#i unfortunately can’t find a screenshot of it

[concha-del-mar]

Terry (while petting Ace): “Well sometimes the small rewards are the best ones”

Me:

[lulu2992]

Did you know?

They hid a naked Vaas in one of the promotional screenshots for Far Cry 3.

Can you find him?

I didn’t edit the image above; it used to be on the old official Far Cry 3 website and Ubisoft shared it on social media a few years ago.

[thebest-medicine]

tbh not sure why this was sent to me lol?

[esote-rika]

𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐦 | 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐝

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!BAU!Reader Category: Smut 18+ MDNI Summary: You have several (stereotypical) assumptions about your nerdy coworker; he proves how wrong you are about them. Content: 3.2k, early season dom!Spencer Reid, bratty reader, reader has hair that can be put in a ponytail, brat taming, BDSM dynamics, sensation play (feather tickler hehe), reader is ticklish, spanking, making out, thigh riding, coworkers hooking up (are we even fucking surprised), hopefully still soft and sweet and hot. a/n: Listen I know I keep saying I’m taking a break but unfortunately I’m ovulating HARD; this is the last one for May, but there will be a part 2, I’m already planning it. I wrote this completely piss drunk (my friends can probably share screenshots as proof oops) and then sobered up enough to edit (might have missed some stuff). Based on a request that Tumblr ate 😭 but basically, BAU reader teases Spencer about sex only to find out he's a kinky BDSM dom. Hope u enjoy!

“What would you know about BDSM?” The question, spoken with a carefree laugh and just a hint of condescension, is directed at your coworker, who is currently stirring copious amounts of sugar into his coffee beside you. 

Dressed in a tweed blazer that overwhelms his slight frame, Spencer Reid only tilts his head to the side, honey eyes keen and flashing with something you can’t quite place. You lean against the counter in the pantry, intrigued by his response. You’d expected a blush, chin tipping down, hair falling over his pretty eyes, lips uttering bashful, stuttering words. 

Not… this. Regarding you with a frank, unblinking calm that has you shifting in place.

“Oh, right,” you roll your eyes teasingly, unwilling to let him see how easily his nonplussed reaction has fractured your easygoing facade, “You’ve read about it extensively, haven’t you? What do psychology textbooks have to say about whips and blindfolds, Dr. Reid?”

“Quite a lot,” he replies with a serenity that unnerves, “Some attribute it to the feeling of being safely back inside the womb.”

You scoff, “Right, because thinking of your mother during bondage is so sexy.”

“But,” he presses on, narrowing his eyes at you, patient but warning, “There’s often explanations that go hand in hand with biology. Deprivation of one sense tends to heighten the other. Physical restriction offers the same feeling, which then leads to altered states of pleasure. In a more emotional sense, surrendering your power to a partner communicates the highest level of trust, offering a deeper sense of intimacy for some people.”

So he does know a lot about it. Still, you don’t drop your teasing grin as you reply, “God, how do you manage to make BDSM sound so clinical?”

“Because it is a little clinical, if I’m just explaining it in polite conversation. The communication is better enjoyed if the actions match.

“Is that so?”

“Mhm hmm,” he smiles, dimples flashing, a show of innocence. A mask. 

“And this information is from experience?” you tease.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

His tone carries implication and it settles upon your stomach, heavy and warm. That makes you perk up, but you fight the urge to show your intrigue. Instead, you scoff, “As if there’s anything to know.”

He’s quiet. Sipping at his coffee, honey eyes twinkling over the rim of his mug. It’s infuriating.

“No way.” you huff, finally breaking. The lightness of teasing leaves your voice, shifting to something darker, more accusatory, “You expect me to believe you have experience? In BDSM?” 

“Announce it to the entire office, why don’t you?”

You pause, looking at him almost in betrayal. Really, how could you not? Spencer Reid, who looks like his nose would start bleeding from the slightest sexual attention from a living, breathing person, has BDSM experience? The man who wears sweater vests and slicks his hair back like he’s a seventy year old librarian? You survey him today, in all of his rumpled, mismatched glory, trying to find one hint of his apparent favored pastimes.

He looks almost smug as he meets your gaze, cocking his head to the side.

“No way.” you repeat.

“You possess an awfully limited vocabulary for today.” 

“Shut up, stop pulling my leg,” your eyes narrow suspiciously, still in disbelief. 

“I’m not pulling your leg,” he says, allowing a small, almost imperceptible smirk to curve up his lips for one split second, before his face gets hidden by the coffee cup again.

“Prove it, then.” 

The words startle both of you, but you’re stubborn enough to see it through. Meeting his gaze with a confidence that would seem sincere to the untrained eye, but Spencer has worked with you long enough to know it’s all bravado. 

He looks at you, unsure. “Prove it?”

“Look who's vocabulary is limited now.”

He scoffs and lowers his voice, “I just want to make sure you know what you’re getting into.”

“I know what I’m getting into, I’m a grown woman, thanks.” 

“Then I’ll fax you a copy of my rules. If they still seem like something you’d want to try out, come to my apartment Saturday night—that is, if we aren’t called in for a case.”

You shrug, the perfect picture of nonchalance. “Great, sounds like a plan. Don’t forget to fax.” You both know he wouldn’t.

By some universal twist of fate, that Saturday is devoid of any last minute cases. You spend the whole morning poring over the sixteen-page document that Spencer had sent over on Friday, reading through the risks—a lot of which you already know from your own research—his specific set of rules, and what he’d normally allow for a beginner. You don’t have the same perfect memory he does, but you’re sure you’ve memorized everything by the time you knock at his apartment.

“So you came,” he says, offering you a cool glass of lemonade, looking perfectly at ease as he leads you into his bedroom. 

“Of course,” you say, looking around as you sip on the drink, taking it all in, “I was serious when I said prove it.” It’s dim, but nothing else is inside that rouses suspicion. It looks completely normal—a neat bed, a messy desk, haphazard piles of books—until your eyes land on the items on the dresser. 

Silk ties. A paddle. Something that looks similar to a feather duster, but you assume it’s made with a different activity in mind. Your cheeks are aflame.

“You know the safe word?”

“Yes. Jupiter—you’re such a nerd, by the way.”

He laughs, taking you half finished glass and setting it down. “Do you have any objections to the terms I’d laid out? Additions?”

“I just need you to make a promise.”

“For what?”

“That this stays between us.” You face him, searching his eyes for any deceit. It’s always a risk, being a woman and engaging in anything that could be considered deviant, especially in an environment like the BAU, which is honestly a glorified boy’s club.

“You have my word. Everything that we do stays in this room.” he vows, stepping closer.

“And,” you bite your lip, “No sex, right?”

He shakes his head, “None. We’ll focus on sensations tonight, just to let you get a feel for things.”

It seems more intimate, just trusting him to tease and play with your body, but you’re glad that the boundary is set in place. Spencer seems to have gotten a lot of experience at this, and briefly, you wonder just how many other people has been in your place.

You push the thought away and smile at him. “Okay. Then that’s all on my end. I accept all your terms, and I remember the safe word.”

He hums, turning you around. Standing so closely behind you, his heat warms your back like a gentle fire. Long, elegant fingers that carry the lingering musk of old books and coffee gather your hair into a ponytail at the base of your neck. He secures it with a thin elastic, before leaning in, breath whispering goosebumps into your skin. 

“Strip.”

There’s a sudden loss of heat as he steps back. You’re surprised to miss it, already, but even more surprised by his command. “What?”

“I said strip, angel.” he says, walking to your front with an expectant look on his face, “Down to your underwear.”

You sputter, looking up at him incredulously, but his face is serious. Patient, but serious.

“Do you need your safe word?”

You don’t reply, realizing that it’s begun and this is exactly what you agreed to do. To submit to him and his commands. The weight of this reality sinks in, rendering you mute and frozen, and he immediately softens. 

Hands cupping your cheeks, Spencer looks at you with concern, “Hey, we can stop.”

“No,” you reply, forcefully. Stubborn pride pulsing through your veins—no way you’re stopping before you’ve even done anything, “I don’t want to stop, it’s okay. I just—okay. Strip.” you step back, nodding and muttering to yourself, “Okay, yes, I can do that.” Looking down, you fumble at the buttons of your blouse, undoing them with clumsy, unsure fingers.

He steps back to the dresser, retrieving the bundle of feathers, never averting his gaze. Wide brown eyes take you in as you lose your shirt, and then your pants, standing before him in matching lace underwear. A slow grin spreads over his lips, “You dressed up for me?”

You feel your cheeks burn, “No.”

“So you just wear expensive lace sets for no reason, even on Saturdays?”

“You don’t know what I like.”

A step closer, “I’m about to,” he says in a low, smug tone that has your breath catching, “Stay still.”

Stay still. Easy enough. Your eyes follow his movements, the way he brandishes the feathers in his hands. Your head cranes back as he circles you, and he tuts in disapproval.

“I said stay still,” he murmurs, hand cupping your jaw and adjusting your head forward.

“But—”

“But?” 

“Nothing.” you squeak as you look ahead again. Your heart makes itself known, drumming in an exaggerated, hurried way that makes you want to shift. But Spencer said stay still, so you do.

A small part of you wants to scoff—why are you following Spencer Reid’s orders? This is ridiculous. Say the safe word and this would all be over. He’d never mention it to anyone else, like you both agreed earlier. You can get out, and you know for a fact that Spencer wouldn’t judge or protest.

But you don’t.

Because a larger, more significant part of you finds this whole thing incredibly hot.

Several seconds pass. Agonizingly slow. He’s drawing it out, you realize, testing how long he can get you to stay still. Or maybe he left. No, he wouldn’t—couldn’t, you’d hear his footsteps.  Finally giving in, you look over your shoulder, brows knitted in confusion.

You’re met with a disapproving look and a shaking head. “Didn’t I tell you to stay still?”

“You’re taking too long,” you pout.

“That’s the second time you’ve disobeyed me, angel,” he tuts. The heat of his body envelops you as he steps into your space again, his chest pressing to your back. A hand skims over your side, warm and firm as it finds the swell of your hip, and sits there. A warning. “You know what’s going to happen when you do it thrice, don’t you?”

Your mind flashes back to the conversation and the list, the rules he laid out so painstakingly for you. Thoughtful and attentive, Spencer had made you read through pages of what he expects from this dynamic, the rules you must follow as his submissive, the punishment that will be enforced should you disobey.

Three strikes and you get spanked.

“I do,” your words drift out the most delicate breath, heart hammering even more now. “I remember.”

He hums when you are finally still. Lips land on your bare shoulder, chaste and warm, while his hand travels up your side, featherlight and teasing. They skim up your ribcage and you can’t help but gasp, fighting every cell in your body to keep from moving. Your compliance is rewarded by another satisfied hum, and then finally it touches you. 

The feather. 

Crawling up the back of your left thigh, soft as a whisper. 

Ticklish.

“Fuck,” you gasp, jerking away from his grasp in surprise. You find yourself missing the feel of his hand on your waist before you realize your mistake. 

“That’s the third.” he says, shaking his head.

“I wasn’t expecting it on my thigh!” you snap, suddenly feeling so exposed. To shield yourself, your arms cross over your shoulder defensively, voice lowering by way of apology, “I’m ticklish!”

He considers it for a moment, sitting on the edge of the bed, but his eyes remain trained on you. Gauging your reaction, the same way he’d talk to a skittish witness. You find yourself shifting again, unused to being on the receiving end of such a stare. When he speaks, his voice is calm, as if he’s soothing a ruffled creature, “You’re welcome to say your safe word.” 

The easy way out. But you’ve already gone this far, stripped out of your so-called armor, down to your lace underwear and allowed him to regard you in ways far too intimate for coworkers. It would be such a waste to back out now. Besides, he said the punishment would just be spanking, how bad could that be?

“No,” you reply finally, voice breaking through the silence that settled and swelled in the room, “No, I’m okay, I’ll—I’ll take the punishment, like I agreed to.”

He sits up straighter, “Are you sure?”

A gulp. “Yes.”

He pats his lap, “Come here then.”

You’ve lost count of how many times you felt warmth at your cheeks, but this feels like a wildfire has started now, smoothing over your face before spreading all over your body in an all consuming blaze. Flashes of those kinky magazines and news articles you’d rolled your eyes over flit through your mind, the models now replaced by the image of you and Spencer. He’s asking you to bend over on his lap to receive your punishment.

With a nod, you join him on the bed, your torso draping horizontally over his lap. Your legs are laid on the bed, and you hold yourself up by your elbows. From this position, he has perfect access to your ass, a large hand smoothing over one cheek. 

You squirm, “Your hand’s cold.” 

He laughs, “God, you never stop complaining, huh? I should add another one just for that.”

“Sorry, I can’t help it.”

He sighs, “I know. You’re doing fine, all things considered. I’ll just do three, okay? For every time you moved.”

“Okay.”

“I want you to count.”

You inhale so sharply you almost choke on nothing. That had no business being as hot as you found it. His hand is on your ass again, and you have to dig into your brain to focus and answer, “Okay.”

The first strike comes quickly, a sharp sting followed by a cool, gentle hand soothing over it. You exhale a gasp along with the word, “One.”

“Good girl.”

Jesus Christ.

Another smack, this time on the other cheek. “Two… three.”

It’s over before you know it, barely even lasting three minutes, but it’s still managed to take your every breath away. You find yourself wishing he had added another strike, just so you could feel the sharp sting again. 

