#if you've got some new stories to share I'm all ears

[illusionsofdreaming]

To this day I hope you post again 🙏

it's always tough receiving messages like these, since as a reader myself, I know the feeling of patiently waiting for a writer to post - be it meals or crumbs.

yet to be honest, I have no idea what to post anymore. I feel completely rusted in writing - I have the feeling of wanting to post but I can't seem to stop hating everything I write.

It's also been so long since I've read TCF, I'm not sure anything I write now will be relevant. My only comfort is that TCF's community has grown so much since I first started writing, nowadays you'll find plenty of better content out there haha

I, too, hope I post again in the future. I love reading and though I often go through an intense cycle of hatred for my own works, I always come back to writing.

So I do hope I do write and I wonder what I should write nowadays? Do people still read reader inserts?

More TCF?

New series...?

Anyways, I hope everyone who's still haunting this blog, a very, very nice weekend~

[ohwaitimthewriter]

The Memory Keeper

Chapter 1 : List.

Pairing : Noa x human reader

Warning : A bit of mourning. Otherwise, all clear for this one!

Summarize (please I'm so bad at writing these!): A woman, allowed to live as long as the virus keeps running through her body, living on autopilot for 260 years, is going to see her life takes a new turn, finding hope in something that might come to put an end to her wandering.

Words : 3.2k

A/N : It has been a long time since I've written something and it feels pretty good to get back at it with this story! I hope you'll like it and do not hesitate to share your thoughts or like/reblog, it's always appreciated! As English isn't my native language, I'm sorry if you find mistakes or weird wording in there, let me know if you find some and I'll be glad to correct them!

Enjoy your reading 😊

The Memory Keeper masterlist.

It wasn't going to be a difficult day. The list was ready, the tasks the same as the day before and the day after. You had to go to the river: catch a fish, fill the flasks with fresh water, bathe… You had to get on your horse and on the way back, stop at the 16th tree on the right, get off, walk 30 steps and fill the bag with blackberries. You had to avoid the brambles and avoid tripping over the prominent root. Get back on the horse and ride home.

Prepare the fish: remove the head and tail, the skin, gut it and remove the bones, light a fire to cook it. Yes, evolution had done many things, but it must have missed the episode where it was necessary to improve the human digestive system. So the fish still had to be cooked.

The garden had to be tended. Over the years, it had evolved too. It had been a long time in the making. A vegetable garden, tomatoes, green beans and, you couldn't quite remember how, artichokes had found their place too. An apple tree was easy to grow. It took time, but it was easy. And then there was this little gem you'd stumbled upon one day: a rosebush. It was an important one. You had to take care of it too.

You always had to do something.

Your hands knew what to do and how to do it. Your legs took you where you needed to go, and at that particular moment, they had led you to your horse. You had to remove his saddle and bridle, check his hooves and remove any stones that might have got stuck on them. Run your hand over his belly to loosen the skin compressed by the girth. And don't forget to give him a drink. When it came to eating, he found everything on his own, except perhaps an apple, which you gave him from time to time to thank him for his help. He knew how to ask, too. In fact, he huffed and gave you a nudge.

Okay, an apple.

He followed you to the apple tree and you climbed onto his back. You could reach the branches, but it was always difficult to keep your balance. Especially when your right hip wasn't working properly. And you sighed. It really wasn't convenient.

You had to go on with the list, what was next?

“ Hearing my voice at least once and speaking so I don't forget.”

This was important. You had to remember how to speak. The world had forgotten, but you must not. You had no right to forget.

“Say something new.”

And you looked around.

“It's cloudy today.”

Which meant rain wasn't far off. Your horse was now grazing beside you.

“You should take shelter.”

You smile, you'd said one more sentence today. Your horse's ears twitched as if to say “I do what I want” and you shrugged. After all, he was the one to decide. But you didn't want to get wet in the rain. You patted his neck and went off to find shelter in your wooden hut.

You've lived here for a long time. A very long time. So long that you no longer needed a torch to light up the big room when night fell or when the clouds darkened the place. You knew exactly where the shaky table was, the armchair with its deformed, hollowed-out seat and even the little plastic pot you kept forgetting to put back on the table to avoid getting your feet caught in it. And despite the years, you never tripped over it.

You were right to come home. You'd just had time to put the water flasks and the cooked fish on the table when a torrent of water hit the floor. The end of the list would have to wait. The timing was perfect, as your stomach signaled that it was time to fill up, and the smell of the wood-fired fish made your mouth water.

Settling back in your armchair, you ate the fish, watching the rain fall against the hut's only window. Eating with your hands was no longer as disturbing as it had been at first. There were a lot of memories that had slipped away over time, but you almost smiled when you thought back to the embarrassment you'd felt the first time you'd had to eat like that. If you'd known back then where you'd end up…

A sigh.

Drops tumbled against the window and some seemed to challenge themselves to get to the bottom first. They were following the path traced by others before them, but obviously not all roads were good ones to take. Some raindrops went straight down, others tried to cut off their opponents' path, and still others weaved in and out to create their own path. Then a raindrop caught your eye. It seemed the most likely to win the mad race. It glided and slalomed proudly until it landed delicately on your windowsill, blending in with its sisters who had landed there before it.

You turned your eyes to the last piece of fish, which you brought to your mouth.

You took one last look out the window, and that's when you caught sight of it.

A shadow.

A shadow had just moved past your window. The rain kept on pounding against it and you could see the trees in the distance stirring in the wind, and you were sure you saw the shadow moving, quickly to the right, but the shadow was gone. There were only raindrops, only the wind, and you could even hear the dull roar of an incipient thunderstorm.

A deep breath. You had to.

Then a sigh.

The rain and wind must have played a trick on you. If the storm picked up, you definitely wouldn't be able to finish your outdoor to-do list. But that didn't matter, there was still plenty to do inside.

First you had to tidy up. Keeping the interior clean and tidy was important, so you couldn't leave the water bottles on the table. You grabbed them and stepped over the little plastic pot that stood between the table and what you could call a kitchen. At least, that's what you would have called this part of the hut back in the day, because there was only a broken sink and a cupboard without a door. You passed the front door and it rattled against the latch in the wind. You had managed to install a branch across the door, allowing you to keep it closed in bad weather. However, as it didn't close very well, the wind always managed to rattle it between the branch and the latch. But you got used to the noise. So you walked past the shaky door to put the water bottles in the cupboard, and when you heard a suspicious rustling sound, you jumped, staring at the door.

You frowned at the unusual sound. You had been holding your breath, but the wind suddenly whistled through the doorframe, which was sorely lacking in hermetic seals. So you breathed out, taking a calmer breath. The wind. Mother Nature was definitely testing your nerves tonight.

Well, you still had to change your clothes. Night was coming on and you couldn't possibly sleep in your day clothes. You stepped over the little plastic pot again and made your way to the wooden chest beside the fireplace to find a t-shirt and a pair of jogging shorts with a hole in the left knee. Maybe one day you'd find a stray piece of fabric while walking through the forest, so you could mend it. But you hadn't yet got to the list asking you to explore the surrounding area.

There were 7 lists divided into 4 sections, themselves arranged in 12 categories. It was your way of keeping track of time. You no longer counted the days, let alone the years; you'd long since lost the very notion of time. But to grow crops, harvest the fruits of the forest and simply follow nature's millimetric events and be able to anticipate them, you needed a reference point. The lists, though mostly identical, were that reference point. Hanging on the wall with pieces of wood you'd carved yourself, they determined your days and the things you had to do.

You didn't really know when or how you'd started making these lists. But judging by the ink, half washed away by the years - some of the lists had even gone back to being blank - it must have been a long time ago.

You put the current day's list back in its place. Tomorrow, you'd have to complete it while carrying out the next one. But there was one more thing you needed to do indoors before settling into your armchair for the night. One last important thing.

From the chest, you took out a picture frame. The corners were worn, the wood had crumbled and you had to handle it carefully to avoid getting splinters in your hands. You set the frame down on the floor by the fireplace, knelt in front of it and reached into the jar on your right to pick a rose petal, which you placed carefully in the right-hand corner of the frame.

You struggled to swallow.

That's where it always got complicated.

Once again, you reached into the jar and pulled out 7 petals. You always needed 7 petals. You placed 6 of them in a circle on the dry twigs in the fireplace and began humming a song whose words you'd long since forgotten. But you remembered the feeling. You felt a lump in your throat, and you often wondered how you managed to keep the song going.

You hummed, and on the last petal, with the help of a needle, you delicately traced his initials. You had to be careful not to press too hard, you shouldn't pierce the petal, just brush against it enough to see, if you concentrated hard enough, the outline of the letter you were drawing. You also had to blink a few times to see clearly what you were doing. It was important to get it right. Once you'd written the letter on the petal, you laid it at the center of the circle.

It was always at this moment that your hands shook. You needed a moment. Just a bit of time.

You had to wipe your hands over your eyes, the most important thing was to handle the two flints on the floor with care. Your hands had to be steady, not shaking. You interrupted the song to get your breathing under control.

Inhale.

Breathe out.

Grab the flints.

Inhale.

Exhale.

A sharp stroke.

The clatter of the stone threw sparks onto the pile of twigs and a flame sprang up. You started humming again as the fire slowly consumed the wood until it reached the petals of the circle.

A tear.

The fire continued to progress and you stared desperately at the petal in the center, quickly ridding yourself of the tears that were blurring your vision. The flame touched the edge of the petal and you watched the letter “C” burn away and disappear into the ashes.

The flame faded as the twigs gradually disappeared and, once gone, you slipped the petal on the frame back into its jar.

Now you had to put the frame away. Your fingers brushed the edge of the picture inside of it. Despite the years, you had managed, by some miracle, to keep the photograph almost undamaged. At least, sufficiently intact that you could still distinguish the shape of an ape in the center of the picture, despite the cracks.

He was a force of nature. You had taken this photo on a December day, you still knew because you could still discern the white flakes clinging to his dark fur. Back then, you loved taking pictures.

What did they call you again?

The memory keeper.

Even after all this time, it still made you smile. You gently squeezed the frame between your fingers, keeping it balanced on the knees you'd just tucked in towards you. This way, he was a little closer to you.

You made an extra effort to remember the day. He was standing high enough to see everyone around him. He must have been talking about something important; he always had that powerful, soul-piercing stare when he was saying something important. But he always looked…

“Grumpy.”

You concluded your thought in a whisper that knotted your throat. Grumpy. You almost expected to hear him growl, his ego bruised, every time you reminded him that he was sometimes a little too grumpy. “Grumpy because a lot on my shoulders,” he'd snap back at you. “No, grumpy because you're old” you'd always reply, your eyes always playful. And you were the only one who could say such a thing, with the only result being an amused snore coming from him.

And you felt yourself take a deep breath. Of all the pictures you'd taken, this was the last one you had left. You had to put the frame back in the chest, so your fingers tightened even more around the wood. Your head tilted slightly forward, closing your eyes as the wood touched your forehead.

Tonight was difficult.

You took another deep breath, and before the knot in your throat hurt too much, you straightened up and went to put the frame in the chest.

“Caesar, tonight is really difficult,” you whispered, watching the shadow of the lid close over the frame.

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

It had been a restless night. When your eyes opened the next morning, they felt heavy and swollen, and you found yourself rubbing your eyes to try and make the heaviness go away.

Today, there was much to do. After changing from your night clothes to your day ones, you removed the branch blocking the door and let the sun shine in, warming your skin. The fresh early-morning air caressed your skin and you took a few seconds to smell the distinctive light scent that follows a thunderstorm.

No sooner had you taken a few steps forward than your feet bumped into something hard, causing you to lose your balance. In a fraction of a second, you found yourself on your butt on the ground, a stabbing pain in your right hip that had failed to move to stop you from falling.

“Ouch!” was the only thing that slipped out of your mouth.

You straightened up slightly, remaining seated in the grass, to see what had caused your fall and a pile of apples laid exactly under the wobbly small porch that covered your front door.

God, what a dummy not to have put that away last night. You thought to yourself, looking down at your hands full of dirt. You'd have to go to the river to clean it up, and now you'd just have to take your night clothes with you because you'd also have to wash the ones you were wearing-the mud from the storm must have dirtied your current clothes.

A pile of apples. You thought as you rubbed your hands together.

A pile of apples. You glanced at your right hip. Pfft, if you'd made Caesar break it to put it back in its place, you'd never have fallen today. In fact, you'd have avoided more than one fall.

All because of a misplaced pile of apples.

A pile of misplaced apples.

And like a light bulb switching on, your gaze suddenly fell on those apples that actually had nothing to do there. You hadn't gathered them the day before.

Then you heard it. A muffled purr came gently from behind you. Surely you should have turned around, stood up and dealt with it, but you'd found yourself rooted to the spot, eyes glued to those apples, waiting as an orangutan appeared in your field of vision.

And you refused to look at him, your hands balled into fists to keep them from shaking. You weren't afraid. No. But for some obscure reason, your brain had simply decided to freeze.

The orangutan once again let out a rumble, softer this time, and held out his hand to you.

“I'll help.”

His voice made you blink several times. You did your best to snap out of your stupor, but this time your eyes agreed to look at him, and the orangutan seemed delighted.

Just one more moment. It took another second, just one, to see your hand slip into his and before you knew it, you were back on your feet.

“Raka, we must go.”

The second voice surprised you a little. It sounded familiar and your eyes fell on a chimpanzee, a little further away, who had just finished saddling a horse. You frowned, your horse? You were trying to determine whether it was really yours, but the distance didn't allow you to be sure. There was only one way to find out.

