#it’s stuff like not holding long conversations when I’m in the middle of writing because it messes up my flow

[feralsneeze]

Not sneeze just mental health rambling in the tags

[atlabeth]

heat lightning

pt 1

pairing: spencer reid x fem gideon!reader

summary: you end up at the heart of the bau's latest case.

a/n: took way too long but here's more gideon reader! just as irritable as ever with some actual human emotions this time around. send help and prayers bc she's gonna need it. and before you ask there will in fact be some more parts to close up this case, i just have to write them first and it may take approximately 10 years. thank you for your consideration

wc: 4.1k

warning(s): reader still has daddy issues, still hates spence, and still argues w gideon the whole time. more angst! typical cm case stuff (a stalker that has taken vulnerable pics of reader) read w/ discretion if you are sensitive to those things. more drama and more tension and more not being a good time for anyone but me

“On your right, pretty boy.” 

Spencer stops as Morgan rushes past him back to his desk, eyes trained on the hallway. 

“Why are you in such a hurry?” he complains. “I nearly spilled my coffee.”

“Gideon’s daughter is here again,” he says. “Did you not feel the temperature drop five degrees?”

Spencer frowns. He opens his mouth to say something when he hears the telltale signs of your arrival: arguing. 

“—so typical of you! I have to drop everything the moment you need me, but it’s like pulling teeth to get you to listen to me.”

Gideon turns the corner with you in tow. He has a duffle bag in one hand and a file in his other, his brow furrowed in frustration. 

“That’s because this is important,” he says. 

“Oh, and everything else I try to get you to be around for isn’t?” 

“You know that isn’t what I meant,” Gideon says, keeping his voice level. 

“This is ridiculous,” you spit. 

“It’s necessary,” he corrects. “I’m not going to play games with your safety.” 

“Oh, yeah,” you mock. “Because you’ve always cared about that.” 

He just shakes his head. “I’m not debating this with you.”

“Why? Because you’ll realize that it’s ridiculous?”

You follow Gideon into his office and Spencer watches him close the blinds. The door slams shut, and though he can still hear the muffled argument he can’t make anything out.

“Oh, great,” Morgan says. “Now we can’t even get Reid to read their lips.”

“I don’t think we need it to know what they’re talking about,” Elle says. “They’ve been arguing since she was brought in.”

“Of course they have,” JJ says. “Gideon sent Hotch to pick her up instead of doing it himself. She sees it as another slight.”

“She sees everything as a slight,” Spencer says. “She hates him.” 

“I don’t blame her,” Morgan mutters. “Not when we only found out about her last month.” 

“Surely this isn’t helping with anything,” JJ says wryly. 

Elle shrugs. “Doesn’t matter. Sometimes pointless arguing makes you feel better, even when you’re in the wrong.” 

“That’s enough, agents.” Spencer’s attention—along with everyone else’s—snaps to the top of the bullpen to see Hotch holding a file with the same expression as always. “I need you all in the conference room.” 

“Does it have anything to do with that?” Morgan asks, tilting his head towards Gideon’s office. 

“You’ll find out,” he says. Hotch starts walking to the conference room, the conversation clearly over. 

JJ sighs as she stands up and grabs the files on her desk. “I’ll get Penelope. The rest of you try not to gossip too much.” 

She goes off, and the others disperse back to their desk to finish up some last-minute things before the case takes them away. Spencer can’t tear his eyes away from Gideon’s office, even though he’s not getting anything. 

All he can think about is the last time you were here, when he got caught in the middle of your argument with Gideon—your dad, which was still a little weird—and he can’t help but feel guilty. 

Gideon is a father figure to him, sure, but it isn’t that difficult to end up with that dynamic when Spencer’s the youngest on the team. And he can go into everything about his father leaving and the psychology of that, but it doesn’t matter. Gideon treated him like a son when he had a daughter all along that he’d been neglecting. 

For all Spencer knows, it is his fault. 

“Reid,” Elle says, snapping him out of his thoughts, “you coming?”

“Yeah,” he says, nodding far too many times as he catches up to her in a few quick strides. “Sorry.”

“No need,” she remarks. “Gideon’s kid was all anyone could talk about when she first showed up here. This is only gonna make things worse.”

“He can’t really be that bad of a dad,” Spencer says, “right?”

“All I know is that having a parent in the force rarely ends well,” Elle murmurs. She opens the door to the conference room and looks at him. “We can’t be too hard on her when we probably see Gideon more than she does.”

Spencer recalls his meeting with you, how he barely got a word in edgewise while you spent the whole time arguing with someone half the office viewed as immovable. 

“Yeah,” he says distantly. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”

-

“Why? Because you’ll realize that it’s ridiculous?” 

Your dad shuts the blinds on all the windows in his office, then closes the door behind you. He sets your duffle down on the floor then looks at you, that infuriatingly even expression still unchanged.

“It’s not ridiculous,” he says. “Sit down and lower your voice, please. We have some things to talk about.” 

“I gathered that when you sent your guy to pick me up,” you say, crossing your arms as he walks over to his desk. “Couldn’t even do it yourself?” 

“Aaron Hotchner is the chief of this unit and one of the most accomplished agents here,” he says. “He lives closer to you than I do, and I asked him to pick you up on his way in because I knew you would be safe with him. Sit down, please.” 

“There it is again. My safety.” You remain standing. “Tell me what this is about. I’m missing work right now— I know you can understand that, at least.” 

He lets out a sigh as he says your name and looks at you. “Can we get through this without any arguments for once?” 

“That depends. Are you going to treat me like your daughter or an inconvenience?” 

“You’re my daughter, I love you, and your life is in danger,” he says evenly. 

You open your mouth to retort, but your dad opens the file in his hands and sets it down on the other side of the desk. You can see from your position that they’re photos, but your curiosity ultimately wins out. You walk over to get a closer look, and any words die in your throat as you pick up the first photo. 

A photo of you. 

You pick up the next one, only to see it’s another picture of you. At least ten photos are tucked away in the file, and they’re all of you. Taken outside your work, at your apartment, on your morning run— god, there’s even one taken through the window of your bedroom, half-naked in a towel after a shower. 

You fall silently into the chair, your heart hammering inside your chest as your eyes dart between all of the photos. You want to crawl out of your skin. 

“What the fuck is this?” you breathe. 

“The heart of our newest case,” your dad says. “It appears that you have a stalker.” 

“Yeah,” you whisper, eyes still glued to your oblivious self, “I would fucking think so.”

“These photos were dropped off at my door this morning,” he says, and he flips to the next section of the file, “with that note.”

The erratic handwriting instantly stands out to you as you pick the photocopy up, the lump in your throat growing with every word you read. 

such a pretty little thing. I wonder if she knows it.

you don’t care about her, but I do. she’s just like all the rest of us, everyone that you’ve ruined.

think about your priorities, agent gideon. I’ll be watching.  

“What the fuck is this?” you repeat. Blood pounds in your skull as a distant chill creeps down your spine. “I— I’m one of your cases now?” 

“We’re not sure yet,” he admits. “These only appeared yesterday, but from the looks of it, the unsub has been watching you for a while. Can you pinpoint when any of these photos were taken? 

You stare at him. “Some psycho has been stalking me for a while?” 

Your dad says your name again, slightly strained. “Please. I know this is difficult to think about, but figuring out a time frame would help us.” 

“Difficult,” you scoff. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it.” 

But it doesn’t have the bite your words usually hold. For once, you don’t think you’re mad at your dad. You think you’re terrified. 

“...Yeah,” you finally murmur, and you pick up one of the photos. “I thrifted a mirror a month ago, and this one doesn’t have it.”

Your dad nods, and he picks up two others. “Neither do these.” 

“So this has been going on for at least a month,” you say bitterly. “Great.”

Your dad says your name, quieter this time, and when you finally look at him his eyes have softened. 

“We’re going to figure this out,” he says. “This is a threat against an FBI agent’s family, and it will be treated accordingly. Forensics is doing tests on all the original copies to try and find a lead. The whole BAU will be on your case—I will be on it, and we won’t rest until we find whoever’s doing this.” 

“Yeah,” you say numbly. “You sure that’ll help? Because it looks like all this is happening because I’m your daughter.” 

“I know this is scary,” he says. “This… this is nothing like you’ve ever dealt with before. You shouldn’t have to deal with it. But you have to trust my team. We know what we’re doing.” 

“Of course you know what you’re doing,” you say. “You’re always here.” 

Your words have no bite behind them, more of an instinct as you grab your purse from the ground. You can feel the pinpricks of incoming tears, and you refuse to cry in front of your dad. 

“I— I need a minute,” you say. “This is all just—” 

“I understand,” he says. “Just don’t go far. Stay on this floor.”

You nod and start towards the door, but you pause right before you reach it. Your mouth opens as you try to think of something to say, but it falls shut just as quickly. You shake your head as you reach for the door handle, but before you get the chance, it swings open and you’re met with a familiar face. 

Spencer Reid, the kid your dad likes more than you. He’s nothing less than surprised to see you, from his stumbled step back, the slightly wide eyes, his hand poised to knock on the door. 

A mumbled apology falls from your lips as you move around him, and you can still feel his eyes on you as you speed off. You wonder what ideas he and the rest of the BAU have drawn up about you since your last visit to the office. 

You don’t really care. 

True to your word, you don’t go far—just to the bathroom. Thankfully it’s close, because the moment you make it to one of the stalls, knees stinging as you fall to the tiled floor, you vomit. 

By the time you’ve expelled the contents of your stomach, it feels just as empty as the rest of you. You stare at the wall, breathing slightly harried and skin warm to the touch, and you resist the urge to punch it. 

You have a stalker. Someone has been watching you for a month—at least a month, maybe longer—and you had no fucking clue, and now your only decent hope lies with your dad and his team. 

Normally, you wrote off anything depending on your dad as fruitless, but this involved the thing he loved more than anything in the world: his job. 

You huff a wry laugh at the thought. This wouldn’t get solved because it concerned you, it would get solved because it concerned his job. 

You stand up and walk over to the sink. You rinse your mouth, then just stare at yourself in the mirror. 

It— it feels strange. Looking at yourself like this, knowing someone has been—still is—watching you. 

You recall their words. 

Pretty little thing. 

You don’t care about her, but I do. 

A chill crawls up your spine. You can’t shake the dread settling all over you. 

What the fuck are you going to do?

You have to trust your dad, but you’ve never trusted your dad. God, he’s not even really your dad. He’s Senior Supervisory Special Agent Jason Gideon, nothing more—the estranged kid is an unfortunate side effect of the estranged wife.

You let out another breathy laugh. Would he even care if this psycho actually ends up killing you? 

You stand there for another couple minutes, time idling in the background as you continue to stare at the mirror. 

You haven’t cried, at least. That’s certainly something.

The door opens ever so slightly and someone says your name. Your eyes flick to the mirror almost immediately as your body tenses, and you recognize her as one of the BAU’s agents. She’s pretty and blonde with sympathetic eyes, and you know they’ve been briefed on your situation. 

If you have to deal with an office of pitying looks, you think you might lose your mind. 

“Are you alright?” she asks softly. 

“Just peachy,” you mumble. “My dad ask you to check up on me?” 

She nods. “You can imagine why Gideon is a bit high strung at the moment.” 

“I’m fine,” you repeat. “I just… needed a second.” 

“I understand,” she murmurs. “Do you still need some time?” 

“What do you need?” 

“Gideon wants to talk to you. It’s best if he explains it.” 

You huff a laugh and shake your head. “Fine. Lead the way, Agent…” 

“Jareau,” she supplies. “But call me JJ, please.” 

In lieu of a response, you walk over to her. She offers a thin smile and holds the door for you, then falls into step with you. A moment of silence passes before she speaks up. 

“We’re going to figure this out,” JJ says. “Your dad is one of the best to walk through these doors. If anyone can solve this, he can.” 

“So I keep hearing,” you murmur. 

-

Spencer watches you hurry off with wide eyes, and it takes a few seconds for him to snap out of it. He’s less surprised by your pace, and more surprised that you actually apologized for bumping into him. 

“Reid,” Gideon speaks up, and his attention snaps back over to his superior. “What do you need?” 

“Is she okay?” he asks instead. He can’t help it—after what Hotch just told all of them, he’s worried about you. 

Gideon gathers the photos back into the file then stands up. “Our job is to make sure she will be.”

“Hotch briefed us,” he says, and his eyes darted back to the doorway almost on instinct. “This— this is crazy. We just found out about her last month, and some guy’s been after her for longer?” 

“What this is is one of my enemies targeting my daughter because they’re too much of a coward to go after me,” Gideon says evenly. “We just have to figure out which one before they escalate.”

“How do you know?” he asks. 

“What you said is true,” he admits. “Hardly anyone knows I have a daughter. Even fewer would know where she lives. Someone who wants to hurt me would have incentive to discover both.” 

“So we look into unsubs you’ve put away that have been released,” Spencer says. “Or ones that are still in, but have family that might be bitter.”

“Exactly,” Gideon nods. “But I have to ask something of you, Reid.”

He frowns. “Anything.”

“We’re working on getting a safe house for my daughter,” Gideon says. “I need you to stay there with her.” 

Somehow, his frown deepens. “What?”

“I need to know she’s with someone I can trust,” he says. “There’s someone after her, and we don’t know who—that means we need to keep this circle tight.”

“So you want me to be her bodyguard?” Spencer marvels. “Do you remember that you had to waive all my physical tests?”

“Less of a bodyguard,” he says. “More just… keeping her company. Making sure she’s alright—mentally as much as physically.”

“Why am I the one that has to keep an eye on her?” Spencer asks. “She hates me!” 

“Don’t take it personally,” Gideon says. “She hates a lot of things.” 

“But it is personal,” Spencer insists. “She hates me because she thinks you like me more than her.” 

Gideon doesn’t seem phased at the comment. “She’s opinionated, but she’s harmless. And right now, I need to know that she’s with someone I can trust.”

“I— I still don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Please, Reid.” Gideon leans forward, and there’s an uncharacteristic vulnerability in his eyes. "If I'm going to be on this case, I need to know that she's safe. I won't be able to focus otherwise."

