#if you don’t know what trend I’m talking about then you should do a quick google/tiktok search

[faynthearted]

the “oh yes they both reached for the gun” trend but guan shan is the gun and he tian & she li are the ones reaching for him

[adrienneleclerc]

Little Bit of Food

Pairing: Henry Cavill x Hispanic/Latina! Reader

Summary: Y/N sees a TikTok video of couple where the women serves her partner more food on his plate than on hers. For research purposes, she just wants to see how he would react.

Warning: no translated Spanish, spelling and grammar errors, SHORT

A/N: since I am Mexican and Peruvian, the foods mentioned are typical foods that I grew up eating, I LOVE these foods so much, if any other Latine readers have suggestions of what dishes should be mentioned, comment below and I’ll tag you when I use them in another one shot. Also, sorry if it’s short, I don’t think I can build off a lot of “story material” over a TikTok trend, you know?

Y/N was watching TikTok and she saw a video that was interesting to her.

It was of a couple and a woman served her husband more food on his plate than on her own. The husband insisted that his wife should have more food and that he could eat something later.

Y/N knew that Henry was going to busy at the gym for a few hours so that gave her plenty of time to make one of Henry’s favorite meals that Y/N introduced him to, and that’s bistec a lo pobre. She bought sliced New York steaks from the Mexican grocery store (there’s always a butcher there), also some tortillas and 2 avocados to make guacamole or a sandwich later. When she went back to Henry’s house, she started cutting up tomatoes and onions so it would give the steak flavor. She put the onions and tomatoes aside in a bowl and got out the white rice in the pantry to wash the rice.

Half an hour later, Henry was came through the door sweaty and with a happy Kal.

“Ay hola, Kal, como te fue con tu papi, hm?” Y/N asked, kneeling to pet Kal.

“You call me papi?” Henry asked, drinking water from his sports bottle.

“When I’m talking about you to Kal, yes. Ain’t no way I’m calling you that though, it’s weird because I call my actual dad, papi. So don’t even think about it.” Y/N warned Henry as she washed her hands in the kitchen sink.

“Too late, I’m already thinking about, my lady.” Henry said, kissing her cheek as he hugged her from behind.

“Stop it. I’m making your favorite so please take a quick shower and then I’ll call you when it’s ready. Do you want one or two eggs?” Y/N asked.

“Two please, thanks love.” Henry said, kissing her lips before heading upstairs for his shower.

Y/N began sautéing the onions and tomatoes in the pan before adding in two pieces of steak for Henry, we’ll, one and a half, she cut a half piece for her plate. She got a plate out of the pantry to serve two ‘scoops’ of rice, adding the cooked steaks with tomatoes and onions on top of it, and preceded to fry two eggs on a different pan.

“Toro, food!” Y/N shouted and Kal calming running. “I said ‘toro’, not ‘oso’, you need to practice your Spanish, Kal.” Y/N said and placed Henry’s plate on his side of the table. Henry came running downstairs with his hair wet but he’s dressed in some shorts and a t-shirt.

“Thanks love, it looks amazing.” Henry said, kissing her.

“That’s good, now eat up, you’ve had a long workout.” Y/N said and that’s when she got a smaller plate, served herself a half scoop of rice, her half steak with 3 pieces of tomatoes and onions, and no eggs. When she sat down and said “let’s eat”, Henry looked at Y/N’s plate, then at his own.

“Darling, were you snacking while you were cooking again?” Henry asked, trying to find a reasonable explanation for the lack of food on his girlfriend’s plate.

“No, no, I didn’t snack at all. Eat before the eggs become cold.” Y/N pointed at him with her fork.

“Are you sick? You didn’t have to cook if you weren’t feeling well, love.” Henry said in a concerned voice.

“I’m fine Henry, I went to Fernando’s market today but the steak was too expensive so I only bought 2.” Y/N lied, she buys like half a pound of steak, there’s still 3 or 4 pieces in the fridge. Henry got up and grabbed his keys. “Where are you going?”

“To the market to buy more steak, what cut do you order a again? Med-ee-ya Libra de what?” Henry asked, opening the door,

“No no no, Henry, there’s no need for that, I can survive without bistec, please sit down and eat.” Y/N said, Henry closed the door, put down his keys, and sat back down.

“What about the eggs or the rice? I’m sure you could fill up on that, you told me you ate that when you were younger when there was nothing to eat.” Henry said.

“The last eggs were used on you, Toro. Now please eat before your food gets cold. You want something to drink? I got chicha (It’s a purple corn drink) if you don’t want soda.” Y/N said.

“Yeah, that’s fine, darling.” Henry said, when Y/N walked into the kitchen, Henry switched his plate for Y/N’s. When Y/N came back with chicha for Henry and soda for her, she saw what Henry did.

“Toro! You weren’t supposed to do that. You had a big workout, you’re bigger than me, you need all the protein you can get from this.” Y/N said, trying to switch the plates back but Henry refused.

“Nope, you cooked all this, you deserve to eat your delicious food. I could find something later.” Henry said,

“But you must be hungry, just eat it, I can make myself some potato quesadillas later.” Y/N said, attempting to get the plate back from Henry but he swatted her hand. “Toro!”

“I’m sorry love, but it’s for your good.” Henry said.

“I Don’t want you to be starving,” Y/N said,

“I won’t starve, my love. Watching you enjoy your food is filling enough for me.” Henry said and Y/N’s heart melted. She got out of her seat to sit on Henry’s lag, placing her hands on his neck to hug him.

“Amor, it’s a prank. There’s more steak in the fridge that I can fry up, there’s a lot of rice on the stove and plenty of eggs. Now please eat while I go serve myself more food.” Y/N said getting off him and grabbing her plate to do exactly that.

“You scared me, love. I was about to head over to the market…where is it by the way?” Henry asked,

“Haha, i can’t even tell you, I just know how to get there.” Y/N said, placing her steak in the pan and she watched Henry eat his meal.

“Delicious! This might even be better than your bistec empanado, did I pronounce that right?” Henry asked,

“Yes you did, Toro, but bistec empanado with sopita aguada is comfort food, along with quesadilla de papas, which I will be making tomorrow, I’ve been craving it,” Y/N said.

“That sounds so good, I have to make sure I work out even more. When I made you my girlfriend, I had no idea you would try to fatten me up.” Henry said and Y/N gasped, flipping the steak.

“I would never, how dare you accuse me. I’m gonna make flan for my friend’s birthday on Saturday so I’m gonna make another one just for us.” Y/N said and that made Henry laugh.

“I love your flan, darling. Your cooking skills put mine to shame.” Henry said. Y/N placed her steak on her place, serving more rice, and began frying an egg.

“I was born with that sazón, Toro.” Y/N said teasingly. She finished frying the egg, served it on her plate, and went to sit down. “Better?” Y/n asked, showing Henry her plate.

“Much better, my lady.” Henry said, kissing her. Kal barked. “Yes bear, you can have some steak too.” Henry said,

The End

Taglist: @warriormirkwood

[visualbutterflysworld]

Meet my girlfriend | VHackerr

While on stream the chat hears you in the background and begs to met you.

love you vin ! this is for my black girls frfr but only a section

“AH FUCK!” Vinnie hears you scream. He would’ve hurried to your aid but he’s frozen because he’s streaming. With you being so loud the chat hears you. Vinnie’s eyes shift to his monitor partly afraid and partly intrigued

“Who was that?”

“Was that a girl!?”

“WHO WAS THAT?”

“Vinnie you’re cheating on me!?”

“Ahhh! I knew he was dating someone!”

Vinnie licks his lips as he can’t come up with an excuse. He sighs heavily before he starts to talk. “That was my girlfriend. Who screamed.”and that’s when the chat blows up. He sees the views ranking up which means he’s probably trending on twitter not even 5 minutes after he said that.

“Babe!” Vinnie yells for you. You come quickly, standing in the doorway with a confusion look as you know he’s streaming. He relaxes in his chair as he looks at you with a lazy smile. “They heard you. The chat wants to meet you.” You widen your eyes. “Oh! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know I was that loud.” You put your head down in disappointment.

“It’s okay, love, please come say hi.” He smiles even harder as you slowly make your way to him. You glance at the chat. You see so many comments.

“HE CALLED HER LOVE”

“SUCH A WARNER MOVE”

“AHH SHE SOUNDS SO SWEET AND INNOCENT”

“SHE SOUNDS LIKE SILK”

“AHHH”

“Say hi.” Vinnie says as you look unsure. “Can i stay out the frame?” You ask and Vinnie nods, honestly glad he could keep what you look like to himself. “Hi, chat.” You say shyly. “This is my girlfriend guys. Should we give her a nickname?”

The chat floods the comments section with ideas and names. “Mm. Buttercup? I like buttercup. She acts like her from the power puff girls.” “I do not!” You yell! Vinnie laughs as he looks at your little pout. “She does too! Don’t let the cuteness fool you!” Vinnie smiles as he sees more questions pop up.

“Okay, baby, you wanna play lighting round? Answer real quick and short?” Vinnie asked before looking at your almost bare legs. His imagination going off the rails. “Sure.” You put your arms behind your back.

“What’s your age?”

“I’m 23!”

There were a few comments about you and Vinnie’s age gap but hey it could be worse.

“Occupation?”

“I’m a journalist.”

“Favorite color?”

“Depends on my mood. I like sage green, lilac, blue and light pink. Sometimes green and yellow.”

“How long have you and Vinnie been dating?”

“Almost five months!”

“Favorite physical part of vinnie?”

“His smile. He has one of the most beautiful smiles.”

Vinnie couldn’t help but smile. “Compared to her’s mine is pure shit.” You hit him and that’s when the comments blew up more.

“SHES PAC?!”

“BEEN KNEW VINNIE LIKED BLACK GIRLS”

“TWITTER IS FINNA FREAK!”

“VINNIE GOT HIM SOME SPICE!”

“BEEN WAITING FOR HIM TO GET A PAC GIRL!”

You laughed at all the comments. “Yes, I’m black. Thank you guys for noticing.” Vinnie snorted. “Now everyone can shut up about what I like.” You rolled your eyes as you continue reading the comments. Some were unfriendly but it didn’t faze you too much. It was an inevitable thing to happen.

“Well, everyone, I liked chatting with you all but I want to go lay down now so bye!” You waved and make your way out of his room. “I’ll be there in a little bit babe!” Vinnie called out. “Alrighty!”

Well, that went better than you could hope.

[sc0tters]

Muffin Baskets and Frozen Meals | Jack Hughes

summary: when telling Jack how you felt actually went well.

paring: Jack Hughes x Devils Media Member!

request: yes/no

warnings: none?

word count: 1.89k

authors note: planned for this to be a quick blurb and then it became this. will say that I do love it and I was definitely needing more of this soft man like this today 🥺 did something different with parts of it so I’m not sure if it will land but I look forward to how you guys like soft Jack!

You felt like you were going to throw up.

Jack hadn’t been at practice for the last few days after he went to get surgery on his shoulder “you know he likes you right?” Luke smiled as he had gotten close to you in your opening season with the team.

It made you shake your head as you jumped “I don’t like him.” Your cheeks turned a crimson shade of red as the younger boy laughed in response.

The boys all spent the season watching your crush on Jack develop, it was hard not to when you would be left with a grin each time he approached you. But they didn’t notice your side of the crush first as they were far more focused on Jack’s new desire to apart oof everything that the media team needed extra players for.

The first time they noticed it was when you guys had to do the passing the phone trend. One player was needed at the end to say a line about passing the phone to the fans yet none of the girls wanted to ask the players “should I be offended that you haven’t asked me to be in the video peach?” Jack let his lips curve upright as he watched you look up from your iPad.

You tucked your hair behind your ears as you smiled “wanted to save the best role for you.” You explained making his smile grow wider into a toothy grin.

He started calling you peach after the first day when you bumped into him with a bag of sour peach rings in your hand and since that moment you were his peach and he was bringing you a new bag of candy each week “really?” He cocked his head watching her nod eagerly.

The boy naturally agreed and the team watched you pull him with ease to a quieter area of the practice facility “so do we think that he has had a change of heart or that he just thinks that the new girl is hot?” Curtis was the first to speak up from the group that watched the interaction go down.

Judging by the way your hand interlocked with his, Dawson swore that something clearly happened between you and the Hughes boy before “how do we know she doesn’t have a crush on him too?” He shot back causing a chorus of ahh’s to come from around him as the boys began to agree.

Nico just rolled his eyes “next one to talk about either of their love lives is getting extra laps.” As the words left the captains mouth it seemed like the gathering dispersed leaving Luke to awkwardly look up at the captain “I didn’t say a thing!” He whined as the Swiss man pointed to the door leading to the ice.

Jack swore he was slick in masking his crush on you. Sure he offered to do whatever you needed in the form of social media content, something he never did for anyone else. But maybe he was just trying to be your friend.

The all star game had arrived and given that you were in good books with both Jesper and Jack. The team opted to send you with. This was the first time that the fans finally drew the connection. Because after weeks of trying to figure out who was so special on the social media team.

But then they finally got to see the fan clips of you and Jack making fun of Jesper and it was like the puzzle pieces connected for everyone. All of a sudden fans were finding you and just like Jack, you had flurry of people who liked you “someone’s popular.” Jack teased hearing your phone go off again.

It made you send him a glare as you wanted to kick his shin “you jealous Hughes?” You quipped back letting your teeth catch at your lip.

He laughed as he shook his head “the attention they give you is nothing like what you get from me.” Jack pointed out with a smirk as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder.

Both of those memories replayed in your mind as you swore the boys were lying to you. It made you conflicted as to what you were meant to write in Jacks get well soon card as it was the final practice of the season and you were going to give the stuff to Luke to give to his brother.

Your tongue darted out of your mouth as you tried to think of how to start the card “now I’m no genius but most people usually start a card with dear and then the persons name.” Nico pointed out as he looked over the wall of your office cubicle.

His words made you jump as your head shot up “wondered how long it would take for you to see me.” He teased making you roll your eyes “nice to see you too Nico.” You mumbled watching him sit in the seat in front of you.