So you whistled.

The horse shook its head and the chimpanzee didn't have time to grab the reins before your horse galloped off to meet you. They were going to take your horse… in exchange for a stack of apples?

You grabbed the reins and stroked the horse's neck as he snorted. He chewed the bit and blew heavily through his nostrils.

For a fraction of a second, you forgot about the two large apes who, from the sounds they were making, weren't particularly happy to have lost a chance of obtaining a second means of locomotion: in your peripheral vision, you could see another horse quietly grazing.

Your hands still knew what to do, and it didn't take you long to remove the bridle and bit from your horse's mouth.

“He doesn't like it.” you said simply.

And only silence answered you, so you showed the bridle to the two apes.

“The bit, he doesn't like it, he's not used to it.”

Your answer didn't seem to convince them. They stared at you, dumbstruck, and if you paid close enough attention, you could almost see their mouths hanging wide open. And that left you bewildered. What didn't they understand? You'd heard them talking, so that certainly wasn't the problem.

“You can't take my horse.” You went on, starting to remove the saddle.

It was becoming increasingly obvious that they were staring at you as if you'd just landed from the sky.

“If you want a horse, there's a wild herd to the south, past the river.” And you pointed in the right direction.

They remained silent as tombs, but the chimpanzee followed the direction you pointed with his eyes.

“Just be careful, the group's stallion isn't very friendly.” You thought it important to tell him.

Your gaze fell back on them and the orangutan, Raka, if you'd heard correctly, hadn't moved a muscle. The chimpanzee, on the other hand, was staring at you thoughtfully, as if he was trying to put together a puzzle with a missing piece. He then moved towards you inquisitively, perhaps, confused?

“Echo, speak?”

It was certainly the most surprising sentence you'd ever heard in your life.

[readychilledwine]

The Cursed Ballet

Eris Week - Day 6 - AUs and Retellings

(Swan Lake)

Summary - As war with the Deathless God approaches, a new dancer entered Autumn turning Eris's world inside out.

Warnings - Beron, curses, Eris kind of being a male-whore to add interest later

A/N - Happy Day 6 of @erisweekofficial! So listen, I've written this 4 times and settled on it being a 3 part mini series. Otherwise, it got far too long, and I was worried people would lose interest. I love this concept, though, and I'm very excited to share it with you all.

🍂Eris Week Masterlist🍂Eris Masterlist🍂Master Masterlist🍂

Dividers by @tsunami-of-tears

Instruments being tuned as a stage was set were familiar noises to you. Especially now that your life has been flipped upside down.

You continued lacing the ribbons of your ballet flats, no one looking at you. No one even acknowledging your very existence. Why would they, though?

A human in the Autumn Court. A human who, to them, somehow stole the lead spot in this performance from a female who had probably been training 10 times longer than you have ever been alive. You were used to this, used to being forced to travel and perform since he came and ruined everything.

You'd been to countless places the last few years, cities you had never dreamed of seeing, people and Fae you never thought you would meet. He always forced you to come back to Prythian, though. You had danced in all the mortal kingdoms, in every court. Yet for some reason he kept you here, anchored to this place like a second prison in case your body was no longer enough.

Of the 7 courts, Autumn was your favorite to dance in. The beauty of the leaves, the crisp fresh air, the well maintained stage. It was all enough to distract you from why you were truly here. From the magic the plagued your body. You finished tying the slippers around your ankles, mind trying not to linger on the curse you and your older sister now shared. “It's fine,” you whispered. “You've danced in front of thousands of fae.”

Your warm ups were spent alone as well, the isolation you were forced to endure was the cherry on top of this curse. The first contact you'd have tonight was a tall, slender female looking you up and down before declaring they were ready for you to stage.

Eris groaned from his place in his family's play box. He loved the ballet, he loved the graceful choreographed dances, the stories told through music and movement, but he would be lying to himself if he didn't say he was annoyed. 

His recent flavor of the week had been whining in his ear for 72 hours, 48 minutes, and exactly 23 seconds regarding his father's demands for a mortal girl to be put in the role of Odette. 

His current lover was pretty.

But she wasn't pretty enough for him to listen to the complaints and crying day in and night out. 

Eris felt himself freezing as the human girl took the stage. Every movement was clean, exact, graceful. She may as well have been fae with the way she made it seem as though she was the music. He didn't clock his father's smirk, the look of sick satisfaction Beron had. 

“Pretty little thing, isn't she,” Beron said softly to him. “And so very talented for being human.” 

Eris nodded, “Does she.. look familiar?” Flaming red hair in a tight bun, long elegant limbs. Her nose, the shape of her eyes, all of it felt so familiar to Eris, yet he could not place her. 

That is, until the scene.

Eris looked at his father, the High Lord still smirking in his seat, “And why is one of his spies here?”

Beron rolled his eyes, glancing at Eris as the fae applauded, throwing flowers to the mortal girl. “He needed someone to keep an eye on her while he handled more pressing matters.”

“He, an all powerful sorcerer, could not handle taking a 26 year old human female with him to handle matters?”

“I've heard she's rebellious,” Beron stood as the girl exited the stage. “Besides, she requires water at night.”

Eris's eyes slowly shut, but he followed Beron, the understanding of that cryptic message hitting his heart. 

You tried not to be afraid as Beron Vanserra dragged you through the gardens of the Forest House by your upper arm. His son followed behind you two, refusing to look your way. “Please, you are hurting me.”

“I was informed you needed a heavy hand. He may tolerate your games, but I will not, girl.” 

It was a moment Eris would remember long after she was gone, his father throwing a mortal woman to the mudded ground. The noise she made on impact had him shifting from side to side, eagerly awaiting Beron's departure from Crystal Lake. 

“Watch her until it happens, she won't be able to leave the lake once it does. If she tried to run, kill her.” 

As soon as he was away, as soon as Eris knew they were safe, he rushed to her. “Are you alright?”

You could only nod at him, tears in your eyes as a nearly silent sob managed to make it's way through your throat. 

“Does she know you're here,” Eris asked gently. “Does Vassa know you're here?”

“No,” Your tone was firm. “My presence here is a trap. For your brother, Jurian, and her.”

Eris processed the information like a complex novel, “He's near, isn't he?”

You focused in on the curse that bound you to him, “Yes, but no. He's still trapped on his lake, but he can.. project himself for small amounts of time.”

Your eyes finally met his and Eris's whole world shifted and changed. 

The bond was dull due to only being able to half click into place, but it was there, creating a harmonious rhythm with his own heartbeat as the moon began to rise behind the two of you. 

He understood why you would need the lake then, what your curse had been. Glowing golden light surrounded you, engulfing your figure before dying out. 

And now Eris found himself trapped watching as his mate got into the water, defeat clear in even this form. 

“Rhysand,” he called in his mind. “We have a complication.”

He sent Rhysand what had just happened, sent him the image of you floating on the clear waters of the lake. 

“Be careful,” Rhysand's voice came back slowly. “Vassa says her sister's curse is more dangerous than her own.” 

But Eris didn't respond, his eyes on the swan that had taken the place of his mate. 

How absolutely cruel to curse Vassa to her bird form by day and to be a woman by night, but you a woman by day, swan by night.

Two sisters left chasing each other. 

A curse Eris now made his personal mission to break.

General Taglist:

@hnyclover @glitterypirateduck @slytherinindisguise @mischiefmanagers @bloodicka @starsinyourseyes @the-sweet-psycho @mariahoedt @rinalouu @sarawritestories @starryhiraeth @starswholistenanddreamsanswered @cumuluscranium @loneliestluvr @eternallyelvish @azrielsmate3 @daughterofthemoons-stuff @meritxellao @aria-chikage @hungryforbatboys @lilah-asteria @fandomrejects @sleepybesson @tayswhp @itsswritten @milswrites @littlest-w01f

[reneesghostinthelivingroom]

Hi,

Can I request a Mean Girls (2024) Janis and Fem-Reader. Who are in an established relationship but they go to different schools so nobody at North Shore knows about Reader. Then Reader transferrs after being bullied at her old school and Janis shows her around and everyone is confused why Janis is acting so different with the new girl. Please make it kinda fluffy, and maybe some mild smut (if it's plot relevant).

Thanks

Pretty Little Secret

|| Janis Imi'ike x fem!reader

|| Warnings: mentions of bullying, but nothing else. just Janis being soft for reader

|| Summary: Reader calls Janis in tears as she talks about her experiences at her school. Janis suggests she switches to NorthShore. The following Monday, Reader starts at NotthShore and things go from there.

Requests open!

Go read part 2!

~~~

You were Janis' pretty little secret. Which was just how she liked it. The only one that knew about you was Damien, obviously. Him and Janis talk about everything and you were bound to come up in conversation at some point. Damien was supportive and wanted to know all the details. No gossip left untouched.

So Janis told him all about you. How you went to do different schools, how the two of you met (pride parade), what your first date was like, etc. She rambled so much that Damien even knows the best ways to comfort you now because Janis told him. Seriously, no gossip was left untouched.

~~~

One night, Damien was hanging out over at Janis' when Janis suddenly got a call from you. Her phone lit up with your contact name and she looked at Damien before answering.

"Hey, Y/N/N." She said with a smile on her lips, though it quickly disappeared when she heard you muffled sobs. She sat up, putting a hand on Damien's knee to get his attention. He sat up as well and leaned in closer to hear the conversation.

"Girl, put it on speaker." He whispered, Janis gave his knee a light slap to tell him to shut up.

"Babe, what's wrong?" She asks you, her tone soft. Something that threw off Damien.

"Everything! I hate everyone! Not you, you're perfect. But everyone else- UGH!" You couldn't help but scream and flop back on your bed, tears streaming down your cheeks as you held your phone to your ear.

Janis moved the phone away from her ear and grimaced at your scream, her expression becoming filled with more concern." I'm going to need some more context, Y/N/N."

Damien folds his arms as he looks at Janis with a raised eyebrow, waiting (not so patiently) for the phone to be put on speaker. Janis sighed deeply as she looked at him.

"I'm putting you on speaker, Damien's here." Janis tells you, you don't really mind. You haven't met Damien yet but from what you've heard he seems like a great, funny guy. You were glad Janis had a friend like that.

Janis takes the phone from her ear and puts it on speaker, holding it out in front of her.

"Hey, girl." Damien spoke up.

"Hey." You say quickly to him before moving on to your previous topic with Janis," the bullying's been getting bad. Like really bad. Ugh and the straight girls keep flirting with me to fuck with me. And the locker room is just absolute hell. One girl shoved me out and told me to go change with the boys since I was basically a 'boy wannabe'. I've never heard someone say that to describe a lesbian." You rambled on, explaining everything to them about what's been going on. Your school may not have had a Regina George, but you definitely had people who acted similar to her. The top girl at your school was Ravyn Jenning. She hated you as much as you hated her. You could say you had 99 problems and all of them were Ravyn Jenning. Janis, of course, knew all about her from your previous stories. Which meant Damien knew about her too.

"Was this girl 'Crow Hoe'?" Damien asked, sharing a look with Janis. They've been calling Ravyn 'Crow Hoe'.

"Crow Hoe?" You stopped your rambling, confused by the name as your eyes narrowed at your phone.

"Ravyn. That's what we've been calling her." Janis explains, you crack a smile and laugh at that. It was clever.

"That's a good one. But no, it was one of her 'followers'." You rolled your eyes.

Janis thinks for a moment before she speaks.

"What if you changed schools? Came to NorthShore?"

You paused, but smiled at the thought. Going to NorthShore would mean you're closer to Janis. You could spend way more time together than you already do. It would be perfect. But then there's Regina George. Who, arguably, was worse than Ravyn Jenning.

"What about Regina?" You asked.

"Damien and I will make sure she doesn't bother you, besides we have someone on the inside." Janis shrugged. Someone being Cady, who you've heard about from Janis.

"Yeah, girl. We got you." Damien added.

You thought about it some more. Making a mental note to talk about it with your parents later.

