#i wonder how his poll will go like at the same time yeah he's an annoying kid who kinda deserves to be punished in some way

[doumadono]

Katsuki and Reader as Academic rivals/enemies during their college years but is actually messing around behind close doors. For sinful sunday!!<3

Warnings: smut w/o plot, smut, cunnilingus, fem!reader, rough oral (f receiving), fingering, pro hero Bakugo

A/N: this request got the second highest number of votes during the Sinful Sunday poll. Thank you to everyone who voted!

SINFUL SUNDAY MY HERO ACADEMIA & MY HERO ACADEMIA MASTERLIST - PART II

"You're late," Bakugo growls, his voice edged with impatience as he glares at you from the doorway.

You smirk, brushing past him. "Didn't know the great Dynamight had a bedtime like a preschooler."

"Shut up," he snaps as he closes the door behind you. "You know I don't like waiting."

"And yet here we are," you retort, throwing your bag on his couch with a casual toss. 

The apartment is spacious, minimalist in its decor, with a few hints of Bakugo's personality — trophies from his hero work, a stack of fitness magazines, and a well-worn punching bag in the corner.

"Still can't believe we're doing this," he mutters, following you into the living room.

"Which part?" you ask, raising an eyebrow. "The studying, or the fact that we're doing it together?"

Bakugo's scowl deepens. "Both."

You laugh, settling into the couch and pulling out your notes. "Just like old times, huh? Except now we're not stuck in that cramped library."

He huffs, flopping down beside you. "Yeah, but you still haven't gotten any less annoying."

"And you haven't gotten any less competitive," you shoot back, your eyes meeting his. There's a spark there, the same one that always flared when the two of you clashed in college. 

You and Bakugo had been academic rivals since your first year at UA High School. Both fiercely competitive and driven, you clashed in every class, constantly trying to outdo each other in hero training exercises and exams. The rivalry continued into college, where you found yourselves in the same courses, your mutual determination pushing you to excel. 

Despite the animosity, there was an undeniable chemistry between you, a spark that neither of you acknowledged but both felt deeply. 

Now, years later, with Bakugo as a top Pro Hero and you excelling in your own career, the competitive fire still burns. Especially when the Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight fails yet another mandatory training session assigned to him by the Hero Commission.

Bakugo grabs a stack of papers, his fingers brushing against yours accidentally. 

The contact sends a jolt through you, and you pull back, trying to focus on the task at hand. 

"So, where were we?" he asks, his voice a little rougher.

"Here," you say, pointing to a highlighted section. "The analysis of hero efficiency metrics. You were going to show me how you applied it to your latest mission."

He nods, leaning closer. The heat from his body is distracting, and you find it hard to concentrate as he explains the data. His voice is low, the words rolling over you as you watch the way his lips move, the intensity in his eyes.

"...and that's how I optimized the response time," he finishes, looking up at you expectantly.

You blink, realizing you've barely absorbed a word. "Right. Makes sense."

He narrows his eyes. "You're not even listening, are ya, Y/N?"

"I am!" you protest, but he doesn't buy it.

"Prove it," he challenges, leaning even closer. "Explain it back to me."

Your mind races, trying to piece together what he said, but all you can think about is how close he is, the smell of his cologne, the way his breath brushes against your skin. "I, um..."

His smirk is infuriating. "Thought so, smartass."

"You're impossible," you mutter, but there's no heat in your words.

"And you're distracted," he counters. "Wonder why that is."

You glare at him, but he's right. "Maybe it's because you're in my personal space," you say, but even as you say it, you don't move away.

"Maybe you like it," he shoots back, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.

Your breath catches, and for a moment, neither of you moves. Then, before you can second-guess yourself, you close the gap, your lips crashing against his in a kiss that's more a battle than a caress. It's messy, desperate, and full of the same fire that always ignited when you were around each other.

Bakugo responds instantly, his hands tangling in your hair as he deepens the kiss. The taste of him, the feel of his body pressed against yours, it's everything you've been denying yourself for years. 

You break apart, both of you breathing hard. "This doesn't change anything," you whisper, more to yourself than to him. “I’m so sorry… I shouldn’t have…”

He smirks, brushing his thumb over your swollen lips. "No, it doesn't. But it sure as hell makes things more interesting."

You laugh, a breathless sound that turns into a moan as he captures your mouth again. 

This time, there's no hesitation, no holding back. The kiss is fierce, and you can feel the same hunger in him that burns in you.

Bakugo pulls you onto his lap, his hands roaming your back as he presses you closer. The feel of his hard muscles against you, the heat of his skin, it's all intoxicating. 

You grind against him, eliciting a low growl from his throat.

"God, you're so fucking impatient," he mutters against your lips, but his hands are gentle as they slip under your shirt, exploring the skin beneath.

"You love it," you tease, arching into his touch.

"Maybe I do," he admits, his voice rough with desire. "But don't think this means you've won."

"Wouldn't dream of it," you reply, your hands busy unbuttoning his shirt. 

His shirt comes off in a tangle of limbs and fabric, neither of you willing to break the kiss for more than a few seconds.  

You trail kisses down his neck, savoring the way he shudders beneath you.

Bakugo flips you onto your back, his eyes dark and hungry as he looks down at you. "You're still a pain in my ass," he growls. His body presses you into the mattress, the weight of him a delicious reminder of his strength and power. 

You feel his hands slide up your sides, pushing your shirt higher until he pulls it over your head and tosses it aside. His mouth is on you instantly, trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses down your neck, across your collarbone, and to the swell of your breasts.

"Fuck, you're gorgeous," he murmurs against your skin, his voice thick with desire. 

You arch into his touch, your fingers threading through his hair as you hold him close. 

He groans in response, the sound vibrating against your skin as he takes one of your nipples into his mouth, sucking and biting gently.

You can feel yourself growing wetter.

"Fuck," he mutters, releasing your nipple with a wet pop and moving to the other one. His free hand roams lower, tracing the curve of your waist, the dip of your hip, until he reaches the waistband of your pants. With a rough tug, he pulls them down.

“Bakugo,” you basically growl at him, demanding his attention.

"Patience," he murmurs, his breath hot against your ear. "Good things come to those who wait."

But you're beyond waiting. You need him now. You reach down and grab his hand, guiding it to where you're aching for him - right between the thighs you willingly part just for him.

Bakugo's fingers trace the outline of your pussy through your panties, watching as your eyes flutter closed in pleasure. He can feel the heat radiating off of you, and he knows you want him just as badly as he wants you.

"Do you like that, baby?" he growls in your ear, his voice low and husky.

You nod, biting your lip as he continues to rub you through the thin fabric. You’re so wet already, he can feel it seeping through your panties and onto his fingers.

Bakugo grins, his fingers hooking into the waistband of your underwear and pulling them down your parted legs. 

You lift your hips to help him, and soon you’re lying naked before him.

He takes a moment to admire the sight of you, spread out on the couch like a feast. Your skin is soft and smooth, your breasts are full and round, and your pussy is glistening with wetness, just for him.

His fingers slip inside you easily. You’re oh so tight, he can feel your muscles clenching around his digits as he moves them in and out. "Fuck, you feel so good," he praises, his thumb finding your clit and rubbing it in tight circles.

"Fuck," you breathe, your hips bucking involuntarily. "Yes, just like that."

Bakugo's fingers curl inside you, hitting all the right spots. 

You can feel yourself already getting closer, your body tensing with each stroke. And then, just as you think you can't take it any longer, he stops.

You whimper in protest, but he just smirks. 

"Not yet," he says. "I want to taste you first."

Before you can react, he's sliding down your body, his mouth hot and wet on your inner thigh. 

You moan as he kisses and licks his way closer to your mound, your whole body trembling with anticipation.

And then, finally, his tongue is on your clit, teasing and flicking in a way that makes your whole body shudder. You can hear the wet sounds of his mouth on you, the slick slide of his tongue. It's obscene and you can't get enough of it. You buck your hips, grinding against his face as he devours you.

"Oh god, Bakugo," you moan, your voice hoarse. "I'm going to come."

He just hums in response, his tongue working harder, faster. He uses his thumb to roll your clitty in a circle, pushing the upper portion of your outer lips aside. As Bakugo plays with your little, swollen pearl, your lower lips begin to glisten, then open, and after a longer moment of playing while your breathing quickens, a thin string of crystalized dew falls from your juicy pink slit.

“Just like that, just like that!” you are a moaning mess beneath him.

“Holy fucking shit,” he growls lowly, watching your body writhe, feeling the intense strain as his sweatpants become painfully tight. Bakugo doesn't stop, though. He keeps licking and sucking. He licks up through your soft folds like a dog, lapping at your cunny juices as if his life depends on it. He then curls and straightens his calloused fingers several times, petting the underside of your mound from within. “Cum for me, I wanna see you cumming hard for me,” Bakugo commands.

Your clit throbs in his mouth as he sucks the little pearl in, finger-fucking your slick, drenched pussy.

A high pitched whimper cuts off your words. Your stomach heaves, your ass shakes, and you feed Bakugo your muff with a sexy, up and down grinding motion that runs your pussy all over his slightly unshaven face. You tighten your grip on his ash-blonde hair and pull him against your pussy, mashing your clit between his tongue and your own pubic bone.

Finally, Katsuki pulls away, his face glistening with your juices.

"Fuck," you breathe, still reeling from the intensity of your orgasm. "That was incredible."

Bakugo just grins, clearly pleased with himself. "You're welcome," he says. Bakugo licks and kisses his way up your body, his touch sending shivers down your spine. When he reaches your lips, he kisses you deeply before pulling back. "You know this doesn't mean I'm ever going to go easy on you," he says, grinding his crotch against your slick folds.

The unmistakable hardness pressing against you is making you acutely aware of how hard he is — how hard you've made him just with your moans and pussy.

You wrap your arms around his neck. "Yeah, I know. But quit this shit now and fuck me like I know you've always wanted to."

[gguk-n]

would you consider doing a prompt in which the MLs have the same soulmate marks but they are enemies? you can choose the driver and the logistics i would love to see a fic like this by youu

Thank you for the ask!!

I had this in my inbox for so long bc I'm indecisive and I couldn't choose who to write it for, so there's a poll to choose. There will be a part 2. Full story is up!!

What? How?

Everyone grew up hearing about soulmate; from their family or friends or relatives. Most people looked forward to meeting their soulmate, some people wanted to defy fate and some people never got to meet their soulmate.

Y/N thought she was a part of the soulmate less crew, "I'll register you with soulmatch" her mother told her. Soulmatch was an agency, a app or a website, which ever one you chose to help two soulmate less individuals get together and find companionship in each other. Her mother wanted her to start looking, Y/N couldn't careless since her job kept her busy and she was barely at home anyways. Y/N was a race engineer in Formula One; a job she worked tirelessly to achieve. It barely gave her any time to wonder where her soulmate was. She got to work with some of the most talented and smart people to make machinery that made the car go really fast. But now she was working with her driver to make sure the race went as smoothly as possible with the best result as possible; sometimes at the cost of the other driver. "Are you listening to me?" her mother's voice broke through her thoughts. "Yeah" she replied. "I'll let you know once you match with people" her mother stated before cutting the call.

Her parents were late bloomers themselves; meeting each other in their late 20's and early 30's so she didn't understand the fuss her mother was making. She was in her prime and a soulmate would come along when he wanted to. Y/N travelled the world; if a soulmate existed, she would run into him eventually.

There were a lot of times you would wish someone was your soulmate and there were a lot of times you wished someone wasn't. For Y/N, it was her driver's teammate. She hated his guts; ever since she had joined, he had been a pain in the ass for as long as she could remember. He would start fights with her if she prioritised her driver, and honestly, who else would she prioritise. She had good strategies that would work in her driver's favour sometimes and he couldn't tolerate it. Starting fights and unnecessary arguments. The team was done with them, the paddock was done with them and the DTS crew always had so much fun.