Spencer wasn’t going to lie—he genuinely thought it was a bad idea. But… Gideon said he trusted him. And this was his daughter—they might’ve argued, but they still cared about each other. if he could keep Lila Archer safe, he could keep you safe. 

“…Okay,” he finally concedes. “Okay.”

Gideon nods, and he watches the change in his eyes, the slightest bit of tension leaving his shoulders. “Thank you.”

“Just… make sure there are two bedrooms,” Spencer says. “I don’t need her to kill me one day in.”

At that, he cracks a rare smile. Spencer is thankful for it, that he can bring even the smallest amount of levity to Gideon’s life right now. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

-

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Your dad says your name, but you hardly let him finish. 

“No! First I find out I have a stalker, then my whole life’s going to be uprooted until you find them, and now I have to be stuck with boy genius?”

“You know, we’re about the same age—”

“Do you ever stop talking?” you cry, whirling on Spencer.

“I actually don’t talk that much when I’m around you,” Spencer says, his brows creasing. “This is the third time I’ve met you, and I’ve only said nine sentences across those meetings. Thirteen, if you count all of these too.”

You let out a strained laugh as you shake your head, trying to blink back tears. “This is fucking unbelievable. I know he’s practically your son, but this is just—”

“A safety precaution,” your dad interrupts. “Doctor Spencer Reid is another one of the BAU’s finest agents, and he is fully qualified to keep you safe.”

“He looks like a strong breeze could snap him in half.”

“This is not a joke,” your dad says sternly. “None of this is a joke. Your life is in danger—you have a stalker that has been watching your every move for at least a month, and we have no idea what their next move will be. Doctor Reid is more experienced than you in every facet of this, and I am entrusting him to your care. I respect him immensely, and you will do so as well.”

You don’t even look at Spencer, quiet rage simmering beneath the surface as you stare at your father.

“You really don’t get it,” you murmur. “Do you?”

“The only thing to get is that your life is in increasing danger with every moment you spend pushing against me,” your dad says, and he stands up. “Get your purse. Reid, get her duffle. We’re leaving.”

He leaves before you get the chance to do anything—you assume he’s finally tired of you. 

You just shake your head and pick up your purse, and Spencer clears his throat as he reaches for your duffle bag. You wonder if it even has anything useful—Aaron Hotchner was the one who packed it. 

“…So,” Spencer says. “I guess we’re gonna be roommates for a while.”

You huff in fully unveiled annoyance, and you push past him on your way out. 

“Great,” he mutters to himself as he follows you. “So this is what Gideon’s trust earns me.” 

It doesn’t take him too long to catch up to you, despite the unnecessary quick pace you’re taking. You bypass the elevator and head towards the stairwell, and Spencer catches the door before it’s able to slam on him. 

He says your name, but you just shake your head. 

“If we’re gonna be stuck together until this is over, I’d prefer silence.” 

“I don’t really do silence,” Spencer says. 

“I’m sure there’ll be plenty of books for you to read in whatever jail cell they throw me in.” 

“It’s actually going to be a pretty nice safe house,” he starts, throwing his hand up against the wall to catch himself from running into it as he turns, because god you are moving fast, “Gideon picked it out himself.” 

“Oh, then it’ll definitely be a jail cell,” you mock. “It’s not like he knows anything about me, so he’ll probably think that it’s perfect.” 

Spencer frowns. “Cut him some slack. This is all just as hard on him as it is on you.” 

You come to a sudden stop, whirling around to face him, and Spencer has to reel to the side to prevent himself from running into you. Had he not already been pressed up against the wall, he would have moved back further, what with the fire blazing in your eyes. 

“I’m not going to cut him any slack,” you spit. “This is the most time I’ve gotten to spend with my dad in months, and it’s only because some creep is stalking me to get back at him. The only reason I’m in this at all is because of his job that he cares about more than me, and now he’s sticking me with the guy that he wishes was his kid. So no, Doctor Reid—I’m not going to cut him any slack.” 

You’re already off on your way again before Spencer even has time to blink, and you’ve made it down the whole last flight by the time he pushes himself back up. 

He takes the steps three at a time to catch up to you, and he once again barely manages to catch the door before it slams on him. He calls your name, finally managing to fall into step with you right before you reach Gideon. He, like a normal person, deigned to take the elevator. 

“You haven’t started arguing already,” he says, passing a glance at Spencer, “have you?” 

“What do you think?” you ask, your arms crossed. 

“I think you’re giving him a hard time that you usually reserve for me,” he says. “Cut him some slack.” 

Your jaw clenches. “I’ve been getting a lot of that lately. Save the profiling for my stalker, will you?”  

“There’s plenty of profiling to go around,” Gideon says. “You two wait here—I need to confirm the safe house location before we head out.” 

“Can we stop by my place before we go?” Spencer asks. “I need to pick up some things.” 

“You have a go bag, don’t you?” 

“Yeah, but I— I wasn’t exactly prepared for this sort of thing when I came in today.” 

“You’ll be fine,” Gideon says. He walks off before Spencer can protest, and he sighs. 

You lean against the wall, your arms crossed with your purse hanging off your shoulder, and for once you don’t pass judgment on his—admittedly small—plight. 

“I changed my mind,” Spencer speaks up, deciding to try and break the remarkably high amount of tension that had built up in such a short time, and your eyebrows rise as you glance at him. 

“About what?” 

“I— I think I can do silence,” he says. “Temporarily.” 

You huff a laugh. “Really?” 

“I don’t really want to annoy you while we’re stuck together in an undisclosed location,” he says. “I don’t know what you’re capable of.” 

And for the first time since Spencer has met you, you actually smile. It’s the smallest thing, just a slight tilt of your lips that’s more akin to Hotch’s moments of levity than anything, but it’s a smile. 

“...Good choice,” you say. It feels like a joke, but Spencer isn’t sure. 

He smiles anyway. You meet his eyes, and for a moment, you’re just another girl. Someone that Spencer could imagine himself stealing glances at in a lecture hall, a regular at his favorite coffee shop that he falls for over the course of an especially cold winter, someone he meets on a night out with the team that he ends up talking to all night. 

You really do have pretty eyes. 

And then your gaze hardens, darts away from him, and Spencer sees Gideon coming back in his peripherals. The moment fractures. 

You’re not just a girl. You’re Gideon’s daughter, you’re in a remarkable amount of danger, and lest he forget, you do in fact hate him. 

Spencer lets out another short sigh. 

At least this safe house won’t have a pool.

[h2llish]

i've been following your blog for a while and absolutely adore your writing!

if its okay i'd love to see something with either leona or jamil (up to you!) and a reader who falls asleep on their shoulder during some sort of nrc road trip.. i'm not sure if nrc would have buses per say considering all the magic and stuff but the concept of an nrc school trip seems super interesting to me so if you're up for the request by all means just have fun with it!! i do notice that your requests are semi open so feel free to decline ofc !

— ☁️

⁀➷ ˖ ROAD TRIP DROWSINESS

notes ─── hi anon! i’m so happy you like my writing! i don't think they'd have buses at nrc because of the mirror, but crowley would probably spring a sudden road trip on them which would just confuse the students, because why? (i also imagine their bus would probably be a bit fancier? idk how to explain it but nothing like the busses i'm used to.)

LEONA KINGSCHOLAR ─── a wave of drowsiness leads you to find comfort on his shoulder ♡ fluff, gender neutral, can be read platonic or romantic, not proofread

transportation for students at nrc was not hard, all they had to do was enter the dark mirror and then they found themselves safely at their destination. so if it was that easy, why in the world was the headmage so adamant that they boarded this bus like they were kids back in middle school? ─ a road trip was his very (might many students say stupid) answer.

the only person who seemed to not have a problem with this sudden turn of events, was the magicless prefect from ramshackle. you didn't give any complaints or groan about using the easy way to get to the destination. you just nodded when the headmage announced the decision.

students were chosen at random, names drawn from a hat (a method the headmage seemed to rely on often).  and as the prefect, and the designated scapegoat for everything crowley did, you were of course among that group, with your dire beast other half. 

“i don't get it,” grim frowned, sitting on your shoulder as you approached the bus, where many familiar faces waited to board. “why can't we just use the mirror?”

ace was walking alongside you, being one of the people drawn to join the group. he had decided to met you at ramshackle, knowing you would inevitably have to board the bus as well. “i think the headmage called it some sort of bonding experience. don't know how a hours-long road will be a bonding experience.”

grim grumbled, turning his head to look at your face. you have yet to say anything to add to the conversation. “whaddya’ think, [name]?”

“what?” you blinked, sending a glance to the dire beast before looking ahead of you once more. “what do i think about what?”

“were you even listening to anything we just said?” ace sighed. 

you hummed, “i’ve learned to tune you guys out the moment you start speaking.” ─ and then you were wincing as the two of them shouted, leaning your head away from the monster as he and ace expressed how offended they were.

you sighed, this was going to be a long ride.

and right you were. 

things were okay (as okay as a group of irritable teenage boys with magic on a bus could be) during the first hour. but as the first hour turned to half, and you found yourself growing drowsy, you attempted to doze off, at least for a good twenty minutes. you were unsuccessful, as the moment you closed your eyes, you were quickly opening them to glance at a yelling grim.

epel and sebek, also being among the names drawn, were sitting next to you. epel and grim looked ready to pounce on an unnamed student who seemed to have picked a fight with them. ace didn't do much to stop the argument, in fact, he was actively encouraging it. and sebek, while he made an attempt to hold back a seething grim, was not of much help either. 

you sighed, but made no move to stop it ─ you expected something to happen eventually, and you weren't all that up to being the “reasonable” one of the group. you aren't sure what the argument was about, but neither did you care. if grim got in trouble for attacking a student, it would come back to bite you, but that was something for future you to worry about.

you glanced around the bus, before your attention landed on the savanaclaw housewarden sitting alone. ─ your friends continued to argue with the random guy, and you were sure they had no intention of ending the argument anytime soon. and you would rather sleep off some time on the road rather than listen to your friends go back and forth with someone you didn't even know the name of. you stood from your seat, uncaring of whether or not it was okay to do so as you approached the empty seat. 

leona had his head down, probably napping, the same thing you wanted to do. when you sat down beside him his ears twitched and he lifted his head to look at you, probably intending to scowl and scare off whoever had been stupid enough to sit beside him, until he realized it was you.

“what are you doing?” he frowned at you, but you went unfazed.

“sitting next to you, obviously.”

leona rolled his eyes, “why?”

instead of giving a verbal answer, you pointed at your friends, where sebek now had a grip on the scruff of grim’s neck, keeping him from jumping at the student. ace was laughing, offering no help to the half-fae. epel was no better than grim, with sebek’s arm held out in front of him, keeping him from doing anything.

"so you came to bother me instead?" he asked, and you looked at him straight-faced.

"yup."

leona sighed, but he didn't tell you to scram (not like you would if he did). he didn't say anything else, only close his eyes again and turning away, likely to try and nap. you weren't offended by his lack of reply, leaning your head back against the seat and trailing your eyes over the bus and your peers.

the longer you sat in somewhat silence ─ save for the incoherent yelling from your friends, you had for the most part zoned out, and the chatter of those on board ─ you found yourself falling to the drowsiness that have been interrupted before. you closed your eyes and let the movement of the bus guide you to sleep.

leona was awake, annoyed by the bus and those on the bus. his ears twitched when he heard your breathing slow beside him and he lifted his head, just as your head lolled to the side and you leaned against his shoulder.

he sighed, but made no move to push you off, glancing around you at the rest of the students of nrc, who were all either sleeping themselves, or chatting with friends. he leaned his head back, eyeing you as you shifted for a moment before relaxing again.

"where'd [name] go?" leona could hear your friends ask, no longer distracted by the argument that they were having with the random student.

he looked back at them, just in time to catch ace's eye, who was the first to see you sleeping against leona. he looked ready to say something, but leona narrowed his eyes on the first year. ace immediately shut his mouth, grinning awkwardly as he turned back to his friends.

leona huffed, looking back down at you to make sure you didn't stir. he adjusted in more comfortable position, an arm resting behind you on the seat, allowing you to lean closer, and hopefully, be more comfortable than leaning against his shoulder the way you had. and then he closed his eyes and joined you in a nap for the rest of the ride. (at least until they stopped for a break.)

this wasn't proofread so there will be probably be mistakes, i'll try to come back to edit later!

do not repost, translate, copy or run my writing through an ai

[l0velysmut]

Can you please write Neteyam with readers as Enemies to Lovers? with smut and he says he's loved readers for a long time.Please I really love your writing.

neteyam x fem!omaticaya!reader

contains: enemies to lovers (but ur not really enemies), stalker neteyam, kinda manipulative neteyam if u squint???, love confession, virginity loss, tsaheylu, p in v, creampie, poorly written !!!

wc: 2.8k unedited

na’vi words: skxawng = moron/idiot.

a/n: sorry if this isn’t what you expected!

Ever since the first time Neteyam laid eyes on you, he had been head over heels in love with you. But he didn’t like that he felt that way about you, so what better way to cover it up then by hating you more than anyone else in the clan?

You were so confused when you were the only person he would target and make fun of. To the public eye, he was nice, athletic, a charmer, and overall the golden boy of the clan. And not only was he the future Olo’eyktan, but he was also the son of Toruk Makto, which in your opinion, made it even worse and even more embarrassing whenever he would bully you. So, you’ve stood up for yourself the best you could.

But the truth was, he never enjoyed bullying you. He never enjoyed calling you degrading names like stupid or meaningless. In fact, he called himself stupid on the regular for starting a hateful pattern towards you and having no choice but to stick with it.

Every day he saw you, he wanted nothing more then to tell you how he truly felt, but he couldn’t just stop being mean to you out of the blue. You’d think something was up and that he was pranking you, so he just kept doing what he’d been doing since you were children.

He watched you from afar, doing your daily chores and sticking to the routine you had forged to keep yourself busy. Neteyam kept note and even followed you from a distance just to see where you were going, and he even kept track of who you talked to.

He had memorized your schedule, so if anyone just so happened to ask him where you were, all he had to do was figure out the time and then he’d know.

But today, you were doing something different. You were going somewhere he was unfamiliar of.