You stayed on call with Janis and Damien, the rest of the call being more lighthearted. Lots of laughs from Damien's jokes as you guys talked about anything and everything. They had given you the rundown of what NorthShore was like, the various cliques and everything in case you do go there. Honestly it didn't sound that different from your own school.

~~~

Monday morning rolled around and you started you first day at NorthShore High. Having gotten your parents to agree to send you here, knowing that Janis would have your back. Your parents loved her.

Stepping out of your mom's car, she waved you goodbye and you ran up to Janis and Damien who were waiting for you at the walkway leading into the school. You ran into Janis' arms and hugged her tight, she hugged you back just as tight. Even picking you up off the ground a bit before setting you back down. She smiles warmly at you.

"This is gonna be so tits! I can't believe you're here!" Janis said, wrapping her arms around yours as the three of you started walking into the school.

"I know! I just wish it was under better circumstances." You respond, hinting towards the bullying from your previous school.

As the three of you walk into the school, you feel like everyone's eyes were on you. Whispers floated around. People wondered who you were. Why you were attached to Janis. Was Janis smiling? Maybe it was a trick of the light.

You go to the office and get a locker number, Janis leads you to it with Damien following behind. She glances at your number with a slight frown as she recognizes it.

"Fair warning, your locker is right next to Gretchen Wieners." She tells you. You tense and give her a horrified look.

"What?! Say sike right now. Janis, I swear to God." You reply, it was just your luck to be next to a plastic. Obviously you knew who she was. Janis told you all about Regina, Gretchen, and Karen.

Janis gives you a sympathetic look and pats your shoulder," I wish you good luck, soldier."

You roll your eyes and sigh deeply.

"Gee, thanks." You grumble.

Now at your locker, you put your stuff in and Janis seemed to be forming an idea as she watches you. You knew what all her looks meant. Especially that smirk. She was up to something.

"Hey, Y/N." She gets your attention, you look at her with a raised eyebrow. This could go anywhere," If you're ever here the same time Gretchen is opening her locker, see if you can get her lock combination."

"Why?" You could figure why. Janis was formulating something. Damien stifles a laugh, seeming to pick up exactly the same vibe you were.

"Oh, you know. Just harmless prank stuff. Please?" She gives you a certain look that you just can't say no to.

"Fine... but you'll owe me."

"You're the best!" Janis wraps her arms around you, pulling you in a tight hug. You blush and hug her back, arms draped around her waist as you bring her in close. The two of you made eye contact for a moment before she gave your lips a quick kiss, the action made you blush a little deeper. PDA wasn't exactly your style, but you didn't mind as much with Janis.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." You tease and Damien makes an 'aww' sound. Taking a pic of the two of you. You roll your eyes," Really?"

"What? You guys are cute." He replies.

A girl walks over to the three of you, a girl you assume to be Cady from the images Janis has shown you.

"Hey, girl!" Damien waves, Cady waves back and smiles though the smile fades slightly when she sees you and Janis. The way your arms draped around Janis' sides, how she was looking at you with such a soft gaze Cady had never seen on the girl before. It definitely confused her. Sure Janis could be nice, but soft and gentle was never really her style. From what Cady had gathered about her. This was almost like a totally different person she was seeing. She blinked. Trying to make sure she was seeing this right.

"Um, hi! Who're you?" Cady asks, looking from Janis to you. Janis looks back at Cady, pulling you closer and resting her hand on your chest.

"Cady! You've heard me talk about Y/N, right?" She asks, Cady nods. Then it clicks.

So you were Y/N. Janis' girlfriend. Now it made sense.

Cady smiles at you and offers out her hand," nice to finally meet you!"

"Yeah, you too, um... Cady?" You say, shaking the girl's hand and feeling a little awkward. Meeting new people was always awkward for you. The way you pronounced her name was how you heard Janis say it.

"Uh, it's Katie." The girl corrects you, making your cheeks turn a little red from embarrassment and you glance at Janis for an explanation. Who shrugs.

"I like Cady better." Janis says simply. You weren't surprised, this was definitely something she would do.

"So are you transferring to NorthShore?" Cady asked, you guessed it was her attempt at small talk. Which you were thankful for because it gave you a moment to get over that awkward first interaction.

"Yeah, I am. Just started today." You say with a smile.

"What's your schedule look like?" Cady asked, curious if the two of you had any classes together.

"Well, I have Ms Norbury for a homeroom." You explain. She smiles.

"Us too!" Cady says as the bell rings.

Janis keeps her arm wrapped around you and leads you to homeroom, most of your classes were the same as Janis so she made sure she'd show you around to each one. Even if it was a class the two of you didn't share together she would walk you to yours before going to her own. She didn't want you getting lost.

The day went pretty smoothly. Much better than your previous school. You and Cady became friends quickly, which Janis was amused about. She was honestly worried that you would have a hard time making friends outside of her and Damien, so she was glad to see that wasn't the case.

Yeah, you'd do fine here.

[echos-gal]

ok i'm rapidly losing hope that Tech is still alive, and this sucks because it was basically the top thing i desperately wanted from this season. i wanted to see him survive. so here's my exhaustive and embarrassingly long list of reasons why he SHOULD still be alive, and if he isn't, why it was a missed opportunity. obviously no hate to the writers or anything, i love them dearly for creating this show!!!

(if you're a "Tech should stay dead for the stakes/so someone in SW stays dead for once/i hate delusional Tech stans" person, kindly keep scrolling, this ain't for you)

SEASON 2:

right from the start, Romar connects with Tech and calls himself "a survivor." HELLO???

in this same arc, Tech breaks his leg in a fall which he survives. he continues to walk on it, fighting off troopers to save Echo & Omega, showcasing his persistence and grit.

one of Phee's first lines is "better late than dead," and we know she shares a connection with Tech. she flirts with him later in this scene. it would be a shame not to reuse this line, i'm just saying....

Cid still owes Tech for racing for her in Faster. we see Cid looking miserable as she betrays the batch in Plan 99, so her playing a part in his rescue/comeback would be a nice way to show her growth. (i'm afraid there isn't enough time for this, though- as much as i thought a Cid redemption was on the horizon!)

Phee and Tech's departure is awkward, and although we have some context from season 3 (they talked more than we realized), the scene would do best if reconciled in person imo. it felt like it was setting up for something, and feels weird to leave hanging.

"don't go running off with any pirates or smugglers" could not have just been a throw away line. it set up for him to do exactly that. how fitting would it be if pirates or smugglers actually did manage to pick him up before the empire made it to the railcar crash site?

Hemlock's retrieval of the goggles shows that he sent a team to look through the wreckage. he thought there was a chance Tech survived, and may have him.

i won't go into the logistics, but big falls ARE survivable. in star wars especially. we have no idea what was below the layer of clouds/mist Tech fell through.

SEASON 3:

this is mostly CX-2 centric. their armor is very similar: the jaw/mouth shape, the hexagons over the ears, the rectangles on the chest, and the pouches/pockets.

"domicile." that is all.

CX-2 uses technology more than the other operatives we've seen, and he gets past the encryption on Phee's ship with ease.

"who are you?" was enunciated in the exact same way Tech says it to Trace and Rafa, which i definitely think was intentional.

CX-2 stops to use his rifle scope in the exact same spot where Tech and Phee stood to let down the ladders in the sea surge on Pabu.

he survives a waterfall plunge on Teth, which appears to have fooled Rex's group into thinking he'd died. the writers could have killed him off there and sent a new operative, but they chose to stick with CX-2 pursuing them to Pabu.

it's worth noting that while this CX is designated as "2," Tech's CT number is CT-9902. he is associated with the number even on a visual level: he's a dual-wielder, he wears goggles, he salutes with two fingers.

FROM A STORY PERSPECTIVE:

firstly, i am sorry and i LOVE the writers, but if you want people to accept a character's death, you've got to show his family and friends' grief. we saw no reaction from Crosshair or Phee, no tears from Hunter or Echo. it feels like fans were sadder about Tech's death than the characters in the story.

Tech seems to have been mentioned more in the second half of season 3 than the first half, which works if they want to bring him back in the finale.

the finale is called "The Cavalry Has Arrived." i really don't think you can have the cavalry (aka the bad batch) arrive without every member present. i also don't think it would feel right to play their theme without Tech there. idk, that feels incomplete!

we saw no body, and Hunter received Tech's goggles not from a trusted ally or friend, but from Hemlock. this calls into question the legitimacy of his claim that the goggles were "all he could salvage."

Tech alive and being held on Tantiss would provide a nice parallel to Echo in the first mission where we meet the batch, in TCW. and [ep 14 SPOILERS] we see that Echo is currently looking more like his TCW self, with his earpiece removed.

feels kinda sour that a character who a lot of people related to as neurodivergent representation would die just a few episodes after having a deep conversation with his sister about it.

likewise (and as a white woman i can't speak for WOC), from what i have seen, Black women are rarely the main love interest of a series! Phee is the ONLY love interest in this whole show, and it would suck to just cut off that romance before it could really become something. a lot of people wanted to see TechPhee become canon.

CX-2 is the one who destroys the marauder. it works well storywise for its pilot to have been the one to do that- the person who worked so hard modifying it, flying it, and teaching his sister to fly it. i'll be lowkey pissed if it turns out some random dude blew it up.

it's also CX-2 who invades and sets fire to Pabu. this is emotionally gripping on its own, but if he is Tech, it's even more so.

we have no idea what the operatives go through. Crosshair isn't telling, but it clearly put him in a really bad place. if Tech underwent this conditioning in his post-fall injured state, there's a chance he could come back from it. Emerie is probably the key to this, if they take the CX-2 route.

this show is all about a family trying to stay together as the Empire desperately tries to rip them apart. seeing the whole family together again - even if not everyone survives - in the finale is the satisfaction that the show ideally would go for. the last time they were all together was the season 1 finale. that was about 2 years ago in the show's timeline.

leaving Crosshair and Tech's final interactions be where they parted on the Kamino platform also feels off. Tech was the one who really vocalized the need to rescue Crosshair in season 2's finale. Crosshair, in the meantime, has changed significantly as a person. Tech's comment about Crosshair being "severe and unyielding," and unable to change this facet of his nature, is incorrect. leaving Tech dead would mean that he never gets to see this change in Crosshair, which makes me feel like a deflated balloon.

FROM MY SELFISH PERSPECTIVE!!!

give me Tech with cool scars and slightly disheveled longer hair. this is such a good opportunity for the creators to give him a sweet new look!

we never got to see Tech without his goggles on, despite Phee constantly referring to his eyes. he definitely doesn't have them right now (they're in the Archium), so we could get Mister Big Brown Eyes if he's alive. it's another missed opportunity if not, imo!

the goggles being placed in the Archium was a beautiful scene that makes me tear up whenever i think about it. it's symbolic, it's bittersweet, and it's exactly where the goggles belong. but was it closure for me? not really.

Tech is a character who became a LOT of people's favorite in season 2, including my own. why kill off a fan-favorite with an entire season to go?

yes, i desperately want a Rex and Echo series. yes, i want the batch to cameo in it, and yes... that includes Tech. making up for lost season 3 Tech content 😎

the finale will feature the zillo beast, and Tech loves the zillo beast. FREE HER! REUNITE THEM! he would love to witness her rampage.

FROM A "SURPRISE!!!!!" PERSPECTIVE

it seems like most people think Tech is either CX-2 or dead. it would be a great finale twist if we DID get CX-2's identity, it's NOT Tech, the audience loses hope, and then he shows up. i think this is actually plausible given the other assassin schematics Hemlock was looking at in Point of No Return. Tech might be in Hemlock's grasp, but not an active operative. having an enhanced clone to toy with is something Hemlock would want to keep under wraps. we see him step out of the assassin chamber at the start of that episode - if Tech is anywhere on Tantiss, i think it's here.

i think the writers have expected us to have all lost hope by now, so his finale reappearance would ideally come as a shock. the finale is almost guaranteed to be a very long episode, so we really might have quite a bit of time to explore his return, if it happens.

secret 16th episode: i know, i'm putting my clown makeup on as i type this. but the previous 2 seasons each had 16 episodes, with a two-parter finale. season 3 is just 15, with a single episode finale. TBB formally ends may 1st, so what if we get a may 4th surprise episode detailing how Tech survived? (that or an epilogue leading into a new series, which i think is more likely actually!)

[ariaste]

Okay, I have to share this story because it was a hilarious experience, I'm not sure if the ask box will let me get through it in one message, bear with me.

So I'm scrolling through IWTV fanfiction on AO3, reading some of the more recent fics, and I find one fic that I really love. They've really got the Daniel tone and essence down, I'm laughing to myself on the couch. I decide to wait and read the fic out loud with my partner because when a fanfic is really good we like to share it. While I'm waiting for my partner to get back from canning peaches, I check the author's profile briefly and I'm like 'oh shit they write for The Untamed,' which is cool, that was our last fandom that we were super into.

My partner gets home-- I excitedly tell them that I've found a new fic for us to read and they'd better buckle in because it's got a hell of a vibe and they're not even ready. My partner is like 'oh hell yeah' and gets out their crochet project. (we're in our mid twenties I don't know why this particular day makes us sound like we're in our eighties)

Anyways, I tell them that the author also does MDZS content so we can check that out after our IWTV fic and then we start reading the story and it's very good-- they have to hold up a hand to make me stop reading because they're cry-laughing, and all is well. And then suddenly I go.... wait. Wait, hang on. Hang on, I have to check this person's profile. This is a little too familiar.

And my partner says "Wait. Is this the MDZS writer-" and I say "I don't know I'm checking, hang on" and then I look up and we make eye contact and I'm like "oh my god babe it's the Meng Yao writer."