It was any other race weekend, the two of them had been at odds since FP1. Y/N tried to be calm and mature about it; she didn't want to cause issues for the team. Hence, she ignored any thing and everything he said. It was getting on his nerve; she was ignoring him and behaving extremely rudely to him. It all came to a head when the team finished P1 and P3 with Y/N's driver winning the race. You can already imagine the resentment brewing as he got out of the car.

During the post race interview, there were jabs being thrown but it was during On The Sofa; he said something, he later realised he shouldn't have. But it was too late; Y/N was already there and a fight broke out. A lot of commotion, the media having a field day, the P1 and P2 driver trying to get them to stop, their team trying to stop them and PR having a crisis. The crowd went silent as Y/N pulled her sleeve up to reveal her soulmate mark which matched the her enemies's soulmate mark exactly; now visible due to the scuffle. A loud whisper broke out in the crowd, Y/N looking at him and then his mark as the pair tried to process what was happening. Over whelmed with emotions, Y/N stormed off, leaving the crowd but most of all her soulmate stunned.

Y/N was reeling from the revelation; the man who was supposed to be her soulmate was also the man she hated the most, or did she dislike him? All of these thoughts and emotions swirled inside her as she wondered what just happened and how she had gone this long before finding out. Did he know? Did he hate her because he knew? What was going on and what was she supposed to do? She felt her world crash and her phone wouldn't stop ringing. She looked at the caller and it was her mum. "Congratulations darling" she bellowed. Y/N was confused, "I saw you found your soulmate" her mum said when she got no reply. "How did you find out?" she asked. "It's on the news, sweetheart" her mother stated. While Y/N was still reeling from the revelation, F1's social media accounts had already posted about the two sworn enemies actually being soulmates and how it was straight out of a fairytale. Y/N wanted to disappear. Why was this happening now? she wondered, exhausted from the events of the day.

[wildehacked]

thinking about those 'when did they fall in love polls,' and wondering once again about how much of eddie's feelings about buck in early s3 are actually about shannon, and how/when that flips and the feelings become about buck.

like, okay, here's a bold claim (do i believe it? i'm curious about it. i'm making the claim but i'm curious to see if i'm right. you get it):

eddie telling buck "there's no one i trust with my son more than you" is eddie working through his feelings about shannon, not wholly about buck and buck's relationship with christopher.

my reasoning:

shannon just died, like, an emotional SECOND ago

in the months leading up to her death, she and eddie fought (pretty devastatingly!) over whether or not he could trust chris with her

he ultimately decided he could

one of the last conversations they ever had was about shannon telling him that she wanted to be there for chris so badly that she didn't want to try to have a romantic relationship with eddie at the same time

and then she died

so okay, like, an emotional second after that, buck ALMOST dies

eddie's in the hospital waiting room while they work on buck's leg and he was JUST there for shannon, and this is someone else who he cares deeply about, who is becoming more and more important to him, and he might die and idk it's just plausible to me that the feelings would get. weird and mixy.

then buck's depressed because he's home and recovering and can't go back to work, and eddie decides he's going to cheer him up by having buck babysit christopher

buck has NEVER BABYSAT CHRIS BEFORE, this is implied to be his FIRST BABYSITTING GIG OUT THE GATE

the tsunami happens. eddie sees buck standing there looking devastated with christopher's glasses around his neck, someone he trusted with chris who has, perhaps, failed him, and has the worst five seconds of his life before he realizes christopher is alive. and then chris tells eddie all about how buck saved him and he knew buck would come back.

and buck thinks eddie won't ever trust chris with him again, and, you know, it's honestly not an unreasonable fear. the thought HAS to have crossed eddie's mind, like, can you trust this person who you trusted your son with and then your son almost died

and eddie comes back HARD with reassurances that yeah, buck failed that kid, but eddie's failed him too, and the important thing is that they both love him anyway.

That's a different version of a conversation he and Shannon already have, back in that parking lot in season two, except because it's the second iteration, Eddie leans right into the reassurance I think he wishes he'd given Shannon, in hindsight: there's no one I trust with my son more than you.

like, okay. that's an insane thing to say and mean, given Carla and Pepa and Abuela. but he does say it. and i think it's partially because Eddie is incredibly moved by Buck saving Chris's life, and he IS inclined to give people second chances, AND I think it's because, like. for romantic reasons but also NDE/grief reasons and "Chris loves you" reasons, I think he's mixing up some of his new feelings for Buck with his old feelings for Shannon.

There's no one I trust with my son more than you, Eddie says, and I'm not saying he doesn't mean it, or that he isn't saying it TO Buck, but. I do think it's a sentiment that's very deeply informed by what he wishes he'd said to Shannon.

okay and then there's also the grocery store fight! this one's easier/less ambiguous, imo. eddie blows up at buck for abandoning christopher, but actually for abandoning him, we all agree on that. but i think he's actually pretty unambiguously projecting some of his anger at shannon for abandoning him and christopher onto buck. "did you even think about christopher? do you even know how much he misses you? how could you." LIKE. this is a fight you're having with your coparent who left you!!! we already know that Eddie's working out his grief over Shannon with anger and violence in the fighting ring plot—to me the grocery store fight is more of the same. It's not that he's not legitimately angry at Buck, but the WAY he's angry is like—a much bigger response than is seemingly merited by Buck's actual betrayal, as we can see by the way Chim and Hen respond. And that's because Eddie's been slowly falling for Buck, yes, and because Chris DOES miss him, but I think it's also because, like—he's grieving his wife! He's saying the things he never said to her to Buck, because even in his anger he still views Buck as a safe person to get mad at, because he doesn't think Buck will really leave forever.

it's funny bc Buck tells Eddie explicitly that he thinks Eddie was projecting his feelings about Buck onto the fights. And I'm like, well, you're right, but I think he's also projecting his feelings about Shannon's death onto YOU. he's a projector.

and then after that you've got a series of some of the most domestic / romantic buddie episodes in the show—like, buck and eddie "go for the title," buck brings christmas to the firehouse, buck and eddie build chris the adaptive skateboard, buck is firmly part of chris and eddie's life in a way that's NEW, a closeness that they were building to in s2 but which only gets to thrive now, in mid s3. like—eddie and chris are healing over the worst of the grief. eddie starts to rebuild his life, emotionally, and he puts buck directly in the center. and that IS about buck, not shannon, even if it is about the empty space she left in eddie's life.

and then we get the well collapse, and eddie does a mental rehash of his marriage and his baby—how he and shannon failed each other, and failed chris, but also how they were each there for him at different times, how he wants to be there for chris forever. and he digs himself out of his grave. and he puts buck in his will.

is that "about" shannon? it's about eddie's relationship with shannon, definitely. like, okay, it's about christopher, first and foremost—but I do think it's also about eddie's feelings for buck. he wants chris to be happy and safe; he thinks buck would keep chris happy and safe. because he's been carefully rebuilding his life around buck! ever since he, like, kind of rehashed some of the biggest mistakes he feels like he and shannon made in their marriage with buck, but this time it ended up better. buck failed chris, and eddie decided to keep trusting him. buck left, and eddie yelled at him about leaving, and buck came back and fit himself even more deeply into their lives.

i don't think the parallels continue that far past season three, because I think that's the peak of eddie's grief, and thus the place he's dealing with his subconscious shannon feelings most directly, but like. i don't know, they're there! buck was kim before kim was kim, only kim knew there was a script ("I loved you, I'm sorry,"), and buck DIDN'T, but he still managed to say and do the exact things eddie needed to hear. (Most of what Buck does is just find opportunities for him and Chris and Eddie to spend time together. BREAK MY HEART RIGHT OPEN, you know????)

[greynatomy]

regret

leah williamson x reader

actually finished writing something! wooo! the poll i put out was a close one, but this pair ultimately won. thanks to all who voted.

i’ve decided to split this into two parts, so this isn’t the end peoples!

part 2

———

“Alright. Remember, when we get there—”

“—pretend that we’re still happily married. I know.” You say annoyed, getting out of the car.

“Hey, don’t be like that!” Leah gets out of the car, catching up to you.

“Be like what? I’m not the one who got us in this situation.”

“Can we just be civil? This is the last time we’ll go through this.”

“Piss off will you! We wouldn’t have to act civil if you kept your mouth to yourself. And you had the audacity to file for divorce.”

Before Leah could reply, the front door opens to reveal Amanda, Leah’s Mom.

“Oh, I’ve missed you girls so much!”

Putting up a smile on your face, you engulfed the woman in a hug.

“Missed you too Amanda.”

“Come in! Come in!”

“Oi! David how’ve you been pops?”

“Oh, I’ve been wonderful! Glad to have you here!” He pulls you into a hug.

“There’s my favorite sister!” You hear behind you, Jacob just coming down the stairs from his room.

“Come here you! It’s been a while, huh?”

“It has! You gotta visit me more often.” You tense a bit, but not enough for him to notice in your embrace, putting up a smile on your face.

“I’ll try to visit more.”

What you don’t see behind you is Leah watching your interactions with her family.

You’ve known each other young. You’ve both been dating since you were fifteen, marrying at nineteen, divorced at twenty-one.

Her family’s have welcomed you with open arms since the beginning. You were her first serious relationship. The only one of her girlfriends that her family loved. You’ve had your whole life basically planned out, Leah would become a footballer, you a doctor, marriage, kids, the dream basically.

Leah didn’t know the exact reason why she did what she did, but it happened and she couldn’t take it back. She knew this teammate of hers has liked her for a while and never told her off.

She woke up to an unfamiliar bed, an arm around her that certainly wasn’t you. She regretted it the moment she woke up, didn’t know how to tell you, but you found out before she could. Ashamed of herself, Leah filed for divorce.

———

Leah didn’t know what she was thinking divorcing you. She didn’t have the right to be the one to file as she was the one who fucked up. It was impulsive and shameful. It was the best option she could think of at the time.

Now here she was, five years later, at the Emirates training grounds, about to run for the first time since her ACL injury. She missed you so much during this time. Every time she was injured in any way, you were always by her side nursing her back to health. You were her support system, making her fall more in love with you. This time, without you by her side, she realized how much she took you for granted, how she didn’t show you enough love, betraying you in the worst way possible.

She’d already signed the divorce papers, pressuring you to do the same all while making you go to her family’s for a dinner pretending that nothing has changed between the two of you. It was when she finally saw your signature on the papers was when she realized how she’s lost you for good.

———

Getting back home after a family walk, Amanda spots a stack of papers on the kitchen counter, a folded paper on top, along with two rings. Curious, she opens it up and quickly skims through them, shock fills her body after she finished reading.

“Leah!” She yells for her daughter.

“Yeah, mum?” Leah walks into the kitchen to see her mom holding something up.

“What the hell is this?”

Leah being clueless, grabs the sheet, reading it herself.

Leah,

I’ve finally signed everything you’ve been wanting me to sign. I don’t know why I’ve put it off for so long even if I’m not the one at fault. Guess it’s just hard to let go of the one you love the most.

Don’t contact me. Don’t look for me. You’re free.

Yn

Leah couldn’t even respond to her mother. All the emotions she bottled up came at her all at once, breaking down in front of her family. Six years of relationship, one year of marriage over.

[lisupandowntown]

Tension

A/N: I kind of love writing Adam and Avery snarking at each other so we're likely to see more of it. Based on the poll we're also going to be getting sick Rory and Noa soon.

“We’ll take care of the technical stuff. Just answer the questions and tell your story.  Don’t be afraid to be honest.”  Avery leaned forward and smiled reassuringly at Noa across the kitchen table.  

Noa bit her lip.  “Okay,” she nodded.  “I just . . .”

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Rory interrupted from his spot near the stove because he’d been pacing back and forth across the kitchen.  It was at least the third time he’d said so since Avery and their third partner Jack had arrived to help prepare Noa to testify, and it was driving Adam kind of nuts.

He loved Rory, but his sister wasn’t some damsel in need of protecting. Yes, the trial would be hard, but everyone was acting like they expected Noa to fall to pieces, which wasn’t going to help.  Facing it head on and with confidence was the way to get through it.  Adam had posters on his office wall that said “What We Think, We Become” and “I Did Not Wake Up to Be Mediocre.” He would accept nothing less from his twin.

