupied your heart.

"Do. Not. Belittle yourself in that way (y/n). Do. Not. Diminish your feelings in such a manner. I will not stand for such actions by you. Understood?" Snape's voice was a low, vibrating growl. It was amazing you could hear him, yet you heard his voice as clear as your own thoughts. Your own thoughts that were spewing all kinds of horrible scenarios at you as the man you loved seemed to drift further and further away from where you wanted him. With you.

"Well I'm sorry for being a silly little girl/boy with such feelings and thoughts about the perfect professor Snape. I'm sorry I made you take such an important position in such a useless persons life as mine. This little, silly person had obviously no right to fall for such a man... How sickening for you to hear those disgusting thought about love from such a person as me." You could not help but shrink and shake.

You had known your feelings would be not just unrequited but hated by the man whom they were for. So you had never said anything. In the hopes of at least keeping your fantasy world with him as the centrepiece for all things good and lovely.

"I hold no such aversion towards your feelings. Quite the opposite, (y/n)." His hands landed on your shoulders, they were large and heavy yet felt too light. Wait, hold up, what did he just say? "You- you, what?" In that instant, the world seemed to go silent. "I do not dislike, oppose or disapprove of your feelings and thoughts." The words were said slowly and with clarity. But you found them anything but clear. "I- I don't-" "(y/n), stop. I am telling you that I too house those feelings towards you. For a long time now. But you were my student and I never thought such a magnificent person such as you would feel any appeal to a man such as myself."

To you, it sounded as though he managed to squeeze more self-loathing into that second half of a single sentence then you could if you filled a book with it. It shook you to your core. You had never heard his voice as harsh as when he spoke of himself in that short moment of time. "But, you're amazing..." Those were the only words you could extract from yourself as the whole world started to spin with force and full colours once more knowing he was in fact answering your feelings of affection with likewise emotions.

As you looked into his eyes he smiled. It was the first time you had ever seen him smile - in more than a tight tug of the left corner of his mouth - and it kickstarted you. Your eyes watered, your heart pounded and colour flooded your skin once more. Your little words of adoration had made the stern, hard, closed-off man smile. Just the thought of that made your knees weak. No, wait, your knees were shaking and buckling. You were going to fall to the ground at any moment, shit.

But you remained upright. As if by magic. But it was not. "I got you." Those little words of reassurance flooded you with warmth. "Am I dreaming?" 'cus it feels like it... "No. You are not." Without thinking you threw your arms around him and buried your face in the crook of his neck. His smell was inhaled through your nose and you felt another surge of warmth flood you in every way. One arm was laid around your waist - holding you up - and his other hand was placed at the back of your head. He was pressing you even tighter to his body and for a moment you could have sworn he was shaking just as badly as you.

"Severus," you mumbled his name into his neck, "I think I'm gonna pass out." "I got you." You turned your face towards him as he eased up on his grip at the back of your head; you wanted so badly to kiss him. Like you had dreamt of so many times. The thoughts of kissing him invaded your mind but before you could even ask his lips were pressed against yours with desperation and the world exploded in colour and warmth.

I hope you enjoyed this fic! <3 It was only supposed to be about 2500 words but I had lots of fun writing it so it turned out to be over 4000 words - and I might do a part 2 if that's something you guys would want? ^^ Perhaps a little more intimate continuation?    

Masterlist page // Masterlist post

Taglist: @tahliamalfoydepp  @lizlil​ @the-one-who-is-chaoz 

[fizzingwizard]

Episode 34 arrives and it’s a MUCH NEEDED breath of first air. I mean, this episode could have actually BEEN a 99 Adventure episode. I guess at least one person on the production team has actually seen the old show at least once!

In my opinion, it doesn’t quite equal the cuteness, silliness, and personality of similar 99 episodes, but it comes very close, and it’s certainly the best we’ve had in a long long while.

And it’s all because of these two.

More below!

The episode bizarrely begins with Tailmon barking to communicate with Komondomon. Which raises the question, if no one could talk with Komondomon before because he can only bark, how were they communicating? Did Lopmon just tell Komondomon everything he needed to know and tell the kids “just follow his lead” or something??

Also Tailmon’s opening line being her barking is pretty surreal. And yet, fitting for a cat Digimon who is a dog at Child level.

