#it's all very girl who got a new boyfriend and suddenly became a terrible friend to you but somehow even worse and more sinister

[melanieph321]

Ruben Dias x Reader - Not Ready Part 9/12

Part 10 and Part 11 are out on my Patreon!

Readers sister dies in a tragic car accident, leaving reader and her boyfriend Ruben in the urgent custody of her niece and nephew. Readers' life is suddenly flipped upside-down since having children hadn't been the plan for her and Ruben's life together. At least not now, when his football career was reaching great new heights.

Enjoy! 💞

Emmy's birthday party might as well have been her Sweet Sixteen. You were going above and beyond for a little girl who wanted cupcakes, banners and a pink unicorn piñata, while the main theme of the party was, Moana.

Make it make sense.

Nevertheless, all of Emmy's school and football friends were invited. Not to mention Ruben's parents, who were staying in Manchester for the whole week. And your parents, coming all the way from Bournemouth. 

To think that you had the honor to cook for them all. Of course, Laleh was there to give her two cents about it....

"What the hell is a Pastel de Nata?" She said, skeptically squinting her eyes as she read off your grocery list that lay on top of your office desk. You wrote it during your lunch break, hence the sloppy handwriting.

"A Portuguese pastry." You replied. "A traditional tart of some sort. Ruben's mom wants me to bake them for Emmy's birthday."

"Erm...does Ruben's mom know that you can't bake for shit?"

You shot Laleh an evil glare from where you sat behind your desk. "I can bake."

"Erm...no you can't." She snatched up your grocery list and went through all of the entries. "And why not just order catering for the party? There is no way you'll be able to prepare all of these dishes on time. Who would even want to put themselves through that?"

You chuckled. "That's exactly what Ruben said." 

"And he was right. You're way in over your head, Y/N."

You stood from your chair, snatching the list out of Laleh's hand. "So be it. Emmy deserves the best." 

You were very stubborn to make her party as spectacular as it could be. In that way proving to Ruben's parents that you were an eligible mother and wife. After getting to know them over these past few days, it became clear to you that Ruben's parents valued tradition. Especially his mother who was a housewife through and through. Her newest occupation was criticizing your every move, whether it was the way you washed the children's laundry, or what foods you served them for dinner. Just this morning Ruben's mother rolled her eyes at the way you rushed Emmy and Vale out of the house so they would not be late for school. What else were you supposed to do? Perhaps it was the fact that you had a career that fueled her resentment? Ruben's mother probably thought that you'd never be able to handle motherhood while juggling a career. Meaning you wouldn't be a suitable wife for someone like Ruben.

You'd prove her wrong, alright. Starting with this damn birthday party.

********************************************

"Fuck!"

Ruben slammed his fist hard against a passing wall. He felt it throbbing as the players made it through the tunnel back to the locker rooms. 

"You made a mistake man, so what?" Said Bernardo. Ruben's only teammate that dared to address him in his state of anguish. The other players did best to stay away.

"It cost us the game, Bernardo. Against Chelsea of all teams."

Bernardo couldn't argue with that. City blew an important match win. One that would've shot the team to the top of the tables. All of it had been lost in the hands of Ruben and his terrible defense.

"I blame the pitch." Bernardo nodded. "You slipped and fell because Stamford Bridge is a shit stadium."

Ruben did not return Bernardo's cheeky smile, although he was thankful for his friend's attempt to cheer him up. But when Ruben got like this it could take hours, sometimes days before his mood was restored.

"Hey." Bernardo nudged Ruben's shoulder. "At least we get to celebrate something this afternoon. Ines picked out the cutest pair of cleats as our gift for Emmy's birthday. Guess what color the shoes are."

Ruben shrugged his shoulders and let out a low grunt. He was not in the mood to play games.

"Pink! They're pink." Bernardo exclaimed. "I must say that fatherhood has made these things exciting for me."

"Right, right." Ruben could lie and say that he felt the same way, but in reality he couldn't care less about a pair of pink cleats. No matter who they belonged to.

The team bus arrived back in Manchester just as the sun was setting low over the city sky. Right now you would have your hands full entertaining a dozen sugar induced children. Just the thought of them running around in the apartment made Ruben dread the idea of going home.

"I'll see you in a bit." Bernardo said, as they stepped off the team bus parked outside of the Etihad stadium.

"Yeah, whatever man."

What should have been minutes turned into an hour. Ruben drove the long way home, meaning his Porsche circle around the city, giving the environmentalists another reason to hate him.

"Hello? Ruben?"

Just as he came around the block your name popped up on the car dash. It did occur to Ruben that he would hear from you sooner or later.

"Yes, babe. I'm late and I'm sorry."

"Is everything alright? Are you on your  way?" Children were heard shouting in the background, causing Ruben to rub the side of his already aching temple. He tried to solemnly focus on your voice. You sounded worried, something he never intended to do. "I got a bit worried when Bernardo and Ines showed up before you did." You chuckled nervously, striking something within Ruben's chest.

"I'm right around the corner, baby. I'll be home in a minute."

"Okay. Emmy has been asking about you. We saw the game. I know you must be upset....."

"I'm not—" Just the mention of the game triggered something that an hour car ride had managed to cool down. Ruben's grip around the steering wheel tightened. His knuckles turned white. Your end of the line had fallen silent, perhaps hearing the straining in Ruben's voice. He released the grip he had  around the steering and sighed. "I'll be home in a minute baby, don't worry."

"I love you." 

"See you soon. Bye."

Read full chapter and more on my Patreon

[angstysebfan]

The Past Can Break You - 1

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

AU: Avengers

Summary: You and Bucky have been dating for aa few years. As far as you’re concerned he is the one. But what happens when a blast from the actual past shows up?

A/N: Ive seen a lot stories of Bucky getting his first love from the 40′s back. And I’ve always wondered... what would happen if he was dating someone already? Reader is from this time. Not proofread.

--

If someone asked you what you loved about being an Avenger, you would definitely say the people. Not even the people you save, but the other members of your team who have become your family. See, you didn’t have a family growing up, and when Tony brought you into the Avengers you had no idea that he was also bringing you into the family.

Sam, Steve, and Thor were your big brothers, always protective. Natasha and Wanda were your best friends and sisters. Tony was definitely a father figure to you as well as one of your favorite people in the world. Bruce and Vision were two very good friends that you knew you could always count on. And Scott was the funniest person on the planet and always made you laugh.

But none of them compared to Bucky. When you first joined the avengers Bucky was new too. You guys became very close friends and eventually developed a very loving relationship. ��He was nervous at first to ask you out because it had been so long since he dated anyone. When he was back in the 40s he was definitely a ladies man but now he was more reserved and shy, which you didn’t mind.

Before you started dating he did tell you about his first love, Dot. You knew that she was his first love and tried not to be jealous of a woman from the 40s, and you tried not to compare his love to her to his love for you. You knew he missed her, but hopefully now that he was dating you, not as much, as selfish as that sounds.

You now have been dating Bucky for 2 1/2 years, and it’s safe to say that he is the love of your life. You both moved into the same room and spend as much time together as possible when you’re not on missions. In fact you’re out with Natasha and Wanda right now getting a special gift to wear tonight with Bucky.

“What’s the occasion for this again?” Natasha asked.

“Oh nothing, just feel like making him feel special,“ you say with a wink. Both girls rolled her eyes at you and continue searching for the perfect lingerie for you to wear for him.

When you got back to the compound you walk to the common room with your new purchase super excited to show your soldier later.  you see everyone standing around staring at this big contraption that’s now in the middle of the common room. You walk up and stand next to your boyfriend staring at both the contraption and Tony who looks super excited.

“What the hell is this?“ you ask. 

Tony looks at you and see the excitement in his eyes like a kid on Christmas. “I’m not sure. I found it in the archives when I was looking for something. I thought we could all open it up together,” her says.

You look at your boyfriend who gives you a shrug of his shoulders and a smirk, “He has been like this for a half hour,” he says as he wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you closer, kissing the top of your head.

“Where were you off to?” He asks, ignoring the commotion for a moment.

“Oh just picking up something for you… for me to wear… in bed.. tonight,” you say.

You see Bucky’s eyes darken as he leans closer to you, “well can’t wait to see it and rip it off of you then, Doll,” he whispers in your ear before placing his lips on yours.

You giggle as you then lean your head toward Tony and the contraption. You see Tony pressing a few buttons before some air or steam come out the top and the door opens. When the steam clears you all see there is a woman inside who appears to still be alive.

“It’s a cryogenic chamber!” Tony shouted in excitement.

Everyone stepped back to give whoever was in the chamber a few moments to awaken and come out slowly. After they clambered out you realized it was a red headed woman. You hear Bucky’s breath hitch as you all get a look at her face. Suddenly the woman looks at Bucky.

“Jamie?!” She asked.

You look at your boyfriend who is in shock looking at the woman before him. His hand around your waist falls away from you as he starts to step toward her.

“Dot? Is… is that really you?” He asks in amazement.

Suddenly your own breath hitches as you realize that your boyfriend is looking at his first love. The woman you felt you had to compare to. The one you thought he would never see again. She was now in your living room staring at Bucky in disbelief.

“I thought you were dead! How are you alive?” She asks.

“It’s a long story,Doll. One I’ll have to tell you later,” he says as he smirks at her.

She reaches out and pulls him toward her in a strong hug. Your heart slowly begins to break as you feel completely helpless, and selfish at the same time. You see all your friends, Steve included, are giving looks of sympathy.

You start taking slow steps back, not wanting to draw any more attention to yourself. You stumble and stop though when you see her kiss him. Your heart is officially obliterated. No way will you stand a chance next to Dot.

Bucky had his first love back. He didn’t need you anymore. You quickly turned away and leave the room: no one calls for you, letting you go. Bucky and Dot don’t even notice.

Bucky pulls away from Dot, “I’m sorry, I can’t. There is so much we need to talk about, but I can’t…”

He trails off as he finally turns toward the room and sees that you are gone. He feels terrible and steps away from Dot.

“You should go down and see Bruce. Get checked out. I’ll meet you down there. I just have to check on something first,” Bucky says.

Dot grabs his hand, “Please don’t leave me. I don’t want to be alone,” she begs.

Steve steps up, “I’ll go with you Dot. Bucky will meet us down there,” he says.

Bucky gives his best friend a thankful smile before nodding at Dot and turning toward your shared room. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even know what to think. All he knew is that he was at a crossroads where one or all of the participants will get hurt.

He was terrified.

- -

Chapter 2

Ok so as I said up top, I always wondered what would happen if Bucky’s 40s gf came back while he was dating someone else. I feel for both reader and Bucky in this situation because this is a tough situation. Looking forward to writing it! Feedback is appreciated!

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[ba-katsuki]

Can You Keep a Secret?

Can You Keep a Secret?

Collaboration with @httptamaki​

Bakugou x Female!Reader

Synopsis: Bakugou and you have been dating each other for months now, unknown to your friends and classmates. Both of you were new to this whole relationship thing and decided to keep things lowkey at the start. However, as time goes on, the teasing intensifies and with Bakugou's competitive nature, it soon turned into a game. Who can keep a secret, and who is going to expose it all?

a/n – I wrote this in one seating at 3 in the morning so if some parts don't make much sense, I am terribly sorry.

Warnings: 18+ (minors DO NOT interact, NSFW), slight footjob, dirty talk, minor degradation, slight choking, sloppy blowjob, swallowing/cum eating, risky public sex, creampie, unprotected sex

