#i thought i posted this earlier but i just saved it to drafts

[sophieebridgerton]

bbc sport said that man is fucking old

[cerealbishh]

"I don't know what I thought being an actor was gonna be but I didn't expect, I think, the gift of building a whole tool belt for my life."

[dawnthefluffyduck]

Sunday doodles

[moonydustx]

Am I really late with all the requests? Yes. Would I have peace until I wrote Law's angst with his daughter that I mentioned here? HELL NO

---

The diagnosis

Law x F!Reader (but the main focus is Law with your daughter, Rosi)

warnings: angst, a lot of angst. Hurt/Comfort. Mentions of Dressrosa's arc, F!Reader and the crew are in Zou. Rosi is around seven years old, a child still learning to deal with feelings. Some things may be non-canon.

a/n: I've had this idea saved and drafted since I posted pt.01 of Law x F!Pregnant!Reader and as I had a few minutes left today, I decided to take them out of the draft.

requests here | rules and guides | masterlist

Comments, reblogs and likes are greatly appreciated.

Perhaps not even the heavens knew how long he had waited for this moment. How much he feared that this moment would never come.

The path guided by the vivre card seemed further from what he imagined, tireless steps in a direction in which he was guided. But Law knew what that racing heart in him meant, the sweat on his hands, the anxiety on his body. He had managed to return to his family.

Law barely had time to prepare himself before he saw Bepo run towards him, his body immediately bent to support the weight of the huge bear on top of him. He couldn't deny it, he was happy to see the crew again and they were an essential part of the family.

The small makeshift house in Zou was more than enough for you and Rosi, in addition to the crewmates who sometimes stayed there to provide some help or company. However, this time you could hear a commotion outside, something atypical for the time of day. Still wearing a kitchen apron, preparing lunch for the two of you - three in this case, Ikkaku was distracting Rosi outside and would definitely be invited to join you, you tried to reach the knife you had used earlier. The tool stopped being necessary as soon as you saw the person you most looked forward to seeing enter right behind Bepo.

"Law?" your voice barely came out, barely kept up with the speed of your thoughts or your body throwing itself against his. "I was so worried!" at that moment, your voice was already breaking with the tears held in for so long.

"I'm sorry for not giving you any news." he began, pressing your body tight against his and filling every bit of skin he could find with kisses. "I missed you so much."

"Hey, where's the little one?" Bepo asked, looking around. You let go of your husband just enough to answer him.

"She and Ikkaku had left, but they should be arriving soon." Turning your attention to Law, you took his hand and guided him to the table. "I know you must be tired, but I need to know everything that happened."

Even though he was tired, Law knew he owed you that. Crewmates had given a little preview of your situation as soon as they saw you arrive. "And you just took a good ton off your wife's shoulders." The phrase still danced in his mind as he recounted his solo adventure in a more superficial way.

It didn't take long for the story to be interrupted again, but this time, with a little comfort for Law. Rosi's laugh reached his ears even before the girl appeared in his field of vision. However, something felt off.

"Daddy?" The laughter seemed to disappear as soon as she found her father's figure sitting at the table.

"My little princess!" Law got up excitedly to go towards her and saw her retreat and go behind Ikkaku and then run away to go back to the yard.

"Rosi!" Your tone of voice, despite not getting any louder, became firmer and all it took was an exchange of glances with Ikkaku for her to help you and go after the girl.

You could feel the gazes of the other companions burning in your direction and even Law analyzing you in a way that you knew he had doubts, but that would be for later.

"So… Luffy helped you?" Penguin tried to return to the topic and you could notice your husband continuing the conversation.

A much less interested tone of voice than before accompanied the small glances he took towards the door, waiting for his little one to return.

At lunch time, Ikkaku managed to bring the girl back and together, they had lunch. You and Law were still able to exchange topics between you, but you could both notice that the girl only exchanged words with Ikkaku and just moved the food from one side to the other.

"Dear?" your sweet voice tried to call her and you could see her eyes shining towards you, identical to Law's. "What happened? You barely ate."

"From what I remember, it's your favorite dish, isn't it?" Law added, having noticed the same thing.

The girl just looked at him and then at the plate. A small, barely audible "yes" left her lips, before she could push the plate away and leave the three of you adults behind at the table. The sigh coming from you was audible at the same time as you put your hands to your face and clearly frustrated, you went after your little girl.

"Captain?" Ikkaku caught his attention, who seemed still inert in the scene he had just witnessed, with a small murmur from him, she knew she could continue. "I know you have your worries and I bet you arrived tired, but…" she indicated where you were sitting at the table. "It wasn't just Rosi who didn't touch the food."

"What have I missed in this time away?" he asked immediately, seeing his crewmate get up and touch his shoulder, gently.

"It's been a difficult time captain. Your girls will soon be completely happy again."

Law had this dizzying thought in his head throughout the afternoon. Knowing that you were busy with Rosi and that his doubts would likely remain in the air, he sought out the second group of people he might know.

"I need help." Law arrived at the small circle, warning the other three that they were starting to walk in an unknown direction. "Can you help me?"

"We're going to have a drink, but speak up, captain." Shachi encouraged, throwing his arm over Law's shoulder.

"Have you lost the knack of seducing your own wife?" Penguin tried to do the same and ended up being pushed away just like the other one.

"Nothing like that. I want to know what happened to the two of them while I was away. What has been happening to my wife and daughter." Almost tangibly, Law felt the air become heavy and his colleagues' expressions became more serious. "I knew something had happened."

"You should ask your wife." Shachi insisted.

"No." Bepo interrupted. "We know she won't tell everything and that she and Rosi have been at it for a while."

"What happened?" Law said more rudely, he was no longer anything more than a bundle of worries.

"In the first few days, Rosi suffered a lot, I think it was a lot of different things all at once. But there was the small incident with the vivre card." the bear began, receiving the captain's full attention. "We know that at some point you were on the verge of death and well, they noticed."

"What do you mean they noticed?"

"Do you think a wife wouldn't look at the vivre card of her husband who went on a practically suicidal mission?" Penguin pointed out as if it were obvious. "We were all together and trying to calm her down. Rosi wasn't home, so we didn't worry too much.

"Fuck." Law murmured, suspicious of the direction that story could take. He remembered giving her the paper as a way of reassuring the girl. The plan had apparently gone wrong.

"So, they both saw you kind of die and come back into their hands. Ikkaku was with Rosi and took her back home…" Bepo seemed hesitant to continue, but Law's incisive look didn't allow it. "She was desperate, as any child would be, I think."

"After that, Rosi became like this, more quiet in her own way. It's been a bit of work to eat, to socialize, she seems to be keeping everything to herself." Shachi took on a serious tone that Law wasn't used to seeing.

Shit, shit and a thousand times shit.

"Captain!" Law felt Bepo pull him back. "I know you must be worried, but it's good to cool your head before talking to them."

"I just want to show them that I'm okay." he insisted, but gave up. Leaning against the nearest tree and taking a deep breath, trying to get your head straight. "I'm a terrible father."

"I do not think so." again, Shachi's rare serious tone appeared. "If it was, they wouldn't have missed you so much."

Night fell and Law hesitated a bit before entering the house again. He was the one who had caused the strange atmosphere, he was the one who was making his girls barely eat. How to live with that?

As soon as he entered, he could see you collecting some dishes, alone in the kitchen. Taking slow steps and being careful not to scare you, he wrapped his hands around your waist, letting his face sink into your neck.

"I know I have some things to retract." he murmured against your skin, placing a light kiss. "I know I owe a lot to you and our girl and I know I gave you both a real scare."

"Babe…"

"I'm sorry." he asked and found your eyes flooding, just the mention seemed to hurt you again. "Forgive me"

"I understand well how vivre cards work, but I won't deny the scare." you chose to leave most of the drama out, turning to him and watching Law dry the few tears that were running down your face.

"Our babygirl doesn't understand, does she?"

"Our babygirl doesn't understand." you agreed. "I talked to her today, she says she feels kind of sick when she's around you. I said luckily her dad is a great doctor. You should go talk to her." you insisted and saw him nod, but remain still, just taking in what to expect. "Honey, she's fine. She's just trying to deal with everything that happened. She loves you unconditionally."

"I-I'll go there."

It was like when he found out about your pregnancy or like when he held little Rosi in his arms for the first time. The nervousness, the insecurity of seeing little Rosi again.

He leaned against the doorstep and for a few seconds, he saw her distracted with some drawings on paper. From afar he could recognize Bepo, you and the others amidst the scribbles.

"Hey!" he tried to attract attention in a pleasant way, seeing the girl startle and look in his direction. "It's okay. Can I stay here for a little while?"

"Yes Dad." she replied in a low tone again.

Dodging some toys on the floor, he walked over to the bed, sitting down and looking around. It wasn't as crowded a room as hers at Polar Tang, but it felt cozy. Next to her pillow rested the small plush he had given as a gift, which was next to her hat - identical to his - and a photo of the two of them, taken in a park that Rosi made Law go to absolutely every attraction.

"Your drawings are cool." he tried to start a conversation and saw her nod. "Your mommy told me you haven't been feeling well."

"Yeah, I feel weird." she limited herself to punctuating, not knowing how to put into words what she felt.

"Come here so I can take a look." Law asked and stretched out his hand to her.

Rosi approached and letting his medical instincts guide, Law analyzed the girl from top to bottom, eyes, throat, everything within reach of his eyes. However, he could notice that the girl avoided looking directly at him.

"Let me see… Is this right too?" He squeezed her sides, tickling her. For a brief moment, Rosi allowed herself to laugh, but then pushed Law's arms away. "My love, tell me what you're feeling."

"I don't know." she murmured, her eyes looking away from him again.

Gently he took her small chin between his fingers and turned her towards him.

"You know you can trust me, don't you?" he asked and saw her nod, her bottom lip trembling slightly. "Explain to me in your own way, what you're feeling."

"Here, it feels like there's something here and it's burning, like it's stuck." she pointed to her throat and then to where her little heart was. "And here, sometimes it feels like someone is squeezing really hard."

"Squeezing hard?" he touched gently, feeling the girl's accelerated heartbeat.

It was a complex diagnosis and if Law didn't know what had happened - and how much love his relationship with his daughter carried, it would have been impossible to discover. But, he had a brief hunch.

"I think I know what it could be." he said, with a small smile on his lips. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." she nodded along.

