#i do appreciate the sentiment either way lol

[girlboyburger]

gregnant worh a cow, remember to dring a lot of wather and eat a grass and sleep. get better soon 🐄✨️

,,,,, did you think my positive covid test was a gregnancy test????

[alexandriteobscuraarchive]

((I've done a few of these today, I know, but I'm going to get one last blog interaction reminder out of my system rq. I'm coming from a good/positive place with this (although if I'm being honest it can be a source of upset/frustration if I'm having anxiety, that isn't the case here so don't worry!) and hopefully afterwards I'll be able to do actual ic content after work and whatnot. I appreciate everyone who reads this and makes the attempt to understand where I'm coming from.

Compliments are nice and I truly do appreciate each and every one. I know you guys mean well whether we interact or not but please don't let compliments be the only way you engage with me. Again I have to stress that I appreciate them but at the end of the day if that's the only thing you send in it begins to feel a bit.... hollow for lack of a better term and I hate feeling that way about something that's coming from a genuine place. If you truly like what I do that much then let's shift focus and actually turn it into legitimate ic engagement. Tell me you like something; a muse, a plot, a vibe, whatever else, and then let's work on writing that thing, no matter what it is, together. I love y'all but at the end of the day I don't want people who just stay on the sidelines and occasionally say something nice, I want you to fuckin jump in here with me.

You like a muse? Prompt them.

You like a muse but don't know how to approach them for whatever reason? Tell me and I'll help you.

You like multiple muses but can't decide who to interact with first? Guess what babe, you're getting the party platter and 24/7 muse service.

You aren't sure about a muse for whatever reason? I'll teach you about them/help you figure out if they're right for you.

There are literally no limits whatsoever and honestly? At the end of the day I'm here to write with people, whatever it takes. Again: I'm here to write WITH people rather than just for or around them. If you can muster up the nerve to send me ooc love then surely you can do it ic as well, all it takes is a shift in perspective, priority, focus, whatever word you'd like to use. Engaging ooc is great but I want you to actually engage from an ic standpoint just as much and all I'm asking is that you guys keep that in mind because it's incredibly important.))

[7ndipity]

How They Would Celebrate Their S/o’s Birthday

Ot7 x Reader

Summary: How they would celebrate their s/o’s birthday

Warnings: None

A/N: This one’s not a request, but I wanted to post smth cute today since it’s my birthday!🎉 I hope y'all like it! 😘

Masterlist

Requests are open

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Jin: He would want to spoil you in any way possible. Dinner at a fancy restaurant? Done! You’d rather just spend the day cuddling in bed? He’s there for that too! His gifts are a lil bit random, just like him, but their main goal is to make you smile every time you see them(like Hobi’s gold toilet brush, lol)

Yoongi: He would do something small and cute for you at home, catered to your preference(like how he got a stack of hotteoks as a cake for Jimin). He doesn’t necessarily give the most expensive gifts, but they’re always super thoughtful, like a special piece of jewelry or smth from when you were a kid.

Hobi: Oh, he is throwing you a party. Doesn’t matter how big, it could be a hundred people or just you and him, you are the most amazing person in the world to him, therefore you must be celebrated! He gives the most amazing gifts tho that are always super thoughtful(like when he made that cd for Jimin)

Namjoon: He would probably do something more subtle and lowkey, like cafe dates or shopping if you want. He’s more about spending quality time with you and making you feel special than anything else. His gifts are kinda the same vibe, usually something he’s noticed you eyeing but wouldn’t buy for yourself.

Jimin: I think he would stick to a nice cozy dinner at home; candles, soft music, just vibes. He might try to make you a cake himself, but probably also has a store-bought one as a backup. His gifts tend to vary, but they’re usually rather sentimental, referring to things from the early days of your relationship.

Taehyung: On the more elaborate side? He would plan a special weekend away together and get you a bunch of little gifts that would be clues to where you’re going. On the more chill side? He’d throw a tiny party for the two of you at home. As for gifts, he tends to be pretty classic with nice clothes or jewelry.

Jungkook: He would consider doing something more elaborate like a party, but would end up sticking with cooking a romantic dinner at home for just the two of you. His gifts tend to be either super silly or super sweet, depending on what he thinks you’ll appreciate more at the time, but they’re always super thought out. 💜

Taglist: @sopebubbles-replies @btsw1fe @this-must-be-my-tardis @whitefoxgirl @bethanysnow @coffeedepressionsoup @captainorange @k4ngelz

[hgfictionwriter]

Handy - Part Two

Jessie Fleming x Reader

Summary: Jessie isn't done helping you with household projects. In fact, she helps you undertake your biggest one yet. But can she finally tell you how she feels? To be determined.

Warnings: None other than it's sickly sweet.

A/N: Thank you SO much for the response to the original post. I'm excited to share Part Two with you all. I hope you enjoy! Part One is here if you need it.

"Good morning! How is your day going?"

"Morning Jessie :) My morning's going okay. It's still early, so not much to report yet lol. I have a couple of meetings later though. How is your morning going? Let me guess, even though you have the day off, you've been up since pretty much sunrise, you've probably fit in a run, a couple of chapters and had breakfast haha."

"Why do I feel like you're making fun of me? lol. And you may be right about all of those things."

"Not making fun - it's really more admiration. If I had the day off I'd still be fast asleep lol."

"There's nothing wrong with that either. For the record."

"I appreciate the sentiment lol. Very generous of you. So, what do you have planned for your day off?"

You leaned back in your chair and waited as the three dots faded in and out in sequence. A frown crossed your face as they disappeared. Before you could think too much about it they came up again. Another frown creased your forehead as they disappeared once more. You sat up. What was going on?

A few moments later the dots reappeared and shortly after a text mercifully came through from Jessie.

"I'm running some errands in the SW today. I probably won't be too far from your office. If you're not too busy or don't have plans already, maybe we could go for lunch?"

Another text came through a moment later.

"No pressure though."

You leaned back in your chair and smiled. She was really so cute.

It had been a couple of weeks since your impromptu night over at Jessie's. You'd seen each other since, including when Jessie did in fact come by your apartment to patch up the drywall.

That said, lunch together mid-week was something new.

"That sounds great. I'm in a meeting until 11:30, but can meet you after."

"Okay! You know the area, so you pick where and I'll meet you there."

The morning went by quickly and before you knew it you were walking into the restaurant and wordlessly searching the tables until you saw Jessie. If she saw you, she was making a point of not showing it. Instead, she leaned into the menu, studying it rather determinedly.

"Fancy seeing you here," you teased as you grabbed a seat. She looked up, eyebrows high in surprise and greeted you.

"Oh hey!"

You resisted the urge to blush as she - inadvertently or not - looked you up and down.

"I feel like I'm underdressed," she muttered, giving a nod to your business attire before leaning back in her chair and tucking her hands into her hoodie pocket. You gave her a look.

"Don't be silly. You look great." She gave you a dismissive frown and you went on, shrugging off your jacket and picking up the menu. "I hope you weren't waiting long."

"No, no," she dismissed readily as she began reviewing the menu once more. "Gave me time to figure out what I want."

"Okay, good. I always get the poke bowl," you told her and a wry smirk formed on her face as she looked at you over the menu.

"I knew it," she said in a very self-satisfied way.

"You know me so well." You rolled your eyes with a short laugh. "What kind of errands were you running in this part of town anyway?"

You frowned as she lifted her eyebrows high again, forehead creasing as she worked to respond. She didn't avert her eyes from the menu in her hands.

"Uh, just picking up something for the team," she relayed evenly.

"Oh. What was that?" You asked, curious and truthfully a bit skeptical.

The blush she'd been fending off broke through and her cheeks began to glow pink under your scrutiny. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Just some gear. Nothing exciting," she said with a laugh, her voice slightly higher than normal.

"Oh, I thought equipment staff would take care of things like that," you said lightly, immediately seeing her readying a rebuttal. You cut her off with a cheeky remark. "I would've said otherwise that if you just wanted to have lunch together you could simply ask."

Her face grew red and she subconsciously sunk into her chair a bit before righting herself and frowning at you.

"I know that." She nearly pouted before huffing exaggeratedly. She shot you a look and spoke pointedly. "Anyway, I have those new hinges for your cupboard. Does Friday still work for you?"

"It does, thank you," you said, allowing her some reprieve.

You enjoyed your lunch together, and although you wanted it to last longer, you had to be back at the office soon. You'd excused yourself to the washroom and when you came back Jessie was hunched over the table concentrating on something. When she heard the scraping of your chair on the floor she looked up.

"Good timing," she said with a quiet smile as she held out a small folded item for you. "His name is Bernard. He's for you."

The puzzled look on your face was quickly replaced with a wide smile as you realized what it was.

"An origami dinosaur!" You exclaimed excitedly as you looked it over. "The best use of a napkin I've seen yet."

Though Jessie wasn't outwardly beaming, the lift in her shoulders and the brightness in her eyes told you she was pleased by your reaction.

"He's awesome," you told her as you began to tuck him into your bag.

"Oh, I was just kidding, you don't have to keep him. I was just messing around," Jessie said, belated embarrassment now encompassing her. You stilled your movements and shot her a look.

"Throw Bernard away? And you kidding me?" You asked in mock offense. "He's mine now. For good."

Her cheeks were bright pink, but she laughed as she stood.

"So...Friday?" She asked again, a hint of nervousness sneaking back into her voice despite how nonchalant she was trying to make herself look. You nodded decisively.

"Friday."

"Alright. Well," Jessie stalled momentarily scratching her temple idly, her gaze focused elsewhere before she looked to you again with a small smile. "Thanks for having lunch with me. I hope your afternoon goes well."

"Thanks for meeting me. Let me know if you have to run anymore errands around here," you said with the faintest hint of teasing. It was enough to get Jessie to look away and blush once more.

"Yep. I will."

"Bye, Jess," you said easily as you stepped towards her and pulled her into a hug. Though her hold on you was still a bit tentative, like she didn't want to relax into it too much, it was still a far cry from how she'd been that first night.

When you pulled away, her hands went behind her back immediately and she went up onto her tiptoes. "I'll walk you to your car."

------

"What's this?"

You looked over with a frown. You cracked a smirk as Jessie stood there, looking at you accusingly as she held up a paint swatch as if it was a piece of evidence.

"A paint swatch," you replied slowly.

"I'm aware," she said in exaggeration before looking a bit disappointed. "Why didn't you tell me you were planning to paint?"

You shrugged, really more distracted by how cute and endearing she looked as she pouted.

"Um, I'm sorry?" You offered with lackluster earnest.

She rolled her eyes and walked over to your wall with the swatch. You watched her as she frowned in concentration, lifting her other hand up to rest on her chin as she studied the colours in front of her.