“Are you okay?” his voice pulls you from your reverie, hands helping you sit back up beside him, “Do you need a break? I could get you some lotion—”

You tune him out, staring as he offers different ways to soothe the stinging. His hands keep making lazy strokes up and down your arms, eyes completely focused on you. Words are flying past his lips, attempting to reach you through this haze, solutions and probably another reminder of your safe word, but all you can think about is how close he is, how pretty with his earnest brown eyes and pouty lips, but also how hot and since when was Spencer Reid hot? 

A familiar sensation settles low in your belly, slickness between your thighs, and oh my god you just want to kiss him.

So you do.

His lips are soft, pausing mid sentence for just one moment, before he’s kissing you right back, open mouthed and desperate, his hand cradling the back of your head, tilting it up so his tongue can dive deeper into your mouth. You moan, kissing him back with just as much fervor, scrambling forward in an attempt to get even closer. He tastes like mint and cinnamon, the oddest combination that has you sucking on his bottom lip, eager for more.

An arm wraps around your waist, and you find yourself on his lap again—no, on his thigh. Singular, straddling it with nothing but a tiny scrap of lace and his trousers in between your skin. Two degrees of separation. You moan again, biting down hard.

“Wait,” he pulls back, breathless, thrown off, “Wait this isn’t part of the agreement.”

You laugh, “I’m sorry, I don’t really care about it right now.”

Soft brown locks tickle your jaw as he ducks his head. Lips run over your collar, moist and gentle as he speaks, “I wasn’t really prepared for this. I don’t have a condom.”

“Oh.” you seem to deflate in his arms, despite the incessant pounding in your chest, the buzzing at your fingertips.

He looks up, surveys you like a puzzle to be solved. On his thigh, with barely anything on, practically throwing yourself at him. Muscle flexes and shifts beneath you, eliciting a gasp from your lips. It moves again, just as his hands hold onto your hips and keep you in place. 

Your lips fall open, “Oh.” you repeat, but this time, it’s a low, breathy moan. 

“That’s it,” he murmurs, watching you with a small smirk, “Move those hips for me, angel.”

You don’t need to be told twice, pressing down hard onto his thigh. The pressure gives your clit enough stimulation, pulling another moan from your lips. Louder this time. Loud and pretty, as his hands keep you steady, and your arms wrap around his shoulder, fingers finding the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Oh god,” you gasp, staring right at him, at those intense hazel eyes that have turned nearly black. You ride his thigh shamelessly, finding a rhythm that you know will have the pleasure snapping within minutes. Paired with Spencer’s praise, the sweet kisses he’s laying on your jaw, you find yourself trembling in his arms as you rub yourself along his muscular thigh. 

All of the anticipation seems to have built up to a fever pitch, his teasing, the spanking, it all floods back until your orgasm hits you like lightning. Razor sharp, every nerve of your body seems to sing and tremble from pleasure as Spencer keeps his thigh gently moving, helping you come down from your high. 

“Fuck,” you whisper, burying your face into his neck. 

He laughs, wrapping his arms tightly around you, “Are you okay?”

“Better than okay.”

Slender fingers card through the back of your head, tangles into your hair, “You did really well. We went a little off script, but it seems like you found it pleasurable, which is always the goal.”

Pleasurable is the understatement of the century, but your only response is a breathless chuckle. At the moment, that’s all you’re capable of. 

“Okay,” you whisper into his neck, losing all ability to extricate yourself from him. He doesn’t seem to mind though, his hold on you just as tight, free hand rubbing warm circles over your bare back. “Okay, you’ve proved your point. You seriously are a dom.”

“Mhm.”

“I can’t believe it.”

“What? You can’t believe it? I literally just gave you one of the most hands on demonstrations anyone could ask for.” he says with a laugh. It rumbles through his chest, and the feeling makes something in your stomach clench pleasantly. 

You lift your head, finally meeting his gaze. Your eyes flash with mischief when you reply, “I don’t know, I might need another one to fully understand it.”

He smiles back, wide and catlike, “Well then, I think that calls for an encore.”

Thank you for reading!!! also if you could give me some encouragement for my thesis that’d be much appreciated i’d give you so much brain kisses MUAH.

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

Gotta say I used to extensively comment on fics and not just a few words but did some fairly long detailed comments on what I liked but recently I started to get less and less replies on them despite authors (relatively popular ones) sometimes replying to others. And while I understand that author doesn’t owe me anything it did quite demotivate me from leaving as much comments. Why bother if nobody cares in the first place? I know its an unhelpful mindset but I can’t shake it. Any advices?

hi!

as an author who likes to comment on others' works but is notoriously bad at replying to comments I receive on my own works, I can guarantee that 99.99% of writers read the comments they receive and, even if they don't reply back, they love and appreciate your kind words more than you know. I know this may sound cliche and all, but I can wholeheartedly say this because it's true for me, as an author.

yes, I admit that I don't always reply to comments I receive, but it's not because I don't appreciate or care about them. I read them, mostly several times each, I screenshot them and save them in a special folder so I can always come back and read them again. there are just so many kind comments I receive that make me smile to myself for minutes even though I don't reply back. some of them actually make me shed a few tears of joy.

thing is when us authors don't reply to comments we receive, it's mostly because;

we don't know how best to respond that will let the commenters know how much we appreciate them. because if the comments are several paragraph long (we LOVE that!), and we only reply with "thank you so much", then it sounds too short for us. (I know this because I sometimes spend so long thinking about how best to respond that will let my commenters know how much I appreciate them that I sometimes end up don't respond back.)

sometimes we are overwhelmed by several comments from several readers, and responding to all of them are too overwhelming. but we read, love and appreciate each and every single one of them very dearly.

sometimes we reply to some comments and not the others, because maybe we have little free time where we can only reply to some people, or maybe there's something about some specific comments that makes us respond back. but this does not mean we don't care about comments we don't reply back.

sometimes we're simply exhausted from stuff in our lives and replying to comments take time and energy, depends on how long the comments are / how long we want our responses to be / how many comments we receive, etc

writing is hard, but sometimes finding the right words to reply back to comments can be even harder, especially when we want to write several paragraph responses back just to let them know how much we appreciate them. and unfortunately sometimes us writers just don't have enough energy left.

but rest assured that, even if we don't reply, we love and appreciate every kind comment we receive very, very much, and they help motivate us to keep writing.

when I comment on my fellow writers' works and don't get any response back, I know why (for the reasons listed above), and that's totally okay for me because I don't comment on their works just for them to thank me, I do it because I want them to know how I love and appreciate their works, and I believe they do know. and that's really all that matters for me.

so if your favorite authors don't reply to you, please don't think that it's because they "don't care" or that your comments "don't matter" to them.

I mean, of course, I can see why not getting a response back can be discouraging, especially when commenting on writers' works are so encouraged, but as a fellow commenter (yes, I'm an author and also a commenter of fics I love), I always think of it this way; fanfics are gifts we receive for free, we comment on writers' works as a way to thank them for giving us cool fics to read. we don't expect them to thank us back because they've already given us this lovely gift. we comment only because we want to let them know we love their fics. and they know.

your comments could now be saved in your favorite authors' folders and re-read by them over and over again, even if they didn't respond back. they could be smiling to themselves reading your thoughts on their works. who knows? their next 100k word fic could be motivated by you.

[telephoniii]

what app do you use for your smaus cause i canNOT find a good one

okay… this was supposed to be a quick and easy answer.

i use social maker. i’ve had it since 2020. it’s my personal favorite smau app and a highly recommend it. it’s pretty easy to use and you’ve got a lot of options on what you can do with it.

but, i was trying to get screenshots of it in the app store to show what app it was and…low and behold it got banned??

only people who have had the app downloaded before can use it unfortunately 😭

i feel bad leaving you hanging like that, so! i went on a trip to find an easy to use, nice-looking smau app!

and i decided to make it into a kind of smau post at the same time!

so you can enjoy some TWST silliness with the first years while I rank these apps :>

SILLY TEXTS WITH THE FIRST YEARS (while I rank SMAU apps)

First Years NRC boys x GN!Reader SMAU

Warnings: mention of political figures in Faker 2, Reader is Prefect, suggestive humor, possible OOC

A/N: this shows how much I love to yap. I did this to procrastinate but it was pretty fun! How did I turn my response to this anon from a single paragraph to a whole multi-section post? I have no clue. My brain works in weird ways. I hope you enjoy :>

SOCIAL MAKER (what I use)

I use this app for a reason! It’s so easy to use and it gives you 20 max messages. Personally, I really enjoy the look of the app and messages too. Unfortunately though, if you didn’t have this app downloaded before it got taken down, you can’t use it. At least on IOS. I don’t really know the situation for Android 💀

5/5 stars!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SOCIAL DUMMY

This is another app that you had to have downloaded before it got taken down to use it. I think it’s a really good SMAU app! Especially if you wanna do stuff outside of messages!! (twitter, instagram, youtube, etc.) The messaging system runs pretty smoothly, the only thing is that the max amount of messages is very short.

4/5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

CHAT STORY MAKER

This app is a bit outdated in my opinion. It’s kinda hard to use since you can’t exit out of the keyboard and get a clean picture of your messages. Also, when you close the app it doesn’t save ANY of your things. (That caused me a lot of trouble making this actually 😭). You can also only make two characters. However, it has good customization!! It has a very cute look and you can change the background + text colors. It’s also really easy to switch between characters which is always nice.

3/5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

TYPE STORY

This is the app that Social Maker actually made after their OG app was taken down! It’s, unfortunately, not super great in my opinion. I got really confused when I tried using it, even with a tutorial. Once you get the hang of it, it’s alright. The app just feels overly complicated. However, if you want to make SMAUs mainly with big group chats then this app might be pretty good for you!

3/5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

FAKER 2

By far the worse app among them all. It just reeks of money-greedy creators. An add plays after almost every action you do. (From customizing characters to sending messages, an add always plays) It was also quite confusing to use and you’re limited to three characters. There isn’t much you can customize either and it has a 5 message max. Also, it made me a bit uncomfortable because the three default profiles you have to edit to change into the characters you want included Trump and Elon… Yeah 💀. Not to mention that a lot of the adds were filled with AI videos that were just uncanny valley. Back on topic! The app locks a lot of features behind a paywall that doesn’t even seem worth it. I wouldn’t recommend it.

1/5 stars. ⭐️

TEXTING STORY

In terms of making SMAUs on tumblr, I wouldn’t recommend it. But, if you were interested in making texting story videos and/or publishing them on YouTube, this would be a good option! There’s a lot of opportunities for videos as it can automatically give you a video of you typing both sides. The typing sound is also pretty satisfying to me! Unfortunately, it’s not the best for tumblr SMAUs. There isn’t really any customization— you can’t even add a profile picture.

3/5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

TEXT STORY MAKER

Okay, I did legitimately save the best for last. This app is pretty great. It’s easy to catch onto and gives you A LOT of customizable options: background, text color, group chat cover, etc. Also, there’s an option for it to automatically take screenshots of the text which is just so convenient?? But there is a pretty big downside. You can only make two characters. That really sucks.

I think that if you want to make 1 on 1 SMAUs similar to mine, this would be a good app to use. It’s gonna be annoying having to remake the profiles and what not, but I think the pros out weight the cons.

4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[dashcon-two]

Fundraising for the Canadian Cancer Society

[ALT: A screenshot of the fundraising page for the Canadian cancer society, featuring the DashCon 2 logo]

Hey y’all! 

I’m Avis, the co-founder of DashCon 2, and I’d like to write something a bit more personal than our updates usually get. I want to start off with a huge thank you to all of you, from our mailing list to our tumblr followers. It’s genuinely insane that so many of you wanted tickets that you crashed Simpli Events and sold out 550 tickets in less than 20 minutes. Simone and I initially conceptualized DashCon 2 as a 300-person event, so we’re utterly blown away by just how much attention we’ve received.

Honestly, planning and expanding DashCon has been wild. We’ve always been a small, tight-knit team, and I’m really proud of just how far we’ve gotten. Especially because I almost left the project just a few months into planning.

My mom was diagnosed with cancer last August, and it threw a lot of my plans into uncertainty. It wasn’t the first time she’d battled cancer, and I know too well how hard it is to focus on anything in the face of the inescapable terror of losing her. This is why it means so much to me to announce that DashCon 2 is running a fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society. You can donate to our fundraiser at https://fundraisemyway.cancer.ca/campaign/dashcontwo. All donations from this page go directly to them, we couldn’t use any of it if we wanted to.

Thankfully, my mom is now once again cancer-free, but that doesn’t erase the many ways cancer has impacted my family, and the families of many people on the team. Nearly half of all Canadians can expect to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and the Canadian Cancer Society does incredible work to fund research that actively improves the lives of cancer patients. My mom is probably the strongest, coolest, and kindest woman I know, and the Canadian Cancer Society’s work is part of why she’s still alive. 

Please, if you couldn’t get a ticket, or if you think we’re a scam and didn’t bother, give the Canadian Cancer Society any money you would’ve given us. We’ll be auctioning off merch, ball pit balls, and more in an official raffle, but we encourage you to give directly if you can. Given that our venue fees are paid, we can’t think of a better use for seventeen thousand dollars. DashCon 2 wouldn't be happening without our community's immense outpour of love and support, and we consider it our responsibility to pay it forward.