The captain pulled out a set of keys and before you could ask what was going on he handed you one of them “this is for his place.” Nico explained making your eyes go wide “I am not breaking in!” You shook your head not impressed that he offered.

He shrugged as he leaned back in his seat “technically it’s not breaking in if I said you could go.” Luke’s head popped out from the wall next making you his your face in your hand “how many of you are there?” You were scared to know the answer.

So instead you got to see just how many boys there were as Curtis, John, Timo and Dawson all smiled at you “please go put us out of our misery and tell each other how you feel!” Timo begged making the boys nod in agreement.

Your cheeks turned red as you went to complain “and don’t tell me you don’t like him again because the only person who can’t see it anymore is him.” Nico placed his hand on your knee as he took the card from you “you can give these to him in person so you don’t need this.” He explained as you got up.

It made the boys want to let out a silent cheer “now if he turns me down I will kill you all.” You warned making them salute you off as they knew it wasn’t the case “just to be clear we are all changing our locks now if she knows he has keys?” Dawson trailed off with a gulp.

“Definitely.”

Jack was scrolling through the tv bored out of his mind as he heard the knock at the door “who is it?” He called out muting the sound “peaches!” You called feeling weird hearing your own name be brought up in a conversation with him.

The Hughes boy practically jumped off of the couch “hey.” Jack smiled as he opened the door.

It gave you the rare glance you adored to look at his chest “what are you doing here?” He added as he cocked his head.

You felt like your mouth ran dry “came to give you these.” You explained holding up the muffin basket for him to see.

He nodded motioning for you to come in “and I wanted to check on you.” Your words made both of your tender hearts swell with joy “real sweet of ya peach.” The hockey player was beyond curious to see what you let into your basket.

But suddenly he stopped as he headed for his kitchen “was gonna make Luke give you these.” Jack explained as he handed you a bag of peach rings.

“There is something I need to tell you.”

The words came from both of you at the same time “you should go first.” Jack announced giving you the floor to talk.

It made you want to glare at him “I like you a lot.” Your words sounded really weird “like a lot more than I should as someone who works for the devils.” You added making his facial expressions soften.

But as you heard pure silence you thought the worst “god I made this so bad have I?” As panic settled into your system the boy shook his head.

Jack smiled as he pointed to the bag of peach rings. It made you look down all confused until you saw that the bag had I LIKE YOU printed on the front of it “Jack you better not fuck with me.” You warned as you shook your head.

It made him roll his eyes “trust me for that price I am not.” His words were soft as he walked over to you.

The gap between you both quickly began nothing as you looked up at him “so what do you say about staying over for a bit?” He asked cupping your cheek “we can order pizza and watch a movie.” Jack offered as you leaned forward to kiss him instead.

It was a delicate kiss as if you were too afraid that if any passion slipped into it you’d both end up waking from this perfect dream. So instead you both basked in the beauty that came from knowing how his lips left against yours.

Jack could taste your cherry lipgloss on his tongue as he looked at you “are we sure we want pizza?” You asked letting your fingers run up his chest.

His good arm wrapped around your waist “because I have been told I make a mean frozen lasagna.” You announced with such cheek that it made him laugh as a smile spread on your face.

The boy looked at his kitchen “well then I think it’s good we have everything accept the lasagna.” Jack pointed out letting his forehead rest against yours as you both inhaled wanting to not let the moment ever end.

You pretended to think about it for a second “last time I checked you had a brother who was out still.” Your words made his eyes grow wide “I love you.” Jack confessed as he kissed your lips once more before he reached for his phone.

It wasn’t that you hadn’t heard him because you did, but for the first time you weren’t running away from love as that night as he lay resting against your stomach you’d tell him the same three words back. And that was how, the perfect love story -as Nico calls it when he tells your kids the story of the team got you two together.- came to be known.

If someone told you that the meal that would get you into your future husband’s dreams was going to be a frozen lasagna. They would have been wrong. Jack was so in love with you that you could have served up burnt ramen and he would have eaten it.

Life for the two of you finally blossomed together on that day as two paths merged into one. A story that no longer had all these different endings, where you were with different people.

Jack was your person and you were his. So even know after all of the things you have been through in family and in hockey, you did it together.

With the help of your frozen lasagna.

[queuestarter]

daybreak

(johanna mason x reader)

cw: none- just two girls in love

link to the request → grumpy x sunshine during training for the quarter quell

open to submissions/asks

You watch from across the room as Johanna strips off her training uniform and begins to rub oil all over herself. You shake your head in amusement and refocus on the conversion you’re having with your district mate and close friend, Beetee.

“I wonder what the reason they put the forcefield up this year is,” he comments offhandedly while observing a piece of wood as he attempts to figure out how to start a fire. You sit opposite him, not having much luck either.

You didn’t win your first games by fighting or learning survival skills. You won by appealing to the audience.

“Maybe someone attacked them. Or maybe one of the Gamemakers fell over the balcony,” you giggle, throwing down your two sticks as Katniss walks over to you.

You’ve never met her, but of course you know all about her. Who doesn’t at this point?

“Hello,” you friendlily greet her. She stands over you and Beetee awkwardly. “Do you know how to make a fire with two sticks? We’re awful at it.”

She sits down at the station with you. “Yeah, but I haven’t done it in a while. Let me see…” she grabs some sticks and begins to rub them together.

For the next ten minutes that you three spend at the station, a friendly rapport grows. You talk about many things, like the forcefield, productivity in your districts, and a few other topics. Eventually, she starts asking if you’re going to join any alliances.

“I think so,” you say hopefully. “I know me and Beetee are going to stick together. Johanna, too.” 

“Johanna?” Katniss asks, raising her eyebrows.

You smile, finding your girl across the room. She’s arguing about something with Finnick, shoving his shoulder and getting shoved back in response. 

“Yeah, she’s great. She’s just really, really great.” You can feel a blush growing on your cheeks which you hide behind your hands.

“I didn’t feel that way when I met her.” You furrow your eyebrows at Katniss.

“Oh. While I’m going to go see if I can try to make a lure with Mags. Beetee, want to join?” You want to be nice considering she doesn’t know about your relationship with Johanna and your girlfriend does come off as rude sometimes.

“Oh, yes. That could be very helpful,” he comments, getting up from his seat. “Thank you for helping us, Katniss. Maybe we would keep up that trend in the arena?”

Katniss nods, getting up as well. “I should see what Peeta is doing.”

You don’t talk to Katniss again until the next day of training. 

You’re sparring with one of the trainers, having decided that it might actually be important this time around to work on your physical skills rather than just relying on your brains and public appeal. 

When you finish the spar and are bent over trying to catch your breath, you feel a hand cup your ass. You let out a gasp of surprise.

“Johanna!” You shriek as you return to an upright position. Ignoring the shocked gazes of the people around you, you wrap your arms around her neck and pull her in for a quick kiss. “You can’t just scare me like that when I have a deadly weapon in my hands!”

She looks beautiful with her signature smirk on her face. “I just wanted to let you know how good you were doing. And let everyone know that you’re mine.”

You giggle uncontrollably, holding onto her for a few more seconds. With one final kiss to her smiling lips that end up more on her teeth than anything, you back away from the sparring station to allow other people to enter, namely Finnick and Katniss. Katniss has a look of disbelief on her face.

You say a quick ‘hello’ to them before Beetee is calling your name from across the room. “Can you identify the metal that comprises this beam? It seems to be steel but the density is all wrong.”

As you walk across the room to help out Beetee, you can hear Johanna talk to the two others, none of them being too quiet. 

“What a woman,” she says, causing you to smile once more.

“You two are…? Her?” Katniss practically hisses.

“Why not?” Finnick teases. “Johanna needs something good in her life.”

“Shut up!” You turn your eyes back towards your girlfriend just in time to see her try to knock Finnick over. 

This is what it means to be in love

-

[batrogers]

Civilized Or Not

So there’s some common Zelda fanon I wanna talk about, relating to civilization tropes I think some of y’all haven’t really thought about in detail before, and that’s Hyrule (Zelda 1 &2 Link), Wild (BOTW mostly), and Ravio (LbW).

I’m using the Linked Universe names, because that’s where most of it comes up, because these things happen most often where you can contrast the boys with each other. This is often done, quick and dirty, by people assigning “roles” to each without much thought. Ravio’s unfortunately tends to be extremely pervasive outside LU spaces, too.

But, in brief, there is a trend for people to craft these characters in a framework of innocent vs savagery vs trickery that can have some really unfortunate implications I’m not sure many are even aware of. Hopefully I can explain better where these ideas come from, why they’re so easy and appealing, and why we should try to avoid repeating them for more than just the sake of “easy” but also to stop repeating some really nasty historical tropes.

I would start from what’s probably the simplest one to address: the tendency towards a “feral” personification of Wild. This tends to come from two places: Wild’s amnesia, and the collapse of society around him and his lost place in it.

Now, brain damage is complicated. You can lose a range of things to any given injury because of the way information is encoded differently and in different places. You can lose memory and/or skills and/or coordination and/or balance, etc, because it all depends on what got damaged. But in-game a lot of stuff suggests that Link retains things like speech, reading/writing, coordination, and martial skills. None of the people who knew Link prior to his injury suggest he seems changed in any way not attributed to stress and anxiety...

And, more importantly, real people suffer memory loss just like that in the real world. Treating him like he’s become “feral” due to memory loss is cruel to actual people living with brain damage today, and if you go there you should have a good reason for it.

Social collapse is a wide-spread theme in basically every Zelda game. The threat that the Big Bad poses is almost always the destruction of society as it exists: Malladus literally vanishes the infrastructure of New Hyrule in Spirit Tracks; the Twilight turns people into spirits living lives they don’t realize are questionably real in Twilight Princess; Veran freezes the passage of time to force people to work forever in Oracle of Ages. King Daphnes and Ganondorf under the sea vie over the fate of the world above in Wind Waker: keep what’s been made, or start all over again?

In modern culture, people tell a lot of stories about the fragility of civilization and what happens in its absence. You get the range from Lord of the Flies, in which children wrecked on an island attempt (and fail) to recreate civilization on their own, Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” in which Mowgli is treated as reckless and innocent, and a much more obscure piece from the 18th century “Paul et Virginie” (and likely many more I don’t know offhand.) Essentially all of them play with the question of how do people become civilized, and what happens when they do? In Lord of the Flies, the children were civilized and failed to maintain it; in the Jungle Book, the boy wasn’t civilized and innocently interacts with it. In Paul et Virginie, the children were (relatively) uncivilized on the (French colonized) Mauritius, raised by their mothers but when the girl was sent away, she becomes civilized and dies tragically to preserve it.

The two Links most removed from civilization are Hyrule and Wild. Wild “lost” civilization, losing both his memories of it and the structure of it. Making him feral, without manners, and without a place to belong is that kind of Lord of the Flies savagery mixed with Mowgli’s innocent playfulness: there isn’t a structure to adhere to, so he’s a savage. Whereas Hyrule is more like the Paul eg Virginie side: innocent of civilization, he remains pure and sweet and kind, unable to conceive of big concepts like evil or money or so on. Neither position permits them to interact with the civilization that is right there in front of them! Wild can buy a house; he has people who know and care for him. He has social connections and social rights. The world exists, but the fandom does not seem to want him to interact with it in favour of remaining “wild.” In Zelda 2 – a game explicitly set within a decade of Zelda 1 – there are whole towns with trade and a castle and massive structures with on-going life in them... but very few fans seem to ever reach into that story or relate it back to the first. Hyrule, the character, does not exist within Hyrule, the country.

Strangely, Wind Waker does not fall prey to this, I think because the structures are presented as fait accompli: Link wakes up with his grandmother and his sister, he has a defined home, and a society in which you spend the entire game forced to engage with. Zelda 1 & 2 were not sophisticated enough to waste resources on going as in depth in social terms (although such interactions absolutely exist in Zelda 2!) and BOTW leaves such interactions as optional: you can survive the game with minimal social contact... but it’s a choice to play with it that way, not the default. The ways in which this edges onto the noble savage trope, in which “uncivilized” tribes are either innocent or brutish (rather than complex social systems in their own right) is fairly obvious.

There is one other character in Zelda who gets treated to the question of whether he is an innocent, free of civilization and all its rigour... or something else. Ravio, coming from the devastated world of Lorule, can often wind up slotted into the scared, innocent child trope and unfortunately that’s the better position people frequently take. The worse one evokes the Merchant of Venice: the deceitful, Jewish merchant who values money over people’s lives.

Lorule (and Nintedo’s approach towards their humanoid Zelda villains in general) is near-eastern-coded in many ways, down to the fact that Yuga’s outfit is the spitting image of Ottoman dress. Yuga being a depraved bisexual (a common historical trope about Muslim men towards Christian men and boys), and Hilda being deceitful and conspiring against everyone she was once allied to are a backdrop to the ways in which Ravio is a greedy coward. He’s not an evil character in the game; the mechanic of penalizing death without being too severe is interesting and works well! But that doesn’t take away the stereotype, just like it’s not okay Nabooru is pretty explicitly predatory towards child Link in Ocarina of Time, too.

Arab and Jewish stereotypes often converge, because both people's originate from the same region, and both are hostile "Others" to Christian Europe and Nintendo doesn’t have a great track record of their near-Eastern coding in Zelda. It crosses the whole gamut from harem and amazon tropes with the Gerudo to breath-takingly anti-semitic or anti-black (Ganondorf being green, eg. non-human, in various incarnations), all packaged neatly in the ideal of medieval fantasy Europe. The scale would be impressive if it wasn’t so damn awful, but we can at least stop repeating it in our fanworks.

Wild doesn’t have to be feral to be a playful little shit; Hyrule doesn’t have to be pure and innocent to be kind. Ravio doesn’t need to be innocent or scheming, and he shouldn’t place money over Link’s well-being (If you chose to respawn at home, he is consistently only ever concerned for Link! Once you buy the items outright, he promises he'll still be there to take care of you.)

Do better. It’s more interesting that way, and I want to see that variety grow!