*while the story takes place in school still, i wrote it with 18+ year old/final year Bakugou in mind!!!

~~~~

With shaking hands, you shove the spoon of rice into your mouth and chewed, praying that the people surrounding you, your close friends and classmates, did not catch the look of ecstasy that momentarily passed your face. The handsome ash-blonde opposite you flash you a cocky grin with a mischievous glint in his eye, as he pressed his sock-clad foot deeper between your thighs. His big toe rubbed harsh circles on your sensitive clit, your arousal staining your panties and his socks. Bakugou jerked his leg under the table, pretending to be shifting in his seat, his big toe pushing into your entrance suddenly. You let out a surprised squeak as your toe curl. Suddenly aware of the curious eyes on you, you let out a series of coughs and pat aggressively at your chest, pretending to have accidentally choked on your food.

"I think… the rice… went down the…wrong hole…" you said between coughs as you reach for your iced drink, hoping your friends bought the act and that the coldness of the drink was cool down the heat in your face.

"jeez y/n slow down! There's still 15 minutes of lunch left to go," Mina laughs at you as she reaches over to pat your back.

"thank god." You muttered under your breath as you took another gulp of your drink. You sent a glare towards your annoying boyfriend opposite you, whose foot is still on your clothed pussy, by the way, shamelessly rubbing against you. He returns your glare with a smug look, leaning back into the seat and resting his right arm on the chair, which just annoys you even further. You couldn't remember that last time you had a peaceful lunch with Bakugou around these past few weeks. He was always teasing you under the table, whether with his hands or his leg. You had been able to hold in it with relatively minimal problem the previous times but for some reason, he was especially aggressive and pushy today. Literally.

You and Bakugou have been dating for a couple of months now, which honestly comes as a surprise to you. If someone had told you that you and Bakugou would become a couple when you first started thirsting and crushing on him, you have laughed in their face. I mean, just look at him. He was so utterly committed to becoming the number 1 pro hero that you didn't think he would indulge himself in something so trivial like a relationship. And he didn't help that he was calling you a dumbass or an extra or some other mean names every five seconds. So you settled for a one-sided crush. It was going well, quietly crushing on him from the sidelines, until one heated argument. You knew Bakugou was a massive tsundere, always saying brash and demeaning things even if he doesn't mean it, but that day you were just out of it. You were falling behind the class, training went terrible for you and you were exhausted and so beaten. Bakugou saw you training alone in the woods and decides to approach you with his loud mouth. You snapped and Bakugou, not backing down from the argument, argued back. Amid the argument, an argument which you honestly can't even remember that well down because of what happened next, you blurted out your feelings for him. It took him aback and you were expecting him to ridicule you or reject you harshly, something you cannot handle then and so you walked away. What you didn't expect was for Bakugou to grab you and smashed his lips onto yours.

That marked the very dramatic and surprising start of your relationship. Both you and Bakugou were very new to this whole dating thing and with Bakugou's pride, you guys decided to keep things lowkey and not let other people know about the relationship. Bakugou would "rather die than have raccoon eyes and dunce face be all up in his face", you quote.

From secret hand-holding between classes and the late-night cuddling sessions at either one of your rooms, the whole lowkey relationship was going amazing. Both of you enjoyed the adrenaline that came with keeping your relationship a secret and sneaking moments of affection and intimacy in front of your friends. Your relationship progressed fast and soon, both of you had passed all imaginary bases. You were so happy in the relationship, even with all the hiding and secrecy. But then…Bakugou decides to take it a step further. Hand holding between classes became ass grabbing. He would slip his hand under your skirt whenever the opportunity arises and grab smack your plump ass or grab that. He would corner you in the locker room and make out with you, grinding his bulge against you or tease your pussy during lunch. He was obviously winding you up, challenging you, trying to see if you will be the one to expose the relationship. Being less competitive, you did not immediately take on his challenge and even after you did, you seldom retaliate.

But, today is a different story.

You've had enough of his teasing and you pushed his leg away with your hands. He raised an eyebrow at you as he set his foot back onto his shoe. He brings his drink up to his lips as he takes a sip, his eyes watching you from behind the cup like a hawk, his mind plotting your punishment. You pulled your chair towards the table and slipped the shoe off your right foot. Leaning forward like he did, you reach your right leg forward towards Bakugou and pressed the length of your foot against his crotch. His eyes widen, obviously not expecting you to return the teasing, and he almost spits his drink out. Oh, how you would love to see him actually spit out his drink all flustered, losing his composure in front of the squad but he held himself back with his insane reflexes. He was already semi-hard from teasing you. You curled your toes around the shape of his dick and dragged your foot down his length slowly, feeling his dick harden against your toes and the way he lids closed slightly. You pressed your foot harder into him as you reach the base of his length, where his balls are probably full of lust and cum. You rubbed circles with your big toes against his balls, where you knew he was extremely sensitive especially when he is hard and turned on, and you watch as he breathed in sharply through his nose, letting out a soft hiss that was easy to miss if you weren't paying attention. You dragged your feet up his length again, this time much faster, and then back down. You've never given him a footjob before but damn, this is hot, and you pressed your thighs together, trying to create some friction.

You almost, ALMOST, forgot about your surroundings until you heard the bell ring and your friends around you move. You drop your feet almost immediately and sat up, alarmed. You glance in the direction of your friends. Kirishima and Denki were still engaged in conversation as they got up from their seats with their trays in hand and Sero was laughing at something Mina said. You let out a breath of relief.

"Are you okay, y/n?" Mina questions when she saw that you were still frozen in your seat. "Lunch break is over and we better leave. Don't wanna be late for sparring class next," she shudders as she remembers the glare Aizawa sensei gave her the last time she was late.

"oh..right…sorry I was uhm…" you stuttered as you pushed your chair out and grab your tray. Bakugou had already walked away, a little funny you noticed, probably due to the huge boner he has in his pants. You would have laughed but the adrenaline you felt was numbing you.

"Are you fantasizing about some anime boy again, y/n?" Mina laughs as she jokingly slaps your back. "How are you gonna find a real-life boyfriend like that?"

You laughed. The truth cannot be further away. If only she knew what was going on under the table between you and Bakugou, your boyfriend.

As you walk to the locker rooms with the Bakusquad, engaging in light conversations with Mina, you refuse you even glance in the direction of Bakugou. You could feel his intense glare at the side of your head and the tension emitting from him. He excused himself to the bathroom halfway through and you felt your shoulders dropped unconsciously. The sexual tension between you two was insane and it's a wonder how the squad haven't sensed anything yet. Not having your boyfriend staring intensely at you was a relief but at the same time, just the thought of him jerking himself off in the bathroom makes your core clench.

~~~~

You praised the lord as you packed up your hero costume in the locker room, changing into a normal t-shirt and comfortable shorts. Sparring class went on smoothly and you were not paired with Bakugou a single time. You don't know how you would have handled sparring with him after that whole lunch situation. You grabbed your towel and walked out of the quiet locker room. The girls had already left, and so had the boys. You decided to stay behind to do some additional solo quirk training in the gym and you were extremely thankful that Bakugou had been dragged away by Kirishima for some sparring. Bakugou reappeared in class in his hero costume, a tad later than the rest of class, but still on time nonetheless. The moment he walked in, his eyes latched onto you. You were in a conversation with Kirishima and Denki, and Bakugou did not seem happy about that as his eyebrows lowered and tensed up, his lips curled inward into a scowl. Bakugou was fine with you hanging out with them, they were as much your friends as they are his (even if he always tries to deny it), but he did have a possessive streak in him. Especially when he has been all riled up like that. You thought he was going to burn holes into your head with his intense stare but thankfully, Midoriya approached him and he proceeded to yell his head off at him.

Gosh, you are going to be in so much trouble tonight. This is why you rarely retaliate. Bakugou is an immense sore loser and extremely competitive, and he would always return the favour in double fold.

The gym lights were already dimmed by the time you walked out of the locker room. You ponder about ways to appease Bakugou later tonight, hoping he will not torture and tease you too much. Your thoughts were cut short when a hand reached out and grabbed your wrist, spinning you around and pinning you to the cold and hard gym wall. Your items clatter to the ground, the noise echoing in the vast empty gym. A large muscular thigh parted your legs and pressed up against your core as another hand grabbed hold of your throat and squeezed.

"Aren't you getting bold, babygirl?" he growls, his warm breath hitting your cheeks.

"Katsuki…" you gasped as he gave your throat another squeeze.

"That was hella difficult to take care of ya know," he spat angrily as he grinds the top of his knees harshly you. You can feel the wetness growing between your thighs and your legs were turning into jelly. He pulls your head towards him and captured your bottom lip in a harsh bite. You moaned at his assault.

"You…you started it…uhhh," you moaned as he pushed his thigh up higher into you, his forehead pressed against yours, "…started it first…uhhh…'tsuki."

The corner of his lips quirks up into a threatening smirk. His hand frees your wrist and moves to grab your leg, lifting it from the ground and hooking it around it waist. His hand trails from your calf to your thigh slowly, raking his short fingernails along your skin. The hand around your throat squeezed harder, pressing you harder into the wall. You gasped for air, your eyes rolling back in pleasure and your hands fisting tightly in his black tank top.

"You were the one that didn't stop me babygirl," his lips brushing against yours as he speaks. He relaxes his hand from your throat and grabs your chin instead, pulling your head towards him as he envelops your lips in a deep kiss. His lips move passionately against yours, full of lust, as his knee continues its assault. Your leg was losing strength as you start to slide down the smooth wall. Removing his hands from your chin, he moves to lift your other leg from the ground to his waist. You hook your legs around him, pulling him closer to you with your lips moving frantically against his. He lifts your body from under your thighs, his fingers digging into your soft flesh.

"Katsuki…" you whisper between kisses.

"You feel so good baby," Bakugou murmurs, gripping the flesh of your thighs tighter.

Another moan erupts from your lips and Bakugou wastes no time in slipping his tongue into you. Your tongues swirl together, Bakugou's tongue dominating yours. He rakes his fingers down the curve of your thighs to your ass, slipping under your shorts and palming your cheeks.

"Fuck babygirl," he groans between kisses, "your ass feels so good."

"Katsuki please" you begged, pressing yourself against his huge bulge and grinding desperately. Your pussy is overflowing with arousal, soaking through your panties and shorts, and you ache for any form of friction against that sensitive bud.

"Nuh uh baby," Bakugou teases as he takes a small step back, leaving a gap between the two of you, "you don't get to cum so easily after what you did to me just now."

You whine, trying to push his lower body forwards with your legs.

Bakugou leans his torso forwards and whispered next to your ear, "You'll have to earn it baby."

He forcefully tugs your body towards his, lifting you away from the wall, and starts walking to the male locker room. His lips latch onto the sweet spot just between your earlobe, leaving a red blotchy hickey. He licks along your jawline as you tilt your head back in pleasure. Your hands snake up to the back of his head, grasping his ash blonde hair between your fingers, maneuvering his head towards your throat. He obliged, leaving open mouthed kisses all over your neck as he sets you down on the metal bench, the coldness stinging your thighs.

Bakugou unwraps himself from you and stood up straight, towering over you. You looked up at him all dazed, mouth slightly open, your lips glistening with saliva. You leaned back on the bench, your elbows supporting your weight as you instinctively spread your legs apart.

But, to your dismay, Bakugou did not move to touch you or appreciate your arousal like he normally would. All he did was palm his bulge, looking down at you with a cocky mischievous smirk plastered on his face.

"Strip for me y/n," he commands, his voice low and husky with lust.

You gulped. Shaking, your hands reach for the hem of your shirt and pulled it over your head slowly. You then reach for your shorts, bending down to pull them off.

"And look at me while you do it."

You tilt your head up, your eyes meeting his vermillion ones. Heat creeps up your cheek as you drop your short on the floor. Sure, you've been intimate with Bakugou many times and he has seen you naked before. But you've never stripped for him this way, no. Much less in a public place like this.

You unhook your bra and slides it off your shoulders. Your nipples harden as the cold air touches your skin, sending a shiver down your spine. Bakugou glanced down at your pebbled nipples and shameless licked his lips. Your hand subconsciously moves to grab your breast, appreciating the warmth of your hand but it only lasted a second as Bakugou rips your hand away.

"You're not done babygirl," he sneers, "and I don't remember saying you can touch yourself."

You bite your lips to keep the whimper from escaping, knowing that will only egg him on even more. You lift your hips and slides your soaked panties down your legs and steps out of it. You sat back down on the bench as you watch Bakugou take in every inch of your exposed skin, appreciating every curve and roll on your body.

"Open up y/n. Let me see that sweet pussy."

You parted your thighs, the inner flesh glistening with your juices and your pussy clenched at the coldness.

"So wet babygirl," Bakugou hums as he licks his lips once more, "can't wait to get fucked huh?"

You nod and parted your legs even further, hoping Bakugou will take it as an invitation to, finally, touch and please you. But he didn't, again.

"Get on your knees babygirl," he commands as he tugs his sweatpants and let them fall to the ground. His cock was pressing against the tight fabric of his boxers and you could spot the delicious thick vein that ran along his shaft.

You kneeled obediently in front of him, mouth watering with anticipation at the sight of his hard cock, as you look at him through your eyelashes. He steps towards you, his cock pressed against your face. You felt wetness on your nose bridge as you inhaled the slightly musky scent of his precum.

You palmed his cock, rubbing him through his boxers. You stretch out your tongue and pressed it to the wet spot on his boxers, tasting his precum, before bringing the fabric into your mouth and sucked it.

You played with the hem of your boxers, a cheeky grin on your face, and pulled, releasing Bakugou from his boxers. His cock sprang free and hits you on your face. Gosh, he was so big. His cock was almost the length of your face, with a good girth. This man really was blessed with everything. You wrap your hands around the base of his shaft and pumped gently. You swirl your tongue around his flushed tip, lapping at the precum that continues to ooze out of him.

"Don't tease me," he groans and fists his large hands into your hair. He pushes your head forward harshly, forcing his aching cock between your lips and into your warm wet mouth. Taken aback, you lost your balance and fell forward slightly. The tip of his cock pressed into the back of your throat as you gag around him. Your hands found stability on his muscled thighs as you dug your fingernails into them. He jerks his hips forward rapidly, fucking your face as saliva dribbles down your chin and your eyes watering.

"Fuck your mouth feels so good y/n. Fuckkk…look at you taking my cock so good. You're such a slut for my cock aren't you?"

You could only hum in response with your mouth stuffed full of his throbbing cock, pounding into you at a crazy pace. His balls slap your chin with each thrust, sending saliva dripping down your neck and chest, creating a wet and sticky mess.

"Fuckkkkkk y/n I'm gonna cum soon," Bakugou moans as he proceeds to push your head further down his cock, thrusting faster into your mouth. You reach out to squeeze his balls and fondle with them, sending a deep and loud groan echoing in the room.

"FUCKKKK," he heaves as hot thick spurts of cum coats your throat and mouth. He holds your head there for a moment as he empties his load into you, before slowly pulling out his cock, making sure his tip hits your nose.

"Don't swallow yet," Bakugou warns as he leans down and grabs your chin roughly, forcing your mouth open. He admires the mess he made, the white cum pooling at the back of your mouth, your eyes red and watery and decollete area wet with saliva. With a satisfied smirk, loosen his grip on your chin, and asked you to swallow.

You gulp his cum down, making sure to look him dead in the eye as you do so, knowing it turns him on. Despite the cold air, your body was covered in sweat and your pussy was hot and throbbing excruciatingly.

"Please Katsuki please."

"What do you want, babygirl?" He pools the saliva on your decollete into his palm and wraps it around his semi-hard cock, pumping it right in front of you, knowing EXACTLY what you want.

"Fuck me Katsuki please," you beg as you press your thighs tightly together, trying to ease the throb, "I want you in my pussy Katsuki please."

"Get your ass on the bench then."

You waste no time in climbing onto the bench, leaning backwards with your elbows supporting your weight and spreading your legs apart as part as you could. The cold air against the heat of your pussy sends a chill down your spine as you let out a soft moan.

Bakugou lifts your legs off the ground from your calf and rests them on his broad shoulders. He bent his knees, positioning his now hard cock at your throbbing entrance. He teases your clit with his tip before slapping his shaft on your pussy.

"Ready for me cock baby?"

"Uh huh," you nod eagerly.

In one smooth thrust, he enters you and fills you up completely. The sudden fullness wrecks a gasp out between your lips as your head tilts back in ecstasy. You have been waiting for this moment ever since he was teased you during lunch break.

"Fuckkkkkk," Bakugou draws out as he enters you, feeling your muscles clench around him.

He gives you a moment to adjust to his size before pounding into that pussy of yours. Your elbows gave out as your back hits the cold metal bench. The metal bench creaks under all that movement as Bakugou fucks you mercilessly, letting out all the frustration he felt from earlier.

"You feel so fucking good around my cock baby," he praises as he stops and adjusts himself, causing you to whine at the sudden halt. But before you could even fully, he is thrusting in again. This time, his tip hits against your sensitive g-spot with each movement.

"Holy shit Katsuki! Fuck! Ahhh right there baby right there fuck it feels so good."

Placing his hands firm on either side of you, he pushes you into a mating press, pounding into you and pleasuring your g-spot with each thrust. You wrap your hands around his neck and brings him in for a heated kiss, moaning shamelessly into his mouth.