"I think-" she started before turning her head to you. "Wait - do you want my opinion?"

You laughed. "Of course I do. You're my resident handyperson. Personal reno expert. Whatever title you prefer."

Jessie's lips pulled into a tight, shy smile as her cheeks began to grow pink. She turned her attention back to the swatch.

"I like this third one. I think the one above it will just end up too washed out and the one below will make the space feel closed in and small."

"Well, we're in luck, because that's the one I was thinking of."

She gave you a nod of approval before walking back over to you. She folded her arms across her chest, planting her feet and exhaled briefly. She took a moment before looking at you.

"Well. You're going to need a lot of supplies. So, we could go together and get them," she trailed off, her gaze following before resetting. "And it'll take you ages to do this whole place on your own, so," she waved her hand aimlessly for a few seconds, "I can help."

"Jessie." You gave her a pointed look. "As much as I appreciate that, painting is a big ordeal. You've already done way too much for me."

She surprised you by looking nearly hurt by the sentiment.

"I don't mind. Seriously. I told you I was happy to help and I meant it. Mean it." She gave a listless shrug. "I like painting."

"A whole condo?" You scrutinized, arching an eyebrow at her.

She blushed a bit, the smallest of smiles sneaking out as she shrugged once more. "We make a good team."

————

It should've been no surprise to either of you that it didn't take much convincing for Jessie to get her way. The following week you were driving around town together picking up paint and accompanying supplies.

Again, you had to give yourself a reality check when you and Jessie were wandering the paint aisle of the hardware store together. It was too easy to think of yourselves as something more as you controlled the list (though curated mostly by Jessie...) and she pushed the cart and dutifully retrieved items.

It was pathetic, really, how you were fighting for your life, trying not to smile as you two were leaned in together as you compared and debated two types of paint brushes. You had to roll your eyes at yourself. You were in way too deep.

To make matters worse, Jessie - after bouncing her knee all through lunch and determinedly avoiding eye contract with you - offered to have you stay at her place while painting was under way.

"I'll take the couch again. You really can't stay here with the furniture all awry and tarped, and the fumes."

She was going to be the death of you.

"Okay, so everything's set - we've moved everything, things are tarped, supplies are laid out-"

"Meticulously so," you interjected with a teasing smirk. She shot you a mocking glare.

"We can get taping," she announced patiently.

You walked over wordlessly and removed her hat. You saw her swallow as she looked at you with wide, brown eyes.

"Not your nice hat," you told her as you tucked it away and retrieved a hat of your own. "I don't want you to get paint on it. Here, you can wear mine instead." You placed it on her head with a gentle smile, sure not to laugh at how her cheeks were now burning red.

She cleared her throat and adjusted the hat. "Okay, well, let's get started."

It was only a few minutes in when Jessie interjected.

"What are you doing?" She asked, clearly aghast and not hiding it particularly well.

You sat back on your heels and looked at her.

"Cutting in?"

"Freehand?" She said, her voice rising and narrowing her eyes in sheer disbelief. "That's what the tape-" Jessie's words trailed off as she examined your work. "Oh," sounding nearly deflated. "That's actually quite good."

You gave her a teasingly scrutinizing look as you did air quotes. "'Actually quite good.' Wow. The disrespect." She rolled her eyes at you with a laugh and nearly stamped her foot.

"Come on, you know what I mean."

You shook your head at her. "You're not the only one with skills here, Fleming."

You bit back a smile as her cheeks started to darken. She distracted by readjusting her hat, tucking her hand into her pocket and idly shifting her weight from one foot to the next.

"Is that so?" She asked.

"It is. I just haven't had my chance to shine," you continued cheekily as you stood up.

"Well, what I'm hearing is you don't need my services," she said, a glint now in her eyes.

"Jess." Her name came out like a pout and you gave her arm a gentle shove. She grinned before lifting her chin haughtily and giving a shrug.

"I mean, I can go."

"Jessie," you protested once more, jostling her a bit this time and pulling a wide smile out of her. You gave her a look of warning. "Don't make me beg you to stay."

That glint was still in her eyes as she leaned in and gave you a soft nudge with her shoulder. "Fine. I'll get back to work," she deadpanned.

You worked steadily for several hours, you and Jessie finding a good cadence and coordinating seamlessly early on. You nicked the baseboards and doorframes on a couple of occasions, but it was Jessie's fault. How could you be expected to remain steady and focused when you could see the muscles in her back flex and her calves pop as she maneuvered herself along the wall to paint. And her t-shirt sleeves rolled up onto her shoulders? A little too attractive. Never mind her biceps being on display.

The other close call was when you nearly dropped the roller when you felt her hand on your back as she shimmied past you and around the furniture at one point. The contact was feather-light, but it sent a shiver through you nonetheless.

Eventually, you both took a break, sitting flush against one another on the tarped floor, your backs against the couch that had been moved into the center of the room.

You were taking a sip of water when Jessie's phone began to buzz. You saw her look at it and you told her to take the call.

"Mm. It's just my sister. I'll call her back later." Shortly after the buzzing stopped, a text came through. Jessie read it quickly and sighed before calling her back.

You rose from your spot, aware of Jessie's eyes on you as you did so. You retreated to the other room to give her some space. However, you could still overhear Jessie despite how hushed she was trying to speak. You weren't intentionally trying to eavesdrop, but you'd be lying if you said you weren't curious.

"...I can't right now...I'm out..." A huff. "I'm...at a friend's...No...No...No." Then, in an even more hushed tone. "Y/N's..." Another exasperated huff. "I'll call you later. Yes! Okay. Bye!"

You gave it a few moments, but couldn't resist much longer and came back into the living room to see Jessie looking flustered and a blush lingering on her cheeks. She met your eyes before her gaze darted away.

"Hey," she nearly mumbled before standing up and brushing off her shorts needlessly. You, again, tried not to get distracted by her paint-covered hands. "Shall we continue?"

You worked late into the night finishing a first coat across the rooms before packing it up. Your body ached.

"I can't believe you have a game tomorrow. I'm so sorry," you told her, guilt creeping in.

"What for?" Jessie looked genuinely puzzled.

"Aren't you sore? My back is killing me," you asked incredulously.

"Oh, no, I'm feeling fine. It's good conditioning," she joked. "We'll get you a heat pack when we get back to my place."

You were going to need a hell of a lot more than a heat pack, but you gave her a grateful nod nonetheless. You bent to pick up your overnight bag, but her hand shot out and grabbed it before you could. She stood and swung it effortlessly over her shoulder.

"Ready?"

A/N: You all have me so into this now that I couldn't fit everything I wanted into two parts. Third part is available here.

[jjkamochoso]

Hi again :3 more noritoshi stuff,,, it's his birthday soon! Maybe reader takes him out on a date to celebrate ^_^

Yessss omg I’m loving writing these birthday fics because I’m the biggest lover of birthday celebrations so this is a total treat for me!! And as everyone knows Noritoshi is my number one so let’s celebrate him as much as we can🥳🎉 thank you for your request, I appreciate it so so much!!! Also I kinda ran away with this so I hope it still meets your expectations lol🫣❤️

The Best Birthday Boy

Fluff

Noritoshi Kamo x gn!reader

Warnings: none

When you asked Noritoshi what he wanted to do for his birthday this year, he told you he had never given that June day much thought and every year he treats it as any other day, going through the same routine and not doing anything special. You definitely weren’t letting that happen this year so you immediately went into planning mode, deciding how to make this day filled with memories he’d cherish for a long time. Now you were standing outside his door, balloons and flowers taking up all the use of your hands while you tried your best to knock on the frame with your foot. He either heard your knocking or your struggle outside but either way, he was there in an instant, opening the door to reveal you and your gifts.

“Happy birthday!” you greeted. Noritoshi looked taken aback as he let you inside.

“Is this all for me?” he asked, taking the bouquet from you so you weren’t juggling as many things.

“Of course, silly,” you replied, tying the huge group of balloons to his bedpost, “and this is just a taste of the fun to come. Are you ready for your big day of surprises?”

“Trust me, this is more than enough,” he told you, sincerity shining from his gray eyes as he wrapped you in a big hug. “You by my side is the greatest gift I’ve ever received.”

“Sounds like you’re getting sentimental in your old age.”

Noritoshi playfully scoffed as he pulled away from you to fill a vase with water for the flowers you brought him. “It’s my birthday, you have to be nice to me.”

“I am!” you whined. “Besides, I could’ve greeted you today with birthday punches instead of gifts. One for each year.”

“People seriously do that?” His voice was filled with concern as you laughed and shook your head.

“Yep. Apparently it’s very popular. But,” you ruffled his hair a bit, “I’d never lay anything but a loving touch on my precious Nori.”

He ducked out of your assaulting reach as you fell into another bout of giggles and he rolled his eyes.

“Alright, where are you kidnapping me to first?”

“Can’t tell ya.” You winked. “But I can say we’ll be outside and then walking around other places so dress casually and wear comfy shoes.”

“Got it.”

He left to get dressed and you looked around his place thoughtfully. Everything was always in such neat order and you were awestruck by the high level of organization and cleanliness he never failed to commit to. You noticed that there weren’t many personal items present as he opted to keep the decoration to a minimum, but your heart did a flip in your chest when you spied a picture frame showcasing you and him together. It was a selfie you had taken on one of your dates and while you were smiling at the camera, Noritoshi was resting his softest loving gaze on you. It was a picture you both treasured and you were honored that he felt strongly enough about you to keep your relationship so brazenly on display. You were pulled from your thoughts when you heard him enter the room again and your breath hitched in your throat when you saw how handsome he looked. He was sporting dark linen pants and a white t shirt that accentuated his muscles perfectly. He opted for white sneakers and topped the whole outfit off with a black fanny pack slung over his shoulder. He looked breathtakingly attractive in this sporty outfit and you were quick to let him know.

“Woah. You always look hot but this look really suits you.”

Noritoshi couldn’t help but blush at your words. “Are you trying to embarrass me into oblivion on purpose?”

“What? No,” you said, pouting a bit before placing a kiss on his cheek, “but it’s my duty as your partner to remind you how alluring you are.”

You started peppering more kisses on his cheek before moving to his nose, chin, other cheek, then placed one on his lips.

“There,” you mumbled, “instead of birthday punches, you get birthday kisses.”

“Much more agreeable,” said Noritoshi, locking your lips together once more. When you pulled apart for air, you jumped out of his grasp as fast as possible.

“Okay! You’ve bewitched me enough today, sir, it’s now time for the birthday celebration to begin! No more smooching or we’ll never leave.”