[If any of y'all would like me to dig up better sources on any point, I can do so but I didn't want to bog this post down further. I have largely left the anti-arab stuff alone because it's not the biggest issue with Ravio's fanon presence, which is the focus here.]

[musings-of-a-rose]

For the "Leave the first sentence of a fic in my askbox" game:

I thought I knew what love was, but then I met him.

The Meaning of Love

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x f!reader

Word Count: 1026

Rating: Mature - 18+ ONLY!

Warnings: Just like ao3, “creator chooses not to use warnings.” If you click Keep Reading, that means you agree that you’re the age to handle mature themes. Also by clicking Keep Reading, you understand warnings may not be complete in order to avoid spoilers for the story. 

**If you want to be added to the taglist, join here or let me know!

❤If you enjoy the fic, please consider giving me a warm beverage! (It is not required in any way!)

→Tell Tumblr this should be shared with others by reblogging! That's what the algorithm loves (it's how it works here. I don't make the rules!)

**Reader is not described

Main Masterlist

Bucky Barnes Masterlist

Life comes with expectations. Everyone told me to go to college, get a degree, find a nice man, get married, start a family, grow old together. I intended to do just that, sort of floating through life, not unhappy but not entirely happy either. Like I hadn’t found the exact fit. 

Then I met Jeremy and my life became brighter. We met my senior year of college, literally bumping into each other in the bookstore on campus. He’d spilled coffee all down my front and I laughed, as I’d had to change my shirt earlier that day for doing the exact same thing to myself. He was studying business, his days spent mostly in the library with his nose buried in books or online, trying to keep up with the latest business trends. I was majoring in elementary education with a minor in creative writing, so I definitely spent my fair share in the library too. 

Wherever we went, we had a good time. Jeremy was respectful and kind to me, always making sure I ate, knowing that often I’d forget to. We were together about 6 months before confessing our love for one another, and at a year, he asked me to move in with him. We were well on our way to finishing the typical expectations. Everyone kept asking me if he’d popped the question or when he was going to put a ring on it. We talked about marriage and it was something we were both interested in. It was the normal flow of life.

What no one expected was for me to suddenly gain powers, become what people call an inhuman. 

It happened randomly one day. I was out for a run when suddenly, I tripped. But instead of slamming my palms into the ground, it cracked beneath me, ripples of concrete fanning out from where my palms hovered above the ground. I scrambled back and landed on my ass, scooting backwards from the partially sunken sidewalk. My breath shaking, I look at my hands - not a mark on them. It was probably nothing. A coincidence. But what else could do this?

I called Jeremy as I walked home quickly, asking him what could have caused the sidewalk to crack like that. Of course he was quick to tell me to sue the county, that the sidewalk was dangerous and could’ve seriously injured me. That was just the way he was.

I got home and took a shower, letting the hot water cascade over my shoulders, willing them to relax as I looked down at my palms again. I was so focused on what I was doing, I didn’t hear Jeremy come in. When he touched my shoulder I jumped, my hands coming up to shield myself. But then Jeremy flew back against the door, his back nearly leaving an imprint in the shape of him. 

“I’m so sorry!” I started to cry, looking down at my palms and back at Jeremy. “I don’t know what’s happening to me!”

“Y-you did this?” He choked out, staring at me.

I nod. “I thought the sidewalk was random but this? I don’t…I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

He started to stand up and I took a step towards him, but he threw his hands up, fear flooding his eyes.

“Stay back!”

I stopped. “Jeremy? What..what do you mean?”

His hand scrambles for the door handle, hand scraping against the wood. “Don’t come any closer!”

“Jer..it’s me. I just..I don’t know what’s happening. I need help.” I take another step but he finds the handle and turns it, running out the door but not before he looks at me, fear and anger in his gaze.

“Get away from me, you freak!”

—----

That was 10 years ago. I never saw Jeremy again after that night and I rarely dated, never trusting anyone fully. If Jeremy could be so in love with me and leave me in an instant, how could I ever trust again?

I never went into teaching. No one wanted an inhuman teaching their kids. I did discover more about myself, what it meant to be an inhuman. Someone with powers. But I never trusted anyone. 

Then Clint Barton found me, alone and living in my car. He offered me his hand and told me to come with him, that I would be more than welcome at the Avenger compound. Unfortunately, people there still walked on eggshells around me, never sure if I’d “go off”. Then one day, a firm knock raps on my door and I answer it, breath catching in my throat at the most beautiful, troubled man I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Bucky Barnes, aka The Winter Soldier.

He looked like he was bracing for the worst, for my eyes to go wide and to retreat back into my room. But it was very much the opposite, my curious eyes tracing down his metal arm and landing on the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.

“Clint told me you needed training?”

“Oh. Uh I guess so?”

“Come on.”

Bucky trained me how to control my powers, using the skills he learned since getting rid of the brainwashing Hydra had put there. He taught me how to use my powers for my own self, using them to protect others. But he also taught me that in my solace, in others fear of me, fear of myself, of my own power, that I was not alone. He had been through the same thing and was still battling it himself. We eventually found ourselves pressed together, my legs and heart opening to accept him, all of him, as he whispered praises and love in my ear, our bodies melting together.

I thought I knew what love was, but then I met him. Bucky was the missing piece of my life that I had been waiting for. He sees me, loves me for me, isn’t afraid of me. And all of that love and adoration is reflected back at him through my eyes. I can’t imagine my life without him and I know I’ll follow him past the end of the line. 

—----

General Taglist:

@frankie-catfish-morales @chaoticgeminate @janebby @astoryisaloveaffair @balekanemohafe @greeneyedblondie44 @hoeforthefictional @marvelousmermaid @hauntedmama @giuliarogers @icanbeyourjedi @wretchedmo @sunnshineeexoxo @livingmydreams13 @adventures-of-a-noodle @Sara-alonso @theewokingdead @punkerthanpascal @giggly-otter @f0rever15elf @phandoz @dirtytissuebox @gallowsjoker @lovesbiggerthanpride @sarahmilesbendrix @booksarekindaneat @mrsudontknowme @swol-bear @charlispersonallyhell @xoxabs88xox @amneris21 @gooddaykate @alindeluce @avengers-fixation @paintballkid711 @harriedandharassed   @ladykatakuri @marrianena  @practicalghost @withakindheartx @batdarkladyvampir @justanotherkpopstanlol   @mermaidxatxheart @alexxavicry @ichigodjarin @justreblogginfics @sullyosully @kmc1989 @veryprairieberry

[artist-issues]

That’s cool that you love Twenty One Pilots (they’re one of my favorite bands, too). Quick question: How do you feel about the song Heathens?

Love it. It’s genius. It’s so good.

Musically, what is better than the shotgun-cocking sound that the guitar makes? Or the fact that the sound of the instrument vaguely sounds like the phrase “WATCH IT” that is being repeated over and over, so it sounds like you're getting shot by the words themselves. Like the warning in the lyrics isn't fast enough to save you from the consequences of needing that warning in the first place.

I don’t care at all that it’s in/was commissioned for “Suicide Squad.” I totally think Tyler Joseph is too contemplative and analytical to just write a theme song for characters he didn’t create. Plus, he can’t keep his hands off double-and-triple meanings, even when he’s writing original songs. So all of that to say, I don’t think the song is just basically about Suicide Squad.

But let’s talk about the concept that is in the song.

Can I just break it down this way? Can I just tell you what I would do if I were asked to write a song (nobody would ask me that, because I’m not a songwriter) for a movie where comic book villains were the main characters, and I knew that the movie would be playing on “people sympathizing with characters that are evil?”

I mean, seriously, some of you have asked me questions that get me thinking about the trend of idolizing bad guys. I think I can imagine pretty accurately what my thought process would be if someone asked me to write such a song.

I would think about my worldview. I might be a little uncomfortable, first-blush, at having to write a song that makes villains sound cool. But then I’d think about it. I’d think about what I believe; my knee-jerk response would (hopefully) be "what does the Bible say about villains? Definitely that they're bad, and bad guys are bad, not good to emulate, and they lose." But then as I thought deeper than that I'd realize what more the Bible says: that I am a villain. Or I was, apart from Christ.

Nasty and wicked, psycho and outcasted. I belong locked up. Apart from Him, apart from everything good and pure. But I'm not apart from Him. I still live on this planet and not in heaven, but nos that I’m in Him, what am I supposed to do about people who are not—people who are still “villains?”

Remember who I used to be. Because if I don’t remember who I used to be, I’ll start thinking I’m better than them and judge them and we’ll always be divided. But if I remember who I used to be, that I used to be a villain, I can get in there and tell them “I’m like you but here’s what’s different; I know Christ.”

Oh but you know what? I can’t say it like that. Or if I do, I should be prepared to be mauled by the villains. Because that’s what they do.

Like it’s in a pig’s makeup to roll in the mud, it’s in a villain’s nature to be villainous—especially when they expect you to strike first. I remember that nature because I used to have it.

So I have to be careful how I say it. I have to step carefully. I have to convince them that we have things in common—so that I can springboard off of that goodwill, that common ground, and tell the villains about the way out of being villainous. So they don't maul me before I can get the words out.

I genuinely believe that that’s where my Christian worldview would lead me, when looking for a direction to approach the task of “make a song about villains” from.

…And then Tyler Joseph of twenty one pilots writes:

All my friends are heathens take it slow

wait for them to ask you who you know

Please don’t make any sudden moves

You don’t know the half of the abuse

---

We don't deal with outsiders very well

They say newcomers have a certain smell

You have trust issues, not to mention

They say they can smell your intentions

You'll never know the freak show sitting next to you

You'll have some weird people sitting next to you

You'll think "How did I get here sitting next to you?"

---

I mean the easy read is to say, "heathens literally traditionally means 'people who aren't Christians.'" But it can also just carry the connotations of "irreverent, villainous people." So what I'm saying is, he runs the gamut. He's friends with the heathens, but to call them that and to (as the singer) address someone outside that group, he has to be a bridge between the two. Someone who is with the heathens, but is also no longer a heathen himself. And he has to warn the newcomer, who is not a heathen but is about to be among them, of a couple things.

First, be careful. Be careful how you move and what you say.

Second, notice the similarities between yourself and the heathens; you have trust issues and you're trying to figure out the intentions of everyone around you but you'll never be able to do that ("you'll never know.") Just like the heathens are: "they say newcomers have a certain smell." The key to completing your goal is to accept that your similarities, and it's actually not so strange to be sitting among them.

Third, what is your goal? Tyler only gives two hints about why this person the song is "talking" to might be in among the heathens at all. The first hint is "wait for them to ask you who you know." Why'd he say that?

Well one, on the surface, it sounds like you'd need to name-drop someone intimidating to impress criminals. But that doesn't explain why you should wait for them to ask you. So now comes the non-surface read of that lyric, the one that takes into account everything else Tyler's written about and said: wait for them to ask you about why you're there. About the God who makes you different.

Careful, don't come in swinging your sword. You might lop their heads off when you meant to save them. You might provoke them when you meant to bring peace. They've been abused. You're similar but you don't trust each other, and they don't trust your intentions. You can't just sledgehammer them with religious words; they won't understand. They'll associate it with the "abuse."

There's no other plausible way to read that.

You can try to say "it's about becoming a member of the twenty one pilots fandom," okay, but Tyler doesn't think the fandom is touchy about who joins. At least, he doesn't overtly think that. Overtly, he's claimed to be proud of the opposite—he's always quoting that one reviewer who said "your fanbase is the most inclusive clique I've ever seen." He loves the inclusivity. So he wouldn't write a song about a group of heathens who are hard to get in with and be a part of if he was talking about his fans, I don't think.

Now.

Second hint about why the person the songwriter is "speaking" to is in among the heathens; because that's actually the person's rightful place. "It looks like you might be one of us."

I think this is another layer of meaning. Not just "you were once dead," meaning you can still remember who you were before Christ and use that relatability to earn trust. But also, there's something else you have in common with heathens.

And this is where I think you could draw a more meta-line from a listener to twenty one pilots' music. You could go; "I really like this music. But maybe I don't just like it because I can relate to the hope. Maybe I also like it because there's more of me that relates to the struggle than I thought."

Even doubt. I think one of the odd things about Tyler's fans after Blurryface was that they were identifying so much with the struggles and the doubts and the darkness...but in the later eras, there isn't as clear an answer to the dark parts. So you get the vibe that he's noticing that the "brokenness" of his fan base is becoming the loudest part. That even people who came for the hope are also coming for the identifying-with-the-darkness—the bad parts.

[joesanrio]

You’re so Needy | R.R

Summary: There is something about Nova being in Roman gear that makes Roman go insane.

Pairings: Roman Reigns x Nova (OC) || Established but secret Relationship

Warnings: Teasing, Joe has an ass obsession, kissing, blowjob, fingering, vag. penetration (xoxo)

Rating: 18+

Word count: long asf

A/N: I was rewatching the Sasha banks and Roman tag team match- now here I am. I’m not good at writing y/n so y’all and Nova gonna have to be locked in- lmao

———————————————————

I knew it would be a long night starting from when the producers called me into the office to tell me and until the night of. “Joe move..” I huff while hip bumping him out the way.

“Why you so grumpy mamas?” He asked as his arms find there way wrapped around my waist. “I’m stressed.” I complain while struggling to do my hair with a big 6’3 man attached to me. “Why? You know the crowd loves you… you kill it every time.” He smiles before letting my waist free and standing to the side of my make-shift vanity. I nod and take a deep breath before checking my gear one more time.

The seamstress made me a female version of Roman’s gear; fitted vest but with my symbol, all black super mini cargo skirt, black cuffs, and boots. I looked amazing, might make it my regular gear if I wanted to steal Roman’s shine- oh who am I kidding that man is the shine itself. “You should ask to keep that.” Joe smirked beside me, “For what?” I play into his game. “Our private matches, ya know the ones in our room.” He winks at me.

“Boy. Come on let’s go.” I deadpan at him before we laugh and leave the locker room. Walking down to the gorilla was making my nerves heighten, “Dang Nova- you look so good!” I hear Trin from behind me. “Thanks bae.” I blow her a kiss and she catches it.