Now he said so, hopping down from his perch on the island and cuffing Rory on the arm.  “Stop coddling her; Noa’s tough. Isn’t that right, Noey?  Just have the right attitude and it’ll be a piece of cake.” 

Rory rolled his eyes, but that was to be expected, and Noa gave him a small smile.  But Avery, the prick, had to butt in.  

“Actually, no it won’t, and no one here thinks it will.”  Avery’s gaze flickered to Adam and then just as quickly away, dismissing him.  He reached across the table and took Noa’s hand in his enormous one so that Noa’s fingers practically disappeared.  “They’re both wrong.  You do have to do this, and it’s not going to be easy.  And I’m pretty sure Rory knows that. Isn’t that right, Rory dear?”

“What have I warned you about calling me dear,” he muttered darkly, and then sighed.  “But yeah, Avery’s right, Noe; you have to do this.”

“That’s a good boy,” said Avery approvingly.  “I knew I could count on you to be reasonable.”  

He seemed to be carefully not including Adam in that assessment, and Adam was having none of it.  Who the hell did this guy think he was, telling him what Noa needed?  

“What about me? Don’t you think I’m reasonable?” He moved to stand behind Noa so he could put her hands on her shoulders and stare Avery down at the same time.  Don’t fuck with me; I shared a womb with her, remember? 

The man didn’t smile.  “Not that I can see, no,” he said bluntly.  “Not everything can be fixed with your California hippie mind-cleansing or whatever you call that positive affirmation shit.  We work with facts and evidence in Boston.” 

Adam barked out a derisive laugh.  “Mind cleansing? That the best you’ve got, Morrison?” Honestly, this guy was too much and Adam didn’t bother holding back saying so.  

“I wouldn’t be working for one of the top political consulting firms in the country if I didn’t understand how both facts and people work,” he shot back. “It’s not just voting patterns and exit polls; there are really people with real concerns behind every election, and figuring out how to get them heard is what I do best.”  Anyone with half a brain could see that; that’s what he didn’t say, although it was heavily implied.

Rory had opened up a bottle of bourbon and Adam stared at it for a long moment, wondering if his headache would get better or worse if he had some.  Drew was drinking a beer while he went through the exam notes from Noa’s rape kit at the hospital and Noa had a glass of wine.  Avery was drinking sparkling water.  Of-fucking-course. Trying to portray an aura of professionalism or some shit.  

Adam stomped over to the fridge and took out a Diet Coke while he waited for more of Morrison’s crap about how Adam didn’t have a real job.  As if being an FBI agent was so much more noble than getting the right people elected and laws passed.  Hell, hadn’t he worked on a big police training referendum in Oakland last year?  He opened his mouth to say so and realized Morrison wasn’t even paying attention.  Instead, he was huddled up next to Drew, looking at what looked like medical records on the nurse’s iPad.  

Adam’s head thumped and he swallowed down his frustration along with a gulp of soda.  Rory had his arms wrapped around Noa and was speaking softly to her and Adam didn’t want to think about what those medical records said about his sister.  And didn’t Avery Morrison know Drew had a boyfriend?  

“Where’s Jeremiah?” he asked, but not very loudly because damn, his head hurt.  “I wanted to get his opinion on the new AMA ethics guidelines.”  

“He’s doing a kidney transplant; won’t be home until late,” answered Drew, looking up from his iPad, brow wrinkled.  “Weren’t you talking about it with him yesterday?” 

Adam didn’t miss the way Avery’s mouth quirked.  He scowled back at the nurse, not that any of this was his fault.  “Oh yeah,” he muttered.  “I’ve had so much on my mind with my own work I must have forgotten.  Noey, where’s your Tylenol?”  

“Cabinet above the sink,” she said, lifting her head off Rory’s chest to peer at her brother.  “Headache?  We’ve got Excedrin too; it’s stronger.”  

“Yeah, thanks.”  Adam found the Excedrin and swallowed down two pills.  “I’m fine.”  

“You look a little pale.”  Drew examined him critically.  “How long has your head been hurting?  Where’s the pain?”

Adam bit back his snarky answer that the pain was sitting next to Drew at the island. “About an hour,” he said instead, rubbing at his temples.  “Top and front of my head.”  

“Drink some of the Diet Coke; the caffeine can help,” Drew instructed.  “And lie down with your eyes closed if it gets worse.  Do you get migraines like Gabe?”  He started to get up from his seat.  

Adam waved him away.  “Not a migraine; I’m fine,” he said impatiently.  “Go back to what you were doing.  It’s important for Noey, right? Focus on her.” 

“Generous of you,” said Avery lightly.  It was the kind of comment that would have rolled off Adam’s back coming from Rory or Gabe.  Hell, giving each other shit was what they all did best.  Even Jeremiah seemed to have lightened up since he and Adam had had their fling.  True, Adam had no doubt he could still fluster the man if he really wanted to, but it wasn’t as much fun now that he knew that flustering wouldn’t result in them jumping in bed together.  He rubbed his temples again.  Normally he was very good at reading people, and even though he didn’t like to admit it, it bothered him that he couldn’t get a handle on what Morrison’s issue was.  Adam was fully aware that he was too much for some people and he also knew how to dial it down if those people were someone he needed to be able to work with.  

But Adam didn’t need anything from Avery so there was no reason for the guy to be such an ass.  

He dropped down into a kitchen chair.  Rory had finally sat down too and pulled Noa onto his lap. More bourbon was gone and Noa had a second glass of wine but the thought of drinking anything made Adam vaguely nauseous.  Instead he reached out and grabbed his sister’s hand.  

“No matter what anyone else says, I still know you’re stronger than you may think.”  He glanced at her boyfriend and gave him a small smirk.  “Rory does too, even though he’s scared to admit it, because then how’s he going to be overprotective all the time?” 

“Fuck you,” Rory retorted, but there wasn’t a lot of heat to his words and Adam knew he’d hit his mark.  Rory twisted in his seat to look over to where Avery and Drew were.  “For the record, protective is different than overprotective, and I actually think Noa’s the strongest person I know.” 

Avery smiled at his partner.  “I know that, and I have no problem with your behavior,” he said mildly.  “It makes you a better agent.  He stood up.  “And you know that if your overprotective shit ever gets out of hand, Jack and I will beat the crap out of you.”

“Noted,” grinned Rory.  He seemed calmer, but maybe that was the bourbon.

Once again, Adam felt oddly chastised. He opened his mouth to ask if Morrison had problems with his behavior and then snapped his mouth closed. Because it didn’t matter. 

“Why are you preparing her instead of a lawyer?” he asked instead.  That was a reasonable question even if he couldn’t keep the accusation out of his voice.  “Wouldn’t a lawyer be . . . better at this?” 

Avery shrugged off his question.  “She’ll work with an AUSA next, but they’re backed up and asked me to go through her story first.”  He finally met Adam’s gaze.  “I’m actually very good at this.”  

Show off.  Adam kept his tone mild.  “Better than Rory?  I’d think he’d be the most qualified to prepare her.” Or anyone besides you.

Avery gave him an incredulous look.  “Do you really think Rory should be involved in preparing his girlfriend for trial?”  He shook his head. “I thought you said you were smart and good at reading people.”  He pushed back from his seat and stood up.  

“Rory, Noa, do you mind if we order in food before we get going?  I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”  He rested his hand dramatically on his middle.  “I’m surprised you can’t hear my stomach growling.”  

“Oh, I heard it,” Rory grinned.  “But when are you not starving, Morrison?  Yeah, let’s order something; Noa’s had two glasses of wine and I don’t want her falling asleep.”

“Or you from all that bourbon,” she pointed out.  “But it’s a Saturday night; DoorDash is going to take forever and I want soup dumplings from Mei Mei.”

“I can go pick something up; I haven’t been drinking,” Adam offered quickly.  He rubbed the palms of his hands against his eyes.  “Just need your keys.”  

“Your head’s not better? Maybe you shouldn’t drive,” Drew said.  He got up and put his hands on either side of Adam’s face.  “Let me see your pupils.”

“I’ll drive; I’ve only had water.” Avery held up his keys.  “That way Rory doesn’t have to worry about Adam crashing his car.”  

“I wouldn’t fucking crash his car.”  Adam wanted to roll his eyes but just thinking about the movement made his head throb.  “Give me a little credit.”

“Earn it then,” Avery shot back. He stared at Adam for a long moment.  “Tell you what, you can come with me and pay for dinner.”  

“I didn’t realize I’d asked you on a date and you’re already expecting me to pay?”  Two can play at this game, sweetheart.  

“Don’t put out right away Avery,” joked Drew.  “From what I’ve heard from Jeremiah, you’ll want to make Adam work for it.”  

Adam was gratified to see a faint blush climb Avery’s cheeks.  Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it; I’m too good at this.  It felt good to think it, even if he didn’t say so. 

“I only work for it if I want to,” he remarked casually.  He carefully looked Avery up and down.  “Not really worth it.” 

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Avery muttered back.  “You aren’t remotely my type.”  He scooped up his coat.  “Text me your order.” he said to everyone else, and then, when Adam didn’t move, he gestured impatiently. “Let’s go; everyone’s hungry.”

When the door closed behind the pair, Noa, Rory, and Drew all stared at each other in silence.  Finally Noa spoke.

“If they have sex in the car and I don’t get my dumplings I’m going to be really pissed.”

Sex was the last thing on Adam’s mind as he followed Avery out to his car.  The beat-up Subaru didn’t look any better than it had the last time he’d driven in it but he didn’t have the energy to say so.  He’d been feeling sick that time too, he remembered bitterly, and had puked by the side of the road while Morrison had patted his back.  Fuck, why did this guy always see him at his worst?  

As if reading his mind, Avery glanced over at him.  “How’s your head?  Any chance of vomiting you need to warn me about?” 

“It’s fine,” Adam lied, then rethought his answer.  “I mean, it hurts but it’s no big deal.  I’m not going to get sick.”  He slammed the car door.  “Let’s just go get the food, unless you’re afraid that I’ll do that wrong too.”  

Avery had been about to pull the car out of its spot but now he threw it back into park and turned to look at him.  “Okay; apparently we’re going to do this now.” He crossed his arms and waited.

Adam stared back, annoyance rising. “Do what now? There’s nothing to ‘do’ so why are you making it sound like you’re my . . . .my boyfriend or something and you’re getting ready to break up with me?”  He made air quotes with his hands. “Doing this now” is how couples talk, not two people who barely know each other and have nothing in common.”

That many words with a headache was exhausting.  Adam slumped back into his seat.  

“You think way too highly of yourself,” Avery muttered.  He put the car back into drive and flicked on his turn signal before easing onto the street.  It’s obvious you care a lot about your sister, so why do you insist on butting in on things you know nothing about?”  He gave Adam a side eye.  “Because no matter how much you insist otherwise, you really know nothing about prepping a victim to testify at a criminal trial.”  

Adam bristled. “Noa’s not a victim.”  He subtly tightened his jaw and then released it again, trying to get rid of some of the tension wrapped around his skull.  

Avery made an impatient sound. “Between you insisting she’s fine and Landis treating her like she’s about to break into a million pieces it’ll be a wonder if she’s able to say what she’s really feeling at all.”  His lips tightened.  “You’re right about Rory treating her like a damsel in distress, by the way.”

“Of course I’m right; I’ve been watching it for over ten years.”  Still, it was the closest thing to a compliment Morrison had given him.  He leaned forward and rested his head in his hands.  “Thank you for noticing.”  He closed his eyes to block out the movement of the car through the window.  

The radio, which had been playing some classic rock station, cut off abruptly.  “That better?” Avery’s voice was quieter and Adam gingerly sat up.  

“Yeah, thank you.”  He rubbed at his eyes again.  “I swear I’m not usually this much of a mess; I don’t know why you always get to see it.” 

Avery chuckled.  “Just lucky I guess.”  He glanced sideways.  “Head worse?” 