“Fine by me,” he shrugged and you shot him a look. “I mean, uh, let’s get going.”

“That’s what I thought,” a triumphant tone coating your voice. You took Noritoshi by the hand and led him into a Kyoto neighborhood that was about 20 minutes away.

“This is an interesting route you’re taking me,” Noritoshi hummed as you walked along the empty streets.

“I’m glad it’s quiet today. I think the universe is on our side.”

You continued walking until you finally arrived at your destination.

“A cafe? Coffee sounds perfect right now,” said an excited Noritoshi, opening the door for you. You walked in and had a quick conversation with the woman at the counter, keeping Noritoshi out of earshot. When you joined his side again, he narrowed his eyes at you.

“What did you plan for me here?”

“Don’t worry, it’s fun, I promise. Just be patient.”

“I’m going to say I trust you but I’m not sure how accurate that is right now.”

“You’ll get your coffee in a few moments, no need to get feisty.”

“You’re a pain, you know that?”

“But I’m your pain.”

You gave him a wink and the woman called you two over to a secluded table in the back. Laid out in front of you were 10 small sized cups, each filled with a different coffee flavor.

“It’s a tasting selection,” you explained to Noritoshi, thanking the woman as she left, “these are all rare, specialty coffee flavors you can’t get anywhere else in the city. I talked to the owner and she’s allowed us to try each one and whichever we like the best, we can get a full cup of and a bag to roast at home.”

His eyes sparkled with gratitude. “Y/n, that’s… this is amazing. You’re amazing. Thank you.”

“Anything for you.” You gave his hand a quick squeeze before he pulled the chair out for you and you took a seat, him doing the same across from you. You had a great time sampling all the variations while chatting aimlessly with your happy boyfriend. You were relieved that he was very much enjoying himself, liking the challenge of identifying all the flavor notes in every cup. When they were all empty, you told the owner which ones you two liked the best and she gave you each a full to-go cup and bags of the beans. You thanked her profusely once more as you took your leave, sipping on the delicious drink.

“That was truly one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced,” said Noritoshi, holding your hand as you walked to your next destination.

“I’m really glad you liked it. I was nervous that it would be too boring or something.”

“What? No way. Coffee can never be boring. It’s my favorite thing ever. Behind you, of course.”

“Nice save,” you replied jokingly. As you traversed the city sidewalks, it seemed all the birds and animals were out for their own strolls, too. You and Noritoshi had a fantastic time watching them scurry along on the mild summer day. There was one squirrel who seemingly led you to the park where the next birthday surprise was.

“Here we are!” you announced. A picnic blanket was splayed out under a big shady tree and on it was a huge array of snack foods, games, and art supplies. Noritoshi stared in wonder and delight as he took in this new portion of the celebration, unsure of what to say.

“I know, it’s a lot, but you deserve it all.”

“How did you…?” His sentence trailed off, finding it difficult to come to terms with the kindness you’d showed him.

“Miwa,” you confessed. “She set this all up while we were at the cafe.”

“Woah,” he breathed out, sitting down on the blanket. “I really don’t know… this is beyond words, y/n. I don’t know how to thank you.”

“It’s your day to be doted on because I’m celebrating you and how happy you’ve made me all this time. I wanted to return the favor and make you feel as special as you make me feel every day.”

You leaned over and grabbed the paint brushes and some games. “Alright birthday boy, what’s first? Painting plein air or party games?”

Noritoshi chose to paint first and you set up the canvases and paint while he snacked on the food you prepared. The afternoon went by in a flash as you created artful pieces and played games to your heart’s content. You even took some time just to lay on the blanket and watch the clouds roll by as Noritoshi held you to his chest, not wanting to let go of the person he loved so very much. As the sun started to go down, you decided to pack everything up and head back to your room for one more surprise. You made Noritoshi wait outside as you put away the picnic supplies and prepared the rest of the celebration.

“Okay, I’m going to cover your eyes so you don’t peek,” you said, placing your hands on his face.

“An old man like me can’t be trusted to not spoil a surprise?” he teased.

“I won’t hesitate to cover your mouth, too. Don’t test me.”

You slowly walked him into your room, being careful to not let him trip.

“Ready? Three, two, one.”

Your hands fell from his skin and he couldn’t help but gasp a little at the sight he walked into. Your whole room was decked out in birthday decorations, streamers and balloons covering almost every inch of space. A stack of presents wrapped in brightly colored paper was residing in a corner and a round cake with candles was placed on one of your tables.

“Happy birthday, my love.”

Noritoshi couldn’t form a coherent thought, glancing between you and the festive room a few times before settling on bringing you into a long, deep kiss to show his appreciation when words failed him. Even though you’ve kissed him a fair amount of times during your relationship, you never lost the butterfly feeling in your stomach every time he pulled you in and met your lips with his own. You didn’t want to pull away but you also didn’t want the cake to start melting so you reluctantly shimmied from his gentle grasp and grabbed a lighter, setting the candles ablaze.

“Make a wish,” you whispered, your face warming from the affectionate stare of your lover. He blew out the candles in one swift exhale and you got to work slicing up pieces of the cake. You handed him a big slice on a paper birthday plate, then began savoring the delectable dessert.

“This is so delicious,” Noritoshi complimented. “It’s almost as sweet as you are.”

“Oh stop,” you chided, wiping a small bit of frosting on his nose. “You have a little something on your face.”

“I wonder how that got there,” he replied sarcastically. You giggled and grabbed a napkin, cleaning him up. When your plates were empty, you cleared them and brought over his gifts.

“Y/n, I can’t take much more of this whole birthday thing, I feel too guilty. You’ve done so much already, I certainly didn’t need presents as well.”

“Aww, that’s too bad I lost the receipts and can’t return any of them,” you shrugged. Noritoshi just shook his head while chuckling a bit and began opening his gifts. You had gotten him a fancy coffee machine that could make almost any type of drink his heart desired, a gift card to the local sporting goods store for archery supplies, and a shiny yet understated silver chain bracelet.

“I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done for me today,” Noritoshi said as you clasped the bracelet onto his wrist. “I still don’t think I’m worthy of all this spoiling but I’m thankful for you showing me how much you care.”

“You’re the love of my life, Noritoshi. You being born is a worthy cause for celebration in my book. I don’t know where I would’ve been without you in my life and I’m appreciative that I’ll never have to know what that’s like.”

The black haired man took your hand in his as he ushered you to the couch, eager to cuddle you in the quiet calm of your room, away from any prying eyes or gossipy mouths. More of these tender moments with you were what he wished for earlier and it seemed to have already begun coming true. You both eventually fell asleep, content in the comfort of each other’s arms, stomachs and hearts full. If you thought today was filled to the brim with fun, Noritoshi couldn’t wait to show you how he’ll celebrate your birthday next.

[spectersgirl]

if ur taking requests!! harvey and reader getting into a heated argument and harvey being his usual self takes it too far by saying something he didn’t mean and it ends up real angsty but then they make up somehow cuz i don’t like sad endings lol

if ur not don’t worry abt it :)

I'm always taking requests! I may not do them but I'm always taking them 🤪

Regret

Harvey Specter x Reader

--------

The New York skyline really was beautiful, and maybe you could've appreciated it if you were standing in Harvey's office under different circumstances.

The air crackled with tension as you and Harvey fought, the biggest fight you'd had in your entire relationship.

"You can't just bulldoze your way through everything, Harvey!" your voice cut through the silence, blazing with frustration. "One day you'll realize you need to listen to others instead of assuming you have all the answers, and it'll be too late."

Harvey's features hardened, his gaze unwavering as he spoke coldly. "And sometimes, you need to understand that this is how it works. I've been doing this a hell of a lot longer than you have. You don't get to lecture me on how to handle my cases, if I wanted your opinion I would've asked."

The words, sharper than intended, hung heavy in the air leaving a bitter taste in both your and Harvey's mouths. You tried your best to hide it, but he saw the flicker of hurt that flashed across your face, a mix of betrayal and anguish clouding your expression.

"You know what, Harvey? Maybe you're right. Maybe I shouldn't bother trying to help if you're just going to throw it back in my face," you replied, your voice trembling ever so slightly with restrained emotion.

For a moment, regret crossed Harvey's eyes, but his pride took over once more, replacing the regret with a coldness. "Fine. Maybe it's better this way."

The harshness in his words reverberated, a feeling of finality rippling through the room. You hated this, but there was nothing left for you to say. You stormed out, leaving him with nothing but the click of your heels on the tile floor. The door sealing shut made Harvey sigh, immediate regret over his words hitting him like a wave.

The hours that followed were agonizingly slow, each minute dragging on as Harvey remained seated at his desk, getting nothing done as the weight of his own words bore down on him. His usual confidence faltered as he replayed every word of the argument in his mind, grappling with the realization that his pride had cost him the most important thing he'd ever known. He swirled a glass of whiskey he'd poured absentmindedly.

It wasn't until a soft, hesitant knock broke the silence in his office that Harvey stirred from his thoughts. you stood at the threshold, your shoulders tense and eyes glistening with tears. He saw every emotion you felt plain as day on your face, and his heart lurched.

"Y/N, I didn't mean what I said," Harvey began, but you raised a hand, interrupting him.

"I know you didn't. And neither did I," you admitted, your voice cracking with vulnerability.

A fragile silence loomed, a moment of uncertain energy between you, before Harvey closed the distance, wrapping his arms around you in a tight hug. "I'm sorry," he murmured, his voice laced with genuine remorse. "I'm so, so sorry."

You nodded, hugging him back and resting your head on his chest, the tension evaporating as you both relaxed for the first time that day. "I am too."

Harvey gently pulled away, cupping your face with a tenderness that said everything he didn't know how to. "We make a good team, you and I. I can't lose that."

A small smile formed on your lips, unable to hide the fact that you shared the sentiment. "Me either, Harvey."

With this admission, he gently leaned down to kiss your lips, a longing present there as you kissed back.

[wanderer-six]

BAD BATCH HEADCANON - Showing Affection

A/N: I'm doing these to overcome my irrational fear of doing bad batch headcanons and people thinking i have wrong opinions on them LOL i am such a baby QQ

These are just the ways I think the boys would most appreciate when it comes to showing affection or their fav sweet lil gestures! Enjoy ♥

Warnings: just a little spice for Crosshair but I think the rest is fine and sfw lol

WRECKER

His favorite PDA is obvi just smacking u with lula

Wrecker loves touching you so much all the time

Sometimes it's intentional--he'll wrap you up in his arms and kiss your head a hundred times

But sometimes it's just a subconscious response

When Hunter's going over plans, he'll just pick you up and set you on his shoulder, not even noticing he's done it

This is a common occurrence: he picks you up all the time just because it feels so natural to him

You're like a magnet for him. If he can hold you, he will hold you.