So, with a quick glance around to make sure no one was paying attention to him. He discarded what he was doing, and followed you discreetly, being far away enough for you to not realize he was there. He ran up a tree and jumped from vine to vine and tree to tree, following you from above and watching like an ikran hunting its meal.

And soon enough, you came to a stop, but Neteyam’s brows furrowed when he saw the stature of another man. He hears you laugh, and you take hold of another man’s hands. He watched through the green vines, glaring at the man he knew very well from training.

His name was Eaopu, and from what Neteyam could see from training, he had nothing to offer you. He was lazy, and couldn’t tell his left from right. Neteyam was in disbelief that you went out of your way to see this man, deep in the middle of the forest. Neteyam could feel his chest tighten as his mind raced with numerous thoughts of just marching over there and bashing Eaopu’s head in then making you his, but obviously he couldn’t let his emotions get the best of him because, afterall, you two were enemies and he couldn’t let you find out that he was basically stalking you and had been for years.

Neteyam watched as Eaopu pushed your dark, unbraided hair behind your ear, leaning in to whisper what he could only imagine was something dirty by the lustful look on his disgusting face.

“Eaopu,” Neteyam hears you say in an almost angry tone. “You know I don’t do that stuff. I’m waiting until marriage.”

“Oh, c’mon. We both know you won’t be mated any time soon,” Eaopu replied, grasping your forearm. “Why not just get it out of the way?”

Neteyams nostrils flare and his eyes darken as he listens to the conversation.

“Because! I want it to be special.” You tell him, pushing his chest to back him away from you, but he doesn’t budge. And Neteyam then knows what Eaopu’s intentions were with you. Leading you out into the deep forest to try to convince you to have sex with him, knowing how adamant you were on not having sex until marriage. Neteyam knew Eaopu was strong, so there’d be no way for you to get away if Eaopu tried what Neteyam feared.

“So then why’d you even meet me here? Huh?! Was this your plan this whole time? Get me all excited and leave me with blue balls?” Eaopu yelled, his voice echoing throughout the empty part of the forest you two were in.

You stare at Eaopu in disbelief as he backs you up against a tree. Neteyam then knew he had to step in.

The future Olo’eyktan jumped down from the tree and marched over to the scene, pushing back Eaopu’s shoulder, causing him to flinch.

“N-Neteyam!” Eaopu’s eyes widened, and he was taken aback by Neteyam’s sudden appearance. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

“Oh, really?” Neteyam knew he didn’t have to say much in order for Eaopu to surrender in fear and walk away. When he had done so, Neteyam turned to you, back against the rough bark of a tree.

“You okay?” He asked you, observing your body language.

“I don’t need your protection.” You say, crossing your arms and rolling your eyes. You were grateful, but you still quote on quote “hated” him so you had to keep that going.

“Hey, I just saved your ass from whatever he was about to do to you!” Neteyam shouted, arm pointed to where Eaopu had left.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t need you to save me! I can save myself.” You argue, and he chuckles.

“This is unbelievable.” He shakes his head, placing his hands on his hips. “I follow you out here, and save you from him, and you start-“

“You followed me out here?!” You cut him off and he freezes, lips parted. He tried to think of things he could say to get out of this.

“N-No, no. I didn’t follow you out here. Please.” He scoffed. “Why would I want to follow you, of all people? That’s ridiculous.” He defended himself, and you raised your hairless brows.

“Oh, yeah? So then how’d you get to save me just in time?” You ask, arms still crossed as you take a step towards him.

“I was hunting!” He defended once again, arms outstretched for a moment before falling to his side.

“Really? Where’s your bow and arrow?” You question.

He knew you had him, and he sighed in defeat, ears folded against his braids. “Okay, okay, fine. Yes, I followed you. But don’t let it get to your head, you skxawng. I just wanted to make sure you were safe.” He admitted, his eyes not missing the way your lips quirked up slightly.

You stay silent, feeling your cheeks burn up. Your heart thumped against your chest like a rock being tossed against your skin from the inside, and you looked away.

“Thanks. I guess.” You say in a soft tone, glancing at him when he steps forward.

“You're welcome.” He replies, and both of you are silent for a few moments before he breaks it.

“Listen, I…” He starts, but doesn’t know how. “I don’t want to hate each other anymore.”

His words make you stare at him, brows furrowed. “Hey, you’re the one that started it. What did I ever do to you, anyway? Y’know, since we’re here all alone, you might as well tell me. None of your friends are around to influence you, so please. Enlighten me.”

He opens his mouth then closes it, and he sighs again. “You never did anything to me, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“You never did anything to me. I suppose I started picking on you because..” He breathes in deeply before admitting his feelings to you. “I really liked you, and I didn’t know how to go about it because I was young, and dumb. But over the years, I just started liking you more and now I think I’m in love with you and I don’t know what to do because I was a bully and I made you hate me and I don’t think we could be anything more the enemies and it hurts my soul every time we go at each others necks because it’s not what I want! I just want…” He runs his fingers around his mouth. “I just want you.”

Your eyes are wide as you listen to his rambling, and you swallow to relieve your dry throat. He just opened his heart to you, revealing that all this time when he made fun of you and humiliated you, he actually was just in love with you.

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t know why I dropped this on you. I should go.” He says when you just stand there and stare at him, but as he’s about to walk away, you grab his wrist and smash your mouth against his.

He melts into the kiss, his heart melting along with it. He brings his hand up to cup your cheek and his other hand to hold your waist. This is what he’s wanted for years. He’s wanted so badly to feel your lips against his; he’s spent years just imagining it.

When you pull away, your faces stay close and you can feel his warm panting against your lips. He pressed his forehead to yours and you whispered, “I want you, too.”

His eyes close briefly with a smile stretching across his lips, and he kisses you again.

“Then be mine. Forever.” He whispers against your plump lips, and you pull away slightly. When he sees your reaction, he’s quick to drop to his knees and lean his forehead on your lower stomach, hugging your thighs. “Please, Y/N. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this; how long I’ve wanted you. Do you know how many women I’ve turned down all because I was stuck on you?” He looks up at you, amber eyes filled with an emotion you’ve never seen on Neteyam.

His eyes were glossy and he looked up at you with pure desperation. He would never force you to do something you didn’t want to, but if you truly wanted him, then you two would come to an agreement.

“Neteyam, this is so sudden… and besides, you’ve said it yourself, no one would ever want to mate with me-“ He cuts you off and stands up, cupping your cheeks.

“No, no, no, no, I was lying, I was just saying that, I’m sorry.. I never meant anything I’ve ever said about you.” He tried to reassure you, and you stared at him, not quite knowing what to do.

“You want me, too, right?” He asked, and you nodded, putting your hands on his shoulders.

He takes your hands in his and gently brings you both to the ground on your knees in front of each other. He decided to sit and have a long talk with you about everything, and you both opened your hearts to each other. Tears spilled, and laughter filled the part of the forest you two were in, but eventually you came to an agreement.

That’s how you ended up underneath him, his bare body grinding against yours. You two had finally connected after years of covered up desire, and now you were one for all of eternity.

Neteyam couldn’t describe the feeling of being mated with you in words, he could only feel how amazing and euphoric it felt for your souls to be intertwined.

You two breathed heavily, gasping and panting between kisses as Neteyam pushed into you, his cock pulsing in his hand as he breached you for the first time. You hissed at the pain of being stretched out this much for the first time, and he could feel it through the bond. He could feel your pain, but also your burning desire to get past it the best you could.

“Are you alright?” He asked in a voice you’d never thought you’d hear him talk in. He has bottomed out inside of you, and remained very still while hovering over you, his arms holding himself up at either side of your head, caging you.

He tried so hard to not pull back and pound into you like his gut was telling him to, but he wanted to listen to his heart and his mind, and he wanted to wait until you were ready.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine. Ju-Just go slow.” You tell him, wrapping your arms around his neck as he pulled out about an inch and then pushed in. This feeling was so new for the both of you. The way your pussy enveloped around his cock tightly made his head dizzy, and the way his cock penetrated you and hit spots inside of you that you didn’t think could be reached made your brain feel all gooey.

He kissed your jaw, and pulled out more, then back in, searching for any sign of discomfort through the bond. He fortunately found nothing within the shared connection, and slid in and out of you faster.

You place a hand down at his abs, trying to tell him to go slower because you weren’t quite ready, and he groaned before slowing down. He wanted to pound you like an animal, but he wanted you to feel good, too. He didn’t want to hurt you, not anymore. He wanted to protect you forever, and he didn’t want anyone to walk all over you anymore. Now, he would protect you like a mate should.

“Oh, great mother.” You whine, throwing your head back and clenching around him even tighter then before. He didn’t even know it was possible for him to be inside something so wet and tight.

“Fuck, you’re so tight. Can’t believe I’ve been missing out on you for so long, I should’ve told you I loved you a long time ago.” He said softly in your ear and his hips rocked back and forth. “I regret everything from before- fuck… I regret not taking you as mine since the moment I realized I was in love with you.”

You couldn’t speak, you felt like everytime his bulbous tip hit that spongy part inside of you that felt particularly good, the air left your lungs. You struggled to form a coherent thought as his cock fucked you dumb. You never knew your enemy's cock could feel this good; though, you’re not enemies anymore.

Neteyam supported his weight on one arm while the other reached down to play with the small nub he's thought so many times about sucking and rubbing. He rubbed tight circles on your clit, making your back arch into him, your chest pressing against his.

“You’re so pretty,” He whispered, kissing your cheek and then pecking your lips. “So beautiful.”

You wanted to thank him, but you knew he could hear it in his mind.

“Fuck, I’m gonna cum already.” He murmured, whining loudly when his cock twitched. He felt a burning sensation throughout him, and you grind your hips back against his, helping him reach his orgasm as well as reaching your own high.

“M-Me, too, I think.” You say, panting and moaning. He rubbed your clit faster, and you wrapped your legs tightly around his waist, pulling his cock further inside of you.

You both cum at the same time, your orgasms sending tingles throughout both of your bodies that twitched and spasmed against each other. Neteyam’s hips continued to grind as he spilled inside of you, and you could feel his cum sloshing around inside of you. You closed your eyes at the feeling, and your hips jerked at the stimulation.

“That was…” Neteyam started talking to praise you, but he couldn’t wrap his head around how good it felt. He never thought he would actually be able to get you to be his, he always just thought he fucked up his oppurtunity to be with you, but now that he had you, he was never going to let you go for as long as you two lived.

He was going to worship you and never say anything mean to you ever again until his dying days.

He nuzzled his head into the crook of your neck and remained inside of you. You hug him tightly, inhaling his scent. Then, he rolled over to lay next to you, pulling out of you slowly with a pop! sound.

He grabbed your waist and pulled you close, your nude bodies pressed against each other as your limbs tangled before finally sleeping. He knew his father would be looking for him, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything else or any other responsibilities. He only cared about you now.

[chaosandmarigolds]

(i warned you all. I was on the brink of writing the saddest stuff ever and now you must endure bc I said so- ghoap x reader version)

literally 99% dialogue, I’m yapping yall

Just casually thinking about how if you happened to be in this odd situationship with the lieutenant and sergeant it would be a… retreat. you all found love and comfort, a light within the shadow of the war. thinking about how you and Simon got along, mostly for Johnnys sake, you didn’t hold resentment, but more of a neutral center.

until Johnny wasn’t there to be the middle ground.

hell though, neither of you wanted to go back to the barracks and the only reason you had your own room was because a few clever loophole for those in relationships

so you both stayed. Not speaking unless needed- but mostly even then it was through sticky notes, the different styles of handwriting clouded the paper as if a spoken conversation

‘I washed the sheets- can you grab more detergent? Xx’

‘Gonna grab dinner for us. No need to pay me back. Simon.’

‘you left early this morning. What’s up?’ ‘Can’t sleep. Going on runs.’ ‘can I join you?’ ‘I would like that.’

it got to the point where you would write on the piece of paper in front of the other instead of conversation, can’t say exactly why

you didn’t sleep in the same bed, not unless the other had a nightmare and needed some sort of comfort

It stayed like that for a very long while until you woke up one morning with a note attached to a hot cup of coffee ‘Have a good day’ …that was new.

‘Have a good day?’ ‘what’s with the question mark.’ ‘Nothing. Just didn’t take you to be the sentimental type.’ Simon would furrow his eyebrows as he watched your scribble down the words on the notepad, and then with a grumble he leaned over. ‘Is it sentimental to tell my girlfriend to have a good day?’ You sip the said coffee as he hold out the notepad and you nearly gag, this time speaking out loud, “Girlfriend?” “Mmhm.” “since when?” “Since January Seventh 2019 at 16:35.”

… “that’s when I started dating John.” “and me, by association.” “You liked me? God I thought you’ve tolerated me.” “I could say the same.” “I could just tolerate you still, Riley.” “mm, doubt.”

since then, notes have changed slightly

‘Did you take my shirt?’ ‘no xoxo’

‘Pizza is in the fridge.’ ‘omg I love you’

‘I have Riley a haircut, do u like it.’ ‘I have never hated something so much buts it’s okay because I love you.’ (yapping. I’m yapping. Tell me to shut up. Pls don’t I will cry)

[nobedofroses]

A Different Kind of Sleepover

Summary: Joel Miller x fem!reader (no use of y/n). You'd never dreamed chaperoning a school dance could've led to this. 18+

Word Count: 5.6k

Warnings: daddy kink, kind of brat tamer!joel, unprotected p-in-v sex, edging, pillow humping, forced alcohol consumption (but consensually still, you'll see), degradation (whore, slut), and... I think that's it!

A/N: hello, first post in a while, which is what happens with a full time job, I suppose. But I am gearing up to do some posting during December, possibly a writing challenge, so heads up on that! Hope you like this, and I'd love to hear what you think!! xx

Directory

⫸⫸⫸

Joel and you had become friends just over a year ago. You had met while you were chaperoning the underclassmen spring fling. Joel was there because of his daughter and you were there because you worked in the library at the school. Not enough parents signed up so you were offered extra pay for doing more hours.

You were standing by the punch bowl to make sure no one spiked it. Mostly it meant you had easy access to the chips, but it was official enough to look like you were doing your part. 