Essential Background: Meng Yao is my favourite MDZS character and it's hard to find good fics for him. A couple of years ago, my partner was reading the HOA fic and gushing about it, I was insisting that 'an act too often neglected' was simply the best MDZS fic that could ever be written, and we were absolutely shocked to discover they had an author in common, and then a while later there was ANOTHER fic I started reading out loud to my partner because it was That Good and it turned out to ALSO be the same author, so we just started calling them 'The Meng Yao writer' aka the only person we trust to write him.

Basically what I'm saying is that whenever either of us reads anything you've written, it's so goddamn good that we end up sharing it with each other and not realizing that it's the Same Author every time. So. I'm buying one of your books for my partner's next birthday I guess because you're clearly just That Good. Thank you for the multiple years of enjoyable fics and the consistent joy you're bringing to our household. Also I want to eat up your Daniel Molloy characterization with a knife and fork. Thank you.

This is the most delightful ask that it is possible to get. I am giggling and kicking my feet and grinning ear to ear. This is so sweet.

This is also so fucking funny to me. "The Meng Yao writer" ahhh my legacy. The arguing over which fic is better until the moment you realize they're both mine. The way you keep finding my fics and independently discovering every time that they're Finally Some Good Fucking Food without having learned my AO3 name at some point during that process until the third or fourth time i have jumpscared you with it dfghjkkdfghjkfghj Ariaste/Alexandra Rowland is everywhere, they're in your walls, they're currently standing right behind you actually ghjklwwghjwkl;

BLESS YOU AND YOUR PARTNER, your relationship sounds honestly ideal. I hope you keep reading fics and crocheting together forever.

Also very flattered that you're taking a swing with my original works! Thank you!! They are all set in the same world but they're usually (so far) about different characters, so as you read more of them you're going to start catching some fun cross-references between them. My thirteenth book comes out next month, so here's some good places to start based on the fics you've pointed out that you've particularly liked:

if you want more laughing-until-you-are-crying-and-have-to-stop-because-you-genuinely-cannot-breathe content (a la "different for vampires", HOAverse (Meng Yao and the Board of the Homeowners Association), or any of my other high comedic fics), start with RUNNING CLOSE TO THE WIND. It's about queer pirates accidentally stealing and trying to find a buyer for the most valuable secret in the world, and standing up against institutional hegemony. Also horny sea serpents. Also a plot-relevant cake competition. If you cried laughing at any of my fics in the past, you are not prepared for what I'm about to do to you here.

if you are enjoying the Snarky Old Man content that is Daniel Molloy and his disquisitions on the nature of storytelling and truth-seeking in "different for vampires", go for A CONSPIRACY OF TRUTHS, which has more of both of those things. It's about an elderly wandering storyteller who has been imprisoned on charges of witchcraft, treason, and brazen impertinence, and the stories he tells to rescue himself from the situation. And the corrupt government he accidentally knocks over along the way, whoops

If you liked the yearning, sweeping romance of the main pairing in "an act too often neglected", try A TASTE OF GOLD AND IRON, which is about an Exquisitely Beautiful Prince with a chronic anxiety disorder and his Stoic Beefy Bodyguard as they attempt to track down a coin counterfeiting ring that could bring down their whole economy, and also they fall in love along the way.

My next book, YIELD UNDER GREAT PERSUASION (out in September), is also great for that sweeping romance vibe, but preorders are not quite up yet! If you are looking for a cozy M/M romantasy about a prickly, grouchy tea shop owner, his childhood nemesis who he's been fucking since they were teenagers, and the hard, unglamorous journey of personal growth toward self-love and self-forgiveness to be able to accept love from other people... Watch this space, get on my Discord server (where i am these days constantly ranting about IWTV in a dedicated thread), or sign up for my newsletter linked on my website

Thank you again for the entirely LOVELY ask, I will be beaming all day. Please give your partner a high five from me, I hope the two of you enjoy the books (and if you want to get autographed copies for their birthday, hit me up in DMs and we can get that sorted out)!

Also, there will be a new chapter of "different for vampires" going up in the next hour or so :D

[kisakis-boyfriend]

Fireside Flirtation

Author's Note: So… Braius huh? 👀 I cannot tell you how much Sam's new character has haunted my brain recently. I'm incredibly happy to see Sam again, but why'd he have to play the hottest character I've ever seen (and heard… I am in love with his voice-) 🥵 — So enjoy a little scenario with the hot minotaur~

Pairings: Braius x male reader

Warnings: Male/sub!reader, dom!Braius, teasing, flirting, nipple play

It was your turn to keep watch while your companions slept. Joining you for your shift was none other than the newest addition to your group; Braius. A rather large (and rather attractive) minotaur whom you got along with exceptionally well.

Your shift followed Fearne's and Imogen's, so everyone else was fast asleep by now, and the aforementioned women were tired enough to pass out quickly too. Not a soul stirred in their sleep as Braius and yourself chatted with each other. The warmth from the campfire makes being outside a little more comfortable as you sit next to the larger man, occasionally brushing against his arm as you gesticulate during a story from your group's adventures before Braius' inclusion.

The stars hang in a brilliant display, painting a background for Exandria's moons. Though you can't stargaze for too long, since your job is to keep an eye out for any disturbances.

A chill runs up your spine and you shiver rather noticeably.

“Are you cold?” The minotaur asks, his voice gentle and low. You grumble that it is a tad bit chilly tonight, but you've sat through worse conditions. Braius offers an arm; an invitation to scoot closer and share body heat with him. Your instinct is to politely decline, because you're just friends, right? Not that friends can't cuddle, but you haven't known him for long and you don't want to make things weird…

Braius seems to notice your hesitation, and reassures you that “You don't have to, I just thought I'd offer.”

“Um, actually… I think I'll take you up on it. This blanket isn't very thick…” you respond, slightly waving the thin cloth that's wrapped around your shoulders.

Perhaps he could sense your underlying feelings towards him—or maybe you just weren't as slick as you thought you were, because without hesitation the minotaur pulled you into his lap and wrapped some of the blanket draped over his own shoulders around the both of you in one smooth motion.

You shiver once more, then ease into this new position. Good lord he is warm… even with armor covering his torso you can feel the warmth radiating from his body and seeping into your skin. You can't help nuzzling your cheek against his bicep as his arms snake around your chest and keep you close, enveloping you within a cozy embrace.

His nose and lips brush against your neck, and he whispers against your skin, “Better?” His hot breath hits you, causing your heart to skip a beat.

“Mhm.” you hum. It's hard not to squirm when someone you like is teasing you by simply trailing their closed lips all along your neck… his soft, pale lips… It's even harder not to moan when those lips ghost over the shell of your ear, and when you feel the slight rumble in his chest as Braius hums in satisfaction.

Fantasies fly through your mind, running rampant with increasingly lewd visions—all while Braius is only nuzzling against your flesh. He's really not doing much at all, yet you can't help but feel breathless, panting heavily and tipping your head back to allow him access to more of your neck. It's an uncharacteristically submissive display, not like your usual self– The minotaur's charm must have put you under some spell, for how else could you explain this, this… terribly out of character reaction you're having…?

A voice cuts through your spiraling thoughts, smooth as it always is- “May I kiss you?” he asks, parted lips hovering just above your skin.

Your eyes flick towards him, and you speak before your mind can catch up. “Y-yes…”

A soft gasp, surprising even yourself, falls from your lips when you feel the warmth of Braius' mouth connect fully with your neck. You're not sure if he thinks you fragile, or if he's just normally this gentle to begin with, but this kiss is so very…

Tender.

Loving, even. If you didn't know otherwise, you might take this as a kiss between long-standing lovers who are sharing a moment of respite after being away from each other for so long.

Even so, it doesn't take long before Braius' hands begin to move. He folds the blanket carefully, keeping it closed to obscure your bodies in case anyone wakes up, and runs a hand up and down your side, eventually settling on your hip. His other hand (large as it is) rubs over your chest, tugging at the lower section of your shirt until it's lifted up–

“Braius–”

“Shh, we're hidden under here. Besides,” he lightly sucks on your neck before finishing his sentence, “they all appear too tired anyway. And if any of them do happen to wake up, they can join in~”

You laugh at his brazenness, and the laugh turns into a quiet moan as his hand slinks underneath your shirt. Sliding up the expanse of your chest, squeezing your pec, and beginning to play with your nipple between his thick fingers. He's pinching and rolling it—everything he can do to make you arch your back and call his name.

“Braius–! Aah~” you gasp, pushing your head back against his broad shoulder while he continues the assault on your oh so sensitive neck, “Don't s-stop- Braius, m-more–!!”

You do make an attempt at keeping quiet—moaning breathlessly and occasionally biting your lip to keep the obscene noises at bay—but, ultimately, you find that you don't care about much else. Other than the pleasure that your new "friend" is causing you, anyways.

It's not too much longer until you feel something rising under your lap. Something incredibly large, and… pulsing, pokes your butt as Braius plays with your nipples until they're almost sore from the abuse. Unbeknownst to you, the lustful minotaur has also left his mark on you; several of them, in fact.

Two hours go by extremely fast, and before you can test the limits of your body, you have to be the guy who reminds Braius (and yourself, really) that your shift is over; it's time to get some rest. Maybe next time, you'll both end your shift a bit more satisfied…

[chimindity]

Getting hate

Summary | Reader and chase have been dating for for a few months but reader has been getting hate from Chase's fans. Request by @mirellef2001

Pairing | Chase Stokes x girlfriend!reader

Warning | reader receiving hateful comments? Fluff!!

A/N | I haven't written a girlfriend!reader fic for so long��� I hope you like it! (I apologize for the wait)

⠀ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟⠀ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟

You've been dating Chase for three months already. He is the sweetest, always taking care of you even after working on set all day. In his opinion, you come first no matter what. You always feel safe with him.

Until the day when he reveals on his Instagram story that he is in a relationship with you, by posting a cute picture you took of both of us in front of a mirror, you knew this would happen, but what you didn't expect was receiving a lot of hate for it from his fans.

You spend your days scrolling on his Instagram, reading all the mean comments about his 'new girlfriend', feeling your heart ache at the thought of being hated over literally nothing. You quickly hide your phone away when you hear your boyfriend's footsteps getting closer. You walk to your drawer and pretend to look for something, but it's just so he doesn't see your teary eyes.

-"Honey, where is my—, honey?" He cuts himself off when he hears you sob, he steps closer, closes the drawer before holding your face with both hands, he feels his heart sink at the sight of your glossy eyes and puffy lips, -"Woah, woah, what's happening? Did I do something wrong or something that made you upset?" He softens his voice, wiping off your tears with his thumbs.

You shake your head, refraining yourself from not bursting into tears, but you keep recalling each one of the hateful comments. -"It's nothing, Chase," your voice cracks mid-sentence, causing you to give in and break down in tears. A lot of questions go through your mind, 'does he really like you?' ; 'would he ever leave you?'

-"Doesn't seem like 'nothing' in my opinion," he gently drags you by the hand to your shared bed, and sits at the edge of it. -"Have I neglected you?" He asks, rubbing the back of your hand with his thumb before pulling you into his lap, wrapping his arms around your waist to bring you closer to him.

You give him a warm smile through your tears, -"It's just, nothing biggie but, I think your fans don't really like me, and—" you get cut off by your boyfriend, feeling his soft plump lips against yours as he gently runs his fingers through your hair. You tense up at the sudden action and eventually manage to loosen up.

He pulls away from the kiss to look at you, -"Well, it's not nothing as you said, if it's bothering my girl," he frowns, feeling his heart sink at the hate you've been receiving from his fans. -"Listen, you are mine, and it doesn't matter if they don't like you or whatever. I mean, how can anyone dislike you anyway? All that matters is that I love you, whether they agree with that or not. I will keep loving you," he tucks a loose strand of hair behind your ear.

You melt at his words, feeling listened to by him and grateful towards his reaction. -"I'm the luckiest to have you, Chase," you peck his lips while wrapping your arms around his neck, as you feel his hands slide on your hips to steady you on his lap, -"ah, ah, I think you got it wrong darling, I'm the one who is the luckiest" he smirks, capturing your bottom lip with his teeth.

Later in that day, Chase posts an Instagram story; -"I would like for all of you to respect my relationship, but especially to respect the person I love the most, aka my girlfriend. As the sweet person she is, she really doesn't deserve all of those mean comments. So, may you leave some heart emojis instead :))"

Taglist

@mirellef2001 @marvelfanfics1 @nemesyaaa @jjsfavgirl @jjmaybankssurfergf @mrvlxgrl @flora-eva @wearemadeofstardust0 @mylettterstoyou

[spirit-girl-nijisanji]

I'm sorry, I've been distant... & Don't talk about her like that!

꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦

➼ Pairing - Ike Eveland & Luca Kaneshiro x Fem!Reader (seperately)

➼ Content - Angst/hurt to comfort, mentions of insecurities, established relationships, Ike being a soft boy and Luca being well... Luca <3

➼ ⚠️ Please remember I only write for the personas you see on your screen. I do not and will not write for the people behind the models. Please also remember that behind the models there are very real people with very real emotions. Please be respectful towards our beloved Nijisanji EN livers and do your best to separate the real people from the persona reflected on your screen. Thank you so much and enjoy the story ⚠️

➼ Summery; Overworking and snapping on you causes some issues... ꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦

Ike Eveland

➼ You are one of the only solo vtubers within Nijisanji EN. You debuted as Kitsune vtuber brought from another world to watch over young children and grant luck to those who deserve it. You had been a big hit within Niji, the other talents and you got along very well and you ended up bonding deeply with a certain novelist.

The collabs you did with Ike were always full of fun and laughter, it wasn't long before the shipping began within the quilldren and your fd/n (fandom name). You and Ike always just claimed to be friends but behind the scenes, there was something much more going on. You and Ike had began dating after two months of you being Nijisanji.