It's a little embarrassing to be hoisted into your boyfriend's arms in the middle of an important briefing, but you can't stay mad at him.

You're sure if you had the power to lift him into your arms so easily, you'd do it, too

ECHO

I think Echo wouldn't be a frequent PDA-doer for many reasons

He's very disciplined and seems more reserved than his brothers

But I think a little forehead touch would kill this man parentheses positive

If he needs to leave for a mission, and you rest your forehead on his and smile when you wish him luck, he will die!!! Parentheses positive!

It'll be all he thinks about while he's gone

It'd become something of a tradition between the two of you

Just a subtle and easy way to convey the way you feel about one another that would take hours to accomplish with words

I could see it becoming so important to him that he'd be unwilling to leave your side without it

Because if anything were to happen to either of you while you're separated, he wants to be sure you know what you mean to him

HUNTER

Hunter does not strike me as a prude Victorian maiden or anything

But I think hand-holding would be really special to him

He'd be happy to kiss you whenever, of course

But it's the subtle way his fingers always find their way to interlock with yours that is so meaningful

If your hands are smaller than his, I think he'd secretly be very sentimental about it--it reminds him that, even if you can defend yourself, he wants to be your protector

(Or, at least, someone you can count on if you ever get tired of being so amazingly capable)

It's also something of a sweet gesture from him, too

You know how often this man uses his hands--the way he can spin a knife with a blade so sharp you're liable to get cut just looking at it, the way he's always throwing hand signals

But he prefers to hold your hand, instead

He must like you, or something

don't tease him like that or you'll earn yourself some much more overt PDA than hand-holding

TECH

Tech doesn't strike me as one who'd be very into PDA

Not because he doesn't like it, or he doesn't think it's worthwhile

He's just busy thinking about lots of other stuff, and so it wouldn't come to mind as often

That's why whenever you lean your head on his shoulder while he's working, his poor heart can barely take it

You're comfortable enough around him that you're willing to just sit with him? And be close to him in a way that lets him keep fiddling away at whatever he's working on?

He is so in love!!!

It becomes routine for you to sit beside him when he's piloting the Marauder, or when he's looking up schematic's in Cid's bar, or really anywhere you can be near one another.

And once you lay your head on his shoulder, he lays his head on yours, in turn

To anyone else, it doesn't appear like much--but to Tech, it means the galaxy

CROSSHAIR

Crosshair strikes me as someone who says he's not into PDA

But you always find his hand on you in some capacity whenever you're out with him

Most often, he'll sneak his arm around your waist and rest his hand on your hip

You know better than to point it out--you're sure if you were to say anything, he'd pout about it

So instead, you always try to make it easier for him.

You'll stand close to him, keep your arms out of his way, even lean in a bit closer to him once he finally has his arm around you

It's a small and meaningful way for him to show that you're his, without invoking the torment of his brothers

(That being said, he's a lot less subtle when it comes to the regs)

(If you're out and about with him and a reg so much as glances at you, expect some very salacious, very obvious kisses on your neck)

A/N: I hope you enjoyed!! pls let me know if you wanna see more ♥

[m1ssunderstanding]

Get Back Rewatch 55 Years On: Day Two

Paul and Ringo cabaret duo au NOW!

Their collective bitter humor about the fan mag. I think George probably appreciates Paul getting into this sort of shit with him. Even if it is only on a surface-level. A reminder that the Beatles fame journey (something that's been hellish at times for George, enough to give him PTSD and other issues for the rest of his life) has not left Paul unscathed. That Paul actually does have feelings, however buried they may be.

Could even be that the appreciation comes out in the form of "I think your beard suits you. Man." Does the tacked-on 'man' mean a sort of "no homo" type qualifier? Or is it just an added endearment. I know we don't think of George as particularly inhibited, but it was the sixties. And of course Paul loves the compliment and has no idea what to do with it.

Can you all please thank Mal as he hands you your tea next time? Not that hard, guys.

Ringo's voice is so sexy. And I love how supportive Paul and George are of this very stupid song. If either of them had written it, they'd tear it to shreds, but it's Ringo, so we laugh along and enthuse about the sentiments behind the lyrics.

The communal bitching about EMI's treatment of them. As they should.

Oh goodness, it's the "Paul has an embarrassing crush" moment from that iconic post of @jeremy-hillary-boob He totally does and you should say it. "I never used to know what it meant". It's giving "girl pretends not to know how to hold her golf club so the hot guy will touch her".

I have a theory that some of their covers ~matter~ and "What do you want to make those eyes at me for?" Is the first one for me.

Okay this look right here that John is giving Paul? Not to, like, out myself as never having experienced pure love except from my own child or anything, but the only other place I've ever seen that look is on my one-year-old's face when I come get him from his nap. So ... "A lovely little baby, John was"

"If this boy dies, you're gonna cop it." Peak older brother behavior. He's joking, but he's also deadly serious.

In love with John trying to sing out of his range. He's trying so hard, you guys.

"Everybody had a hard year. 'well, I'm not sure, actually. Put [good year]." Same, John. Isn't it always that way? Hard. And good. He's such a genius lyricist. He just captures the human condition with such specificity.

Lol at Paul correcting John on the key of his own song (yeah, yeah, gimme some truth is secretly a colab but it's still a John song)

When they put a piano in front of Paul and John's instantly like "uh-oh, red-alert my beautiful boyfriend might not get captured perfectly from every angle" vs a year and a half later when he's bitching about Paul having too much screen-time in Let it Be. Well, you were part of the problem, babe.

I love George's way of teaching his songs. Whereas Paul was shouting key changes and counts between phrases, and John doesn't even bother to give any of that information, George is just softly singing "E, to F sharp minor. E to A." Beautiful. John and Paul, take notes.

Wonder if I'll get through a day without calling Paul a whore. Probably not.

John being instantly self-effacing after suggesting that genius little let's enhancement. "My mind can blow those clouds away" is actually much more original and thought-provoking, but John just makes fun of himself. Like. Just own it. You're John fucking Lennon!

The George/Paul convo (George talking, Paul hardly flinching) is so painful actually. Because from the outside, Paul's avoidance looks so condescending and unfeeling, but avoidance feels much more like 'Shit fuck shit dodge the fight, go around, don't react, don't engage, don't start something' and i really feel for both of them.

Let John do Help for gosh sakes!

"Not bad though. Good try, that. Johnny."

The part where Paul is looking just so exhausted, and he's actually letting it show, and then he sees the camera on him and hurries and tries to do a cheeky little Beatles head-shake and smile. But then he's really just too tired (and high) and he looks away and rubs his eyes. It was like watching an old circus bear. Those poor things.

And of course John's head snapping up like a little gopher when Paul says his name

[hellborn-bitch]

First Impressions

A continuation of Zira meeting Alastor, including their deal-making. I’m gonna call this another one-shot kinda ? Cuz it’s not really a chapter ? Idk lol

Again, this is entirely self-indulgent and I’m just kinda writing to write I don’t really have a formal plan to make this into a fic. Yet… ?

Alastor believed first impressions were crucial. He’d understood the importance when he was alive, and certainly did so in Hell. He took great pride in the fact a single glance struck fear into the hearts of any demon who dared to cross his path.

But this demon, this succubus, was different. She couldn’t be bothered to even feign fear of him. He couldn’t decide if he found it brave and admirable, or naive and ignorant to hold eye contact with the infamous Radio Demon the way she had. She was either unaware or apparently unafraid of his ruthless reputation.

Looking at her, her face full of disgust with what he assumed was a permanent frown, he found himself slightly amused. There was something to be said about unrelenting defiance, that he could almost appreciate.

Almost. Certainly not when it was directed to him, however.

“You’re looking at her.” She hissed, her tail flicking aggressively to punctuate her words.

So bold. So stubborn. This kind of blatant disrespect he would expect from the Vees, but from a Hellborn succubus, of all demons? Nearly the bottom of the food chain in Hell’s hierarchy and yet here she stood, brazenly defiant before him.

It was an entirely foreign concept to him, to have a soul so obviously beneath him act as though they weren’t. And it was perfectly irritating.

Alastor hummed in contemplation, mulling over how to proceed with his newest acquisition. “I trust you’ve already signed the contract then?”

His gaze immediately flicked to Asmodeus, as he cleared his throat to speak, “Actually no, that was to be done today to complete the uh… transaction.”

Alastor watched him flinch as the word left his mouth, and looked curiously over to the subject of said transaction.

She rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms with a huff, “Well that’s one way to put it.”

The utterance under her breath had gone unnoticed by the embodiment of Lust, but Alastor had heard it. He couldn’t help the dark laugh that gathered in his throat as he basked in her clear hatred for her current situation.

“Well then! I am more than delighted to draft the deal myself.” Alastor’s grin stretched, his eyes darkening with malicious intent. “I do love making deals, after all.”

Azira watched as his red eyes flashed and the odd static from before seemed to creep back into the room like a suffocating fog. She instinctively backed away in disgust, her face contorting to match the sentiment. This freak was becoming more and more of a problem for her.

Her eyes widened in realization, a new wave of energy washing over her as she pointed an accusatory finger at Alastor.

“Wait- if I haven’t signed any contract, then I’ve not been sold to anyone! I can’t just be acquired! He didn’t own me yet, and neither do you.”

Alastor watched as her face shifted back to familiar defiance, her eyes challenging him to find the flaw in her logic. Which, he could, of course. But oh, how he was enjoying watching her false sense of victory over him.

His pulse quickened in anticipation just thinking about her inevitable fall into his clutches, how delicious her disappointment would be. Asmodeus suddenly spoke again, interrupting his predatory plans.

“I’m afraid that’s… not quite how it works, babe.” He reasoned with her gently.

“What the Hell are you talking about?” She threw her hands up exasperatedly and shifted her weight onto one hip.

“No contract, no Overlord, NO DEAL.” She locked eyes with the Radio Demon when delivering the last two words, yet another challenge.

Asmodeus laughed nervously, and spoke instead to Alastor, “Could you excuse us for a moment? I just… need to discuss a few things with her.”

Alastor waved a hand dismissively, before turning it around to examine his claws, feigning disinterest. He was sure to keep a well-tuned ear, in the direction of the two demons, listening.

He watched Asmodeus pull Azira to the other side of the room, a massive hand on each of her shoulders.It was evident there was a bond between the two, but he couldn’t quite place the nature of it.

“Look… when we were still alone, there was a chance I could play it off and explain the circumstances to get you off the hook.”