“What about me?” Joe shouts back disappointed but does a spin to show his gear, “You wear that all the time!” Trinity shouted back as Joe playfully rolls his eyes while I laugh.

We wait in the gorilla for our cue. The closer it gets to time the more I feel my leg shake in the chair I’m sitting in. “Nova get ready.” The staff called for me as I immediately stand up, “Calm down.. you do this all the time.” Joe whispers in my ear before giving me a quick kiss. “Right.” I smile as I go to the spot.

————

“Oh come on, it’s your favorite.” I tease charlotte as I use her finisher ‘natural selection’ on her. “1…2…3!” The crowd went wild, “Your new United States Tag team champions, Roman Reigns and Nova!” The announcer yelled as Roman lifted me up by my thighs to hold up our belts. The crowd is giving a standing ovation before Roman sets me down and we make our way back up the ramp. Leaving Charlotte and Rusev.

“Joe…they’re gonna go crazy.” I say as I already feel the #Rova trending on Twitter. He was paying me no attention as he was cracking it up with his cousin Jey while we walked down the hallway. “Uce, y’all might as well come out and confirm it.” Jey shrugged as Joe nodded. “But at the same time it’ll be all about our relationship instead of our talent.” Joe said as he mentioned the downside, and the major reason why we haven’t said anything.

“I feel you. Maybe you can talk to the producers and creative team about it.” Jey mentioned as Joe nodded and I hummed. “Alright gotta go before Jimmy start having people look for me.” Jey said before hugging us bye.

————

“I can’t wait to head to bed..” I say happily as we enter the locker room. “To sleep or something else?” Joe asked with his eyebrow raised, I turn around with an unamused expression before busting out in giggles. “Cut it out.” I laugh as I feel Joe staring me down from behind, “Has that always been there? Ya know I’m always looking but I think it grew. Maybe while we were in the ring…I don’t recall it being that size.” Joe rambles about my ass.

“Go shower!” I laugh as I push him towards the shower room. “Let me feel it to make sure i’m not hallucinating.” He laughs before quickly turning around and wrapping his big arms around me. “Joe move and go shower.” I weakly push the man away as he’s feeling around on my ass. “I’m not hallucinating.” He winks before finally letting me go and showering, “You’re so unfunny.” I say as I try to put a serious expression on my face. “But I had you cackling like a witch!” He chuckles mockingly at me.

I giggle and roll my eyes before getting my change of clothes ready for my shower.

We finished showering and Joe already placed a pick up order for chipotle. “Ah its gonna be so good!” I squeal when he tells me, “Okay I got everything we can go.” I smile as he nods but doesn’t move. He gets up and walks towards me, his eyes darkening as he walks me back into a corner.

“You looked so hot.” Joe said as stood in front of me while my back was against the wall. “I could say the same about you.” I say as I look up at his lustful eyes. I go to leave the confined space before he pulls me back by my waist. “Let’s stay like this for a while.” He hums before planting a tender kisses on my lips. I hum at the taste of his coco butter chapstick, “Omg you taste so good.” I smile into the kiss before his hands start heading down to my ass.

“Joe can we go?” I pout as pull away from the kiss feeling my arousal start to build, he nods as he takes my hand in his. I smile as we walk to the car passing by some friends and doing small talk.

We get in the car and I immediately take off my jacket feeling hot already. “You hot already? All we did is kiss.” He teases as his hand fall onto my thighs. “Oh whatever- come on let’s go!” I softly moan as his hand starts caressing the inside of my thigh. “Okay okay!” He chuckles as he starts the car.

————

We enter the room forgetting all about the food and my jacket in the car. Joe quickly guides me to bed by my waist. He has me sit down on the bed as he stands in front of me. “Finally after all day..” he sighs while removing his sweatshirt, I can’t stop gazing up at his abs. My body immediately starts rising in temperature as he slides down his sweatpants, his dick print on full display.

“Oh don’t do that mamas.” He smirks as I bite my lip unknowingly. He lifts my chin up gently before tapping my lips with two of his fingers. I open my glossed lips slowly as Joe shoves his long fingers into my mouth. “I think you can take it.. just open wide.” He smiles as I nod urgently and find my way onto my knees. Joe pulls his boxers down and his hard dick slaps against his stomach after being released.

“It’s so big.” I say mesmerized before taking the large dick into my hands. “I’m a big man.” He shrugs before getting impatient with my slow strokes, “Don’t start the teasing.” He groans while his head falls back when I kiss tip. I hum as I take him into my mouth, tasting the precum that I used to coat his entire dick. He moans as he feels the tip reach the back of my throat, I suck in my cheeks as I slowly pull away causing his to leave my mouth with a pop.

“Shit. You’re so hot.” He says breathlessly while his hand reaches the back of my head to pull me back onto his dick. I slap his dick onto my tongue making Joe’s grip tighten on my hair, I whimper as I suck the tip. “Joe.” I say looking up at him innocently, “Fuck! Sorry mamas.” He huffs before moving his hips. Now with both hands on the back of my head, he starts pulling my head further down his cock until it hits the back of my throat. “Just like that… you like it? Oh I know you like it.” He groans as his hips starts moving faster. I moan in response bringing Joe to his breaking point, I can feel the cum slipping down my throat as he holds my head down.

His hands release their grip from the back of my head gently, “Damn. Get your ass on the bed.” He breathes harshly before tapping my hip once I stand. I pull of my top while watching Joe lick his lips at the sight. I smile seductively as Joe steps closer, “Lay down.” He orders. “So bossy.” I giggle as he pulls down my bottoms, I lay back onto the pillows behind me.

“You’re so soft.” He says as he kisses up one of my legs, I hum as he positions himself in front of my core. His kisses felt hot along the inside of my thighs, “ You smell amazing.” He smiles against my skin. I feel my face get hot as I feel a sudden kiss on my clit, before he licks i between my folds. I felt a slight whimper leave my mouth as he does constant licks up and down my folds. “Joe..” I moan as he hums on my core causing my hands to immediately reach for his head. I feel a small suck on my clit before one of his fingers slide their way inside.

“Damn, don’t think you’ll be able to take me.” He smirks before his tongue leaves my folds, I whine at the lost contact before his other hand rubs on my clit gently. I could feel pleasure building up as my back arched off the bed, “I- mmm Joseph please!” I moan loudly as I came onto his fingers. He removed his finger gently before sucking them off, he moaned at the taste before connecting his lips to mine. “You taste yourself, isn’t it good?” He mumbled into my plump lips. I nod eagerly as he grinds himself into me.

“Put it in.” I groan impatiently, “Fuck, turn around for me then.” He taps my hip while our lips disconnect. I get on my hands and knees in front of before wiggling my ass in his face as he seemed distracted. “I’m just admiring you impatient brat.” He chuckles before slapping my ass, I moan as my body moves back towards him. He rubs the tip in between my folds before entering slowly. His deep breathing behind me fills the room until I feel him all the way in my stomach. “So deep..” I moan quietly as he begins to move in and out.

His hands guide my waste back to meet his thrust, my arms already feeling weak by the pleasure that’s happening. “Oh your pussy is so good.” He moans as pushes my back further down into an arch, his dick grazing my walls and penetrating deeper than before. “Joe- oh!” I felt my walls tighten around him, his thrust getting faster and harder. “Fuck! Baby damn…almost made me cum.” He says breathlessly pumping into me.

I lay into the pillows to mask my screams before he pulls me up by my hair, “It’s good? You want cum on my dick? Oh I know you do.” He groans in my ear with his hand on my throat. I whine and nod frantically as he hits the spot perfectly. “Cum on me.” He says as his voice vibrates in my ear causing my walls to tighten around his big dick. “I- I’m cumming!” I yelp as he holds me down onto him while my head falls back on his shoulder. His thrust getting faster as his warm seed coats my walls.

He kisses my neck softly before pulling out slowly making sure nothing drips out. “I love you.” I smile feeling like I was going to pass out at any given moment. He laughs as he lays me down gently before heading to the bathroom, “I love you too.” He whispers as he comes back with a clean wash cloth to wipe me off with.

“Here put this on.” He hands me one of his t-shirts. I put it on quickly before laying back down but on my side of the bed this time. “Come on.. you gotta be tired.” I whisper as he gets in bed and falls into my arms. “Yeah, that was the most intense work out I’ve ev-“ he starts before I cut him off, “Enough! You’re so annoying” I giggle before he places a kiss on my forehead. “But it wasn’t annoying when I had you mo-“, “Joseph!” I laugh as he chuckles and wraps his arms around my waist. I kiss his lips one more time before we fell asleep.

[player1064]

accidentally outing themselves on live tv? dunno how or if anyone else at sky knows but it’s something they’d do providing some images from the carraville discord that we were talking about yesterday

god they WOULD end up accidentally outing themselves bc they already can't keep their hands to themselves imagine how much worse they would be.......... I shudder to think............

---

“I’m here pitchside with Gary Neville –“

“—Carragher were meant to be joinin’ us, but he’s late getting up from London.”

“Yes, quite. I’m sure he’ll be arriving soon. In the meantime – Gary, what are your thoughts on United’s starting line-up tonight?”

*

Gary is nodding along to something Kelly is saying when his attention suddenly shifts to something off camera. He rolls his eyes as Jamie comes crashing in, bag slid halfway down his shoulders, seemingly unaware of the producer holding his earpiece who’s trying to get his attention.

“Sorry, love,” he says as he hurries up to Gary, immediately stepping into his personal space. He ducks his head down to press their lips together in a quick greeting before he continues, “there was a crash on the M6 or summat, a whole section of the road was closed off. Bloody nightmare, I’m tellin’ ya.”

As he talks, he doesn’t seem to notice Gary’s wide eyed stare, the blush rising in his cheeks, or Kelly clamping a hand to her mouth while her shoulders shake in laughter.

Gary tries his best to compose himself and turns to the camera with an expression caught between terror and amusement, and he says “well, now that Jamie’s very kindly provided us all with a traffic update I think it’s time for us to hear from our colleagues in the studio.” When the light of the camera turns off, he reaches out to give Jamie a slap round the back of the head and hisses “live television, James, how many years’ve you been doin’ this again?”

“Wha?” Jamie looks over, already surrounded by a small hoard of tech people and a make-up artists trying to get him camera ready as quickly as they can.

“Oh my God,” Gary mutters, pinching his brow. “Jamie, you dolt, you just kissed me in front of our live audience of what – a million people?”

“I never,” Jamie says with an offended glare, far too confident for someone who definitely fucking did.

“Oh my God,” Gary repeats. “You don’t believe me? Check your fucking phone.”

*

“You don’t even get Sky Sports in America, Philip, how have you already seen it?”

“Tray sent it to me, it’s all over Twitter.”

“Oh, well that’s just great then in’t it?” Gary huffs. At Jamie’s questioning look, he repeats “it’s all over Twitter, apparently.”

For a moment Jamie looks almost proud that he’s a trending topic, but he shuts his expression down when he sees Gary’s glare and turns back to his own phone call (“no, Ma, I –”)

“I just don’t understand why you didn’t tell me, Gaz,” Philip whines down the phone. “I tell you everythin’”

“An’ I keep askin’ you not to tell me everythin’! Isn’t a man entitled to a little privacy?”

*

Group: STF Gang NO PARENTS > Jill: who had money on it being Jamie cos I’m pretty sure I’d said Gary > Roy: I think we all said Gary > Ian: statistically it was most likely to be Gary. > Ian: but Roy said it’d be while they’re covering a match so I think he wins it > Jill: :(((

*

(24 new messages)

Stevie G: > you’re trending on twitter what have you done now > NEVIlLE??? Carra have some self respect

J Redknapp: > you melt 😂 > everyone in the studio is running around panicking rn

MO: > did everyone know except me?? > you’re shite at texting I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend > I didn’t even know you liked men? > Gaz is nice though we should all go for drinks sometime

*

(57 new messages)

Scholesy: > twat why didnt u tell me > u was moaning about him just last week

Philip MU mob: > you hung up before I could say but proud of you Gaz!

Roy Keane MU mob: > does this mean we’re allowed to tease you two about it on camera now > here if you need anything > [image: a blurry, blank-faced selfie with a thumbs up]

BIG MEEKS: > you could do better 🙄😉

[rotten-whispers]

They Run in Circles

The lab mice have begun to show unusual behaviors...

TW for mouse body horror and light gore

Rodents love to run in wheels.

Laboratories around the world have established that they prefer the little contraptions over almost all else. Some never stop running, at the expense of sleep, food, self-preservation… One might call it an addiction.

Nobody quite understands why animals love to run in wheels. I’ve seen cat-wheels in my local cat-cafes, trending videos of armadillos running on wheels. One researcher even left a wheel outside and videotaped wild mice and even slugs using it. Animals seem to be obsessed with the idea of running and running but never quite getting anywhere. Chasing an endless circle.

Human hamster wheels haven’t quite taken off yet, but I’m sure we are approaching that point. Treadmills just aren’t the same, because they give the illusion that you might end up somewhere. If you’re running in a circle, then you should understand that you’ll never reach anything. Surely even animals would be smart enough to understand this.

I study the neurological condition of laboratory mice. Because they are nocturnal, I am often watching them for long hours in the night, running on their little wheels. They are docile, chubby things. With an endless supply of food and water and wheel-based entertainment. Nothing at all in their eyes other than the comfort of a worriless existence.

Most of them love to run. They will sleep, run, sleep, eat, run, repeat. For hours upon hours. It can get a little unsettling, trying to make out their little white bodies in the dark, under a red-light headlamp, to avoid disturbing their circadian rhythm with white light.

Sometimes my eyes play tricks on me in the dark, wandering to a corner of the pitch-black room, as a white creature rushes past. Always in the corner of my eye, like an escaped mouse, like a ghost.

I have an overactive imagination. It does give me trouble on these long nights, but my quick grasp of my surroundings has allowed me to capture many a-runaway mouse. Usually the little creatures will just sit outside their cage once they escape. Dumbly surveying the environment without a care in the world, as though uncertain of why they chose to leave, or how they can return to the only life that they have ever known.