About 20 minutes in, you saw a flash of metal out of the corner of your eye and turned in time to see someone pocketing a flash. You took a deep breath, ready to berate some 15 year old for sneaking in alcohol when you actually looked at who had been holding the flask. 

It was not a 15 year old, in fact you’d guess that the man was about two decades older. Your eyes raked up and down his body, taking in his broad shoulders, well-fitting t-shirt with a flannel over top of it that did not hide his well-defined biceps, straight leg jeans that hugged his legs just a little too well for your ability to think, and then back to the large hand that had tucked the flask into his waistband, giving you a quick glimpse of his slightly soft tummy. 

You were in the middle of a thick swallow when his voice drew your eyes to his face. 

“Um, can you pretend you didn’t just see that?” he said sheepishly with just about the most charming smile you had ever seen. Accompanied by a strong aquiline nose, warm brown eyes, and scruff and a mustache, it was enough to make your knees a little weak. 

It took a lot for you not to bat your lashes, and say, “Whatever you want, daddy.” 

Instead, you actually said, “Sure, long as you don’t give any to the minors,” with a little laugh that you hoped sounded casual. 

“Oh hell no, they don’t have the discernin’ palates it takes to appreciate this stuff,” he told you, patting where the flask was. “Jack Daniels is only for the most refined tastes.” 

You laughed again, relaxed by his joking. Deciding to be brave, you stuck your hand out to him and introduced yourself. His hand was strong and warm when he shook yours and told you his name was Joel. 

Coming to stand next to you facing the dancefloor, Joel started making conversation, inadvertently making your thought process slow due to his closeness and the way you could smell his spicy cologne. 

“So, you must find it easy to connect with your students. I remember always gettin’ along better with the younger teachers because they weren’t as condescending when I was in school,” Joel started. 

“Oh, I’m not a teacher, I work in the library. They were short on parents so that’s why I’m here,” you explained. 

“You work in the library? You’re a librarian? Aren’t chaperones supposed to keep things from gettin’ too sexual? How does that work when half the boys here and I’ll bet some of the girls view you as a sexy librarian?” Joel said incredulously, looking up and down at your admittedly very cute outfit. But, being at work, it wasn’t revealing at all.

Chuckling, you said, “Because this is real life, not porn. No one’s exchanging any sexual favors to get out of late fines.” 

“Oh, so you admit you watch porn?” Joel said with a straight face. 

And as you covered your mouth with one hand to keep from laughing out loud and hit his shoulder with the other as he gave you a shit-eating grin, you knew that this Joel guy was someone that would make you laugh like this every day if you’d let him. 

Since then, the two of you had stayed in touch, usually getting dinner and drinks at the dive bar he frequented with his brother. There was always an undercurrent of sexual tension and lots of flirting, but he had a 14 year old daughter at home and you worked early. But it all came to a head the first week after summer break started when, at the bar again, Joel told you about the multiple day sleepover that Sarah had planned with her best friend two towns over and you had bragged about getting able to sleep in on a weekday for the first time in months. 

You had excused yourself to go to the bathroom and splash some water on your neck because you were getting in over your head with all the flirting and the way he was checking you out and how you kept touching his arms and hands. He was waiting for you in the hallway and the two of you made out until the next person came stumbling down the hallway and then again in his car in the parking lot and then as soon as he parked until you were on his bed on your back and he was grabbing a condom out of his nightstand. It had actually taken a second for him to find them because he apparently hadn’t had the need for one in a while and that made you smile and you almost offered that you go without, but since it was your first time together, you figured that was for the best. 

Sex had been amazing, but neither of you were looking for a relationship right then. Again, he had a daughter in high school and you had started your job just the previous year and wanted to focus on that. Plus, you weren’t ready to be a teenager’s stepmom anytime soon. After a frank conversation along those lines, you decided to stay friends who had occasional mind blowing sex, a situation that was very agreeable to you both. 

Over that summer, basically any time that Sarah was at a friend’s house overnight you were at his place, so long as you didn’t have other plans. Once the school year started again, the frequency went way down and you switched back to mainly seeing each other at the bar every other week, but when Sarah had any school trip or the occasional weekend sleepover, you were over. 

Summer was coming up again and you were excited to start things up again more consistently. Over the past six months or so, the two of you had been experimenting with different dynamics, but hadn’t had the time to really delve deep and take your time with things. Because you were only having sex maybe once every month or two, things were pretty frantic when you did, trying to make each other have as many orgasms as possible in the time you had. 

Last time, when you had accidentally called him daddy, both of you had cum very, very quickly, but Sarah had called right after you finished to say she was coming home that night instead of the next morning because she didn’t feel well. 

You had rushed out and there hadn’t been a good time to talk about it because Sarah hadn’t had any more sleepovers and you didn’t want to talk about it in the bar where anyone could hear you. 

So, you were left hoping that Joel wasn’t weirded out, had actually liked it as much as you did, and would let you do it again. 

Your chance came just three days into summer break when Joel called you because Sarah was leaving the next morning for a week-long trip to her friend’s house on South Padre Island. They wanted to soak up the sun before the humidity and heat of July and August. 

Plans were quickly made for you to come over that afternoon and stay the night, but you packed for more like three nights, just in case. 

Joel had the tv going when you arrived and he had snacks out in case you were hungry before dinner, but what you were hungry for couldn’t be satisfied by food. 

“C’mon Joel, can’t we just skip all the lead-up? It’s been too long, I want you,” you told him, stepping close and running your hands up his chest to wrap around his neck. 

You could tell he liked the touch but he tried to hold firm, not touching you back. “I just spent 15 minutes takin’ all this out and I’m hungry. It’ll take just as long to put it away.” 

Humming, you leaned forward to kiss at his neck and say, “Well, you could always eat while I go and slip into something more comfortable.” 

Joel’s hands rested naturally on your waist as he scoffed a laugh, “And leave me to pack it all away too? Real nice, honey.” 

At this you did pull back, “I didn’t ask you to put all this out and you could’ve ate before I came. If you don’t want to put it away alone, leave it until we’re done, it won’t go bad.” 

The tension between you was way more about not having sex in so long than it was about snacks, but you were okay with it adding a little heat to your doings so long as it didn’t delay anything too much. 

And Joel’s eyes were getting dark like they did when he was going to fuck you good, and you were getting warm because of it. But instead of kissing you like you thought he would, he grabbed your ass roughly and told you, “I’m not sure I like your attitude, sweetheart. Aren’t girls like you supposed to be good for their daddy?” 

Your legs just about dropped out from under you as your head spun at the sudden shift. You tried to say something, but all that came out was a moan as your pussy throbbed. 

But then Joel smirked and you regained just enough brain power to not want to give in so easily. If he thought you were being bad, you would show him just how bad you could be. So you leaned in for what he was sure to think was another kiss on the neck, but you bit where his neck met his shoulder instead. It wasn’t too hard, but enough to sting, and definitely enough to surprise him when he had been expecting your soft lips instead. 

While he was still exclaiming in shock, you pulled away from him and said, “I don’t think you’ve given me a reason why I should have a better attitude, daddy.” 

Your skin burned with arousal and defiance as Joel stared daggers at you. But not harmful daggers, more like daggers to cut all of your clothes off so he could have you naked. 

Walking away from him, you put an extra little swing in your hips and headed towards where he kept his whiskey, knowing he liked the sight of you drinking out of the cups that were normally just his. The more riled up he got, the hotter you were hoping the sex would be. 

He stood in the same place, just watching you and rubbing where you had bit him with his big hand. There was a mirror on the wall next to the cabinet that you could see him in, and fuck, he looked good. 

Opening the cabinet door, you grabbed a crystal rocks glass, his fancy ones that he didn’t use for every day, and poured yourself a couple fingers of whiskey. You didn’t actually like it all that much, but this was for show. 

Turning and lifting the drink to him in a cheers, you said, “This is what you should’ve done when I first got here, daddy. Polite hosts offer their guests drinks.” 

This comment totally ignored that he had offered you beer when you first got there, but being a brat wasn’t based in logic, just provocation. You took a sip, humming at the burn that made its way down your throat, and hoping that Joel would step in before you had to drink the whole glass. 

This intervention came even quicker than you had hoped. Joel crossed over to you in three long strides and yanked the glass out of your hand. It spilled some on the floor, but Joel didn’t seem to care, getting up in your space and staring you down. 

“Good guests don’t help themselves to expensive whisky and crystal glasses without askin’. And good girls shouldn’t talk back. If you’re gonna be a brat then I’m gonna treat you like one, honey. Let’s just hope it cures that smart mouth of yours,” Joel said in a gruff voice. He held up the whiskey glass to look at it, and you thought he was going to drink it, but then he said, “In fact, let’s see if this whiskey will help wash it out first.” 

Before you could ask what he meant, he held the glass to your mouth and started tipping it, leaving you to open your mouth and start drinking or get your whole front covered in whiskey as it spilled out. You went with the first option, gulping the strong alcohol down until it was gone and then sputtering and gasping when he pulled the glass away. 

Since you couldn’t talk right away, Joel smiled condescendingly and said, “There, already behavin’ better.” 

Your legs had turned to jelly and you could feel a mess between them as your cunt throbbed at just how dominant and mean he was being. It was making you dizzy with desire and you wanted his next act of domination to be bending you over the kitchen counter and taking you. 

But you were not so lucky. 

“You know what, sweetheart? Your idea did sound good. I think I will have that snack while you put on your pretty lingerie. But it might take me longer than that, so here’s what I want you to do.” Joel leaned in close, his mouth at your ear and his presence large and intimidating, “You’re gonna get on my bed, pick a pillow, and hump it like the dirty little whore you are. I want you wet and desperate for daddy. But if your hand so much as touches your cunt from outside your panties, you’ll have hell to pay. Got it?” 

There was no way to stop the little whine you let out, swaying into him because you truly could not stand up straight anymore. 

You managed to say, “Y-yes, daddy,” hoping for some sort of reward for at least answering his question. But Joel just grabbed your shoulders, turned you around so you were facing away from him and towards the stairs, and then put your bag in your arms. You stood there for a second without moving so Joel swatted your ass to get you going. 

“Go on, then. I’ll be up when I’m good and ready.” 

It took you longer than normal to go up the stairs because you were so weak in the knees, but you made it into his bedroom and went through your bag to find the lingerie. Your hands were shaking as you took it out, and you had to take it slow to get everything on correctly, but your anticipation just grew stronger as you hoped that Joel would like it. You had picked it out specifically for him. 

_____

Fifteen minutes later and your legs were burning from exertion. Not only had you not had sex for a while, but Joel liked to be on top, so grinding on top of the pillow was a lot more work than you were used to. You didn’t dare let up for even a second though, because Joel could walk in at any moment. 

While this was not your preferred method of getting off (mostly because you didn’t know how to angle the pressure and friction for it to be enough to get you off), you were ridiculously turned on. You wouldn’t be surprised if the pillow was getting damp. Just the idea of performing this ridiculously dirty task because Joel had told you to, because Joel wanted you ready for him was enough to get you feeling hot. Actually doing it and the physical sensations that followed were enough to get you desperate for him. Which had to be exactly what he wanted. 

Finally, just when you were really questioning how mad he would be if you stopped, Joel walked in the room. He looked the same as he did downstairs, which was devastatingly handsome and also very stern. 

“So I guess you can follow orders,” Joel commented, leaning against the doorframe. 

It was entirely too far away from you for your liking, not within reaching distance at all. Ignoring his question because you were too distracted by your need to listen well, you whined and entreated, “Joel, please.” 

Joel said a brow and looked at you harshly, “Don’t call me that. Either call me daddy or keep that whiny mouth shut.” 

Even though it proved him right, you whined, and stuttered out, “Y-yes, daddy. I-I’m sorry.” 

“That’s better.” As a reward, Joel took a few steps closer, standing at the edge of the bed but still so far away from you. It took a lot of willpower not to crawl across it to him, but you didn’t think you’d be able to keep humping the pillow at the same time, and he hadn’t told you to stop. 

Joel’s gaze raked over you and warmth spread over your cheeks and chest. His hand moved to his crotch to adjust his growing hardness and you were both flustered and gratified that he was getting hard by watching you. 

“Have you touched yourself?” His voice was quiet, but he didn’t need to be loud to hold your rapt attention. 

“No daddy.” 

“Good girl, now—” Joel was interrupted by your moan at the praise and he smirked. “Now honey, you’re gonna have to be quiet while daddy’s talking so you don’t miss any instructions. Can you handle that?” 

“I think so, daddy,” you said earnestly, looking at him with wide eyes. 

“Well, I appreciate the honesty, sweetheart, but you’d better or you’re gonna have another punishment to endure,” Joel said, casually reaching for his belt and undoing the buckle. You could’ve moaned, but you didn’t want to risk it in case he was about to talk. “Alright, honey, you can stop. And c’mere close to me at the edge of the bed.” 

You crawled over to where he was because you had a feeling he’d like that, and when he groaned watching you, you knew you were right. When you reached him, he helped you to kneel at full height so you were close to him. Intimidatingly close. 

His cologne was spicy and enticing and his handsome face made you all flustered and you were getting dizzy looking between his eyes and his lips, wanting to kiss him desperately. You didn’t realize, but you were leaning closer and closer and your breaths almost sounded like whines and you were pursing your lips a little bit, all nice and desperate how Joel wanted you. 

When he didn’t say anything and you couldn’t wait any longer, you said, “Daddy?” 

Joel felt his cock twitch at the word and how good you were being compared to how bratty you were earlier. He wondered if you’d be this good while he was fucking you. 

Instead of responding, Joel kissed you and you immediately melted into him, putting your hands on his chest for balance. Joel grabbed your waist and held you tight, his hard cock pressing against your stomach. After a bit, you’re hazy with lust and how good his kisses are and wanted more, so much more. You slid your hand down between you to palm his cock, moaning into the kiss so he would know how much you wanted it. 

He pulled back and smiled, “Yeah, honey? You want daddy’s cock? Why don’t you spread your legs nice and wide for daddy so I can check if this cunt is ready?” 

You swallowed thickly and nodded, parting your legs as Joel’s hand came between them, passing over the front of your panties and feeling how wet they were even from the outside. Joel cursed under his breath and pushed them to the side, sliding his fingers up your slit to your entrance. 