Law held her small hands and brought them to his face, just like he did with his hands. As soon as she did, he could see her lip tremble even more. Poor little girl. What had he done to leave her without information?

"You can feel my face, can't you?" he asked and she nodded. "And you can feel me too, can't you?"

Law lightly squeezed one of her cheeks, trying in vain to get a laugh from the girl. He didn't know if he could handle the girl's tears.

"Now I want you to take a deep breath, like this…" he breathed in and saw her do the same. Soon after, he exhaled and saw her repeat the gesture too. "Can you keep doing that while daddy talks to you?"

Again the girl nodded, now her eyes seemed focused on every movement Law made. Trying to reassure her, Law let her take a deep breath before starting.

"I know I scared you and that you saw my vivre card disappear, I know you thought I was gone." Just those words were able to bring a few sobs out of the girl and Law would be lying if he said that his own eyes weren't burning. "I know that a lot has changed and that I wasn't here to help you. I wanted to apologize for that. Forgive me, my little princess?"

Rosi, who was already just sobs and tears, allowed herself to cry again after a while. Law didn't hesitate to hold the little girl in a hug, his eyes that used to burn now shed tears without hesitation.

"I - I thought y-you weren't... y-you weren't c-coming back." the girl said through sobs, each one breaking Law's heart.

"You and your mother are the most important things I have in my entire life. I would never leave you." he explained, seeing that it only made her cry even more. "I promise never do that again."

"Do you really promise?"

"With all my life." The girl's crying still seemed inconsolable and Law wondered for a brief moment how much hurt she had held, how many nights she had gone to sleep thinking that her own father would never return. "It's okay my love, I'm here. Daddy promises to never leave you."

In the distance, you could hear the crying and small words of reassurance exchanged between the two. Little by little, your little family was getting back on track.

As soon as the crying stopped, Law could see the girl's eyes get heavy and it didn't take long for her to fall asleep. One of her arms tied to his as if to prevent him from disappearing from her sight. Her diagnosis was almost as simple as the one he had given himself: she just missed him, the same as he missed his little girl.

[cal-flakes]

╰┈➤ “i’ve got you..”

warnings: mentions of depression, restricted eating, descriptions of drug misuse.

summary: y/n can’t think of any other way to alleviate her pain. (this was a request, but i accidentally posted it instead of saving draft so the ask is gone.)

four days, it had been four days since rafe last heard from her, and he was starting to get anxious. the last time he saw her, she looked as though she wasn’t really there, more of a hollow shell than she’d ever been. he knew why, he knew she was spiralling, but she’d never disappeared on him like this before.

four days was a long time for them to not see each other, let alone not even exchange a phone call. rafe knew she needed some space, he knew she preferred to be left alone when everything came back up, and he was okay with that, as long as he knew she was okay. but this time, he didn’t. he had no clue.

he’d left phone calls, voicemails, texts, but to no avail. sighing, he swept a palm over his face in frustration, making the decision to just go over there.

he knew she’d be in, barry had called him a couple hours earlier to let him know he’d seen her on her way home from her shift at the wreck.

topper had also called him the day prior, having been to the wreck for some lunch with his mother. he took notice of her gaunt face which lacked colour and any sign of emotion. he made sure afterwards to pass this information onto rafe, letting him know she didn’t look good at all.

and it was true, she didn’t. she hadn’t been taking care of herself like usual, y/n couldn’t even remember the last thing she ate. she had no energy to wake up in the mornings, never mind eat and look after herself.

she settled on coffee and energy drinks to keep her going through the day, and then allowing herself to dissociate for hours when she got home.

the last few days y/n had been on autopilot. wake up, go to work, come home, go to sleep…it felt like it would never end. the pain in her chest only grew when she thought about it.

she never thought doing a deep clean of her apartment would be so detrimental. coming across an old photo of her and her late brother as kids certainly wasn’t on her to do list, and have it uproot her life for the next few days wasn’t either.

she missed him dearly, not a day went by when she didn’t think about him, her big brother. and it hurt. it hurt so much to the point she was now trembling, looking at the crumbling pills in her hand.

they were old, but they were the next best thing compared to sweet nothingness. utter bliss, is how her friend had describe them to her when she bought them a few months prior.

her friend was somewhat of an expert when it came to downers, he knew his shit, and she trusted him not to give her anything that was too much or too little.

falling back against the couch, allowing the pills to slip down her throat with a sip of water, she waited patiently for them to kick in as she stared at the television.

rafe on the other hand, was on his way over, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel restlessly. he’d finally given in to his worries, too anxious to keep his promise of space.

he just had a bad feeling. sure, he’d seen her in all sorts of states before, she’d been through a lot, so he was bound to experience the highs and lows. but this, this was different. y/n had never shut him out like this before, and his stomach was doing flips every minute.

the range rover screeched to a half outside of her apartment building, the patter of rain echoing throughout the car as it landed on the roof.

pulling out the key, he twirled the bunch in his hand nervously before getting out to head inside. fortunately, her apartment was only on the second floor, so there wasn’t too many stairs to climb.

all measures of privacy were thrown out the window as he neared her door, pulling the spare key from his pocket.

he took note of the lack of noise in her apartment, hearing nothing but the television on an unusually low volume. it was eerily uncommon for y/n to not have music and the television on, as well as whatever devices she had in use in the kitchen.

his heavy footsteps padded through the hallway into the open living room where she sat, completely unaware of his presence. “y/n?” no response.

rounding the couch, he planted his feet in front of the television, causing her to jump at his sudden appearance. “y/n?” he asked again, his usually confident tone faltering.

“r-rafe…what…here?” she mumbled, her eyes flirting between him and the floor, barely open.

his mouth fell agape as he really took in her appearance. her cheeks were hollow and her eyes were unusually glassy, which was unfortunately familiar to him. he’d seen the same look in others eyes, completely catatonic.

slowly, he moved towards the couch, sitting down beside her to get a better idea of her current state of mind.

her head turned slowly to face him, still slumped against the back of the couch as a weak smile flashed across her lips.

“have you taken something?” he questioned, leaning closer to observe her. her head shook ambiguous, almost not answering his question as she reached a hand out.

looking down at her open palm, his jaw clenched as his eyes met the white residue left on her fingertips. “how many did you take?”

her hand trembled as she signalled a two with her fingers, her eyes now avoiding his.

pulling her in gently, he rested her head against his chest, his other arm reaching over her hips to pull her closer. she sank into his arms as he stroked her hair, pressing the odd kiss to the crown of her head.

“i wish you’d let me help you angel, i’d have been here in a heartbeat if i knew you needed me..” he muttered, his eyes now welling with hot tears.

tilting his head, he lay his cheek on top of her head as she rubbed hers against his chest, a silent nudge that she was listening.

her free hand clasped around his elbow, weakly pulling his hand from her head, his brows furrowing as she did. his confusion subsided as she interlocked her dainty fingers with his.

her eyes remained fixed on the television as they held each other, scared the other night fade away if they let go.

“i’m not going anywhere baby, ever. m’kay? i love you so much..” he whispered, a few stray tears seeping into the roots of her hair.

she nodded slightly against his chest in agreement, letting out a breath as he shuffled on the couch, moving to lie down. pulling her further onto him, she nuzzled into his arm as they lay there together, sharing silent tears.

“i love you y/n, more than you’ll ever know…”

[realmsalot]

Oh, How Forgetful Of You

"Did you see him," Caryn asks, breaking the heavy silence. "Did you see him before he died?"

"Yes," he answers truthfully. She already knows that it him who asked Stanley to come up here.

"Did ya two talk?" And he knows what she's hoping for. He knows what she's hoping he'll say.

Yes. We worked it out. We talked things through. We apologize to each other. He died knowing his twin loved him.

He doesn't have it in him to lie.

--------

Or my take on a reverse portal au. Enjoy :)

Edit: So this isn't done yet. I was writing this on Tumblr mobile and thought I saving this in my drafts when app decided to post it! So now I guess this is sneak peak for a really long oneshot I'm working on. So enjoy I guess. I will appreciate any feed back on this. Don't write your fics directly on Tumblr.

Edit Edit:

Started posting the actual fic. It's a chapter fic now. Ao3 link

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

It's a cold March day in Gravity Falls. There's a fresh layer of snow on the ground glistening in the cool sun. And yet, the signs of the upcoming spring are as clear as the current sky. The snow is a mere inch on the ground, no where near the hight it was earlier in the year. There are starts of new growth on the deciduous in the area and songs from a few individual birds of migrating species that came back a tad early.

It's a beautiful day.

Even at a funeral, he acknowledges that. He's pretty sure everyone else there does as well.

Stanford Pines stands in front of an empty grave, with a hallow coffin waiting to be put in by its side and staring at the name of his twin brother etch on the headstone.

He knows that the death date on the headstone is wrong. It says that his twin had died last week, when the Stanley Mobile had careened off a cliff and was later found with no body inside. When he sent it off that cliff with a cut of the breaks, a quick hot wiring of the car and the heaviest chunk of firewood he had on the pedal. Stan had loved that car. Ford remembers the face - the smile that Stan had when he first bought it at sixteen. He remembers Stanley shoving him into that car for the first time before they went for drive, where they drove it way too fast with the windows down and shouting kings of New Jersey at the top of their lungs to celebrate. Ford remembers the last time he got in that car, screwdriver in hand, and looking around for just a moment and seeing stolen motel bedding on the back seats and trash on the floor consisting of fast food wrappers, bags convince store snacks, and losing lottery tickets. Stanley had lived in that car.

And now, thanks to Ford, the only things left of that car are a burnt pile of metal in the dump, the license plate sitting on a table in his cabin, and an old photo he stole from the drivers visor.

The death date on the headstone is wrong, but Stanford doesn't know what the real date would be. By the time Stanley had come, Ford was so paranoid and sleep deprived he didn't know what day it was anymore. But he should know. Ford should know the date. Ford should know the date he sent his twin brother to his demise. And he hates that he doesn't.

A hand touches his shoulder, and Ford is startled out of his recently encrypted head. He looks over.

It's Ma. And she's staring at the headstone, too. They stay silent for a while.

When Ford saw her arrive, he was honestly surprised she came alone. He thought for sure that she would somehow drag Filbrick or Shermie along, but no. She came alone.

The only other guest that came, aside from Fiddleford who came here for Ford not Stan, was an IRS agent. (And Ford is pretty sure he heard him whisper to the, "I know you're not dead," while glancing at Ford. )

Did Stan really have no one?