He took a deep sigh and ran a hand through his multi-colored plumage. “But now the Radio Demon knows about it, and he smells the blood in the water. He is the last person to drop a deal that’s already been made.”

“BUT HE CAN’T-“ Azira was cut off by Asmodeus shushing her softly, a hand coming to cup her cheek.

Alastor watched, fighting his curiosity from winning over the discretion he was attempting. He couldn’t understand the dynamic between the two of them. Were they friends? Lovers?

Surely not…

Then again, he wasn’t exactly the best at deciphering between social and romantic cues. Or social cues at all. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, refocusing himself on his task of subtle eavesdropping.

Asmodeus spoke to her with a firm certainty. “You know I would never steer you wrong. This is still the better option. We both know that.”

“I don’t know that!” Azira retorted, “I don’t know a damn thing about him, Ozz!”

“But you do know who else wants you.” He said ominously, a reminder and warning at the same time.

Azira sighed and let her eyes wander across the room to begrudgingly settle on Alastor. He matched and locked eyes with her again. This time he found himself searching, though he wasn’t entirely sure what for. He saw two irises, one red and one white, holding too many emotions for him to process at once.

He could see the heavy cloud of disappointment.

He could see hatred. Or was it self-hatred?

He saw disgust and disdain.

But what he didn’t, or perhaps couldn’t see… was fear. Quite peculiar, he thought. Most souls would be terrified at the thought of being owned by him. Why wasn’t she?

He wondered what she thought of him. Wondered what sort of impression he had made on her, seeing as the only reaction he’d expected and grown accustomed to, was missing. Truly, he was at a loss for what to make of her altogether. The only thing he was sure of, was the deep seated drive he had to break her.

Azira turned to look at Asmodeus one last time, as if pleading for him to fix this. To stop her from being sold to the Radio Demon.

The Lord of Lust only offered her a firm nod in return, before disappearing in a whirl of flames. She was now alone with Alastor, with her new master.

“Now then!” Alastor broke the heavy silence with a misplaced cheerful tone. “ Azira, you will officially belong to me, once this deal has been made. You will come and go, do and say… as I command, when I command.”

Azira bit back the growl that rose in her throat at the sheer audacity this prick had. As if, she would ever be caught dead playing someone’s house pet. She didn’t offer a response, only hardening the glare she kept fixed on him.

“In exchange, I can promise your safety, and offer you a place to stay where I can… keep an eye on you,” he said with a smirk.

Her blood was boiling. She couldn’t possibly agree to this. Death would be better, she thought.

Maybe she could chase Ozzie down, change her mind and choose the option that resulted in her being murdered, instead. At least then, she could keep some semblance of dignity as she accepted her mandated punishment.

“Do we have a deal?” Alastor reached towards her once again, his unnaturally large hand beckoning for an answer.

“Fine.” She huffed, and tentatively extended her hand out to meet his much larger one.

That was all he needed.

A wide sinister grin split his face, neon green stitches the only thing still keeping it together. His eyes flashed to blood red, ticking dials; his sclera now devoid of all color.

The screams of thousands of trapped souls swirled around them, sending shivers down her spine. She could not see them, but she felt hands. Hands all over her body, pulling at her, begging her to help.

There was nothing she could do. She was one of those trapped souls now.

She gasped as a neon green collar formed around her neck. Her eyes followed as chains of the same glowing material linked together one at a time, until they ended in the closed fist of the Radio Demon.

She instinctively brought both hands up to tug at the collar, a pointless effort, she quickly found. Alastor watched as panic set in, her breathing increasing and eyes going wide.

He found it positively delightful to watch her squirm under the sheer idea of belonging to him. He wondered how long it would take to break that rebellious spirit of hers. To reduce her to nothing but a submissive pet on her knees before him.

Azira squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to whatever forces she could summon, that when she opened them this would all have been nothing but a horrible nightmare.

She kept them closed as she heard her captor continued cackling like some deranged beast. She felt a mist overcome her body, and tendrils of some force that felt both human and nonexistent at the same time. They wrapped around her waist and legs, lifting her off the ground effortlessly.

Her eyes were still sealed shut as she felt her body descend into nothingness, feeling weightlessly heavy. She could still hear the Radio Demon laughing, but the sound was no longer directly in front of her. Every direction seemed to echo his laugh back then her, a cacophony of cruel mockery adding to her sense of helplessness.

She so desperately wanted this to be a nightmare. It had to be…

It wasn’t until her feet hit something solid that she agreed to finally peek them open. Blinking rapidly, her eyes struggled to adjust to the harsh change in light, especially her left eye.

She quickly took in her surroundings, her hand instinctively reaching for the multiple blades she kept in holsters on each thigh. To the left there was a tall iron gate, behind it some kind of massive building atop a steep hill. As her eyes panned to the right, she caught sight of a tall figure moving in her peripheral vision.

She unsheathed a large dagger in her right hand, and plucked two throwing knives in her left, lunging towards the figure. The dark mass itself jumped, somehow seeming startled, before dissipating into the sidewalk.

“Now, now dear,” she heard an unfortunately familiar voice start. Two shadowy hands clamped around her wrists, forcing the angelic steel blades to fall to the ground with a clang.

She yelped in both surprise and pain, “Hey! What the fuck-“

“You won’t be needing these anymore.” Alastor stood directly in front of her, that same stupid grin still on his face. She tried yanking her arms free from the fists holding her captive, turning to see they were made of a shadowy mist rather than flesh and blood. She turned back to him to glare directly through whatever soul he may have had.

Alastor tutted, “Oh come now dear, you didn’t think you were rid of me, did you?” His voice dripping in a fake sickly sweet tone that made her stomach turn.

Azira let out an exaggerated groan, rolling her eyes and turning her head away from him, “I could only hope so.”

He laughed darkly before grabbing her face with one hand, forcing her to look at him, “Unfortunately for you, my dear, that will never happen.”

With every word he grew closer to her face, until she was only inches away from his cold red irises. “You belong to me now.”

She heard a growl come from the shadow behind her, but was unable to turn to see it. She gave a tentative tug at her wrists again, to which the shadow responded by squeezing tighter. She attempted to kick behind her at the shadow, before two more appendages wrapped around her ankles.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, her pupils constricting as her body took hold in its familiar fight or flight response. “Good luck trying to tame me.”

His claws dug into the sides of her face, opening her mouth ever so slightly. She took the opportunity and spat at him, a few small droplets landing on his cheek, “You’re going to need it, demon.”

Bringing his free hand up to wipe the offended spot clean, he refused to break eye contact. She was waiting for the laugh she expected to follow, but it never came. He only hummed in contemplation, as he searched her face for something he could use against her. Anything.

He was eager to destroy her hopes of escaping him. She was so sure of herself, to a fault, evidently unconcerned about the consequences of her actions. He needed to break her of that little habit. He wanted to watch as that veil of cockiness fell around her.

He had a feeling she would be a difficult one to crack.

But Alastor hadn’t become the all powerful Radio Demon by backing away from a challenge.

“Darling there’s no need to be hateful. I am merely the consequences of your own actions,” he drawled, very clearly enjoying himself. “You’ve done this to yourself it seems.”

He watched as her glare hardened, before softening as she averted her gaze. She seemed to be dissociating before his eyes, no longer present before him as she let his words sink in.

Ah… so he’d found it…

He sighed and released her face. She opened her mouth to protest, or send off yet another spiteful remark, but was quickly cut off by a shadow hand taking the place of its master's holding her face.

Alastor snapped his fingers, as an ominous green glow began emanating from his index. He swiped his finger across her lips in a loose zig zag formation, leaving behind a trail of glowing green strings.

If she had been able to open her mouth, a frustrated “What the FUCK?!” would’ve tumbled from her lips.

But she couldn’t. Alastor had quite literally sewn her mouth shut, held together with sutures of neon green energy.

“I was hoping we wouldn’t have to resort to such extreme measures, but it seems you’ve left me no choice,” he explained with an exaggerated sense of disappointment.

She didn’t buy it for a second, she could tell he loved it. The power he was lording over her and quite literally silencing her with. He was a sick bastard, who got off on making others subservient to him. She was beyond furious, but all she could do was continue to glare at him.

“Now that you’ve been successfully muzzled…” Zira growled and attempted to lunge at him, but was still held captive by the Shadow.

“… I do hope you can behave yourself if we release you. Can you behave, like a good little dear?”

She huffed, and rolled her eyes. Every cell in her body wanted her to fight and continue to be as difficult as possible. But the voice of reason she normally tried to block out, warned her otherwise. This was already going to be a miserable fate, but she needed to play her cards carefully if she wanted to avoid making it harder for herself.

She let her shoulders slump forward and gave a curt nod to the demon.

“Delighted to hear it! Or rather, see it. Because… you know… you’re not exactly on speaking terms right now,” he joked with a sick wink.

She audibly groaned. She would’ve purposely vomited on his shoes at that sad excuse for humor, had her mouth not been sewn shut.

“Now then! I believe it’s time we introduce you to your new home, and the many…” he paused, waving his hand in an effort to find the right word, “…colorful residents that inhabit it.”

She nodded again, and was pleasantly surprised as her arms and legs were released. She rubbed at her red wrists, sending an icy glare at the offending creature and sending it shrieking away into the ground.

Alastor rolled his eyes at his Shadow’s cowardly behavior, and extended an arm towards Azira. She looked at it and then back up to his face as if to say, “What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?”

He sighed and lifted it to her yet again, pleading for her to take the hint and allow him to escort her. “You may think me a monster… and you’d be right… but I am still a gentleman.”

She hesitantly looped her arm around his, unsure what to make of his gesture. He had sewn her mouth shut while some strange Shadow restrained her, but now he was going to provide a gentlemanly escort up a hill?

He ignored her perplexed expression, and directed his attention to opening the iron gate in front of him. He began walking up the path, Zira reluctantly hanging on his arm, headed towards the looming building ahead of them.

“Come along now, there’s lots to be done, dear.”