Of course, some of the little bastards bite you and immediately scurry under the door and into the hallway, but those are not the ones that I like to think about.

My mind often returns to why they run.

Sometimes a mouse will find that its wheel is stuck and doesn’t spin. Sometimes those mice will gnaw at the wheel, as though somehow instinctively knowing that it should spin, chasing the allure of the circle without even knowing that it exists.

Of course, this is ridiculous and would get me kicked out of a scientific conference, but I sometimes find myself wondering if there is something more to the mice than what we can see. Or can even comprehend.

Some of them don’t run in the wheels at all.

These are the odder cases. Sure, some of them don’t run very often, or avoid what they perceive as a threatening object. But these aren’t the… mice that I am talking about.

They run in circles.

The first time that I saw it, I thought that I was tired, or that there was something wrong with the wheel. But everything – the mouse, the wheel, the food – everything was fine. With the exception of this new, odd behavior.

They would run in a perfect circle, as though chasing their tail, like a dog. Wearing little circles into the bedding. Some of them would run in circles on the wheels, perfect circles that didn’t actually move the wheel. Loose circles, encompassing the entirety of their cage, or tight circles that barely allowed the mouse the opportunity to turn its entire body. Some of them even climbed their cage and moved in little circles on the lids.

It was… definitely odd. Unnatural.

When animals do behaviors that are “unnatural” or not displayed in the wild, they’re called “stereotypic behaviors”. Some view them as a sign of stress, like a tiger pacing in the zoo. Others view them as a sign that the environment needs to be changed, or an artifact of domestication. Most don’t understand them at all.

But why circles? Why the dog chasing its tail, around and around and around in an endless circle?

The mice that run in circles don’t run on the wheels, I noticed one day. They seem to have gotten over this addiction to spinning, replacing it with the more thrilling urge to transform their own bodies into circles. To scratch the same itch, the same desire.

Is it the running? Or is it the circle?

I became a bit obsessed with the question. It was the long hours, the late nights. The mice spinning in little circles on their wheels.

Out of 200 mice, maybe only half a dozen would even do the circles. It was a rare occurrence, enough to make me wonder if it was a sign of mental illness. Stimming, like in a human with Autism? An Obsessive Compulsive tic? But the mice showed no signs of any human mental health disorders. They just ran in circles.

An inner ear problem, a colleague offered. Something wrong with their balance.

No dice there either. It remained a mystery.

Are the wheels causing the circling? I wondered. Or are the wheels just satisfying a primal urge to run in circles?

How ridiculous. Why would an animal want to run in a circle?

So my brain went, over and over in circles.

I watched the circling mice. Their eyes completely blank, their mouths unmoving. Like little glass toys, scrabbling against the floors of their cages, the bedding worn away in little mouse crop-circles. Unblinking, hardly seeming alive.

What is the point of a circle?

To humans, circles are often used to create protective barriers in rituals. A wall that an evil spirit, demon, or entity cannot cross. Ancient Sumerians drew circles with flour to purify and repel evil in sacred spaces. Pentagrams are done inside a circle. Signs of aliens are often attributed to strange markings or behaviors, such as the questionably legitimate crop circles.

Circles also don’t make sense, logically. The circumference of a circle is two multiplied by the diameter, multiplied by an endless number. Pi – often shortened to 3.14 – has been calculated to 105 trillion decimal places by a supercomputer. But likely contains an infinite number.

The rationality of math often escapes me, but the idea of a tangible object being determined by a number that doesn’t really end is a baffling concept. Like the reality of your life being determined by a fleeting dream.

The Fibonacci sequence, another baffling concept in math, forms a never-ending spiral. Such a spiral outlines a circle, does it not? A circle disappearing endlessly into the distance, or even into itself, like Ouroboros, the snake devouring its own tail. Endless destruction and rebirth. Even our own universe is a spiral, our own world a circle.

Essentially circles represent life and death. Likely due to the shape of the sun, burning its place in human society, life, religion, and natural world. Circles are organic, despite their odd, smooth appearance. Uranus is a real planet, although it looks as though it were rendered in Blender.

But the mice know none of this. They just know that they have to circle.

Some runners prefer to run in circles because it completely blanks out the mind, creating a dull, monotonous state. A paranoid person could argue that such a blank slate is prime for possession by something else, an easy target for something that could be summoned – say, by the creation of a ritualistic circle.

My evening has gone on too long, I’m becoming ridiculous.

With a sigh, I pull myself away from the circles in my mind, to focus on the mice. Mouse #602 is eating, check. Mouse #603 is sleeping, check. Mouse #604 is running in circles.

Hmm… This is odd.

Sometimes the mice that circle do so since birth, genetically predisposed to whatever behavior, defect, stressor, or mental condition is causing the circling. But this mouse showed no odd behavior until tonight.

“Are you alright, little buddy?” I murmur, crouching in front of his cage and peering inside. Tapping his water first and checking that he still has food. “Did you hurt your head?”

The mouse is fine – nothing at all wrong, save for the strange circling behavior. I head home for a night of fretful rest, but return bright and early for my morning shift, of more clipboards and more circling mice.

More of my tired eyes scanning the mice.

#602, sleeping. #603, drinking water. #604, running circles.

My stomach drops.

The same mouse from last night is still running. He hasn’t stopped, while most of the other mice have bedded down for the day.

“…Buddy?”

There is red on the cage.

I crouch down again, my heart thudding desperately in my chest.

The mouse skitters in those tight, tight circles. His feet are red, raw. His eyes are empty, cavernous holes, leaking candy-red blood almost too bright to be real. And still he runs, over and over and over and over again.

.

I didn’t sleep at all that night. My mind – brain – heart beating in an endless circle of panic.

We had to euthanize the mouse. An infectious eye disease, the vivarium veterinarian said. Likely the same one that has been going around the lab. The mouse scratched its eyes out.

It’s odd how much the eye can bleed. But orbital blood collection is common with mice, when large quantities of the fluid are needed. The eye is a circle of blood, after all.

Our lab spent the remainder of the day disinfecting and treating the other mice, to ensure that none of them caught the same affliction. However, the following day, the mice were declared disease-free, and yet they continued to run. Some normally, some in circles.

How simple an infection would have been. A disease, a parasite.

The world’s smallest animals are parasites. Of the Myxozoans, Myxobolus cerebralis is a parasite that causes whirling disease in freshwater salmonids. A terrifying sight to any fish farmer or hobby aquarist, due to its horrifically infectious manner, with the end result almost always leading to death. Even a surviving fish would continue to spread the disease.

A fish infected by the parasite will gain neurological damage and physical deformities, causing it to spin like a whirling torpedo through the water. The infection is spread through consumption of dead fish, but if spores are released into the water, even a single drop can infect equipment, destroying tanks and causing horrific financial ruin to fish farmers.

An endless cycle of spinning fish.

Brainworm, or moose sickness (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis),is a parasitic nematode of moose that causes them to pace in circles, unable to rip themselves out of the cycle. It too, is almost entirely fatal.

I wished that this mouse disease could be explained away as a parasite. At least then, I would have a rational explanation for why they were running in circles.

But there was no rationale that made sense.

“Hey,” My coworker nudges me. “Did we forget to put bedding in #46’s cage?”

“What?” I barely notice that she spoke, lost in thought under the cacophony of squeaking wheels.

“Look, there’s no bedding in the cage.”

I glance over at wheel 46. The mouse’s home cage is indeed bare, the creature running circles on the empty plastic.

“No, there was bedding in there this morning. Where did it go?”

Frantic with confusion, I search around the wheel.

“Wait, there’s a lot of bedding by the cage. Did the mouse move the bedding?”

We glance at each other. This is nonsensical – the mouse would have needed to carry every tiny piece of bedding to the side of the cage and push it through the bars. Repeat a million times, ad infinitum. Until the cage was completely bare and prepped for – more running in circles?

“Why would he do that?” I ask, hoping that my coworker has an answer that I cannot think of.

But she looks as puzzled as I am. “I have no idea. It’s like the bedding teleported out of the cage.”

The mouse’s dark eyes continue to stare at nothing – or perhaps, something that we cannot see. An elusive goal that it desperately, frantically is trying to reach, as it increases speed and tightens the circle into a vice.

And, although it may have been my imagination, the squeaking suddenly seems to have stopped altogether. I glance around the room, quickly, and notice that all the other mice have stopped running on their wheels.

“Bedtime, I guess.” My coworker grabs her clipboard. “Let’s go upstairs, I’m hungry.”

“Me too,” I murmur. But something feels very, very wrong about the sudden silence, like an impossible coincidence.

On the way out, I scan the room again just to make sure that I am not losing my mind, and that’s when I notice that none of the mice were running on their wheels. Instead, they  are all watching the spinning mouse.

Two hundred pairs of unblinking eyes, united in one pure moment of silent concentration.

Ad then – a second later – the moment is gone, buried amidst squeaking wheels and the pitter patter of little feet once more.

.

The situation is getting worse. As though learning from each other, the behavior increases. Every day that they spend on the wheels, the circling becomes faster, more frantic, more often.

Some scientists claim that wheel access causes an increase in circling behavior once the wheels are removed. But why then, do they circle instead of run? An arcane ritual that only the mice understand, conducted alone in the darkness.

I think about more circles, what the shape means. Why does such a simple shape have so many meanings? Protections, rituals, doors to and from other worlds. Life, death, neurological decay. Impossible mathematical principles and alien hoaxes. All the same simple shape – a perfect sphere made of an infinite array of points, each themselves a circle.

Fairy rings are an entrance to the world of the Fae. You’re not supposed to step into them – those rings of mushrooms that sometimes appear, in marshes and forests. Supposedly due to nutrient allocation in the soil, but still not properly understood. Stepping into a fairy ring invites the Fae. Leaving something in a fairy ring tempts the Fae, and the Fae are unpredictable, temperamental creatures.

Obviously, the mice are not trying to summon aliens, and I doubt that their circling is the result of a ritualistic barrier to the supernatural, but what does it all have in common? That damnable shape.

With no beginning and no end.

Except there will be an end, I think, because the wheels are being removed tomorrow. They can circle all they want, but without the stimulus of a wheel, I expected their behavior to cease. No more exploding eyes, no more impossibly empty cages, no more horrific silences – this would all be over.

Just have to hold out until tomorrow.

Just have to hold out until midnight, actually.

I was teetering outside the door, clipboard in hand, terrified to return and complete my last shift of observations. Would they all be waiting, staring at me the moment that I opened the door? And why did nobody else ever seem to notice that something was wrong?

Was I just going crazy?

Obviously, everybody has the urge to run in a circle now and then, right? Give a strange little turn, do a little pace, rub circles on an object for comfort. That doesn’t make you crazy, of course not. Tics, stimming – these are fine and normal behaviors.

I affix the red headlight and suck in a breath.

The room is normal. Dark, except for the grim shadow of red, barely casting enough light to see the clipboard and the little white creatures running. Their eyes gleaming in the darkness, the room silent except for the squeaking wheels and scrabbling of dozens of paws.

But all of them are behaving normally.

I breath in a sigh of relief.

You’re overthinking it. Lab mice enact stereotypic behaviors all the time. Some of those are weird, like removing bedding. But it could happen, the mouse could have moved all the pieces, one by one, in its mouth. Not impossible. And eyes explode sometimes, it happens. Just a disease, nothing more.

The minutes tick closer to midnight.

I think about minutes all the time, actually. If decimal points are endless, then time cannot really exist. Think about it – 11:59pm and one millisecond. 1.1. 1.1111111111111111 – when does 12pm ever actually begin? Are you trapped in a forever number like Pi, the clock frozen in its impossible existence?

11:55pm. Just a few more minutes.

A mouse does acrobatics on its wheel, another climbs into its food hopper and makes a nest out of its crumbs. Cute.

11:58pm. A mouse sleeps, lazy for a nocturnal creature. Another runs so quickly that its body becomes a white blur on the wheel.

All normal and good behaviors.

11:59pm. A mouse circles. I give it a cursory glance and turn away, not wanting to spend the last minute of my shift running around in my own thoughts. Just, for once, I want a break from the circle of dread.

Its footsteps scrabble, like a gunshot in the quiet room.

Quiet? When did the room become quiet? The squeaking of wheels has once again ceased.

No, I’m not turning around, I think. Just one more minute.

The mice are looking at me again. Unnerving, their eyes trained in an unblinking, glassy stare.

I finish my rounds and am forced to return to the other side of the room, where the circling mouse scrabbles in the darkness. Its body is a perfect sphere, tail to mouth like Ouroboros. Almost as though trying to bite its tail, a Sisyphean task in the darkness.

11:59pm. The last minute is dragging by, as it always does. Just when you want to go home the most.

I try not to watch the time, instead training on the mouse. Running, circles, circles, circles. Everything seems to disappear, blur away in the silent, dark room.

I don’t know how long it is until I snap out of my trance, but my legs are suddenly aching, my mouth and eyes painfully dry. Trapped by the mesmerizing, rodentine cycle.

Hypnosis can be a circle, I think. How much time did I lose?

The blood drains from my face when I glance at the time.

11:59pm.

This is insane. My watch must be broken, there is no other explanation. In any case, taking off one minute early is not going to get me fired. At the very least, the mice won’t tell.

So I stand up and get ready to leave.

-Except my legs don’t move. They are leaden, as though molded into the concrete floor. Stiffly upright, my body won’t turn away from the spinning mouse.

Terror crawls at the corner of my mind, threatening to encompass me in panic.

11:59pm.

The mouse isn’t strewn in darkness anymore. A strange white glow is emanating from beside the cage, like the dim remnants of a star in the back of your eyes.

11:59pm.

A loud cacophony of noise brews in my head – seemingly coming from nowhere at all. A horrifically violent explosion, like an aneurism, like planetary destruction. I cannot move, I cannot breathe.

11:59pm.

The mouse continues to run amidst the eternally loud interference.