"Did you see him," Caryn asks, breaking the heavy silence. "Did you see him before he died?"

"Yes," he answers truthfully. She already knows that it him who asked Stanley to come up here.

"Did ya two talk?" And he knows what she's hoping for. He knows what she's hoping he'll say.

Yes. We worked it out. We talked things through. We apologize to each other. He died knowing his twin loved him.

He doesn't have it in him to lie.

"We talked," he starts. Scenes of that night flash in his mind.

Stan's face filling with hope as Ford talks about their old childhood dream. The way it fell as Ford tells he to sail away.

"We argued..."

I'm giving you a chance to do the first worthwhile thing in your life and you won't even listen!

"We fought..."

Stanley’s scream as he kicks him back dowases the anger for a moment, and Fort starts to apologize. And then Stanley punches him in the face, and it all comes back.

"And then he..."

Stanley had pushed over the danger line. Now all Ford can see is the fear taking over his brother’s face as he floats up to the open maw of the portal. And Ford stupidity calls out for him to do something. To not let his creation- his mistake eat him.

And Stanley does.

He doesn't doesn't hesitate to jump and push Stanford away from the portal. Consequently pushing himself in. And all Ford could do is watch as his self made monster ate Stanley.

"...he left."

It's silent again for nothing but a moment before Caryn starts to sob. She pulls Stanford into a hug that he weakly returns and she cries into the hand-me-down suit his father gave him.

Ford's eyes don't leave the headstone again until long after the mostly empty coffin is buried.

He had killed his own brother.

.-- .... .- - / -.- .. -. -.. / --- ..-. / .- / -... .-. --- - .... . .-. / .- .-. . / -.-- --- ..-

Stanford had contacted Fiddleford not long after Stanley went through the portal.

He needed help to finish the mind encrypter because it was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open and he knew that as soon as he closed them, Bill will come out and destroy it. He needed the mind encrypter to be finish and fast. He didn't know how much longer he could wait. So he went back to his ex-assistant, who (unfortunately) knows how to make machines that affect the mind best.

Ford was prepared to beg, having just lost a brother and just reached a breaking point that even his pride couldn't get to. But to his surprise, Fiddleford readily agreed. That was the second time that week someone whom he wouldn't want to see his again helped.

The mind encrypter got done in record time, and Stanford's mind was finally safe.

Then, for some reason, Fiddleford stuck around.

Then, for some reason, Fiddleford started acting like they're friends again.

[peachhcs]

feelings confessed

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

will and samy confess the feelings they’ve been dancing around for months at will’s draft party

2.3k words

here’s part 2 to samy and will in nashville confessing their feelings! comment or request what else you wanna see while i continue posting some blurbs and imagines from their timeline :))

au masterlist | part 1

so many people packed themselves into one of the many hotel conference rooms congratulating ryan, will, and gabe for going in the first round. large smiles sat on each of their faces with every person they talked to and thanked for flying into nashville for such a special occasion. samy and will lost one another when things started getting more crowded and people pulled the blonde away to talk. the brunette didn't mind, though. she knew will had to make his rounds and she'd eventually find him by the end of the night. the two always found one another later on at every party they were at together.

the youngest hughes stuck close to ryan's girlfriend most of the night knowing she was very knew to all of this and samy's done it three times already. the two perched themselves in one of the quieter corners just talking when ryan pushed his way through. he plopped down beside julianne, tugging his arm around her shoulder while samy sent the taller boy a smile.

"finally escape the questions?" the girl laughed making ryan chuckle.

"for a few minutes at least. there's an insane amount of people here. i don't think i even know everyone," ryan huffed out.

samy's eyes flickered across the large room, not even seeing will or gabe because they were lost in the crowd somewhere. "tell me about it. maybe it was a bad idea having a joint draft party?" the girl giggled and so did julianne.

ryan shrugged. "maybe, but we're saving money and we're killing three birds with one stone here," the brunette clicked his tongue along with a small wink.

samy rolled her eyes at the boy, shaking her head slightly. ryan and julianne began having their own conversation, so samy allowed herself to get lost in her thoughts for a bit. she couldn't stop thinking about the way will looked at her earlier. his eyes sparkled in a way she'd never seen before. something about the entire draft was different and she knew will knew it too.

"oh yeah, he's definitely down bad," ryan's voice pulled samy back into reality.

she glanced at him and julianne who snickered with one another. the girl raised her eyebrow, waiting for one of them to explain.

"will. he's so got a thing for you and you do too," ryan elaborated when he caught samy's expression.

her already rosy cheeks flushed some more. "i-i don't know," samy stuttered out nervously. believing it herself was one thing, but hearing someone else say it was completely different. it made it more real.

"oh come on, hughes. everyone's seen. we all know," ryan continued with a laugh.

julianne found samy's expression and the blonde knew exactly what she was thinking. "come on, don't be annoying ry."

"i'm not, i'm just saying," the brunette shrugged. samy just rolled her eyes and stopped entertaining ryan. she knew if she let him keep going he wouldn't stop.

"i'm gonna get another drink. you guys want anything?" samy stood, looking at ryan and julianne still cuddled up next to one another.

"i'm okay, thanks though," julianne smiled while ryan briefly shook his head.

samy began the journey back through the still tight crowd. she wasn't even sure where her brothers wandered off to or even her parents for that matter. all samy knew was that they were somewhere in the mass of people still talking and catching up with one another. she found her way to the massive drinks table, going for another lemonade and sprite mix.

will stood about five people down from where samy was talking with some of his old high school friends that flew down. as soon as the brunette got to the table, will's eyes glued to her. he'd been trying to find her all night, but anytime he got further into the room, someone else stopped him to talk for an hour. this time will was not letting samy get away.

"hey, sorry, mind if just..catch up with you guys in a second?" will didn't even really wait for an answer as he started pushing his way towards samy.

the blonde's eyes were locked in on the girl just a few feet away. samy didn't even see will until a tall presence came up beside her and her gaze quickly flicked to her right.

"oh, hey will," samy immediately giggled.

"hi. feels like i've hardly seen you," the boy smiled some, loving her little giggle.

"i know, you've been caught up with everyone," the girl motioned back to everyone mingling.

will's gaze scanned over the crowded room while samy's fell back on him. her eyes were glued to his slightly unbuttoned white undershirt where his tie and suit jacket got lost along the way when they got in. he looked good and what was once tamed curls were now going everywhere over his forehead and ears.

"it's kind of crazy, isn't it? all the people here," will muttered in disbelief still that all these people showed up for him and his friends.

"i mean..who wouldn't wanna be here for you, ryan, and gabe?" samy giggled a little and will finally tore his gaze back to her.

a little smile appeared on his lips with his flustered cheeks suddenly realizing how close they stood and the conversation that lingered between them. samy quickly got self-conscious under his longing stare, so her eyes darted away, looking at anything but will.

"would you wanna..maybe go somewhere quieter?" will got a little shy asking.

he searched samy's gaze that returned to his own, anxiously awaiting her response. her smile caused his heart to swell as it had been since october. "lead the way," the brunette said.

with will being taller than her, he easily surveyed the area trying to find the best escape path where they (hopefully) wouldn't get stopped by someone wanting to talk will up for an hour again. his search found a small path towards one of the doors that led into the hallways, so carefully, will reached his hand out for samy to take it so he wouldn't lose her in the crowd. the girl flushed as his fingers squeezed around her own and he began pushing his way through the adults.

the blonde's gentle touch had samy's insides doing somersaults. she's dreamed of things like this if her and will ever became something more than friends which was very likely by the end of the night.

finally, samy and will made it into the hallway without anyone stopping them. the two visibly breathed out in relief that they weren't stuck in the stuffy and crowded room anymore. samy's gaze found will's and a small laugh escaped both of their lips like reality just sunk in and will was officially a member of the nhl.

"feels like yesterday when we were kids and you talked with my brothers about getting drafted one day," samy drifted towards the large window at the end of the hallway.

they could see the entire city from where they stood on the fifth floor. will joined her a moment later, leaning against the windowsill. "tell me about it. i can't believe it's actually real now," the blonde mumbled.

samy's eyes were on him again, admiring his sharp jawline and gleaming eyes on the city skyline. "me neither. i can't believe we're not kids anymore," the brunette's smiled turned into a sad one.

the idea of their childhoods being far behind them now was a scary thought. how did they go from playing tag at the lake house to adults trying to find their way in the world? more importantly, when did those platonic feelings turn into romantic ones?

"come visit me at boston this fall?" will changed the subject after a quick silence.

"you know i will. i can't not see ryan and gabe for months on end," samy teased him a little, smirking.

will shook his head. she knew he hated when she made jokes like that. it became more obvious the past few months as samy slowly realized she had feelings for her best friend and his face hardened whenever she'd start talking about their other two friends whenever they were on call together.

"i'm kidding. i'll try to get out as much as i can with what my schedule allowed with soccer," samy answered more truthfully this time.

a grin spread across will's lips. "i except you out there every weekend," will joked this time.

"you know i would if i could," the brunette met the boy's wandering gaze.

the two held one another's gazes and a hundred thoughts ran through each of their minds. will's eyes flicked between samy's while her own glance did the same. the entire reason they stepped away from everyone was on the tips of their tongues, swirling around them. will opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again like he was looking for the right words. he broke their gazing, eyes back on the city below them.

"remember when ryan, gabe, and i drove out to see you at your senior homecoming?" will began almost nervously.

"mhm. it meant a lot that you guys came out," samy nodded.

will nervously pulled a hand through his messy curls. "for some reason, i hated seeing that guy have his hand wrapped around your waist. i didn't really understand why i was feeling that way, but all i knew was that i never wanted to see any other guy with his hand on your waist again like that," will admitted sheepishly. he probably sounded incredibly jealous and possessive, but he knew if he didn't say it now he'd never get it out.

a blush rose on samy's cheeks hearing will say that. she had a small inkling that something was up back in october, but back then, she couldn't believe will liked her like that, so she pushed every single one of those thoughts away. at least until senior prom rolled around and she was forced to acknowledge those feelings again.

"i had a feeling," the girl admitted softly.

will's head snapped her way so fast she swore he was going to get whiplash. "you did?"

"i mean..yeah. ryan also..he was talking to me about it like really vaguely..i kind of brushed him off at the time," samy shrugged lightly.

the blonde studied her for a few seconds before looking away again. "lean's always ratting me out," he shook his head with a small chuckle.