He lined up two fingers and started pushing them in, not fast enough to hurt but faster than you thought he would and you gasped at the stretch, “Daddy, oh—” 

Joel kissed you to distract you, and also because you were so fucking cute. After they were in all the way, he started fucking them into you firmly to make sure there’d be no resistance when it came to his cock. He was planning on fucking you hard. 

You could barely stay upright with what his fingers were doing to you, grabbing onto his strong shoulders tightly to try and keep steady. They just felt so good and you knew his cock would feel better and wanted to plead with him for it but you didn’t know if that would be wrong. If you would be punished. 

The idea of punishment was both very hot and scary. If it was something tolerable like spanking or overstimulation, you’d risk it, but who knows what Joel would do? Based on what he had you do before, you worried he might just edge you and then fuck you and then not let you cum all night. Which would truly be a travesty. If you were going to ask, you needed to be real, real good and careful about it. 

You moved your hand back down to his cock to remind him of how hard he was, and show him how good you were being to want to pleasure him too. 

Joel moaned and pressed his hips into your hand. You took the encouragement and squeezed more firmly, using your thumb to find his head and rub little circles on it.

“Shit, sweetheart,” he muttered, pulling back from the kiss to breathe deep. 

You took the opportunity to kiss his jaw and neck and then say sweetly in his ear, “Daddy, can I please have your cock now? I wanna feel you fill me.” 

Joel shuddered as your cunt clenched around his fingers, apparently just at the thought of having his cock. Which meant, of course, that he couldn’t make you wait any longer. Or himself. 

“Alright, honey,” he told you, pulling his fingers out of you quick enough you squeaked at the empty feeling. “Sorry, sweetheart, I know how slutty your cunt is. But why don’t you take off those cute panties and get back by the pillows for me. The one you used.” 

You whimpered quietly and moved away from him, doing as he said and feeling dirty when you had to lay on the pillow you had grinded on. You parted your legs and waited for him, hoping you looked patient because you sure didn’t feel it. 

Joel undid his belt buckle, switching between looking at you and your cunt. You squirmed but kept your legs open even though it was so hard. To distract yourself from feeling so flustered, you watched his hands instead. His hands that were so big and strong and touched you so well. His hands that were tugging down his pants and you could see how hard his cock was in his boxer-briefs. His hands that were pushing those down too. His hands that were wrapping around his hard cock, stroking it. His hands that you were incredibly jealous of. 

Even from across the bed, Joel could see your pussy clenching around nothing as you watched his hands on his cock. It was a terrible torture not to just fuck you immediately, but it was worth it that you were in worse agony of desire. He wanted you begging. He wanted you to admit that you were reliant on him, on pleasing him to get what you wanted most. He wanted you to be perfect and obedient for him, and he knew he would get it. 

“Tell me what you’re gonna do if I fuck you,” Joel commanded and he was rewarded for his threat of not following through with your shining, pleading eyes and a whine. 

“A-anything. Anything you want, d-daddy,” you said earnestly, chest heaving with how worried and turned on you were. 

“That’s right, good girl,” he said as he walked around the bed, pulling off his shirt and you just had to sit there and watch and not touch him even though you wanted nothing more. But thankfully, he started getting on top of you right away and you fisted your hands in the comforter so you didn’t touch, but you were getting light headed from holding back so much. He got settled, your only contact his thighs just barely against your ass and as he knelt above you. Even just that little touch made goosebumps spread out along your skin and you sighed in pleasure as if he was touching your clit. 

And then he shifted forward just a bit and his cock rested on your slit. A loud whine escaped your mouth and you winced but Joel just smirked. 

“It’s alright, honey. Now that I’m gonna take your pussy with my cock, I want to hear all your dirty sounds. It’ll get me off faster,” he told you and heaven help you, you whined again. 

Then he gently grabbed your hand and guided it to his cock, “Put it in, sweetheart, show me how much you want it.” 

You couldn’t help but stroke his length at least once, bumping your clit in the process and moaning in surprise. To keep from getting in trouble, you pushed his cock to slide down your folds until it notched at your entrance and then guided it inside as much as you could. Then it was up to Joel, but he wasn’t moving and his cock was only a couple inches inside of you. 

At first, you thought he was making sure you’d be obedient, but then you remembered that he wanted to see how much you wanted it. You got flustered as you realized that it probably meant he wanted to hear just how much you wanted it. 

“P-please, J— daddy, please fuck me. I need your cock s-so bad,” you ended your plea with a breathy whine and then each breath after made a little sound too as you waited impatiently for him to fuck you. You really felt that if he didn’t soon, you might throw a fit. Or start crying. 

But thankfully, thankfully, Joel smiled and said, “Well, if you need it.” He started pushing in the rest of the way and the way you sighed in relief, like his cock was what you had waited your whole life for, was sinful.

“Oh daddy–” what you were going to tell him you didn’t even know as you tightened around the perfect full feeling of his hot, hard cock. You didn’t even know what would be better, him staying inside of you like that forever or him starting to fuck you. Both sounded heavenly, but your mind was so muddled from desire that you couldn’t think straight long enough to think properly. 

Luckily, Joel did the deciding for you. He stayed fully seated inside of you for just long enough for you to relax around him just enough that he slipped just a little deeper and then started to fuck you. 

Joel always liked to fuck you as deep as he could. Instead of pulling out all or even half of the way, he thrusted into you shallowly as you moaned and writhed beneath him. The length of his cock would rub against your g-spot perfectly, stretching you out enough that your clit was more sensitive on the outside. The thick base of his cock grinded against it, and when you squeaked in surprise as if you were so dumb with pleasure that you didn’t remember the last time, Joel’s cock would twitch inside you. Your cunt would clench around him, he would groan, and the whole cycle would start over again until you were keening with pleasure.  

“I’m— oh— daddy!” you cried out as your orgasm came careening towards you. It was all you could do to breathe as you tried to hold on until he told you you could cum, one of the most horrible and mind-bogglingly hot things he made you do. 

Joel grunted above you, trying to keep his own orgasm under control. He liked being able to fully experience watching and hearing yours before he lost himself in his own, but damn was it nearly impossible sometimes. 

So his voice came out a little shaky as he said, “What honey? You gonna cum?” 

Since he didn’t have time to make you wait and honestly did not have the brainpower to come up with longer sentences, you serendipitously got straightforward questions that were much easier for your fucked out brain to understand. 

“Pl-e-e-ease,” you said through a long moan and then gasped, adding, “Daddy!”

Whether you had said it because you knew you were supposed to or because of the intense way your cunt clenched around him as it started to cum, Joel didn’t know. What he did know was that if he didn’t give you permission right this fucking second, he’d have to stop and give you a ruin. 

But it had been so fucking long since you came on his cock that as fantastic as that sounded, he couldn’t let it happen. 

“Cum, sweetheart, cum for your daddy,” he commanded softly, not needing to raise his voice at all to get you to feel that he had absolute and complete control over whether you did. 

You moaned so suddenly your voice broke and all you could do was silently sob as pleasure rained through every inch of your body out from your cunt. It was so intense that your legs squeezed, coming up and together until Joel was pushed halfway out of your cunt. But as much as this orgasm was for you, it was also for him, so he shoved your legs apart and pushed himself in deep again, watching your jaw go slack and eyes roll back as it sent another wave of pleasure through you. 

Joel watched each moment of your orgasm on your face, waiting until that moment where your eyes came just a fraction back into focus and looked at him with that look of disbelief. That’s when he came. He wanted you to feel every single second of him filling you up with his thick, hot cum. Because he knew you almost loved it more than him. 

He pushed into you as deep as he could go, grinded into you one more time until your broken voice managed a whimper when his pelvic bone brushed your clit, and then let himself go. Joel came, humping it into you while you basically came again, another, much smaller, round of pleasure pulsing in your pussy. 

Joel always, always, came with a moan of your name that bordered on a whine and it was the most gratifying thing in the entire world. To know that this fucking hot, sexy, prime-cut of a man was surrending himself to the pleasure that you created was easily as satisfying as any orgasm you had by your own hand (the ones made by Joel were ridiculous and didn’t count for this comparison). 

This time, as he finished cumming and started to come down, you were mostly through your aftershocks but sinking into the subspace where you literally never wanted to stop touching him. Luckily, since this happened every time things were more than a quickie, Joel knew exactly what to do before you even had to think about saying something. 

Bracing himself just enough to not cause either of you bodily harm, Joel let himself fall on top of you, crushing your body into the soft bed below you as you let out the happiest sigh of relief. 

Joel leaned his head to kiss your neck, moving up in a slow but steady line to your mouth. By the time he got there, you could breathe again, and were ready to kiss him back, slow like honey because he had worn you the fuck out. 

These types of kisses were only shared during aftercare, much too sensual and slow for how the two of you felt in the lead up to sex. But that’s partly why you loved them so much. They were always bathed in the post-orgasmic glow that you could feel radiating between you and Joel. They also didn’t require as much thought, which was good when your head was still fuzzy. 

After a bit, Joel pulled back and then kissed the corner of your mouth, “How do you feel, honey?” 

“Mmm, good. Maybe more kissing still,” you told him, which was also a subtle reminder that he was not allowed to pull out yet. 

Joel kissed you again, but not for as long. When he pulled away this time, you asked, “So you do like daddy then, huh?” 

He chuckled, “I thought that was obvious the first time. But you tell me, sweetheart, do you really like being’ a brat, or do you like being’ daddy’s good girl?”

If you could’ve moved underneath him, you would have squirmed, but since you were trapped, you had to reply, “I like it when daddy makes me his good girl.” 

The sound Joel made could only be described as a growl and it sent a thrill through you, “You just be careful not to be too bratty or you’ll have a hard time walkin’ for a week.” 

If your cunt clenched around his less than half hard cock, that really wasn’t your fault. But you couldn’t help asking, “Because you’ll spank me?” 

Joel gave you a dangerous look and your breath caught, “That won’t be the only reason, sweetheart.”

⫷⫷⫷

[gutouhua]

experienced older zhongli x younger f.reader

tags. drugs (from doctor’s office), dubcon, fingering, oral sex (f.receiving), heavily implied age gap (reader is like mid 20s, zhongli is like 38) established relationship, dom/sub undertones

a/n. i literally wrote this in a fever dream :') unedited & i'm really rusty with writing smut, sorry guys...

“Open your legs and relax, love.” 

“Open my legs?” you slurred, something more than confusion muddling your words. “Why do I need to do that? I thought…thought the doctor said I was okay?” 

“Yes,” Zhongli smiled, voice sticky sweet. “But I just want to double check. Double checking is good, love, and besides, I’m sure I’m a better doctor than that quack is.”

You frowned and thought about it. “That does make sense because you’re so…”

You trailed off, looking mischievously at him. 

Zhongli arched a fine brow. “So what, sweetheart?” 

“Old,” you giggled. 

“I might be old, but you cum on this old man’s cock every night, love. So I don’t see any issue with my age.” He pushed his knees against yours, widening your legs with his. “Spread a little further.” 

You pouted. He wasn’t wrong, but you weren’t either, and yet somehow it felt like he’d won the conversation. Whatever—you made yourself more comfortable on the duvet, sinking into the pillows, and spread your legs for Zhongli.

“Lift them up.”

Even amidst the haze of the drugs, you raised your skirt hem upon command, muscle memory aiding your fuzzy head. 

Zhongli had to suppress a deep shiver when he saw your wet folds, sticky sweet against the near translucent fabric of your panties. 

“You’ll be the death of me, I swear,” he groaned, palming his hard cock through the stuff fabric of tailored trousers. 

“No dying,” you said, trying to sound stern but failing. 

Zhongli hummed and leaned down, his face at your thighs. “And why’s that, sweetheart? You’ll miss my cock?” he teased.

“No dummy!” You swatted his head lightly. “You still have to make sure the doctor did a good job! Didn’t you say you were gonna check!”

Zhongli had to stop the full belly laughter that threatened to come out. Upon sight of your cunt, he’d nearly forgotten his true objective. “Of course, of course—I’ll check and make sure that so-called doctor did a good job and didn’t hurt you.”

“Thank you,” you mumbled, almost petulantly. 

Zhongli pulled your panties off, shimmying it around your ass. 

“Okay then, let’s get started.” Zhongli swiped his long tongue against his middle and ring finger—although if the shininess of your folds was any indication of how wet you were, he wouldn’t need to do that—and lightly pressed his two fingers against your pussy. 

“How does that feel?” he murmured, going up and down your folds, just barely skimming your clit. 

“Inside,” you demanded. Frustration pitched your voice, made it higher and whiny, but Zhongli didn’t mind. Found it endearing. 

“I have to make sure the outside is okay first, love, then I’ll check the inside.”

“Okay, fine,” you muttered. 

Zhongli chuckled and continued to massage the folds until you began squirming underneath his hold and he had to steady your hips with his free hand. An errant finger would occasionally slip just past your folds, but then it was gone and you were fighting his fingers with your hips. 

“Slow down, love. There’s no rush,” he said, sweeping long fingers against your folds. He gathered the wetness that dripped, caught it before it dirtied the sheets, and then pushed lightly inside, three fingers this time—just the tip—and you nearly folded in half from the sudden intrusion. 

“Deeper baby, please.” Desperate begging, completely forgetting that your husband was supposed to be checking for health reasons and not pleasure. 

“But I am deep?” he said coyly, sinking down to his second knuckle. Zhongli pumped his fingers in and out of your cunt, giving you slow strokes and just barely curling them. 

“Not—” you buck your hips, trying to impale his fingers on you, “—not deep enough. I want you deeper.” 

“Ask nicely, and I’ll do it. I will give you anything you ask for,” Zhongli said softly. He continued to stroke your insides, never going all the way in, and you didn’t want to cave—how did you even get into this position in the first place, you wondered—but you could feel your insides draw tight, your core fighting for sweet relief. 

When you didn’t say anything immediately, Zhongli pressed his tongue to the seam of your lips, against the folds that sucked his fingers greedily and you cried out from the sudden sensation. “Wife?” he murmured, licking your cunt messily while continuing to finger fuck you. 