[spacexseven]

to let a good deed go unpunished

NOTE: for the anime-only's, there may be a few spoilers about tecchou below, so please keep that in mind. i and Hopefully this isn't too ooc lol :< still waiting for more tecchou content ^^ i'm spelling his name as tecchou here, instead of tetchō :>

REQUEST: general y! tecchou headcanons from @shumidehiro

CW: yandere character, manipulation, unhealthy relationships, obsession, jealousy, stalking

- an encounter with tecchou is an opportunity that is hard to come by outside of his work, since he's more devoted to his duty of upholding justice more than anything

- that's not to say it's impossible. besides, as long as he recognizes you share the same values as him, you'd easily make an impression on him, even if you didn't plan to do so

- due to tecchou's nature, he easily focuses on things that pique his curiosity or admiration. he can spend hours watching you display your sense of justice or leadership (much like the ants he watched without moving)

- while tecchou can be either a platonic or romantic yandere, his overall intentions are the same. he wants to protect you from the cruel, imbalanced world he's used to. he knows your beliefs can change in a moment once you realize the true nature of people, and doesn't want that to happen

- tecchou doesn't like lying to you or deceiving you. he's an honest person by nature and hates using force or mind games to get you to do something. since he believes sincere discussion is the best way to ease tensions, arguments with tecchou never get out of hand - most of the time he's not able to pick up on what you're feeling, nor does he stop to consider how you're affected as a consequence of his actions. in fact, he's surprised to know that you actually feel more paranoid than safe because of his constant surveillance - because unfortunately, as you'll quickly realize, tecchou genuinely believes his actions are helping you. you may be upset at his rigid rules but he only wants to protect you - he thinks you don't understand that his actions come from a place of good intentions, so while he's ready to hear out your concerns, it's impossible to get him to change his ways when they're so rooted in his personal values, and so he'll keep justifying his own actions to you. - tecchou feels responsible for protecting you from the evil intent of anyone else. due to this, he indirectly restricts your social circle so that all your friends are all either in the hunting dogs or involved with them in some way

- tecchou doesn't ever toy with you or harm you. however, that's not to say he won't hurt others...

- he revels in his ability to make any potential target tremble in fear from just his glare. and even if they don't back down from that, he has an array of methods to silence anyone who dares come in his way

- while tecchou doesn't consider himself violent, he's willing to dirty his hands to protect you. but at first, he doesn't actually consider hiding it from you

- it's likely a hunting dog member (jouno) would be the one to advise him about keeping it a secret. jouno's the one who explains to him that even if he was protecting you from who he deemed as 'evildoers', you'd probably not appreciate the sentiment

- in fact, you'd likely be horrified at the thought that tecchou would be so cruel as to harm someone who only wanted to talk to you. you could only justify tecchou's actions if you believed he was only truly apprehending criminals, which is ultimately why he makes sure you never catch him hurting someone else

- he doesn't want you to lose your trust in him, which is why kidnapping and imprisonment are also not in tecchou's plans; not unless he absolutely has no other choice. he fights off the evil from your shadow, and ensures that you are none the wiser

(softer hcs below that i felt didnt match with the rest)

- tecchou's not used to physical affection, but will quickly adapt to your preference. since he's physically a lot stronger than a regular person due to his modifications, it'll take him a while to figure out if he's holding you too tight or if he's hurting you

- he'll be happy if you want to join him while he's working out. whether you want to help out, watch or try working out alongside him, he'll appreciate the company

[em1e]

⠀ ⠀ ༝ i believe in the slow ride, so i drag your heart through the sand and snow

ハジメ // EVEN WHEN I'M NOT WITH YOU ⠀ ༝ ༝ timeskip!iwaizumi hajime ⠀ ༝ ༝ 1.1k words ⠀ ⚠︎ hbd iwa !! mutual pining, drinking, breakups ⠀— iwa’s never really been one to tell you no

iwaizumi hajime liked you. 

well, liked is a relative term, he thinks. he’s enamored by you - all heart eyed and mush in your palms when you touch him. 

and he thinks you might share his sentiment, from the way you’ve danced around him since high school. lingering touches, shared gazes when oikawa says something particularly annoying, small smiles and laughter reserved for him and only him when you’re alone. 

but neither of you seem bold enough in your feelings to make a move. 

so, instead of breaking the tension that seems to grow with each passing year between the two of you, you end up with other people. short relationships that never last longer than a few months, that end with you crying in each other’s arms because i really think i loved them. 

it leaves either of you clenching your jaw as you console the other, the numbing thought of i could treat you so much better lingering in the forefront of your minds. 

but it’s never the right time, never the right place, never the right day to bring it up, and neither of you do. 

it’s iwaizumi’s turn to hold you tonight. a break up with brad or blake or brandon really doing a number on you. 

“he just left, iwa! i caught him cheating and he didn’t even say anything.” 

you’ve always been like this after breakups - going through the motions like a changing mood ring. sadness, then anger, then sadness again, a sprinkle of vengeance if you’re feeling particularly upset. 

“that bastard’s gonna wish he never met me.” you’re frowning, glaring at nothing and iwaizumi can almost feel sorry for benjamin if not for the fact that he quite literally cheated on you. 

“let’s go out, iwa.” you say finally, shaking his shoulder, “i don’t wanna be home right now” 

you glance around your living room, scrunching your nose in distaste from the things braydon’s decided to leave in his haste to get away from your yelling. iwa’s never really been one to tell you no. 

“okay, let me message the guys.” 

you hop up with a small cheer, and it’s enough to leave iwa smiling as you leave to your room to get dressed while he pulls out his phone. 

iwa: You guys down to go out tonight? makki: sure what time mattsun: 👍 oikawa: have 2 check my schedule 

iwa: Like… in an hour? (y/n)’s getting ready. 

mattsun: so we have two hours. got it.

oikawa: i can make it then. tell them to wear something sexy ;) 

makki: don’t they have a bf lol 

oikawa: not anymore if we’re going out on a friday night

makki: good point. 

iwa: We’ll meet you guys at the club? 

mattsun: 👍

makki: 👍

oikawa: what is wrong with u guys oikawa: 👍

true to mattsun’s word, you come out two hours later all styled and pretty. any remnants of a broken heart were left in your bedroom, and iwaizumi can appreciate the fact that you look nice. you give him a small spin with a laugh when he’s been staring for too long and he clears his throat and prays his voice doesn’t crack as he speaks. 

“you look good.” 

“thanks,” you grin, grabbing your wallet and keys,“what did they say?” you nod towards the phone in his hand as you pat yourself down for your own phone. 

he shakes the device slightly as he stands, passing yours since you left it on the couch with him, “meeting us at the club.” 

“perfect! you ready?” 

he looks down at what he’s wearing, compares it to what you have on, and shrugs. his jeans and t-shirt will have to do, “sure.” 

༝ ༝

you’re probably four drinks down when you notice him. 

your now ex. brody? iwaizumi should really work on learning other people’s names. he noticed him when he walked in, even nudged oikawa’s side as if to say look what the cats dragged in, and word spread between the four boys quick - all realizing without you noticing. 

until now, at least. 

“iwaa. . .” you’re pressing into his side in the booth they’d laid claim to, fingers digging into his arm with a frown on your face, “went’a go get a drink ‘nd you won’t believe who bought it for me!” 

he knows who. he’s been watching you like a hawk since he walked in, arms crossed over his chest with a scowl that had oikawa say something about people will think you’re stalkin’ ‘em if you keep starin’ like that. 

still, he asks with a tilted head, “who?” 

“dylan.” you say the name with such venom, it almost makes him laugh, completely disregarding the fact that he was way off on what his name could’ve been. 

oikawa, ever the instigator beside him gasps, “no!” 

“yes!” you groan, leaning into iwaizumi’s bicep, and he’s glad he’s three drinks in - he can blame the flush on his cheeks on that, surely, “will one of you come dance with me?” 

iwa’s not the dancer of the group. in fact, anyone else would have been a better choice, but mattsun’s outside vaping, makki’s at the bar flirting with some chick who he claimed has big honkers (whatever that means), and oikawa . . . knows about iwaizumi’s growing love for you. 

the brunette practically shoves the both of you out of the booth, offering a grin when you giggle and iwaizumi glares. he props his legs up in the seat, leaning back against the wall with his arms behind his head, making himself comfortable and just as iwaizumi is about to tell him off, your fingers are wrapping around his wrist and pulling him to the center of the room. 

you arms wrap around his neck, and his own hands find themselves at your waist naturally. 

the world around you seemed to melt away as the two of you dance to the beat of your own music, swaying back and forth. iwa thinks he could die tomorrow and be happy just from the way you hold him, from the way you’re looking at him now. 

and then you smile at him, something small and cute, and iwa thinks then surely he has died and this is his own personal form of heaven. 

“you’re so pretty iwa.” you mumble out, words barely caught by him from the noise surrounding you. 

“ya think so?” 

you nod, one hand removing itself from his shoulders to cup his cheek, “very much so.” you confirm, eyes softening when he leans into your touch. 

that’s really all it takes to break any resolve he has left, fueled on by the few shots flowing in his system to lean down and press a kiss to your lips that holds the desperation of five years on his tongue. 

when he pulls away, you’re almost gasping, fingers tangled in the front of his shirt trying to pull him back in for more - 

and iwa’s never really been one to tell you no.

[differenteagletragedy]

omg I’m so glad I found your blog the hcs are so good and the angst is even better!

I was wondering what do we think cove would be like with a possessive mc 🫣 not like they don’t trust cove (they know he only has eyes for them) but they don’t like people even thinking they have a chance so they always have a hand on or stand close to cove in public and openly glare at people who try to flirt with him

Thank you so much!!! <3

-- Let's be real, Cove would love a possessive MC like this lol

-- Like full trust but also shutting down any advances from someone else. It shows you care!

-- And I don't mean this is like a weird unhealthy way, to be clear, because that's not at all how I read this either. He would just think it's very nice that you want everyone to know that he's yours and you're his.

-- He's clingy, so if you're clingy too then wowee, how fun and cozy and perfect for him!

-- I feel like he's the kind of person who's not going to understand if people flirt with him in a more subtle way. So if you're there to watch out for him, then he's going to really appreciate it, because he doesn't want other people flirting with him at all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You and Cove sat together on the beach, sharing a blanket and just enjoying the afternoon. You were back in the old neighborhood, having lived on your own for a few years, and you'd decided to spend some time at one of your favorite old haunts.

As you were talking, trying to figure out if you wanted to go for another swim or just stay put, a group of people started down the path to the beach. This particular area was usually deserted except for residents of the neighborhood, so it was a little surprising to see.

"Hey!" one girl called out when she saw you both looking over. You gave a polite wave, and Cove managed a "Hi."

The group set up their own space on the beach a bit further down from the two of you, but the girl who had greeted you kept glancing over. Cove was on the side of your blanket closest to them, and you saw her eyes roam his mostly bare body.

Instinctively, you reached out for his hand, intertwining your fingers and letting your hands rest on his thigh. He looked at you and grinned, understanding what was happening, and gave you a squeeze.

"She won't stop," you muttered to him, keeping an eye on the girl. "It's like she's shameless."

It was true -- the girl seemed to have certainly been trying to get Cove's attention. She would laugh loudly and look over to see if he'd heard her. She even stepped a little closer to you and slowly took off her cover up, revealing her swimsuit. When she was done, she looked back to see if Cove noticed.