Adam shrugged.  “I’m a little nauseous; probably shouldn’t have taken a bunch of Excedrin on an empty stomach.”  He burped softly under his breath.  “I’m not going to puke this time.” 

Avery turned the corner and Adam was relieved to see the dumpling shop on the next block.  “I’ll have to take your word for it.”  He pulled into the parking lot.  “I’d say you could sit here and let your stomach settle but you’re paying, remember?” 

Adam waited half a beat for the guy to grin and tell him not to worry, that he’d get the food since Adam wasn’t feeling well.  But he just sat there with an expectant look on his face while Adam fumbled with his seatbelt.  The tentative peace in the car evaporated. “You really are an ass, you know that?” He burped again, deeper this time and bit back a groan at the way the pain in his temples spiked.  “Are you going to at least come with me?”  

“Nope.” Morrison sounded supremely unconcerned about Adam’s wellbeing.  “I have full faith that you can handle this by yourself.”  He opened his phone and began scrolling through his emails.  

“Fine, but if I puke, you're the one explaining it to my sister why her food’s late.”  He slowly got out of the car, stumbling a bit when the pavement tilted.  He grabbed at the roof until everything stopped spinning and then, taking a deep breath, began walking firmly towards the restaurant.  There were flashing lights from a neon sign in the window and he couldn’t help but flinch when a car off to his right blared his horn but he straightened his back in case Morrison was watching.  Which he probably wasn’t.  The fucker.

His stomach was churning uncomfortably and he was considering whether he should take a detour to the bathroom when somebody suddenly grabbed him roughly by the arm.  He squawked in surprise and tried to shake it off but the guy’s grip was like a vice.  Avery, what the hell.

“Holy shit you’re swaying like you’re drunk, Calder.  Why didn’t you tell me your head was that bad?”  Avery sounded more frustrated than Adam would have expected until he looked up and realized he’d walked so crookedly across the parking lot he’d almost missed the building entirely.  He shook the guy free.  

“You were too concerned about whether I was paying for dinner, remember?”  He pulled open the front door and a strong smell of oil and cooking meat and soup wafted out and he bit back a gag.  “I’m fine.”  

“Yeah, right.  And that’s why all the color just drained from your face.”  Avery grabbed him again and pushed him forward until he was suddenly sitting down.  “Stay there; I’m getting you some water.”  

Adam’s stomach rolled uncomfortably.  He fumbled for his wallet.  “Here,” he said, shoving it at Avery.  “For the food.”  Even feeling like shit, he’d be damned to give the guy a reason to think he was trying to get out of paying.

The man opened his mouth and shut it again before taking the wallet.  “Stay there and try not to fall over,” he muttered, disappearing further into the restaurant to the counter that handled carry-out. 

Adam breathed slowly in and out through his mouth. But the air was thick and heavy and pungent and nauseating, and by the time Avery returned with the enormous bag and a cup of water, he only wanted to get outside and away from the noise and steamy smells.  His mouth filled with saliva and not from hunger.  He gulped down.  “Can we go?” he muttered, half expecting a snarky comment back. To his relief, Avery nodded and hauled him to his feet and then outside.  He closed his eyes, relying on the other man to direct him back to the car, each stumbling step ushering up another small burp.  He wanted to spit, but the effort seemed to be too much past the heaviness in his jaw so he kept quiet.

Finally they stopped walking.

“Here, lean against the car.”  Avery pushed him sideways until his body made contact with the solid wall of the Subaru.  He shoved something into his hand.  “And drink this.”  

Adam wanted to open his eyes but the throbbing in them wouldn’t stop and he didn’t want to world to tilt again.  There was a sudden slamming bang and the car shook.  Despite himself, his eyes flew open.  “What the . . .?” he mumbled.

Morrison walked around from the back of the car.  “I put the food in the trunk,” he explained.  “By the look on your face I don’t think you need to smell dumplings all the way home.”  

Adam gulped down his nausea.  “Thanks,” he croaked.  “You’re right.”  

“Hmm,” huffed Avery.  “And I think you’ll agree that I’m also right that you aren’t going to make it home without puking, so why don’t you get it over with here?”  He gestured around at the parking lot.  “No one’s around and this way I won’t have to try to pull over while I’m driving.  So drink up.”

Adam felt humiliated.  Where did Avery Morrison get off, treating him like a stupid kid who couldn’t take care of himself?  He wanted to object, to insist he was fine, but his stomach was rebelling against the pain killers and his head was aching.  So when his mouth filled up with saliva again he bent over to spit it out and then stayed there, hunched over with his hands planted on his thighs.  There was a child’s sock on the ground and he stared at that while he waited for his nausea to peak.  

Avery, in a move that felt too familiar, rested his hand on his back.  “There you go, get it up.”

Adam turned his head to glare at him.  “I don’t need your help.”  He burped roughly and his entire body jerked.  Avery snorted.  

“Oh, I think you do.  If you want, I can get the food out of the trunk and let you eat a dumpling; how’s that sound?”  

It sounded horrible, that’s what.  Just the thought of eating anything made Adam’s queasiness rise. He retched, watching with perverse satisfaction as he spit up directly on the little pink sock.  Avery smacked his back harder.  “There you go.”  

Adam’s response was lost in his next burp.  He brought up a mouthful of Diet Coke and then gagged emptily until his head swam with the effort.  Something hard slammed against his side and he realized dimly that he’d swayed into the side of the car.  

And then Avery’s hands were on his shoulders.  “You done?  If you fall over and get a concussion Noa’ll probably kill me.”

The nausea receded a little bit and Adam barked out a laugh.  “Yeah, because she won’t get her dinner.”  He straightened up slowly. “Can we go home now?”

Morrison sighed.  “Stop acting like it’s my fault we’re still here, Calder.  You don’t have to be right all the time.”  

Adam laughed again. “Then you don’t know me very well.”  He slowly climbed into the passenger seat.  Avery slid behind the wheel and looked at him thoughtfully.  

“Not yet, but there’s still time.”

[ohdorothea]

This tournament is being run by and for queer fans so please keep that in mind! Homophobes will be blocked on sight <3 More polls here and more info here! Lyrics for the songs and FAQ under the cut!

Superman lyrics

Tall, dark, and superman

He puts papers in his briefcase and drives away

To save the world or go to work

It's the same thing to me

He's got his mother's eyes, his father's ambition

I wonder if he knows how much that I miss him

I hang on every word you say, yay

And you smile and say, "How are you?"

And I'll say, "Just fine"

I always forget to tell you, I love you

I love you forever

I watch superman fly away

You've got a busy day today

Go save the world, I'll be around

And I watch superman fly away

Come back, I'll be with you someday

I'll be right here on the ground

When you come back down

Tall, dark and beautiful

He's complicated, he's irrational

But I hope someday you'll take me away, and save the day, yeah

Something in his deep brown eyes has me sayin'

He's not all bad like his reputation

And I can't hear one single word they say

And you'll leave, got places to be, and I'll be okay

I always forget to tell you I love you

I loved you from the very first day

I watch superman fly away

You've got a busy day today

Go save the world, I'll be around

And I watch superman fly away

Come back, I'll be with you someday

I'll be right here on the ground

When you come back down

And I watch you fly around the world

And I hope you don't save some other girl

Don't forget, don't forget about me

I'm far away, but I never let you go

I'm love-struck and looking out the window

Don't forget, don't forget where I'll be

Right here, wishing the flowers were from you

Wishing the card was from you

Wishing the call was from you

'Cause I loved you from the very first day

I watch superman fly away

You've got a busy day today

Go save the world, I'll be around

Forever and ever

And I watch superman fly away

I swear, I'll be with you someday

I'll be right here on the ground

When you come back down

La, la, la, la, la, la

La, la, la, la, la, la

When you come back down

🫶🫶🫶

Ours lyrics

Elevator buttons and morning air

Strangers' silence makes me want to take the stairs

If you were here, we'd laugh about their vacant stares

But right now, my time is theirs

Seems like there's always someone who disapproves

They'll judge it like they know about me and you

And the verdict comes from those with nothing else to do

The jury's out, but my choice is you

So don't you worry your pretty little mind

People throw rocks at things that shine

And life makes love look hard

The stakes are high, the water's rough

But this love is ours

You never know what people have up their sleeves

Ghosts from your past gonna jump out at me

Lurking in the shadows with their lip gloss smiles

But I don't care, 'cause right now, you're mine

And you'll say

Don't you worry your pretty little mind

People throw rocks at things that shine

And life makes love look hard

The stakes are high, the water's rough

But this love is ours

And it's not theirs to speculate if it's wrong and

Your hands are tough, but they are where mine belong and

I'll fight their doubt and give you faith with this song for you

'Cause I love the gap between your teeth

And I love the riddles that you speak

And any snide remarks from my father about your tattoos

Will be ignored, 'cause my heart is yours

So don't you worry your pretty little mind

People throw rocks at things that shine

And life makes love look hard

Don't you worry your pretty little mind

People throw rocks at things that shine

But they can't take what's ours

They can't take what's ours

The stakes are high, the water's rough

But this love is ours

🫶🫶🫶

The question is which song is queerer to you! Queerer can mean whatever you want it to mean; you might consider a song queer because you think it was written that way, or because of Swiftian lore. It might be queer to you because of how you relate it to your own life. Maybe you think from a purely literary standpoint the lyrics have queer themes; maybe you're just thinking about vibes!!!

If you’d like to send in interpretations or propaganda for a specific song you can send them to my inbox! All interpretations are welcome and let’s be open and kind in response to all interpretations <3

[whoisneo404]

can i please request some dad nick, i can’t stop thinking about it. he’d be such a great parent (you can decide whether he and his partner chose surrogacy or adoption) i just need fluffy dad nick :(

Little Angel.

Summary: while dinning with the whole Sturniolo family, you and your husband Nick decide it’s a great time to announce your plans to adopt a baby. +a couple of cute pictures I found on pinterest.

Tw: cursing, anxious reader.

I turn off the car and let out a big sigh, I’m nervous, more than that, I’m anxious. I look at my hands on the steering wheel and consider turning back, but I can’t. I feel one of Nicks hands on my thigh.

‘’It’s okay, honey. It will be fine.’’ He reassures me.

‘’I know, I’m just nervous.’’

‘’We are ready, we have talked about this a lot. Plus, the adoption process is almost done, we have to tell them.’’

‘’I know, I know. It’s just a big step in our lives, we are going to start a family. I’m gonna be a dad, I’ll get to take care of daughter with the love of my life, it just seems like a fantasy.’’

‘’I know. It’s wonderful, I’m nervous too, but we are together in this. Plus, you know my mom loves the idea of grandkids.’’ He kisses my cheek and pats my thigh. ‘’We have to go inside. They are waiting.’’

As I make my way to the door I look at my hands that hold the desert me and Nick picked for the dinner. I see Nicks hands with a gift bag, inside of them there are silly shirts with personalized writing on them, Nick was the one with the idea to surprise his brothers with a ‘’best uncle in the world’’ shirts, and then though: why not my parents too?

So now we are here, inside the house. I’m on the kitchen helping serving the food, I hear my father-in-law talking with Nick about how is our life going. I see Justin entering the front door with a bottle of wine in hand. It’s a lot going on, and the pressure on my chest comes again.

‘’Are you feeling, okay?’’ Matt who was also helping on the kitchen looks at me.

‘’Yeah, all good. Just got a little dizzy, that’s all.’’ He nods and tells me to drink a glass of water. I do, I get a glass with cold water and walk to the dinning room, sitting besides Nick. He looks at me and gives me a warm smile, wrapping one arm around me comforting me without knowing.

After a couple of minutes everything it’s served on the table, the wine is open, everyone is chatting and laughing. It was an amazing dinner; the food was delicious; the conversations were amazing. And as I was making my way into the kitchen to bring out the desert, I hear Nick speak loud and clear ‘We have something to tell you’.

‘’Shot it out!’’ Chris says.

‘’Well, it’s kind of a long talk.’’ He looks at me and I nod putting the box of desert on the table, going back to sit besides him.

‘’It’s okay, take your time.’’ Marylou looks at us with a kind smile.