“F-Fine,” you said shakily. Half-angry, half-aroused beyond belief. He knew you couldn’t resist him when he called you wife; used it every time he wanted something from you, or in this case, wanted to give you something. 

“Will you go deeper, please?” 

Zhongli latched his tongue around your clit and sucked lightly, pleased when your hips lurched forward and bumped his nose. Words half muffled, he said, “Manners.” 

You swallowed the lump in your throat; swallowed your need to win and acquiesced. “Please..please sir. Please go deeper, sir.” 

“That’s a good girl,” Zhongli praised and then thrusted knuckles deep into your cunt, sucking your clit at the same time with a harsh pull of his tongue. 

Hips lifted into the air, above the bed like an offering, you keened. “I’m gonna cum, baby, gonna cum—”

“Then come, sweetheart. Give it to me.” 

And so you did: when the tight draw in your stomach threatened to overwhelm you, eyes glossy from tears and something else, with Zhongli encouraging you, whispering praises—good girl, sweetheart, you’re doing so good, princess, cum for me—you let yourself go with a long moan and something garbled and something sounding sort of like Zhongli’s name. 

Only when you relax into the sheets, eyes closed, breath slow, exhausted, does Zhongli pull out, fingers soaked, the lower half of his face shiny and wet. But he doesn’t mind, likes the taste, really, and takes the chance to lick his fingers clean since you always chastise him for doing so in front of you. 

You got so embarrassed over things like that, Zhongli thought, but thought riding his cock wasn’t. He smiled, and although he liked you a sweaty and pleasured mess, you’d feel better waking up clean, but he’d clean you later. Not yet. 

He brought his saliva-coated fingers under his nose.

Inhaled. 

Yes, this is it.

[ofmermaidstories]

1. Not really....? It's hard to figure out my actual thoughts on it but I guess, Self-inserting for me feels like it's designed for one person in mind (whoever is being inserted) when x reader can be anyone? And from what I've seen, the content is a bit different.

2. Probably? Definitely. But will I be the person criticizing it? No... I'm not really the type to be vocal about my grievances outside of the occasional personal aside. I usually just don't trust what I have to say is constructive. But I do love hearing what other people have to say.

3. Everything

Jkjk, um.... I'd say my motivation and writing style? (That doesn't fall under everything, right?) I just don't write very effectively. Like- I have a story in my head, but actually putting it down in writing, I kinda just wing it? Like write as I go. Which is fun for developing character lore, or short stories. It leads to a lot of stop and go with longer works, and the problem with that is that it looks clunky! If I'm an a completely different state of my mind than I was when I started a piece the words I put down don't really flow well with what came before. So I have to read and reread what's already been written and play mediator by finding a way to transition from one feeling to the next.

I mostly write for friends or for fun, though, so it's forgivable.

the content being different for self-inserting vs x reader is such an important distinction!! like. also in how you engage with it, too? like—i’m always interested in self-shippy stuff from a, best friend at brunch kinda way, you know? like “YESSSS tell me more, omg, you guys are sooo cute together 🥹” whereas if someone is like, bits&pieceing about an idea for a x reader setup, i’m engaging with it as a reader, like, oh, i am interested in whatever this this piece or fic is trying to lure us in with.

i keep running into i guess… fan-only spaces, for varying Big Fics? and they’re always so interesting to scroll through, because it’s just either people gushing about Said Fic, or like, recommending similar ones, OR it’s someone starting a conversation (a tiktok is the example i’m thinking of) being like, “deku wouldn’t wear fishnets” and then like, everyone who’s had similar grievances just like, jumping in LOL. none of it—the universal loving and the dismissal—is like.. in any way truly critical? it’s just people who’ve found each other agreeing over varying things. true constructive criticism (at least in fanfics) is hard… because you do have to seperate yourself from, “is this just not for me” vs. “i see and understand where this story is trying to land, but i don’t think it makes it” and even then you kinda have to… justify it, you know? like, is it not landing because it’s missed the mark, or do you just wish it did something different? and what i like about fanfic is that we (ideally) afford each other the—generosity of forgiving things, LOL. and i guesssss my original question is more… does becoming a mega, fandom-defining fic mean the fic then loses the privilege of that generosity? i think it must create a distance between it and the fandom it’s from, in a way… it sort of takes on the same… almost for-granted quality we might have with a published book? are we removing ourselves from it, by holding it up? HMMM. questions questions ig LOL.

with no. 3—flow is hard!!! 🥺 do you have any like, rituals or anything to get yourself back into the mindset you had, before picking up the piece again? if i leave off in the middle of a scene or whatever that needs to stick to a specific mood i listen to my playlist for the fic, or whatever. 🥹 it kinda helps to limber everything back up again. but—i mean!!! as long as you have fun with it, in the end. 🥺 the process of writing takes up so much time… we need to enjoy it, in some small way. especially if the end result is for friends and fun. 🥹

[campbyler]

the perks of being european: u can start ur day with beautiful new 30k chapter 🙏🏻♥️

i admire everyone who read this chapter in less than an hour. u guys r insane. it took me like 2,5 hours to read it but i have to stop to scream into my pillow.

mike and will r so.. idek how to describe them. scared? they r not stupid cause in both povs we see that they realize that their dynamic has shifted.

like will observed in the vending machine scene their kisses became more soft? romantic? u can tell that they r not just attracted to each other physically they really like to spend time together.

the stargazing, the hand holding, the longing stares omg. i get why mike wouldn't go further. even if those feelings aren’t new the circumstances r and it Is scary considering their complicated history. (unrelated but i hope history by 1d is on the master playlist 😭)

we actually got to see that mike feels the same when he got upset that will said the “wither away” thing. that so like their pre isolation cabin selfs - insults each other just to control the urge to start making out 😭 glad that will didn’t control it this time and i can bark cause of kissing shoulder scene.

poor will almost had a stroke cause of mikes edward cullenofication And his best friend only made it worst with her deductive skills. but i think max dropped this conversation too fast. i have a feeling that it will come out after some time. it must be so scary for will to open up like that especially, if i remember correctly, nobody really knows what actually happened between he and mike. also “i don't wanna keep secrets just to keep u”.

i loved el and her dedication to all the good stuff she can eat. i bet she’d murder that one poor little camper who would take the last pancake 💔

and i Really liked that little dad son bonding moment. van camping doesn’t sound that bad for me will!!! at least u don’t have to sleep outside 😭

“twenty stitches in a hospital room” and it actually two band-aids in the middle of the forest. at least we know that poor mike won’t get a gangrene 💔

will feeling better when he’s around mike even if he does such an unpleasant thing as wilderness week. what if i die?

“Really – now that the beast has been vanquished, what’s the worst that could happen?” the phrase after which nothing never goes wrong 🙏🏻 im not scared at all 🙏🏻

i also have a question about chapter playlist. how do u guys choose song for each chapter? does the person who write this chapter does all by themself? or u brainstorm the best songs from the master playlist altogether? have u ever added the song to the chapter playlist even if it wasn’t in the main one?

thank u for the chapter suni! i hope ur feeling better and im giving u ur favorite soup 🫂

sorry for such messy comment it turned out so long and i feel like i didn’t write the half of the things i thought about 😭

hi alya! sorry it took me one million years to answer this ask but it was so thoughtful and thorough that i wanted to wait until i had the time to do it justice with the response 🫡🫡

first, i am sooooo so glad you liked chapter 7 because it was insanely fun for me to write! really enjoyed writing it and their shifting dynamic and i’m super glad that came through! you’re so right in saying that neither of them is stupid enough to Not notice how things are changing between them, and they both are definitely coming to terms with the realization that they do enjoy each other’s company in a way that is more than just physical. i think for meeee one of the most fun things abt this chapter was writing the different ways they approached that realization, especially from will’s pov. the feelings definitely are not new for either of them, which i think is pretty obvious by this point in the fic, but both of them are used to turbulence and are anticipating that and don’t really know what to do without it! super glad you picked up on mike’s hesitation as well — i think people tend to characterize our mike as “all in” or a lot more open about his feelings than will is, which is true to an extent, but he has his limitations just as much as will does and maybe even more at times.

anyways all that to say that i’m really glad that the chapter came through the way i was intending! the other parts of it were so fun to write as well — the hopper and will moment, el and max, so on and so forth. re max: it definitely is very hard for will to say the things he’s feeling to her, and battling with not wanting to keep such a big secret from his best friend vs not wanting to betray the newfound trust between him and mike is absolutely something he has been struggling with. very excited to see how that plays out hehe ( <- knows exactly how it will play out)

as for your last question, we have a couple initial songs for every chapter that have been in the playlist doc for a while, usually the “main” song for that chapter, but it’s pretty much up to whoever is writing to choose the rest of the songs and move them around/add and remove as desired! we try to keep it about 5-6 songs per chapter to keep the playlist from getting monstrous (bar some very Long and Dense chapters that are getting more) but what we do is we assemble the chapter playlist as we write and then let the others know in case there is a song that someone thinks doesn’t fit or has a better suggestion for. we’ve absolutely added songs that aren’t in the master playlist before, especially ones we stumble across and realize would be perfect for a chapter.

so sorry for taking forever to answer this and then writing an absolute essay in this response 😭 thanks soooo much for the love alya we appreciate you sm 🫶🏽🫶🏽

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

Okay this is like the third one I've sent in cause I just keep asking stuff because I discover more things you require for your asks and I'm not trying to make your life any harder than it probably is with all these request.

Anyway, I usually hate the "outsiders X YN" propaganda but I was super curious soo

I'm a female. I'm 5'6 with curly brown hair, I'm Caucasian, I have hazel eyes.

I prefer to go unlabeled. I like girls and guys. Doesn't matter to me.

I'm an infp-t, I have OCD, I'm super sarcastic all the time even when. I don't intend to be. People assume I'm mean whenever they meet me but usually that changes over time. My love language(Offering love) is acts of service but I don't care about what type I receive. I speak in a very monotone fashion sometimes which again leads people to believe I may be mean or negative but I'm very extroverted. I'm opinionative and sociable. I'd like to think I'm pretty good at holding a conversation because I love learning about other people's views and taking their comments into consideration. I also try to give people really in-depth and earnest compliments because I don't think anyone gets enough of those. I also love to give gifts and to give advice. I love having really long, genuine conversations. I love literature and writing and collecting poems and quotes. I love exploring new music genres. I'm pretty spontaneous, and spontaneity is something I value a lot in a partner.

I also value humor a lot. I'm an avoidant person but I go out of my way to show or tell people I care when I can. I, again, love writing. I love writing stories, ideas, concepts. It's all fun to me. Im a middle child. I also cook a lot and care a lot for people around me. Im also fairly empathetic sometimes, even when I don't need to be. It's hard for me to ask what I want. I'm also like disgustingly self-aware. Like I mean I just know when my actions are weird or embarrassing. I know the possible outcomes of things before I do them. Idk. I can see myself from a clear outside perspective. Im also really reflective of body language/words/actions and stuff. It's easy for me to pick up and read someone. Chronic over-thinker as well. I also have the teeniest but of social anxiety(but I'm comfortable with speaking on a stage and stuff?? Idk it's complicated.)

My mantra is that you'll never get to do the same thing twice, why not do it now? What will you really lose?

I'm very self-depricating. Woops. Uhh and idk. I don't have any specifics for any partner. I like all sorts of people I'm not picky.

Please lmk what you think 🤗

I’m so sorry first lol for making you repeat so many times. I just prefer to have as much information as possible to give you the most accurate answer and also some people didn’t include their sexualities the first time and then I messed up because I paired them with a person they weren’t interested in and then they I had to redo their entire ask because you know they were like oh I’m gay could you not be shipping me with a girl and I was like well you didn’t put that in your request so I have no idea. So thanks for tolerating that.

Your Outsiders Ship: Sodapop Curtis

(I could see you with Marcia too 😊 but I don’t know enough about her character to do a full analysis)

Explanation: starting off with looks, I think that he would be extremely attracted to you. I think that he personally finds brown eyes and hair to be absolutely stunning and just loves the way that they remind him of the hot cocoa constantly consumes in the morning when Darry has his coffee and Ponyboy has tea. You’re shorter than him, but not too short and I think that he appreciates that because it means that you don’t have to reach up on your tippy toes to kiss him, but you can also just you know he’s you’re still short enough for him to tease you about it a lot which he definitely would. I think you guys kind of have an opposite attract thing going on like I think one of the things that really stood out about you was your sarcastic personality to him and I think he really appreciated it and your brutal honesty was really different from other girls he’d interacted with, and I just think that he would be extremely attracted to that. he had a really hard time using his charm on you. I think he’s one of the few people that sees past the oh you’re probably a mean person type of thing because I feel like he’s is a very big believer in you know second chances you don’t know that person that well they could be going through something type of ideology and I think as the people pleaser he is, he would definitely give you multiple chances and I mean, even if Steve was kind of like dude she seems kind of mean sodapop would instantly be at your side defending you. seriously he has golden retriever energy, and you have black cat energy all the way and I just think you’re dynamic would be pretty cute together. I feel like he would help you out a little bit with your social skills too and help you to be a little bit more friendly to people if you ever had an issue with that he would also always defend you with people didn’t get you the way that you talked or you know things like that. I think you could also balance him out with your opinionated Ness because I feel like a lot of his life. Sodapop is always felt kind of pressure to fit in with everyone else and go with their opinions because I headcanon personally that he’s a chronic people pleaser and really wants to just make people happy and I feel like you’re argumentative personality would definitely clash with that in such an interesting and good way. I just think you guys would fundamentally help each other and, be a good pairing because you would always be working on improving each other and not only through social skills either. Soda pop doesn’t get poetry that much but I feel like he would absolutely support you or if you ever found something that seemed kind of poetic he would definitely give it to you and he would absolutely melt if you gave him an in-depth complement or did something really nice for him because you also mentioned active service was another one of your love languages I think he would just melt. He’s the middle sibling so he’s used to being ignored and whenever you have your full attention on him he just feels like he’s floating. He feels like you’re one of the few people who see beyond the “ hot Curtis sibling” and see him as a person because he is. he’s also incredibly spontaneous so you’re in luck for that aspect of your relationship. I think he is probably one of the most if not the most spontaneous out of the greasers and just I think he’s willing to do random things because I mean, I don’t know. I just think he kind of enjoys the chaos plus he’s a pretty like chaotic a great partner to have I think like not chaotic bad but more chaotic like I enjoy making life interesting type of thing. I also feel like he would love the fact that you write because it reminds him a lot of pony boy and I think he would definitely just love it and stand next to you while you write and ask 1 million questions and end up kind of annoying you, but it would be cute.