Moving onto somewhat lighter matters, unfortunately, we won’t be selling any more in-person tickets for DashCon 2. We’ve always wanted DashCon 2 to be a local convention first, and despite all the attention we received, we had trouble gauging how well our following would translate to actual attendance numbers. I’m really sorry that so many of you couldn’t get a ticket, but for now we want to focus on making sure that we run a fun, safe, and accessible event for 500 people before we move to a larger venue. 

However, all hope is not lost! We’ve thrown ourselves into expanding our plans for virtual DashCon 2! We promise we’ll start selling tickets soon, but for now I can tell you that we’re planning to run a great selection of virtual panels, stream some of the larger in person-panels, and maybe even stream a duel (if such a thing occurs). A portion of all virtual ticket sales will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. 

Thank you once again for all your support. Again, you can find our fundraiser at https://fundraisemyway.cancer.ca/campaign/dashcontwo. 

Thanks for everything,

Avis | DashCon 2 Co-Founder

[cornmayor]

UPDATE: THEY TOOK DOWN ALL THE PINS

My dearest Undertale AU community. I need your help cause some of you are victims of theft. I was informed that some freakers sell your art as pin buttons on one of our russian platforms.

I was able to contact shopkeepers, but I can't remove them without proofs, so here's the deal. If you see your/your friend's artwork please, DM me with:  - Nickname - Screenshot of your drawing(s). I have screenshots with higher resolution if you need it!  -Link to this work/WIP

If you know the artist, please ping them! If you can, please spread the post.

They ARE NOT going to remove pins if I won't find original artists, and I can't do it alone. Unfortunately, more serious actions like money refunds require lots of time dealing with documents, and I'm not mentally ready to deal with it, I'm sorry.

@ poetax and @ lunnar-chan are already aware! Thank you.

[t4tprinzzy]

let’s go into detail about what’s going on with thomas sanders and brei grace, because i refuse to let him and the community sweep this under the rug:

thomas severely underpaid brei grace for her work on roleslaying with roman

thomas then laid brei off after creating a work environment that was bad enough to make her not want to return

thomas made a post “announcing” that rswr would be on “an indefinite hiatus”. but it was only available on his patreon (im not a patron so i can’t link the post or show a screenshot, but if i find a screenshot i will edit it into this post)

to amend the above point: i had seen many people saying there was a patreon post that touched on the subject of brei being laid off and rswr taking a hiatus, but in actuality, according to a patron, thomas mentioned the matter in a patreon livestream, not a full blown post. i apologize for the misinformation

just days later, thomas makes a tweet about his merch sale, and most (if not ALL) his current merch was designed by brei, who will not see a penny in royalties, and this is apparently a regular thing with thomas

finally, an entire week after the patreon “announcement” and brei being laid off, thomas says this on the youtube community page (among other things, but this is what im focusing on):

and brei has to clarify that she was laid off

i want to point out the phrase “brei is currently not part of our team” and how thomas fails to acknowledge that HE is responsible for that. HE laid her off. and like a cowardly snake, he’s hiding behind vague corporate speak because he doesn’t want to admit the truth

unfortunately for him, the truth is out there

i know i sound really serious and dramatic and yall are probably not even taking me seriously and you have your pitchforks at the ready, but guess what? i couldn’t care less. i mean this IS serious, which is why im taking it seriously. but at the end of the day im just informing the community of what i know. what you do with that information is up to you

im not “cancelling” thomas, or trying to start a witch hunt, im just so sick of everyone pretending thomas is a perfect harmless little angel who can do no wrong. cos guess what? he HAS done wrong. he’s done wrong by brei. but everyone is so busy sucking up to him that they don’t seem to care that brei is suffering because of him

and this isn’t the first time he’s done wrong by an artist, either (let’s never forget the mad libs incident)

to summarize: thomas doesn’t make it a habit of properly compensating the artists he hires, he makes their experiences a living hell, and then he lies through his teeth about it

like i said, do with this information what you will, but i don’t know how thomas sleeps at night

(oh, and if you plan on harassing me over this post, im literally just gonna block you lmao don’t waste your energy)

hope everyone has a nice weekend (except for thomas tbh)

[jj-one]

A MODERN LOVE STORY.

this is smut, do not interact if under 18

when your tinder date who was supposed to be just a hook up becomes your boyfriend within a week.

pairing: han jisung x f!reader genre/tags: pwp, smut, fluff, jisung is such a gentleman, fingering, oral (m receiving), piv, unprotected sex (wrap before u tap), major size kink, slight daddy kink (not surprised), jisung has huge dick, jisung cums on readers face, i think that's it Imk if i missed any o_0 words: 4.5k

**old repost from my deleted blog

Dating apps were never really your thing, you’ve always been an “old fashioned” kind of girl. You’ve secretly dreamt of meeting your lover in a grocery store or bumping into them at a library where you instantly fall in love. Unfortunately, you can’t be delusional forever, your Prince Charming isn’t going to just come knocking for you at your doorstep. Unless…you find someone who can come to your doorstep but through an app, Tinder. You decided to give it a try and see what all the hype was about after your best friend Ryujin raved about all the hot guys she was meeting— and banging.

You often found yourself quite jealous of all the good sex she was getting, she could have anything she wanted all at her fingertips. You were always horny and looking for the next toy to play with but you decided maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to try and find a cute guy to hook up with and relieve some quick stress. You may be old fashioned but you weren’t too uptight to have a hook up once in a while.

You downloaded Tinder for once in your lifetime and wrote in all your info, chose your best photos, and made a silly little bio. Your bio was just ‘looking for a fun time, need someone who can break my back, not my heart’ you know it super lame but most guys like corny shit like that anyway. You swiped for ages and ages, barely giving anyone a right swipe because you were way too picky. They had to be top tier in the visual department even if they were just a one night stand, you’ll always have standards. You were getting tired of swiping and just about to call it a night up until you swiped on the next profile. His name was Han and he only lived 2.5 miles from you.

As you were scrolling through his profile, you couldn’t stop thinking how hot he was, his hair was blonde, and he always wore the same cross necklace in his all photos. You read his profile some more and saw that he has a dog named Bbama and you smiled at how adorable his dog was. You instantly swiped right after seeing the dog pics and you couldn’t believe you matched with him already. Your heart kind of skipped a beat for a second and you closed the app immediately. You didn’t think he’d be so quick to match with you and you wanted to message him but your pride got in the way. You figured he’s way too fine to even message you back, he probably gets floods of messages from girls asking. You decide to play it cool and not say anything, instead you took a screenshot of his profile and sent it to Ryujin.

She texts you back a couple minutes later and says she thinks he’s really hot, you’re glad she approves but you’re not surprised that she wouldn’t. You go through his profile again and see that he has his Instagram linked to his Tinder, you go to his Instagram account and continue your stalking spree. You see a bunch of pics of his dog, food, and mostly outdoorsy stuff. You didn’t figure him to be the wilderness type of guy but he was, he’s been hiking all over different mountains and has photos of him at the very top. You were in awe of how fearless this man was, you were swayed already by how he presented himself.

Your phone buzzes with a new notification.

‘Han sent you a message’ Tinder alerts you of 2 new notifications from him. You open the messages immediately, a huge grin plastered on your face as you read what he said to you.

‘Hi y/n’

‘What’s your favorite food?’

‘I’m taking notes on where I need to take you on our first date’

That was very smooth but also straightforward, you liked him already.

‘Pho, I could eat it everyday’

‘You’re already planning our date? lol’

You sent the messages and texted Ryujin straight away, telling her how much of a success this was already going. She tells you how much she was right all along and how you’ve been missing out this whole time, you just giggle at her shenanigans.

You get another notification from Tinder and it’s from your favorite new guy already.

‘Yes, how could I not? You’re a 10/10’

You smile to yourself when reading at that comment, you never really saw yourself as a perfect 10 but if someone this highly attractive sees you that way then you must be a smokeshow. Han sends you another message,

‘I can pick you up tmrw at 5? Dinner is on me babe so no need to bring a wallet ;)’

You bit your lip at that last sentence, who would’ve known someone this sexy could be your sugar daddy AND fuck buddy? Ok well maybe the sugar daddy part was just a joke. It definitely turned you on knowing that he’s willing to spend his money on you without you feeling guilt about it though.

‘See you at 5 <3’ you reply to him.

The very next day you’re in the car going to your date with Han. The moment you laid eyes on him there was a lustful nature that came out of you. You didn’t even think it could be possible but he looked even better in person, the pictures didn’t do him justice whatsoever. His jawline was insane, it was sharp and looked absolutely perfect from his side profile. His hair was a little messy but in a really cute way, he had a small silver stud in his ear and wore his cross necklace like the one in his photos. You couldn’t believe it was really him in your driveway, he had to be the most beautiful you’ve ever seen. He wore a plain black T-shirt with baggy jeans and converse, he looked effortlessly cool. He was driving with one hand on the wheel and the other was playing with his radio. He was trying to get the Aux cord to work properly but it just wasn’t cooperating with him, he decides to just leave it alone.

“So uh.. anyway is this your first Tinder date?” He asks trying to break the awkward silence.

“Yeah, actually it is,” you tell him “I’m not the hugest fan of dating apps but I decided why not give it a shot.” You say as your shrug your shoulders.

“Ah I see, well you met me so that’s a good sign so far right?” He asks with a goofy grin on his face, you couldn’t help but giggle at his quirkiness.

You talk for a bit more in the car and get to know each other, as you’re getting nearer to the destination he comes to a stop into a parking lot. He gets out of the car first and opens the door for you on your side.

“M’lady,” Han says in a funny voice, taking your hand in his as you get out the car. You’re loving his silly and fun energy so far, it’s definitely bringing your mood up as you had no expectations for how this would go.

The date ended up going extremely well, you both couldn’t stop laughing and cracking jokes together. Everything felt super lighthearted and easygoing with Han, you felt like you could say just about anything with him, feeling like you’ve known him for much longer than a couple of hours. He bought so much expensive meat for the both of you at the restaurant and the pho was fantastic. You’ve never been to this particular restaurant before as it was a bit too out of your price range, you were surprised when he told you he ate here frequently. You wanted to ask him what he does for a living but you don’t want to seem rude. You ate as much as you could and he definitely ate way more than you, lightly making fun at the way you eat. You do eat pretty slow so you aren’t shocked by the way he’s noticing that already.

You like the way Han eats because he stores food in his cheeks like a squirrel, usually that action would give you the ick but with him you find it quite endearing. Once you both finish eating at the restaurant he takes you to a pier where there’s pretty lights near the water. It was a nice day to go out on a walk so he grabbed your hand and led the way down the path. You guys talked so much for hours about any and everything, you talked for so long that you ended up watching the sunset together, then looked at the stars. When you looked down and noticed that you’ve been holding hands with him this whole time, but you didn’t want to point it out to Han incase he’d let go.

You’ve spent a total of only 5 hours with this man but you really do feel as though you’ve known him your whole life. He was so fun to talk to, handsome, and literally the sweetest person ever, it made you question how someone this perfect could even be single. You really couldn’t wait any longer for him to end up in your bed tonight and that’s exactly what you planned to happen. As the night progresses you ask him if he wants to come back to your place for the night. He looks surprised yet obliges and drives back to your apartment. It was pretty late at night and you only had your tiny lamp in the kitchen on, so you couldn’t see much of where you were going. You turn around to face Han who’s been staring you up and down this whole time.

You didn’t even have much time to take off your jacket before Han’s lips were all over yours. His hands roamed all over your body and yours were now tangled in his messy blonde hair. He startles you for a second when he picks you up and lifts you onto the marble kitchen countertop, not breaking the kiss once. He bites down on your lower lip slightly, making you gasp so he can easily slip his tongue in you. His movements were gentle and he kisses you so passionately, one of his hands comes up behind your neck and the other is stroking the apex of your thigh. As you both pull away from kissing, he stops to stare at you for the longest second.

“You are so beautiful y/n,” he says, stroking your hair and tucking some behind your ear, then he kisses your ear and licks it. He continues peppering a few more kisses downwards and to your neck, beginning to suck lightly, causing you to let out a quiet moan. He leaves a couple small hickies around your neck and kisses your lips once again. You tug at his T-shirt and motion for him to take it off, he does as he’s told and removes it from his body. You get a faint look at his chest since it’s a such little bit of light in the kitchen, from what you can see however, he looks perfect. When he comes closer, you can feel his rock solid abs, you know he works out but you weren’t expecting him to be this fit.

You go back to making out for awhile and his hands are now laid on your chest. He cups both of your boobs in his hands and kneads them through your thin shirt, he realizes this isn’t enough for him so he slides his hands underneath your shirt. He ran his fingers against your nipples and starts to pinch them lightly, making you moan directly into his mouth. He groans when you bring your hand lower to his pelvis, trying to locate his belt so you can tell him to take it off. You finally reach something you presume to be leather and you grab it, bringing his body closer to you in the process.

“You want me to take this off huh?” Han asks, pointing to his belt but all you see is his erect dick print through his jeans.

You nod your head profusely, “yes pleasee, right now!”

He grins at you while slowly taking off his belt, throwing it down on the floor and now he’s stroking his cock through his pants. You hear him groan a little bit as you can see him palming himself, wanting to take him in your mouth so bad.

“Let me give you head,” you say almost desperately, you didn’t mean for it to sound so needy but you really wanted— no needed his cock.

“Okay,” he says smiling back at you, “sounds great to me.”