‘’Well, ad you know. We have been together for a while and we have been talking about… about our future and what we want in it, so after long conversations we decided that we want to have kids. We are currently in the process to adopt a baby girl.’’ Nick talks, I can tell that he is a bit nervous, but his words are confident and he looks at everyone in the table while doing it.

‘’OH MY GOD!’’ Marylou stands up and runs up to us, Nick stands up and hugs her, I do it too. I see the faces of shock and the smiles on everyone face.

‘’That’s amazing. I’m so happy for you guys.’’ Chris stands up and hugs the both of us, Matt does the same, Justin and James too.

Now we are sitting in the living room. A few tears polling in my eyes, a few tears running down my parents in law faces, we are watching pictures of Nick when he was a kid, talking about what a responsibility is to take care of a kid, to love and guide them. We eat the desert as we show them pictures of the girl and the nursery we build for her. It was so wholesome. Then I stood up and handed out the shirts, everyone laughed and put the shirts on. It was amazing to be a part of this family, and it was even more beautiful to be able to make it bigger.

---

‘’God, look at her. She’s so cute, our little angel.’’ Nick holds our baby in his arms, my head resting on his arm looking at her sleep peacefully.

‘’Hi baby.’’ Nick whispers to her. ‘’I’m your dad, I hope you love your new house.’’

‘’I’m sure she will, she has an amazing father.’’ I kiss his cheek and he smile.

‘’She has the best fathers in the world. I’m so happy, I love you so much, thank you for being part of my life.’’

‘’I love you more.’’ I kiss his lips softly.

---

Nick with glasses give me dad energy.

with uncle Chris.

with uncle Matt.

[luffyvace]

Inosuke x black male reader

The last one from the poll!! Yippie!!

I love inosuke he’s so cool 😎

your hair is….very foreign to inosuke

this is Japan so when he sees you in general he’s very confused??

and confused=confrontational (like with giyuu)

so at first there’s a chance y’all beefed (it may have been one-sided)

but to talk specifically about your hair he probably pulls and inspects it a lot

or at least tries I know you don’t let that slide

he’d ask overly blunt questions like

“what happened to your hair, is it fried?!”

your skin is also new to him

the things he be saying is atrocious but he’s genuinely curious

mans also has no social cues

which makes him come off as rude

and even if he did have social cues he’d ignore them, cuz he doesn’t care 🤷‍♀️

to sum it all up, don’t take it personally

he be munching down on your cooking tho!

so at least that 🤦‍♀️

he always asks for so much / extras

he likes spicy too

He steals tanjiro and zenitsu’s food whenever you cook

When you use AAVE he doesn’t get it

and never will

you never even bothered to teach him

he doesn’t seem like the type of guy who would get it

if you wanna say something and don’t want him to know just teach tanjiro and zenitsu AAVE

zenitsu will get it before tanjiro does-

”WHAT?? WHADDYA SAYIN?? STOP SPEAKING FUNNY!!”

”THAT DOESNT EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE IDIOT!!”

him calling you a idiot is irony I know 😂 /j

your culture/dances also don’t make sense to him..😞🙁

he might get the culture a little bit more than the dances

i mean it’s just dancing but he’ll be wondering why you have to do it a certain way

and as far as culture he’ll be like

”whaddya doin all this stuff for?! ITS POINTLESS!! lets go train instead!”

Tanjiro will get it tho!

he’ll explain his dad used to do a fire dance to ward the demons off

”is it something like that?”

close enough..🧍‍♀️

your bonnet/durag is very strange to him

He doesn’t get why you need something on your head to sleep

You explain to him that it’s to keep your pillow from soaking the oil in your hair and to keep your hairstyles neat

speaking of which when you braid your hair or if you have locs he thinks it’s very cool!

(that’s like the most positive thing I’ve wrote so far..)

Only problem is…..he wants you to do his hair like yours..

”but inosuke, your hair’s gonna fall out! And you can’t loc straight hair!”

He doesn’t wanna hear it..

he gets loud/starts yelling and you have to calm him down

your features are something he notices right off the bat but at the same time it goes right over his head

like he sees you may have a big nose/big lips but he doesn’t really pay much attention to it

like he doesn’t even think ‘everyone is different!’ so why would he pay attention to everyone’s individual features?

he’s looking for if your strong or not if anything 🤷‍♀️

im just gonna put a collage of his questions here cuz I can

”WHY CANT YOU DO MY HAIR LIKE YOURS?!”

”HOW’S YOUR HAIR SO BIG!?”

”HOW COME YOUR HAIR GOES BOING AND MINE DOESNT?!”

”what’s that black thing on your head?” (Durag)

”WHADDYA MEAN MY HAIRS’ GONNA FALL OUT?! YOURS DIDNT!!”

”is your hair a defense technique?? What does it do?”

“how’d you get your hair like that?”

”WHY DO YOU TALK LIKE THAT??”

”I CANT UNDERSTAND YOU!! SPEAK NORMAL!!”

”does your whole village look like that?? SHOW ME!”

his bluntness be getting outta hand ngl

You being a male doesn’t NOT affect inosuke whatsoever

he realized he wanted to be with you, and his mind, you were already his

(he didn’t actually ask you out 🤦‍♀️)

and yeah I pretty much have nothing else to say bc inosuke don’t care.

he’s him like that 🤷‍♀️

Inosuke’s love languages are quality time and gift giving

quality time = training

training = beating

not because he wants to beat you

but just because he doesn’t hold back at all

i hope your stronger than him

cuz if your weak……..😃

with gift giving he’ll remember the things you say you like but……it’ll just end up going..wrong..

for example! You say you need a new durag because it has a hole?

well! The great inosuke has taken the liberty to make you a new one!

like it? 😁

(oh gosh…..you don’t. What is this even made out of??)

”gee thanks..! Inosuke..”😟

”HHAHAHAHAHAH YOU BETTER BE GRATEFUL!! THE GOD OF MOUNTAINS HIMSELF MADE YOU A NEW DURAT!”😼

(yes durat 😋..he doesn’t remember the name)

zenitsu and tanjiro support you two

zenitsu was already aware of non het couples

he doesn’t see the attraction but it’s none of his business to him really

tanjiro is 100% supportive and doesn’t see it any different from a hetero couple

kind confused?? But he’s supportive :)

also commends you for taking on the rambunctious inosuke 😅

inosuke doesn’t care what anyone else has to say about your relationship

Now if they’re passive aggressive he won’t get it-

but if they directly insult either of you—your gonna have to stop him from beating them up 😜

(or join him! 😊)

all in all….your relationship is very chaotic!

you love him regardless <3

Lol inosuke so silly

Hope you enjoyed💝

[azzysecondary]

Azzy’s media log#2

(as of now to give everyone a little insight into stuff I’ve been getting into/ consuming as of late~)

Still isn’t everything but more bigger over arching ones!! (Honorable mentions smaller stuff).

Please see the bottom of list for the stuff I plan on getting to soon!

Slight and vague spoilers for all media in tags(only reason I tagged this~)

( hello Charolette section has the biggest ones tho for episodes one and 2 (have not finished 2 yet tho)!!!)

Code Realize:

Victor……. Victor makes me so ill….. he and Cardia together make me so ill… note to self I need to draw them again- (I just got to chapter 12 of his route, and have completed Impey’s, Impey also makes me ill-) highly recommend so far!

bug fables:

chapter one finished!! I love silly bug game!!! LIEF IS AN ELDRITCH BEING YOU CANT CHaNGE MY MIND!!! (Lief is also my favorite so far~) highly recommend silly bug game so far! (I also have fanart I have yet to post too!!)

ENA: Dream BBQ

Just finished this one tonight OHhhHhh I’m SO hyped for chapter 2!!!! GUH this game is genuinely just amazing both visually and surrealism wise!!! Highly recommend both this and the webseries (for those who haven’t watched it) with my whole heart!

Hello Charolette:

Currently on episode 2! I AM ONTO YOU C AND BENNET >:((!!! But I very much am enjoying!!! Episode one is a fun time I really like Charolette!!! Plus the lore is very fascinating thus far (totally not me spending 2 hours analyzing the use of to be or not to be for one specific scene030-) highly recommend!! Also have fanart I just haven’t posted!

Zeno:

we uhhhh….. we know how that’s been going- watched the first ten minutes of daily life at like three am the other night, idk if I’ll get back on that soon- for my full thoughts please read my review on this blog.

Xenoblade 2: 

Uhhhh….. I’m kinda a honorary knower so I know most spoilers for this entire franchise teehee~ but it has still made me feel things despite this!!! I like Nia and Poppi a lot :> (technically have not played one, and this one is more like watching a play through). (Also have doodles for this one!!) Morag and Bridghid are definitely wives too btw trust me, I was in the board room when they were written/silly

Detective Beebo:

Teehee, Ive already posted stuff for Beebo already (and have some live blogs here) I love it so much!!! Genuinely amazing please play it if you haven’t it’s so charming and makes me violently ill ( only ending I haven’t seen is one still…… then after that I get to read train comic!!!) (oh yeah Angèl is my favorite…. *stares at Noel and him*…. Same picture/silly. Also Vivi is such a cutie and the absurd voice I did for Simon during friend play Throughs has genuinely put him in there as one of my Beebo faves!!!

Cryptid Crush

Really need to get back to this one…. Ive only played dead air and I ADORE atlas!!! Genuinely wondering where this one goes!!! (Also tested acrylic paint markers with fanart for this one!) also mad house gives me mad beetle juice vibes- love the TTRPG vibes of this one too!!! 

Honorable mentions

Lilly’s well, vivid stasis, kinda started end roll??, same with Wadanohara, started watching a friend play Breath of the wild and sky ward sword (of which Ive never played nor watched any gameplay of a Zelda game), mouth washing, web fishing, football 1000 years in the future , trapped

FMA has now been started as of tonight! I like:3!!!

To Consume soon list

Hatoful Boy friend

Great God’s Grove

Rainworld (if Noel wins round two of his timelooper tourney poll as promised)

Saihate Station

Coffee moon(I have the first manga I’ve been sitting on!)

Some day I’ll get to murder drones-

I still need to play all of the project moon games…. I have them all…. Lobo corp just crashed my computer instantly;w;

Off remake when it comes out !!!!

[themultifandomgal]

Shelby Sister- I Didn’t Know

Last night I started to get these funny aches and pains in my stomach. Putting it down to my monthly arriving I ignored them after getting myself a hot water bottle and went to sleep. However I woke up about 3am in the worst pain I've ever experienced. These period pains are truly something else. Groaning I get out of bed and make my way done to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea hoping to ease the pain.

7am rolls around and I'm in agony. Aunt Polly and Tommy are now up and wondering what to do. Polly has tried everything she can think of to help with the pains, but nothing is working and the pains are just getting worse

"That's it's I'm ringing a doctor. This isn't normal"

"Yeah ok" Polly breathes out giving in, also so confused to why my pains are so bad this month. Tears are falling down my face

"Aunt Poll an I dying?" I ask

"No. Tommys going to ring the best doctor he can to come over and give you a check up"

"Poll I'm scared"

"I know, but you don't need to be, everything's going to be ok"

Within 30 minutes a doctor has arrived and had been checking me over

"Ok there's one last thing I want to check" he says taking our stethoscope

"You've already listed to her heartbeat" Tommy frowns in confusion, but the doctor proceeds to place his stethoscope on my stomach

"Aunt Poll what's he.."

"Shh" the doctor says as he listens "unbelievable. This is so rare. I've never seen this happen before"

"What? Am I dying?"

"No, your in active labour"

"I'm what?"

"She's what?" Aunt Polly, Tommy and I say all at the same time

"You had no idea you were pregnant?" The doctor asked

"I.. no. I had my monthly every month on time"

"Have you wet yourself yet?"

"Pardon?"

"He's asking if your waters have broken, but you will have wet yourself since you wouldn't have had any warning of it happening"

"No"

"Well then I think we should get you up on your feet and walking about. That should help"

"Who did this?" Tommy asks

"What?"