Everything was going amazing in your eyes, you trusted Ike with your life and he trusted you with his. There was no trust issues and he had been helping you through so many struggles. You had always been insecure about yourself but he made you feel beautiful and loved.

You and Ike had been dating a year when you moved to live with him permanently and you loved it. A very fond memory of yours was how your friends found out about you and Ike; he had been in a discord call with the rest of Luxiem, you two hadn't told anything about your relationship yet. Not realizing he was unmuted in the call, you had come into his room to bring him a plate of caviar toast.

" Babe, here's your snack! I figured you would be hungry. " you beamed walking over to his desk and setting down the plate before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

The moment the word Babe left your lips, Ike froze. Realizing he hadn't been muted and the chatter from his genmates had completely stopped.

" IS THAT Y/N?! " the voice of the bri'ish detective rang out in your ears and you two froze seeing Ike hadn't muted himself and you just outted your relationship to his friends.

You and Ike planned to tell them, just not yet but it was a little too late..

" Hah.. Hi guys. " you spoke sheepishly. Multiple voices erupting into questions about when you got together, why didn't you tell them sooner.

After that day, the rest of Niji EN knew about your relationship and it was also revealed to the fans too, by you and Ike of course, which was met by a lot of positivity which warmed your heart.

But.. as of late, Ike seemed to always be shut in his streaming room. You hardly saw him anymore and he hardly ever slept in your shared bedroom. You had started to get concerned about him but anytime you tried to talk to him, he would wave you off and say that was busy and didn't need the distraction.

The confrontation that led to the current situation was when you had finally had enough of him avoiding you and being locked in his office all day, was the day he snapped at you;

You opened his door to see him hunched over his desk working on collab and stream ideas as well as a new novel, the dark circles under his eyes evident. You were worried sick so you walked over and you spun his chair around to face you, only to be met by Ike's irritated green eyes,

" Y/N I told you that I was busy and not to come into my office didn't I? " he said in a tired but frustrated tone

" I know but Ike you've been locked in this office for days, I hardly see you anymore. It wouldn't kill you take a break. " You retorted, worry etched on your face

Ike let out an irritated sigh, he looked up at you and brushed your hands off his chair turning back to his desk to continue his work,

" Y/N I am busy please leave my room. "

You glared at him and grabbed the back of Ike's chair and started dragging it to his door before he shot up out of his chair and grabbed onto your wrist, his green eyes now glaring down at you angrily before yelling,

" Y/N I SAID I'M BUSY! " he snapped gripping your wrist

" I CAME IN BECAUSE I'M WORRIED IKE! " You snapped back

" NO! YOUR GETTING IN MY WAY! " He snapped, not registering that what came out of his mouth

Your eyes went wide, feeling your eyes watering, the tone of his voice caused you to flinch before you ripped your wrist out of Ike's grip and you rushed out of his room, slamming the door behind you, leaving Ike standing in his room. You sprinted into the shared bedroom you shared with Ike, slamming the door and locking the door before your back hit the door and you slid down to the floor and curdled up, hugging your knees and burying your face in your knees. The tears that had come up in your eyes now began to slip down your cheeks.

Those intrusive thoughts started to creep up, 'is he getting tired of me?', 'Am I really getting in his way?', 'Why is he still with me?', 'I'm not worth his time..' you sat in the dark in the dark room trying to calm down. But now you felt you weren't good enough for to be with Ike. Maybe you were really getting in the way.

You spent 2 weeks after he finally finished with his work ignoring him. He noticed immediately. He tried to talk to you and apologize for his actions.

" Älskling.. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean anything I said.. Please talk to me. " Ike followed you around the house trying to get you to talk to him. But you ignored him.

He figured it was time to give you space so he did. He constantly noticed your spiral. All the confidence you once had, was gone. He knew it was his fault for saying what he said. But it all came to a boil when he found you sitting on the kitchen floor at 1 am in tears,

" Y/N?! Are you okay? " he asked, concern lacing his voice as he dropped down to your side and pulling you into a tight hug.

" Why are you even with me.. I know I'm always in your way! " you said starting to fight against his hug however he refused to let go, he hugged you tight. Keeping you tight in his arms. Now whispering to you, telling you that he loved you and he never meant anything he said.

You cried into his shoulder as you listened to him tell you over and over again that he loved you and he thought you were perfect to him. ꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦

Luca Kaneshiro

➼ You were a new nijisanji liver that came into nijisanji with a new wave, xsoleil along with Doppio Dropsythe, Hex Haywire, Ver Vermillion, Kotoka Torahime and Meloco Kyoran. The first person you had met when you joined Nijisanji was the one and only Luca Kaneshiro.

When you finally started doing livestreams regularly, most of your collabs ended up being with the mob boss. You adored his Lucubs and you knew he adored your fans. Your livestream collabs with Luca were always filled with chaos and laughter along with Lucubs and your fans saying they wish you and Luca would just get together already. You and Luca playfully flirted back and fourth all the time, well you flirted with Luca and he wouldn't pick up on it.

It was the one year anniversary from your debut and you were doing a collab playing Valorant, Xsoleil VS Luxiem. The teams had switched up after the first 4 rounds, now you, Luca, Doppio, Shu and Hex were on a team against, Vox, Ike, Mysta, Kotoka, Meloco and Ver. The round started and it was all going smoothly until you made a flirty remark towards Luca and it completely went over his head. After being taken down by Ver, you turned to read some of the superchats that came in, thanking them one by one before one completely stopping, silently reading one and you felt your heart completely shatter;

Superchat; Luca'sCape221: Seriously stop making advances towards him. He doesn't like you! Like damn. Why haven't you graduated yet, why are you still here?

You were silent for a good few minutes before the voice of Doppio snapped you out of your trance,

" Hey, VT/N (Vtuber name), You okay? " He asked making you jump before speaking,

" What? Oh um yeah I'm fine Dopi! " you replied quickly, " I have to take a quick bathroom break! " you quickly added before muting and running off to the bathroom.

~ NO ONE'S POV ~

Doppio thought it was odd that you just ran off, so when both he and Luca were killed, he started talking to Luca,

" Hey Luca, do you mind checking on VT/N's stream, she went silent while reading superchats. I think something happened. " he told the blond haired mafia boss who took action almost immediately. Turning on your stream and reading through before finding the superchats that followed with many nasty comments.

Seeing the nasty remarks from multiple people about you made his blood boil. He had only recently found out about your actual feelings and he felt the same he just didn't know how to tell you. When the match was over, he asked everyone to wait for a moment until you got back so he could say something.

~ Your POV ~

You spent a good long time in the bathroom in tears, the words from the superchat bouncing around in your mind. You tried to compose yourself so you could rejoin the collab, before you pulled up your stream and looked at the chat, seeing the flood of nasty remarks coming in, you broke down again.

After a moment, you decided to return to stream. Putting your headphones on and unmuting yourself as you spoke saying you were ready for the next game, internally groaning hearing the shaking in your voice when you spoke. Before anyone could say anything else Luca spoke up,

" Actually I wanna say something before we continue, it's important. " he spoke and everyone went silent so Luca could speak.

" Okay so, while VT/N was gone on her bathroom break, I looked at her chat. I wanna say that I am absolutely disgusted by how many nasty comments there were about her. For your information, I do happen to like her so let's shut that down right now. " He spoke in a very stern tone,

The group went completely silent, you didn't even notice that tears started to fall once again listening to Luca rant and scold those who left nasty comments in your chat.

" I do not want to see any other nasty comments like that in her chat again and I will be checking. If I see so much as one, you'll be banned by ME personally. " the normally bubbly blond said, remembering you had made him a mod in your chat. The comments filled with comforting words from both your own fanbase and Lucubs. You sniffled, catching the attention of your teammate, Shu.

" Hey, don't cry VT/N.. We got your back. " He told you in a soothing voice followed by the comforting words from your other friends and genmates. Through the chaos, you heard your phone beep, looking down, you looked at the notification and saw Luca's name;

Discord chat: Lucar Kaneshiroe: Hey, I meant what I said. I do really like you. VT/N: I... really..? Lucar Kaneshiroe: Yeah! Hey, I'm gonna have you fly up to see me so we can go on a proper date! :3

You felt your cheeks heat up while reading the messages,

Discord chat: VT/N: Y...you really don't have to do that Luca, I could pay my own way to see you! Lucar Kaneshiroe: Nope! I'm gonna pay for you to come and spend a couple weeks! " VT/N: There's no talking you out of this is there? Lucar Kaneshiroe: Nope! VT/N: Well okay but um.. we're not done with the collab Luca Lucar Kaneshiroe: ... SHIT!

You turned back to the collab, both you and Luca apologized for going silent and the collab continued, every time you noticed a nasty comment come up, it disappeared just as fast as it popped up. And each time a chat from a certain someone popped up;

Luca Kaneshiro [NIJISANJI EN]: Not today satan! VT/N IS POG! Don't tall about her like that!

꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦

I hope you like it~! I dunno if it's as good as it could be but I did my best~!

[pablitogavii]

omgg can u do gavi caring for a sick reader? <3 lots of love

I re-posted Sunburn story yesterday and will do similar idea only with reader getting sunburns and Gavi taking care of her. :)

"Where is mi chica??" Pablo asked his sister when he saw that you were not packed and ready to go to the boat when he came back from the grocery store with the guys.

"She's still in your room, hermano" Aurora said before leaving for the kitchen to check if boys got everything from the list.

Pablo scrunched his eyebrows and went to the shared bedroom knocking softly before getting in seeing you snuggled up in the blanket.

"Amor? Que haces? It's almost time to go to the boat" he said but sitting besides you on the bed he saw that your eyes were watery and your face was red.

"Que pasa mi preciosa? Are you crying??" he said tucking a strand of hair behind your ear feeling the heat radiating off your body the more he came closer.

"It hurts Pabloo.." was all you muttered and he got worried wondering weather you've gotten hurt while he was gone but Aurora didn't tell him anything about it which was strange.

"Tell your Pablito what hurts you so he can make it better for you princesa?" Pablo said and she moved a little pulling off the blanket and showing his the red skin of her shoulders, legs and stomach..those were some nasty sunburns!

"Aww mi amor got sunburns huh?" Pablo said and you pouted adorably nodding your head before pulling the blanket over your shaking body again. It felt so cold if you tried to get out of the covers.

"It's okay preciosa..I will take care of you today" he said pecking your lips gently before walking to the door and telling the rest that the two of you won't be joining them today.

When they left, Pablo came back with some anti-burn gel and nice cup of coco you loved so much.

"I'm sorry I ruined our vacation amorcito.." she said sadly when he sat down placing the cup on the nightstand.

"Princesa, it could happen to anybody..it's okay. I will take care of you today and tomorrow you will be like new, I promise" Pablo said touching your forehead to check for fever which you luckily didn't have. Your whole body was aching badly tho.

"Let' take those clothes off princesa and I will put some of this gel on your skin" Pablo said which made you shy but he reassured you that it was okay and that it was only the two of you here. You did as he asked feeling shivers of coldness move down your spine as you sat in your panties when he moved the blanket to the side.

"It's cold!! So cold!!" you whined when he put some of the gel on your stomach and he giggled kissing your lips to distract you which certainly seemed to work. Soon enough, he put gel over all of your burn and got you his hoodie to wear to keep warm.

"Come here now preciosa" he said laying down shirtless and you nuzzled close to him pulling on his body head and sighing in pleasure..it felt so good to feel warm again!

"How do you feel now mi amor??" Pablo asked softly while playing with your hair and you smiled happily while looking up into his gorgeous eyes.

"So warm.." you said and he smiled kissing your forehead and then your lips before you cuddled up to him again stealing a glance of the warm hot coco on the night stand.

"Can I have my hot coco now??" you ask with a pout and Pablo's heart melted at how adorable you were when you were sick as he nodded his head helping you sit up comfortably before giving you the cup of the sweet beverage.

"You can have whatever you want preciosa" Pablo said kissing the side of your head while you blew the hot beverage.

"It's so sweet and yummy!" you say after the very first sip and Pablo chuckled cleaning up your chin which made you blush a little but smile through it.

"Just like you princesa!" he said kissing the side of your neck and you giggled laying your head on Pablo's shoulder while swirling your hot coco and thinking to yourself how fortunate you are to have him in your life..<3

A few days later...

Now that you felt all better, you were excited to go on a boat ride at the Formentera Island.

The moment you stepped on it, you took off your cover up ready to jump in the ocean but was interrupted by your boyfriend.

"Pump those breaks preciosa! Sunscreen first!!" he said running after you with a spray making everyone including yourself laugh at his protective nature.

[kitashousewife]

in its place

an: i'm back with a full piece! this is based on alonica by LANY. this is probably my new favorite song and it is SO powerful. i recommend listening to it!

pairings: timeskip!atsumu x fem!reader

warnings: angst! stress! dissociation! angst to comfort, mentions of eating and drinking, established relationship

-

the weeks have dragged on lately, days seeming almost excruciatingly long no matter how many breaks are taken. the end of the summer has decided to go out like a lion.

schedule changes, and last-minute plans that grab the entire structure of the day with a greedy fist. long days, longer nights, and limited sleep.

needless to say, atsumu is suffering.

little by little, you've noticed atsumu become almost a shell of himself. it started off subtly, with small moments of him losing attention or ending the conversation quicker. short chats turned into silence after a couple weeks.

about three weeks ago, atsumu began losing interest in everything. typically one for sharing every detail of his day with you, gushing about his incredible practices or a new PR while lifting with the team, he was nothing if not excited. lately though, despite your best efforts, you can't get more than a few words out of him.