You get up from the kitchen counter and now position yourself on the floor, on your knees. You never pictured yourself to be the one sucking a random guy off Tinder’s dick but hey, things just so happen to turn out that way. You unzip Han’s pants and gently pull them down, he was wearing pink supreme boxers and you expected nothing less from him. You pull down his boxers too and his erect cock springs up out of them like a slinky. Eyes growing wide in awe as you couldn’t wait for his giant, thick cock to go into your mouth. You start to stroke his length and realize that one hand won’t be enough to do the job, you have to use two to get a good firm grasp around it and even then it’s still a few inches off.

You contemplate how you’re even going to fit all of him into your mouth but you think of the consequences later. You continue pumping his cock with your hands and he moans lowly under his breath. You lick the tip of his cock and he winces a little, that must be his sensitive spot. You suck on the tip and guide your mouth to slowly take in more of his cock, keeping a suction-tight grip on him as you keep lowering your head. You get to a point where you start to physically choke and gag on his cock, your saliva was getting everywhere now, all over your chin, your chest, his cock, and some even spilled on the floor. You know you have to be a good girl and take all of him but you never had someone this big before.

“You have such a nice dick,” you blurt out while taking a break, wanting to please him more than anything.

“Thank you baby,” Han smiles down at you while you bring his cock back into your mouth, this time breathing through your nose you have a better chance at taking him all. You were successful and managed to get most of it inside your mouth, maybe just a couple centimeters off. You kept at it, sucking his cock like your life literally depended on it, shooting your head back and forth making you feel dizzy.

“Mmm yeah… that’s it baby… just like that-” Han moans out for you with his eyes closed shut and head thrown back, you’re making him feel so good right now.

“I think I’m gonna cum y/n…”

You continue what you’ve been doing for the past 15 minutes or so, sucking his cock at an even faster rate. You look up at him and give him a sultry look with your eyes, you need to feel his cum all over you.

“Please cum on my face daddy,” you tell him, you used to let your ex cum on your face all the time and you were craving for that kind of thing at the moment. You keep deepthroating him and making gagging noises in the process, wanting him to know just how hard you’re working for his cum. He lets out a long moan and keeps saying he’s about to cum, you tap his dick on your tongue so you can get a taste of his load shooting out and then… you suddenly go blind. Han’s load comes out so fast that it got everywhere, causing some of it to get into your eye. You couldn’t see for a bit and rubbed your eye, feeling a thick, sticky substance on your left cheek. Han’s cum was now painted all over your face, some even got on your shoulder and landed on the floor. You smiled at how much cum you caused to come out his dick, feeling awfully proud of yourself.

You get up from your knees and start kissing again, he brings you back to the counter you were originally sitting on and he toys with the waistband of your skirt. He pulls your skirt down and begins rubbing your pussy through your underwear, dragging his fingers along your slit and teasing you. You whimper as you buck your hips up, wanting to feel his fingers on your clit. He finally moves your panties to the side and starts rubbing his middle finger against your swollen clit.

“Damn, you’re wet as fuck…” he says, looking at your glistening, wet pussy. He circles your clit and spits on it, mixing your juices with his saliva. He then dips his finger inside your hole, you let out a moan as he starts pushing his finger in and out. The sound of his fingers going in your wet pussy sound so dirty yet so blissful. He kisses you as he keeps fingering you, spreading you open with another finger. You’re such a moaning mess and it’s all thanks to Han’s wonderful fingers. You were arching your back at the sensation you were feeling, his thumb is now rubbing your clit while two of his fingers are still inside. You wanted his cock so badly, but you were going to have to ask nicely for it.

“I need you…” you whine to Han, you don’t know why you were too shy to say what you needed the most though.

“Need what baby?” He asks with his fingers still deep inside your sopping cunt, you were aching for something bigger and it’s making you go crazy.

“Your cock… need your cock, please!” You practically beg at this point for it. Han’s smile grew wider as he saw how needy you were already acting for him.

“As you wish pretty girl,” he says, taking his fingers out and licking the juices off of them one by one. He takes his cock in his hand and rubs it along your folds, he feels how soaking wet you are and it’s already enough to make him want to burst. He doesn’t think he’s a fast cummer (is that a word?) but for you, he’d nut instantly. He slides his thick, long cock into your little pussy, making you audibly gasp in pain and pleasure.

The size of him is enough to make you want to never be able to walk again, but you think once he’s done with you he’ll be leaving you permanently bed ridden.

“Just relax baby, you can take it all trust me..” Han assures you as he continues to slide his length inside, your wetness mixed with the sounds of his dick makes for the perfect porn audio. Your legs were spreading wide open and rested on his shoulders, he was taking nice and slow strokes at first. He wants you to become more adjusted to his size, he’s finally able to get all of himself in. You look down at your stomach to see a giant bulge, his cock was so big that he practically took up half of your torso.

“Ready baby?” Han whispers in your ear, asking for the okay to start thrusting deeper into you. You nod as you were finally getting used to him, he goes a little faster and starts to build a steady pace. His cock is hitting the back of your walls nicely and you feel every inch of him inside you. The cross necklace he was still wearing dangled over you, which was pretty ironic for the sinful act you two were committing at the moment. Wrapping your arms around his neck as he moves deeper into you, stretching you out like the little whore you are. You feel yourself growing wetter with each thrust and he’s grabbing your waist tightly with both hands.

“Your pussy feels so fucking good… my god..” Han says moaning, his eyes are closed again as he keeps fucking your tight pussy. You took his cock so well, you were so proud of yourself.

“Your cock feels amazing daddy,” you whimper out to him as you continue moaning his name, feeling like you’re about to cum already. Han’s breath becomes more irregular and his strokes are getting messier, you can tell he’s reaching his climax as well.

“Let’s cum together.” Han coaxes, holding your hand while fucking into you, his cock fits all the way inside without hurting you now and all you feel is immense pleasure. You nod your head in agreement with him and focus on reaching your high. A wave of ecstasy washes over you as Han hits a certain spot in you, his dick is so big that it can reach little places you never felt before, it’s an incredible feeling. Your head swings back as you feel your orgasm approaching, you let out a few curse words and catch your breath. Han feels his release coming too and quickly pulls out, he pumps his cock for a little bit with his right hand and watches his load shoot out onto your stomach. He lets out an erotic groan as he finishes off his last bit of cum and strokes his cock a little more.

“Fuck that was the best sex I’ve ever had..” Han says while panting, grabbing your face to pull into you a breathless kiss.

“Yeah, that was definitely amazing,” you respond after pulling away, smiling at his first impressions of you.

It was now midnight and you were both exhausted, you two were too fucked out to do anything else and Han was way too tired to head home that night. You didn’t mind Han staying over at your place, to be honest, it felt pretty normal. As you both got into bed he gave you tons of forehead kisses and cradled you to sleep, his embrace felt safe and protecting. You never wanted to leave his presence and neither did he.

It was the early hours of the morning and the sun is beaming on your face through the sheer white curtains. You wake up to a familiar smell coming from your kitchen, it was the smell of eggs and pancakes cooking. You put on some clothes quickly to head to your kitchen, you see Han in nothing but his underwear cooking you breakfast. You looked at the clock and saw that it was only 7:04 am, how is he already awake at this time of the morning? You make your way on over to him and give him a chaste kiss, telling him good morning. He finishes up cooking and grabs some plates for the both of you. You couldn’t believe your eyes right now, your Tinder date that you just hooked up with last night is now cooking you breakfast. You want to feel like you’re living in a dream but the more you keep blinking the more real this situation feels.

“Ready to eat babe?” Han asks, handing you a plate full of food. You nod, still trying to process everything that’s going on but you don’t want to keep questioning it. You sit at the table with Han and eat your food. You both talk as though everything is normal, still making little jokes with each other like yesterday’s date. The food he made was pretty good and you were wondering what other hidden skills he may have been hiding. You’re now questioning what could be wrong with him since he’s so perfect, why hasn’t someone like him not been snatched up yet? As you finish eating you head back upstairs, Han follows you.

“What’re you doing?” You ask him, turning around to face him in confusion.

“Im just following where you’re going,” he admits sheepishly.

“But why?” You genuinely want to know why he’s considered still being here and isn’t fleeing after finally getting what he wanted.

“I want to stay here for a while,” he says while looking away at something else, he was a bit shy to ask if he could stay over for another day.

“For how long?” You ask, wondering if he’s serious about his infatuation with you.

“I- I don’t know, can I just stay for one more night? Please y/n?” He holds your hand, gently caressing and rubbing it.

You feel conflicted, on one hand you want someone you can feel connected to on a deeper level but the other hand is making you want to keep this relationship as no strings attached. You sigh as you see the glint in his eyes, his eyes were all it took for you to give into him.

“Okay” you say, he smiles as he hears your swift response. He presses a soft kiss against your lips and lets you lead the way back to your room.

Four days have passed and Han is still staying in your apartment with you. You decided you didn’t actually hate his company and that it was just the fear of commitment that made you reluctant. Han was different though, he brought a side out of you that no one else has. He brings you flowers, makes you laugh until your stomach hurts, listens to your problems/needs/wants/desires, shuts up when he’s supposed to, and does anything you say at the drop of a hat.

He’s the perfect guy for you and you met him on something you wouldn’t have tried if it wasn’t for your best friend. You’re still in shock by how you and Han are basically in a relationship now, I mean who stays at someone’s house for almost a week if they weren’t falling in love? You should be happy yet you’re nervous, you’re nervous about telling Ryujin, what if she thinks you’re moving too fast? You didn’t tell anyone about this “relationship” yet since you’ve never rushed into things this quickly with someone.

Han was a great person and you knew that with every fiber of your being, you just didn’t know if others would see that through just a few days of talking. You know you’re going to have to do it at some point since you’re actually thinking about getting serious with him. Han has been nothing more than amazing to you and if everyone else doesn’t see that then they’re crazy, you can’t convince everyone to like him but you start to feel as though it won’t be an issue for him. You think he’ll fit in just fine with everyone in due time ♡

[strawberrystepmom]

royalty au - knight!dante x princess!reader. established relationship, implied age difference, mention of virginity loss, suggestive. he refers to reader as little love and girl. screenshot thanks to jas over on pinterest <3 | wc 957, reading time: ~5 minutes

A princess in distress finds herself face down across her bed.

The distress, you may ask yourself?

“She had to meet with some self absorbed dignitary today, the poor thing.”

Groaning to dissuade the teasing of your knight Dante, the bedding mostly muffles the sound. You attempt it a second time, kicking your legs out childishly to drive the point that you do not wish to be bothered home.

Unfortunately, he continues by pulling each of your dangling slippers off by hooking a single finger inside of them and tossing them to the side to be picked up by your maids later.

“Imagine how she’d behave if she had to do harder work than that.”

You feel the laces that keep the back of your corset fastened loosen, your ribs suddenly able to expand. A feminine voice speaks up, the small footsteps that accompany it padding across the hardwood floor.

“Ser, we can take ca…“

You cut the speaker off by raising your hand though that face of yours remains mostly buried, lifting it only enough so that your voice may be heard.

“Let him.”

Further elaboration would only create further incrimination. Lifting your head, you glance over your shoulder for a moment and smile softly at the modestly dressed woman.

“I appreciate the concern but you may leave.”

She curtsies and rushes to leave your quarters, shutting the door tightly behind her. Your head drops and once again you find yourself face down, exhaling sharply. Guilt stirs in your gut knowing your lady is now in possession of the knowledge that Dante is clearly familiar with your laces.

You could always make up a tale, claiming the familiarity comes from tending to wounds and therefore keeping the salacious truth out of their minds but women know. That one changed the sheets after your first blood as a young girl and the second one that the man standing behind you took for himself long after you became a woman.

She knows. You’re certain the entire countryside knows. That guilty feeling only compounds imagining the gossips peddling stories about the future queen and the Devil.

The heaviness of the deception pins your body to the mattress, making you feel like you can’t breathe. You keep your face pressed down to hide the shift in your demeanor. Dante picks up far more quickly than you realize, getting back to work tugging at the laces keeping you decent.

“I’ve heard whispers of new marriage prospects coming for a visit,” he whispers, dipping his head so low that his long hair tickles the shell of your ear.

The husky rasp of his voice changes you back to who you were moments before the blues set in.

No longer buried face down in the bed, you turn to face him with a flat expression. “When are they not?”

The man doesn’t bother to hide his amusement, surprisingly nimble fingers pulling you free from your clothing with a few simple movements. You raise your arms over your head petulantly, refusing to move any more than you already have.

“You’re actually going to make me take it off of you like this?”

That haughty expression you wear only to drive him mad settles over your pretty little face.

“I can always call the ladies back in and ask them to bar the door behind you.”

Chuckling, he shakes his head. You don’t mean it. He is also not a man brave enough to tempt fate in case you do.

Standing at the side of your bed, he peels your dress upward, over your stocking clad calves. The dress is now pinned beneath your thighs, unable to be moved.

“You may need to offer at least a bit of assistance here, my lady.”

Making no attempt to move, you simply look over your shoulder and shrug half heartedly. The gallant man has already figured out your little game - the control you have over him, the smallest bit of it you get in your entire life - so he indulges you.

“Your grace, don't be difficult. I’m only attempting to help you.”

You offer no response, simply pointing your face forward and attempting to bite back the smile that he can surely see even from behind. The apples of your cheeks nearly touch your eyes when you smile like that. He always notices.