The kids are shown taking a break - the first sign that this episode is gonna be A Bit Different.

Taichi: Something feels weird. Why aren’t we fighting?

Sora: Taichi, don’t you think you should rest once in a while?

Taichi: I mean, I do, I just got the impression the rest of the world didn’t agree...

Sora: By the way, why do we like this world that constantly tries to kill us and never gives us any pleasant memories so much? Why don’t we just take our partners to the human world and leave this place to its fate?

Taichi: How else am I gonna get an outlet for my pent up aggression and adrenaline junkie issues?

Sora: That’s your backstory?

Taichi: I’m a complicated man.

Komondomon then randomly jumps... into the sea. “Oh no, they’ll drown!” No, they won’t, because Komondomon has the ability to build a dome over his back trapping oxygen inside. Submarimon I get, but Komondomon?

As they dive, Tailmon explains what we learned last week about Millenniumon trying to resurrect himself with a new body. Apparently a very large fragment of him is located undersea in a place called Farga (transliteration TBA). She thinks resentfully about how she was almost absorbed into Millenniumon’s most recent resurrection effort.

Hikari tackles her with a comforting hug, which Tailmon seems a bit discomfited by. But does not object.

Tailmon considers defeating Millenniumon for good to be her personal mission as a Holy Digimon. Patamon sees her determination and does his best to put on his game face too. It’s like being glared at by a sock puppet.

Tailmon: I can’t allow Hikari to be put in danger. It’s my job as the Holy Digimon -

Tailmon: - gosh darnit and she’s just so cute too!

They wind up getting hit by a rip current or something?? and thrown into another weird submarine sort of thing. They discourteously break a hole in it and wind up inside a self-sustaining underwater kingdom, apparently, which instantly goes on Red Alert as Manbomon come to attack them.

This is Daipenmon, or Big Penguin Monster. I love him. He is glorious. Gaze upon his expression of perpetually stoned haze.

Daipenmon: You try steering this thing every day in and out nonstop without turning to hard drugs.

She attac!

While fighting, some Mantaraymon break in through the hole they made and the Manbomon go to drive them off as apparently they are not welcome. Then MarineAngemon appears in all her creepy glory and they sort everything out.

MarineAngemon: Oh, Tailmon, I see you’re a Holy Digimon! I can tell by your Holy Ring. I have one too.

Takeru: Patamon, why don’t you have a Holy Ring?

Patamon: .... -.-’

Look! See! So cute! They are floating on bubbles! All the kids get their own and each has an individual design that shows their personality. Here Tailmon tries desperately to keep Hikari from falling off. I missed this kind of thing! Flashbacks to Monzaemon’s Toytown...

Turns out MarineAngemon is extremely small and the scene before was all “don’t pay attention to that man behind the curtain” type scare tactics. Not very effective since no matter how big MarineAngemon gets, she’s still extremely adorable. She invites them to stay the night. I really expected it to be a trap, but it wasn’t.

OH MY GOD IS THAT FOOD ARE THEY EATING ACTUAL FOOD OMG OMG

quick someone alert the producers! Someone’s having FUN with this show! I was starting to think that was illegal or something!

It’s not AS fun as when they went to Devimon’s illusory castle in 99 Adventure and stuffed their faces after starving and living on potentially poisonous eggs for a week... but I’ll take it.

Meanwhile an undersea band plays music and Taichi ACTS LIKE THE FIFTH GRADE CHILD THAT HE IS. For about 0.5 seconds but HEY he did something child-like! holy cheez wiz batman!

Hikari is mysteriously absent so Tailmon goes to find her. Turns out she’s asked MarineAngemon to heal Komondomon who is tired and wounded from their journey. Tailmon’s like, “Aw, what a nice person she is.” I’m all for exceptionally kind-hearted Hikari, but taking care of Komondomon should have been priority 1 for EVERYONE. At least Sora should have thought of it. I can see Taichi being too forward-focused, and Takeru a dumb eight year old, but Sora would definitely have thought about Komondomon.

Clearly the show wanted to establish how nice Hikari is, but I hate when shows inadvertently make all the other characters look like asses just to trump up the current star...

Taichi’s digivice glows and...

... MINI KOUSHIROU RETURNS!!! Hurray!

Um, what’s that Sora’s drinking? A mimosa? o.O

Well anyway, Koushirou just shows up to remind everyone of the situation with the satellites and that things are getting worse.