"yeah, he's got a bit of a loud mouth," samy giggled as well remembering how the brunette literally brought up will's feelings earlier.

"i never said anything because i just..i thought you'd never like me back," will continued, his voice falling quiet.

"well for the record, i do like you back. i think my feelings started at senior prom," the two began reminiscing on that night.

that night was probably will's favorite aside from this one now. he finally got his wish of taking samy to a dance and being her date. he got to have a small piece of a regular high school experience since all of his focus was put into hockey his last two years.

"i think i've been waiting for months for you to say that to me," will chuckled and met samy's gaze again.

"i just..i don't know. i was afraid to say something in fear that we'd ruin our friendship. i mean i'm still scared we'll ruin our friendship if things don't work out," the brunette admitted.

she knew if she lost her will as her best friend, she'd never forgive herself. he was the one person she knew she could always go to and if they lost that over some relationship, nothing would ever be the same and she knew will knew that too.

"what makes you think things won't work out?" will raised his eyebrow.

"i mean, i'm not saying things won't, but i don't know. you never know. i value our friendship above a relationship, you know that. i just don't want things to get ruined between us if things go south," samy shrugged. she was trying to speak realistically because if her and will tried dating and it didn't work for some reason, the dynamic between their families would get ruined. gatherings would become awkward and no one would enjoy the tension.

will understood. he knew he also couldn't lose samy as a friend because above everything, she was his best friend. his fingers drummed against his glass, mind racing, desperately searching for a solution to what was the hard parts about being best friends and having feelings for one another.

"what about a grace period? we go on some dates and see how it goes. if it's completely shit, we can go back to normal like nothing happened and nothing will be weird," will offered his idea.

even though it was quick, will caught the hesitation in samy's eyes. he knew her too well for her to hide anything from him, even if it was just a split second. "how can we know if we don't try, right?" because will desperately wanted things to work out between them.

he'd never felt such immense feelings for someone before and with samy, everything felt easier. the girl flushed under his stare, turning away before her entire face turned red.

"promise nothing will be weird if it goes to shit? best friends over anything?" samy held her pinky out. will quickly hooked his pinky around her own, nodding.

"i promise."

thus began samy and will's grace period as the blonde pulled her a tiny bit closer to silently request permission to kiss her. when she caught his eyes flicking between her own and her lips she nodded for a yes, he could kiss her.

the feeling of will's lips against her own was a feeling she'll never forget.

[cards-of-rose]

study tip!! how i write essays

going from a long, intensive classical education to my current history major, i've had to write a lot of papers. at this point, i can write a 5 page paper in a few hours, and just a couple weeks ago i wrote a 20 page paper in a single day. i graduated valedictorian with this method (current cGPA of 4.0!) so i thought i'd share how i write them! grab some coffee and settle in - it'll be a long post, but i promise it'll be worth it. :)

first, the topic. if you don't have an assigned topic, pick something that fascinates you, something that you could write pages and pages about. you will. if your topic is assigned, find something in it that you find fascinating. even if you find your topic completely boring, there's always something interesting to glean from it! once you find this, you'll gain motivation, and that's half the battle.

write down a basic outline. when i say basic, i mean barebones. just a vague, 3-point general idea of what you think you might write your paper about. this will guide you in your research! you don't need to worry about writing your full outline just yet.

sources. after you have a basic list of points, it's time to find sources! if they're already assigned, you can skip this step. most of the time they aren't, though. this is the most important part of your paper. you can go to google scholar to find really good academic journals and studies!

generally, the number of sources you have depends on the length of your paper! a good guide is that your amount of sources should number half the length of your paper. so if you have a 5 page paper, 2-3 is a good way to go. if you have a 20 page paper, you'll want around 10.

evidence. skim over your sources and categorize each one under the point you made earlier. this will mean you have a quick reference guide when you're writing, so you don't have to go through a big list of sources when you're looking for evidence! under each source, put a few bullet points talking about the info that you can use for your paper.

outline. this part may seem daunting. i promise, though, it's one of the easiest parts of the paper! you may feel tempted to skip it, but having an outline makes your paper sound better and makes it easier and quicker to write. use the sources and bullet point info you used earlier to fill out your outline. start broad and general, then add details as you do your research! your outline should be about half the length of your paper. don't worry about making it super scholarly - this is just for you, so make it as informal and easy to understand as you want! be stupid, throw in memes, whatever gets it written!

every outline should include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. i can go over the structure of an outline in another post, but remember the 3 points you thought up earlier? these will form your entire outline, and eventually your essay!

finally, write! open a blank google doc and view it side by side with your outline. once you get started, it's a lot easier to finish than you'd think, especially if you took the time to outline! this is when you can make your dumb outline into something that would make the ancient philosophers proud. don't worry about perfection. just write it as you go. you can edit it later!

quotes/evidence. once you've finished your rough draft, it's time to add the evidence! some profs want quotes, others want you to paraphrase. either way, go through your paper and put in the evidence you researched earlier. don't worry about citations just yet - just put in the link in a comment on your rough draft. it won't be hard to fix it up later.

edit!! please, please don't finish your rough draft and be done with it. you can save so many points by going over it again instead of submitting it in a rushed 3am haze. fix spelling and grammar, add citations and a reference page, edit for clarity, anything you need to make it sound like the best paper you can write! if you're proud of it by the end, you know you've done something right.

congrats, you did it!! make sure you start your paper early and don't wait till the night before - your grade will thank you <3

[wisteriaw0rld]

-ˋˏ ༻rengoku x reader༺ ˎˊ-

||synopsis: You waited years in the afterlife to see Rengoku again. He finally comes but he comes way earlier than you yourself had expected. He was finally in your arms again but at what cost?

||pairing: rengoku x gn! reader

“oh my heart it breaks, every step that I take.” -Lana Del Rey

You didn’t know how to feel. The love of your life was here with you again. Standing right in front of you with tears in his eyes. Part of you wanted to cry out of sadness. He didn’t deserve to die. The other part of you wanted nothing more than to hug him and cry tears of joy. He was finally here with you again. But it wasn’t fair, was it?

Demons were horrible creatures. They had been the reason you were in the afterlife in the first place. All because Rengoku couldn’t make it in time to save you after your village had been attacked by upper moon two.

He didn’t make it and for the three years you had been gone, he blamed himself for your death. He remained positive as always. Just as you wanted him to. 

“Y/n…?” Rengoku’s voice broke you out of your small trance as he had been staring at you as if you would disappear in seconds. Your bottom lip quivered as you stared back at Rengoku who was a few feet away from you.

“You didn’t deserve death.” You muttered as tears brimmed your eyes. Instantly, Rengoku ran over, enveloping you in a tight hug.

It didn’t take long for you to hug him back. The tears finally fell from your eyes as you let out choked sobs, clinging onto your lover tightly.

“You didn’t either..” Rengoku whispered, tightening the hug as a sad smile formed onto his face. 

A million thoughts races through your mind. The night your village was attacked, your whole family passed away. After your death, no one was there to mourn you expect Rengoku and Senjuro. They were the only people that knew you as everyone else passed away the same day you did.

When you had died, only one person lost you. And you were able to comfort him before you died. You told him to continue living happily without you. But the one person that crossed your mind was Senjuro. He had lost both you and his brother. It made your heart ache.

Rengoku pulled away from the hug, looking at your pained expression. “He’ll be okay. He’s strong. I taught him how to be strong.”

More tears escapes as you knew he was talking about Senjuro.  

Rengoku was finally here with you again. But it wasn’t fair. You felt horrible having him in your arms again. Conflicting feelings. You felt horrible but relieved. The mixed feelings were eating away at your mind.

Taisho Secret!: Senjuro, despite being absolutely devastated at his older brothers death, knew his brother must be happy to finally be with you again. And Senjuro was happy knowing his brother can now stop blaming himself for your own death.

a/n: something old I found in my drafts that I decided to post since I was too busy to finish requests today!

[smytherines]

Tasting History did an episode on wartime meals in WWII Russia and it got me thinking. So hear me out.

Let's say that Tatiana is born in 1937. In my own little headcanon that makes her seven years younger than Curt, and she would be 24 during the events of the show (or her parts in 1961 at least). It makes sense to me that she would be younger, having started as a spy much earlier in life.

This introduces the possibility of some interesting backstory here. I focus a lot on Owen in WWII era Britain because I've had a big interest in wartime/postwar Britain for a long time, so I just have a lot of that information in my brain already. I have to admit I do not know nearly as much about wartime U.S.S.R.

That being said, if we say that Tatiana was born in 1937, and if we say that she was from Leningrad, that would make her four years old (at the tender age of four she was an instrument of war) when the Nazis severed the last road to Leningrad, beginning the three-year-long Siege of Leningrad.

Leningrad, being a city, did not have victory gardens or livestock to sustain themselves, so food was almost entirely imported into the city. German troops had entirely cut off supply routes to the city. Roughly 630,000 people in Leningrad died of starvation from 1941 to 1944, and most of the deaths happened in the winter of 1941-1942

This introduces the possibility that maybe Tatiana was taken from her family, OR, perhaps worse for her-- she was given to the KGB, because the only other option her family had was watching her starve to death. What kind of effect would that have on adult Tatiana? Finding out that the family she thought she was stolen from had in fact given her up to keep her alive?

Originally, before Prisoner of my Past was in the show, Tatiana had a monologue there about having a lot of brothers (I think? I can't remember if that's from the commentary or a livestream though? Hopefully I have that right). So theoretically she was the youngest, and perhaps the only girl? The Soviets were already on strict rationing before the siege, with children getting the smallest rations, so even before the Siege she could have been starving. There's the possibility that, as horrifying as being a child assassin is, it may have saved her from starving to death?

I already had this picture saved in my phone for an Owen post that has been in my drafts for awhile, but here you can see Leningrad too, and there's just something that tickles my brain about the idea of both of those characters being just barely out of Nazi reach as children, and then working for BVN as adults (for their own purposes, but still)

[conundrumoftime]

Galadriel and Celeborn in earlier drafts of LOTR (part 2)

Previous: here

Starting off with a passage that exists in LOTR but not in the earlier drafts, because I think it's really interesting in the context of even later developments. This is the section where Galadriel is telling Celeborn off for snapping at Gimli:

Do not repent of your welcome to the Dwarf. If our folk had been exiled long and far from Lothlorien, who of the Galadhrim, even Celeborn the Wise, would pass nigh and would not wish to look upon their ancient home, thought it had become an abode of dragons?