Also, also, I feel like you guys would totally bond over being the middle sibling because I mean no one can really no one really gets the experience unless they’ve actually been in the situation of being the middle child and I feel like once he finds out that you’ve been a middle sibling before he can’t wait to talk about all the relatable shit with you and I just yeah, I feel like that would be one of your main bonding subjects that you guys first realize you had something in common. Also, he is also someone who values humor a lot and I feel like you guys would have a super fun time making jokes together and just laughing and enjoying life in general he’s a person that is literally described as not needing alcohol or cigarettes or anything like that to enjoy life, he just takes it by the hands and really knows how to live and I feel like that’s something that you really really need to have a good sense of humor besides being able to laugh at yourself and he absolutely has that. Also good luck with this man in the kitchen because it is just going to end up in a flower fight and you will not get any cooking whatsoever and if you do, it’s gonna be something weird as shit because he snuck food coloring into the dough or something like that. He really loves yourself awareness because he’s often had partners who aren’t so self-aware and are kind of oblivious to what their actions do and don’t know a lot about themselves and why they act certain ways so he really values that in a partner and I feel like that’s something you could fulfill and you could help him be more self-aware too, so he’s definitely glad that’s a trait you have. Also for your anxiety I feel like he can help a lot with that. He’s kind of a more carefree guy. I don’t feel like he has anxiety too bad and he has a pretty good coping system, but I feel like he would be excellent at you know spotting whenever you’re having a panic attack helping you get over a panic attack helping you remember to meditate for 10 minutes daily things like that I feel like he would be a super helpful person to be dating if you have extreme anxiety or if you’re an overthinking person. Anyway this is cute I ship it!! 💚💚

[spritehouse]

are the different writing styles in some of yalls fics because it’s different alters writing them? Or is lex the only writer and I’m just imagining things

I don’t know if your open to questions about y’all’s system if y’all arnt just ignore me

we're open to questions. if you ever ask something that whoever's fronting doesn't feel like/want to answer, they'll leave it for someone else, and if it's something we don't want to answer because of boundaries or something, we'll say that, no harm done. it's a common sense rule—if you wouldn't ask a singlet about it (but like. in single terms. if that makes sense) don't ask us.

anyways, it's a mix of both, i think. those of us that do write have semi-different styles (though we do try to stick to a certain "vibe") but also just all of individually are just Everywhere.

lex focuses on small details. he writes a lot of imagery, setting, body language, etc. the rest of us do this when it's necessary for the story, but if you see like. 3 paragraphs of just imagery, probably lex. he's also incredibly nit-picky about things.

for example, lex wrote the intro (and most of the rest) of rest your bones:

It’s cold in the unsub’s cellar.

Not the cold that comes from over a week of Virginia showers as fall fades into winter, bringing flooded flowerbeds and overflowing rivers, or from a starless night in the middle of nowhere, standing in front of a house out of a horror movie, but a bone-deep chill that comes from exploring a crime scene that sets even the seasoned agents on edge as they search the suffocating space, the usual horrors of their jobs barely holding a candle to this.

i (tori) write a lot of just stream of consciousness stuff. admittedly, that's how most of us write, but my stuff tends to focus more on how a character is feeling, their thoughts, and how they present that, with minimal editing.

pre-knowing what's was going on with The System, lex called this the "dissociate and come back an hour later to a brain dump fic" method

i wrote a lot of the what used to be mine series:

Aaron Hotchner is at a loss.

Give him a serial killer, kidnapping and torturing their victims, an arsonist, or a hostage situation, and he’ll handle it without breaking a sweat— he’ll be the hero. But give him a grieving son who won’t talk, eat, or do anything besides lay in bed, staring at the wall, listening to his late boyfriend’s voicemail greeting, and he’s in over his head.

and ghost writes a lot of dialogue. it does write scenery, body language, etc. but if you see long stretches of dialogue, that's probably ghost (or someone else just trying to get through an unavoidable conversation. all of these are circumstantial)

for example, in destroyed everything in spit us out:

“Can I see him?” His voice is hollow and haunting, guilt hanging off the edges like a weight on his chest as Luke stares at his hands.

“I’ll ask, but your doctors want you to stay in bed and rest for at least a day.”

He doesn’t argue, simply nodding silently, making Emily shudder internally, seeing Luke as a mere shell of the man he usually is.

“I think they’re right. I should rest for a bit,” Luke grabs the thin hospital sheet with his less injured hand, pulling it over him like a protective shield. “I’d like to be alone now. Thanks.”

others do write, but we have the most distinct styles and write the most. but also, the lines between us can be blurry, especially for lex who rarely completely leaves the front, and they can overlap and we can write like each other, so it's probably be inaccurate to use this as a guide to see who wrote what, but it's the best we've got

our writing is a collective effort, so we don't "claim" works as our own. it can be helpful to know who wrote what to follow their thought processes, but we're all working towards one goal and no fics belong to just one of us.

sorry for the long winded answer, i'm actually procrastinating writing right now👍🏼

-tori🪶

[mannatea]

Predictably asking for Symphonia for the fandom meme!

I stan. 🙏

the first character i ever fell in love with: Raine. Even as a teenager she was my favorite and I loved her immediately.

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: I actually think I used to really like Zelos and found him hilarious when I was a teenager myself, and now I'm like 😨 about half of what he does and says. Yikes, bro. It actually makes me wonder how differently he would be written if the game was coming out for the first time now, because a lot of the stuff in the game just would NEVER fly these days.

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: Ah. Behold, my personal cringe: I used to ship Kratos/Raine. It didn't last very long because my fellow shippers in 2004 made me abandon ship entirely & do a heelturn toward my current OTP out of pure spite. If I'm being honest I was only shipping it because they were the only two adults in the party for a while, anyway, so it wasn't a serious attachment. 🙄 But like, it should be noted that this happened while I was in the middle of writing a love triangle fic. (My other personal cringe, shh.)

my ultimate favorite character™: RAINE, MY BELOVED. 🤍 I literally love every single thing about her.

prettiest character: You thought I was going to say Raine didn't you? WRONG. It's Yuan, actually. Look at him.

my most hated character: RODYLE. He's just so hateful.

my OTP: Regal/Raine. I will die on this hill, actually. (And have been quietly since late 2004.) This is the only ship I just won't compromise on. What can I say about it? Their dynamic just hits on a lot of notes that work exceedingly well for me personally. I won't write a manifesto here (you may thank me for holding back for your benefit) but I love both of them so much and think their personalities balance one another out incredibly well, which is a lot of fun to write.

my NOTP: Basically any Raine ship that isn't my OTP is a NOTP for me, though I do have two in particular I would consider NOTPs. IYKYK.

favorite episode skit: The My Sister skit. IT GETS ME EVERY TIME.

saddest death: Marble. SHE'S AN OLD WOMAN. PLEASE.

favorite season side plot/scene: Virginia, honestly. It messes me up every time. The doll haunts me to this day. Also, that they so INTENTIONALLY made Raine look exactly like her. Poor Raine just can't escape. And the trauma?? AHHHH.

least favorite season side plot/scene: That buffoonish Peeping Tom thing at the hot springs. I wanted more meaningful conversation with my girls and I had to deal with that instead. NO WAIT I HATE THE SCENE IN SYBAK LOOKING FOR THE LITTLE BOY'S MOM SO MUCH MORE. ZELOS'S BOOTSTRAPS SPEECH WAS THE WORST THING I HAVE EVER HAD THE MISFORTUNE OF READING, not because it wasn't 100% in character for him (HILARIOUSLY IT IS VERY IN CHARACTER 🤣) but because I feel like nobody else in the scene was written in a believable way—not Regal, not Colette, and not Lloyd. WTF WAS THAT SCENE?

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate am lukewarm about: Hate is a strong word here so I toned it down. I feel very lukewarm about Kratos. In fact, I'd go so far as to say his potential was a bit wasted just because they didn't bother to do enough with him.

my ‘you’re a piece of trash, but you’re still a fave well-liked’ fave: This is a hard one, because the trash characters are still trash to me. I'll maybe go with Kate or George for this. They both did terrible things but I still find them interesting and compelling as characters.

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: Colette, always. Also? Presea.

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: I don't have one because you'll never see me shipping something like this. It's not my cuppa.

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: This is a hard one. Maybe Genis/Presea for this? I think they are good for one another but they're both too young BY A LOT to really be thinking that deeply about things. However, their respect for one another and their compassion/understanding of what the other has been through could lead to something nice later in life. I'm not over those adorable skits where Genis asks for advice from others on what present to get for her and they all collectively give him the worst advice imaginable and he ends up buying her a whetstone because he KNOWS HER AS A PERSON and she LOVES THE GIFT. This is what peak performance looks like in a person, actually.

Thanks! ♥

[87cupsofjoe]

Fic idea I’m half-assedly “working on” right now (I wanna write a good fic but at the same time I am in the middle of writing an actual novel and should probably work on that instead lmao):

Ok. Hear me out. This is gonna fuck up a lot of things in the Frozen canon, but it’s fanfiction I can do what I want lol.

Basically, the royal family of the Southern Isles come to Arendelle to visit for some like business stuff or something, and Elsa is like fifteen and Hans would be seventeen and Anna would be twelve (I’m considering screwing around with those to make them more close together). Anna, of course, is super friendly towards the cold people, and Hans is like super closed off and it’s obvious he’s always unhappy.

Anna likes to pester Hans and tries to be friendly with him and make him tolerate her existence, and Hans appreciates it but doesn’t want her to be too close to him because ohohohoho he has fucking fire powers that’s right baby bringing back those fanarts from 2014 hell yeah.

Anyways, one day he passes by the library and sees Elsa leaving. The two make a tiny bit of conversation and kind of get to know each other and they’re both like “you have horrible anxiety? Omg bestie me too!! Hashtag twinsies!! Hashtag twinning as fuck!!”

Over the course of the two weeks Hans’s family is to stay at the castle, the three children grow kind of close together. Hans reveals his abilities to Elsa after a few days of spending his mealtimes in her room just talking together, and she’s like “cool my turn” and they’re both just kind of like :0 bc they have someone they relate to so much. Elsa becomes more comfortable with talking to Anna (in secret ofc cus the parents would not like that) and by halfway through the second week, they have agreed that their parents/families are pretty sucky and have a poor way of handling things. (Mostly Hans and Elsa, Anna’s just there agreeing to everything they say cus she loves them.)

They end up wanting to run away, abandon royal life and their toxic families, and they plan to do it on the night before Hans is to leave. So they pack some necessities and sneak onto a ship, then they hide out tik morning when it sets off. They don’t know where they’re going or how long it would take, but they’re just happy to get away and be pretty free from what was holding them back before. Again, Anna is just happy to be there and she’s only come along because she loves her sister more than anyone and thinks Hans is really cool and still wants to be his friend.

Blah blah blah they end up in the kingdom of Corona because I’m taking full advantage of those two being in the same universe. They find a small little place to live deep in the forest and then they realise they only have limited food and money until they’re completely out. So, they do what any normal person would—they start a life of CRIME.

From pickpocketing to grand theft, the three become known as the Olaf Siblings (name courtesy of Anna) and they’re widely wanted in the kingdom. It’s unknown that they’re royals, as they’ve made sure to mask their appearances. Hans uses his good looks to distract someone, Anna uses her quickness and slyness to get whatever they’re after, and Elsa uses her powers to help ensure a quick and guaranteed getaway.

Everything is fine until it’s not, and Anna gets caught and imprisoned. Completely distraught, Hans and Elsa are trying to plan a breakout, but don’t know how to go about it. Until they pickpocket the wrong ice harvester who was in town for business. Kristoff follows them back and demands his money back, causing the two to threaten his life because he’s seen their faces. They tell him they’ll kill him if he doesn’t comply with what they want, so he agrees.

Since they’ve never had a prisoner before, Kristoff is more of a guest in their home and tries to make small talk and stuff. Kristoff reveals that he has business at the castle and Elsa and Hans know that they’ve found their way in.

In between the imprisonment and the small talk and the casually living together that the three of them have ended up with, Elsa is the first to start to trust Kristoff. Eventually, begrudgingly, Hans does as well.

The three of them plan to break Anna out and save her, and there’s a tiny bit of romance bc Hansoff has me by the throat rn, and it’s mostly angst and found family. I haven’t actually started writing it nor have I posted anything yet, but my ao3 is 87cupsofcoffee for those interested in waiting. And there will be a happy ending!! :D

[mallowstep]

Mr Mallow, how do you write so much without using said or meowed ect. alot? I'm stuck at that with my dialog.

in general? practice.

writing dialogue is a skill that i put a lot of specific, directed work into, because i used to absolutely suck at it. when i used to write with my childhood bestie, she wrote most of the dialogue and i wrote most of the description stuff. (still proud of my descriptive works. when i flex those muscles i think i get some really good stuff out of it. but i digress.)

for me, having someone comment that i used dialogue tags more than necessary, and in a very formulaic way, was enough to jolt my attention to it, so now i focus on it a lot when i'm editing. but i think it mostly comes down to getting a feel for voice and flow, and then learning to be confident. i'm going to put a few example conversations i'm proud of under the cut.

“Have you thought about what your father said?”

He sighs. “Maybe.”

“Maybe like you don’t know, or maybe like you don’t want to tell me?”

“Maybe like maybe.” Marc puts down the paring knife, washing his hands clean of starch. He doesn’t like the sticky residue it leaves, and even though Layla offered to do the potatoes for him, he insisted. “What’s it matter to you?”

“I want to know if I should be stalking the airlines for cheap tickets, that’s all.”

Marc scowls. “No, you shouldn’t.”

“So you don’t want to see him?”

“So if I want to see him, I’ll take care of it!”