"Who got you pregnant. I'll fucking kill em"

"No you will not. Unless that is you were forced"

"No he was sweet, promise"

"Who..."

"Tommy let's do this later yeah? Go and ring the others let them know whats going on"

After walking around the house and my waters breaking, I was checked over and now it's time to push. Polly holds my hand while the doctor is at the other end. My brothers are all at the pup trying to figure out who the father is

"Ok next wave I need you to push"

"I can't"

"Yes you can. You can do this YN"

"I'm not ready to be a mum"

"Nobody ever is, but you heard the doctor when you feel that wave of pain you push as hard as you can" the wave of pain hits me and I push like Polly said

"Ok good. I need another big one like that ok?" the doctor says earning a nod from me. This goes on for a while until Im finally holding my baby I'm my arms. A little boy

"It's Isaiah's isn't it?" Polly sighs. I nod my head. We had been secretly courting each other for the last year now

"Toms gonna kill 'im Poll" I say worriedly

"No he's not”

Everyone's going to hate me now. Im an unmarried woman with a baby. People are racist Poll they're going to hate us all"

"Who cares what people think. I'm going to find Isaiah and bring him here to meet his son and I'm going to stop your brothers from drinking themselves silly"

Isaiah came over to meet his son, while Polly does damage control with my brothers. When they come over they are a lot calmer that I expect them to be. I guess Aunt Polly can me very scary when she wants to be

"So what's little lads name?" Arthur asks through gritted teeth

"Walter Shelby Jesus" I smile looking down at the newborn

"I'll ask Esme where the kids old clothes are"

"Thanks John" I give him a little smile

"So when's the wedding?" Tommy asks

"Tommy not now" Polly scolds shaking her head "let them be for now. Right come on let's leave them alone"

"That's how they go into this mess" Arthur mumbles

"Out now. Come on" Polly usurers everyone out of the room leaving Isaiah and I to fall in love with our baby.

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Huh, so you're saying that people are starting to actually criticize Bakugo's real character since the canon is over? I guess the best time to reread(or actually read) the manga is when it's over and I guess the shock of what actually happened versus what they though had happen in their minds due to fanfics is what is increasing the Bakugo critique. I wonder if the reason why criticism against Bakugo weren't as mainstream was due to his fangirls artificially making him seem alot more popular and well-like than he actually is. With a lot of fan content using Bakugo, new fans coming in via the fandom would like Bakugo as a lot better character than he actually is. Though I won't argue that Bakugo has extremely good character design for both his school uniform and hero costume. It's just that he was written badly and appears in way more stuff than he's supposed to.

While we all know that Bakugo is the author's pet, I would not be surprised if the reason why Horikoshi wrote him the way he did was due to the popularity polls. Given that we know that Bakugo Stans and fangirls were practically cheating the polls, it's possible that Bakugo's natural popularity was in the top five or ten, which probably would give him more rest than being "number 1". Because he was "number 1", Horikoshi went into a feedback loop that "encouraged" him to use Bakugo in way more scenes, which really didn't help Bakugo nor the other characters' character at all.

Actually, do you think that Aizawa and Shinso will have more critiques as well as people recognize the characters who they truly are? Aizawa is a lazy and bad teacher that once you experience such a teacher compared to a competent one or even value education, you truly understand how bad Aizawa was in those beginning chapters. And then there's Shinso who people recognize that he was such a wimp and coward that he shouldn't just be given the Hero seat(usually replacing Mineta) without training and justification. Even then, it's probably better to rewrite such characters to better fit the story and reduce their negative story qualities so that the overall story isn't burden for who they are.

So the real question is, which character of the next new anime/manage will be in the same position as Bakugo? We won't know until it happens.

You are completely right. I think that many of the fan works, both meta and drawings, portray Bakugou as a nice boy with a tough exterior. A tsundere really, when in reality... he's just a dick. So like I said, people who wait until the manga is over to read don't have the sort of bias or confusion over fanon vs canon sort of thing. But they also come in with expectations, and they don't hit because the fans overhype characters, or like again, base their ideas on fanon way more than canon.

I have said that before. Horkoshi was very much encouraged to hyper focus on Bakugou and include him in everything. And one part of me is going like, you know, fair. The money he got is worth shelling out a bit. But he could have given Bakugou a proper redemption... except Horikoshi might have tried and shot shut down hard.

I will acknowledge hes not a geat writer (something proven so much more since starting Dungeon Meshi and rewatching FMAB) but I kind of hope he knew better.

As for others, I actually have seen an uptick in Aizawa and Shinsou critical stuff over positive stuff. Like over the last few years, it has been abundantly obvious people are taking an extra look at things.

Aizawa, I think we're supposed to be the Kakashi mentor, but Horkoshi tried too hard? And like forgot he isn't giving us the lore to explain things? Like, okay, so he expelled the kids and let them back in. What about the black marks? Is it okay that they go this? Because, like in Naruto, we know they go back and do another year. They only have that setback. With MHA, we aren't told that, yeah it's a common thing, we don't give them actual black marks on their records.

Plus, Aizawa doesn't really show himself sensitive in the first bit. Kakashi I actually do see a bit of softness early on or more care then you'd expect. However, Aizawa takes a bit and it's really easy to get the impression he is a horrific person.

And I've seen way more Shinsou critical pieces over the last few years than not. He went through the cycle of fandom baby to badass to suddenly being annoying because he was in every fic. I got tired of him myself because it was the same fic over and over again with him. However, I find most fics with him as a bad guy totally trash his character. He's a guy who talked a big game but relied to much on the things that he said others did. IE, he wanted to coast on his Quirk like he says everyone else does.

They make him into like an actual monster, worse then anyone and it just feels so wrong. Like if you want to make him antagonistic fine but holy shit that is a level I can't do.

On a positive note, I think we'll get more Good Parent All Might. Because, like, yeah, his bad moment early on is resolved later on, and he shows he isn't really a bigot, he was just a guy who couldn't see past his hurt.

[beautifulhigh]

Wanna get angry on this Saturday? Cool. Come join me on this.

I think Miguel hacked Alex's emails way before the leak.

Alex wouldn't be able to just "drop by" somewhere for coffee. It would have to be cleared, vetted, all the usual stuff. So he will have a routine that he follows, a routine which includes (at least) one Secret Service member. And when you have a routine and protection like that, schedules will be sent out confirming who is with Alex and what the plan is for the day. Sent out by email. And OH LOOK he's in the coffee shop...

Alex tells Zahra that he "emailed senior campaign staff" three weeks ago with his Texas memo. A memo that Miguel has read by the State DInner. He says he "quite literally has his sources" and... well.

The email leak. Miguel has his article written and published within hours of them being put on Reddit and he is called out on how quick that is.

So when did Miguel hack Alex's email?

"We made out once, on the campaign..."

Ellen Claremont was on the verge of making history (huh). The first female president, in a mixed race marriage with a biracial, bilingual son. The Lometa Longshot going all the way to the White House. Getting the inside track on that would have been one hell of a scoop and when you have her son, desperate to do more, be more in this world, then that's an in you can manage. Get some details about the campaign, how things are going. But also finding out about the people behind it - film!Oscar and his own political campaigns. Alex, the up and coming law student.

Little flirting, little making out "fully naked, in a hot tub"... You gotta wonder where Alex's phone was at that time and whether Miguel got his hands on it.

From day one, the central mission of POLITICO has been to help sustain and vastly expand nonpartisan political and policy journalism by winning the audience. (From Politco's "About" page)

Alex talks about how he's good for "photo ops and New Year's parties and stupid shit like that" and so there is an interest in Alex, the First Son. He's good looking - the party is filled with the "who's who of eligible young women" and we know from Henry's first text that he attends events with a plus one. And Miguel has a line into that, to win the audience for Politico with updates about Alex doing more, being more, working as part of his mother's campaign.

So yeah. I think Miguel got access to Alex's emails back on the first campaign trial which makes it all the more horrible as he watched those emails come through in real time. He knew what was going on when he was in New York, making comments about them being in the same hotel.

"Do you really think we're ever hooking up again?" "Well I don't anymore"

is his reply in a lovely bit of equivocation because Alex is clearly shutting him down this time... but maybe he also knows about Henry. The Henry who walks in through the door moments later. Miguel knows he won't be hooking up with Alex because someone else is, and maybe the comment was a way to test the water. Would Alex turn him down and say or suggest he was seeing someone?

In the book more emails are exchanged following the storming of Kensington: there is no clear timeline in the movie: Labor Day is at the start of September (Lake House), it's a week before Alex flies to London (so mid-September), and the election is at the start of November. They are outed the week before polling (Zahra says "we'll find out next week" following Alex's speech) which makes it around mid to end of October when they're outed. That's about one month in which they would have been in touch, likely through emails, fully committed to this relationship and making it work.

Dropping the bomb before the election is one way to get traction because all eyes are on the White House at that time. Plus a month to pull off the emails, to get them sorted, make a plan for Reddit, start working on your article...? Taking each new message as it comes in?

Miguel hacked Alex's emails WAY before the leak and I'm pretty sure I'm willing to die on this hill.

[dreammfires]

2024 GP Event Story. Harold's POV Translation.

Oujisama had a popularity poll in 2024 and paired some of the princes that scored highly with another character acting as their wing man for an event in early March 2025.

Here Hayden/Henry is the main prince and Harold is the one helping him.

One of the ends has King Harold's pov.

HENRY / HAYDEN POV

Henry has returned from official business and is walking swiftly down the corridors of Philip Castle. He opens a door and sees MC whose face bursts into a smile when she sees him.

After many twists and turns, MC has gone from a temporary pet to his beloved.

(A/N: Don't ask me what the fuck this is about cause I haven't read his main story but apparently he forces her to go to the castle after she loses a pen Wilfred gave him and I've seen him make dog noises at her and say shit like a tiara looks better on her than a collar. 💀)

MC welcomes him home and he asks if she has been a good girl. She says yes then frowns before asking "But have you been a good boy?"

(A/N: No wonder the Philip men are popular they all have yandere tendencies. Henry has mc like a pet, Harold locks her up, idk what bs Wilfred does but I remember his infamous I want you wet from my bed not the ocean with a a sad look on his face. 💀)

MC tells him that she isn't a pet anymore. She looks away and pouts. Henry finds it attractive and cute.

He apologises to her before putting his hands on her cheek and tilting it upward.

Henry: You wouldn't do this to a pet would you?

(A/N: I HOPE THE FUCCK NOT!)

Then he gives her a slow, savouring kiss to let her know he is home now. It doesn't matter if she is with him right now, he cannot get enough of her and wants more.

He is about to deepen their kiss but MC pushes against his chest and stops him. She glares at him and he finds her angry face to be cute as well.

He kisses her lightly again to savour her warmth.

Next day

Henry goes to the library and sees MC engrossed in reading. He tells her that studying is good but she must not overdo it. MC apologises to him but says she can't help it when she's interested in a topic.

Henry: What's so interesting that you lose track of time?

MC: I'm researching where I'll be accompanying you next week on official business.

MC is training to be a princess and she makes Henry's meals so Henry is worried that she is going to crash out.

They're going to a local opening ceremony and MC will be introduced to the public. Given the low scale Henry thinks it will be perfect to get her acquainted but he is anxious.

He recalls what Lloyd told him.

Lloyd: MC is in the archives. She is working hard at her research because she does not want to bring shame onto you, Prince Henry. After dinner she came to borrow the key.

Henry is troubled because he feels as if HE'S the one who caused her trouble with everything in the past. He's happy if MC is here by his side but does MC feels happy?

Henry: Can she really be happy with me?

As her position changes in the future, the burden she must carry will become heavier and heavier.

MC mentions a beautiful blue lake near where they're going to conduct business and how she wants to see it, but the documents are old so she can't find any information on it.

Henry asks if she checked maps or social media but there is nothing about said lake. He wants to gather information about the lake including asking locals but MC stops him and says it is a burden and they can't go given his schedule.

Henry: She's putting away the documents like a good child.

His heart aches cause he wants to do something for her. He is determined to take her there.