"Fuck Katsuki I'm gonna…"

"Hey is this y/n's bag?" a familiar voice question from outside the locker room.

Both you and Bakugou went immediately still as panic looms over you.

"I think so but what is it doing here?" Kirishima replies as their footstep echoes in the locker room.

"Don't know maybe she just forgot," Denki says, "like how I always forget my shit too."

The footsteps got closer and with his fast reflexes, Bakugou grabs you and shoves you into one of the lockers. Thankfully, he did not make that much of a sound but it was no ninja stealth either and you pray under your breath that Kirishima and Denki won't linger and potentially catch you guys in this compromising position.

"Wait," Kaminari stops in his tracks, obviously spooked by the subtle noise you guys made, "did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"I swear I heard one of the locker doors close."

"Ohhh there's no one in here," Kirishima reassure with a yawn, "now hurry and found your bottle. I am so exhausted."

Their voices seem to linger at the entrance of the locker room and you let out a tiny sigh of relief. But this relief was short-lived when Bakugou slides his cock into you.

You let out a gasp and your hands flew to your mouth immediately. You turned your head and glared at Bakugou, sending him a warning through your eyes. Bakugou, being the jerk he is, of course, just gives you a cocky smirk, barely visible in the dim lighting and presses his chest along the length of your back. Grabbing your hips, he starts to thrust into you from behind, careful not to hit any of the metal walls.

The chatter between Kirishima and Kaminari continues but you can barely process what they were saying. Your mind was blank with pleasure as Bakugou reaches down with one of his hands and rubs your clit. A moan escapes from your lips and you bit down on your lips, Bakugou squeezing the plump flesh on your hips as a warning.

"Woah Kirishima please tell me you heard that?"

You didn't hear Kirishima's response as you felt a warm breath tickle your ear.

"Better keep that cute little voice of yours down or Shitty hair and Dunce Face are gonna find out what a slut you are," he whispers harshly into your ear.

You clamp down on your fingers, trying to mute your whines and moans as much as possible, as Bakugou increases his pace. He buries his face into the crook of your neck, muting his groans as your walls clench tightly around his cock. He pinches your clit and you let a squeak at the pain and pleasure.

For someone who just told you to be quiet, he is trying awfully hard to make you lose control. You covered your mouth with your hands, mortified that you let that sound out as Bakugou growls teasingly at you.

"Uhhhh…I think we better leave now Kirishima…" Kaminari stutters, "I found… uhhh… I found my bottle." "Yeah…let's uhm let's go."

To your utter relief, the boys left the locker room in a hurry and you finally let out the sounds of pleasure you have been painstakingly trying to hold back. The moment their footsteps could not be heard, Bakugou slams the locker door open and walks you out, his cock still buried deep in your cunt. Your legs could barely move and support and weight, and you fell forward onto the bench, hands gripping the metal hard.

"F-Fuck Katsuki!"

"Such a little slut huh? Can't even keep your little mouth shut in there. You wanted those extras to know how hard I'm fucking you, didn't you? You little slut fuckkkkk you are tight baby you feel so good…"

Placing his hand flat on the square of your back, he pushes you down as you both land on your knees, your torso flat against the metal bench. Your hard nipples rub against the cold metal, sending another wave of pleasure through your body as the coil in your pelvis tightens. Coupled with Bakugou's fingers rubbing your swollen clit and his thick cock practically bruising your g-spot, your climax was hitting you hard and fast.

"Fuckkkk 'tsuki I'm gonna ahh fuck…Katuski I'm gonna cummm."

"Fuck I feel it babygirl. You are clenching me so fucking hard shit," he cusses as he grips the soft flesh of your ass cheek with one hand, "gonna cum baby?"

"uh huhhh," you nod weakly, your mind blank with pleasure.

He leans forward, pressing his front along the curve of your back and pounds into you from behind.

"Fuck I'm close to baby."

"C-cum inside me Katsuki please."

"Fuck you want my cum inside you y/n? yeah? Fuckkk I'm cumming baby!"

With a few final thrust, the tension inside you releases. Your legs were shaking from stimulation, toes curling and back arching from your climax. Your pussy clenches tight around Bakugou's cock as he cums inside you, his thick cum filling up your cunt.

Slowly catching his breath, he slowly pulls his cock out of you and you feel his cum drips down your clit, overflowing.

"Fuck y/n," he draws out, "your pussy looks so good all stuffed with my cum."

He spreads your lips apart, admiring his handiwork as his cum, mixed with yours, continues to spill out of you. He dips his finger into your pussy, pushing out more cum, coating his finger in the mess created. He swipes up the trail of cum dripping down your clit with his finger and approaches you.

"Don't let it go to waste now babygirl."

Still catching your breath against the metal bench, he pushes his wet sticky finger into your mouth. You wrap your lips around him and suck eagerly, tasting the muskiness. When you are done, you release his finger with a pop and looked up at his satisfied face. He pulls you up towards him as he sits down, cradling your tired sweaty body in his.

"That felt so good babe," he compliments as he presses a tender kiss to your lips and brushing your hair out of your face, "come on let's get you cleaned up."