Just like he notices the little wiggle your hips and bottom have suddenly adopted now that they’re only barely covered by the back of your dress. Subtlety isn’t any more your strong suit than it is his, obviously.

The bed dips behind you, leather covered knees caging either side of your body in. Dante leans over you, curling over your back to whisper in your ear.

“Now little love,” he goads, finally ditching the formalities and dipping into the trove of pet names he has just never called any but you. “Make this easy for both of us and I will make it worth your while.”

Your hips raise to settle the curve of your ass against the front of his pants. He lifts your dress further up, up, up and looks down to see the plush of your skin between his thighs. Daring to peek over your shoulder, you lift yourself slightly off the bed so he can continue to peel your clothing from you as delicately as plucking petals from a rose.

“There you go, that’s my girl.”

His girl. The kingdom’s princess and future queen yet belonging most of all to the man atop you. It’s a thrilling prospect and the excitement leads you to crane your head back and up as far as you can, initiating a hungry kiss.

Perhaps you should’ve ordered your maids to stay away all evening.

[juniperhillpatient]

This conversation between Shauna & Jeff in Digestif is SO interesting as a precursor to season 3. I wanted to rewatch some season 2 episodes because I said season 3 totally reframed season 2’s writing in a positive way for me & gosh I really do stand by that.

Shauna’s worst fear truly is being boring! And it ALL boils back down to that tragic unresolved tension between her & Jackie. Jackie made Shauna feel small. Jackie had charisma. Jackie was a natural leader. And it made Shauna feel so worthless - forever afraid of her feelings for Jackie & intimidated by her & jealous of her. Shauna loved Jackie but she also wanted to be her & she also hated her for the way she made her feel.

I unfortunately can’t find any screenshots of Shauna bagging the packaged meat containing human remains in her dream interaction with ghost Jackie while she’s sleeping outside Melissa’s house (god there really will never be another show like this.) But it’s such an interesting scene because Shauna is horrified that “this” is her life. She’s bagging groceries. It’s human meat but it’s packaged, it’s put away. She did all those horrific things for nothing. Just to have this basic life & the worst part of it all is that Jackie is STILL mocking her.

The real Jackie loved Shauna. She could be a little bitchy, but it was never intentionally malicious. That insecurity that Shauna feels deep in her bones is just like the unwell ness that Lottie talks about. I want to write a whole meta on the girls who can’t go home sometime but for now let’s focus on Shaunas insecurity. She projects it on everyone around her because SHE can’t be allowed to be boring.

I’ve seen it said that the thesis of Jackie & Shaunas relationship is “why didn’t you ever say anything?” And I would agree! To an extent! I do think that Shauna’s insecurity ran so deep that the relationship had a high potential to be toxic even if they both opened up. But I also think that if there’s NO version where the story has a happy ending then there’s no tragedy & also that there genuinely IS a world where these two could’ve healed if the circumstances were a little different. If it’s true that there were slumber party make outs before that makes it even more likely. They’re halfway there. They just needed to admit that it was real & talk about it & reaffirm what they meant to each other!

I was put off at first by the talk of “two realities” in season 3. I didn’t want another Lost. but I think I understand where it’s going now.

There was a tiny chance at a happy ending & positive growth somewhere for Shauna, in another life. But it crashed & burned with the plane. She destroyed it & consumed it along with Jackie’s flesh & her entire identity. And then there was Melissa!

I don’t want this to get any more excessively long then it already has but the entire reason I started talking about Shauna’s fear of being boring is her suicidal ideation in the finale.

The wilderness has twisted Shaunas perception of everything including normalcy vs “boring.” Way back in the pilot she “just wanted to win” hence her standing back & letting the plan to injure Allie go through. So yes, she was always a little twisted. But now? She’s lost Jackie. She held her dead baby in her arms. She butchered her pseudo little brother after everyone left him to die including her because they were starving to death. At this point, she doesn’t know how to exist except in chaos. That’s what trauma does. Shauna CANT deal with things being safe & normal.

Shauna would rather DIE than have Melissa be “boring” because she’s projecting her own insecurities onto Melissa. Shauna tried to play the role she PERCEIVED Jackie to have in her life by emotionally manipulating & degrading Melissa to the last. And Shauna has been making impossible choices & doing horrible things for months. For Melissa to make the merciful choice when Shauna never did? That’s worse to Shauna than Melissa killing her.

Shauna has always sought excitement & risk. Cheating with Jeff is the first glimpse we get of it. Cheating on Jeff with Adam is the first biggie in the adult timeline. She can’t sit still & that’s amplified in the wilderness.

Shauna is homicidal but she’s also suicidal. She seeks risk like it’s an addiction. Adult Melissa accuses Shauna of wanting to blow up her life & she’s not wrong. (Of course Melisa ALSO specifically sought out her ex who once shot a gun inches from her & made her piss herself publicly then smirked about it & jumped Shaunas bones when Shauna held a knife to her throat & later after she & Shauna crippled a man together sooo… okay this is already too long we don’t have time to do an in depth on this crazy bitch too)

Anyway in conclusion Shauna will NEVER be satisfied. The most excited she ever was by Melissa was when Melissa almost killed her & she was disappointed when that failed. Then she turned her rage about it into sadism with Mari. Anyway never forget that Shauna Shipman might be destructive to everyone else around her but she is also destructive to herself & completely broken & twisted inside & THAT is why she is my poor little pookie meow meow forever. Thank you for coming to my TED talk 🫡

[murkymud]

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝑳𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒄𝒚*ੈ✩‧₊˚

                     ₊˚ ‿︵‿︵‿︵୨୧ · · ♡ · · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿︵₊˚

This is a story based challenge which I pulled this theme straight out my ass but it’s a standard Legacy challenge, but I think you’ll be able to see our thought process through this. We didn’t assign colors to the generations but i’m a SUCKER for a good berry challenge so in our play through we did color coordinate  >ᴗ< 

As always, lilsimsie’s Not-So-Berry challenge was a huge inspiration as well as 

𝐃 𝐑 𝐀 𝐄 𝐘 𝐀 𝐃’S Crybaby Whims legacy, A super fun challenge by the way <3 

A base game version will be released eventually. If there are any flaws in the gameplay please dm or comment them!

At the bottom we’ve included some things from our personal legacy if inspiration is ever needed. We did not include them in the requirements because we did not feel it was needed for that specific generation, just that it fit our character specifically.

ੈ♡˳Rules:ੈ♡˳

—✧ Starting out, you may freerealestate/ cheat your plot. After plots placed, start Apple Pie with 25K (Money cheats are not allowed after this point)

—✧Normal lifespan is what we play tested on, and we were able to finish everything. But if you want, you may play long lifespan but you may get bored easily

—✧If your heir dies before a child is born, you may cheat heir back. Once the first kid is born, that child must take over the previous challenge (Ie. Apple Pie dies but Jell-o is an infant. You may not revive Apple Pie. Jell-o now does Apple Pie Legacy IF Apple Pie is not completed.)

Thank you for trying this out! Please use #DessertWhims on any platform of sharing. We’ll be checking all for screenshots and let us know if you play it!

 ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓⊹

  *˚ *༘ *𝓐𝓹𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓟𝓲𝓮⋆·˚ ༘ *

   generation 1

(This sim must be a male) 

₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ All American Treat. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧

         This all-american was born and raised in the south, this gentleman worked his tooshie off on his parents farm. During his young adult years, he flirted and dated, but who can blame him with his chiseled jaw and perfect white teeth. He eventually found his delectable southern belle, married her and helped her rear up his many, many, many kids. 

Aspiration: Angling Ace

Traits: Good, Family Oriented, Loves outdoors

  Requirements:

 —✧Live on farm

 —✧Master fishing skill

 —✧Have pristine reputation

 —✧Have at least 5 kids

 —✧Complete the Angling ace aspiration

 —✧Master Handiness

 —✧Have 3 partners before settling down

 —✧Marry a southern belle as a young adult 

 —✧Purchase Mentor trait

 —✧Sole income must be from the farm

**All generations strengthen connection to physical world after death

 ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓⊹

  *˚ *༘ *𝓙𝓮𝓵𝓵-𝓸⋆·˚ ༘ *

     generation 2

   ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ﾟ Extremely sticky, slippery… and unfortunately malleable₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚

           A young animal lover who’s used to a free life with their toes in the grass and a sweet animal to keep them company. Because of your big family you tend to be a bit clingy or you could say, sticky to other people. Just like Jell-o, you’re a bit slippery, and things just seem to glide right out your hands. But when your lifelong partner cheats on you can’t seem to find the courage to break free. 

Aspiration: Soulmate

Traits: Clumsy, Loyal, Catlover

  Requirements:

 —✧Find one partner in highschool and stay with them forever

 —✧Become a conservationist

 —✧Finish the soulmate aspiration

 —✧Move away from the ranch

 —✧Have your partner cheat and your sim stay

 —✧Find a stray cat and adopt it

 —✧Rarely discipline your children

 ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓⊹

    *˚ *༘ *𝓒𝓸𝓽𝓽𝓸𝓷 𝓒𝓪𝓷𝓭𝔂⋆·˚ ༘ *

                         generation 3

   ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ﾟ Pure sugar. Pure rush. Pure chaos. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚

       Your go-with-the-flow mother may have raised you as her friend more than her child and this might have set off your crazy, free spirited attitude. You just seemed to never know how to sit still, and your racing thoughts sometimes made you have to talk to yourself. One thing that calmed you down was baking, and you could do it all day.

Aspiration: Party Animal

Traits: Outgoing, Erratic, Party Animal

Requirements: 

 —✧Complete 3 child aspirations

 —✧Have irresponsible Trait

 —✧Join business career, advance to level 4 and leave

 —✧Join Culinary career after Business, advance to level 2 and leave (Do this before owning restaurant)

 —✧Finish Party Animal Aspiration 

 —✧Own a 5 star Cafe/Restaurant 

 —✧Have at least 3 different hair colors and styles (Short, bob, long, braids, ect.)

 —✧Accept any invite to go out (Exception is when at the restaurant. May stop this once sim is adult)

 —✧Master baking skill

 —✧Have only 1 child

 —✧Have a mediocre relationship with child 

 —✧Live in at least three different worlds

  —✧Never Marry

  —✧May not cheat restaurant. Must build it up from scratch

 ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓⊹

    *˚ *༘ 𝓑𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓽 𝓒𝓪𝓴𝓮⋆·˚ ༘ *

                              generation 4

₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ﾟ Most boring cake . ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚

         As a child, you were incredibly friendly but you’d soon realize that next to your high energy parent, you’d never be noticed…. so you stopped trying. Your first love made you seem more interesting than you were. Beside them, you were also the life of the party. So when they dump you it finalizes your stoic state. Why try? Your mediocre life would eventually catch up to you when you realize that your children are a clean slate to mold into who you want. 

Aspiration: Successful Lineage

Traits: Proper, Lazy, Loner

Requirements:

—✧As a child, have outgoing as a trait and social butterfly but cheat later and change their trait

—✧Never advance past a B in school

—✧Date person similar to parent (High spirited and fun) In highschool and get dumped before prom night

—✧Join Salary person career (May not advance over level 6)

—✧Must live wherever your parents live (may move out obvi) 

—✧Have identical twins (May cheat) 

—✧Must discipline children as often as possible

—✧ Have children get Happy Infant and Happy Toddler

—✧Toddlers must have 3 in all skills

—✧Have ‘ok’ or ‘poor’ relationship with children

—✧When children are toddlers, divorce spouse for “different parenting styles”

 ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓⊹

   *˚ *༘ 𝓜𝓪𝓬𝓪𝓻𝓸𝓷⋆·˚ ༘ *

                          generation 5

      ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ﾟ Pristine on the outside, But crumbles under the pressure . ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚

        You and your twin have always been compared, like you didn’t have your own identity. But this didn’t matter at first because they're your best friend , so you couldn’t resent each other… right? You’re a star with a promising future and as it fastly approaches; the math on your sheet suddenly seems more gruesome. After becoming valedictorian the burn-out rises to your attention and you realize you can’t go to university. Your twin, however, proceeds their education and you put your creativity to use. 

All Requirements are for both, unless specified not

Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy

Traits: Perfectionist, Overachiever, Creative

 Requirements:

—✧Get A in school as a child (For Both)

—✧Have one twin (The heir) Graduate Valedictorian 

—✧Become 10 on an instrument by the end of teen hood (For both) —✧Get all good character Values traits (For both)

—✧Apply for University but never go (For Heir)

—✧Have other twin (Non Heir) aspiration be renaissance sim

—✧After Graduation, have the twins relationship dwindle

—✧Get level 10 in Style Influencer Career (For Heir)

—✧Become level 5 on any skill sim loves (May stop once Red Hots is Toddler- For Heir)

—✧Have other twin go to university 

—✧Have only one child and shower them with love 

—✧ Have child move out with at least 30K

 ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓⊹

   *˚ *༘ 𝓡𝓮𝓭 𝓗𝓸𝓽𝓼⋆·˚ ༘ *

                     generation 6

      ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ﾟ Your favorite spicy treat. With a burning surprise . ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚

    Growing up with a fashion designer as a parent, you knew you always looked the best. Eventually you noticed everyone seemed to like you, and soon you’d realize this would let you get your way. When your fiancé cheats on you, you finally realize what it’s like to date yourself and you were not happy, but, this would be your demise. 