his smiles are small, his eyes are tired. atsumu's laugh travels through the house in both volume and joy, boisterous and contagious and full love life. now though, it's hollow.

numb, is how he put it the other night.

after a long day for the both of you, atsumu sat on the couch with your head on his shoulder. he didn't say much, only asking about your day and nodding along for the duration of your story. when he didn't react to some rather juicy gossip from work, you sat up. he jumped slightly at your abruptness, but said nothing.

"atsumu, im worried about you."

his ears rang from the silence. he opened his mouth to speak, but shut it quickly.

"do you want to talk about it?" you hold his hand and look at him. he nods.

"i don't feel like myself," he whispers. "im overwhelmed, i'm over it. everything. im gettin' sick of volleyball, i'm tired of coach and his shit advice," he sighs.

"i just don't know what to do."

that night, the two of you planned a trip. once the weekend came, the two of you would drive a couple hours down the coast, stay in a hotel, and spend the weekend relaxing and recovering.

when the weekend finally came, you could feel the relief washing over atsumu. he was smiling wider, he was speaking louder, and he couldn't stop asking when it was time to leave. when he began driving, he tossed his phone into your lap.

"pick somethin' sweetheart, we've got a long road ahead."

the drive went by rather quickly, and lots of stories were exchanged between the two of you. atsumu shared a story from his youth, when his mom got time off work and took him and osamu to the coast for the weekend. he was cracking up, grinning ear to ear, and you were doing anything you could to keep him going.

you arrived to your hotel around sunset, and atsumu rushed to check the two of you in to give you guys enough time to catch it on the sand. the two of you rushed down, laid a blanket down and sat down just in time for the sun to kiss the waves.

"just in time," you sigh, and he kisses your forehead.

"thanks to me, ya couldn't find the entrance to the hotel. i'm never gonna forget that," he smirks.

"how could you? you bring it up every few minutes," you nudge his side and he snorts.

the sun sets in silence, waves crashing with a hum as twilight takes over the sky.

atsumu feels restless. half of him wishes he would've stayed home, anxious about the work he's leaving behind. the other half of him is ecstatic to be away from it all.

the worry and the thoughts bubble up, slowly until they begin to sit at the top of his stomach. he's settling in, but with each passing moment he feels soaked with emotion and a yearning he can't explain.

his eyes look up at the sky and widen in amazement. the tranquility, the stillness, and the calming feeling become too much for him.

the stars glow against the purple sky, almost too bright to be real. the sand under his palms is cool and grounding, and his throat tightens.

he blinks once, twice, three times. slowly, then all at once, atsumu begins to sob as every emotion shatters the dam in his chest, flowing out mightily with their release.

you wrap your arms around his torso as he shakes, chest bouncing as the tears roll down his face, angelic as they sparkle in the moonlight. after a few minutes, he calms down, sniffling as he catches his breath.

"sorry," he sniffs, wiping his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"never apologize for crying, 'tsum. you are safe with me," you rub his back.

"i don't know the last time i cried like that," he looks out towards the water again. "everything is just so beautiful, i can't explain it but i just feel so relieved,"

you nod. he pulls you closer.

"even though were a few hours away, i feel at home with ya here. i feel full again,"

he pulls you in for a kiss, deep and special as the world freezes around the two of you. the type of kiss that feels like jumping into a pool, losing your breath, and taking a deep breath of air all at the same time.

"i love you," he sniffles again, cheeks wet with tears and eyes crinkling from a smile.

the two of you stay out well past dark, splashing in the water like children and dancing in the moonlight without any music at all. the two of you run in the sand that feels almost never-ending, filling both of your souls with relief and grounding each other in love and support.

atsumu falls asleep quickly that night, mind clear for the first time in weeks. he holds you close and rests with a smile.

[chemicallady]

I WANNA FEEL LOVE AGAIN

Part 1

Couple: Noah Sebastian x Fem!Reader

Content Warning: none. It's gonna be a slow burn, baby! Just a couple of bad words and some references to sexual intercorse. Should I add Matt to the warming just because it's part of this?

Taglist: @ada-clarence, @badalmondzzzz, my wifey @starsomens

Summary: Reader is Matt's sister and PR for Bad Omens. After a long relationship that ended quite bad, with her brother help, she decides to give herself a fresh new start in Los Angeles.

A/N: from now on, I'll post my notes at the end of the chapter to avoid spoilers!

As always this is just a product of fiction, nothing in this ff is real, my intention is to entertain myself and all of you.

Enjoy 🐕

I don't know if I count, but I'm trying my best.

This is not a story with a happy ending.

This is not one of those scenarios in which the grumpy old brother, after a significant amount of time, realises that his sister and his bestfriend are in love and the two of you can live happily ever after.

This is the real life, not an urban fairytale.

And there's a lot to unpack, emotionally.

First of all, you and Noah are not in love. You weren't aware of who he was before an hour ago. In your head you can ear in loop Eric, Eric, Eric, and it's fucking annoying that you actually had had the feeling you know him but you didn't recognised his throat tattoo after licking it. Or his nose. He has the most perfect nose you've ever seen, but nothing. It's not even an excuse that you haven't seen each other for three years because Matt shares videos from their gig on weekly basis, when on tour.

It's the fucking Clark Kent paradox, but instead of a pair of glasses, he got those long, perfect silk hair cut.

Losing the 25% of his charm, in your modest opinion.

But it doesn't matter.

Because when you met Eric, your first impression was that he seemed to be genuine, but shy maybe, in a good way a bit weird.

But genuine.

He is not genuine for the fuck sake! He lied on who he is and now you both have a problem.

Matt hasn't noticed yet, but only because he's too invested in the production of the music video to connect the dots. The way Noah stood in front of you, paralyzed, without talking, was loud enough for someone to notice.

You're sure about that.

After that stupid exchange of words you ran back inside the house telling everyone that it's too hot and you are not use yet to California's sunny day.

Dumbest excuse ever since is almost november, and Texas is warmer than here. But it worked so you can sit on the kitchen counter, and reflect about how much fucked up you are.

This is not even a story in which the main character is overreacting. You're Not. Matt has always hated every boy who laid and eye on you. From the very first boyfriend in mid school to a couple of classmates in highschool that just asked for your help with homeworks. Then, Shawn. He has never tollerated Shawn even if the rest of your family accepted him as a son. Matt never made up a scene in front of him or mistreated him in any way. But behind his back, he talked a lot shit, made you furious every time. He said that Shawn wasn't genuine enough (this adjective is starting to sound funny, at this point), caring enough, that he was drinking too much at your parents dinner table, that he looked too possessive.

In your modest opinion, your brother is terrible in judging others. For real. The issue on the table is always the same one; he is afraid you can get hurt. Matt can't physically stand the sight of you crying or being miserable.

Now, after this long mental digression, it's fair to say that he doesn't have to know. Absolutely. And you need Noah to be on the same page about that. You have to cut any contact with him that is not related to work. The date you have for friday is deleted.

It's sad because you really enjoyed having Eric around.

But he's not fucking Eric.

You don't have the chance to speak face to face with noah until after lunch. When the nerds move on Orie's room to give a first look at the unprocessed scenes and Jolly joined Folio in the pool, Noah is the one who actually comes looking for you.

You are on the sofa, petting Harper. He indulges just one second on the sight of you cuddling the adorable princess of the hous, before take a seat next to you. 《 Harp likes you.》

《 Well, she is not the only one. Isn't she?》

Noah release a long, loud sigh, while is cheeks get pink-ish. 《 You really are outspoken, are you?》. He gives a look at you, straight into your eyes. You are ready. You can feel how reticent he is right now, almost scared to say the wrong thing. 《 You are not gonna tell your brother about...》

《 About you eating me out in you car?》 It's your question, whispered between the two of you like the biggest secret in the world. 《 initially he won't believe us, but further investigations will follow; Maybe he will take the fingerprints from the back window. My hands were there while you were fucking me from behind. And he loves CSI.》

《 I'm serious. Are you going to tell him?》

And he is serious. You were joking, maybe because you feel a little embarrassed, maybe because your dad is right when he says that making fun about serious situations sometimes helps in facing them. But Noah on the other hand doesn't look amused. He looks like thinks you're mocking him.

So you hinale deeply, before looking back at him, leaving all your bullshit behind. And that's the moment in which you start to feel how tense the situation is. 《 I would rather chop my own foot than telling him I fuck with his best friend. He's gonna be furious. To me, but also to you. Do you have any deathwishies? Because I just got a fresh new start and I intend to survive the beginning of the week.》

Noah nods with a slow motion. He seems to have already evaluated any bad scenarios and keep it quiet is for the best of all of you. Especially Matt, who doesn't deserve to end up in jail. 《 So it's a secret between you and me now, Vanessa.》

《Don't you even try to use this card against me, Eric. 》

Noah brings his hands to his eyes. He looks even more concerned than you are. Matt once told you that Noah never had a real family, growing up. He was always on his own, so he formed a family with the friends he chose. Probably he is scared to disappoint Matt as much as you are.

《 Why you lie? Why you told me your name was Eric?》

With another sigh, Noah looked back at you. 《 I don't know. Sometime I ... fuck, you're going to have a bad first impression of me.》

《 Don't worry. I already had a bad first impression of you. 》

When he see you smile softly, he chuckles. It's pure tension right now and not the good one. He is living the horror of being caught with his hands in your honey jar. 《 ...When I meet a girl that sounds like troubles, I never bring her home and I give her a fake name.》

《 Did I sound like a troubles, to you?》

《 Yes because I knew I've already seen you.... but I couldn't recall were or when. And when you told me you had just moved in with your brother for a second I thought 'oh shit its y/n, her tits got bigger'. But then you lie as well and I believe I was in the safe.》

《 You didn't remember anything else but my breast size?》

It makes sense.

In some ways.

Half of fault is on both of you.

《 Sorry I lied》 , he says while rising from the sofa, ready to join his friends and check how the video is going 《 and sorry for... you know. 》

《 ah, don't say anything, we both enjoyed that part》 .

《 yeah, it was...》 Noah stays a couple of second in silence before biting both is lips. 《 We have to stop anyway. I cant loose Matt and he gave us a lecture about NOT fucking around with you, before you arrived.》

Now it's your time to sigh loudly. Yeah, you have seen that coming. But it's fine since you and Noah didn't planned it. You call it a casuality more than an incident.

You haven't big aspectation on Eric, anyway.

You feel like you've lost the capability of love long, after Shawn.

《 I agree. It's not gonna happen again》.

He smiles at you in relieve and you feel the same. 《 Can wait to work with you, than 》

《Otherwise》

He waves his hand before turning around and leave you in the living room. Harper is licking your hand so you start to pet her again, feeling better.

Matt will never know about your rendezvous.

You're washing the dishes after dinner, while Matt is picking up a movie. Even if you convinced yourself that you and Noah took the most resonable way, and also your conversation was short but clearifyng, you cant help yourself but feeling a bit down because you're not going to meet Eric anymore. And you know that Eric doesn't even exist. You will see Noah on a daily basis, and this will help a lot in moving on, but it's gonna be tough for the first week or two.

Because you and Noah are not in love, but you can feel the first syntomps of a beginning crush. Which is legit because Noah is funny and goofy and good-looking. More than that, he was nice to you and didn't force you in silence or nothing. You two have a conversation and reach an easy solution that makes everyone safe. Safe from Matt. After clearing the air, he also asked you for some advices because he never had a PR. It's his job usually and the two of you should work on that together. The prospective makes you nervous since you have no clue about the job itself, and Matt noticed. You know he did.

And you also know that he was waiting the vulnerable silence of your shared flat to talk about this with you.

《 What's wrong with Noah?》

You don't look back at him, rinsing the dishes from the soap. 《 What about Noah?》

《 He froze when he saw you this morning. And then you didn't look so happy about working with him》.

Matt and his way to be fucking direct.

You scroll your shoulders, epically good in lying. 《 I can't tell about him freezing in front of me. But I'm not looking forward to be his assistant and bring him his favorite brand of coffe.... or fold his underwares.》

《 That's not your job. He can make his own caffè and he won't let you fold any of his clothes. Trust me, that man on the edge of an OC diagnosis 》. You mumble something about being good in folding clothes while Matt approaches you, crossing his arm on his chest. 《 C'mon. Do I have to pull the big deal out of you kicking your ass?》

You're trapped because you two are too similar. You can read your brother like a book written for kids. Really dumb kids. And it's the same for him. You can't fool him too long.

《 Alright. I met a guy at the gym. He's name is Eric and he looked nice, but now I'm convinced that he's fake like a three dollar coin. Happy?》

You wait for the ocean of question that Matt is going to storm on you, but.... Nothing. He simply exhales before helping you, drying the dishes and the glasses with a cloat. You feel like you just turned twelve again and he was always around helping with the cores your mom gave you.

《 It's good that you're moving on fast. When I brought you here, I was afraid to see you again in the sane state you were in Texas. Close in your own room, drowing your bad feelings under the blankets. It's a good thing that you go to the gym and meet new people but be careful. People in LA are different from what you're used to. 》

You don't know what to say. You were aspecting Matt to start a lecture about rushing your new life and instead you got a boost. That's a progress.

《 Thanks for the advice》.

《 Just text me every time you're with him. And send me the position in real time so I can check.》

There he is! 《 You almost got me scared. I was wandering where my medieval-mind brother was. 》

《 Shut up!》

A soft laught leaves your mounth while he pours so water from the sink on you. And you oblige, doing it back on him. 《 I won't see Eric again, anyway.》

《 Who's Eric?》

《 Gym guy. He left.》

Matt finished drying the last fork before push you a little, playfully. 《 What did you say to make him run?》