Because Tolkien changed Galadriel and Celeborn's story and particularly Celeborn's origin so much (thoughts and prayers for Christopher dealing with that when you can practically hear the sighs in his editorial notes), I don't know whether Tolkien was thinking of him as the Sindar prince-of-Doriath Celeborn that he became later. But if he was - and even if he wasn't, just viewing this in the light of that version of Celeborn - this feels like quite a surprising thing for Galadriel to say, since his folk have been exiled long and far from their kingdom and his ancient home is now ruins beneath the sea.

From one of the Unfinished Tales 'History of Galadriel and Celeborn' versions:

In Doriath she met Celeborn, grandson of Elmo the brother of Thingol. For love of Celeborn, who would not leave Middle-earth (and probably with some pride of her own, for she had been one of those eager to adventure there), she did not go West at the Downfall of Melkor, but crossed Ered Lindon with Celeborn and came into Eriador. [...] Celeborn and Galadriel therefore went eastwards, about the year 700 or so of the Second Age, and established the (primarily but by no means solely) Noldorin region of Eregion. It may be that Galadriel chose it because she knew of the Dwarves of Khazad-Dûm (Moria). [...] Celeborn had no liking for Dwarves of any race (as he showed to Gimli in Lothlorien), and never forgave them for their part in the destruction of Doriath; but it was only the host of Nogrod that took part in that assault [...] In any case, Galadriel was more far-sighted in this than Celeborn; and she perceived from the beginning that Middle-earth could not be saved from 'the residue of evil' that Morgoth had left behind him save by a union of all the peoples who were in their way and in their measure opposed to him. She looked upon the Dwarves also with the eyes of a commander, seeing in them the finest warriors to pit against the orcs.

There's a brief addition to this in The War of the Jewels where Tolkien goes even further on that to say that in blaming the Dwarves, Celeborn was 'passing over Morgoth's part in this (by angering of Húrin), and Thingol's own faults'. Not mentioned, but definitely also prominent in the list of People Who Have Wronged Doriath: Galadriel's own cousins, who invaded and burnt it and murdered a lot of its people. Blaming unrelated dwarves by association when your Noldor wife is standing right there is well goodness quite an approach; but I'm also intrigued by the suggestion that he refused to blame any of it on Thingol.

Anyway my point for this post is that with Celeborn's Dwarf Issues being very firmly placed (definitely later on if not at the time Tolkien was writing FOTR) as because of Doriath, then it's an interesting choice on her part to ask him to empathise with dwarves wanting to return to their once-glorious kingdom that had fallen into ruin just to look upon it once again. (This is something I've played around with in fic before, the idea that while Galadriel is torn between 'home' as Valinor where she grew up and 'home' as Middle-earth where she spent most of her life, Celeborn can't ever go home to the place where he grew up - it's as gone as Númenor is.

Anyway! Back to the early LOTR draft, and Galadriel tempting the Fellowship/testing their loyalty/whatever you want to see her as doing here:

She looked at each in turn, but none blenched. Only Sam blushed and hung his head before the Lady's glance left him. I felt as if I hadn't got nothing on,' he explained afterwards. 'I didn't like it - she seemed to be looking inside me, and asking me whether I would like to fly back to the Shire.' Each of them had a similar experience, and had felt as if he had been presented with a choice between death and something which he desired greatly, peace, ease [written above: freedom], wealth, or lordship. "I suppose it was just a test," said Boromir. "It felt almost like a temptation."

LOTR version:

And with that word she held them with her eyes, and in silence looked searchingly at each of them in turn. None save Legolas and Aragorn could long endure her glance. Sam quickly bushed and turned away. [...] "What did you blush for, Sam?" said Pippin. "You soon broke down. Anyone would have thought you had a guilty conscience. I hope it was nothing worse than a wicked plot to steal one of my blankets." "I never thought no such thing," answered Sam, in no mood for jest. "If you want to know, I felt as though I hadn't got nothing on, and I didn't like it. She seemed to be looking inside me and asking me what I would do if she gave me the choice of flying back home to the Shire to a nice little hole with - with a bit of garden of my own." All of them, it seemed, had fared alike; each had felt that he was offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had only to turn aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against Sauron to others. [...] "To me it seemed exceedingly strange," said Boromir. "Maybe it was only a test, and she thought to read our thoughts for her own good purpose; but almost I should have said that she was tempting us, and offering what she pretended to have the power to give."

Gardens as Sam's temptation is also what the One Ring offers him, although that temptation is about Samwise the Great with a whole realm of gardens.

Which brings me to Nenya and the Three Rings for the Elven-kings.

This point in writing LOTR is also where Tolkien starts sketching out an origin for the Rings of Power and Sauron's connection to them. Origin stories considered include this one in which the elves made them but under Sauron's guidance:

In Ancient Days Sauron the Great contrived many things of wonder. For a time his purpose was not turned wholly to evil, or was concealed; and he went much among the Elves of Middle-earth and knew their secret counsels [...] [T]he Rings of Power were made by Elven-smiths, but Sauron was present at their making: his was the thought and theirs the skill

And this one in which Fëanor made them

In Ancient Days, the Rings of Power were made long ago in the lands beyond the Sea. It is said that they were first contrived by Fëanor, the greatest of all the makers among the Elves. His purpose was not evil, yet in it was the Great Enemy But they were stolen by the Great Enemy and brought to Middle-earth.

Christopher describes this as his father 'revolving the mode by which he should withdraw the Three Rings of the Elves from inherent evil and derivation from the Enemy', and talks about this in connection with this line of Boromir's from the first version of an earlier chapter:

"The Three Rings remain still. They have conferred great power on the Elves, but they have never yet availed themselves in their strife with Sauron. For they came from Sauron himself, and can give no skill or knowledge that he did not already possess."

But then back to Lothlorien, and a quickly drafted version of Galadriel's words to Frodo in which she says the Three were not made by Sauron:

Frodo offers Galadriel the Ring. She laughs. Says he is revenged for her temptation. Confesses that the thought had occurred to her. But she will only retain the unsullied Ring. Too much evil lay in the Ruling Ring. It is not permitted to use anything that Sauron has made.

OK I'm going to leave this one at that for now. Next time: Mirror, 'Many Partings', and the epilogue.

[kirbybecomesastarwarrior]

In honor of Galacta Knight's Birthday (which I am.. more than a week late for~), Guys, I wanted to post this earlier, but I just keep adding to the comic because I loved it so much~ as a result, I'm pretty much a week later & I highly suggest that you read these for context:

Mety & Gally, Bye Bye Mety , Let go what no longer serves you

Needless to say, but Spoilers! ON TO THE STORY!

Dame Morgan is pretty much a mix of Ursula (Disney's little Merimand ) & Eris (Sinbad) and this takes place a little after Kirby meets Galacta Knight

Scenario... So Dame Morgan & Galacta Knight a deal:

"I can break your curse, and you can take your revenge on this wretched galaxy...isn't that a great bonus! The world is so unfair is it anyway... why not get what you want for once...

And to show she's the real deal... she dispels him temporally so he can make his choice... he used to fight for the world, and the world was cruel, imprisoned unjustly, and turned its back on him, but...

And the little flashbacks GK recalling is when he was unsealed by MK when he met Kirby, and the first time he met Meta in person when they were kids.

Finding you again~

While Gala taught Kirby that some things are worth letting go of... Kirby teaches Gala that there are some things worth holding on to!

FULL CIRCLE MOMENT!

And Happy (Belated) Birthday, Galacta Knight!

I wanted to give you a win for his birthday. And it'll be a little while before I talk about Galacta Knight again, so I wanted to make it special and drop a ton of lore for him.

He really is an endgame character, for later, there's still a lot of mystery I'm setting up for him. And Galacta's Warpstar revealed which... HAS A HOLE IN THE MIDDLE!?: I'm just gonna leave that pie out in the window so you can all ruminate on that!~

Hope you all have a great day!~

(Keep Reading for lore/explanations & a bonus...)

(After someone battles Galacta Knight (and wins), he (GK) is given a small opening of clarity and sanity.) So when Meta Knight was first unsealed & defeated, but it's not during Marx's arc (Kirby Super Star Ultra)... But in KirbyPlanet Robot instead.

This is where he gives his whole speech, but when Meta hears that, he immediately goes:

OH HELL NAH! I'M NOT LETTING YOU SINK INTO THAT RUT I'M PULLING YOU OUT OF THERE WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!

Galacta Knight has always felt like he was written for "Meta Knight" in the canon lore (in Kirby Super Star Ultra) So that's how I approached him in the KBASW AU... His story very much mirrors MK's story.

Meta Knight himself has done the whole "sacrificial-isolation- thing... it was too dangerous for anyone to be around him, and he didn't deserve it..." and had to work damn hard to dig himself out of his rut... but he didn't do it alone ... (doing it alone just made it worse). He certainly wasn't gonna let Gala do that to himself.

Gala's curse makes his power unstable, and when he overloads, that extra power turns into anger & paranoia. This causes him to see everything and everyone as a potential opponent and threat. Only remembering the negative aspects of it.

So when Meta Knight challenged & reminded him that he drafted him & took him... he knew the maniac & insane version of Gala would hold a grudge against him and would go after him, too. It's also an invitation to Gala to see him again, keeping the door open.

Galacta Knight's character is meant to show how much Meta Knight has grown as a character. Using the things he's learned during his journey of self-discovery and applying that knowledge to save the friend he thought had long lost... And the roles of their youth have pretty much been reversed instead of Gala reaching out to Meta... It's Meta who's reaching out to Gala this time...

However, he does try to avoid MK, not wanting to accept it, feeling guilty, and trying to keep his sanity (by unleashing his raw power in empty corners of the galaxy)... But he can still feel his anger and can't help but be bitter... he can only do so much until he loses it again.

So yeah, our boy's still pretty much running... that isn't until he meets Kirby & has Morgan offer her deal to him that he's done hiding and seeks out Meta Knight (finally...)

The confrontation with Morgan serves as Galacta Knight's realization that he's not alone and he's done feeling regret & being upset. He's ready to get & accept help... and finally ready to let himself be happy.

And Morgan unintentionally (actually) helped Galacta Knight.

Also, I'd like to reveal more of Dame Morgan's dark magic:

She can't force anyone into a deal (trick, lie, and cheat, yes)... The subject needs to genuinely want it if not, it won't work. After all, the Jamaba Heart enhances a subject's worst desire (plus all the negative effects would go to her she... can't have that!) And that's also why she needs Galacta in a sane state to accept, too.