He had not.

"Don't worry about it," he told you brightly. "Who cares what she's doing? I'm here with you, I'll always be here with you."

You smiled at the sweet sentiment, but still told him, "I care. It's disrespectful. We're obviously here together."

Cove looked back over, and accidentally met the girl's eyes. She gave him a grin, then started confidently walking over.

"Can you believe --" you began, about to get even more upset at the stranger's nerve, but your words were cut off when Cove suddenly placed his hand on the back of your head and pulled you in for a deep kiss.

By the time he was done, you weren't thinking about anyone else but him. He stayed close, pressing his forehead against yours, and his fingers were playing with the hair on the nape of your neck.

"What was that for?" you asked.

"Remember? I choose you and you choose me."

[jason-todd-fangirl-14]

So this is my first time writing anything on Tumblr so please bear with me while I try and figure out how this app works lol. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I’m probably going to do another part of this with other Batman characters (when I get to know more characters that is. I only just recently got into DC and Batman in general so my knowledge is either pretty basic or not a lot). Anyways, without further ado, this is how I imagine the Batfam’s hugs would be or feel like while they hug the reader. Let’s start with an individual who’s most likely to actually hug someone, and that’s…

Alfred Pennyworth 

Let’s face it, the man is the kindest one there is. Aside from another character that I’ll get to next, he is the most likely to hug you. I imagine his hugs to be as warm as the biggest and fluffiest blanket. If you were sad, he’d definitely be the first one to comfort you, and once he knows you’re stable, he would make sure your comfort food is stalked up for whenever you're hungry. If you’re not much of a hugger, or not you just need to be left alone for a bit to figure things out on your own, he would still be there to comfort you, but from a distance until you’re ready and approach him first. He won’t hesitate to comfort you, in any way that he can. 

Dick Grayson

This boy would hug the actual life out of you when you're sad. It’s just going to happen. For your sake, let’s hope you’re also a huge hugger, because there’s nothing Dick hates more than seeing someone upset and hurting. His hugs will most likely just happen out of nowhere, and it will be instinct for him. Like one single tear falling, lip trembling, and or head tilting downward, he’ll just react and hold you close. Even with the slightest silent or non-silent reaction from you, and he’ll just assume something isn’t right, and being the caring, kind and good guy he is, he’ll be there to support you in any way he can be. He wants you to know that he’s in your corner, wherever and whenever you need him, and he does that through physical touch, but sometimes his obsessive affection can be very overbearing and a bit much. Just know that he loves and cares about you, and wants the best for you, and just wants to be there for you. 

Bruce Wayne

Bruce is probably one of the last people to want to hug you, let’s be real here. Hugs and comforting people are extremely hard for him due to his traumas and constantly pushing people away. He doesn’t hug a lot of people, generally others have to be the ones to initiate it first because he won’t. He’ll definitely notice when something is wrong or when someone is sad, he is the world’s greatest detective after all, but he’ll feel awkward and maybe even uncomfortable at the thought of hugging someone, but after some urging from Alfred and perhaps Dick, he’ll come around. His hugs will most likely be tight, and stiff, as he’s unsure if he’s even doing it right, but the sentiment is there, and it’s sweet that he’s trying to comfort you anyway, even if he doesn’t know exactly how. 

Tim Drake

This boy will either hug you in two ways. 

1) He’ll be so sleep-deprived that he’ll just cling to you so willingly and fall asleep, or 2) he’ll be in such a rush to get work done that the hug feels forced and honestly, a bit unpleasant because there’s no equal participation. It’s not exactly his fault. Tim is naturally a workaholic, and feels the need to prove himself worthy of being apart of the family. He doesn’t dislike hugs, he just hasn’t ever really experienced them much, and doesn’t have much experience on how to hug correctly. The boy’s a genius, but his knowledge of doing such a normal humane part of life is extremely low. Your best bet is to get him off the laptop, and teach him how to hug and if he happens to be sleep-deprived, it’s best to hug him until he falls asleep because chances are, that’s the first time in awhile he’s actually rested at all. 

Jason Todd

Jason, I imagine, is a strange and even unexpected case. Like Tim, he’s never really had many hugs. Given this, he’s very inexperienced, but I also imagine that he’s extremely touch-starved, but that part is secret, because he had a reputation to uphold. The one day you came to him needing a hug, it surprised you how tight he held you against him. How willing he let you hug him, and how he willingly hugged you back, almost like he needed it as much as you did. After that day, you decided to test him, and went around randomly hugging him to see how he would hug you every time, and he hugged you with pretty much the same level of tightness and gentleness as the first time. It was a relief really seeing how much he has grown and how he let those high walls drop, letting his vulnerable side show, and you were proud of him for letting it. 

(Older) Damian Wayne

Damian is another example of Jason and Tim’s hugging inexperience. Seriously, somebody needs to hug these guys more often. (A/N I volunteer as tribute!!)  

Anyways. Back to little Dami here. Damian has only ever known hatred, violence, and murder, so obviously he has never known about love or affection. The first time you ever hugged him, he accidentally punched you, because he wasn’t expecting it. You knew he didn't mean to, so anytime you went to hug him, you warned and/or asked him first. Eventually, he allowed you to hug him, mostly out of courtesy for you (also after Alfred insisted he’d tried to let his guard down and let people love him). I imagine his hugs to be extremely stiff, almost like if you tried to hug a cat who was not at all affectionate. It would no doubt take awhile for him to warm up to hugs, so it would be best to just give him a bit of affection a little at a time, because once you scare him away, all the progress would have been in vain. Even if he doesn't want to admit it, he actually doesn’t hate hugs, but he would never say that, ever, and it would be wise not to tease him about it because that would be how he gets scared away from it. It would be rare that he would ever come to you for comfort, but I can’t imagine it would be impossible. An example of him coming to you for comfort is if he was having problems with his father, or his brothers, or if something would happen to all of his plethora of pets. Also if he watched a sad movie of an animal dying. Other than that, the chances of him running to you for comfort would be rare, so hold him close if he lets you, because he most likely won’t let his guard down to let you do it again. 

So, how do you guys think I did? I hope it was somewhat accurate to their characters. If anyone has any advice for writing the Batfam characters, please let me know! I imagine that these were more if the reader hugged these characters romantically (excluding from Alfred, ofc), but I’ll let you guys decide for yourselves. Again I might make a part 2, but with some other characters (I’m thinking platonic for the girls, Barbara, Stephanie and Cassandra, but I’ll have to do a bit more research on them before I’d try to write one of these for them, as I would hate to accidentally screw up their character, I’m really not confident that I did these guys well but too late now).�� I also want to try to make platonic Batsis and Batmom content at some point, because I think it’s fun to mix stuff up then just writing romantic x reader content, but that will probably be a bit before I try to tackle that. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed and have a great rest of your day, evening, afternoon, whatever time you're reading this. I’ll see you next time :)

[hughiecampbelle]

Succession Preference: Tattooed Baby Sibling

Requested: Hi! Hope you are well! Idk if you're taking requests atm, feel free to ignore this if so! But I was thinking of a preference for The Roy Siblings. In which the reader would be their baby sibling, but they have A LOT of tattoos and maybe how the family reacts to them or or how they deal with that part of their sibling? - anon

A/N: I love this!!! I only have about 30, so idk if I qualify as tattooed person just yet lol, but picturing this is fantastic! Thank you for requesting my love!!! Feedback is always appreciated 💜💜💜

Connor comes from a different generation. He's not used to seeing tattoos in the professional world. Knowing this, you keep yourself pretty covered until you can't. It's at Caroline's wedding you shed some layers, letting your skin show in the heat. He's taken aback. He knew you had a few, but you're covered now. You catch him staring, unsure of his emotions, ready to defend yourself like always: they won't stop you from getting a job, they're a freedom of expression and art, they make you feel more at home in your body, some are just funny and others far more sentimental, that it's your money and you can spend it however you want, etc. Instead though, he just gives you a small smile. "I like the one by your elbow, kiddo." He has a lot of questions, like what does it feel like to get them and why you gravitate towards them when others, like him, feel no need. He knows you get enough judgment from your mother and father. He's your biggest brother, he loves you no matter what.

Kendall doesn't really understand them. Like Connor, he has questions, though you're often reverting back to your childhood self when you answer them: totally defensive. You're busy showing them off to Kerry when you catch his attention. There are a few fresh ones, still raised and irritated. It makes his skin hurt just looking at it. You're completely covered now, working on filling in the gaps. He doesn't see the appeal. He thought, like most "phases", you'd grow out of it, but these things are permanent. Forever. It's a big commitment he could never make. What if he likes something today and hates it tomorrow? You assure him you've never felt that way, but if you ever do, it's something you liked once and that's enough. He makes some not so great remarks about professionalism and what happens when you get older, but they're all out of big brother concern. Eventually you tell him that they've never affected your ability to get a job and that they'll look cool just like they do now when you're older. End of discussion. He doesn't hate them, but he doesn't think they're great either, especially you being his baby sibling. He'll never approve.

Shiv has always wanted to get a matching tattoo with you. Something small, delicate, tasteful, probably on her ankle. You make plans for this, but it never happens. You can never agree on what you want. You urge her to hurry up since you're running out of space. She loves them, she thinks they're really cool and also a huge middle finger to your father. You're always eager to show her the newest ones. She wouldn't expect anything less from you. You've been drawing on yourself since you could hold a marker. Every time you came home from school covered in ink your father would order either one of your siblings or one of the nannies to scrub you til skin came off. He barked that this was unacceptable behavior, but it never stopped you from doing it again. Now look at you. She doesn't hold the same fears or beliefs as your brothers. She's under the belief that if it makes you happy, truly happy, and it doesn't kill Logan, then it's fine. Why should anyone try to stop you? It's a tattoo, that's all.

Roman is the least bothered by them. Why would he care? It's not his body. He calls Connor and Kendall old men for being so uptight about it. Does he make fun of you to no end about them? Of course. Oh no y/n, a Chipotle bag threw up all over you! Looks like you've still got some unused space right. . . there. Where's Waldo am I right? If I can find the end of the maze do I get a prize? He has a habit of poking fresh tattoos and feigning ignorance, too. How am I supposed to know what's new and what's not? He also loves to point out new ones to your mother and father, who both despise them. Oops, did I do that? He runs away before you can hit him. He understands, while also an aesthetic thing, it's about pain, too. There's something satisfying about the needle that you can't get anywhere else. That noise, the constant poking, the radiating ache. He gets it. You all have to do what you gotta do to get by. A need to go back, this inner wanting for the pain again. It's socially acceptable and you get permanent art to go along with it. Win-win.