Belly-up, unblinking, with foggy white eyes like a dead fish. The corpse-like creature runs upside down, as though his abdomen had been broken and removed, legs glued onto a rotting back. Legs that glide the corpse through the darkness, in circles and circles and circles.

The terror and noise are greater than anything that I have ever heard.

Beside the cage, the white dust no longer resembles a distant star – it is bright, bright enough to hurt, swelling spirals in the back of my unblinking eyes. Figures, symbols that I don’t understand, sequences that make no sense.

11:59pm.

The  mouse continues to run – a fixed action pattern with no beginning or end, and no purpose in sight. Except there is a purpose, I realize, as the white circle continues to envelop the cage.

I can see everything, and this is not the work of a demon. No alien or otherworldly creature has come to play, nothing monstrous has risen from the darkness.

11:59999999999999pm

No, this is the work of our world, unveiled and bare to the eye. The coding of a biological machine, encased by atomic 1’s and 0’s, golden numbers and impossible sequences in twain.

This is reality skinned, reflected in the last moments of every dying being, etched into the DNA of every beating organism.

This is Us.

This Is Me.

The explosion of noise reaches a crescendo. A lightning-clap, and everything falls silent in my head. My body clatters to the floor, inoperable and limp. The light is fading, disappearing back into the ether.

The last remnants of my own vision are fading, disappearing.

12:00am.

Everything is gone.

.

In the room, the mouse continues to run.

[unhingedcanadianbacon]

I’m gay for a raccoon and the raccoon is just as gay as me send help

Okay…

So, I understand “hopping on the gravy train” is kind of cliche, but I promise I have a good reason for it!

…I guess I should start ‘Rambling on about it’ then!

(I’m so sorry, none of these puns were intentional, but they were too good to miss)

—So, Indigo Park;

what even I would’ve expected was another quick cash-grab game in the mascot-horror genre, turned out to be a game that managed to make me start binge-watching livestreams and video-essays about the game, it’s characters and its development on the whole,

Just like every other millennial and gen-z’er out there.

I know it’s absolutely normal for people to become invested in something so quick…

But it’s been a long time since I’ve felt so attached —so spoken to,

especially when I haven’t really been part of those big ‘band-wagon’ trends at all,

at least with the exception of forcing myself to watch shows with my friends —which again, I don’t do much of that either.

From what I understand, there are technically multiple small factors that have led me to become attached to this game.

But frankly, there all of really part of the one major reason why there’s just, that, ‘something’ —a “spark” if you will—that makes me click with a game for the first time in so many years that it physically hurts.

He’s the star of the show, the elephant in the room:

Rambley;

A cute, furry-raccoon —who likes trains!

Now, as anyone who knows anything about me will tell you, these two factors are inherently weaknesses in my mental psyche.

Why, you may ask? It’s simple!

Firstly, —I too— like trains.

Also, I come from Toronto, Canada — a city famously (or to some infamously) known for its love-hate relationship with its unofficial mascot: the trash pandas! They’re an animal which I got to know well over 13 years, 10 months and ~15 1/2 hours of being a Torontonian.

—Which leads me to the second-half of the other reasons I resonate so god-damn hard with the game, and Rambley in particular:

Isolation

It felt quite funny that the number of days that poor-old AI racoony’ spent alone in the abandoned park was almost exactly double that of the days I’ve been a ‘Quasi-Canadian’ living in the United States, with not much interaction with my family back “home”. I had a single trip back for the first time in multiple years.

—It brang back a lot of memories which so happened to be similar to the ideas mentioned during Rambley’s post-chase exposition.

That little break in his character just made my heart literally melt and shatter and implode all at the same time;

“A little heart-to-heart” as they say, but just.. the way he breaks and talks like a true person, things he isn’t sure about, didn’t know, shouldn’t have done, is painfully, gushingly personal somehow!

It’s also extra cool when he gets excited about restoring the park, as being a former (small) volunteer and hearing about railway preservation stories, you start to realize and appreciate just how much having that other person helping you means when fighting in these “David and Goliath”-esque battles to keep old or unloved things going when everything is telling you it’s impossible.

(Side note, the extra lines where Rambley showcases his sentience and lets you into the staff-only area after realizing Mollie is chasing you made me love him just that much more, and is also what makes me feel the game is just that extra bit special.)

Long story short (TL;DR):

The honesty, personality, and just general likeness of the characters hits very close to home for me,

if for no other reason than that I happen to have (in concept at least) similar experiences in terms of feeling (though thankfully not literally being) isolated from friends.

Cheers, Critters!

—A.

[mediumstrength]

SXF MANGA REREAD: CHAPTER 1

The conclusion of the second season has left me alone and bereft please join me as I fill the void.

We start with some bitchin spy action

oh shit

Truly the first few chapters are why I think you see so many people upset about the series settling into a slow burn family comedy. You start off with some juicy Hollywood movie shit here. Assassination! Straight off the bat! Cars careening off bridges! Great stuff.

Now, it’s time for a little quick exposition. We got two countries, they don’t like each other, they are using spies, blah blah.

SHODDY WORLDBUILDING:

In Japanese they are straight up written Eastern Country and Western Country (with “Ostania” and “Westalis”) in furigana. Tatsuya Endo, please.

There is one spy who’s the best tho

Here he is!! It’s our boy!!

He’s bamboozled that bad guy out of those silly pictures!! Time to also be mean to the dude’s daughter.

lol what a dick

A NOTE ON FASHION:

“Robert” is not as fashionable as “Loid,” the double breasted suit was already on the way out in the early 60s (The SXF vibe seems to be early 60s? Except when it isn’t?) being replaced by the single breasted suits we generally see him wearing. Edgar also is wearing a double breasted suit, but he doesn’t seem like the type to worry about fashion trends.

Loid however does seem to really care about looking sharp, and I’m proud of him for that. It’s basically his only non spy-related interest. Maybe someday he will have two interests!

Loid gives Karen a new complex, and then waltzes out of her life. Onto the next mission!

SHODDY WORDBUILDING:

Berlint 😂

On the train to Berlint, Loid learns that he has to become a fake dad for silly bullshit reasons that are vital to world peace. This silly bullshit is called Operation Strix, and it is so, so important. The most important mission ever.

I wonder if there’s some significance to the name Strix? It’s a mythological creature, but also a genus of owl. In Japanese it’s written 梟, which literally means owl, so maybe the mythological part is not intended?? I want to know more.

The early art is weird at times

ON THE SPELLING “LOID”:

I hate it.

The real estate guy asks him if he has a girl or a boy, and he says he doesn’t know yet. I feel like I should hate these jokes where Loid says something mind-blowingly suspicious, but I actually love it every time.

Anyhow! On to step two: secure a child.

Tatsuya Endo has a real talents for making just the most detestable jerks. I love to hate you, drunk shitty orphanage guy!

It’s her!! It’s Anya!! The early art is, again, a little weird here.

The absurdly hard crossword puzzle is such a good gag.

Daughter acquired!

ON THE TRANSLATION “PAPA”:

I love it. There’s no real equivalent to “chichi” in English, so they went with something that means dad, but is also a little weird and a little baby talk-y. Perfect. I watched a couple episodes of a fan sub of the anime, and they translated it as “Daddy” which is cute but is simply not weird enough. Anya is a Weird Little Girl.

Anya immediately begins helping, by acting deeply weird and suspicious. We love it.

I love that Spy Wars is just always on somehow.

Onwards! They go out and do some shopping! Anya is a lot! Loid doesn’t understand her! He goes to his local library about it, which is kind of adorable? And gives an early glimpse into a fundamental aspect of his character. With enough information, Loid can accomplish anything. He is certain of this. He has built his whole life around this concept.

LOID HAS NEVER HAD FUN IN HIS LIFE:

You are accidentally playing hide and seek with your daughter somehow, with no idea that it is even happening. Amazing.

Anyhow he finally barricades her in the fucking house lol

It’s Franky!! I love you, Franky.

He tells Loid that his new kid legally does not exist, and has been returned to the orphanage 4 times, and Loid decides not to look further into any of that. Greatest spy in the west.

Meanwhile Anya is causing problems. I love her.

Edgar is back, which doesn’t make sense because the Edgar stuff was happening in another city, but I guess Edgar is just also in Berlint now for some reason.

We get a brief flashback to Anya’s time as an Eleven-style lab rat, which is sad. What does “studying” entail? I think we will all be sad when we find out ☹️

Loid returns and we are treated to a sick. ass. fight. Loid takes a guy out with a can of tuna. He breaks a chair over a dude’s head. I think there was some commentary from Endo (maybe in Eyes Only?) about how using improvised weapons just hits harder. We know more about cans of tuna than guns or whatever. We can imagine what taking a tuna can to the face would feel like.

What a dick.

Anyhow, Loid bamboozles the same guy with the same trick a second time, bravely rescuing Anya, and now it is time for a sad flashback

Don’t cry, little german boy.

Anyhow, the world where kids don’t cry thing should be so corny, but they really pull it off somehow.

For some reason he decides to walk back into danger and beat those guys up?

When did he have time to set these traps??

Sick

Loid kicks everyone’s asses, and then, there’s Anya waiting for him, and she wants to stay with him. This is the moment. This is the moment where he realized, subconsciously, that he loves her. Consciously is still a work in progress. But like, he already cares about her so much. It’s been been like 2 days, and he’s gone from “I hate kids” to “I can’t abandon this little girl who I callously adopted to use for my own purposes”

(…This is the plot of the Despicable Me, isn’t it?)

This little scene on the streetcar warms my heart. Papa is a cool liar.

Ok, jesus christ this chapter is long. I didn’t realize that we also have getting into Eden happening the first chapter??

Anya takes the entrance exam, her cheating plan, as usual, does not really work out, but she does her best and she passes.

Loid experiences a single moment of relief and collapses 😂 The man is so powered by sheer anxiety that his body doesn’t know how to react.

Anya gets the mail, there is a little cute cuddling, and then, the kicker! We need a mama!!

Chapter rating 4/5

A little too much stuff happens in this first chapter, on reread. The streetcar scene is such a logical ending! The Eden test, and then the subsequent complication of needing 2 parents felt tacked on, almost like that should have been padded out a little and made its own chapter, but also I am eager to get to my girl Yor so 🤷‍♀️

Looking back on some of their earlier interactions, Loid has not been thinking through Strix logically from the start. This kid has no birth certificate, and she has been repeatedly returned to the orphanage like a naughty puppy for no obvious reason. She is (allegedly) 6 and she solved a crossword where one of the words was “symplectomorphism” with no adult assistance?? There are some questions he should be asking here, but instead he’s buying her posters and snacks.

He hasn’t had anything to love in so long, you guys. He’s going to love this kid with everything he has, it’s just going to be a long, long time before he understands that it’s love.

[elisysd]

7. Maybe together we can get somewhere

Masterlist - Previously - Next

Chapter soundtrack: Tracy Chapman - Fast Car

The sun was piercing through the curtains, waking up Julia. She took her time getting out of bed, letting the memories over the previous night rush over her. She took a quick shower before putting on an old Ferrari tee-shirt that she once borrowed from her dad (and never gave back) and some sweatpants. She was going to work a little bit on the data that some engineer from Warsaw had sent yesterday. She needed to be comfortable. A quick detour to the kitchen to make herself some toast and a cappuccino and she was ready to face her day. She came back to her room and sat at her desk. Before logging in, she unplugged her phone and quickly wen through the few texts messages and social media notifications. Her gaze was attracted by a name trending on Twitter and soon a text message from the same person that was under the spotlight on the app.

It worked.

She knew that she should stay away from the posts on social media, but curiosity got the better of her. She clicked on Ethan’s name and soon she was overwhelmed with pictures of them in the restaurant and hundreds of comments of people trying to guess who the girl in the pictures was. Investigations had begun and Julia knew it was only a matter of time before they get to her. A part of her knew that nothing would give away that it was her. The picture was blurry, the only thing you could see was her back and a brunette wearing a black dress was something pretty common. That was the rational part of her brain that was talking. But the tiny insecure one couldn’t help but play the devil’s advocate. What if someone had seen her and decided to speak? What if there were other pictures that were not online yet and someone decided to release them? Monaco was after all a small city, almost a village where everyone knew everyone. She could feel herself spiralling and nausea coming over her. She only had time to go to the toilet before emptying her stomach.

“Julia? Are you okay,” asked her mom that was passing by.

She knelled beside her daughter and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“I’m fine, I must have eaten something that my stomach didn’t like yesterday, that’s it.”

“You sure? Did everything go well yesterday? I didn’t hear you coming back.”

Julia’s only answer was to throw up again. It was as if her body was trying to tell her that the whole thing was a bad idea. She felt her mom’s cold hand on her neck and then moving up to her forehead.

“I’m not sick, mom.”

“You are throwing up and you are shivering, excuse me to feel a little worried.”

“It’s just the stress. That’s it. We have a lot of work to do…”

It was not a lie. It was just not the reason why Julia felt so sick.

“I knew it might not be a good idea to let you work in F1 right after graduating…” she heard her mom sigh.

“That’s my dream. I don’t want to work anywhere else.”

“I know, but sometimes you have to delay your dreams in order to feel ready. Maybe you could have started in F2, I know Fred still have some ties with Art Grand Prix…”

“No! I’m okay. I just need to get used to the pressure and I’ll be fine.” explained Julia, getting up.

“Come with me, I was about to make myself some tea. I’ll make you one. You need to drink.

Julia followed her mom as they make their way to the kitchen. Julia sat on a bar stool and watched silently her making the water boil in the kettle. The comfort silence was suddenly interrupted by angry footsteps coming from her father’s office. She heard him hanging up his phone call with rage and barging through the kitchen’s doors before sitting on the stool next to her. From the corner of her eyes she saw her mom taking another mug from the cabinet and pour a third cup of tea for her dad.

“What is happening?” asked Charles’ wife.

“We are screwed. We are not going to win a championship this year. It’s over. Lamborghini won.” he explained.

“Didn’t take you for a quitter, honey. That’s not the man I married.”