He carries you into the shower, washing away all the sweat and stickiness from your body and caresses you gently, making up for all that teasing and hard fucking and mean words. Gosh, he is secretly such a softie and you love him for it.

~~~~

After collecting all your stray clothing and getting dress, Bakugou and you walked back to your rooms together. His softness is gone as he makes fun of the way you are walking, obviously sore from all that fucking you did earlier. You glare at him and pouts, muttering under your breath that it was totally his fault which earned you a little chuckle.

As you entered the TV area, you found Kirishima and Kaminari sitting there, deep in conversation. Heat rushes to your cheeks, as you thought about how close the two of you were to being caught by them. You quickened your steps and walked towards your room, not even bothering to acknowledge them or say goodbye to Bakugou, but you were stopped in your tracks by the redhead's question.

"So…Bakugou and Y/n…" he runs his hands through his flattened hair, a sheepish look on his face as Kaminari elbows him to continue, "how long have the two of you been…you know…together?"

"W-what are you talking about Kirishima? Me and Bakugou are not-"

"We saw your belongings outside the boys' locker room and uhm we saw your clothes uhm on the floor and uhm you guys weren't exactly being quiet in there…"

"yeah especially after you thought we couldn't hear you no more," Kaminari adds under his breath, causing your face to heat up even more. You were sure you looked like a cartoon tomato right now.

"so…if you guys aren't dating then…?"

With a huff, Bakugou walks towards you and grabs your fidgeting hands, "Fine. Me and y/n are dating and we were totally fucking in the locker room and if you two shitty extras even think about muttering a word about this to others, I will blast you to the fucking space ya hear me?!"

He didn't even bother waiting for their replies before dragging you to his room and slamming the door shut.

Your secret is out. Not to the whole class but out nonetheless. You stood there, a little shocked from that confession with too much information, as you watch Bakugou nonchalantly strip out of his clothes and into his sleepwear.

"Katsuki!" you shriek as you slap him on his arm.

"What?!"

"I thought it was supposed to be a secret?! AND YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO STRAIGHT UP TELL THEM WE WERE FUCKING IN THE LOCKER ROOM oh my gosh I'm gonna die of embarrassment! How am I supposed to face them tomorrow?!"

"Stop being so dramatic," he pinches your cheeks and walks to his bed, "There's no point trying to deny or hide it from them anyways. Besides, it's not like the whole class knows."

He lies down and makes himself comfortable before looking at you, a glint in his eyes and a smirk on his face, "so our game can still continue baby, don't worry."

He pats the empty spot beside him, asking you to join. You rolled your eyes. "That's not what I'm worried about," you said as you tuck yourself into him. "In fact, I would like the game to very much end here."

"Nahh not happening babygirl."

Silence fills the room as both of you starts drifting off to sleep, minds tired and muscles exhausted. You felt your eyes get heavy until a question pops into your mind,

"Katsuki?"

"Hmmm?"

"Does that make you the loser since you exposed our secret?"

[keijislove]

Happiness: Harry Potter X Muggle!Reader

Ding dong

The bell at Number Four, Privet Drive rang.

‘Boy, scurry off!’ Petunia growled at Harry; afraid he would do something to the person who was at the door.

Harry hid inside his old broom cupboard.

Even after spending two whole years at Hogwarts, and about to start his third, the Dursleys never let him come and see whoever was at their door.

It’s not like I’d stun them, Harry gloomily thought. I’ve got better things to do.

In truth, he really hadn’t.

Which is why he peeked through the small crack in the door to see who was there.

Petunia opened the door.

‘Er, yes?’ Harry heard her say.

‘Mrs. Dursley, good afternoon!’ a voice spoke.

The voice was gentle and sweet, a great variation from the Dursleys’ harsh, barking tones towards Harry.

It was the voice of a girl; one he did not know.

‘How may I help you dear?’ Petunia smiled.

‘Er, well, Dudley took my maths book yesterday, and I-I have a test coming up day after, so could you please ask him to lend it back?’ the voice asked.

‘Of course.’ Petunia smiled. ‘Come in, dear.’

That was when Harry finally saw the owner of the calming voice.

It was you.

Looking ever so beautiful and elegant with a halo of politeness surrounding you.

Petunia went upstairs to retrieve your book.

He did not know why exactly, but Harry felt like he had to talk to you.

He had to.

And if he didn’t, then the chance would be lost forever.

He walked out of the cupboard.

‘Oh!’ you exclaimed in surprise.

‘Er, sorry.’ He muttered, feeling foolish.

‘No, no... quite alright... I’m Y/N. Y/N L/N. you are?’ you asked, holding out your hand.

‘Harry. Harry Potter.’ He said, shaking your hand.

You frowned slightly. ‘Potter... I’ve heard that before... you’re Dudley’s cousin, aren’t you?’ you asked.

‘Er, yeah.’ Harry awkwardly said.

For a moment, a small flash of fear took over your face, but you tried your best to hide it.

Harry noticed it anyway.

He felt anger bubbling up inside him.

‘I don’t go to St. Brutus’ if that’s what’s scaring you.’ He said with more venom than intended.

You looked positively nonplussed. ‘Oh? Oh dear, I’m terribly sorry. It’s just that... Dudley says such awful things about you... I’d started thinking you were a mad hooligan!’

‘Dudley says a lot of things that aren’t true. For instance, he beat up a toddler and told me he’d won a boxing match.’ Harry shook his head.

You giggled slightly.

‘So... you’re his friend, then?’ Harry asked.

You looked down. ‘Uhm... well, no. I’m afraid he’s not very nice to me. I don’t think he likes me much.’

Harry felt yet another wish to strangle his cousin.

‘Why’d you lend him your book, then?’ he asked in confusion.

You sighed. ‘I didn’t. He took it from me when we were out during recess.’

‘Prat.’ Harry muttered.

When they heard Petunia’s footsteps, Harry jumped back inside the broom cupboard.

She was wiping fake tears, mumbling.

‘Diddykins, always such a gentleman. Asking for a girl’s book so politely.’ She mumbled.

You had to look away in order to roll your eyes.

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

Needless to say, you and Harry became friends since that day.

The Dursleys would always kick him out, and this used to annoy him, but now he had somewhere to go, so he used to leave without a word.

You two would meet up in the nearby playground and do one of the things Harry considered a big privilege.

You’d talk.

Nothing in particular, you’d sit on the swings and just talk.

Harry deeply wished he could tell you about Hogwarts, how Voldemort was a huge threat to his existence, but what would you think?

You’d call him mad.

You still followed the same routine.

You’d talk, everyday you’d talk and talk and one day he would leave, leave you behind, lonely.

Things however, changed quick after that.

He had just gotten home from third year, and was spending the summer there.

You had met up as usual, and he’d excitedly told you how his best friend, Ron Weasley, had invited him to stay over that Sunday for the rest of the vacation.

‘Oh... you’re leaving so soon?’ you had asked, and Harry thought he had heard the slightest bit of sadness in your voice, but that couldn’t be.

You wouldn’t be sad if he left, he wasn’t even on your priority list.

Which is what he thought.

To you, Harry was that cute boy whom you could consider one of your closest (and only) friends.

So, upon hearing that piece of news, you were jealous of this Weasley person.

No, that wouldn’t be right. You thought. He’s been at that school for three years; you’ve just met him. Why would he want to stay because of you?

You had been lonely that summer, and when Harry came back, it was unusual.

When he came back from his fourth year, he was a mess.

He’d jump at the slightest things, like a cat or a stray dog, and would hyperventilate a lot.

One day, he’d had a particularly bad panic attack.

You were on your swings, as usual, when Harry started rolling around on the floor, clutching his head.

You had gotten used to this, so you crouched next to him.

‘Ssh, Harry, breathe.’ You’d soothingly whisper. ‘Focus on your breathing, take deep breaths. Yes, that’s better, isn’t it?’

Harry was more grateful to you than he could have been.

Despite you not knowing the reason his scar hurt, you didn’t poke in further.

You left it at that and helped him whenever he needed help the most.

Your heart sank when Dudley’s gang came marching.

You hurriedly propped Harry up on the swing, before sitting down yourself.

‘Come on a date with a girlfriend, have you?’ Dudley sneered at Harry, his mates laughing loudly.

Yet another surge of anger passed through Harry’s body. ‘Beat up another ten year old, Dudley?’

‘This one deserved it.’ Dudley nonchalantly replied.

‘Five against one... that’s nice.’ Harry snapped.

Dudley’s lips curled over his teeth in a snarl. ‘At least I’m not afraid of my pillow! Don’t think I don’t hear you moaning in your sleep!’

A muscle was jumping in Harry’s jaw.

‘Leave it.’ You whispered.

‘Oh, don’t kill Cedric!’ Dudley mocked. ‘Who is Cedric, your boyfriend?’

More laughter issued as you held onto Harry tighter.

‘Mum, he’s gonna kill him!’ Dudley went on. ‘Where is your mum? Where is your mum, Potter? Is she dead? Is she dead?!’

You had released Harry; however, it was not him who went up to Dudley.

‘Pathetic!’ you snarled in his face. ‘What do you think you’re playing at, joking about his mother’s death? Absolutely pathetic!’

Dudley had given you a half smile, gesturing to his friend.

One of the boys held you and slammed you against the roundabout, making you hit your head as you groaned.

Harry jumped up and pointed his wand right at Dudley.

It was at that moment, that the skies darkened, as if a storm was ahead.

In mid-summer.

You and Harry walked home, Dudley following behind.

Suddenly, you felt cold.

Not because of the lack of warmth, but because it became really, really cold.

You heard a scream as your vision darkened.

Harry choked for air as a Dementor held him in place, desperately searching for his wand.

He saw you collapse to the floor, panting heavily.

With great effort, Harry grabbed his wand and managed to croak out.

‘EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!’

A silver stag rose out of Harry’s wand tip and fought off the Dementor holding him in place, before heading to you.

The Dementor instantly dropped you, almost scowling, which it would have done if it had no face, and glided out of the alleyway.

Dudley looked sick, but Harry didn’t care.

He rushed to your side immediately.

‘Oh my god, oh my god, cloaks.’ You whispered. ‘Cold air, c-cloaks, I saw my father die... all o-over a-again and i-it was so c-cold, all over...’

Harry shushed you, smiling understandingly at your rambling, disgusted at whoever sent those stupid Dementors to harm somebody as innocent as you.

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

‘So... he’s a wizard.’ You clarified, looking at the batty woman whose living room you were sprawled across.

‘And a ruddy good one at that, I mean, a corporeal Patronus at his age-’ she said.

‘Mrs. Figg.’ You interrupted. ‘He’s... he’s going to come back next summer, isn’t he?’

‘Of course, dear, whyever not?’ she looked at you as though you’d gone mad.

‘Those things... Dementors, as you said... were they trying to harm Harry?’ you tentatively asked.

‘Yes dear, sadly, yes.’ Mrs. Figg distractedly muttered. ‘Mundungus Fletcher, when I get my hands on that little squat again, I swear!’

You were trembling.

Something was after Harry, something terrible.

And you were in no power to help him.

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

‘Is something the matter?’ you asked, trying hard to keep a straight face.

‘Have you ever tried macaroons; I reckon they’re brilliant.’ Harry mumbled, ignoring you.

You rolled your eyes. ‘Harry.’

Sighing, Harry looked at you. ‘Hm?’

‘What’s wrong?’ you repeated.

‘Nothing.’

Lies.

‘Harry, something is very much wrong, and you know it.’ You disapprovingly said. ‘What is it?’

Harry sighed. ‘Its just... he’s growing stronger, you know. I... I fear there might be a day where I go to Hogwarts and never come back.’

Your heart sank into your stomach.

‘Its... cmon, Harry.’ You spoke. ‘We can’t... if you think like that, then, you’re not going to fight very well, are you? I’ll have you know, I am always here for you, and I have absolutely no intentions of letting whoever kills you live in peace.’

Harry chuckled at your scathing threats.

‘I’m gonna miss you, Y/N/N.’ Harry mumbled, intertwining your fingers with his.

You sighed. ‘I’ll miss you too Harry.’

More than you can imagine.

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

‘Harry Potter, open this door!’ you screamed, banging furiously, not caring it was raining and you were sopping wet.

‘Harry, I swear, I WILL BREAK THIS DOOR!’ you yelled, ripping your throat raw.

The door hesitantly opened, as a certain boy stood before you.

Choking an enormous sob, you pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

Sobbing into his shoulder, you melted into his touch.

‘Ssh Y/N, ssh.’ He mumbled soothingly.

‘Harry Potter.’ You croaked. ‘You had best returned from this war ALIVE.’

‘I’ll try Y/N/N.’ Harry whispered. ‘I’ll try.’

Your sobs were growing uncontrollable, and Harry did the only thing he could think of to shut you up.

He kissed you.

Slowly and carefully, his lips took in your own, as you melted into the kiss.

Not caring about the salty tears you could taste, you gently stroked his cheek.

When you pulled apart, you sniffed. ‘Good luck, Harry.

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

The rain beat down on your house heavily, as you sat near your window.

Something was wrong, you could sense it.

He’s alive... God, no, he’s alive, please.

Each thought, each dream, showed you endless ways Harry would be dying.

You hated it.

After many days of crying, a knock on your door made you jump.

‘Y/N!’

That voice.

That amazing voice.

Trembling, you opened the door, seeing a messy haired Harry standing there, tears painting his face.

‘My God.’ You gasped. ‘You’re alive. Oh, Harry!’

After yet-another hug, Harry came inside.

‘I reckon I should’ve made this more special.’ He said seriously. ‘But I can not wait any longer.’

You watched, confused, as Harry took your hands.

‘Y/N L/N, the moment you came into my life, I have felt nothing but pure happiness. I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?’

You gasped, hand flying to your mouth.

Sobbing harder, you hugged him.

‘Yes.’

[spaceorphanssecondbreakfastclub]

SO's Bookclub : The Ghosts of Now

Title: The Ghosts of Now Author: Joan Lowery Nixon Genre: YA Mystery

Goodreads Summary: It's Friday night and Angie Dupree is alone in the house when the phone rings. "Your brother is dead," whispers a voice. At the hospital, Angie finds Jeremy in a coma from which he may never recover. Angie is on her own trying to piece together the events of that horrifying night. Her family is new to town. What could Jeremy possibly have discovered that led him so deeply into danger? Angie won't rest until she finds out. But she doesn't know someone is ready to do anything to stop her...

Review: These books are like crack. I can see why I ate them up as a young teen.

A few things to note before I dig in - Something I haven't mentioned, but each book has its own font attached to it - the title and chapter headers are very different from each other. It's not until the 90s reprints do the covers become homogenized. But the original fonts (definitely created in the time periods they were published) are retained. I think it's a cool detail - since it adds to the flavor of the book. Also - I've been seeking out the original covers of these books, they are all these 70s/80s pulp fiction kind of style. The one for this particular book is extra creepy. The girl on the cover is hauntingly disturbing.

Back to the actual review... I don't know if JLN got a new editor, or if she suddenly just became a better writer, but this book's writing is vastly better than the previous ones. (The previous book was decent - but there were still some awkward passages.) There isn't as much erroneous details, and the dialogue, which had been somewhat cringey in the previous books, is much better.

I'd kind of wonder if she used a ghost writer if it weren't for the fact that her usual tropes are very much in tact - some even exaggerated due to the specific story she's telling.

So - Angie is a California girl with her dad in the oil business - and they've moved out to Texas. It's funny - when I was younger, I never really noticed all of these books being set in Texas - but this one takes it to really stereotypical levels to emphasize the point that Angie is an outsider. The whole crux of the plot is that a small town kind of bands together to protect their own at the sacrifice of a young kid who just kinda happened to be caught up in the wrong type of thing.

And, actually, it's not bad. There are some definite creepy parts to the novel (when they're checking out the abandoned house, the tension is deliciously good). And the whole premise that this town has secrets leaves you feeling very uncomfortable in a very believable way (says a person who felt like an outsider coming into small town life).

While the story isn't bad, some of the characterization still is. The main character, Angie, does some things that just make you feel incredibly uncomfortable with second hand embarrassment. She crosses a lot of lines, and while she's right to call certain things out, the way she does it is so awkward that it's really hard to read. She's also very irritatingly stubborn in her approach - and while you can give her a pass for being a teen in the 80s, sometimes it's frustrating watching her not take an easier path to achieve her ultimate goal in who put her brother in the coma.

The other characters, too, aren't really that interesting. Angie has a boyfriend, like, right off the bat when she moves in, but he's a little bland, and really lacking any motivation as to why they connect. She makes a few friends - but they're so inconsequential to the story they might as well not be there. And everyone else is suspicious and terrible - which makes the book kind of go in the direction you most expect it to.

There's also a family drama element going on, too. The dad is a workaholic asshole, who seems to think mental health is not something to concern one's self with. While Angie's mom is slowly becoming an alcoholic because she hates that she's forced to move around so much due to her husband's job. The whole point is the theme of 'ghosts' and that they're not a family, just ghosts of who they should be -- and Angie's brother ending up in a coma kind of wakes them all up from it. I've never been one for family dramas in general, but questionable mental health comments aside, it's not that bad.