It's the main reason why she didn't chase after Galacta Knight after he refused... And I am very pleased that Galacta Knight is the only one who refused Morgan's deal! HORAY SHE'S BEEN THWARTED-

Okay, never mind, another character's getting screwed over... and now finally introducing the mirror world into the story KBASW au... Morgan is the reason why he has more of his vortex design... it's a result of the Morgan deal~

(What Morgan did to him... she pretty much used him as a guinea pig for what she was planning to do with Kirby In Last Midnight. Yeah, his story's pretty tragic...)

I also wanted to give DMK's reason for joining Star Allies to make sense and to be a lot stronger. But I also need a reason why Shadow wasn't participating in it (aline to the story canon). So this is why~

Once again, I know I revealed a lot, so... I threw in several more questions: (What's gonna happen to Shadow Kirby? Why does Gala have a hole in his warp star? How is Gala gonna break his curse!?" )

Questions I dare not answer yet! (PS Metagala shipper, feel free to use as shipping fodder) Love guys! ~ <3 I hope you enjoyed it.

[vidavalor]

Hey Vida, I have some milk chocolate sea salt caramels to share. *Passes the canister*

Have you written about this moment yet? I'm guessing it has come up but I can't recall specifics.

The time loop hypothesis that includes the idea that Crowley figures out what is happening and starts actively trying to influence things helps me understand why Crowley would say this - that he would despair after having been unsuccessful in every attempt he'd made to change the final outcome, to save Aziraphale's life. I know Crowley has some timey-wimey stuff going on generally, like his knowing the future and making all sorts of references to things that don't exist yet... I am very curious to know what you think Crowley's deal is and what is happening for him here.

...

Also, do you think Aziraphale knows from the beginning of S2 that he has fallen? I mean, the other angels refer to Aziraphale as a former angel and principality right to his face, don't they? I remember wondering about this the first time I watched the second series. I kept waiting for the show to clarify just what exactly Aziraphale's status was...

Well, this is a more oddly worded question than I remembered. One cannot simply be "a bit of" a fallen angel wtf game are you guys (gn) playing at? Leave that perfectly frosted cinnamon roll alone!

...

Also, I am still full of so much anticipation wondering what I asked you last time! I am positive it had to do with innuendo lol

Hello to you, my fave @iammyownproblematicfave! 💕I am SO sorry about the other Ask-- I determined you asked about the innuendo in the "very nice" scene & I'm going to whip you up a batch of etymology around the insanely complicated history of the word "nice." It got lost in my Drafts folder for a little while there and I overlooked it-- will remedy that shortly! Here's thoughts on these questions and thanks for asking.

On Crowley, time & "too late" and Aziraphale, fallen angels & heavenly rank under the cut.

First, time loop idea and Crowley's "too late" comments... So, anything is possible, right? That said, I don't think it's a time loop because I think there are scenes that explain why Crowley says "too late" at the end of that episode. I wrote about how it ties to unicorns & Wee Morag a bit in another post and I'll link it at the bottom of this one.

Basically, Crowley's anxious in that scene where he threatens Gabriel and then says that "it's always too late." Crowley's memory is iffy-- he admits as much to Gabriel later in S2-- and even if he was lying to Saraqael and/or Furfur about not remembering them, we know he struggles to recall all of his memories from when he was an angel. One memory that he felt confident about was the one he told Beez earlier in the season-- that The Book of Life is bunk that he and Beez made up to tease some of the more innocent angels. It is likely that this memory of Crowley's is correct. I say that because Beez seemed to think it possible when they heard it-- but then Beez felt like a fool at the thought that they'd been threatened by Heaven with something that didn't exist and that they themselves and Crowley made up. They doubled-down and insisted to Crowley that The Book of Life was real.

Crowley suddenly thought that Beez might be right because, hey, they'd run Hell for so long, they'd know more than he would, right? He starts to doubt his own recollection and he rushes back to the bookshop to help protect Gabriel as a way of protecting Aziraphale because he now is terrified that Aziraphale could be erased from existence if he is caught helping Gabriel. He doesn't want to tell Aziraphale that Beez reached out to him because he knows Aziraphale is sensitive about the fact that none of the angels have talked to Aziraphale in years and that their only source of intel is a demon with a thing for Crowley (Shax) so Crowley doesn't ever tell Aziraphale how scared he is about The Book of Life. Meanwhile, even though Gabriel is basically on their side now, Crowley can't exactly ask him if it's real or not because dude only knows Buddy Holly songs for basically the whole season lol.

So, in addition to worrying that Aziraphale is spiraling (because he is) and that helping Gabriel could mean that Aziraphale is risking his mental health and a fall, Crowley is also now terrified that Aziraphale could be made to have never existed. It's on his mind so much that he growls at Gabriel in that episode-ending scene that Aziraphale could be "risking his existence" for Gabriel and then muses about how it might be "too late-- it's always too late..." I don't think this is a time loop indication. I think it's a reference to other times Crowley has said "too late" in the past, like the unicorns and when Wee Morag died. It's about how it might be too late for him and Aziraphale and they might be running out of time and be on a collision course with death while not knowing it-- like how Elspeth never saw the fact that it was her last night with Wee Morag coming. It's Crowley's anxiety talking. Crowley thinks it's too late to turn back now because they're already helping Gabriel and Shax is sniffing around and they might be nearly out of time.

Crowley does have some time-related stuff happening in his story and the ability to control it but it seems to me more likely that Crowley's ability to remember that he has control of it has been taken from him in the present in S2 than it is that he's in a time loop. In the disaster kiss scene with Aziraphale, Aziraphale is really obviously signaling to Crowley a request that he freeze time. (It's obvious to us, I mean-- Aziraphale hid it from The Metatron by curving his hand.) He was trying to get Crowley to do what he did on the tarmac in S1 when he stopped everything and took them and Adam to a little time out cloud to help Adam figure out how to deal with Satan.

Crowley, though, just kind of stares at Aziraphale, even though this is literally one of the most recognizable hand signals on the planet. He also didn't just do it himself at the start of the conversation. If I were the villains, I'd be damn sure that Crowley didn't remember that he could freeze time after S1 and Crowley was gone all night before this scene (which he also doesn't seem to totally realize, no matter how many people around him keep commenting on how it's now morning.) The story, to me, seems to be suggesting that the Crowley & time stuff in S2 is that he doesn't recall that he can control it.

re: Aziraphale and what his angelic status/rank is in S1-- the cherub/principality/"you've been a bit of a fallen angel" bit...

When Michael and the other angels corner Aziraphale in S1 and Michael says that they've been learning some "disturbing things" about Aziraphale and that he's "been a bit of a fallen angel", the disturbing things are, imo, the photos of Aziraphale and Crowley that Michael has dug up. (Hypocritical much on Michael's part? Their phone chats with Ligur? That Gabriel knows about and lets them get away with but Michael wants to go after Aziraphale for having a relationship with Crowley? Yeah. Gross.) Michael and Uriel are threatening Aziraphale with a fall in the scene when they corner him. Uriel says "and don't think your boyfriend in the dark sunglasses will get you special treatment in Hell." They're using their power to threaten to cast him out as a way of trying to intimidate Aziraphale, which is another way of showing how political falling is and how it's all kind of b.s..

A demon is a fallen angel, by definition. That's the definition of a demon. Heaven has socialized angels to believe that the demons are all evil-- that they're devout followers of Satan and horrible people and to associate with them is to sully yourself with their satanicness and all that lol. In reality, there are some evil demons-- Satan is evil, Ligur was pretty bad-- but there are also some evil as fuck angels... The Metatron at the top of that list. In reality, the demons are the angels who put notes in the metaphorical suggestion box. They stood up and spoke out and questioned things. They're the curious, free-thinking "troublemakers" whose questioning of authority threatened to crumble The Metatron's power so he reacted by ostracizing them. He made a sense of the demons being "other" and evil. He invented Hell and banished them all to it-- lumping curious rebels like Crowley in with evil like Lucifer/Satan and using them as examples of what happens to those who dare to question. There really is no such thing as "a demon"-- there are just angels who have been told they're no good and that they've been cast out and are part of the collective owned by and working for Satan.

In S2, we get another bit of info about a fall when Gabriel falls. The Metatron can't send Gabriel to Hell like he would other angels because he did that once with Lucifer/Satan-- the last one to have Gabriel's job before Gabriel-- and once is "a good story" (meaning, once is a cautionary tale that keeps angels in line) but twice would suggest "an institutional problem"... twice would cause a rebellion. Twice would show that the problem is really Heaven. But, The Metatron has to do something with Gabriel, so he's going to erase Gabriel's memories (he tries to before Gabriel enacts Operation Fly and saves his memories thanks to Beez) and cast him down to a new rank of angel that they've just added to the bottom of the pile-- just for Gabriel lol. It's all political, which is how Crowley and Beez fell back in the day as well. They were caught up with Lucifer and held up as examples of evil when it seems that they really were just looking for others who were questioning things, too.

Does Aziraphale realize he's falling in S2? I think there's some language in the kiss disaster scene that indicates he suspects he might be and that he doesn't fully trust in what The Metatron is offering him-- or that that's really The Metatron. I don't think he realized he was falling until that point. It's a question, though, of what a fall really is. There are many ways to fall. You can literally fall from a great height. You can fall in rank. Both of these things happen during a fall from Heaven, in Good Omens, from what we've been told, but there are other types of fall. You can also fall in love. You can fall into despair. These ones? Aziraphale knew about. He fell in love with Crowley a long time ago and despair is always something he's working at keeping at bay, sometimes more successfully than others. In the end, his fall from Heaven is tied to both of those other kinds of falls.

But is Aziraphale already something of a fallen angel, like you asked? What of the fact that he was a cherub at one point and is a principality? Which is higher rank? We are told in the book that people "make jokes" about the fact that Aziraphale has both of those ranks. The word 'joke' comes from the Latin jocus, which literally means 'wordplay' and I think maybe looking at the different kinds of rank in Heaven through that angle might be worth a look. (Me? Taking a wordplay angle? Who would've ever thought? lol)

Who outranks who can be shown to us by how the characters behave in the scenes but the ranks of angels are more about what the words mean than about exactly which level that rank is, I think. For instance, there is some evidence that a throne and a dominion are the same level of rank-- that an angel can be both at once... which makes more sense when you consider the power aspects of those words and that here's our throne/dominion leaving his chair to dominate his plants in S1:

People are complex and need more words than one title might allow.