“It’s just… the data between the simulation and the actual data we collect during the race are strictly different. We are losing speed during straight lines, with or without DRS. We don’t know where the problem comes from yet, but I just had a call with our technical director isn’t optimistic about the upgrades we are working on for the Casa Grand Prix. I know I shouldn’t tell you that Julia, but I needed to let this out.”

Julia had rarely seen her dad so defeated and frustrated. Sure it happened before, when he was still driving, but he never was under the amount of pressure a Team Principal could receive and Julia could see the toll it was taking in him. She drank the rest of her tea in one gulp and went back to her room. Rummaging through her suitcase, she finally found the envelope she was searching for. She took out the USB drive and plugged it in her computer. In front of her eyes, dozen of documents could be seen. Pictures of the car, of notes taken by engineers, of date displaying on screens even blueprints of the car that Ethan might have copied from someone else’s computer. She was impressed by the dedication of her fake boyfriend to get her onboard. He really was not joking when he told her that he had important pieces of information. Of course, some things were lacking but Julia knew that if she studied them really hard, she could fill the blanks. A least she hoped so.

Downtown Monte-Carlo, in his flat Ethan was expecting Maserati’s PR manager phone call and was not surprises when he received it, right after his morning run.

“What were you thinking? We asked you to fake settling down not keep acting like a dick!”

Ethan sighed before drinking a huge glass of water in one gulp.

“And I’m working on it, but I can’t appear at the next GP with a girl out of nowhere. We have to make it believable. That’s what I’m doing. I called the paps yesterday. It’s under control, relax.”

“Who is the girl?” she asked.

“Not going to say. You will corner her and make her sign stuff, I know you. I don’t want you to make her run away, it was hard enough to get her onboard.”

“Ethan…”

“No. You will know when I’ll deem it useful for you to know. For now it’s not the case, but don’t worry, she is perfect. You have to trust me.”

He couldn’t help but smile, imaging the PR officer probably rolling her eyes at the idea of having to trust him. She was pissed of, he could hear it. But he didn’t care. For once, he had control on his life. Ever since he started to get big and under the spotlight, people tried to get advantage of his image. He stopped counting the number of brands that contacted him and the photoshoots he had done in the past. And of course people that tried to use him because of his father. He was not stupid, contrary to what other people might think and what it seemed. He knew who he could trust and who he couldn’t. But as his dad once said to him, really early in his career: “ You will attract dishonest people like corpses attract vultures, don’t hesitate to use them the way they will use you.”

“You’ve never made it easy for us to trust you.”

“See that as a new start.” he replied.

Ashley ended the call, not without making him promise to not do anything stupid. They didn’t need another scandal. Right after hanging up, his phone rang again and the name of his mother appeared on the screen. Ethan wondered if he should ignore it. He knew why his mother was calling, she must had seen the pictures and she wanted to know everything. But Ethan knew better, if he was not answering she was perfectly capable to come to his place and that was the last thing he wanted.

“Mom…”

“Were you on a date yesterday?” was the first thing she asked.

“Oh I’m fine mom. My flight was amazing and I made it home safely. The beginning of the season is not so great but I hope it will get better. I’m so happy you asked.”

“Smartass. So, do I know her? Is she from Monaco? How long have you seen each other? Why am I not aware of anything? You don’t tell me anything about your life lately…” she complained.

“Maybe I’m not telling you anything because it’s always like this! You are intrusive. It doesn’t matter what i do or it’s not good enough or it’s too risky or it’s too stupid. But it’s my life. I’m not fifteen anymore, I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”

He didn’t know where this was coming from. Probably a mix of everything that had happened the last few days. He was tired, under pressure and a part of him was scared the whole fake-dating would turn sour really quickly. He din’t entirely trust Julia. After all, he was giving the responsibility to save his career to a girl that hated his guts.

“I’m worried about you. And I wouldn’t need to if you had given me reasons to trust you in the past.”

He knew this conversation was not going anywhere. They both were too stubborn to admit their wrongdoings.

“How is dad?” he asked.

“Don’t try to change the subject, I still want to know who that girl is.”

“And I won’t tell you.”

“Is she from Monaco? Or Italian maybe? Or French?”

“She is Monegasque, born and raised here. See, happy?” he ended up saying, fed up by her questions.

“Oh so I might know her, then. Monaco is not that big.”

Ethan knew his mom. She was going to dig he was sure of it and that was the last thing he wanted. Because she knew that she was going to talk to other people and soon everyone will know that Ethan was dating someone. And that would mess with the whole plan him and Julia had come up with.

“Mom, it’s still early and I’m not even sure it will lead anywhere. Please, I’m not asking for much just let me go at my own pace and if it becomes serious I’ll let you know. I promise. But for now it’s too soon.”

He heard her sigh.

“Fine. Just one more question. How long has it been going on? Because with the scandal…”

“It’s been a few weeks.”

And that was another lie he could add on the pile that was starting to get big. He had to explain it to Julia so they wouldn’t mess with their relationship timeline in case questions were raised.

“Okay. Well, I’m happy for you Ethan, really. And I will be waiting for the day I’ll get to meet her. I won’t force you to talk about her if you don’t feel ready but you must care a lot about her if you are asking me to not mingle in your life. I’m glad you are happy and you finally found someone you want to spend time with.”

Ethan couldn’t help but feel a pinch of regret in his heart. He could hear his mom being genuinely happy for him and he knew that if she happened to know about the lie, it would crush her. He said his goodbye to her, promising to visit her soon and decided to go out. He needed to clear his mind after this conversation and to forget how of a liar he had become in the span of a few days. He was not proud of it. He felt bad, but Ethan was ready to do anything to keep his seat, even if he had to go as far as lying and potentially hurting his loved ones. He just hoped that the truth would never see the light of the day.He put on a jacket that was lying on his couch and left his flat. It was windy in Monaco, even a bit chilly, he could feel the salty air coming from the sea on his face. He took a deep breath before turning his dead to the left to see if a car was passing by before crossing the road and was surprised to notice a silhouette that he was becoming familiar with running in his direction.

Her brown hair pulled in a ponytail was bouncing from left to right, rhythmically with her footsteps. When she finally arrived near him, she was breathless and bright red from her run. He was about to say something when she interrupted him, pointing her finger in front of his face, silently shutting him up.

“Louis knows.” she said.

Ethan took a minute to understand what she meant.

“He knows? About us? What did you tell him?”

“Nothing, I swear. My brother is a genius and knows me better than anyone. I didn’t say anything, he put 2 and 2 together. He thinks we are dating. ”

“But you didn’t deny it.”

“I don’t want to lie to him.”

“Well you did lie, because technically we are not dating for real.”

“I don’t want to lie to him more than necessary.” she added.

“My mom is suspicious. I mean, you know her, you know how much she likes gossips so it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that she knows about the rumours and she saw the pictures. It will probably only be a matter of time before she finds out about you and I.”

Julia leaned over the wall and let herself gliding to the floor. She didn’t think about that. She didn’t think about how great friends her mom and Ethan’s were. If Kat met up with Lyanna, chances were high that they would talk about their kids. And Ethan’s dating life would be mentioned and then Lyanna would probably tell Kat that Julia had been on a date, because Julia knew for sure that her mom didn’t believe her when she said she was going to meet some friends. And then, their cover would blow up. Their moms would questioned them. Julia closed her eyes and try to take a deep breath that was soon caught up in her throat preventing her from exhaling normally. She tried to stand and started to pace back in forth, her breathing shallow, to organised her thoughts. But no matter how hard she tried to compartment her thoughts, new ones were adding up to the pile and she soon felt like the whole world was crushing down on her shoulders. She tried to keep the tears from falling by shaking her head but it was no use.

Ethan didn’t know what to do and he ended up doing the one thing he thought about. He put his body in front of her and his two hands on her shoulders firmly, forcing her to stop. She looked at him, anchoring herself in his blue eyes that was staring at her with a harden look.

“Julia… hey, Joolsie. Stop and listen to me. We are in this shit together, I dragged you into it. I may be an ass but i’m not ungrateful. You were kind enough to help me and you will go through enough of shit because of me. I promise you, I will try to make this whole dating thing the less painful possible. I owe you a big one, I’m not going to let you down. And you know me, you know that when I promise something, I don’t back down on it.”

It calmed her down a little bit. They tacitly decided to walk along the harbour, as Ethan lived nearby and they knew that there wouldn’t be a lot of people. The walk was silent as they didn’t know what to say. Julia was still deep in her thoughts and Ethan was eyeing her from the side. She really looked like Charles, he thought. The same way to carry themselves, the same hazel eyes, the same driven attitude and fiery look when they set their eyes on something. He never really paid attention before. He would even go as far as to say that she was pretty and in another life, she would have been his type. But she was Julia and he was Ethan and so, he put this thought in a box and far away in his mind.

They found a quiet spot away from the main road and near the sea. They sat on the only bench and looked at the coastline.

“This is my favourite place when I need somewhere to cool off.” Ethan told her, breaking the silence.

“Mine is the big cabin in our garden, at home. It’s used as a screaming room when someone needs to let go of some stress or anger. It was my mom’s idea, so no one would shout again one another and Louis had somewhere to go if he felt the need to be on his own, in a safe environment.” she explained with a bittersweet smile when she mentioned her brother.

“How is he? Is he still home schooled?”

“Yeah. It’s still hard for him to be around a lot of people for more than an hour…”

“But, how can he get used to it if your parents keep him sheltered?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell them but… they are scared I guess.”

‘It must be hard, no? To have a brother like him.’

He saw her glared at him and added quickly that in no mean did he think that Louis wasn’t normal.

“He has ups and down. Like everyone, I guess. But his are always very high or very low. He doesn’t know how to recognise what he feels. It can take him days to put a word on a feeling. So, yeah… it’s hard. Sometimes it feels like no matter what we all do to help him, it’s not enough.”

“Does he have friends or is he really lonely?”

“He has Percy, Lando’s son. I don’t know if Louis considers him as friend, but I know that they chat online from time to time. That’s the closest thing he has of a friend and contact with the outside world.” she fidgeted with her red bracelet, her gaze set on it.

“And you, do you have friends, Joolsie?”

She was about to answer when a girl interrupted them. She was young, probably around fourteen years old with blond curls falling down on her shoulders.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt but, are you Ethan Verstappen?”

Julia looked away and put distance between them as Ethan replied with a smiled and posed with the girl for a selfie. As she left, not without thanking Ethan one last time and wishing him the best of luck for the season, they left their spot and wandered off the street. As they were planning their next move, Julia’s phones buzz and a text from her mom appeared on the screen.

It’s getting late, Ju’. Are you far from home?

She looked at the time and realised that she was almost late for dinner and the sun was about to set.

“I have to go. I don’t want to upset my mom more than she probably already is, I didn’t realise that it was late. We’ve been out for hours, I didn’t notice.” she told Ethan.

“Who would have thought that we could manage to stay out together for hours and not rip each other’s heads off? Look, we made it out alive. Maybe, this whole fake dating thing might work.” Ethan teased her.

She laughed slightly before waving him goodbye.

When she finally got back home and was surprised to see her dad playing with Bailey and her ball. He was sitting down on the stairs of the porch and seemed down which alarmed Julia. She didn’t like seeing him like this because it meant that something happened with Louis.

“Dad? Is everything okay?”

He looked up to her and sighed, before scooting over to give her some space to sit down.

“I messed up with your brother. Again.” he confessed with a low voice.

“What happened?” she asked gently putting her head on his shoulder as she felt her dad’s cheek resting on the top of her head.

“I involuntarily triggered him and now he locked himself in his room and doesn’t want to see anyone. He… he was playing piano and I… I’m stupid. I just thought that maybe I could play with him, that it could be a nice bonding moment. That if I can’t get through him with words maybe I can let music do the talking, you know? I startled him. I know that I should have made myself seen. Instead I just went and scared him. He started to panic because he didn’t feel that I was around and I tried to reassure him. I naturally put a hand on his shoulder and I shouldn’t have. I know that he doesn’t like when someone touch him without his permission. And he started to scream. The more I was trying to calm him down, the worst I made everything.”

“It’s not your fault, dad…” Julia tried to comfort him.

“I fail him, Ju’. Times and times again. I’ve always failed him and I keep on doing so. Why am I such a bad dad to him?”

“You’re not a bad dad. You try your best, like you always do. And maybe it won’t be today or tomorrow, but I know that it will get better. Because when you want something, you do everything you can to achieve it.”

She felt her dad’s head nuzzling against hers and his embrace being stronger.

“I love you, princess. I feel like I don’t tell you that enough.”

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it before standing up. The house was quiet. Her feet dragged her to her brother’s bedroom where her mother was talking to a closed door.

“Louis, baby, please open the door. Talk to me, please. Daddy is so sorry he didn’t want any of that to happen.”

She seemed tired and Julia regretted to have not come back earlier. Maybe if she had been there, the incident wouldn’t have happened.

“Mom? I’m taking it from here. Go see dad, I think he needs you.”

“You sure?”

Julia nodded and when her mom was out of sight she stuck her ear against the door, trying to hear something from the inside.

“Hey munchkin. Can I come in? I promise you, it’s only me.”

She waited for what felt like minutes before the door opened slightly. It was just a crack but it was big enough to allow Julia to slip through it. Louis was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall near the door. Getting closer to him, Julia noticed he was shaking slightly. She sat beside him, careful to not go to close in case it would trigger another crisis.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked softly, her voice barely a whisper.

“Dad hates me.” he ended up saying, is voice hoarse from the screaming and the crying.

“Why would you think that?”

“I just know it. He is ashamed of me.”

“Louis… it’s not true. You know that.”

“Yes it is. I surprised a conversation between him and mom once. I know it’s bad to eavesdrop and I didn’t want to but then I heard my name…”

“What did you hear?”

“Dad saying that he would have loved to have a son that was into racing and who would have been like him. That he would have loved to know how grandpa was feeling when dad was competing in karting. Because it would have brought him closer to his dad. He would have preferred to have a normal son and not a weirdo like me. He didn’t say that but it felt like it.”