Aspiration: Serial Romantic

Traits: Self assured, Hot-head, Self absorbed

Requirements:

—✧Finish Social Butterfly Aspiration

—✧Finish the Serial Romantic aspiration 

—✧Purchase ‘Beguiling’ reward trait

—✧Earn ‘Bad Emotional Control’ trait 

—✧Max Charisma skill

—✧Cheat on fiancé repeatedly (May get caught but if you do must not break-up)

—✧Elope immediately after telling partner of accidental pregnancy 

—✧Have a good relationship with child (if you get that far (; ) 

—✧Catch Fiancé cheating (Die immediately after of anger)

—✧Have fiancé raise child after death and they may not join a career, only a part time job

 ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓⊹

   *˚ *༘𝓢𝓸𝓻𝓫𝓮𝓽·˚ ༘ *

                      generation 7

 ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ﾟ Gorgeous icy shards. Be sure not to burn your tongue. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚

       Growing up you always heard about your enchanting and stunning parent, and you knew you wanted to be them too. In your field you noticed no luck with people your age… so you took your talents to bigger fields. 

Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy

Traits: Romantic, Materialistic, Hates Children

Requirements:

—✧Earn the socially gifted trait 

—✧Have a childhood enemy that you later become friends with in YA

—✧As a teen dress “Not-cute”/ socially acceptable

—✧Have failed relationship with “Popular” kid their age 

—✧Never see your first partner in public. May only have “dates” at your house or at night in private places

—✧Have highschool partner dump them privately

—✧Throw a gold House & Dinner party

—✧Marry at least 2 elder, rich sims (And wait for them to die)

—✧At least once marry someone with bad compatibility or worse

—✧Meet 3rd Elder sims and Elope that night, after (Conveniently) get rid of them ;)

—✧Must have a wedding each marriage (No eloping)

—✧After last marriage, rekindle flame between first love

⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓⊹

  *˚ *༘ 𝓢'𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮⋆·˚ ༘ *

                   generation 8

              ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ﾟ Quite sticky, be sure to keep away from the plates. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚

             You had everything you ever wanted, and more, except the acceptance of your parent. Your parent always seemed to hate you, calling you a, “Sticky little thing.” This aroused a burning inside your stomach you couldn’t get rid of. Something about your hands, they couldn’t keep from other people's things, but this would be to your advantage. 

Aspiration: Public Enemy, Reinassance Sim

Traits: Kleptomaniac, Genius, Unflirty

Requirements:

—✧Have an amazing relationship with the help (Butler or nanny) 

—✧Have a bad relationship with parent

—✧Complete Whiz Kid aspiration

—✧Have one sworn enemy since childhood

—✧Complete public enemy aspiration

—✧Complete Reinassance Sim Aspiration

—✧Start a break-in at least once

—✧Kick someone out of wedding

—✧Become level 5 in Criminal career (Boss branch) 

—✧Divorce spouse once pregnant or once you’ve discovered pregnancy

—✧Have triplets (May cheat) 

—✧Master mischief skill

—✧Master Logic Skill

—✧Earn workaholic lifestyle

⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓⊹

 *˚ *༘ 𝓝𝓮𝓪𝓹𝓸𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓪𝓷⋆·˚ ༘ *

                        generation 9

 ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ Closely knit, they come as a packaged deal. ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧

The three of you have always had each other, and even when the world compared you, you didn’t mind. The biggest compliment was that you looked, talked, and acted like each other. Love wasn’t a word thrown around in your house, and when your first partner says it. It’s too much. 

Strawberry:

Aspiration:Musical Genius

Traits: Creative ,Music lover, Unflirty

Vanilla:

Aspiration: Best selling Author 

Traits: Bookworm, Creative, Unflirty

Chocolate:

Aspiration: Painter Extraordinaire 

Traits:Creative, Art lover ,Unflirty

Requirements:

—✧Have full relationship with siblings your whole life 

—✧Have all 3 join drama club as kids

—✧Have each triplet have one partner in highschool but break things off after the first date

—✧No one ever marries or gets engaged

—✧Complete all 3 aspirations

—✧Adopt a baby together 

—✧Have Strawberry chose Musician path in Entertainer career

—✧All follow dreams (One an author, One a performer, One an artist)

—✧All must get to 10 in respective hobbies

—✧Vanilla must have at least 10 books circulating in royalties 

⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ ⊹ ~  ݁. 🍓 ݁.⊹୨🍰୧ ⊹ . ݁🍓  ~ ⊹⊹  ~  🍓⊹

 *˚ *༘ 𝓟𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱 𝓒𝓸𝓫𝓫𝓵𝓮𝓻⋆·˚ ༘ *

                        generation  10

 ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ A treat from settlers in a foreign land. One they see as home ₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧

  Being adopted, your family never lets you feel anything other than love. This piqued your curiosity on what the rest of your family is like. In your research you find out about your ancestors Farm, and this, this was your calling. 

Aspiration: Freelance Botanist

Traits: Good, Cheerful, Childish

Requirements:

—✧Have full relationship with all your parents your whole life

—✧Meet all alive relatives (On neapolitans side) 

—✧Earn Empathetic trait

—✧Master Garden skill

—✧Unlock the Chestnut Ridge secret lot

—✧Master Gourmet Cooking

—✧Move on the lot Generation 1 lived on (May renovate) 

—✧Revive Generation one from the dead (Must keep their spirit alive through all the other generations)

[perfectwitchcrown]

Allusions in Make the Exorcist Fall in Love

So far in Make the Exorcist Fall in Love there’s been a lot of allusions to various texts. I thought it might be fun to compile all the ones people have noticed so far as far as I've seen. Some of these are more speculative than others and I will update as I go along. Also, I read Ekuoto as free first read chapters on Mangaplus so unfortunately I can’t go back and check much so this is largely through memory, so if anyone has anything else to add I would greatly appreciate it! All I’ve got is a few screenshots and a dream. If I get anything wrong feel free to correct me! I’ve organized this in order of allusions I’m confident about to allusions I’m less so confident about.

CW: reference to sexual violence

Dante's Divine Comedy and Vita Nuova: Dante Alighieri

This one is pretty obvious since there are characters directly named after the characters figured in Dante’s Inferno. It’s been a long time since I read it, but other details are also taken from the text, such as the frozen center of hell where Satan is located.

Lmao Leah from the Bible (who is probably Leah’s namesake) also shows up in Dante’s Divine Comedy apparently in Purgatorio.

Ok also super important to Dante retellings r Beatrice, who’s used as a symbol of divine love and is instrumental to Dante's journey through hell, purgatory, and paradise, so of course Ekuoto Dante advises Priest to fall in love lmao. So far though there hasn’t been a direct Beatrice in narrative (which there might never be one since the text has already made the Dante-Virgil connection an active choice of Virgilius's to reference the Divine Comedy rather than just an allusion by the author).

To be so real though I figure that Vergilius is probably also intended to be the Beatrice in this narrative.

The points I would draw attention in support of this would be these: 1. Beatrice is the woman who Dante has been in love with since early childhood but unable to ever be with because they both married others. Ekuoto Virgilius and Dante have known each other since childhood, and have something going on. 2. Beatrice is, like Virgil, one of Dante’s guides (through part of purgatorio and paradiso) 3. We still don’t know what Virgilius’s name was before he took that one on. Beatrice does not have a masculine form in current use and I tried finding some sort of nickname that would work and was unable to do so. However. Beatrice’s name is rendered in Japanese as ベアトリーチェ, and Beato is at least a surname. Then again, I’m not sure anyone has both a first name and last name except for Imuri so far???

"Book of Tobit"

I wasn’t familiar w this one so I didn’t notice it until I saw posts pointing it out, but the Asmodeus flashback was a retelling of the book of Tobit. Other people have already done analysis of this so I’d recommend checking other’s out. Unfortunately I failed to save the link to any of them so I can’t pass any along :’) Belfagor arcidiavolo: Machiavelli

Another one that I wasn’t familiar with but have seen people referencing. As above, I recommend checking out other’s analysis. "Those Who Walk Away from Omelas": Ursula K. Le Guin

The Brothers Karamazov: Fyodor Dostoevsky

Ok major spoilers and I also highly recommend this book, but also, its super long so I don’t blame anyone who chooses not to read. This book is about the most disgusting father alive and his three, maybe four, sons: Dimitri, Ivan, Alyosha, and maybe Smerdyakov (rumored to be an illegitimate son). Most of the action follows Alyosha, who is the youngest and probably the most idealistic character in the novel, at least in the beginning. Alyosha starts out as a novice in the local Russian Orthodox monastery under the purview of Father Zossima, an elder who really emphasizes love in religious practice. There's a series of chapters that cover a theological debate between Ivan and Alyosha.

In this theological debate, Ivan is arguing not that God doesn’t exist, but that the foundation of the world as understood by Christianity is something he fundamentally rejects.

Quotations from the Signet Classics edition:

“I don’t accept this world of God’s. Although I know it exists, I don’t accept it at all. It’s not that I don’t accept God, you must understand, it’s the world created by Him I don’t and cannot accept” (Dostoevsky 266) - “If all must suffer to pay for eternal harmony, what have children to do with it?....I understand solidarity in sin among men. I understand solidarity in retribution too; but there can be no such solidarity with children. And if it is really true that they must share responsibility for all their father’s crimes, such a truth is not of this world and is beyond my comprehension” (Dostoevsky 276)

“Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last. Imagine you are doing this but that it is essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature—that child beating its breast with its fist, for instance—in order to found that edifice on its unavenged tears. Would you consent to be the architect on those conditions?” (This quotation, although from a different translation, is the one that inspired Omelas - I think the bowling alley theological discussion between Virgilius and Priest bears some similarities to this conversation. Its not a debate about the existence of god, but rather a debate whether or not the world envisioned by Christianity is inherently unjust or not. Demian: Hermann Hesse

“The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God's name is Abraxas”

Potential references but tbh they’re a bit of a stretch:

“Book of Martha”: Octavia Butler

"Book of Martha" is an Octavia Butler short story in the Bloodchild collection about an ordinary woman who is visited by god one day who tells her to choose one thing to change about people to try and make the world a better place. It’s a very short read and I’d recommend reading it before you read the next sentence where I’ll spoil the end.

She eventually decides that the thing to focus on is people’s dreams. Specifically, to give them the things they desire most within their dreams, in the hope that people will be less violent to each other in real life. A stretch, but Octavia Butler comes from similar recommendation circles as Ursula K. Le Guin (feminist science fiction authors with overlapping periods of activity) so I don’t think it’s impossible for the most recent chapters' use of dreams to hold some sort of inspiration from this short story. Again, this one is a pretty big stretch, as the idea of dreams to escape reality is pretty common.

The Monk: Matthew Lewis

Ok! So! Demon seduces a person is like not at all an original story (The Daemon Lover, Cazotte’s The Devil in Love, etc etc). BUT! The Monk is specifically a story that’s like. What if there was this extremely virtuous young man who has never lived in the outside world ever because he was raised in the church as an orphan and then the devil sent a demon girl to seduce him.

I have not finished the book yet so I can’t comment in depth on it other than to say the concept is similar but the execution so far is very different (It's a fairly misogynistic text. Ambrosio turns evil in ways that I doubt Priest will because thematically they’d go completely against the story. Also, The Monk is veryyy lurid in terms of Lust is Evil!!! And will turn you into a murdering maniac!!!! Because evil women are out there seducing you!!! Whereas so far sexual desire in Ekuoto has been handled as a perfectly natural thing, but complicated by religion, patriarchy, trauma, etc.)

This is all I have so far but I'd be interested to see if anyone else has any other ideas!

[biancasaidstfu]

A couple questions for you!

1. Do you think Nic saw/ was made aware of her lock screen being found and analyzed?

2. Was her insta stories post planned or random?

3. Do you think she’ll have to change her current strategy in dealing with all of this?

Personally, I think the longer she stays quiet the more certain people are going to try and invade her privacy in search of “evidence” and “proof”

Hey anon.

1. She is probably aware of this. I have to amend this whole section because I literally can’t find the screenshot I saw anywhere in the HB post. But we know they lurk on Twitter and it exploded there before anywhere else. It’s unfortunate but we they see these things probably regularly and if they don’t, I imagine they’re told so they know what’s being said.

2. The insta post of her old picture afterward? Idk. I’m on the fence with that tbh. With Luke’s old photo shoot pic shared out the next day I would think there’s possibly a connection to be made or it could just be random. A memory that popped up and the photog decided to share.

3. I think there might need to be some changes but ultimately, at some point, something has to give. Continued silence is fueling the fire but if she speaks will that make it worse? She also might not be willing to speak because she doesn’t owe anyone an explanation when fans are making things up on their own. This seems like a difficult situation from an outsiders perspective.

Time will tell when the plan is so right now all we can do is continue to support her and the both of them while the rest continue with the narrative.

The truth always comes out at some point, one way or the other.

[bqstqnbruin]

Desire

Look, I know I dropped off the face of the Earth for like three weeks and even my computer was confused when I opened it for the first time in that long, but hey, here we are. This is a fic I actually started last February and never could find the inso to finish.

Anyway, this is for the absolutely lovely @laurenairay for her birthday bingo that my computer isn't letting me screenshot and edit because this thing is too old to do that. BUT I did get bingo by doing Matching Making, Fake Dating, Love Language, and "It's Always Been You." I know I'm posting this on the last day you asked for it but, hey, I got there (I'm not even sure if it's still the 24th where you are, I'm so sorry).