Henry: ?!

From the corner of the room is a pillar of white light.

Henry: This light is so dazzling! What is it?!!!

When his eyesight eventually returns, he notices something - someone - standing there.

??: Where am I?

(A/N: MY BOY!)

Henry: ! *There's no way this can be!*

MC: My Prince could this person be....

Henry: Yeah

Both of them are thinking the same way. There is no mistaking it because the library they're in is decorated with portraits of all of the Kings of Philip.

Among them, the man was the spitting image of the first king, King Harold.

??: Who are you all? What are you doing here? More importantly, what on earth is this place...?

Prince Henry: With all due respect... Are you King Harold?

King Harold: ! *shocked sprite*

They try their best to speak calmly to the man, who is likely even more confused than they are.

King Harold: Indeed...I am Harold.

Prince Henry: Nice to meet you. I'm Henry A. Spencer. I'm of legitimate royal blood... and I'm your descendant.

King Harold: *shocked sprite*

King Harold: Spencer... descendant? What are you talking about? I haven't even taken a wife yet.

They explain to him that he had a time slip and travelled hundreds of years into the future. MC hands Henry a book about the History of the Royal Family of Philip.

Henry knows he can't show Harold everything so he confirms his identity by asking inoffensive things such as the founding of Philip Kingdom and Harold's origins.

King Harold: Have I really come to the future...?

Reality sets in for Harold and as Henry is about to close the book...

Harold: Wait...

With unexpected force, King Harold took control.

King Harold: "There's one thing I'd like to know..."

Prince Henry: What would you like to know?

King Harold: You know what? Nevermind...

However, after much deliberation, King Harold retracts his plan.

King Harold: I think I'll stop now. I probably shouldn't listen to this.

Prince Henry: ......*I wonder what Lord Harold wanted to know.*

The way he lowered his eyes as if to convince himself was somehow melancholic――. Upon meeting him for the first time, I felt like I had caught a glimpse of a sensitive side of the great first king.

_____________

A few days have passed since King Harold arrived in the present day...

Arisende: Oh no, it's already this late!

MC, who had brought tea, glanced at the clock in the office and spoke up.

Henry asks if she has plans and she says yes.

King Harold: Now that you mention it. You said you had lessons this afternoon.

Prince Henry:.......

MC excuses herself and leaves.

Now the King and the Prince are alone.

Henry moves from his desk and sits down opposite King Harold, who was relaxing on the sofa.

Prince Henry: ...it seems you're getting used to life in the castle.

King Harold: Yeah. I limit my range so that people around me don't find out too much. When you're away MC takes care of everything.

Prince Henry: I see. So you knew her schedule, too.

King Harold:.......

King Harold stops tilting his cup, quietly raises his eyes and smiles.

King Harold: What, are you jealous?

Prince Henry is caught off guard and he is blushing hard.

Over the past few days, Henry has learnt some things about Harold. For one, the first King is very straightforward with his words and actions. Secondly despite that he loves to tease people.

Prince Henry: Well, of course I'm curious about that. MC is my girlfriend, and we'll be making our debut soon.

(A/N: HERE TUMBLR REFRESHED AND I LOST EVERYTHING I WROTE AFTER HERE.)

Henry is all like well yeah I'm concerned cause we are debuting soon.

Harold: Debuting? Like you're going to introduce her and start doing official business in the provinces?

Harold asks about MC being a baker and states that Henry was able to overcome the differences in status to be with her.

Harold tells him that not only is he jealous of him but he respects that.

Henry thinks about how the first commoner who was welcomed into the Philip Royal Family was his grandmother the former Queen.

Harold looks melancholic and has a lonely smile.

Henry wonders if the question Harold wanted to ask that night was about his own wife, the first Queen of Philip.

Harold mentions that he knows the lake they want to go to and offers to help them find it.

The next day they set off on horseback. MC is riding with Henry cause she can't ride for shit. Harold is soothing his horse and telling it that even though the horse has a stranger on it, the horse is behaving well just like his Sugar.

Henry: Sugar?

Harold: My beloved horse. (A/N: the white one from his main story.)

They find an old day running a cabin and they ask her about the lake. The lake does exist but it can only be accessed by foot or horseback. Henry realizes that he has to go with MC.

Henry handles his horse expertly to a point it makes Harold go "As expected of my descendant."

The next day they go again with Harold as their guide. When they near the lake, Harold suddenly gets off and tells them to go alone. Henry watches as he picks some wildflowers and makes it into a bouquet. Henry wonders who the recipient is.

Harold says he wants to go back to his time and he wants to see Sugar.

Harold thanks them both and as the white light blinds MC and Henry they hear Harold say:

"I wish you both happiness."

_____________

HAROLD END/POV

Just like back then, he is enveloped in a dazzling white light.

Here is...

The next time he opens his eyes, Harold is greeted by a familiar sight.

It was the usual castle stables.

King Harold: *Have I returned... or was everything just a dream?*

But in his hand, He is holding a bunch of wildflowers.

King Harold: *It wasn't a dream... I was definitely in the future.*

Harold: *Henry...I met my descendant and his girlfriend in the future.*

Step by step, he puts his feet onto the dirt and heads to the stall at the very back of the stable. The horse, with its shiny, sugar-white fur, stretches its neck eagerly and rubs its nose against him.

King Harold: I'm back, Sugar.

When he strokes the horse's neck with the palm of his hand, Harold's horse narrowed his eyes in pleasure.

King Harold: At that time, I used Sugar as an excuse to break up with Henry and the others.

King Harold: Henry, MC.I want you two to go on your own from here on out.

Prince Henry: What are you planning to do, King Harold?

King Harold: I want to go back to my time and see Sugar.

In reality, what he had in his mind was the smile of the person he loved - the doctor's assistant, MC.

King Henry: *Seeing Henry and his friends getting along so well, my desire to meet her grew stronger each day.*

King Harold: I wonder how MC is doing...

Sugar shook his head in annoyance at my muttering.

King Harold: I get it. I get it, so don't get so upset.

King Harold: Of course I wanted to meet you too. I'm not lying, it's true.

Smiling wryly at his jealous horse, he pats him on the cheek, gently soothing him.

Seeing Sugar's ears perk up in delight, I opened the stable door.

King Harold: I wonder why I want to see MC's face so much now.

He rides Sugar from the castle to the clinic where MC works. He ties Sugar up a little distance away and quietly watches the situation from behind a tree.

King Harold:.......!

The door opened and she comes out accompanied by an old woman who appeared to be a patient.

MC: Take care of yourself. Don't forget to take your medicine after meals.

King Harold:...MC

At first glance, her smile remains unchanged, but it actually touches his heart deeply. Until recently, as his personal physician assistant, her smile was within his reach.

King Harold: *But now, all I can do is stare at it from a distance...if it were only about our feelings, I felt like we could have connected, just one step away.*

King Harold: *However, once rumors spread, what awaited us was criticism from the nobles and the people. "As a result, even governance and the daily lives of the people MC cares about became threatened.*

Now that he had made the heart-breaking decision to step aside, all Harold could do was secretly harbor feelings for her.

King Harold: There's no way I can give this to her.

He clutched the bouquet in her hands tightly.

King Harold: * If someone finds out, we'll cause trouble for MC and the clinic again

After seeing the patient off, MC heads back inside, and he turns his back on her as well.

Without being able to say anything to her――

Leaving the clinic, with an indescribable pain in his heart, Harold gallops on Sugar to the lake of old. It's the lake close to the fields and mountains where I first met MC.

Harold: It feels like just yesterday that I was here talking to MC.

He sits in the same place as he did back then, looking out at the lake, while he gives Sugar some water and some rest.

King Harold: The two of them, reflected in the water's mirror like surface and bathed in sunlight, will be able to overcome any difficulty..."

Suddenly, he remembers the legend of the blue lake that Henry's girlfriend had so happily told me. Since it seemed like he was hiding something from him that he didn't tell Henry about it until the very end.

Harold has heard of the lake.

King Harold: I was born and raised in that region, and I've never heard of such a thing.

He imagines that this is probably a legend that came to be at a later time.

King Harold: If only I knew that legend in this day and age...I would have gone to that lake with Arisende before this happened. I've never really believed in anything superstitious.

King Harold: So this is what it means to cling to straws.

It goes beyond a wry smile and he starts laughing at himself.

King Harold: Yes, the reason I wanted to help Henry and his friends in the future was because I found myself identifying with them, we're in similar situations.

King Harold: Fortunately, it seems their dreams have come to fruition... I'm sure that hardships will continue to befall them in the future.

Perhaps it was because of this understanding that Henry's girlfriend wanted to visit a lake with such legends.

King Harold: But there is a strong desire to overcome any difficulties with Henry.

(Her strength... is somewhat similar to MC's.)

He looks down and lets out a sigh,and there, beyond that, the flower was swaying again today.

The pale blue flowers were in bloom the day he first encountered MC.

King Harold: No good. Everything I see is connected to MC. That's how much I can't give up on this idea.

King Harold: I wonder if someday I too can break free from all my ties and conflicts and confess like Henry did.

No one answered me, and only the wind blowing across the lake caressed my cheeks.

(No... that's not it. It's not a question of whether you can or can't. You just have to do it.)

With strong will and determination, just like Henry and the others.

Harold picks a flower blooming at his feet and adds it to a bouquet that has transcended time.

(To achieve this, let's do everything we can now)

King Harold: Please wait for me, MC.

Putting unchanging feelings and determination into a bouquet...he places it on a small rock nearby as if it were a token of his vow, then stood up straight.

_________

When Harold left the lake--

A new figure appeared on the lakeside, passing by from a different direction.

MC: Is that... Sugar?

The source of the murmur was MC, who had come to pick medicinal herbs in the nearby fields.

MC: This bouquet is...

Her feet, too, naturally leads her to the place where she had once spoken with Harold.

MC finds a bouquet of flowers placed on a small rock, almost like an altar, and quietly picks it up.

MC: The flower that bloomed at Lord Harold's feet that time...

Clutching the bouquet to her chest, MC gazed out at the lake dyed in the setting sun.

As if thinking of a loved one...

______

Returning to the castle from his long ride with Sugar, he headed straight to his office. Feeling renewed, Harold stands by the window and looks out the window, imagining the streetscape of Philip.

King Harold: First of all, I need to be recognized by the people as a king worthy of ruling this country.

If you can get results and increase the number of people who understand, the way will surely open up.

Then, his eyes meet with his reflection in the window and Harold suddenly remembers Henry.

King Harold: I thought the faces looked quite similar. But...Maybe it was just my imagination, but I could faintly see MC there. Even our descendants are doing their best to stand up to the challenge.

King Harold: There's no reason for me not to show my resolve.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door and the butler, Cyril, came in.

Cyril: You called for me, King Harold?

King Harold: Yes. It's about that procurement of materials for the shipbuilding project... I want to move forward with the next order as soon as possible.

Cyril: Eh... already?

King Harold: We'll increase the number of workers and complete the ship faster than planned. And then--

King Harold: *First, we must ensure the stability of the country and remove anxiety from the people. For the sake of a peaceful future for Henry and his friends. And I will definitely overcome adversity and achieve it. *

A future where we can live together with our loved ones.

[genericpuff]

in reference to the have you read LO poll by god have I tried but god. God...

A vicious cycle. I go okay I really do need to plow through more of it if I'm gonna hang around the ULO reddit, and then I step on the comically placed rake. I can't do a complete skip thing bc I'll be too disorientated on where I'm at in the plot but my brain only tolerates it up until she declares she's missing her dick appointment and like, girl. Please. You committed mass murder (if not genocide) and this is a slap on the wrist considering, let alone that your moms got the worse end of the deal.

Why it's that specific moment idk but the bottom just drops out for me and it's soooo fucking stupid because like, she couldn't have just... bitched about being stuck with hard labor? That's the bitchy shit I'd sort of expect from a privileged nepo baby and even barring the twue wuv story going on it's her actual biggest issue going on right then. What she's presently living out. But yeah no, horny, we gotta establish that she's horny. Okay.