Taichi: Do you have any idea what we can do about it?

Koushirou: No, but I’ll keep you posted.

Taichi: Thanks for nothing braindead

Koushirou: That’s it! You’re not the man I knew in episode 3 anymore! I want a divorce!

Taichi: Fine with me it’s not like you’re ever home anyway!

Koushirou: Well at least I’m not cheating with YAMATO!

Taichi: I HAVE NEEDS!

*cough*

Uh, I know Taichi is shorter than Sora, but he looks... pretty tiny here... lol. Or maybe Sora’s just had a growth spurt again.

They spend the night sleeping in bubbles. Aw.

By the way, question: the kids seem able to walk and breath normally in MarineAngemon’s kingdom... but the fish-type Digimon can also swim around normally. And it seems the kids wouldn’t be able to survive in the ocean itself, but they and the fish can both survive here? And yet bubbles? What... what kind of scientific anomaly is this place??

So... MarineAngemon’s kingdom appears to be a Whamon’s corpse! X’D Wow that’s dark.

They are attacked by Anomalocarimon! For reasons. Actually, they did explain earlier that the ocean Digimon have been more aggressive lately and it seems to be the influence of Millenniumon’s stone in Farga or whatever.

Daipenmon: This sucks I don’t have health insurance

Tailmon frantically tries to fight off the intruders while also keeping Hikari out of danger. This entire episode is about Tailmon wanting to protect Hikari and keep her at arm’s length so she doesn’t end up in danger, while Hikari just keeps trying to stay close to Tailmon and support her.

Tailmon: I can’t take you with me, Hikari. It’s too dangerous.

Hikari: Fine. Big brother, will you bring me into the heat of the action with you?

Taichi: Sure thing.

Tailmon: ...

In his defense, Taichi does seem a bit freaked when Hikari TAKES A FLYING LEAP off MetalGreymon toward Tailmon.

(no I really love that Taichi immediately understands why Hikari wants to fight and takes her right to her partner without even a token “nuu but you’re still a baby.” I mean, if Yamato’s cool with Takeru being in danger all the time, Taichi shouldn’t be much worried about it...

Hikari has a flashback! Turns out she’s heard Tailmon calling for her since she as a little kid!

She caught one of Angewomon’s feathers back then too.

Hikari promises Tailmon that she’ll be by her side. Awww.

Hands again.

Crest of Light! I kind of expect that we’ll find out about the Crests and what they mean really fast at the end of the season... although I’m still kind of hoping Mimi is mining Crest crystals atm.

Hikari is able to magically produce a Digivice... I’d completely forgot she didn’t have one till now.

Here I expected Tailmon would evolve, but instead, the power of Light appears to give everyone a power boost like it’s done in the past. They all glow with their Crest colors, kids and partners alike (except for some reason Tailmon glows yellow???) and launch a joint attack on Anomalocarimon and defeat him. Yay.

Then they say goodbye to MarineAngemon and go on their way, I guess to Farga.

So... yeah! it was a nice episode. It had a theme. There was fighting, but it didn’t overwhelm everything else. There was character development. I really can’t complain about it. And it was SHOCKING that Taichi had so few lines (compared to what’s become the norm - a GOOD shock but still I was like “omg what’s going on!!”)

I am just confused because why is this sort of episode happening when we haven’t seen it in ages? What happened in that interim between when they all met up after the first team split up and just now that prevented the show writers from having fun with the show and just writing nonstop fighting all the time? I’m so confused. It makes no sense. Still suspecting that they couldn’t get anyone to come in and voice characters for long enough so they just focused on Sanpei Yuuko/Taichi, but without the others they couldn’t figure out how to push the show forward and make it fun too... Idk. It’s so weird. But oh well. We got a good episode, and maybe it’s a sign of changes to come. I hope so.

Next week...

We get attacked by a scary looking Digimon and Hikari... Idk, thinks she can block the attack somehow? haha. Aw but look how awesome she is protecting her brother and Greymon!

Hikari gets touched by the dark powers! Oh noes!

And more cuteness.

The episode title name-drops Angewomon, which surprises me because I figured they’d hold off on her and give Tailmon Nefertimon for an evolution first. But *shrug* whatever! Looking forward to it.