Aziraphale can be a cherub and a principality because once you start to get into the meanings of all of these words, you can see that which ones are given to Crowley and Aziraphale are done because of how they support who the characters are-- and how they overlap. I have a meta that I've been playing with from time to time about the different meanings of principality/dominion/throne and how Crowley and Aziraphale are both really all of them. I'll try to finish that one up soon. If you look at wordplay around the word "rank" itself, though...

...a rank is a placement or a position in military order, yeah, but it's also a bad smell. Something that is rank is something that is foul and offensive. One of the themes of the show to me seems to be that, whether you're an angel or a demon or a human, you possess your own power and no one can take that away from you unless you let them. Empowerment and freedom is the realization of that. We're all equal beings. The characters who are the least interested with power systems-- the ones who have freed themselves from concern about it and live as independently as they are able-- are the ones who view others as autonomous beings and do not support oppression of others. They are the least rank because they are dismissive of the idea of rank itself.

So, while we're having fun with words here... those who are the least rank are also probably not rank in the scent sense of the word, too lol. This would be why we have a multiple scenes devoted to how everyone is in a faint over how great Crowley smells. He's the least rank of them all-- in every way possible. 😉

The other "too late"-related meta:

[rpschtuff]

Beta Editor Overview

This post was originally made on January 7, 2023, and was last updated on January 14, 2023.

After seeing quite a few posts expressing confusion/frustration over the beta editor, trying to understand new features and find where old options have moved to, I thought I'd write up an overview of the new editor, showing the various changes it has from legacy.

My main goal is to show people that the new editor not nearly as bad as they may have heard. You'll have a few days of weirdness and confusion, and then you'll be used to it. The beta editor does have some bugs... but so does the legacy editor. We've all just gotten used to legacy and know how to work around its quirks. After a couple weeks with beta, you'll be familiar with it and know how to do the same.

FAQ

I'm putting this part above the read more to quickly answer the questions I see asked most often.

How do I cut posts with the new editor? — You need to get an extension called XKit Rewritten and use Trim Reblogs. Once you have that installed, save the post to your drafts and click the scissors icon along the bottom of the post. This will open a window that allows you to remove earlier reblogs. If you run into funky issues, see my ginormous post here.

Where is blockquote? — Blockquote is now called indented. There are two ways to reach it. Option 1: select your text, open the dropdown menu, and choose indented. Option 2: type / on an empty line, select indented, and type your text.

Where is small text? — Select your text and click the small S in brackets. I recommend doing this at the end of writing your post, as it can be finicky otherwise. The old keyboard shortcut for small text does not work anymore; the new shortcut is CTRL/CMD + COMMA.

Where are bullets? — Select your text, open the dropdown menu, and choose bulleted list. You can also type / on an empty line and select/type bulleted list. Additionally, you can type * and a space on an empty line to autoformat to bullets, or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL/CMD + SHIFT + 8.

How do I disable reblogs on a post? — Click the settings icon in the top right, click the dropdown next to "Who can reblog?" and select "no one." (Please note that while it says those mentioned in a post can always reblog, I've found this to be broken. At the moment you should only disable reblogs if you don't want anyone reblogging it.)

Why does adding a gif to a post include the URL? — Inserting an image via link will automatically include that URL underneath the image in the final post (though it won't display in the editor). You can remove this by hovering over the image and clicking the chain link icon in the bottom left. Select the URL in the field there, delete it, and click Done.

How do I add alt text to an image? — Add your image, hover over it, click the three dots in the bottom right corner, and click "update image description."

Adding Elements

When you click on an empty line, options for things to add to your post will appear on the right, similar to legacy.

In order, these are:

Image

Gif search

Link

Audio

Video

Read more

All of these work almost exactly as they have previously, except for adding an image. Clicking that will give you this, which resembles a standalone photo post of the old format.

You can then upload directly from your computer, or paste a URL, as before. If you insert an image via URL, that link will be visible just below the image in your final post, though it won't show up like that in the editor. It'll look like this.

If you don't want this, make sure to click the link icon at the bottom left of the image and delete the URL there.

Back to the image you added in the text editor! Hovering over the image will give these options.

The squares icon in the top left lets you click and drag the image, and you can drag images next to each other to stack them horizontally. The X in the top right will remove the image from your post. The link icon in the bottom left shows the image URL, and will only appear if you inserted the image via link. And the dots in the bottom right allow you to add alt text to your image -- click the dots, then click Update image description.

Formatting Text

Now! If you type up some text and then select it, formatting options will pop up. This is similar to legacy, but now there's a dropdown menu.

Here's what's in the dropdown.

Here's what they all look like in a post.

Regular is plain text. Bigger is the equivalent of the headline option on the legacy editor. Biggest is the equivalent of the main title, but you can have more than one in a single post now.

Quote turns text into a serif font and increases the font size. If you type up a long quote, the font size will shrink.

Chat switches to a more computer-looking font.

Lucille increases the font size and is a cursive font.

Indented is blockquote. It looks a tiny bit different on the dash now, with some more spacing on the top and bottom, but it's functionally the same.

Bulleted and numbered lists are self-explanatory. You can also start a bulleted list by starting an empty line of regular text with * and a space, and a numbered line by starting an empty line with 1 and a space. Additionally, the keyboard shortcuts CTRL/CMD + SHIFT + 7 for numbered list and CTRL/CMD + SHIFT + 8 for bulleted list still work.

You can also access these same options (and some others) by typing a slash onto the start of an empty line. A menu will pop up, allowing you to either click the one you want or simply type the one you want and hit enter.

If you want to quickly add a title, an indented blockquote, or anything like that, this is the fastest way to do it.

Hopping back to the rest of these options now!

To the right of the drop down, these options are:

Strikethrough

Bold

Italics

Small

Link

Color

Most of these are self-explanatory. Keyboard shortcuts for bold and italics work as before. The old keyboard shortcut for small text no longer works, but CTRL/CMD + COMMA does.

Link works the same as it always has, and the keyboard shortcut of CTRL/CMD + K works as well. Additionally, if you have text selected and just paste in a URL, it will insert as a hyperlink from that selected text.

Color lets you change the color of your text to a few presets. Just click the paint bucket, and pick the color you want.

Post Settings

Back out to the main editor now, here's what under the settings icon in the top right.

Custom URL lets you set a custom URL for your post, if you want it to be something other than a string of numbers.

Content source is the source link and works similarly to how it did in legacy.

Post date is not the scheduler! That's under the post button dropdown and is fairly straightforward. But this option lets you backdate a post, setting the date to sometime earlier than you actually made. Gonna be completely honest, I haven't used this at all and don't entirely see the point, but if you want to play around with it, there it is.

Who can reblog? Is one of my favorite features. Opening that dropdown lets you disable reblogs on your post. The reblog button will be grayed out on the dash. (After you've made the post, you can edit to turn reblogs back on if you need to.)

While this does say that anyone mentioned can always reblog, I've found this to be broken in my testing -- I have submitted a ticket to staff, so hopefully they're working on it. It would be a godsend for roleplayers, since it would restrict reblogs to only the partner that you @-mentioned in your starter and keep randos from reblogging your threads.

Lastly, the text editor lets you switch to HTML or Markdown for your post, if you prefer one of those. They are similar to how they worked in legacy.

Community Labels

Along the bottom of the editor, you'll see the close button, the post button with the same dropdown as in legacy, and another dropdown that reads Everyone by default. Here's what that one looks like.

This is where you can manage your community labels, which is a fairly new feature from Tumblr. By default, your post will be marked as being for everyone. However, if your post contains any of the content listed, you should click to toggle that one on. This will hide your post from anyone who has that label switched off in their settings.

To check what you have on or off in your settings, look for this underneath your filtered tags:

Tags

Tags work the same as before. The only notable difference is that you can now edit inside tags without having to completely delete them. Just click on the text where you want your cursor to be.

You can rearrange tags with click and drag as before. Just be sure to click on the blue space around the text, rather than on the text itself.

Autosaving

The beta editor will automatically save your posts! It's autosaving whenever you see this pop up at the bottom of your screen, every minute or so.

If the editor gets closed unexpectedly, the last autosave of your post will go into your drafts. As someone who's lost many replies to unexpected tab closures, this is a godsend.

Just know that this only works if something external closes the editor. If you click the close button yourself, the post will disappear.

Miscellaneous Differences

You can now have more than one main title (Biggest) in your post.

You can no longer have multiple levels of bullet points.

You can no longer have paragraph breaks within your blockquote/indented text (though it's been that way for a while). To get a similar look in your blockquote, hold down shift and press enter twice (or use <br><br> in your HTML).

Previewing a post on your blog is still possible, but in a different location. Go to a post in your drafts, click the three dots in the top right, and click preview.

The editor will still remember your tags, but capitalization will be removed, which might be an aesthetic annoyance.

The editor will only suggest tags that start with your search. For example, if your ask memes tag is send me stuff ( ask memes ) — typing "send me stuff" in the tags box will suggest this tag for you, while typing "ask memes" will not.

When making or reblogging a post, your most recently used sideblog will be up by default; this is different from the legacy editor, which would always open your primary blog. Be mindful of things going onto the correct blogs!

More items may be added here as I spot them. Feel free to send any observations of your own if you have them.

Known Glitches

Because the beta editor is still known to be buggy, I thought I'd document the glitches I am aware of. I have reported these to staff using their feedback option and highly recommend that you politely do the same if these annoy you.

I've heard from several people that using CTRL/CMD + Z to undo caused their entire post to be erased. This has not personally happened to me, but I've heard it enough times that I feel I should share it here.

Using CTRL/CMD + A to select your entire post can be finicky. Clicking and dragging across the entire post is more reliable.

Typing with small text can be finicky and won't always apply correctly. I highly recommend applying the small text after everything is written, just to save some headache.

Generally, text formatting and paragraph blocks can behave oddly, especially when trying to select more than one. This is also a problem I've had with the legacy editor, but my experiences are not universal, so it may be a hindrance to you.

Customizing Beta/NPF Elements on your Theme

This is only for those of you who want to know how to change the way certain new beta elements look on their blog theme. If that's not you, you can stop reading here!