“Are you planning on just running off without telling me again?”

“I don’t know, Layla! I don’t know what I’m doing, but I know I don’t need you to figure it out for me.” His knife comes down hard against the cutting board. “Can you just drop it? I said I didn’t want to talk about it.”

Layla sighs. “I’m going to shower. You better be here when I get back.”

“I’m cooking dinner. Where else would I be?”

love, via a paring knife

this one isn't warriors, but i really like the dialogue. back and forth dialogue keeps things clear: the pattern is layla/marc/layla/marc/etc., and i don't break up one character's dialogue with a paragraph break.

also, something that throws me for dialogue that i've noticed: sometimes authors will do something like, "Character X smiles. 'Blah blah blah,' [character Y says.]" i usually have to reread it a few times because it takes a second to figure out who said what. even if they do explicitly include a dialogue tag after, i think it's better to just not mix things up like that. hit enter. it helps with legibility.

“This room won’t hold me.”

“It’s not meant to.” The fae blinks. “This is a hospital, not a prsion. You’re no captive.”

“I’m sure the hunters are happy with that sentiment.”

“The hunters respect it because otherwise, there is no one to treat them.”

“You’re a strange one.”

“I’m a healer. What does it matter to me what color you bleed?”

The fae smiles, just a little too wide. She can see his glamor, shining on top of him — he makes a handsome human. They always do.

“I’m glad you’re the one who found me, then.”

woe & weal

here, i did break my earlier comment re not mixing dialogue from one character with action from another. i think it reads okay because it happens in the middle of millie's line, and because the line before was clearly greystripe, so it's not ambiguous, but it's certainly not a choice i think is particularly strong. but i selected this example because there's a pretty long string of dialogue with no clues. we do get reminders of who the characters are from the dialogue itself: millie knows the hunters, she's a healer, etc., which keeps character pretty obvious imo.

and for my last example...i'm going to use a negative one.

“I bought you a new dress,” he says, holding it out for her to step into. She has to put her hand on his shoulder to steady herself.

He slides the zipper up her back, then places his chin on her shoulder and his hands on her stomach.

“Well,” he says, “no time to delay.”

Tigerstar has his hand on her back as they go down the stairs, gripping her elbow with his other hand. “This won’t be safe soon, I don’t think,” he says. “It’d be so easy for you to slip.”

(bed sheets)

this was crossposted recently but was written quite a while ago, and i think it shows my issues pretty well. i certainly lean heavily on says for controlling flow, for breaking up dialogue lines, or just unnecessarily. if i were to rewrite that scene, it'd probably go something like this now:

"I bought you a new dress."

Tigerstar holds it out, and she has to put a hand on his shoulder to steady herself. He looks at her for a moment, as if expecting something.

"Well," he says, when she says nothing. "No time to delay."

He keeps his hand on her back as they go down the stairs, gripping her elbow with his other hand. "This won't be safe soon, I don't think," he says, a manufactured thoughtfulness to his voice, like he hasn't already planned out what he's going to say. "It'd be so easy for you to slip."

i only removed the first said, but i made the purpose of the other two stronger.

so in conclusion:

i practised writing dialogue, i use other strategies to work around issues and make sure character voice is clear, and i try to make sure what i include in scenes is purposeful, and accomplishes that purpose.

<3

[self-loathing-angel-of-thursday2]

Beautiful Spouse’s Rewatch Thoughts SPN 06x14 Mannequin 3: The Reckoning

“It’s going to either move its eyes or whole head.” 🎶in the butt🎶

“It’s going to microwave his brain from all the way across the room or something” “The fuck” “THE FUCK” “That guy had some high blood pressure. That was some serious blood splatter” “like I got fucked in the nostril” “Stop lying” “I’m fine” “Soulless dick bag era” “Play montage music. Stare at computer screen” “This aint gonna go well” So I fell asleep watching this episode with my hands on the keyboard so we are starting again tonight

“Way to fkn trip dude. Right when it matters” “I mean if you’re going to get stabbed with a pipe, you gotta see the blood coming out of the pipe. A missed opportunity” “then again, we’re all just mannequin parts anyway” “That was funny” “I don’t know what we’re looking at” “Don’t write that down.” “Prop shop. I suppose this is an easy set for them” “Something about humming and molesting dummies something something” “Is the next one a sex doll? That would be funny” “Because it’s an object. Wait.” “There he goes acting with his eyes again” Paused to read the web page

“They misspelled Prices” “The US Federal Reserve went bankrupt That’s funny” “Also I’m assuming they’re researching people in the town. If that’s the case, here it says the weather is rainy and going to storm. Lets make sure that happens” “Paused to read the Missing Girl article on TV” “Her routine route” “She was on her routine route on her way home when she saw the rotorooter rooting around in the rummage store” “You can file this stuff under stuff that could be written under ChatGPT instead of an intern” “They bothered to actually write this out. That’s actually impressive. All that effort for 5 seconds” “Duck face” “Maybe don’t ignore that shit, Dean” “He’s trying to dodge the kid, seriously?” “You could do a whole genre of niche fan fiction that they paint this Rose person in. You read all the onscreen shit and make a story about her” “Oh, I’m sure she did” “She was wearing red. Imagine that” “That was quite the jaw slap. Watch him move his whole head. He quit then Spouse wiggles like Sam did” “You’re nowhere near a factory. You’re in the middle of suburbia” “This guy seems familiar” “There was a sign I couldn’t read” “Fkn finger the shit out of that doorbell” “I thought they were still together?” “the guy is Yo Mama” “Nerd” “Get pegged” “In a barn” “On a rusty nail” “Bro. I gotta hide these drugs” “Oh shit I think the condom exploded. Fuck man” I have no idea

“He’s going to be like yeah sure, but I guess Sam did interview this guy” “How does that not hurt? That’s the best superpower a ghost could have. Be the best doctor in the world and never feel that” “Surgeon not doctor I guess” “That’s just fkn cruel man” “Thats locker room talk bro” “Oh yeah you all deserve to die” “I mean they have it coming” “Had to dump her. Couldn’t make it look like suicide or whatever” “It’s on me bro” “I’m not saying you deserve to die but…” “Just let him die” Laughed 

“The fkn nod. That entire scene was a whole conversation with himself” “and it made sense” “Isn’t that basically the same speech he gave Sam a long time ago?” Look at spouse picking up parallels

“The guitar is back” “Get murdered bitch” “Now I’m confused” “What the fuck did I just see?” “Isn’t the thing that was doing the murdering…? I don’t understand” “I should totally make this my voicemail “this is my other other other cell you know what to do” “she is a very small person” “She’s holding the cursed object?” “Her underwear, obviously” “Kidney / underwear. Same difference” “What are you going to do? Burn her at the stake or what” “She’s fkn gone. Pay attention” “Just outrun it? YOu’re not going to dodge the side or anything?” “Man they don’t build them like they used to. Not a fkn scratch” “Oh that was easy” “Don’t have to worry about getting the kidney out if you just kill her.” “Soulless Sam - he would have just killed the girl” “Just pour some beer on it . It’ll be fine” “Need a new headliner bro.” “Engine liner thing. I think it’s called a headliner” “The hood liner.” “Just keep kissing ass. It’s only your brother so it’s weird” “Keep our heads down. Keep swinging our dicks” “I think Sam nods too much to allow me to trust him. Like he’s trying to convince you he’s a good person”

[assembletheimagines]

Hi love your writing was wondering if you could do a Steve Rogers x mechanic!shy!reader

Where the reader is a mechanic for the avengers but very shy and so Steve fell in love with the mechanic and always breaks things on purpose so that the Steve can see the reader

Thx

When Steve first sees you, he stops. He stops everything he is doing just to watch you follow Tony to his workshop. And only comes back to when Sam smacks him in the arm because Steve had just stopped talking in the middle of his conversation. Bucky doesn’t say anything though, a faint smile dancing at the corner of his lips. 

- 

It doesn’t take Steve long to find out who you are. Which is a highly sought out mechanic who Bruce and Tony just needed to have working with them. 

And you’re already working on a prototype for Spiderman when Steve walks in. He was here for Tony; mission succeeded with the only collateral being the gadgets Tony had given Steve beforehand. When Tony sees the broken pieces, he actually groans, catching your attention from the suit in your hands. “Steven,” Tony chides and now that your eyes are on him, the tip of Steve’s ears burn red. 

“Tony,” Steve says but Tony’s already waving his hand for silence, handing the gadgets back into Steve’s big hands. 

“Nope, don’t tell me, hand it over to,” Tony says your name and Steve blinks, because who? 

And when Steve doesn’t move, Tony groans again like he is the only man who can keeps the world turning. 

That’s when your hands brush Steve’s softly. He blinks, realizing you left your desk to go to him when he was staring Tony down. Taking the broken scraps into your hands as you give him a small smile. Steve blinks again, fingers twitching under your touch. You blush and quickly turn around from his stare, heading back to your corner with a small, “I will have this done by tomorrow.” 

Tony clears his throat as Steve continues to watch after you. A smirk on his face that makes Steve roll his eyes and leave. 

“You can send all the things you break to Miss,” Tony says your last name a smugness in his tone, knowing you’re not paying attention as he watches Steve almost falter in step before disappearing.  

- 

With Tony’s instructions to Steve, Bucky thinks he’s going to kill him because now Steve is a lot more reckless with his stuff on missions. 

At one point, Sam swears, Steve walked up to his comm that had fell from his ear and stomped on it. 

But Steve denies with a smooth smile and a broken comm fiddled between his fingers, not even stopping to debrief, as he practically skips over to the lab where everyone knows you are. 

- 

Steve walks into the lab, eyes searching for you, to your desk. 

That’s where he finds you, hovering over a magnifying glass, as you re-wire one of Natasha’s shockers. Natasha's shockers were a small disc that attaches to your skin, zapping you with enough electricity to make anyone fall to their knees in less than 10 seconds. Unconscious in 30. 

You look up from your soldering, meeting his gaze, your cheeks already turning red and you quickly look back down. Steve smiles, walking closer. 

He goes as much as to pull a chair with him and sit in front of you. Your fingers now slightly shaking as you try and pay attention to your work and not the handsome super-soldier sitting before you. 

“I have something that needs to be fixed,” He hums watching as you connect the wire together one by one. 

“You- uh, you can leave it on my desk,” you nod your head to your second desk to your left, not meeting his gaze. “If you want,” you say quickly in an afterthought, not wanting to sound rude and dismissive. “I’m busy with Nat’s shockers but then I will get whatever you need done.” 

Steve hums, his smile growing as he leans back in his chair, still holding to his broken stuff. “No worries, I have time.” 

Your hands stop momentarily, quickly realizing he planned to stay, as he made himself comfy. 

“Oh-okay.” You tried to calm your heart that was racing, hoping the super soldier with super hearing couldn’t hear it. 

- 

The next time Steve finds himself in the lab, he’s again, not empty handed. 

His lips already showing a charming smile as he walks to you, placing a to-go cup on your desk that actually makes you look up from your computer. 

“Thought you might want one,” he says coolly, not even hesitating to grab a chair and sit in front of you, his own cup in his hand. 

You blink, lips parting a little in surprise before you nod your head, a quiet thank leaving your mouth as you take the cup gratefully. Your eyes widen then, after you take a sip, realizing he got your favorite drink. 

You snap your eyes back to Steve with a questioning look but he doesn’t say anything as he takes a sip of his own drink, “what are you working on?” He simply asks. He is not going to talk about him bribing Stark to know what you like to drink or eat or snack on. 

You bit your lip, an action that doesn’t go unnoticed by Steve, before returning to your laptop. You begin to tell him how you are developing another version of Red Wing for Sam, your eyes lighting up as you get further into the details so it takes you a minute to realize you are rambling and your cheeks darken in embarrassment as you stop. “But uh, sorry, was there something you needed to be fixed?” You stumbled over your words as you look back at the super hero. 

You weren’t prepared for the look on Steve’s face. Your heart skyrocketing into your throat as your face reddens more. 

Steve shakes his head, “no, I don’t have anything for you fix.” 

You nod, looking back to your monitor, very aware of Steve’s eyes on you. 

- 

It’s 2 am and you’re flipping through a book while simultaneously scrolling on your laptop when Steve walks in. 

“How did I know I’d find you here?” Steve hums amused and you jump in your seat before meeting his eyes. “You haven’t left the lab since you got here at ten this morning.” He continues as he strides over to you. You don’t know what to say, surprised he even knew that. He rests his big hands on your desk and leans close, eyes shining with something you can’t quite place. “Let's go, you need to eat.” 

He doesn’t even hesitate as he grabs your hand into his, pulling you from your seat as he leads you out of the lab. “Wait, why are you awake?” You asked, looking up to him as he walked with you. 

Steve smiles, you still hadn’t let go of his hand, he presses L for lobby in the elevator with a hum. “What are you feeling? Pizza?” Not answering your question. 

- 

As you continued to see Steve a lot more, it seemed like every mission he went on something got broken, you found yourself looking forward to seeing him. His smile, as he walked over to you, now even sitting with you as you worked on whatever he handed you. 

The more you hung out, the more you grew comfortable around him. 

“You know, you’re going to bleed Stark dry with how many parts he’s got to order for me to fix things for you.” You hum softly, taking broken scraps from the super soldier’s hands as he flashed you a cheeky grin. 

“Mm,” this time he hums, already sitting before you as you begin to look at the damage this time. “I think he can manage.” You giggle at his words and shake your head looking up. 

“If anyone knew better, someone might think you’re breaking Stark’s tech on purpose.” You laugh again but Steve doesn’t join. 

You look over at him again and see his cheeky grin is still dancing on his lips as he tilts his head. 

Your mouth drops a little, “Are you?” Your face clearly showing disbelief. “Are you purposely breaking Stark tech?” 

Steve’s grin turns into a smirk as he leans onto the table, closer to you. “It’s a great excuse to see you.” His words flowing effortlessly as he watches your eyes widen again. 

“What?” You squeak still in disbelief at Steve’s confession. 

“How about this,” he says enjoying that it took you this long to figure it out. “I’ll stop breaking stuff if you see me outside this lab.” He hums tilting his head again, eyes full of mischief.