So, happy birthday Lauren! I hope you like this and I hope you have an amazing day love 💛💛💛💛

This is Nico Hischier x Fem!OC ft. Jack Hughes for the drama

Warnings: swearing, drinking, a bad poem that came from here

WC: 5841

__________________________

“How many times do you think we have to go through this before I actually find someone decent?” 

“Statistically, you should have found someone by now.”

“How do you think that helps me?”

Liv came home from yet another disastrous Hinge date, her roommate, Milly, doing nothing to comfort her in the fact that finding love was hopeless when all the good people to date were either way too far away from where they lived, taken by other good people, or simply did not exist. 

“You didn’t ask for me to help, you asked me how long you have to keep dating. I gave you an answer.” 

Liv groaned, flopping down on the couch with her hands over her face. “I hate this.” 

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” 

“Nico wants to hear it too, he’s on his way over.” 

Liv had called Nico from the Uber ride back, just like she always did after a disastrous date, to tell him he needed to come and bring her and Milly wine and ice cream. The routine was unfortunately something that was turning into a once a week affair with every failed outing Liv had gone on. 

Before Milly could say anything else, Nico was opening the door, letting himself in and kicking off his shoes. “You guys really need to start locking the door. One of Liv’s dates could come in and just kill you two.”

“Again, how do you think that helps?” Liv asks while Milly laughs. “I need better friends.”

Nico hands the girls their ice cream, the wine sitting on the coffee table near their feet. “You can’t find a boyfriend, what makes you think you’re going to find better friends?”

“I don’t have to stay here, I have keys and my own car. I can just leave.” 

“If you really wanted to do that, you wouldn’t have called Nico and we all wouldn’t be sitting here. So what happened?” 

Liv started to recount the date, which was a disaster from start to finish. First, her Uber was late, which meant she was going to be late. Then, her date, Spenser, who told her he had made a reservation at the restaurant, actually lied and didn’t make one, and they ended up having to wait an hour for the table anyway, even with her being late. Then, he ordered for her, and wouldn’t let her tell him that not only did she not want what he ordered, she was allergic to one of the main ingredients, so she had to flag the waiter down and tell him to make sure that she didn’t get sent to the hospital. Spenser spilled his drink all over the table, and then got mad when she wouldn’t give him her drink while he waited for a new one. “And, it somehow gets worse.”

Liv watched her roommate and her best friend try to hold back their laughter while they waited for her to finish. This one took the cake for the worst date she had ever been on, easily, and they knew it. Nico’s face was bright red, Milly clutching her sides while Liv just felt more of her heart breaking at the fact that she had another failed outing. She just wanted someone who would care for her the way she saw her brother care for his girlfriend, her sister care for her partner, all her cousins, aunts, uncles, her parents, love their person. 

“There’s no way he did anything else after that,” Milly says.

“He pulled out a poem.” 

Nico nearly chokes on the swig of wine he took. “What do you mean?”

Liv pulled out the piece of paper from her bag. Spenser insisted she keep it as a way to remember him and to make her want a second date. His words. “A poem.” 

“Oh, my god,” Milly squeals, snatching the paper from Liv’s hands and showing it to Nico, bursting into laughter at the sight of what is probably the most ridiculous thing Liv has ever been given. “Did he fucking burn the edges of the paper?”

“Looks like it,” Liv groans. 

“Our love is like a bowling ball, like a brand new Brunswick Red Zone. It rolls and rolls down the alley of desire, and rolls and rolls and rolls. I will keep you out of the gutters, my love, and put my fingers in your holes?” Nico yells at the end.

“No fucking way,” Milly says, continuing to read the horrible thing out loud. “Every kiss, a strike or at least a spare, our future a perfect game.”  

“You know what makes this even worse?” Nico asks through fits of laughter.

“There’s no way it can be worse than, ‘our love is like a bowling ball, our scores will rise and rise. I shall never step beyond the foul line and I will rent your shoes,’” Milly wheezes.

“No, it is. I think he plagiarized it.” 

Liv’s jaw drops. He couldn’t even be bad on his own? He had to look up and purposefully pick a bad poem and take credit for it? It didn’t even make sense. There was no mention of bowling at any point during their conversations before or during the date, and there definitely wouldn’t be any now that the date had happened. 

Nico hands her his phone, the website pulled up with the poem on it, clear as day. “Why did you know this was a thing?”

Nico shrugs, “We get bored in the locker room after practice sometimes.”

“So all guys are fucking weird?” Milly asks. 

Liv interrupts their back and forth with another groan, covering her hands with her face again as she leans back on the couch. “I’m going to be alone forever.”

“No, you’re not.”

“How am I so unlovable?”

“We love you.”

“You don’t count. Am I ugly? Is it that I’m not attractive?”

“I once saw someone say that your face is a combination of hundreds of people who have fallen in love throughout the years,” Milly offers, taking a sip of wine from Nico’s bottle.

“Then why have all of Liv’s exes look like horses?” Nico counters, Milly nearly spitting the wine back out at him.

“That’s uncalled for,” Liv groaned. “Is my personality bad?”

“You literally just keep giving shitty guys a chance, it’s nothing actually wrong with you.”

“I would say that’s a flaw, actually,” Nico points out, earning a smack in the shoulder from Liv. 

“You’re two seconds away from being kicked out.”

“If I go, the wine goes.” 

“Ok, how do we fix your bad dating life, what’s the plan?” Milly pulls the two of them out of their bickering match. She looks at Nico, his eyes locked on Liv despite her looking down at her phone. She smiles, knowing exactly what that look meant. He looked at her like that whenever he thought no one else was looking, especially not Liv. She had caught him looking at her like that every time they were together. “What if Nico takes you on a date so he can show you what you should look for in a good guy?”

Nico’s eyes bug out of his head as he snaps his head towards Milly. She looked at him with a sly smile, one to let him know that she knew what he didn’t want Liv to know. She’s known for a long time, at this point, pretty much since they met him, that he was practically in love with her roommate. He came over after every date Liv had, taking shots at the guys more than Milly did, going through the same conversation every time trying to convince Liv that she deserved more than the guys she was dating. 

“What?” Nico chokes out, praying that Liv doesn’t notice the strangled tone in his voice.

“Yeah, ok,” Liv dismisses before Nico or Milly can keep going, Nico seeing her start to chew on the inside of her cheek. “Aren’t any of your friends single? Statistically speaking, can you have that large of a group of guys and have all of them be taken?”

“We should start a new drinking game where every time one of us uses the word, ‘statistically,’ we take a shot.”

“I work with numbers, what do you want from me? And we can’t afford that kind of hospital bill when we inevitably get alcohol poisoning,” Milly says. “But, yeah, there’s that one guy who always hits on Liv, right? James? John?”

“Jack doesn’t hit on her,” Nico says, glaring at Milly while Liv remained oblivious. 

“Every time Jack sees Liv, everyone knows that he’s undressing her in his mind.”

“And he’s cute, too,” Liv points out, Nico getting jealous at the smile growing on her face. “Set me up with him. Please?”

“I don’t know,” Nico hesitates.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Milly asks, “They fall in love? Liv can finally stop going on horrible dates? You save money on gas and wine because the currently weekly occurrence of making fun of her bad outings wouldn’t happen as much?”

Nico stammers something unintelligible trying to figure out what to say, looking back and forth between Liv’s pleading face and Milly’s ‘gotcha’ expression. Jack and Liv? He lets out a sigh, “Do you really want me to ask him if he’s interested?”

“Do you think he would take me on a good date for once?”

He could lie. He knows that Jack likes Liv. He knows that Jack wouldn’t do anything to hurt her and wouldn’t purposely take her on a date that sucks, unless his own stupidity got in his way. He could tell her that he was talking to someone else that Nico didn’t know, that he was sure he had someone. But looking at Liv’s face, the more than fifty bad dates running through his mind, watching her recount everyone that ended in the same question of why she wasn’t good enough for a good guy when all he wanted to do was give her a date and a relationship he knew she deserved, he couldn’t tell her that.

“He would probably take you on the first good date you’ve had in a while.”

__________________________

Nico had promised Liv he would talk to Jack about going out with her after their practice the next day. Of course, that led to him having one of the worst practices of his life, his thoughts occupied with his friends going out and potentially falling in love just like Milly had said. An unfortunately vivid picture of the two of them going on a perfect first date played in his mind, followed by more and more dates, Jack eventually being the one she called when she needed or wanted someone to talk to who wasn’t Milly, then moving in together, Nico being at their wedding, standing there while he watched them build the life he wanted with her. 

For fuck’s sake. 

“Liv really wants to date me?” Jack nearly yells, acting like a kid who was just told they could buy any toy they wanted. “Me? Seriously?”

“What are you talking about?” Nico mumbles, already hating that he had to bring it up in the first place. 

“I always thought she was into you.” Nico scoffs, knowing that there was nothing between them despite how badly he wanted something to happen. “You’re the one she calls when she needs something, you’re the one she bee-lines to when we’re out at a bar, you’re the one she texts before and after every game to wish you like, congratulate you, or comfort you if we lose. You’re telling me all of that means nothing?” Jack asks.

“We’re friends.”

“You want more than that.”

“It doesn’t matter what I want,” Nico snaps, walking out of the locker room, Jack at his heels. “Liv wants to go out on one date that doesn’t end in her needing to get drunk while ranting about it to me and Milly.” 

“Why haven’t you asked her out yet?” Jack probes, following Nico to his car. “You want to go out with her, it’s obvious to everyone.”

“Apparently it’s not obvious to her,” Nico mumbles. “Look, it doesn’t matter. She asked me to ask you if you were interested. We all know you like her, too, and you’re the one she wants to go out with. What am I supposed to do?” 

“So you admit you like her.”

“I’m going to run you over with this car.” 

“You can’t do that, we can’t afford to be down two players.”

“Yeah, that’s the only issue that would come of me hitting you with my car.” 

“Nico, just ask her out. I like her, so what? You love her.” 

“She likes you.”

“She loves you.”

“As a friend.” 

“As more. You want more.”

“We’ve been here before.”

“I recognize that tree,” Jack jokes, finally earning a smirk from Nico. “What if I talk you up on the date?”

“Because that wouldn’t be weird.”

“What if I take her on an awful date.”

“Do that to Liv and I’ll do more than run you over,” Nico threatens. “You will either take her on a good date, or you won’t take her out at all. I will not have her suffer through another bad date and watch her be crushed, again, except this time at the hands of the teammate she asked me to set her up with. Are we clear?”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Jack says with a smug look on his face, saluting Nico as he gets into his car.

“I need better friends,” Nico mumbles. 

__________________________

The restaurant was dark and loud, something Liv wasn’t expecting and something she normally hated. It was hard to hear and hard to see, already increasing her anxiety that she was about to have another shitty date to add to the list of reasons and horrible reminiscences that she, Milly,and Nico would have later that night. The worst part is that this date involved someone who was close to Nico, someone he still had to see every single day. 

Jack was already sitting at the table, waiting for Liv and looking nervous. For some reason, that calms her; most of the guys whom she had gone out with had this arrogance about them when she met them as if she should be happy they decided to give her the time of day. 

He finally sees her coming toward her, getting out of his seat to hug her. He did really like her, but he couldn’t seriously date her when it was so obvious that Nico loved her more, could he?

“Have you been here before?” Liv asks him, sitting down and starting to go through the motions of the normal first date that she dreaded. Maybe that was part of her problem; she seemed to relive the same date over and over again no matter who was sitting on the other side of the table. The conversation almost always followed the same mundane script, the guy had an attitude that rubbed her the wrong way, the food she had placed in front of her either wasn’t something she enjoyed or didn’t fill her enough. 

“Nico’s taken a few of us here before after a few times,” Jack explains, a sly smile on his face. He looked like he had a plan, one Liv couldn’t figure out. 

“Nico did?” her ears perk up at the mention of her best friend. 

Jack takes a sip of his water in front of him, nodding, a smirk on his face. “He’s always doing stuff like that, when he’s not with you.”

“What do you mean?”

Jack smirks, the look on his face giving Liv a slightly unsettled feeling. “You know that he’s going to do anything for the people he cares about. We said we wanted to try this restaurant, so he took us here so we could.” Liv nods along. “Just like he’d do anything for you.”

Liv felt a warm feeling rush through her. She could think of all the things Nico would do for her as soon as she asked him. He’s gone as far as Facetiming her during a game because he knew she wasn’t feeling good and Milly was away for a work trip. Not only that, but he was there at her door, ready to spend the night with her so he could take care of her. “He would. He does.”

Jack laughs. “Well yeah, because he’s into you.” Liv raises her eyebrow, raising her water glass to her lips. Nico is her best friend. Jack rolls his eyes, “Oh,come on, you know he’s in love with you.” 

Liv starts choking on her water. “Absolutely not.” 

“Oh please, it’s so obvious.”

“Then why would he set us up?”

“Because he knows I like you and that I’m the guy who wouldn’t hurt you.”

“So you’re saying,” she starts, putting the drink down, “That he likes me so much, he set me up with you because you like me.”

Jack shrugs. “It’s a crush. He gave me a chance.”

“But?”

“But you’re also in love with Nico.” 

Liv laughs. “Please.”

Jack shakes his head. “You can’t see the look on your face when Nico’s name gets mentioned or when you’re thinking about him. If you don’t love him, then whoever you do love is in for a ride with you looking at them like that.”