These are the elements and classes you want to customize in your CSS:

BIGGER - h2

BIGGEST - h1

QUOTE - .npf_quote

CHAT - .npf_chat

LUCILLE - .npf_quirky

RED TEXT - .npf_color_joey

ORANGE TEXT - .npf_color_monica

PURPLE TEXT - .npf_color_chandler

YELLOW TEXT - .npf_color_phoebe

BLUE TEXT - .npf_color_ross

PINK TEXT - .npf_color_niles

Colored text that isn't one of the default colors from Tumblr will just use <span> to assign a custom hex code, and can usually be targeted that way. You may need to use the !important property to override some of these default styles.

[sminiac]

Bestie....hear me out... Sumin overstimulating you

Bye, have a great day(please write something about this)

Hearing you loud and clear bff 🔊

(I had this almost finished earlier and tried to save it as a draft but then it just decided to delete itself? I’m distraught.)

Anyways,, the Mean!Sumin thought never fails to melt my brain into mush, the first thing that’s jumping out at me when I think of Sumin and overstim is the juxtaposition between his incredibly attentive aftercare once he’s worked you through your final orgasm and the assertiveness that finds precedence in his mouth and hands when you’re trying to adjust your way out of his reach so the deft swipe of his finger on your clit keeps slipping astray and cutting you short of reaching his goal.

Him adjusting himself so he’s resting directly at your lower half to keep you in place, spread wide and pretty just for him to see, to touch, his back to your face littered in shallow scratches from the overbearing flurry of indescribable feelings he works into you, not that he cares, he loves it, actually. What he doesn’t love is how you keep running away from him any chance you can find, this makes me think of thigh slapping, the palm of his hand striking the soft flesh as he reprimands you, but he’d always return to the spot with a soothing rub later, a few wet kisses pressed to the affected area.

At this point he couldn’t let himself get past the burning in his forearms and fingers, the type to keep his mouth busy so his brain wouldn’t zero in on the strain of his body falling tired. “You have one more for me, don’t you? Lemme see, c’mon baby, want you t’make a mess.”

I’ve also been seeing a recent influx of posts relating to pussy slapping, the thought of Sumin doing that is eating me alive, would love how messy it gets, your slick coating his skin, would tease you by raising his hand up to your line of sight and spreading his fingers apart enough for you to see the way your arousal spreads into thin strings the further they part, nipping at your earlobe and sucking it into his mouth between his mix of downright nasty sentences that only become more obscene by the minute. GOODBYEEE.

I’m going off track here because I just need to get this filth off of my mind and into yours, but anyways, I think that there’s a high probability that he’d get off untouched, def the type to get so into it that the mf would subconsciously start moaning with you, and I think that’s so????? Like, no friction????? Loves how docile you become when driven into overstimulation, talks to you so sweetly but there’s always this underlying layer of taunting that makes his words taper off into an airy laugh at the end of his sentences. “God you’re so wet, it’s because you like when I’m mean to you, isn’t it?”

I’m not okay.

[gerrystamour]

so touch me again (i feel my shadow dissolving)

Rated E | Steddie Week Day 2: Fluff | 1200 Words | Complete

[ READ ON AO3 ]

“What’s up, baby?” Steve asks, voice deep with the last dregs of sleep around the edges, and he shifts a hand to cup Eddie’s cheek. “Missed you,” Eddie replies before he turns his face to press a kiss into the center of Steve’s palm. Even after years of soft, sweet moments like this with Eddie, Steve feels his heart melt under the warmth of his fondness for the older man. Stroking Eddie’s scarred cheek with his thumb, Steve says, “I’m right here, baby.” Eddie just nods, his mouth and nose still pressed into the center of Steve’s palm as he closes his eyes.  “Still missed you,” is all he says after a few moments, and Steve knows that to mean Eddie had a nightmare he doesn’t want to talk about. My entry for @steddie-week Day 2, for the prompt fluff!! I literally accidentally hit post instead of "save as draft" on AO3 so that's why this is ultimately being posted early. CW: This fic is rated Explicit for smut below the cut.

Steve wakes up to lazy kisses against his collarbone, curly hair tickling his cheek as the lips move closer to his throat. Sighing happily, Steve lifts his arms to wrap around Eddie sleepily as he dips his head for a proper kiss.

Eddie acquiesces immediately with a pleased hum into Steve’s mouth.

When they pull apart, Steve smiles at Eddie. There’s a streetlight outside their apartment that shines into their bedroom, casting a dim orange glow across Eddie’s profile that makes him look otherworldly. Ethereal.

“What’s up, baby?” Steve asks, voice deep with the last dregs of sleep around the edges, and he shifts a hand to cup Eddie’s cheek.

“Missed you,” Eddie replies before he turns his face to press a kiss into the center of Steve’s palm. Even after years of soft, sweet moments like this with Eddie, Steve feels his heart melt under the warmth of his fondness for the older man.

Stroking Eddie’s scarred cheek with his thumb, Steve says, “I’m right here, baby.”

Eddie just nods, his mouth and nose still pressed into the center of Steve’s palm as he closes his eyes.  “Still missed you,” is all he says after a few moments, and Steve knows that to mean Eddie had a nightmare he doesn’t want to talk about.

Spring of ‘86 was a distant memory for them, but sometimes it crept back up. Slowly, Steve registers the sound of rain hitting the bedroom window and pieces things together.

“Sometimes when it’s raining, it kinda sounds like the bats,” Steve remembers Eddie confessing back then after a panic attack. It makes complete sense to Steve, and a lot of his own triggers were just as innocuous and unavoidable. Steve knows what Eddie’s feeling well, that feeling after waking up from something dark and sad. How, even if the bed is warm and arms were around him, Steve would need to know for sure that he wasn’t imagining things.

Eddie takes a slow, calming breath in deeply through his nose before he shifts to press his lips to the inside of Steve’s wrist, snapping him out of his thoughts. With a contented hum, Steve directs Eddie into another kiss, this one deeper and more searching. Eddie needs to know Steve is there, that Steve is alive and with him, so Steve would give him just that.

As their breathing grows heavier, the movement of lips against each other growing sloppier and slicker with their spit, Steve pulls back to smile up at Eddie. “Missed you, too,” he says, and he buries a hand in Eddie’s hair to guide him back in for another kiss.

Eddie dives in with a hungry sound and Steve spreads his legs so his boyfriend could settle comfortably between them. They’re both still naked from earlier, and Steve knows he’s still loose and a bit slick. It wouldn’t take much preparation, if any at all, for Eddie to slide back inside him.

The same thought seems to occur to Eddie as he shifts so he can reach down between Steve’s legs and touch him there, testing the give of the tender ring of muscle. It hurts a bit, but with enough lube, the ache would be worth it.

“Eds, please,” Steve whines against Eddie’s lips as a finger presses inside, and he reaches over to the bedside table to grab the bottle of lube. Eddie immediately withdraws his finger and takes the bottle, slicking his fingers properly and pressing two inside at once. Steve gasps, his eyes rolling back as he arches up into Eddie and spreads his legs. “Eddie, please.”

Normally, Eddie would slow down with Steve begging like this so soon, but tonight he’s just as needy, just as desperate to feel the warmth of Steve’s body. Neither of them can take much teasing when they were both like this. Withdrawing his fingers, Eddie makes quick work of slicking his cock with a liberal amount of lube and lines up.

The inward slide hurts because Eddie was not very gentle with Steve earlier—per Steve’s request—but being held and kissed while being nice and full all over again was more than enough to make the pain worth it. Steve sighs happily as Eddie bottoms out, sloppily licking into Eddie’s mouth while the man above him groans thickly.

“So warm,” Eddie coos, his brow furrowed cutely as he starts to move his hips.

Steve lets his head drop back against the pillows to watch his boyfriend’s expression. He can’t help but be amazed by the way Eddie’s jaw goes slack as he makes love to Steve slowly, the way his eyes flutter on each push inward. The way Eddie looks so grateful every time he gets to have Steve like this is still overwhelming for Steve even after a decade of being together, and he figures he probably never will be used to it.

With a sigh, Steve gently strokes Eddie’s hair and face, watching him as Eddie takes what he needs from his body. It feels good, the ache subsiding and becoming distinctly enjoyable as Eddie’s movements against and inside him become firmer, more determined.

Eddie forces his eyes open to meet Steve’s gaze before he turns his head to kiss Steve’s hand again. Then he takes Steve’s thumb into his mouth, sucking on it gently with a low growl and Steve can’t help the punched-out noise that escapes. Steve drags Eddie into another kiss, shuddering as the change in position has Eddie’s cock hitting his prostate on every slide inward. The shift also has Steve’s weeping cock trapped between their bodies, Eddie’s lower abdomen rocking against it with every single thrust.

“Close, Stevie,” Eddie gasps, and Steve wraps his legs around him tightly. He was desperate to feel Eddie come inside him, to feel the warm bloom of his release as deep as possible.

“Do it, baby,” Steve encourages him, sliding a hand down to play with Eddie’s nipple. “Come inside me.”

That’s all it takes, all it ever really takes when Eddie gets like this, and he comes to a stuttering halt while his cock pulses in Steve’s hole. And Steve whines, his eyes rolling back at the rush of warmth around the twitching girth inside him.

Propping himself up a bit above Steve, Eddie reaches between them to stroke Steve’s cock, the movements firm and deliberate, single-minded in their purpose. It isn’t long before Steve comes in thick stripes over Eddie's hand and across his own stomach while Eddie rocks his softening cock in and out of him.

Finally, Eddie pulls out and shifts down the length of Steve’s body to lap up the mess on Steve’s stomach, moaning as he fingers Steve’s messy and slick hole. Steve hisses a bit, overstimulated but not pulling away either.

“So warm,” Eddie repeats, pressing one last kiss to Steve’s stomach as he withdraws his fingers and gets up.

Steve pouts as he watches his boyfriend shuffle into the bathroom, even though he knows Eddie was coming right back.

Sure enough, Eddie returns with a warm cloth to clean Steve up a bit. Tossing the cloth in the general direction of the bathroom door, Eddie collapses onto the bed and gathers Steve up in his arms.

By now, the rain has stopped and Steve sighs happily. They’re both happy, warm, and satisfied, reassured that they are both alive and well.

“I love you, Eddie,” Steve murmurs as he presses a kiss to Eddie’s smiling lips.

“I love you, too, Stevie,” Eddie whispers back, and neither of them pull away from the kiss until they’re barely able to keep their eyes open.

[ AO3 LINK ]

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