I should also mention that the book holds up relatively well, except for when it is blatantly 80s. At one point, Angie exclaims that she much prefers disco over country-western, which really gave me a laugh.

I'll also say that the ending just... isn't worth the tension the rest of the book brings. It feels somewhat anticlimactic and almost silly. It's kind of like JLN had to take it down because it was a teen book or something.

Overall, it is one of the better novels I've read so far, though.

Rating: 3 stars

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

More Than Enough | Owen & Charlie

Requested:  hi! can you do an imagine where the reader is like 16/17 and lives with owen and charlie and she finds out her boyfriend back home cheated on her? basically like owen and charlie are acting like big brothers.

A/N: This was too cute to pass up. I did alter it a tiny bit since I don’t think any parent would just send their seventeen year old to Vancouver. Hope you like it though! 

Pairing: Platonic!(Owen x Charlie x Reader)

Warnings: Explicit language, cheating, angst

Song(s) used:  none

Words: 2,523

Being a Gillespie has had many, many perks. Anyone in your family was always up for an adventure in the middle of the night or ready to jam out at any given moment. Family parties were never dull and the bonds unbreakable. 

Until you and your family suddenly moved to Vancouver when your mother found herself a new love and packed her bags within the first few weeks. Of course, only being thirteen at the time, you had no other choice but to go, though it broke your heart saying goodbye to the friends you made in New Brunswick and the close family you left behind. 

About four years later, you received a message from your very favorite cousin, Charlie. He’d been your best friend since you were born. Even though he was four years older than you, the two of you were two peas in a pod. He felt like a big brother to you as much as your actual brother did, if not more. And since you left Dieppe, Charlie had been texting you non-stop to make sure you were okay and adapting to your new surroundings. 

But the message you received in 2019 made your heart leap. 

Guess who’s coming to Vancouver for work? 

(It’s me!) 

You had chuckled at the second message, shaking your head at the fact that your favorite cousin hadn’t changed one bit since the last time you saw him. 

Charlie had told you he’d auditioned for this new Netflix show directed by the legend himself, Kenny Ortega. You were the biggest fan of the man, so you made sure you did all the superstitious things you could to make  sure he’d get the part. You had burnt dozens of candles, prayed every night and kept the lucky blue rabbit’s foot with you every day. Charlie had given you the blue rabbit’s foot the day you left for Vancouver, showing a matching one that he kept on a chain on his jeans. 

“This is gonna bring you luck, and if you ever miss me, just hold it tight and it’ll feel like I’m there with you,” he’d told you. 

When Charlie came to Vancouver, the two of you thought it’d be a good idea for you to move in with him and Owen, a member of the cast he’d become close friends with during the bootcamp they did that summer. 

Your mom wasn’t too sure about it at first, but eventually caved and let you go, thinking it might be good practice for when you’d go off to college. 

With all of that said and done, you were now a full-fledged member of the Gillespie-Joyner household. The first few weeks were the most fun. You’d stay up all night with the boys, dancing around the living room to whatever song came on or cuddled up on the couch watching movies. Every now and again, even your boyfriend came up to the apartment to hang out with the three of you. Though, the boys being the boys, became overprotective when that occurred.

The first night Thomas came over to hang out with you, Owen and Charlie immediately went into full-protective mode. They started interrogating the seventeen-year-old boy with questions you say an overprotective dad with a shotgun or baseball bat ask in those cliché rom-coms. 

“Can you guys not?!” you had asked, chuckling because you thought they were joking about it all. “Let’s just watch this stupid movie while we wait for our pizza.” 

During said movie, the two full-grown men kept glaring at the teenagers on the other end of the couch as you were cuddled up together, his arm slung over your shoulder. Charlie had that trademark scowl on his face with his arms crossed while Owen just furrowed his eyebrows, keeping an eye on the two of you. 

That occurred pretty much every night since that first day they met. And you could feel Thomas growing more and more fidgety next to you as the nights progressed.

One night when Thomas came over, the four of you decided to cook dinner together since you were pretty bored of constantly ordering food and eating unhealthy. You wanted to get some vegetables inside these boys.  

“Watch out, Gillespie, you’re gonna burn yourself,” Owen said to you when you were simply stirring the bolognese sauce you had made from scratch. That was something  your grandmother taught you when you were younger. You and Charlie used to cook with her all the time when having sleepovers at her place during nights your parents were out. 

“I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be fine, Joyner,” you muttered back, chuckling slightly. Just as the words rolled off your lips, the sauce sputtered and a droplet of hot sauce fell on your hand. You hissed at the burning sensation as you wiped the red off your hand. 

“See! I told you!” Owen exclaimed and grabbed your hand, guiding you towards the tap. 

“Owen, I’m fine! It was just a tiny drop. I’m not gonna die!” you protested but let him hold your hand underneath the cold running water. The coldness of the water made the burning and stinging feeling vanish and actually felt good. 

“You ought to be careful, Gillespie,” Owen muttered, his eyes focused on the water gliding down the back of your hand and down every fingertip in small streams while you watched him. You’d lived here for almost a month, and  you’d seen Owen from up close but never this close. 

There was something about his smooth jawline, bright green eyes and swoopy blonde hair that you hadn’t noticed before. All of a sudden, the boy you’d seen as a brother for a month now, turned attractive. Very attractive. 

No, y/n, focus. Your boyfriend is literally behind you. Calm down. You thought to yourself as you shook out of the trance you found yourself in.

But then Owen glanced up at you and the whole pep-talk went to waste. Especially as the corners of his mouth tugged up into the most beautiful smile you had ever seen. 

You coughed before sputtering out, “T-thank you, Owen.”  He simply nodded acknowledgingly before turning the tap off and letting you go back to your food with your mind woozy and your heart beating faster. What in the holy hell was that? 

Thomas of course noticed the interaction between you and Owen as he was sitting on a stool at the breakfast island, scrolling through his phone with Charlie next to him. The latter had been weighing off the pasta to cook later and didn’t notice anything of what just happened. 

“I’m gonna head home,” Thomas said that night straight after dinner. Normally, he’d stay for one more movie before heading home, but after seeing what he saw earlier, he didn’t feel like staying much longer or ever coming back. 

You picked up the tone in his voice, and your stomach sank. Something had upset him and you could only guess what it was. Of course he saw. Everyone could probably see. Now it was up to you to show Thomas nothing was actually going on between you and Owen. 

“Oh--okay… I’ll see you out,” you said and got up from the chair, halting when Thomas held up his hand and shook his head dismissively. 

“I’ll see myself out,” he muttered and made his way out the door without even a goodbye, let alone a kiss goodbye. Your heart sank to your stomach as you felt the storm hanging above your head. This was not going to end well. 

“What was that about?” Charlie asked, confused about the boy’s demeanor all of a sudden. You glanced over at Owen, who had his lips pressed together, offering you an apologetic countenance. 

You sighed, dropping down in your chair again and rubbing your face with your hands, not even caring about the make-up you’re smudging right now. You were going to lose the best thing that has ever happened to you since moving to Vancouver, besides seeing Charlie again. And all because you couldn’t keep your eyes off an attractive man that stood a few inches too close. There was a storm ahead, and you weren’t prepared for it. 

Three days. You didn’t hear Thomas for three days. After sending text after text after text, he still ghosted you. You knew he was going to break up with you soon, but what came next was beyond your expectations. 

Your friend Lili called you on the fourth day of radio silence from Thomas. Her voice sounded solemn, almost worried. 

“What’s up?” you asked, growing more and more anxious. 

A shaky breath sounded from the other side of the line before she spoke again. “Allison told me Thomas showed up at her doorstep last night…” she started. Her voice cracked and so did your heart in anticipation of what was going to follow. “Sweetie, I’m sorry, Thomas cheated on you…” 

Tears sprung into your eyes as you grabbed the nearest pillow from the sofa and hugged it tightly to your chest while Lili blabbed on about what she’d heard from Allison. All you could pick up was that Allison felt terrible about it but couldn’t say no to him since he seemed in distress. Laced between her words were your venomous thoughts about how all of this was just your fault. If the thing-which-wasn’t-even-a-thing between you and Owen didn’t happen, Thomas wouldn’t have gone to another girl’s house. 

“I am so sorry, y/n. I--Tell me if there’s anything I can do? I’ll--I’ll come over with some ice cream or chocolate if  you want and you can just cry?” Lili probably knew you weren’t listening anymore. She was the first friend you had made in Vancouver four years ago, along with Allison. But apparently being friends gives you a get-out-of-jail card to fuck your friend’s boyfriend. 

“No, that’s okay, Lils. I just wanna be alone right now…” you whispered, and after you’d said your goodbyes you hung up the phone, dropping the device on the sofa next to you. Your arms tightened around the pillow as tears soaked the fabric and the toxic thoughts haunted your mind on repeat. 

The thoughts were so loud, you didn’t even hear the door to the apartment opening and closing. You only noticed someone had walked in when two pairs of arms snaked around your body from each side. 

Charlie piped up first, “What happened, cous?” he whispered and pressed a kiss to your hair as his fingers tangled up in your messy hair. 

“He-hecheatedonme,” you blurted out in one breath. Both Owen and Charlie halted their movement, glancing up at each to see if both of them heard the same thing. You felt someone shift beside you, the warm feeling of their body pressed to yours turning cold. 

“Where does he live?” Owen growled. You looked up at him and sniffled, wiping your nose on the sleeve of your sweater. “Where does he live, y/n?” he repeated sternly. 

“No, Owen, please,” you begged, more tears rolling down your face, “Please, don’t. Stay with me. Please.” Owen’s tense expression softened as he slid down next to you again, the warmth returning to your body as he wrapped himself around you once more. 

“Just stay,” you whispered as your arms wrapped around Owen’s bicep and your head rested on Charlie’s chest. “It’s my own fault.” Neither of the boys say anything, but they let you babble for a while, holding you and rubbing your back or planting kisses on your head. 

Once you had calmed down a little, Charlie began his pep-talk, “None of this is your fault, little one,” he said. “I know something happened between you the last time you were here, but that doesn’t mean you drove him into another girl’s arms. He could’ve come over to talk it out, but instead, he chose to ring another’s doorbell. This is not your fault.” The last words came out just above a whisper before his lips crushed onto your head again. His hand smoothed down your hair, lulling you into a state of calm. 

“Char’s right, y/n,” Owen chimed in softly as his fingers trailed up and down her leg. “His decision to do this instead of talk to you is on him. He doesn’t deserve someone as amazing as you.” Your lips curled up into a small smile while a sob raked through your body, shaking both boys along. 

“I love you guys,” you mumbled as you felt your eyes drooping. Crying always made you feel sleepy, especially with the boys’ soothing touches and words. “So much.” And with that, your light went out for the next few hours. 

Owen and Charlie eventually fell asleep too as they didn’t want to let you go, and that’s what you woke up to in the middle of the night too. The two boys asleep on either side of you, clutching you in their arms. Though Owen had sunk down with his head in your lap and him clutching your arm against his chest, Charlie had fallen asleep resting his head on yours. A content, warm feeling fell over you while that upsetting, past-breakdown sob shook through your body. 

“Boys,” you whispered, waking them up softly. Both twitched, but only Owen shook awake and shot upright. You giggled at his concerned, sleep-drunk expression. “Shall we head to bed?” you asked. The look of confusion that flashed across Owen’s face made you realize that it did sound a bit odd, so you quickly added, “It’s past midnight, I think we better sleep in our own beds than cramped up on the sofa.” 

Owen let out an “ah” and nodded his head before punching Charlie in the shoulder. Your cousin looked up with narrowed  eyes, ready to growl at whoever woke  him. 

“Let’s get to bed,” you whispered, pressing a kiss to his forehead. The boy nodded and got up, grabbing your hand in his and leading you towards your bedroom. He didn’t turn on the lights, but blindly made his way over to the bed and rolled onto it, tugging you with him and cuddling you close to his body. You let out a shriek at the sudden movement until it turned into giggling before sighing contently at the welcome warmth and comfort of your cousin’s arms. There’ve been many nights where you fell asleep cuddling one another on your grandmother’s sofa after having watched your favorite tv-show.   

“Joyner, get your ass in here!” Charlie shouted, his voice croaky and thick with sleep. You heard shuffling before the bed dipped, the warmth of Owen’s body radiating into your skin. 

This hadn’t occurred yet since you moved in with them a month ago. Falling asleep on the couch, yes, all the time. But never falling asleep in the same bed. It was a welcome, soothing feeling though. No matter how you turned, every side of your body was always toasty. You were the happiest person alive even on darker days like this one. You’d always have these two boys in your life. And that was more than enough for you.

*

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*

JATP Taglist: @hannahhistorian92 @marinettepotterandplagg @thequirkybookaholic @bookdealer5 @tenaciousperfectionunknown @hemmingsness @iainttakingshitfromnobody @ifilwtmfc @angryknightstatesmantrash @kiss-themoongoodbye @rudysbay @thedarkqueenofavalon​ @caitsymichelle13​ @calamitykaty @wiselight @kcd15​ @vicesvsvirtuesfanfic @stars-soph @kinda-really-lost 

Charlie/Luke Taglist: @parkeret​ @lukeys-giggle @gingerxarmy @lovesanimals @lolychu @perfectlywrongformend3s @luckylouiebug @camiladelrio98 @myfriendscallmebeans

Lemme know if you wanna be on my taglist! 

[katnissmellarkkk]

General #7

Hiiii! Okay, well I bet you thought I forgot about this! Or, more than likely, you forgot you even requested this back in Decemeber. But never fear, my child. I remembered and have been thinking of this fic and what to write for months. 

And so I’m so sorry, I’m a total perfectionist and I started and discared like 3 ideas for this before deciding on this oneshot sooo if this sucks, I’m at least comforted by the fact that I accomplished something in writing this itself? That sentence made zero sense but... I’m tired 🤷🏼‍♀️😅.

Prompt : General # 7 :

“Is that blood?” 

“Yes but that doesn’t matter right now, what does matter is-” 

“You are literally bleeding.”

Anyways, thank you for the prompt and here we go! 

Whispers Of Light

I don't know exactly how I got roped into this. How exactly Delly Cartwright, Peeta's best friend—and alright, my friend now too—managed to convince me to help her and Leevy and about three dozen other members of the community with sorting boxes.

Sorting boxes. Organizing contents. Decorating with "found treasures".

The type of activities Prim loved doing with our mother. The type of activities I refused to do after my father died, to punish my mother for her depression.

The type of activities I now kick myself for walking out on, that I'll never be able to take back. I'll never be able to get those moments back with my sister. I'll never know what those hours between her and our mother entailed, because I chose to exclude myself, just so I could hold onto my petty anger for something that was out of all our control.

Maybe that's why I agreed to help Delly and the others with sorting through boxes upon boxes of debrief, of the items that scarcely survived Twelve's bombing almost two years ago. Maybe I only agreed out of guilt, both for never doing this type of endeavor with my sister and for being the direct cause of the bombing itself.

But whatever my reasons were, I agreed to help nonetheless, and I always follow through my promises. If there was one part of me forged in the war, if only one minor aspect of me was amplified in the smoke and haze and blood of revolution, it was the importance of keeping your promises, against all odds.

The dire consequences of a broken promise has long lasting aftereffects, beyond anything either Haymitch or I wish to dwell on.

"Katniss!" Delly calls, holding up an old, half-ripped paper book that is completely void of a front cover. "Look! I think this book is from the old Apothecary Shop!"

I squint at the dusty, decimated item, not entirely convinced. "I don't think so?" I murmur, unable to even decipher the words on the now melted, conjoined pages. "I'm pretty sure my mother kept the only apothecary book in her family?"

Kanon Bagley turns to inspect the battered item in his girlfriend's hands as well. "I don't think this is a medicinal plant book, Dells," he says sheepishly, a small smirk playing on his lips.

She gives him an incredulous look. "What do you mean medicinal?"