《 Nothing! You asshole!》

The two of you reach the sofa, but apparently he is not done with the conversation. 《 Can you promise just two things?》

《 Alright, shoot》

《 In case this guy will be back and you won't be interested, just call Noah. He is enrolled to the same gym》.

You have to do your best to not laugh or betray yourself in any way. 《 Promise. What else?》

《 You are more than allowed to look for some happiness. You deserve to be loved by someone who is not an idiot as Shawn. Someone who sees the real you.》 You smile with some commotion to these beautiful words, reaching for his hand on the cushion in between you two. 《 But please never date anyone from the crew. No one wants drama while we're hitting the road.》

The smile froze on your lips without giving your brain the chance to process why you suddenly feel so .... disappointed.

《 y/n, pinkie promise?》

A bit reluctant, you grab his pinkie with yours, like you have done billions of time.

《 I promise》.

And you really hope you will be able to keep it.

It takes six days to meet again Noah at the gym. Matt helped you find a class about management and public relations, and day after day, you're learning how you can be useful for the band. Working on websites, taking care of the agenda, and defining schedules sounds scary, but you feel more confident day after day.

Noah is sitting outside his jujitsu class, his mitts next to him, and some bandage in his hand. The other one is busy scrolling the screen of his iPhone. You're reticent in bump into him, but just for a second. You know that if you start to avoid him, it will be a bad habit to lose. So you approach greeting him.

He looks surprised, but just for a couple of seconds, while he's buring the cellphone in his shorts' pocket. 《 How is yoga going?》

《 Fine, nothing noticeable》 , you take a seat next to him, smiling. 《 How jujitsu is going?》

《 Today, not so good》 he answers, showing you his brushed knuckles. Some blood on the right hand is almost dry. 《 I have to change my mitts. These are fucked.》

That's an amazing start of conversation for two people who had sex and then started to pretend that never happened in less than 24 hours.

《 Let me help you with that.》 With a nod, you indicate the bandages. He slowly gives the box to you, and after cleaning your hands with the sanitizer you have in your gym bag, you start to wrap the bandages around his hand gently.

《 How's school going? Matt said that you're taking it so seriously》. There is something in his voice that is illegible. Is he mocking you? Or maybe he is amused? You're focused on his hands to pay attention to his sminking face.

《 Well, I'm supposed to, right?》

《 Why? Why do you want to work with us? I mean... you can find a job as a piercer. I saw you in action and you're really good at it. 》

After fixing his left hand, you proceed to the other one, avoiding his gaze. 《 Do you want me to be honest?》

《 You can be honest, or you can be Vanessa 》.

A sigh escapes from your lips, uncontrolled. The audacity of this bitch. 《 Because I want the money. Because I want to spend a lot of time with my brother. Because I want to choose my job and leave the one my prick ex chose for me behind. Because I have nothing left to lose. I want to love my life again, waking up in the morning with a purpose.》

You have no idea why you're opening up to someone you barely know. But it is what it is. You can't have a fresh new start if you are not honest with yourself.

And when you look at Noah, you find respect in his gaze. 《 You just move in LA, and i'm not gonna lie to you: it's hard work. Are you sure you can take this?》

《 I'm used to fight any battle at my lowest》 it's your answer. The most honest one you can guarantee to him. 《 I'm ready to drag myself if it's necessary and only if it's forward. I need a hurricane to shake up my entire existence》.

《 Well well, you might have found the right one. Our new record could be a total disaster or grant us more than I can even imagine. You pick up the right train or, at least, you will enjoy every second of my downfall》

《 You're so drammatic, like every singer. 》

Noah giggles at your last affirmation before checking his hands. 《 thanks. You're already an amazing assistant. 》

《 I'm not your fucking secretary. 》

《 So who are you, y/n?》

A broken doll.

A girl that just wants to be love.

A woman covered in scars, who has a heart hidden in meters and meters of barber wire to prevent everyone from hurting it again.

《 A friend, Noah.》

And you can tell by his smile that it's the right answer he was waiting for. And this beautiful and sincere smile could be enough to put aside any crush you can develop in order to gain a true friend.

《 Lets grab a beer, then.》

A/N : I know that probably a lot of you are here for the smut, but I rethink this ff with a lot of realistic scenarios and the idea of writing a friends to lovers. It's my first attempt on this topic, and I'm thrilling to recieve any thought about it from you! I left an important hint for the future in the text by the way.

You can also send me inbox about my ff, about Bad Omens in general or headcanons! It's gonna be fun if you give me some credit ♡

I also added a song in the beginning that should be a sort of soundtrack for the chapter. I added it to the first chapter as well if you want to check!

Lastly, if you wish to be added to my tag list, comment here or send me a pm!

[delightfulcollectivetyphoon]

Predator/prey part 2!

Hey guys, sorry this took so long, I've been a lil sick.

Um yeah, this got REALLY dark REALLY quick.

warnings: predator/prey, dubcon, massive forest at night, mentions of wolves, angst, thigh humping, hickeys, slapping, hair pulling, praise, degradation, knifeplay, spanking

lmk if i missed something! <3

part 3 coming soon! also I am getting WAY too invested into this story. Sorry for another cliffhanger! You'll get your smut eventually, trust me.

"I know you're not here to talk about vests. I can tell something's on your mind. C'mon I have 3 kids, I can tell when something's wrong by poorly masked facial expressions," he joked, and you softened, comforted by his willingness to peer into your thoughts.

Your stomach immediately dropped as the situation dawned on you. You were sitting in front of James Hetfield himself, and all your brain could think of was him railing you into oblivion. And there was no one around to witness it. Your lips part to give an answer, but he beats you to it.

"Is something wrong? Is it something personal?"

"Yeah." Your new plan was to talk as little as you could, lest something slip.

"You can tell me. This is a safe space. I've heard some pretty weird shit so I most likely will not be surprised," he chuckled. You smiled at his remark. Welp, there goes the plan.

"You've just helped me through some really tough times in my life. The others too, but I always looked up to you. You're just kinda...my comfort person." You sunk a little in your chair, waiting for him to speak again.

He smirks at you, his eyes lighting up. Just like when he stared you down onstage. He had finally gotten a confession out of you. Now, how to use it against you?

"Not exactly what I was expecting, but I'm glad I could help you. It means a lot to me."

"What do you mean, 'not what you were expecting'?"

"Well, usually it's something...sexual. Lady at the very beginning of the line flashed her vibe remote at me and winked. Not exactly subtle."

"Oh. That's.... interesting." You were suspicious of him saying that. Did he know? How did he know?

His eyes were roaming, and you basked in his gaze. You looked away to give him some time.

"Yeah, interesting. Is there anything like that you wanna share with me?" He cocked his eyebrow and sat up straight in his chair.

"Or are you just gonna keep dancing around the subject?"

Your breath caught in your throat at his words, your eyes meeting again. He stood up from his chair, grunting as he straightened his vest. You enjoyed the view of him so far above you. The thought went straight to your core as you involuntarily clenched your thighs and let out a sigh as your panties made contact with your clit.

"You can't hide from me. When I saw you in the audience, I just knew you were the cutest piece of prey I've ever set eyes on. I know why you're here."

He walked as he explained. He ended up behind your chair, you could feel his presence.

"I..I don't know what you're talking about! I'm just here for the show," you squeaked.

He grasped your hair in his fist and yanked your bead back, so you were looking up at him. He squatted down so you could be eye level.

"I don't like being lied to, even if they're just half-truths. What show did you come for? Cuz' I know it wasn't Metallica's."

You gasped as he tightened his hold, moaning as he dug his nails into your scalp, you leaning farther back to loosen his grip.

"I came for you."

He moved his mouth closer to your ear.

"Not yet, you haven't"

Your eyes widened as he released his hold and took your hand to help you stand up on your shaky legs.

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

You found yourself in his dressing room, sitting on the beer-stained couch in the corner. James had left a few minutes ago, without telling you where he was going. You were nervous. What if he had left you? What if he was telling the others what had happened? Your thoughts were interrupted by some chatter outside the door and the shadows of shoes under the door. James let out a forced laugh and said goodbye to who you assumed was a roadie. He stepped through the threshold after fumbling with the lock for a few seconds.

"Up."

"Where are we going?"

"Well, we're going back to my place. We all got an Airbnb instead of a hotel. These walls aren't sound-proofed, and besides, this room makes it too easy."

You gulped.

"Too easy for what?"

"There's nowhere to go. Too easy for me to catch you," he said, grinning wickedly.

You blanched and stood up. Your breath came in sharp, short bursts. You had never done this before, but you knew that it was right. He led you to his rental parked outside the venue and helped you in. The car ride was long and silent, the only sound being the rock playing over the radio. You tried to distract yourself by humming along with the songs, but he never left your mind. It was about 20 minutes before you had stepped out of the car and onto the driveway. Out of all the Airbnb's you had expected it certainly wasn't this. The house was dark and gothic, like a mini-Victorian mansion. Behind it, a vast crop of woods. A drawn-out cry resounding from the forest, and you yelped. James came around the car and lifted his hands to your cheeks.

"What in the hell was that, James?"

He kissed your forehead before grabbing your shoulder with his left hand and whispering in your ear, careful to keep his right hand stroking your cheek.

"The sound of a predator looking for its dinner, roaming the woods, sniffing out its prey, and catching it. Hunting it, devouring it, tearing it to shreds."

"Fuck, James!"

He had pushed you against the car and inserted his knee in between your legs, rubbing you through your clothes. Your eyes rolled back as he whispered in your ear, "Yes? What do you need? Do you want to be hunted down? You want me to chase you with every intent of ravaging you, doing whatever I want to you?"

You moved your hips on his knee, grinding against the denim.

He smacked your cheek, earning him a strangled moan from you.

"I asked you a question. I expect you to answer it. I also expect you to ask me for permission before you try to pleasure yourself."

"Yes, yes I do! I want you to chase me down like I'm prey!"

He smirked against your neck, sucking bruises onto the tender skin.

"Good girl. You're a fast learner."

You shuddered as he pulled away and watched him walk towards the path to the porch. Your freeze instinct finally gave away, and you followed him.

There were rocking chairs on the porch, old and rickety like the ones at the venue. He sat in the closest one to the door. You stared at him, expecting an invitation or a remark of some kind.

"C'mere"

You slowly approached his chair. You took off your purse and set it on the boards of the porch. You straddled his lap, setting your hands on his shoulders. You could feel his hard-on beneath his jeans, and your mind reeled as you took everything in. His pocketknife hung onto his front pocket by the clip, leaving it to press into your unclothed thigh. You gasped as you felt the cold metal, and James chuckled.

"You like it?"

He took your slack-jawed silence as a 'yes' and pulled it out of his pocket. In one flick of the wrist, the blade flew out of the grip and flashed in the porch light's glow. He twisted it between his fingers, flipping it every which way. His dexterity was not surprising at all, considering his job.

"Yeah, it's pretty."

He stopped spinning it and lowered his knife hand, so it rested on the fabric of your skirt. Your clit pulsed at the thought of him using it on you. Again, it was something you were entirely new to. Maybe James was your gateway to a whole new world.

"Yes, please. Use it on me!"

He grinned and put the knife back in his pocket.

"P...please"

His hands grasped your left hip with an iron grip. You clenched around nothing as he snuck his right hand under your skirt and moved your panties to the side carefully, so as to not touch your folds.

"Please, James! Please, I need you to touch me," you whined. You were now dripping on the crotch of his jeans. His breath caught in his throat as he examined you. You could tell he was ignoring your cries, so you angled your hips up so he could have a better view. He could see your hole weeping and begging to be used. He almost broke, but he had to remain strong. His right hand returned back to your hip and his left snuck down to your ass and smacked your left cheek. You cried out when the blow landed, the skin on fire.

"Like that?" he answered smugly. The whole time, his eyes never left your seeping cunt; he saw how you tightened as he spanked you.

Your mouth fell open as he smacked you again, this time on your right cheek.

"Fuck! Please!"

"I don't think you've earned it just yet. You haven't shown me what you want."

Your eyes widened as you realized what he meant. He was going to make you run for it. He lifted you off his lap, and then stood up.

"Panties. Now."

He held out his hand expectantly, and you slowly slid your panties off. You could see your wetness smeared all over the fabric, gleaming in the light.

He gathered some wetness from the panties on his finger before dipping it into his mouth and swallowing all of it, not breaking eye contact the whole time. You imagined his mouth on you, savoring you like he was savoring your arousal.

Your breathing was slow and loud as you planned your route. You would run off the porch, around the left side of the house, past the carport, and into the woods. You had never been in this thicket before, so you didn't plan to go far.

He leaned in close.

"Good luck."

He turned and entered the house, taking your purse and the car keys inside with him. You heard the lock click. The porch light shut off, and you were left in the moon's glow.

Shit shit shit shit shit shit

You started to panic before remembering that there was no way he let something happen to you out here outside of his control.

[daisyblog]

Capital FM Interview

Our Story Masterlist Summary: Harry talks about his new music and opened up about some of his other massive projects for 2022; movies My Policeman and Don’t Worry Darling…and of course YN.

"Please welcome to the show Harry Styles" Roman announced, after explaining he was wearing a dressing gown on the show today because Harry wore a purple one during his last interview on Capital FM.

Harry and YN have just flown into America for Harry to prepare for his Coachella shows later in the week, so Harry was doing the interview over a Zoom call.

"Duh duh duh duh...duh duh duh...duh duh duh duh..duh duh duh" Harry begins to chant, waving his arms in the air, through the screen, wearing a white t-shirt and his earphones dangling from his ears. The presenters joined in with his chant.

"Mate It's been ages how are you?" Roman asks.

Harry gives the biggest grin "I'm very well thanks..yeah..I'm very well..I-its uh..thank you very much for the dressing gown reference"