Liv can feel the heat rushing to her face, their waitress thankfully interrupting them to ask for their orders, as if Liv had even had time to look at the menu in the first place, her mind still swimming with Jack’s words. She and Nico weren’t in love with each other. “Believe what you want,” she tries to pass off her obvious spike in anxiety from his words as anything else, hoping he doesn’t hear the shaking she feels in her voice.

“I believe it, Milly believes it,” Jack starts, ignoring Liv’s scowl. “The entire team believes it. I’m pretty sure our waitress believes it.”

“This is a really shity first date,” Liv mumbles, rolling her eyes at Jack’s laugh.

“I know for a fact that this is still the best first date you’ve had in a while.” Liv rolls her eyes again. “I have an idea for you.”

“Oh no.” 

“Hear me out,” Jack begs, flashing a puppy dog face at her. She sighs and nods, already feeling the headache coming on. “How about you and I pretend that we’re actually dating?”

“What do you mean?”

“We tell Nico that we really hit it off. We pretend that the two of us are actually dating, and it pisses him the fuck off. He finally realizes and admits to you that he’s in love with you, and you two finally get together.”

Liv stares at him, her mouth hanging open. “You have never had an intelligent thought in your life, have you?”

“I had this one, didn’t I?” 

__________________________

“Where the fuck are they?” Nico paces back and forth in front of Milly, repeatedly checking his phone to see if Liv had texted him.

He hears Milly sigh. He stops pacing, staring at his friend sitting on her couch, engrossed in something on her phone. “On the date you set them up on, probably.” 

“This is your fault,” Nico accuses, sitting down next to her on the couch and putting his hands in his face. 

“No.”

“No?”

“No,” she repeats, the same deadpan tone as before. “You are too stupid to ask her out, and because of that, you would rather have set her up with your teammate who likes her instead of do the thing you actually want to do because you’re scared.”

“What am I scared of?”

“Dating Liv and it not working out,” Milly shrugs, not looking up from her phone screen. “Duh.” 

Nico glares at her. “Why am I even here?”

“Because you’re waiting for Liv and I’m the only one who would stop you from driving to the restaurant they’re at and ruining what’s probably the first good date she’s had in years.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“I think you would lose that bet if you made it.” Nico lets out an exasperated sigh, knowing that, unfortunately, Milly definitely had enough willpower and spite to stop him if she needed to. Hell, she could probably do it just if she wanted to. “Check her location if you’re so worried about her.

Nico pulls out his phone, pulling up the app to see Liv and Jack’s bubbles right next to his and Milly's, indicating that they were right outside on the sidewalk. 

Nico ran to the window, the girl’s street facing apartment coming in handy for the drunken hilarity that happened more than once. This time it was handy for making him want to fling himself into a river (he could swim). 

The color drained from his face, something so apparent that even Milly could tell just from his back that he needed to be pulled back in. 

Nico had watched Jack pull Liv in for a kiss, seeing him squeeze her waist and the smile that grew on her face as the girl he wanted more than anything with someone else. Someone he set her up with. Someone he was close friends with, who he knew liked her, too.

“I’m a fucking a idiot,” Nico whines, plopping back on the couch with Milly, finally earning a sympathetic look from her.

“Want to go hide in my room so you don’t have to see her when she comes up?” Milly offers, knowing he won’t accept. Nico shakes his head. “You don’t mess with tradition, right?”

The two of them sit there in silence, Milly turning on the tv in front of them so Nico could have something to drown out his thoughts. They were interrupted by the sound of two familiar voices in the hallway outside the door.

Milly and Nico exchange looks. Liv never brought the guy upstairs. 

Nico could run for it. He was fast. They were on the third floor, easily enough to climb down the fire escapes and the window ledges if he really needed to, right? He could take Milly’s offer up and hide in her room, hoping that Liv didn’t notice his car still parked on the street because she was too enamored with Jack, that the two of them wouldn’t check his location and see that he was still in the building, just feet away.

But he wanted her to notice. He wanted Liv to notice that he was around, just like he always knew when she entered the same room as him. He wanted her to notice that he was there just like he noticed how she scrunched her nose up when she truly found something funny, knowing that she couldn’t hold that kind of laughter in even if she tried. He wanted her to notice because it would tell him that even though she was on a date with Jack, she was still looking for him, just like he looked for her everywhere he went, even when he knew she wasn’t around him. 

“Hey, guys,” Liv comes in, beaming in a way he never saw her before. He could feel his heart splintering at the sight of her hand entwined with Jack’s. 

“So, I take it the date went well?” Milly asks as Jack and Liv sit across from them, Nico wanting to gouge his eyes out every time they inched closer together. 

Jack looks at Liv and smiles. Nico hated this. “Yeah, we’re going out again on Thursday.”

“We’ve got that event that night,” Nico points out.”

“Yeah, Liv’s going to be my date.”

For fucks sake. 

__________________________

The boys leave, Nico first, Jack after the two of them filled in Milly. 

“This is an awful idea, you know that, right?” Liv says when Milly calms down from her laughter. She found it hilarious, much to Liv’s dismay.

“That’s why it’s so funny,” she says, wiping tears from her eyes. “You can’t act to save your life. You think you can convince Nico, the boy who can see through you and knows your every move, that you’re dating Jack and actually enjoying it?” 

“Jack thinks I’m in love with Nico.”

“So he does have a brain.” Liv stares at Milly. “Babe, you and Nico are the only ones who don’t know that you’re in love with each other. You’ve loved him since the moment you first spoke to him, and we know damn well he’s been in love with you since the first moment he saw you.”

Liv shakes her head. “So what?”

“So you two need to stop fucking around and finally date each other. Jack’s plan is surprisingly smart.” 

__________________________

Nico was in hell. 

Jack suggested that since Nico was on the way to Liv’s place, he would pick up Nico and Liv, and the three of them carpool to the event together.

Now, he’s stuck in the back seat of Nico’s car, staring at the center console where Jack and Liv’s hands are, together, while they talk about something Nico couldn’t even be bothered to listen to. 

“I can’t believe you brought me flowers,” Liv gushes, Nico feeling like he was going to vomit when Jack got out of the car, leaving Nico to trail behind up to the girls apartment. He hadn’t noticed the flowers, hadn’t noticed that they were sunflowers, Liv’s favorites. But he had noticed the way her face lit up when she saw Jack, and the way she brightened even more when he handed her the bouquet. 

She was always at her happiest when someone gave her a meaningful gift. Even the worst dates she went on could be brightened when the guy gave her something that she mentioned she enjoyed. He still hated the one book she kept on her nightstand, a copy of her favorite book and movie signed by the author and the cast. 

Now he had to spend the night with them, looking at Liv in a dress that somehow managed to hug every curve on her body in a way that made it look customized to her measurements, while she and Jack fawned over each other. 

He should have had Milly come, too, as his date. At least that way she could give him comedic relief or talk him down from wanting to commit a felony (although, she might encourage it for some drama). 

Nico hadn’t even noticed Jack had left the table to do god only knows what, until Liv sidled up to the seat next to him.

“Why are you being an ass?’

Nico grimaced. She was right, unfortunately. He had barely said more than three words to her. He couldn’t even work up the courage to tell her she looked nice, something Jack had been able to do multiple times in the hour they were together. “I don’t feel great.”

Liv squinted at him. “Why are you lying to me?”

Nico sighed, shaking his head, trying to seem convincing. “I’m not.” 

“Whatever,” she said, getting up, probably off to find Jack.

He should get up to find her. He knew that. 

He found Jack first, standing at the bar waiting for drinks, two already in front of him. “Liv’s not with you?”

Jack shakes his head. “She’s supposed to be with you,” he replies, a knowing smirk on his face that left Nico feeling uneasy.

  Nico shakes his head, trying to scan the crowd for her. He didn’t know why he bothered, he could already tell she left the room. He made his way towards the door leading to the bathrooms, pushing through people who wanted to talk to him despite his lack of interest. He only wanted to find Liv.

“Took you long enough,” she says, Nico coming up to her in the hallway. 

Her snark made him smile, trying to fight the one that threatened to grow on his face. “What’s going on with you?” Liv rolled her eyes, letting out a long sigh. She wouldn’t look at him. Suddenly, his mind went to the worst. “Did Jack do something?”

She gave him a look, immediately telling him he was wrong without having to verbalize it. “We both know he would never.” 

“Olivia,” Nico says, using her full name to be sure to get her attention. “Jack is in there waiting for you.” 

“I know that,” she snaps, clearly getting more agitated. Nico had no idea where this was coming from.

“Then why aren’t you spending your night with him? Why are we out here?”

“I don’t want to be here with him, you idiot.” Nico blinked, not sure if she was done. “Jack is great, but I don’t want to be with him. I don’t care that he’s in there acting like he and I are dating. I care that you don’t seem to care.”

Nico takes a second to process the words coming from her, Liv talking so fast he could barely keep up. “What do you mean, ‘acting?’”

Liv lets out a laugh, a flutter in Nico’s stomach in anticipation for what he hoped she was about to say. “Milly said I wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long.”

“Liv, keep what up? Fill me in, please,” he begs, taking a step closer to her. 

She shakes her head, explaining the whole thing. “Jack and Milly think we’re in love with each other. Jack thought we should pretend to date to get you to finally ask me out.” 

Again, he took a second to process. “What?”

“God dammit, Nico. I love you and everyone is telling me you love me,” she spits out, tears building up in her eyes. She thinks it’s not true. How could she think he isn’t so in love with her, he’s not sure he’ll ever be able to look at someone the same way he looks at her? Liv keeps rambling, but the thoughts in his head were much louder than anything she could be saying right now. He should be listening, but he couldn’t believe that the girl in front of him, the one he knew everything about, the one he would do anything for, didn’t think he was in love with her.

“Liv,” he starts, trying to get her to stop. She doesn’t. “Liv.”

She stops after him saying her name four more times, only when he finally puts his hands on her arms. “You think I’m not just as in love with you as you are with me? God, if you’re in love with me even a fraction of the amount I’m in love with you, I would count myself lucky. I love everything about you, from how you chew on your bottom lip when you’re trying to concentrate, how you bite your left cheek when you want to say something but you’re trying to figure out if you should. I love how your eyes light up when you know someone is listening to you talk about something you’re passionate about, how you make me feel like the luckiest guy in the world just because I get to say I know you.” 

Nico steps closer to her, leaning down to whisper in her ear as people walk by them, Nico wanting these words to be only for her. “I want to push you against this wall and I want you to push me back. I have wanted to punch every guy you have ever gone out with because they were getting to do everything and anything I could ever dream of doing with you.” He steps back when he hears her let out a shuddering breath against his neck, looking at her as she stood there with her eyes closed, a slight smile on her face. 

“If you think I’m not in love with you, that I don’t want to be the one buying you sunflowers, making you your favorite food, being the person you can be in love with, too, then you don’t know me.”

“So,” she starts, chewing the inside of her cheek, making Nico smile. “Are we doing this?”

Nico’s smile grows wider. “God, I hope so,” he tells her, pulling her toward him and finally kissing her.

__________________________

“So, how was it?” Milly asks when Liv opens the door. “Where’s Nico?”

Liv practically throws herself on the couch next to Milly. “He said he was on his way up?”

“Are we really going to wait for him to come up before you tell me how your anniversary date went?”

“It’s tradition.”

Liv knew that Milly hated the tradition at this point, but it had been going on for years. She had to wait for Nico. 

He comes in the door before Milly can say anything else. “Parking on your street is becoming the biggest pain in my ass,” he mutters, kissing his girlfriend on the head before handing off the unopened bottle of wine he bought just for Milly. 

“I knew there was a reason we kept you around,” Milly says, popping open the bottle and drinking straight from it while Nico sits down across from them, ignoring his eye roll. “So, tell me about your big two year anniversary dinner that she couldn’t shut up about until now.” 

“Wait, Jack is coming, too,” Nico says, his phone buzzing in his pocket with notifications that his teammate was on his way up to Milly’s apartment, too. 

“What the fuck?” Milly asks, staring at Liv’s face, trying to read the surprisingly discrete look she was wearing for once.

“We have to wait for Jack, too. It’s only fair,” Liv insists, fidgeting with her hands behind her back. 

Milly groans, downing more of the wine, launching into a rant about making her wait when she just wanted to be in bed with the bottle. Jack finally arrives, much too slow for Milly’s liking, which she wasn’t afraid to tell him.

“Ok, ok, can you calm down?” Jack says, dodging a pillow launched at his face. “I’m here.”

“Tell us about the date, please” Milly begs, clearly getting impatient. 

“It was really good, “ Liv starts, the heat rushing to her face. 

“Oh, come on, you have to give me more than that,” Milly complains. “At least tell me you fucked in the bathroom, or something.”

Nico rolls his eyes. “She can’t be your maid of honor, she’s going to say something like that in her speech,” he looks at Liv.

“She’s going to be my maid of honor unless she’s in jail and not allowed out or in the ground dead.”

“Wait, wait, maid of honor?” Milly asks, finally noticing Liv’s heads folded in her lap. “Holy shit!” she screams, launching herself at her best friend, tears starting to roll down her face when the realization hits her.

“It took you two long enough,” Jack says, staring at the ring on Liv’s left hand. “Since I got you together, does this mean I’m the best man?’

“Absolutely not.”