I peer up at him too, not comprehending his meaning any more than Delly. "What kind of plants do you think are in here?" I ask, taking the nearly destroyed object myself and flipping through the worn pages again, seeing odd herbs that neither of my parents ever mentioned or had on hand. "These don't look like the poisonous ones my father told me about?"

Kanon bites back a laugh now and I can't help feeling a little perturbed. As kind and soft-spoken as he usually is, I'm foreign to the feeling of him laughing at me. "What?" Delly snaps at him before I even can.

He still chuckles though, in spite of both our nasty glares. "You guys, it's a book of plants that'll get you high."

It takes a full minute for the meaning to dawn on me. Long enough that Leevy and a couple guys I used to go to school with come over to inspect the book as well. Long enough that they confirm Kanon's assessment just as I realize we're talking about plants that'll make you feel akin to how the morphling made me feel while confined for I killing Coin.

While everyone else snickers—and Delly full on chortles—I pass the book back to Kanon, sliding out of the crowd and moving towards a brand new box of savaged items.

It's not that the mention of plant-based drugs is a trigger for me. It's not something I ever truly gave any thought to before, to be honest. My father likely knew of them but it's not like he was about to bestow that kind of knowledge on his eleven-year-old and my mother perhaps felt it was inappropriate to mention.

No, it wasn't the subject in itself that hit a sore spot for me. But like so many times before, it's where the subject led my mind. It's where the topic took me back to.

Snow's Execution Day. The day I chose to kill President Coin instead. Being thrown back into my old tribute room. Getting high on the morphling.

Trying to forget all that I'd lost. Trying to forget my little sister becoming a human torch before my very eyes. My district engulfed in flames. The ambiguous loss of my best friend.

The connection between me and Peeta that I believed then would be permanently severed. That I believed then to be irreparable.

I suppose I believed then I was irreparable too.

And I miss Peeta suddenly, even more than I already did. Because he always knows what to say when my thoughts turn dark, when I'm suddenly triggered out of the happy, every day events and suctioned backwards to a war torn bird with her wings clipped.

But he's not here to talk me down or scare away the ghosts haunting my mind. He's not here to comfort me or even shoot me a supportive glance. No, he's at his very busy business today.

Peeta's bakery—the Mellark Bakery—has only proven to withstand the test of time these past few months. Since someone accidentally burned down the place, with nothing more than a croissant and a fancy Capitol toaster, the rebuilt bakery has been nothing but a success.

And also extremely time-consuming, I grumble internally, as I begin to pull out stuffed toys that once belonged to dead children.

"If any of those are still intact, we can donate them to the community home," Leaf John says as he opens the box across from me.

"And what exactly are we supposed to be use as decorations from these boxes?" I murmur, peering into another cardboard container, full of half-charred papers and cloths.

The general idea of today, as Delly had pitched it to me last week, was to help the community of Twelve finally sort through these boxes, donate what we could to those in need and decorate the new Justice Building with the leftover contents inside.

Somehow though I can't imagine pinning up terrible drawings of plants that'll inebriate you or headless teddy bears is going to bode well with the district.

Delly rolls her eyes in my direction—a whole new kind of response that I never thought I'd be receiving from the girl who skipped through the town square until she was fourteen years old—before nodding towards boxes on top of the ladder. "We're decorating the Justice Building with the surviving photos from those boxes, Katniss."

"Oh." Then why am I sorting these grimy, dirt-covered playthings? Why didn't anyone give me more clear instructions on today?

And why has it taken almost two years for Twelve to get a group of people together to organize the surviving items from the bombing?

I have no idea how Peeta's managed to get two bakeries built in the time it's taken for thirty-eight of us to come to the Justice Building and look through fifty cardboard boxes. And if I'm being honest, I have no idea why I'm even still here helping. I'm clearly not contributing much to the event. There's definitely more than enough volunteers without me.

And, of course, I could be at the bakery right now. Without a doubt, I'd be of more service there than I am here, digging through dusty knickknacks. I could be helping Peeta and Thom and the other part-time employees, exerting more knowledge and authority than I have here.

After all, Peeta did say the bakery was partially mine. In his mind, at least.

The ulterior motive of getting small, fleeting moments with my boyfriend, of basking in the feeling of safety with him beside me, of the occasional stolen kiss or hand squeeze when no one is looking, runs through the back of my mind.

And sways my decision immensely.

I open my mouth to tell Delly and the others that I'm about to head out, that they clearly have it covered here and I'm just in the way, when at the worst possible second, Leevy kindly murmurs, "Katniss, do you mind starting on the box on the ladder? Seeing if any of the pictures are in decent enough shape?"

I hesitate for a long moment, realizing immediately my predicament. It'd be rude to leave right after someone just essentially assigned me a task. I did agree to be here today, to help out with this tedious project. Leaving right now would only come off as rude and inconsiderate.

This is the reason I never did enjoy group assignments in school. The longer I'm here, the more I'm rediscovering this fact about myself. The division of the workload, the bore of the standing around, not knowing if you're doing the right or wrong thing, the lack of total control.

But I still nod after waiting a beat too long and agree with the nicest flare in my tone I can manage.

I'll go through the one box at the top of the ladder and then subtly make my exit afterwards. The image I unintentionally conjured up of Peeta and the bakery is still pulling at me, making me anxious to get back to him, to see him again even though we were together only three hours ago.

Since we officially became a couple a few months back—though Haymitch scoffs at that notion, claiming we've been together since Peeta first started sleeping over in my bed—I've found myself growing far more clingy to him than I ever could have anticipated. I hate when he leaves for the bakery in the mornings now, even as I still revel in the solace I find inside the woods. I look forward to his return home every night. More than even look forward to it, I'm usually at the bakery around the closing hours, helping him clean and inventory, asking him when he's coming home. Maybe looking somewhat unconsciously flirtatious as I say it.

I grab the box sitting on the ladder's top stair and pull it open, easily maintaining my balance one rung down, the same way I maintain my balance on a tree branch while hunting.

Inside pours out a plethora of photographs, mostly of Twelve's now past citizens. Near the top of the pile I see images of Greasy Sae's daughter, Dolly. The mother of her granddaughter. The daughter who died of croup a few years before the war.

Those photos must belong to Sae, I realize. Which means more of her items are probably scattered throughout the boxes here. And despite the fact that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she'll tell me not of be impractical, that if she's made it two years without these things she doesn't need them now, I still make a mental note to return her lost items. If nothing else, I make a mental promise to give back to her the photos of her daughter.

I know better than anyone what kind of comfort photographs of the deceased can provide.

As if in line with my thoughts, as if I alone manifested it somehow, the next image that catches my eye is one I entirely do not anticipate.

It's a shiny photo, on the kind of glossy paper my family could never afford. In the image is a blonde man with broad shoulders and a tall build. Wrapped in his embrace stands a petite girl, with long blonde curls and mascara accentuating her already long lashes. The couple both have eyes that match the color of the sky and are dressed up in some of the nicest clothes in all of Twelve. A white dress with lace. A gray suit with a black vest. The pretty girl wears jewelry and lipstick and there's a familiar glint in the male's eyes and I find myself mesmerized.

And I can't pretend I don't see my boyfriend in both of their faces. I can't pretend Peeta isn't the spitting image of both his parents.

He has his mother's smile, I realize with startling assurance. I never saw the witch smile personally, at any point in my life so I suppose I wouldn't know where he got his charming, sweet grin from.

The mannerism looks so out of place on his mother. The kind smile Peeta has, the one that could light up a blackened sky, doesn't bode with the woman in the picture, even on her wedding day. The charming smile doesn't fit with what I know of the woman's character. With what little about her Peeta chooses to share.

But I'm even more surprised to find how much Peeta has come to resemble his father. How much Peeta has grown to favor the now deceased man.

The last time I saw the baker—the original baker, that is. Haidon Mellark—before the Quarter Quell, I resented the fact that Peeta wasn't as tall or as broad as his father. I privately believed if he'd inherited those traits, he'd be even more likely to win the games again and I could worry about him less.

Peeta was always taller than me and was always remarkably strong, after working in the bakery since childhood. But his father was a whole different level. Haidon Mellark, I'd forgotten until now, had a body that could only rival my own father's.

And as it turns out, Peeta did inherit Haidon's physicality. He just also happened to be a late bloomer. Like his mother, I imagine, staring at her tiny frame in the picture.

The change in Peeta's form occurred so gradually I barely even noticed until a couple months ago, when I woke up with my head against his heart and abruptly realized just how broad he had become. Until I couldn't even reach to kiss his jaw on my tip toe. Until he started laughing at me and had to lift me up in order to properly embrace the way I like.

"Katniss?" I hear Delly beckon, trying to bring me back to reality. Trying and failing, that is. I hear her but only in a vague, distant sense. My mind is still stuck on the image in my grasp. Still stuck on the novelty that I managed to find a remembrance for the boy who still at times questions if his memory is full of lies.

"I still cry about my family and somedays I can't even remember their faces."

I never even considered the possibility of finding a token of Peeta's departed family here. It never occurred to me, the potential finds in this box at my fingertips, that I could take home to my boyfriend. I never imagined finding him something to hold onto when the inevitable dark day came again like a storm cloud, full of thunder.

I'm so entranced what this could mean for Peeta, so lost in my own little world, that I'm barely even hanging onto the ladder. I'm definitely not as steady as I should be, standing near the top rung.

And I'm definitely not steady enough to hang on when Delly gives it a rough shake, trying to catch my attention.

/

The boxes break my fall. Sort of. Kanon and Leaf John had taken the liberty of placing the empty cardboard, already looked through and emptied, beneath the ladder.

Falling headfirst into a large, void box is better than falling plainly onto the filthy, concrete tile floor. But not ideal. Not as helpful as falling into a box of surviving clothes or toys would have been.

Delly apologized profusely for shaking the ladder. She'd even begun to cry when she noticed the blood seeping from my forehead.

Thankfully Kanon was there, as I didn't have the energy to console her much. I don't even know how I managed to cut my head at all, but it stung a fair amount and it provided me the excuse I wanted minutes prior, to escape the group project and head for the bakery.

Even after the fall, my mind still was cemented on the newfound treasure. My first instinct was still to show this memento to Peeta as soon as possible.

Kanon though, like a good friend, insisted on walking me home, despite my many protests that it was unnecessary, that I was just fine, that I could walk home blind if I had to. He insisted, foiling my intention to walk directly to the bakery and not wait for Peeta's return home, which still remained hours away.

Kanon was surprisingly stubborn when he felt strongly about something and I chose to relent, to give in and allow him to accompany me back to what used to be Victor's Village—where he now resided with Delly, inside Peeta's old home—without much fight.

Fighting for your independence and autonomy doesn't exactly present you as rational when there's a bloody gash in your forehead.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Kanon asks as we make out way up my porch.

I look up, maybe a little startled, from Mr. and Mrs. Mellark's wedding photo. "My head?"

"Yeah," he says carefully, looking at the blood like it's a mutt in an arena.

I shrug, doing my best not to indicate how dizzy I actually feel. Either from the fall or the blood still dripping out despite my attempt to plug the wound up with old cotton rags someone sorted into the trash box. "I've had worse."

He chuckles, a little sardonically. "Yeah, so have I."

I thank him for walking me home—for it was as inconvenient as it was sweet—and close the door slowly behind me, before leaning my ear against the wooden frame, waiting. Waiting for him to climb the steps down from my porch and make his way back to the Justice Building. Waiting for him to be far enough out of sight that I can sneak back out without him also trying to accompany me to the bakery.

It's not that I don't appreciate Kanon and Delly and all of my other friends' concerns. It's the fact that I wish to bestow a likely loaded item upon my boyfriend and I really don't need an audience to do it.

It's not the easiest feat, to slyly time it so Kanon won't hear me opening and shutting my front door again. And it's probably not my smartest plan, to walk alone along the rocky cobblestones and the uneven concrete, with a less than level head and body.

But I make it to the back door of the bakery still, just as I knew I would. It takes three times as long, but I make it there nonetheless.

Still clutching the photograph of his parents between my fingers too. Still with the same primary focus on my mind. To give him a token of remembrance, a token of the imperfect family he lost so tragically, that he still greatly missed, even when he can't say their names. Even when he can't conjure up their faces.

"You don't remember your family?"

"Sometimes I do... I'm not so sure other days. My memory isn't exactly top notch, if you know what I mean."

I push open the heavy-weighted back door, using all the energy my body can muster up. To my relief, Thom is already in the back room, sweeping flour off the floor.

"Hi, boss," he greets slyly as I walk in, barely glancing up at me. I shoot him an over-the-top eye roll, though I can't help smirking myself at the stupid nickname, when he beckons Peeta. "Hey, your girl is here!" He yells loudly. Too loudly to be packed with customers at the counter.

I take that to mean the daily rush has come and gone. Which would be very convenient, as it means I can present Peeta with my finding that much faster, without having to worry about his business—or our business, as he teasingly calls it—being held up.

I hear the sound of my boyfriend's quiet laughter from the front. The sound that I akin to my father's singing or my sister's squeal of delight. The last sound still alive that can make my heart do a flip.

But it dies out the second he peaks his blonde head into the back room. The moment his baby blues, the same color as both his parents', meet my silver ones and then trail upwards.

Almost as if remembering the gash in my head, I reach to my forehead, to ensure the makeshift cloth bandage is still in place.

"Katniss?" Peeta says, his eyes looking far more nervous than I anticipated. Which I can only take to mean the red liquid has seeped through the plain fabric. "Is that blood?"

I don't want him to focus too heavily on that fact though. Like I told Kanon, I've had much worse injuries in my life. Me and Peeta both have.

Just look at his prosthetic leg.

"Yes," I reply easily, before moving closer to him, pushing the glossy photograph towards him. "But that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is-"

"You are literally bleeding."

I sigh, feeling slightly perturbed now. "Peeta, look," I insist, thrusting the image of his parents towards him, waiting for it to take anchor.

And it does. It takes a beat longer than I expect, but it happens nonetheless. I watch silently as the image captives him, as the shiny photograph takes him back to a time when this exact location was the only home he'd ever known and this business was run by the two people inside the picture.

He touches the photo, as if to test it's realism, before looking up at me in disbelief. "Where did you find this?"

"The Justice Building today. Inside the boxes, with all the things lost in the bombing."

There's a long pause as Peeta process this. The silence makes me antsy, finding myself abruptly uncertain of what could be going through his mind.

Finally, he whispers softly, "I never thought I'd see this picture again."

And the awed, tender smile that spreads across his face swiftly encompasses me in its warmth.

And I suddenly don't even feel the gash in my head anymore.

/

Read The Rest On AO3

[dreamypeaches]

let’s hear it for the boy | jj maybank x reader

summary: you take on the role of jj’s hype woman as his insecurities begin to overwhelm him.

warnings: alcohol use, cursing, allusions to sex

word count: 2k

a/n: i listened to this song (let’s hear it for the boys by deniece williams) on the way to work the other day and couldn’t stop thinking about how much it applies to jj. so here’s this tooth rotting fluff fic. i threw another parks and rec reference in. idk what it is but jj and his girl give me subtle april and andy vibes. enjoy :)

This was not the first time you had ended up like this with JJ. Curled up on his bed in the Chateau, holding him close as he complained about his dad or the Kooks or just life in the Outer Banks. Tonight was different though. JJ had fallen deeper into his thoughts than ever before, picking out every one of his flaws and insecurities and laying them out bare for you.