"No it's okay..well..well..I mean I was upset that you didn't turn up in a dressing gown on my screen but I'm sure everyone in the world would be upset if you didn't turn up in a dressing gown-"

Harry interrupted Roman "I can run and get one"

"Just do it" Roman encouraged, but Chris the other radio presenter explained they haven't got enough time, so Harry pulls his t-shirt over his head slightly to pretend he was wearing one, causing the presenters to laugh.

Roman continued the interview "You're back..you got your brand new song As It Was..so many people absolutely love it..we love it in here..the video is super cool as well-"

"Thank you so much" Harry politely said, as he played with a piece of his hair.

"There is obviously...the best thing about this is that people have waited so long to hear your voice once again...on a brand new song but it's not your voice that we hear first..isn't that right?" Roman questioned, still wearing his dressing gown and headphones placed over his hood.

"It is yeah...it's the voice of YN's little sister-" Harry began to explain before Roman and Sian is heard 'awwing' at his confession.

"Her and YN's little brother used to try and call us before bedtime every night so..uh..one time I don't know..YN's phone didn't ring or something..so they phoned mine but I missed it and she sent me that and I kind of dug it out at some point while we were in the studio..and put it in front of the song for some reason and I kind of just fell in love with it so..it stuck" Harry explained how Doris and Ernest would phone their oldest sister and Harry each night to say goodnight to them.

"It is really nice but I do think that..that does mean she's officially a recording artist now-" Roman spoke.

"True" Sian agreed, interrupting her colleague "She get's a percentage"

"Yeh..she's a recording artist..you've got to share a grammy with her" Roman continued to explain his opinion.

Scratching the back of his head, Harry joked "Oh yeah..she was asking..she was asking for a big fee" causing Roman and Sian to roar with laughter at his sarcastic comment.

"What did Louis think..you know was he annoyed that you'd thought of the idea first of using his sister's voice in a song?" Chris continued to ask questions.

Harry thought before answering "Uh..no I don't think so..I think he was proud to be 'onest"

"We are loving this..it's the lead single from your upcoming album Harry's House..the artwork is you in like an upside-down room..all the furniture's glued to the ceiling..now I don't imagine this is exactly how your house looks but do you have anything weird and wonderful in your house like that-"

"I'd say at the moment it's kind of just..uh..piles of things which we're kind of sorting through-"

"What have you just moved?" Sian asked the singer.

"No we haven't-" Harry smiled shyly.

"You've just got piles of things" Chris laughed along with Harry.

"I'm trying to kind of empty out a little bit and kind of clear..uh..the space that I'm living in a little bit..get a little bit clearer" Harry explained.

"Are you a messy person then..is this the problem?" Sian questioned.

"I don't think I am..but YN would probably disagree" Harry laughed "That's why there are so many piles of things..because she'll be like c'mon let's have a clear out and then literally pile my stuff up..and uh..I don't always get the chance to sort through it..so yes and no"

"Oh she's one of them..a big clean and clear out" Sian commented.

Chris began to ask Harry about his home, location and accent "Speaking of..uh..homes..you're not actually at home at the moment you're in..you're in America..um..but we've seen some pretty wild accents from the 1D boys recently and specifically from um..Mr Liam Payne on the Oscars red carpet..um now I've got to ask you have you sort of started to get like a transatlantic accent from America at all?"

"Well I don't think in the time that I just got here 'cause we only got in yesterday for uh Coachella rehearsals..so uh..in the space I've been here this trip I think I've survived..I think it's a little bit all over the place" Harry began to explain his accent "I'm from up North and I've lived in London for ten years and I've spent a lot of time in America and stuff so..I think uh..I think when I'm with Americans they don't think I sound American at all and then I think sometimes when I'm with English people they expect me to sound American..I don't think I do but maybe I you know pick up some..a couple of bits along the way but I-" Harry let out a chuckle before continuing 'I have to translate for people sometimes..because they don't have a clue what YN is saying and it's so funny" Harry continued to laugh.

"Yeah she definitely hasn't lost her accent has she?" Roman joined in on the joke.

"No and I think it's more noticeable when we're in America" Harry continued to explain his girlfriends accent.

"You've been working so hard recently yeah...and we said you know-" Roman began before Harry interrupted.

"Thank you Roman"

"No I appreciate it mate I do appreciate it...um but look it's been a while since we last spoke to you and...the movie thing we've got to talk about that because I don't know whether to call you an artist..I don't know whether to call you an actor..what would you call yourself?..Are you an artist first or are you an actor?" Roman questioned Harry.

"I mean I think I'm a musician first" Harry explained before adding how lucky he felt to be able to do the jobs he loves and how grateful he is to be able to explore acting. Harry then went on to say how he was able to step out of his comfort zone with acting.

Roman continued with his questioning "Yeah and talking about comfort zones as well because I need you to..uh..sort something for me right because obviously I'm gonna go see both you're films that you've been doing recently..so you've got Don't Worry Darling and..uh..My Policeman..my question Harry what is the film that I can safely watch with my parents...because I've heard that it is getting racy"

"I don't know if you can watch either with your parents" Harry confessed, making the three presenters gasp with a 'what'. Harry made a joke saying he's going to have to do another film that Roman would be able to watch his mother. "Do you want to know something funny...well It's not funny for me but you'll find it funny"

"Of course mate" Roman eagerly nodded.

"YN said to me the other day" Harry let out a little chuckle before continuing "Shall we host..like uh..um..movie night with our families to watch the two films" Harry along with the presenters roared with laughter at YN's idea "I was like no..no let's not do that"

Sian still laughing spoke "That's absolutely brilliant"

"Hey maybe me and Shirley could join..it won't be so awkward for me then" Roman joked before thanking Harry for joining them all today.

Tag List: (let me know if you would like to be added) @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @harrys-flower @platinumbarbie143 @frickin-bats @harrysbbyh0ney fanfictioncafe lilfreakjez jerseygirlinca iamahallucinationnn @chronicallybubbly @goldensunflowe-r  @walkingintheheartbreaksatellite @kaverichauhan @peterholland04 @panicattheuc @indierockgirrl hittiesontour

[timelessmulder]

31 Days of Horror: Needles

Tucked away in one of the rented community rooms in Weston Library, the Skein-Tastic group met bimonthly. That's twice a month, their leader, Hannah Arnold (proud PTA attendee and member of the town council) reminded them every time. An ancient running joke among its oldest members, woven into the fabric that made the group whole, a gentle ribbing of a long forgiven mistake that made Daryl feel like an outsider.

She sat in a corner with her knitting project - a duck themed set of mittens for her mother - with shoulders curled around her ears. It was her third month of attending, the sixth meeting overall, and her courage to speak to the others flicked. It faltered. So from her perch in a beaten, worn down faux-leather arm chair, she watched. The established members, all six of them, chattered as they worked, in harmony with the clicking of their wooden knitting needles.

Required knitting needles. Right there in bold print on the flyer pasted on the library bulletin board. She glanced at the cheap ones she'd bought at Michaels before joining, then back up at the others.

It wasn't that the group was unfriendly. They always spared a cheerful word when she showed up, ask her how she was. How school was, once they found out she was attending the local university. It was simply that she was the outsider looking in, at least for now. They did have good gossip, at least, and she could be a fly on the wall.

She fell back into the lull of knitting, listening to the others talk: about school life, the outrageous things going on in their families. She was sure some of it was fake, or at least embellished, much in the way stories shared on Reddit were almost always pieces of fiction.

"How're you enjoying the group?"

The voice made her jump, almost dropping her needles. Clearing her throat, trying to hide how embarrassed she was, Daryl adjusted her grip and turned to the woman who had taken a seat on the bench nearest to her. The woman, older, middle aged, gave the soft laugh of the slightly apologetic. She pawed through the rotary of names for people she'd met in the town so far, trying to stitch a name to the face.

"Mrs. Fields! Uhm, yes. Sorry, I'm still...new." She cringed at how lame she sounded.

"Call me Mel," she said with a wave of her hand. In her other she clutched her project, a sweater that seemed to Daryl to be nearing completion. The yarn she used was dark, deep enough to make seeing the stitches difficult, but the more Daryl looked the more she swore that there was something shifting in the cabling, and it wasn't because of a reflective quality to the yarn. "Daryl, was it?"

"Yeah."

Mel Fields' smile widened from something polite, the kind that was reserved for mothers meeting their children's friends, to something more open. A little wicked, Daryl thought, in the ways of people passing secrets. "It's fantastic you've decided to join us," she said. "We've been trying to get younger members for ages."

"There's a knitting group at school," Daryl said. She shifted in her seat, adding, "I found it too overwhelming." Music and loud chatter and she didn't understand why anyone went to something like that for crafting. She poked her head in for one meeting, and then left almost as quickly.

"I understand," Mel said. "But anyway, we got you a welcoming gift. We would have given it to you sooner, but we weren't sure if you were going to stick around."

Daryl watched her set her sweater down in her lap (it was definitely moving, within the black and purple and deep crimson) and reaching into her purse. From it, she pulled out a set of knitting needles, wooden. Hand carved and tied together with a vibrant red ribbon.

"Sorry they're just the one size," she said, handing them over to Daryl. "We didn't want to seem too eager to keep your around." She winked.

Daryl didn't speak for a long moment, turning the gift over in her hands, almost afraid that she was going to break them. She paused over a line of carved letters, belonging to an alphabet unlike any she'd seen before. It was all swoops and dips like cursive, dots and crosses. Her fingers traced them, felt the skill of the woodworker and a strange warmth that pulsed beneath her fingertips.

"What's this?" she asked, her brows furrowing.

"Oh that?" Mel craned her neck to get a look herself, somewhere between admiring the work herself and pretending she hadn't seen the letters before. "It's just a little protection spell. Don't worry too much about it, honestly." Something shimmered in her eyes, and the room fell quiet. "We do things a little differently here."

"Are you going to kill me?" Daryl said in a rush of breath, and embarrassment crashed over her like a wave for having said it in the first place.

"What? God, no, at the library?" Mel laughed, and the other women who had decided the best way to spend their time was to eavesdrop chuckled with her. "No no, Daryl. Think of it like... An initiation."

"...for what? The knitting club?"

"Something like that." She pursed her lips, cat who got the canary pleased. "We have big plans here, and we'd love for you to join us."

Daryl blinked. She looked at the women in the room, all watching her with curiosity. She looked passed them to the door, where light from the library spilled through the blinds hanging over the glass door and windows. A straight shot, if she wanted to leave, almost an invitation.

She looked back at Mel.

She looked at Hannah, who's brows were raised and a soft upward quirk to her lips.

"I don't have anything else to do on a Saturday," she said with a shrug. "Why not?"

The air in the room shifted, like something in the earth itself had heard her words and accepted them. Daryl blinked, and went right back to knitting.

[legendaryvermin]

Had an idea for a fantasy game mechanic this morning that I thought I'd share! If this is cool to you, go ahead and use it as a hack, or codify it in the rules of your game. Message me if this happens, I'd be really into seeing how this works at a table or in a bigger set of rules!

Mechanical Epithets and Sobriquets

Epithets as in like "John Heroman, the lonesome tree, hero of five forks, skull crusher" are a really fun thing from fantasy (and real life) that tell us about the deeds of characters without having to get the whole story. They paint broad strokes about a person and give us a vibe, but leave the actual details of their deeds up to the imagination.

Kinda like the best TTRPG character backstories. 👀

So a couple of assumptions to make this microhack work:

The Characters are Already Known Heroes

We aren't writing the story of their lives before the game starts

We want to discover what (at least some of) our character's abilities are during play

After you've got the basics of your character sorted out, take a minute to come up with (or pick from a pregenerated list) a handful of sobriquets that feel right for your character. I'd say somewhere in the area of 2-4 feels right, with more established adventurers having more epithets.

They should all be vague and evocative, and paint right up to the edges of what you have already established about the world. Name drop battles and gods that haven't been established, give your character stories that are part of their legend but that don't yet make sense to you.

And then, during play, have characters use them. Player characters, NPC's, gods, bosses, random goblins. Make your epithets into threats "You dare defy the The Evening Rook!?" or appeals to your authority "Do it not for a stranger, but in the name of the Leyfinder". Establish how people feel about those epithets, which ones they love you for, and which they fear or hate you for. Know what your character feels about each of these epithets, and start to know in your heart how they got them.

Then, when it's mechanically and or narratively appropriate, declare to the table that you're using your epithet to gain a new ability. Tell the story of how you earned the title to the rest of the table (you should already know how people feel about the title, which ought to make this easier), and write a new ability based on how you earned the title.

Don't worry too much about being good at ability writing, just tell the table what you want to be able to do, and people will help you come up with something that feels right. And if you find that your ability or someone else's isn't working down the line, is taking some of the fun out of the game, or anything like that, just have a conversation about it. You're (probably) an adult, and if the people you are playing with are friends, or at bare minimum decent people, they will understand and try to help fix the problem.

After the readmore I'm gonna write like 20 of these so that the post comes with a picklist/roll table to get you started. Happy adventuring ttrpg nerds!

Oakenheart

Venomistress

Unburnt

Night Thunder

The Seamstress' Eye

Wicked Arrow

Goldentongue

Velvet Hammer

Unshaken

Gxlrick's Bane

Wolf Eared

Sorrowfont

Crystal Keeper

Lowport's Vengeance

Mother of Asps

Godslayer

Nimblehand

Chosen of Seriha

The Clipped Wing

Doomspeaker

I'd love to see any epithets/titles/sobriquets that people come up with for this, maybe in the comments? Have fun!!!