Sorry about the borderline vent over it there's just enough really interesting thoughts mixed up in the pile of flaming garbage to make one go rabid if they stew on it, and you clearly get that given the rewrite. Have a good day.

omg i've had that exact sort of thing happen with me before too tho, not in quite the exact same sense of like, "wanting to take part in a community but struggling to get through the source material it's based on", but there are like, so many webtoons and manga and stories I've tried to read - after being urged to by pals and people who read them - that I've dropped after multiple attempts of trying to read them. And they're not necessarily dumpster fires like LO (though some of them definitely aren't great) it's more like I'm sitting there wondering "when's this gonna get good? when's this gonna be worth all the hype?" Tower of God is the biggest one that comes to mind, I have tried to read that webtoon on SEVERAL occasions and I just can't justify trudging through all those early episodes for it to maybe "get good". And that's not even me saying it's bad, it's just not interesting to me in the slightest. No hate to anyone who likes ToG, I think I've also sorta drifted away from shonen over the years so that's definitely not helping, but I just can't be bothered to try and read that webtoon anymore, I've given it so many attempts and I'm doing lmao Kudos to the creator though because it's a LOT of work to make a webtoon of that length and they should be proud of that.

Back on the topic of LO though, yeah, I was following the comic when that episode was still brand new and it really made us all go 🤨 because of how out-of-pocket it was. And then like an episode (or two?) later she bullied a former classmate of hers from 10 years ago at his job. That was the precedent for Persephone's character that was set for the third season of LO and it's just gotten worse as it's gone on.

Either way, if I'm being honest, you're really not missing much by skipping over the majority of S3 (like, if you made it to the dick appointment episode before giving up then you're already pretty close to the current point in the story). Like I'm not gonna lie, you could easily skip up to the midseason cutoff point because everything leading up to that is just a bunch of nothing. Hades and Persephone get married and it's the most underwhelming scene ever despite it being the moment people had been waiting years for, also they 'adopt' Dionysus but he's barely in the comic except for when Rachel remembers he's a character so you could also get by on minimal details. Oh yeah, and it turns out Demeter had a kid during the 10 year time skip who we see in like two episodes and then proceeds to get fridged forever.

So yeah, as much as I'd recommend people read LO as a sort of "entry ticket" into the crit community surrounding it, S3 is a lot of nothing and you would frankly not miss out on a thing if you skimmed it or skipped the middle portion of it entirely lmao

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Part Six

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You've made your decision. Wonder what you'll see? You all are being so incredibly reasonable this whole run fdhjakslh None of you are like "hmm, what if I saw the bad choices?" Or, well, some of you might be, idk, I can't see into your heads. Wonder how you'll deal with this choice, then... :)c

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on April 20th at 12:00pm PST. Part Seven will be up the next day, April 21st, at the same time.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

“Bro, it’s not gonna be that hard to tell us what you’re talking about,” Chase says.

Marvin raises an eyebrow. “It’s also not gonna be that hard to walk three meters from where you’re standing to the room.”

It’s farther than that, JJ says.

“Semantics.”

“Marvin, I think what we are trying to say is that... you have been acting a bit unusual,” Schneep says delicately. “We need some trust.”

“Yeah, maybe when we walk in you’ll lock us in the room or something,” Jackie adds.

“What the fuck? No!” Marvin folds his arms. “Okay, fine, if you guys are being so weird about it. The room is pretty much empty except for some chairs. But there’s a pattern burned into the floor that I know is a ritual circle for spells.”

Jackie blinks. “What?”

Marvin throws his hands in the air. “See? You have no idea what that means! My explanation is fucking useless to you!”

Even that is better than going in completely blind, JJ says. Thank you, Marvin. We’ll check it out now.

“Finally. You guys are being weird.”

“No, you’re being weird!” Chase insists. “You’ve been weird since we came down to see what you were doing!”

Marvin starts to snap back, but stops. He frowns, like he’s considering something. For a moment, he looks worried. Then he pushes past it. “Well... I’ll try to stop being weird, then. Come on. I’ll go in first, if you’re so worried about me locking you in.” And he turns around and walks back into the room he came from. The other four glance at each other, a bit concerned, but follow him.

The room is exactly as Marvin described, empty except for four wooden chairs. A single dim bulb lights it up, though there are still shadows around the edges. And on the floor—wooden boards instead of the blank concrete in the basement hallway—is a design. Chase traces the lines with his eyes. A circle. With lines crisscrossing back and forth, and six strange symbols burned into the empty space in the center. The four chairs sit on the edge of this circle, evenly spaced between each other.

“So... you said this was a ritual circle?” Schneep asked. “For what?”

“I don’t really know, actually,” Marvin says slowly. “I don’t recognize the pattern. And actually, patterns aren’t really used that much, it’s usually just the circle, maybe with some runes around the edges if you want to be fancy.”

“What about these?” Jackie points at the symbols in the center. “They seem important. Do you recognize them?”

“I... kind of?” Marvin says. “It’s weird. I don’t know how I know this, but it’s something about... life? And... change? Transformation, o-or maybe transference, I don’t know.”

“Why’s it burned into the ground?” Chase mutters, tapping one of the lines with the tip of his shoe. “Seems like a lot of effort.”

“I’m guessing whoever did it was planning on using it a lot.”

JJ frowns. Why is this in Jack’s cabin? Along with all those magic books in the other room? I didn’t think he was into that sort of stuff.

“Maybe it belonged to some other family member,” Jackie suggests.

Chase gives the room a second look, as if he could find something new. And, surprisingly, he does. “Hey, these chairs were in the other room,” Chase says. “With the table. Marvin, did you move them in here?”

Marvin stares at Chase for a moment. Then at the chairs. He blinks, confusion clouding his face. “I... don’t know. Maybe? I—ow!” Marvin flinches a bit, pressing a hand to the side of his head.

“Are you okay?” Schneep asks.

“Yeah, I just... my head... started... hurt...” Marvin’s words trail off. He slowly lowers his hand. And he steps further into the room, going right up to the symbols in the center, looking down as he stands on them.

“Marvin?” Jackie asks, concerned.

Marvin looks up. “I remember what one of these means,” he says in a slow, almost monotone voice. “It means ‘blood.’ And I found something else in this room.” He puts his hand behind his back and then takes it out again. A knife is clasped in his hand. A thin blade, almost a dagger.

“Whoa!” Jackie steps forward, holding his arms out protectively in front of the others. “Okay, uh, cool? Th-that makes sense, I guess. Now, uh, can you put it down?”

Marvin grins. “Does it make you nervous?”

“No!” Jackie protests.

“I-it does a little,” Schneep says quietly.

“Really? What are you afraid of? That I’ll hurt you? I’m hurt that you’d think that.” Marvin flips the knife in his hand. “I’ll show you how hurt I am.” Slowly, he raises the shaking knife to his throat.

Chase gasps. He pushes past Jackie. “Marvin, no!”

JJ also tries to push past him, but Schneep grabs him and pulls him back. “Be careful!” Schneep hisses.

“Be careful?! Be careful?! Are you seeing this?!” Chase takes a couple steps forward. “Marvin, put the knife down.”

Marvin just laughs. The blade presses against his neck.

[seaweedstarshine]

*Poll inspired by typical ambiguity in the new audio story Victory of the Doctor, which on an unrelated note is amazing!

Evidence for each argument beneath the cut!

Open marriage

The Doctor's wedding to Marilyn Monroe occurs in A Christmas Carol, when he storms off to a chapel with lipstick marks on his face. “I’ll just go and get married then, shall I? See how you like that. Marilyn? Get your coat!”

While he wasn't yet with River then, he maintains this relationship afterwards, apparently with River involved. In the mini-episode Good Night, the Doctor enters the TARDIS with a euphonium, calling over his shoulder, “River! I’ll see you later! Tell Marilyn she’s too late, she’ll have to use the biplane. Take care!”

Another piece of evidence comes from The Wedding of River Song, when they're passive-aggressively flirting.

“Hallucinogenic lipstick. Works wonders on President Kennedy. And Cleopatra was a real pushover.” “I always thought so.” “She mentioned you.” “What did she say?” “Put down that gun.” “Did you?” “Eventually.” “Oh, they're flirting. Do I have to watch this?” (from Kovarian)

I've never understood the innuendo (please tell me what I'm missing), but Kovarian does, and as we know from The Husbands of River Song, the Doctor and River are both married to Cleopatra, so… it's definitely something.

There's also that diary page in The Eternity Clock game that suggests the Doctor, River, and Jim the Fish got blackout drunk at karaoke night and started “some sort of religion of love” which went on to last for centuries.

Serial cheaters

“How can you be engaged, in a manner of speaking?” The Doctor is jealous in Flesh and Stone before he's even kissed her, which doesn't set him up as a person who'd be interested in an open marriage.

“No, wait. That's your husband? That's who you're married to? Not anybody else?” In The Husbands of River Song, the Doctor is clearly not expecting the other husbands. Culminating in the same episode…

“So, King Hydroflax?” “Oh, how many times? I married the diamond!” “So you say.” “Elizabeth the First!” “Ramone!” “Marilyn Monroe!” “Stephen Fry!” “Cleopatra!” “Same thing!”

It appears he is well aware of her other spouses (and that she's aware of his); so perhaps his surprise was more that didn't expect her to be so flagrant about them. It makes him insecure (“I posed as his nurse. Took me a week.” “To fall in love?” “It's the easiest lie you can tell a man. They'll automatically believe any story they're the hero of.”) enough to start an argument about it.

River also expresses her jealousy as an obvious fact, as seen in The Day of the Doctor Novelization (written by Moffat who (along with Alex!!) knows the character best):

“Ow!” “Madame de Pompadour?” “Jealous?” “Of course I’m jealous. Keep your hands off her.”

In The Name of the Doctor, we learn that the Doctor, who has had a number of... sexually-charged moments with Clara (including, but not limited to, Victorian Clara), has avoided telling her that River is his wife. Vastra is uncomfortable with having to introduce them, having “gone a darker shade of green.”

“The Doctor might have mentioned me?” “Oh, yeah. Oh yeah, of course he has. Professor Song! Sorry, it's just I never realized you were a woman.” (from Clara)

Actually both

This could mean many things (i.e. open marriage with boundaries which are violated), but potentially, all the same evidence from prior arguments! With a shade of “Our lives are back to front.”

In the mini-episodes First Night/Last Night, when River, having burst into the TARDIS and pretended to faint, mistakes her past self for another woman the Doctor's hiding from her, she openly expresses jealousy.

“Doctor. Have you brought someone else here? Does anyone agree to wear that dress? Where is she!” “River, think it through!” “This happened the last time we were here. You brought someone else!” “No I didn’t!” “Yes you did, I heard you talking to her!”

However, when a third and significantly older version of River makes the same mistake, she no longer expresses jealousy, but rather curiosity, which could at least signal a shift in how she sees their marriage.

Maybe there was a conversation that happened. Maybe it slipped the Doctor's mind when he forgot Clara.

Actually neither

This could also mean multiple things, but one of those things is this. The Doctor is a widower from the start. Likewise, River is well aware of Doctor's death on Trenzalore, “of course River would know, she's always known,” having been raised to prevent those events, and having refused to be bound by that destiny.

How can fidelity be defined the same way for time travelers? Everyone's spouses are dead somewhen. River understands the paradox of her husband's existence better than anyone. To quote The Day of the Doctor Novelization yet again…

‘Because you live in a time machine. All of history is still happening outside those doors. On a good night that means everyone you ever met is still alive and you can’t wait to see them again. On a bad night, it means everyone’s dead, and you want to charge around the universe, pretending you can do something about that.’ She looked up at me. ‘I know which version of you I prefer.’ 

And there she was, so alive again. I remembered her, twisted, burnt and dead, in the depths of The Library. ‘What if there are people who died because of me?’ I asked. ‘What if there are people I should have saved?’

‘People die. All people, everywhere. We grieve and we move on. That is how we respect the dead. That is how we forgive ourselves in their presence and their absence.’

Please feel free to add anything I missed!