You listened with a frown on your face as your boyfriend continued to shit on himself. Usually you would stay quiet, inserting kind words here and there, but letting him vent to you until he was finished or he fell asleep. Tonight, however, you had to interrupt when JJ took it too far.

“I’m such a piece of shit, Y/N, why are you even with me? You should just fucking leave, I’m sure you would be a lot happier.”

“Hey!” You nearly shouted, causing JJ to jump from your arms and turning to look at you with wide eyes. You sat up on your knees, taking JJ’s face in your hands and forcing him to look at you. You’d had enough. Tonight, you were going to tell this magnificent boy in front of you just how amazing he is.

“I love you, JJ! I’m not going anywhere! You are the most amazing person I have ever met!”

JJ’s eyes softened slightly at the words, but right now is insecurity was louder than your voice.

“You shouldn’t be with a guy like me. I’m going to hurt you, Y/N. I’m going to say something I don’t mean and fuck it all up because that’s just who I am. I’m just a dirty Pogue from the Cut.”

You released his head and shook your own.

“JJ, you can’t really believe that.” You spoke. Words of encouragement and adoration tumbled from your lips as you began to discuss exactly why JJ was the best man in the world.

He ain't got much to say

But he loves me, loves me, loves me

I know that he loves me anyway

JJ always had a way with words. He could lie his way out of any situation and charm himself into another one. Hell, he had found a way to charm you into his life. But when he finally had you, he started falling for you hard. The words suddenly became stuck in his throat, all the love and emotions he felt for you falling to the wayside. It frustrated him, not being able to find the words to tell you how much he loved you. You knew though.

With you, JJ didn’t have a way with words, he had a way of making you feel loved with just a single touch. The way he held you close to him at a Kegger, his hand in yours helping you onto the Pogue, the passionate kisses and bruising grip on your hips as he pounded into you. He didn’t have to say it. You knew he loved you, beyond a doubt.

And maybe he don't dress fine

But I don't really mind

'Cause every time he pulls me near

I just wanna cheer

Your sister was getting married, and all the Pogues were invited. Standing in your bridesmaids dress by your parents at the entrance to the venue, you saw the familiar orange van pull up and the door slide open. John B jumped out with Sarah, wearing a nice shirt and pants that his girlfriend surely picked out for him. Pope was next, and you recognized the suit he was wearing as the same one he wore to his scholarship interview. In a beautiful, but simple sundress, Kiara popped out behind Pope. Trailing behind them, your eyes softened at your boyfriend, who wore the only button up shirt he owned with a pair of khaki cargo shorts, his usual black boots, and his signature red hat sitting backward on his head. You felt your mother tense up beside you, leaning over to whisper in your ear, “What on earth is JJ wearing?”

You ignored your mom, too busy grinning at your approaching boyfriend. His grin was just as wide, scooping you up in his arms and kissing you hard.

“Hello my beautiful girlfriend!”

“Hi my interestingly dressed boyfriend.” He put you down, stepping back and looking down at himself before meeting your eyes.

“What’s wrong with my outfit?” He questioned with a furrowed brow. You giggled and pulled him back to you, shaking your head.

“Nothing, baby, you look amazing,” You said truthfully.

“Damn right I do.”

Let's hear it for the boy

Let's give the boy a hand

Let's hear it for my baby

JJ buried his face in your chest as you spoke. You ran your finger though his hair, feeling him groan as you finish talking about the wedding.

“God, that fit was so terrible.”

“Yeah, it was, but it was also super adorable, just like you.”

He groaned again making you giggle.

“Do remember what happened at the reception though?” You asked. He shook his head and peeked up at you. A small smile on your face, you recount the night with stars in your eyes.

You know you gotta understand

Maybe he's no Romeo

But he's my loving one-man show

Let's hear it for the boy

JJ held you close on his lap as you sat with the rest of the Pogues. You watched your sister dancing with her new wife, a small smile on your face. Kiara poked you, stealing your attention away.

“So, when are you two gonna tie the knot?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows. The hands on your thighs tightened their grip and you turned to look at JJ. He had a drunken smirk on his face as he gazed down at you.

“What do you say, sunshine? Wanna get married? Wedding sex is always amazing, imagine what it’s like when your the one getting married,” He said, winking.

You scoffed, turning back around and getting up from his lap.

“How romantic, J,” You say before walking off toward the bar. Kie slapped the back of JJ’s head, giving him a look that said What the hell?

JJ sighs and stands, following after you.

“Baby…” JJ stands before you as you take your drink from the bartender, not meeting his eyes. He grips your hip with one hand, the other gently taking your chin and tilting it up. You sigh and push his arm away.

“It’s fine, JJ, I know you were just joking.”

“What makes you say that?”

You freeze looking back at him, stomach fluttering at the sincere look on his face. Taking your hand, he pulls you closer, brushing your hair behind your ear and resting his palm on your cheek.

“I want to marry you, sunshine, more than anything. I’m sorry for the shit proposal, but I’ll make it up you.”

You grin up at him.

“Promise?”

He leans down, lips ghosting over yours.

“Promise.”

JJ was on his side now, head propped up on his hand. He was smiling down at you as he remembered the night with you.

“I still haven’t made it up to you.”

“Oh you have, a million times over.”

My baby may not be rich

He's watching every dime

But he loves me, loves me, loves me

We always have a real good time

Dates with JJ were always special. He pulled out all the stops, using whatever tips or extra cash he had made that week to get you a special dinner or a gift. Some weeks were less successful than others, and this was one of them. Most of his money had gone to his bike, which was in the shop. But his empty wallet wasn’t going to stop him from showing his girlfriend a good time.

You grinned as you pulled up to the Chateau, seeing your boyfriend waiting for you near the dock. You hopped out of your car and raced down to him, jumping into his arms. After a long kiss, you rest your forehead on his.

“How was your day?” You ask.

“Better now that I have you, sunshine.”

He sets you down and takes your hand, leading you down the dock to the HMS Pogue. A blanket is laid out in the back with some pillows scattered around, along with a cooler with two wine glasses sitting on top of it. JJ helps you into the boat, kissing your hand before releasing it and moving to start the boat.

The colors of the sunset are painting the sky in beautiful oranges, purples, and pinks by the time JJ stops the boat and throws down the anchor. He joins you on the blanket, opening up the cooler and pulling out a bottle of wine, a carton of strawberries, and a jar of Nutella. As he popped open the bottle and poured the wine into the glass, you shook your head at him.

“J, you’ve really out done yourself.”

He grins, handing you your glass.

“Yeah, well, wait till you taste the wine. It was like twelve bucks at the gas station.”

“I think we can agree that all wine tastes the same, and if you spend more than $15 on wine, then you are very stupid.”

JJ raised his glass with a wink, “I’ll drink to that.”

You spend the rest of the night cuddling on the Pogue, eating strawberries and getting wine drunk, watching as the colorful sky faded into a dark, sparkling one. As you got ready to head back to shore, you pulled JJ in for a passionate kiss.

“How did I get so lucky?” You questioned.

“Nah, sunshine, I’m the lucky one.”

And maybe he sings off-key

But that's all right by me, yeah

A karaoke machine, some cheap liquor, and a very drunk JJ Maybank was an amazing combination. Being just as drunk, if not drunker, you couldn’t stop your laughter as the love of your life terribly sang Dear Maria, Count Me In at the top of his lungs. He fell into your lap, face scrunched together at the intensity with which he was singing. You clapped louder than any of the other Pogues, who were just as far gone as you, as JJ sang the final words. He dropped his head dramatically, looking up quickly to sweep his hair out of his face without touching it. As JJ took your hand, pulling you up for a duet, you silently thanked Kie’s parents for cleaning out their basement and not throwing away the shitty karaoke machine from Kiara’s 11th birthday.

'Cause what he does, he does so well

Makes me wanna yell

Let's hear it for the boy

“I love you, J. You’re the greatest person in the whole fucking universe, aliens included. You’re the best friend and the best boyfriend a girl could ask for. Don’t let anyone, especially yourself, tell you differently.”

You rolled over to straddle JJ, taking his head in your hands.

Let's give the boy a hand

Let's hear it for my baby

“I love you, JJ Maybank. I will scream it from the rooftops because everyone needs to know that I am dating the most amazing man I have ever known. But right now, I want just you to hear it. You’re amazing, JJ Maybank.”

You kiss his cheek.

“You’re the funniest guy.”

You kiss the other cheek.

“You have great music taste, but a terrible singer.”

You kiss an eyelid,

“You plan the most amazing dates.”

then the other.

“You make me feel loved.”

A kiss on the forehead.

“Cherished.”

A kiss on the chin.

“Adored.”

You dive in for an intense and hungry kiss, soon pulling away to look deep into his crystal blue eyes.

“Loved.” You whisper. His arms wrap around your back, pulling you close to bury hie head in your chest. You feel tears begin to soak your shirt as he trails kisses across the exposed skin of your collarbone.

“God, I love you so much, sunshine. You’re my whole fucking world.”

He pulls you down for another kiss, rolling you over onto your back. His hands wander your body as he prepares to make you feel as good as you make him.

Let's hear it for the boy

Let's hear it for my man

Let's hear it for my baby

taglist + moots: @jjmaybby @dontjinx-it @butgilinsky @rekrappeter @diverdcwn @rafecameron @prejudic3 @starlightstarkey @https-luna @sunnypogue @obxmxybxnk @jjmayybank @bluesiderudy @socialwriter @kindahavefeelingskindaheartless @jjbinghams @outerbanksbro @poguestyleskye @softstarkey @bricksatanakinswindow @drewsephsmiles @poguemackin @downbytheouterbanks @ilovejjmaybank @diverrdown @broken-jj

[themonkeycabal]

Wandavision Ep 5 Spoilers

Wherein I watch Wandavision at a stupid hour of the morning because I do not sleep like a regular human being, and sometimes I have things to say.

Previously on Wandavision, we all discovered that Darcy Lewis and Jimmy Woo were the BFFs we never knew we needed and now can't live without. Also Wanda reminded us that she's really scary.

We should be in the 80s now, right? Ahh the 80s. Leg warmers, Aquanet, and MTV.

Baby shenanigans with crying twins. Wanda tries to magic them to sleep and it doesn't work. "Maybe we just need some help." And in pops Agnes without waiting for them to answer the door. As you do in a sitcom hell. She's got a headband and leg warmers on and is on her way to jazzercise. Of course. Is the point of Agnes to really anchor us in a decade? Asking for real. She's very "this is the era, and these are the tropes, let's all play along now."

Vision is very protective of the babies, to such a degree and with such intensity that Agnes literally forgets her line and nervously asks Wanda if she wants her to take that again. Well, then. Agnes very super a lot does not want to be wished to the cornfield. 

The babies stopped crying during the whole "should we do this scene again" interlude. Vision noticed the weirdness and is trying to figure out what's going on, Wanda is trying very hard to pretend everything is normal. Agnes is being super duper bizarre in the background. And suddenly the twins are like three years old. Agnes has given up and got into the liquor. I don't blame her.

Opening credits. Okay, I'm sorry, 'baby' Vision is almost more stupidly funny than I can take. Like … what? I think I want that as my new icon, though. Also the credits are too long. I think they were very proud of their theme song, so we have to hear it all. These are my least favorite so far. Very 80s, but meh.

In the real world, Monica is getting x-rays and giving a report on being yeeted from Wanda World.

Jimmy Woo and Darcy are there to greet her at the end of the exam. "This is Doctor Darcy Lewis." Yes, she is! Still very proud. She's also the doctor of encouraging people to wear pants, shoving a pair at hospital gown-clad Monica. Erik's no-pants phase was very scarring.

The medic comes back and says the medical tests didn't work or something. The medic wants to do x-rays again because the first came back blank and also she's going to have to do another blood draw. Hmm. Monica is still somehow affected by Wanda World? Unclear on how that would work. Some sort of weird witchy radiation-like energy? Monica says 'no' to more needles and also wants to put pants on. Just let the woman have her pants.

Now we're on to a briefing with the acting Director of SWORD whose name I don't remember. He's very "government suit" bland, I have a hard time caring about anything he says. Also, does anybody else pronounce the 'w' in SWORD in their head when they read it? Like I cannot make my brain stop doing that. "s-WUH-ord'.

"Our initial theory had Wanda Maximoff as one of many victims. We now know she is the principle VICTIMIZER!" Settle down there, acting director guy. Why not say 'subject', 'suspect', 'perpetrator', or boring old 'cause of the anomaly". VICTIMIZER! Geez then. I'm going to guess his solution will be a tactical nuke or some such rot.

Jimmy gives background on Wanda.

Acting Director Guy: "The twins were subsequently radicalized, volunteering at Hydra." Jimmy Woo: "That's an oversimplification of events, but yes." I'm giving you heart-eyes Jimmy Woo.

"After unspecified experimentation with the mind stone, Maximoff gained telekinetic and telepathic abilities."

Then a weird aside where the Acting Director — who shall now be known as Acting Director Dick — wants to know if Wanda had a code name or a something, seeming to imply that not having one made her a bad guy?,  and then he points out how the first time she used her powers it was against the Avengers. He totally just ordered a tactical nuke from "overreacting-government-douchebags r us".  I hate this particular character trope, the government heavy who never listens to anybody and is always ready to napalm the suburbs because reasons. It's so tedious.

Jimmy points out that Wanda earned the Avengers trust and then became an Avenger herself, thank you very much. Acting Director Dick doesn't care, he's decided Wanda is a terrorist and he'll turn half of New Jersey into a glass parking lot to get rid of her. Sure am glad he's in charge of some sort of mysterious and powerful agency.

Jimmy Woo is not a fan either, and he walks back over to his new bestie and tells Darcy that while he tries not to speak ill of anybody … Darcy interrupts "then allow me", and she has no trouble saying that Acting Director Dick is, in fact, a dick. That's my girl.

Elsewhere AD Dick is blathering on about how they don't negotiate with terrorists. Well, since Wanda hasn't made any demands, or released a manifesto or anything …. Monica also points out Wanda is not a terrorist. AD Dick twists her report to make Wanda sound as terroristy as he can. I'm bored with him now.

Monica argues with him a bit and say she doesn't believe Wanda World is a premeditated act of aggression. I vote Darcy, Jimmy, and Monica wait until AD Dick is alone, and then they shove him in a locker for the rest of the season. If anybody asks he had to run back to sWUHord for meetings or something, "Darn, you just missed him. I'll tell him you're looking for him. Great. Buh-bye now".

AD Dick needs to make his big jackass point that Wanda is the most terroristy terrorist who ever terroristed, so he shows off footage of Wanda breaking into a SWORD facility to steal back Vision's body. Because that seems terroristy and not at all like some sort of emotional breakdown. As far as I can tell, she just busted open a few doors, but didn't hurt anybody. I think AD Dick doesn't know the meaning of the word terrorist.

And, yes, then she resurrected Vision in an idealized sitcom world in a small city in New Jersey. That's exactly like something a terrorist mastermind would do. Mmmhmm. Is it nice for the people trapped there with them? No, clearly not. Agnes and Herb in particular seem aware and are scared. They need to be rescued and Wanda needs LOADS of therapy. But Director Nuke the Site from Orbit over here isn't going to make anything better. Darcy, sister, shove that asshole into a locker stat.

Jimmy notes that stealing Vision's body is a violation of the Sokovia Accords. And while I appreciate his dedication to maintaining the Accords … well, I mean, look, it's body theft and all. It's not a great look; I absolutely allow that. But you can just sort of stop there. Though, that's very the Sokovia Accords "if this guy dies, his body must go to a shadowy government agency. for safety. yep."

Also Vision had a living will, where he didn't want to be used as a weapon. Sure, okay. Because I'm sure SWORD was just totally not doing anything at all with his body. Nope. Look, I'm totally a SHIELD girl and even I wouldn't necessarily trust SHEILD with that. So, who is SWORD to me? Pfft. I'd give him to Thor or something and ask him to be buried far far away. I'm just saying. I'm supposed to trust Johnny-Come-Lately S-WUH-ORD?

(In my head now is an inter-agency rivalry where SWORD is like "We have rocket ships!" and SHIELD is like "lol, our lead scientist got eaten by a rock and survived on an alien world for like six months". "But rocket ships?" "We've traveled through time a dozen times in the last year alone. We're a bigger chaotic disaster than you can ever hope to be".)

AD Dick undermines his own "SHE'S A TERRORIST!" thesis by saying she acted out of grief. And then he dismisses everybody. "Work the problem!" Uh … whut? Fine? What is the problem? That she's a WILD MURDERY TERRORIST who must be stopped! or a grief stricken woman who stole her technologically advanced boyfriend's body and probably should be talked down? Acting Director Lack of Clarity.

Jimmy wants to know how Wanda could have resurrected Vision without the Mind stone and Darcy wants to know what Vision will do when he figures it out. Fine questions, friends, fine questions. Monica is just like "acting director dick used to be a buddy but now I kind of want to punch him and am very conflicted. oh and wanda kind of freaks me out but also i feel bad for her" only she says all that without words.