[campbyler]

hey!!!! i am so excited for the new chapter drop, and i just wanted to offer some insight into why people might have gotten frustrated last time with the delays even tho you owe us nothing lol. i think it was about information rather than the fic itself… so maybe instead of pushing the drop day back by one day (repeatedly if need be), a whole week, or two week, pushback at a time could frustrate people less... then if it's ready sooner than that, it'll be a lovely surprise for everyone who wasn't expecting it for another week or two!! plus you guys would be giving yourself like an extra week to chill and finish it instead of the pressure of just 24hrs, (which is nothing what with real life etc) and you could even have a few days off before dropping it if you DID finish it early, cos no one would be any the wiser!

just an idea, that's what i'd do i think and that's how deadline pushbacks often work at my college so i thought i'd share :) hope that's not presumptuous :) you might already be doing this who knows :)

hello hello we are super excited for it as well!! re: your insight — we totally get why people are annoyed by delays, because it definitely is frustrating to look forward to something and constantly have it delayed, especially a little bit at a time and multiple times in a row, so trust me when i say that we fully understand that and wouldn’t be pushing it back by these increments if we didn’t think it would fully be done by a certain time. the 1 or 2 day delays for ch9.2 in particular were 1. made when there were only about one day’s worth of edits left to be made on 9.2, so it was a very reasonable guess to us, and 2. extremely circumstantial and unexpected. thea was very very close to being done but stuff kept coming up, like her being too physically tired after working her shift (her schedule is all over the place usually) to keep editing which she didn’t think she would be, or getting delayed at work for hours, or the one time we got that one anon about ch9.2, thea had been actually and literally swarmed by thousands of people at her job and simply was not in the mood to hear someone complaining about a chapter being delayed by another day or two. there also is something to be said about how we’ve seen people complain or get annoyed when it’s pushed back by a longer period of time in advance, which we have also done, so it leaves us kind of trapped between a rock and a hard place — do we overestimate and have people complain, or do we try to give them shorter term update goals and still have them complain?

we fully get why it’s frustrating and aren’t pushing it back little by little in order to be difficult, but either way, we just don’t think people should be in our inbox vocalizing those frustrations to us. they can even complain in dms to their friends about it, we don’t care! we appreciate the sentiment and the insight and we do try to give reasonable estimates for delays as much as we can, but honestly we just don’t really want to hear if people are annoyed 🤷🏽‍♀️ it’s not helpful or productive to us in any way and we would just prefer it stay out of our inbox and out of our sight overall

[aeithalian]

……you MUST know I want your director’s cut thoughts on a shard or two lol xoxo MJ/kiwiana-writes (my kingdom for asks from sideblogs)

OOOOH hehe hello MJ i keep seeing you pop up reccing a shard or two and just know that every time i see it, i send up a little prayer that your pillows are cold on both sides.

ANYWAYS (most of my followers on this blog aren't RWRB fans but who cares) a shard or two is definitely a weird fever dream of a fic. I read the entire book in like 24 hours (this was just before the movie came out, so less than a year ago) and I, having a strange interest in politics, was like 'hmm, you know what? not enough politics'. So now we have a shard or two. I've always had a interest in politics and I always felt weird about being that person who has a strange in-depth knowledge about the US government, but I think writing the fic helped me think about politics in less of a pessimistic way, like 'here's what I would want to see in modern-day politics'. It also kind of raises the philosophical question of how good people function in a corrupt system without being corrupted themselves, and Alex is such an interesting character to play with on that front because I view him as so idealistic that he refuses to be corrupted purely out of spite and stubbornness.

So, that's how it got started, I think. I told myself I wasn't going to start another WIP while I have one going for a different fandom, but here we are. I originally intended for it to be way shorter than it was (here I was thinking last October that 20k was an insane length for chapter 1, and then chapter 3 ended up being 100k all put together), but it's been such a fun passion project and a real stress-reliever for some reason, and a great way to develop my writing. Somebody in the comments asked me if I write professionally (I do not, and I likely never will, but I appreciate the sentiment).

As for director's commentary, I'm just spitballing here but I have so much fun stuff to share so here ya go.

I know there's this whole debate in the fandom about whether or not Alex goes into politics post-canon, like either go into local politics or start his own firm or whatever, and I generally don't see a lot of people saying that he would go into upper-level politics like he does in the fic. Very rarely do I see any post-canon fics that delve into what Alex's future career might look like if he ran for any office, so I kind of just did it myself, as one does. I do remember seeing CMQ say on their Instagram that Alex wouldn't run for president, but he might run for governor of Texas, but I kind of pulled a Harry Potter fandom and ignored the author (sorry not sorry), but I did make a reference to it early on in chapter 3 for anybody who's looking for any easter eggs). Regardless, it's very fun writing a Gen Z politician who gives no fucks (Alex is Gen Z, I'm taking no critiques on this). I'm so excited for people my age to start running for office. We're going to kill it, I feel it in my bones (you won't catch me up there, but maybe in some health policy behind-the-scenes work, who knows).

The names for the characters were a ton of fun to come up with, and I tweaked them all the time, but here are some tidbits behind some of them:

Edward McKinney's (opposed the amendment in chapter 2 and was Alex's opponent for the Democratic nomination in chapter 3) last name is a play on William McKinley (the 25th US president) to kind of bring this mindset to the table that McKinney is exactly who your stereotypical politician is who would run for president.

Pinkley's name is also a reference to Charles Pinckney, who ran for president in 1804 and 1808 as a Federalist. For no particular reason. I was just having fun with it.

Treacher's name actually comes from the word 'treacherous' because I originally intended for him to be way more of a villain than he ended up being, because I thought it would be interesting to have a political opponent who isn't necessarily an enemy.

Aksel Wolter's (the guy who overthrew my man Onderburg for the Baltonian presidency) name was originally going to be Signe Wolter, but then I saw a cool TikTok that compared some enemies throughout history and saw how similar their names were (George Washington & King George, Jesus & Judas, Obama & Osama, etc.) so I thought it would be cool to have an Alex and an Axel, but the spelling was too similar so that's how we ended up with Aksel because that's also a way it's spelled in northern Europe.

Erik Onderburg's (you know who he is, RIP 😈) original name was Henrik, and that got all the way into the published version of chapter 2 (he's mentioned towards the end), and then when I was writing the first scene of chapter 3 and realized that Henrik and Henry were way too similar, I had to change it.

Ellie (full name Elena) is named after Ellen, with a bit of a Hispanic twist. I think Alex and Henry's deal was if they had a girl, they'd name her after Ellen, and if they had a boy, they'd name him after Arthur. I like to think the middle name would have been Orion either way.

Hunter Weaver (the in-universe replacement of Anderson Cooper) has nothing to do with WASPY Hunter. That was a total coincidence and completely unintentional. But, hey, if you want to believe they're the same person, go for it.

All the research in there is legit! Wikipedia has been a fucking godsend for election results and facts about government structures outside of the US, but it kind of sucks trying to relay stuff into two decades in the future. You never know what kinds of issues are going to be important in 20 years, so I actually kind of avoided that problem by just relating it to some of our current issues today: queer rights, specifically in trans communities, election fraud, 3rd party candidates, human rights issues (ikyk) and so on. And the makeup of NATO, the UN, G20, etc. haven't changed because I can't see into the future.

I also had to do a surprising amount of math? Trying to figure out dates and stuff was way more difficult than I anticipated, especially for election results and percentages, but I realized I really don't need to pull out my TI-84 calculator for a fucking fanfic, but I'm also terrified of the prospect that somebody will correct me on any of my math or research so the calculator stays. It makes for some funny moments, though, like when I realized that if Alex actually ran in the 2040, he would really have Teddy Roosevelt beat for the post of 'youngest president' by, no joke, 3 weeks. So that's kind of fun (and how I firmly decided to have that be the timeline of things).

I write most of the speeches the characters give myself, but I use chat gpt to get me started sometimes (the product is always pretty bland, so it's really just a reference for structure), but I use real-life speeches for reference too. For example (and a bit of a sneak peek), in chapter 4, Alex is giving a speech to the UN General Assembly, and I lifted a couple phrases directly from one of Obama's speeches.

Writing this fic on google docs was a terrible decision. When i was writing chapter 3, the entire word count was well over 160k and the software was getting so laggy every time I needed to control f something for reference. So chapter 4 and beyond is currently being written in a new google doc. Speaking of which, having to switch all my formatting over onto ao3 with chapters this long is a pain in the ass. 0/10 do not recommend having to go through each chapter and fix the formatting every time just because I wanted to have fun little article inserts.

I was going to make it smutty and then i chickened out. i deeply apologize for my cowardice (i've never done smut before).

I guess if you want a couple sneak peeks for chapter 4, I can do that too 😜

If this next chapter had a motto, it would be "every president has their tragedy". Yes, that should probably scare you. (honestly, I'm a little nervous to write it too, just because I know it's pretty dark but hey, if Disney can show Mulan killing 2,000 Huns in an animated children's movie, then I can tag this as mature and not be worried about traumatizing people, okay?)

If it had a theme song, it might be 'Fourth of July' by Sufjan Stevens or 'Abstract (Psychopomp)' by Hozier. (Don't be scared, you'll be fine, because if the chapter after that had a theme song, it would be 'Dog Days are Over' by Florence and the Machine)

So, all the chapters are titled with 5 stages of career development (completely arbitrary, I worked off Indeed's for a while and then I said 'fuck it'). Stage 1 was Establishment, stage 2 was Maintenance, stage 3 (spanning ch. 3 and 4 on ao3) was Advancement. So stage 4 (ch. 5 on ao3) will be Obstruction, so take that how you will. But stage 5 (ch. 6 on ao3) will be Resolution, so that should make you feel better. They're sister chapters, so although the conflict itself is resolved in chapter 4, the lasting changes and long-term effects of that conflict will be mostly featured in chapter 5 (which, honestly, is the one I'm most excited to write because I feel like it's that moment when Alex really grows into himself).

And a little fun knowledge just for you: there's actually going to be a stage 6 (ch. 7, on ao3). I was going to surprise readers by adding on a chapter after I publish stage 5 with a 'psych! you thought this was over, suckers'. Stage 6 is titled 'Reflection', so I'm planning for it to be about how Alex leaves office dealing with the idea of his own legacy and accomplishments (but as I teased in Stage 3, he won't actually be 'done').

I think that's all I've got in me. Chapter 4 is in the works, but it's taking way longer than I'd like (I've only just started part 1 😬) since I started a new job that's kind of sucking the life out of me. I'm very excited to share it, though! I'll be sad when it's over (maybe I'll do a missing moments oneshot series after, who knows).

director's cut ask game