Julia didn’t really know what to say but one thing was for sure, she knew that Louis had misinterpreted whatever he had heard and was not meant to. She would talk to her mom about it later.

“Normality is overrated Louis. And I wouldn’t want another brother. You are perfect just the way you are.”

It made him feel a little bit better. At least he wasn’t shaking anymore. She pulled out of her pockets his favourite sweets that she always kept on her in case of emergency occurring with him. The smile that she managed to get it from him, made her happy and it’s with a lighter heart that she went back to her room. As she was about to plugged her phone, she saw he text from Ethan, appearing at the top of her notifications.

Hey, I hope you made it home safe and sound. The fan that asked for a picture earlier posted it online and she said that I was with who she thought was my girlfriend. It’s on a lot of gossip accounts. Just thought that I should let you know. Take care.

Julia gulped. Of course it was something that she imagined could have happened but she was so used to control everything that this slight inconvenience in their plan well thought was enough to make her anxious. It was real now, they could not back down. She couldn’t, not anymore. She opened Instagram and went to her profile. Maybe it was time for her to make it public. It would give her a sense of control over what was posting about her. She went in the app setting and opened the access to her profile.

author's note: This chapter was a pain in the ass to write so I'm very curious to have your thoughts about this one.

Don't hesitate to leave a comment or an ask, as well as reblogging and leaving a like. It helps a lot for the story to find its audience. I also have a taglist for this story, so if you want to be added so you never miss a chapter, let me know.

Taglist:

@herondalism @aundercover @musingsbyshreya @karmabyfernando @reengard @mycenterfold @smoooothoperator

[thegettingbyp2]

Can you do one that involves this version of Aaron singing a mashup of I can't make you love me/All I ask?

https://youtu.be/toJ-UZLRSkM

Maybe he's really hopelessly and truly in love with the reader but she feels like she isn't good enough for him. Maybe he's trying to let her know that she really is the only one he'll ever love. And she shows up to his concert where he sings this, and he sees her in the crowd.

Believe Me When I Say I Love You

You were head over heels for your best friend. The two of you had been friends for around ten years and you couldn’t remember a time since then that you had been there for each other whenever the other needed. However, the more time you spent with Aaron, the more you caught yourself falling from him. You wanted nothing more than to tell Aaron how you felt but you also knew that he deserved to be with someone so much better than you.

So, when Aaron turned to you out of the blue one day and told you that he thought that he was falling in love with you, you were quick to shut down any and every attempt he made to convince you:

‘(Y/N), can you just listen to what I’m trying to tell you?’ Aaron asked desperately as you shut him down for the fifth time that week.

‘There’s no point,’ you replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, ‘you don’t mean it. You just think you do.’

You watched as Aaron’s jaw clenched tightly in annoyance and you wanted nothing more than to run your thumb soothingly over his jaw until he relaxed again. You couldn’t look into his eyes because you knew that the moment you did, you’d melt into him and spill all of your own feelings and you knew that Aaron didn’t need to hear them. Aaron stood staring at you for a few seconds before his shoulders deflated and he let out a heavy sigh.

‘I think I should probably head home for a while, I’ve got to be at the theatre in a couple of hours anyway,’ he said quietly, this time it was him not meeting your eyes. He turned around and started to walk back down the street the way the two of you had just come.

‘Aaron,’ you called, not wanting him to walk away so upset with you. ‘I’m sorry,’ you said when he turned around to face you. He gave you a soft smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes before turning back around and disappearing around the corner.

You’d been avoiding Aaron for the past two weeks, hoping that the distance would help him get over his little crush quicker. It didn’t stop him from constantly messaging you though; constantly apologising, thinking that it was his fault that you weren’t talking to him. After two weeks of his constant messages, you were surprised when you looked at your phone one evening and saw that you only had one message from him that day:

‘Hey, I promise I’m not going to try to get you to talk to me again but I just wanted to let you know I’ve got a gig tonight if you wanted to come? It’d be nice to see you there.’

Your heart twisted in your chest as you read the message and you could just tell that he was upset at the fact he hadn’t heard from you for the past two weeks. You decided that the least you could do was go to the gig, cheer him on and then apologise for ignoring him afterwards and explain why. To kill the time, you clicked onto Twitter where you saw that Aaron was practically trending. Curious, you searched his name and were shocked when you saw all the tweets from people wondering who this mystery woman was who had broken his heart.

Underneath a few of the tweets, there was videos from people who had gone to see Aaron in Moulin Rouge and filmed the last section of Roxanne. Even if you didn’t know Aaron better than you knew yourself, you’d be absolutely stupid if you didn’t notice how broken-hearted Aaron looked, you knew that his character was supposed to be tormented during the song but something about these videos didn’t sit right with you and you knew that Aaron wasn’t acting; especially when he’d sing “believe me when I say I love you.’ You spent the rest of the afternoon, scrolling through the tweets and before you knew it, you were grabbing your shoes and heading out of your door to go to Aaron’s gig, determined to set things right between you.

Due to the Subway being busy, you got to the gig a little late and Aaron was midway through a song. You tried to blend in with the crowd by hanging around the back so you wouldn’t cause a commotion by trying to get to the front but, almost as if he had a secret radar that told him you were close, Aaron’s gaze moved over to you and you watched as his whole body picked up as he finished his song, not daring to take his eyes off of you.

‘So, this next one, I wasn’t actually planning on doing tonight but something’s changed, someone I wasn’t actually expecting to be here tonight has come so we’re going for it and I hope it turns out okay so, bear with me,’ he said, causing a low chuckle to reverberate around the room from the audience. The piano started a soft melody as Aaron practically turned his whole body until he was facing you, his eyes not leaving yours as he began to sing.

As soon as he started singing, you recognised the song immediately as ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’ and the way he was watching you as he was essentially pouring his heart out to you, you knew that he meant every single word that was leaving his lips. Tears began to prick at your eyes when you heard the piano start to change and he went into ‘All I Ask’ by Adele.

For the whole duration of the medley, it felt like it was only you and Aaron in the room and you were only reminded of everyone else when the applause set in. From the looks of it, Aaron was feeling the exact same and as soon as the applause had started to die down, he called an interval, heading over to you as soon as he’d put his microphone down.

‘You came!’ he said gently, a soft smile gracing his features. ‘I know you don’t want to hear any of it but that - are you okay?’ he asked when he realised that you had tears streaming down your cheeks. His thumb automatically reached out to brush your tears away and without thinking, you nuzzled your cheek into his palm; God, you’d missed him.

‘I’m so sorry. I knew what you were going to say the other week and I had to stop you before you could finish because I didn’t want to turn you down because of course I love you too, Aaron, it’s just that you deserve to be with someone so much better than me.’ You braved looking up at his face and you inwardly cringed when you saw the frown on his face, thinking that you had completely missed the mark.

‘Is that really what you think?’ he asked in almost a whisper. ‘You think that you’re not good enough for me. (Y/N), if anything, it’s the other way around. You’re incredible! You’re my best friend and there’s no one else I’d rather be with. We know each other in a way I don’t even know how to describe and I know that we would be amazing together. The past two weeks have been absolute hell, I haven’t been able to focus on anything and I’ve even had people asking me if I’m okay after they’ve been to see the show.’

‘Woah, slow down, hey, you’re okay,’ you soothed when you realised that Aaron was talking so fast, wanting to get everything off of his chest that he wasn’t giving himself room to breathe. Your hands came up to gently rest on his chest and his hands gripped yours like a lifeline, like his was scared that if he let go, you were going to disappear.

‘(Y/N), please can we give this a go. I love you and loving you has made me realise that I don’t think I’ve ever been in love before you came into my life because I have never felt the way I feel about you with anyone else.’

You smiled softly and looked down at your feet, however, Aaron’s hand quickly came up to your chin and tilted your head back up to look at him. You inhaled softly when you realised that he was a lot closer than you thought and his lips curved into a gentle smirk when he heard your gasp.

‘Please,’ he mumbled, not tearing his eyes away from your lips or letting go of your chin. It was in that moment that you decided to say “screw it” to all of the doubts you’d placed in your own head and you mumbled an ‘I love you,’ before wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling yourself against him until your lips crashed together.

[remisummerglow]

#shrinkyourboyfriend - Social Media Giantess prologue

Sylvia sat on the bed, fiddling with her phone while Thomas, a childhood friend, awkwardly stood in front of her. The guy was leaning on the wall, stealing some glances at her curves while wondering why in the world she invited him to her room all of a sudden after years of barely talking to each other.

He wasn't straightforward enough to ask her that, so he went for a more neutral question. "Umm... what are you watching?" he asked, noticing the girl was playing a video.

"Oh, this?" she replied. “It's a new trend. Haven't you seen it?”

Thom quickly recognized it - it was an annoying fad that had become popular since shrinking toys were mass-produced. On the internet, they usually were tagged "shrink-your-boyfriend", videos in which girls used their shrink rays to reduce their boyfriends to various sizes and have them perform the most ridiculous tasks - or in a lot of cases, have them being subjected to their whims.

In the video Sylvia was playing, a girl playfully opened her mouth and rolled out her tongue, revealing a one-inch tall man standing on top of it.

In the next video from the playlist, a young man was hanging by the back pocket of his girlfriend's tight jean shorts, leaving Thom wondering if the point of the video was to participate in the shrinking boyfriend trend or just to showcase the girl's beautiful ass.

"So," asked Sylvia, taking her phone back from Thom. "What do you think?"

"Heh," Thom dryly responded. "Seems like another useless trend."

Sylvia appeared disappointed. "Of course you would say that," she complained.

"Why, do you like them?" Thom inquired.

"I think they're fun-" Sylvia said. "But mostly, I see this trend as an opportunity."

"An opportunity?" Thom repeated, his curiosity piqued.

"An opportunity for me to gain more followers!" Sylvia declared, grinning.

Thom sighed. He knew that Sylvia was really into social media lately, so this came as no surprise. "So you plan on joining this trend then," Thom said. "Good for you."

"Thanks. But in my vision, you’ll be part of it as well."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, hello? What do you think? The trend is about shrinking guys... it's obvious that I would be shrinking you, isn’t it?"

"But I'm not your boyfriend," Thom coyly said, still trying to decide if he should have been happy with where this conversation was going.

"Sheesh Thom, thanks for telling me!" Sylvia exclaimed sarcastically. “Nobody will care or know. Besides, how am I supposed to participate in this trend when I'm single? What matters is that I shrink you and we do neat things in front of the camera - together."

"Fair enough but... I don't want to sound greedy or anything, but what exactly do I get out of this?" was his perplexed answer.

Sylvia sighed, rolling her eyes. "Popularity, Thom. A lot of people will watch our videos!"

"I'm not sure I want to be popular for being turned into a shrunken man, though," he reasoned.

"How about being popular for being in a video with me?" winked Sylvia.

"That's hardly better..."

The brunette shook her head. "Fine, fine," she concluded. "I just wanted to make my own version of this, but if you don’t feel like helping, I guess I could find plenty of guys who would love to do this with me...” She showed Thom a clip where a busty girl dropped an inch-sized man right in the center of her breasts, the miniature man helplessly disappearing in the middle of her cleavage line. When the video ended, he couldn’t help but steal a glance at his friend’s own cleavage: Sylvia was just as well-endowed as the girl in the video, so she certainly could pull the same trick off.

Flustered by the prospect, Thom was rapidly changing his tune. "Well I never said I wasn't going to do it,” he declared.

Sylvia grinned, satisfied with how easy it had been to manipulate her friend. "So you accept?"

"Yeah,” he conceded, “but… don’t get the wrong idea, I’m only doing this because I feel like helping you.”

"Yay!" Sylvia squealed, and quickly started typing something on her phone. "I sent you a shrink request," she explained. "You're going to give me permission to control your size for the next five hours."

"Five hours? Do we really need all that time to make a bunch of clips?” he asked.

Sylvia shrugged. “Just a precaution to be on the safe side. If we’re done before that time, I can always restore you.”

“Guess I won’t be home for dinner then…” Thom thought aloud.

“We can always share mine,” Sylvia giggled. “At the size you’re going to be you will be full just from my crumbs.”

“Huh," Thom said, clicking on the new notification on his phone screen. He accepted, though he almost instantly felt like he was going to regret this.

Sylvia was already pointing the shrinking device at him. "Hey, couldn't we think this through a little..."

"Silly boy," Sylvia teased him. "You've already given permission," and she pushed the button on the device.

"Wait - how small am I going...”

"You'll see-" she interrupted him.

When Thom felt a tingling sensation all over his body, fear started striking him and he cursed himself for accepting. What if shrinking caused some strange side effects? What if he was going to get hurt while he was small? But it was too late to back down then, and it was certainly too late once he saw the bedroom becoming larger and larger…

Sylvia’s gaze was glued on the tiny man who was dwindling in real-time in front of her eyes. In a matter of seconds, he was already a head shorter than she was, and the shrinking continued. She squealed as she watched Thom becoming shorter and shorter, until she had to bend down to take a good look at him.

“It’s working!” she announced to the now two-feet-tall man.

“Yeah, I can see that!” sarcastically remarked Thom. Becoming shorter than Sylvia felt uncanny already, but now he was rapidly reaching into less-than-human sizes. The brunette watched with glee as he lost more of his height, until he was no taller than three inches.

“Huh?” she said. He was keeping shrinking, even when the process should have stopped already. She looked at her phone screen to realize her mistake. “God I’m silly,” she giggled. “I wrote 0,3 inches instead of 3 inches in the size box.”

“What?” said Thom, way past the point of being able to speak loud enough to be heard by a giant Sylvia.

“Sorry Thom,” she said as she stepped in front of him, dropping to her knees on the ground. Thom’s vision was now dominated by her bare knees, her skin visible through the cuts in her ripped jeans, while her cruise ship-sized sneakers followed just some centimeters behind. “My bad.”

Sylvia licked the tip of her fingertip and she placed it on top of the minuscule boy, who was instantly plastered to the girl’s wet skin.

Full story:

www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPZNSCCL

books2read.com/u/3y6Qqn