Tommy and Billy are now about like 5 or 6 or something. I'm terrible with kids ages. They're up to shenanigans. Oh, they found a lost puppy dog and they're giving him a bath in the sink. It's all super adorable.

Vision wanders in and greets his family all formally and in his human face. He says he has a premonition someone might pop over. He's not a fan of sitcom neighbors either. And there's Agnes now with a dog house. How does she know whether to enter through the front door or the back door?

The dog tries to burn the house down by licking an electrical outlet? so they name him Sparky (harr harr) and Wanda magics him a collar with Agnes right there. Vision's all "wtf darling?" and she points out Agnes didn't even notice when the boys went from babies to five-year olds, she certainly didn't notice the magic collar. Agnes is trying very very hard not to notice anything. Poor Agnes.

Wanda says she's tired of hiding her abilities and Vision is Very Concerned. He's starting to figure things out.

They tell the boys they can't have a dog until they're 10, so the boys grin at each other and age themselves up to 10. That is all very unsettling. Agnes "Let's just hope this dog stays the same size." as she screams internally "save me!"

Real World. Jimmy's hustling back to the science room with coffee for Monica and Darcy. Monica is asking for some sort of wild mobile bunker to help her get back into Wanda World and Darcy's like "well, yes, but also no". But Monica knows an aerospace engineer who'd totally make it for her.  

"I can't guarantee the Hex won't just mind wipe you as you go in." "What's the hex?" "Oh, it's what I'm calling the anomaly because of it's hexagonal shape. It's starting to catch on." Darcy's so proud, but Jimmy's like 'not so much' but he's too polite to say.

Monica's determined to go back in. Jimmy wants to know who the kids are, if they've id'd them or the babies and Monica's all "oh, no, those are legit Wanda's." Darcy says if she can make stuff with her mind, and all the props and whatnot in the Wanda World are real then she's wielding an insane amount of power. Monica is sure she could have taken out Thanos if he hadn't cheated and snapped her. Jimmy thinks Captain Marvel could have done it. Monica very much doesn't want to talk about Captain Marvel.

Monica has an Idea!

Ah, she wants to see her outfit from Wanda World, which is now in the real world. So, is it real matter Wanda created, or is the perception field bleeding over to make them all see that outfit in the real world. That would have been hella awkward if Monica got yeeted out of her clothes.

Monica confirms they're real then steals Jimmy's gun and shoots them. Ahh, she was wearing a kevlar vest when she went into Wanda World, and that changed shape to be her super fly 70s outfit. "Wanda is rewriting reality." Changing things to fit the hex. So they'll send in something that doesn't need to be changed. Um. Sure. Fine. I don't know what that means, or how that would help in this context, but I'm sure I'll find out.

Meanwhile, Vision is at work, and all his coworkers are amazed at the actual computers. Golly shucks. Computers. Hey, so, computers have been around since the 40s. ANYWAY.

"Should we surf the internet?" We're progressing rapidly through the 80s. Oh, lol, Darcy sent an email. And the whole office creepily reads it out loud. Vision is very weirded out. As well he should be. He wipes the computer with his glowy synthezoid powers and then he glowies Norm when Norm tells him 'none of it is real'. Norm wakes up "please help me. what day is it? how long has it been?". Oh dear. Poor Vision. This is all going to go so very badly. Norm gets very freaked out begging Vision to "stop her". Vision resets him.

At the house the boys wonder where dad is, and Wanda tells them it's Monday and he's at work. Except the boys are all "um, no, it's Saturday". Wanda, your house of lies is tumbling down! You shouldn't have let them grow up so fast. Babies don't ask inconvenient questions about why Daddy needs some space from Mommy and her questionable choices for their shared reality.

Wanda takes the opportunity to impart the 80s family sitcom trope of the weekly life lesson about how family might fight, but they still love each other and family is forever. One of the twins asks if she has a brother. She does. He's far away. But, Sparky goes barking at the door. Wanda looks far away herself. She goes to open the door and Sparky runs out.

Monica has sent in a drone from the 80s. Well that wasn't really a thing. But, how does the 1980s rc plane look more high tech than the 2020s drone they sent in first? Talk to your design team, SWORD.

Anyway, Wanda spots the drone, but she's keeping it out of the broadcast, because she's the editor and director and producer of Wandavision, of course.

Monica announces herself and tries to get Wanda to acknowledge her. Whoops. Wanda's eyes go glowy. AD Dick says "take the shot" and Monica's all "what? no, the drone isn't armed." Except of course it is, because AD Dick is a monumental dick, and he's got a backup drone pilot who takes the shot. Wandavision goes off air. And, oh no, there's a breach at the Hex!

Lol. It's Wanda coming through, dragging the mangled corpse of the drone with her. That was entirely deserved, AD Dick. I hope she shoves it up your ass, dick.

"The missile was just a precaution". AD Dick backpedals quick, like a coward. You gave a three second attempt to talk to Wanda before you pulled the trigger, I don't like you. "You can hardly blame us."

Wanda warns him to stay out. "You won't bother me, I won't bother you." Okay, well, he does kind of have a point, in that there's a whole town of people who are stuck as bit players in Wanda World. That's not very nice. I mean, surely she could have found a nice empty spot somewhere and created her sitcom utopia. That's at least a fair criticism.

Monica tries her best to talk Wanda down. It doesn't work particularly well.

"What do you want?" "I have what I want and no one will ever take it from me again." And she mind controls the soldiers training their guns on her, to turn them on AD Dick. Whoops. And Wanda goes back to her world. The Hex glows all red as she goes.

And we go to commercial. Lagos Brand paper towels. "For when you make a mess you didn't mean to." Wow, so that was brutal. Wanda's not mad at you, Monica. She's just carrying a lot of guilt. Ouch.

Back in Wandavision, the boys are looking for their dog. They find Agnes hiding in the bushes with the dog. Poor Sparky apparently ate some azalea leaves and died. The boys are very sad and Wanda warns them not to age up. They can't run from their feelings. Oh Wanda. "It's too sad," Billy says. "You can fix anything mom," Tommy cries, "Fix the dead". Yikes.

Wanda "I'm trying to tell you there are rules in life." Poor Agnes is trying not to have a total meltdown. "We can't reverse death. No matter how sad it makes us. Some things are forever."

Billy and Tommy try to talk her into bringing back Sparky. And Vision turns up. Well, this is just brutal.

Vision is entirely outside of Wanda's control. "I spoke with Norm. I unearthed the man's suppressed personality and I spoke to him free of your oversight." Yikes. "He was in pain, Wanda."

Okay it's kind of funny they're arguing over the end credits. Vision is very very pissed. "I'm scared." Aww.

Wanda insists she's not in charge of every life in Westview. "I don't know how any of this started in the first place." Huh. Is that really true? Because she's pretty sure of it now. Somebody or something convinced her into a sitcom world and now she's just like "yeah, this is good"? really asking.

Ding-dong.

"I didn't do that." 

Vision: *doubt*

DING DONG

Wanda goes to answer the door.

In the real world, alarms are blaring but Darcy notices a new revelation on Wandavision.

Wanda Word — and it's Pietro at the door. See! I knew it had to be Pietro who'd be the surprise guest thingy. I mean it's hilariously X-Men Pietro (Evan Peters, like @lewstonewar suggested), but Pietro nonetheless. There's nobody else it could have been.

Darcy be all WTF? "She recast Pietro?" lol

Okay, Wanda seems legit shocked. I don't think she did that. And I super really don’t think she’d make him sound like a NYC cabbie. 

And end.

Well. I mean, I'm not sure what to think. Wanda insists she's not controlling everything. I don't think she created Pietro. But, she totally stole Vision's body and created the kids and seems mostly happy in her sitcom universe and she can traverse the Hex, which obviously suggests its her doing. Dunno. I have questions about Agnes and her convenient timeliness here and there.

The mystery continues.

Disney wants to know if I want to watch Age of Ultron next. How poorly you know me, Disney.

[jilytho]

and they were roomates

Jily/Marauders roomate thing just for fun. Happy Jilytober!!!! 

Read below or on AO3 of FFNT

Moving in together had always been the plan. The Marauders, out in the real world. Throughout Uni they were always forced to split up into different apartments in groups of two, usually ending with Sirius and James in one apartment and Remus and Peter sharing one down the hall. Remus insisted it be that way because he insisted he wouldn’t be able to focus on schoolwork if he had to deal with his idiot of a boyfriend 24hours a day but separate apartments in no way made them spend any less time together. James swears he spent more nights on the floor of Remus and Peter’s kitchen than in his bed. Still, once they were done with school and off in the Real World having an apartment for all of them to live in was the ultimate goal. 

They set out to look for a spot that was nice enough to fit the bizarrely high standards of Sirius, while still not breaking the bank for Remus or Peter who insisted on paying their own way without any help. 

It was Remus who ended up finding their place, somewhat dodgy area of town but right down the street from his favorite Thai takeout place, three coffeeshops with adequate reading vibes within a four block radius, and a seven minute commute for Remus to get to the lab everyday. 14C was a once cute three bedroom apartment now covered in years of dust and grime and now officially theirs.

Sirius and Remus claimed the master with its very own ensuite so James could stop having to pick Sirius’s hair out of the shower. It wasn’t a perfect set up but they all found ways to mesh together and make it just right and just theirs. Peter was immediately made interior designer and found a couch and two armchairs off of craigslist so that they could stop sitting on the floor in front of the TV. James was in charge of the kitchen and bought real utensils and bowls so Sirius would stop pouring his cereal onto frisbees. Remus developed his very own homemade cleaner filled with bleach and alcohol and was likely poison in a bottle but it somehow made the beige counters white and sparkling. 

Technically James and Sirius were the only names actually on the lease, a Sirius suggestion, so that if they were ever late on rent it wouldn’t impact the credit Remus had spent so long building up. It had the added benefit of Peter and Remus not having to worry if their paycheck was being delayed and they had to pay Sirius or James a few days late because the boys were always good for it. 

Being adults in the real world never stopped any of them from still behaving like children. Sirius refused to take out the trash so James took to dumping the trash on his head while he was sleeping, and accidentally got day old noodles onto Remus’ pillow. They broke two TVs during two separate games of indoor football and Peter was a world class baker but was the worst at cleaning in the whole flat and left flour everywhere, constantly. But still, they were happy. They ate dinner together almost every night and had movie nights on Thursdays. Peter and James invested in heavy duty ear plugs within three weeks of moving in and realizing just how thin the walls were. 

After a full year of making Apartment 14C home, the lease was up they unanimously decided to resign because this was their place. But then one day they wake up to find that Pete has his bags packed and is all “I got a job across the country bye”. They want to fight him and Remus, always the logical one, brings up that they literally just signed for a whole year and are only 20 days into this new lease. And Peter, the little slimy rat, smirked and said “Not my name on the lease, not my problem” and just left. 

They learn from Facebook that he was working for some politician that stands for everything the boys do not. The kind of politician who would actively root against the happiness and togetherness of Sirius and Remus. Once they learn that, they are officially done missing him. 

At some time in the middle of the night all the pictures that Peter was in from school are mysteriously replaced with pictures of James’s cat. 

Sirius wants to keep He-Who-We-Do-Not-Talk-About’s bedroom empty and make it into a yoga studio/library combo but Remus says that it's ridiculous to pay that much extra in rent and he refuses to let Sirius pay for the room and so the roommate hunt begins. 

Everyone they met with was either too sweaty or too loud or was great on paper but had a super distinct death like scent so the room sat empty for almost a full month. James was content to let it stay that way and just keep finding reasons because it was good with just the three of them. They weren’t the same and James was sometimes a third wheel but these were his brothers, he didn’t need anyone else. 

It stays empty until one day, Remus comes home from work one day saying that he has a friend from class, a nice well mannered and smart girl who would pay her rent on time but is in urgent need of getting off of her sister and terrible brother in laws couch before she “sets it and the house on fire”. Sirius isn’t sure he wants someone willing to commit arson moving in across the hall from him but a quick look from Remus shut him up and he was suddenly all for the mystery girl coming in. Remus said she would be moving in in three hours and would James be available to help her carry in her bags? James felt slighted that he wasn’t even given a vote or a chance to meet the girl, but that was mostly because despite Peter leaving and betraying them, James is loyal to a fault and still saw the room as Pete’s room and Pete’s stool in the kitchen despite the fact that the lying bastard just took off with no warning and changed his phone number and was a traitorous little bastard. Still, he couldn’t argue the point too much or he’d look stupid so fine, let the new girl move in but “Remus I swear, make it clear that this is just temporary until she figures it out and we find someone else we can all agree on”. He decided he just wouldn’t hang out with the new girl. They’d be apartment mates but they wouldn’t be friends.

She shows up with seven boxes and three bottles of wine to her name. James’s mouth is full of pasta when she introduces herself to him and he is so startled by the green of her eyes that he swallows without chewing and starts hacking noodles up while waving hello as she watches, green eyes wide with concern and amusement, hand still held out to shake. 

The first week after she moves in, he avoids her like the plague. He mentally insists that he has no need to get to know her because this is just temporary and she is going to find a new place and it doesn't matter how green her eyes are if he just doesn’t look at them. 

By the start of the second week, it stopped mattering if he didn’t directly interact with her because she was still everywhere. The living room was transformed from a bare bones TV and couch room to completely cozy with scented candles and fuzzy blankets and fun, colorful throw pillows that James instantly became obsessed with. He couldn’t lie and say he didn’t love the lemon scented soap in the kitchen or how she always made sure there was coffee in the pot for him or how the scent of her rose body wash somehow fills the whole apartment everytime she showers and is amazing or how the whole apartment just felt warmer and better now that she was there. 

He stopped getting surprised when she found ways to just fit with them. He always thought Peter worked well with them, they were brothers of course, but now he couldn’t help feeling like Peter had been a square peg squeezing into a circle hole. He fit but it was also just a little tight or tense or unequal. Lily, on the other hand, clicked in just right. She was instantly just one of them, even before James had accepted it. On her 10th day of living with them (a celebration Sirius insisted required an ice cream cake) all reservations about her completely imploded because there was no arguing that she belonged with them and they belonged with her. When he woke up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water, he wasn’t at all shocked to find her and Remus reviewing chemical formulas at 3am on a Tuesday. Like of course they were, why wouldn't they be. It felt even less surprising that he just walked himself over and sat on the ground in front of her and stole her flashcards so he could quiz them both. It felt only natural when he saw her and Sirius getting ready to go to spin class together, even though Sirius never brings James to spin class with him anymore because of the one time he fell off his bike and caused a ruckus. He’s barely even confused when he ends up at a sunrise yoga class with her even though he had never been awake to see sunrise a day in his life. He’s even less surprised to learn that he enjoyed it immensely and had never been so happy to be up that early. He tells himself that it's just the impact of the yoga that he is in such a good mood but knows it has a lot more to do with the laughing goddess in the downward dog next to him. 

They get glared at all through the class because he keeps whispering things to her and making her giggle and then he becomes so transfixed by her laugh that he loses his balance and falls out of his pose, almost toppling the woman next to him. She laughs so hard her face matches her hair and giggles every time she looks at him for the rest of class. 

And then it’s Sunday and Blokes Brunch easily becomes “Lily, let’s go time for brunch” and when she pops the champagne (which had always been James’s job but he couldn't’ even fight her properly for it) he sees the sparkle in her eyes so much clearer than the sparkle in the drink and he lets himself actually see her and oh my god did she look good.

It still hurts when they see a picture of Peter on facebook or in Snapchat memories but slowly their memories start to fill up with green eyes and red hair and lovely smiles. It is no surprise when just the suggestion of her moving out became criminal. It was no surprise to any of them except for James when she stopped sleeping in her room and started sleeping across the hall with James. None of it was how the Marauders expected their lives to be at all but there was also more joy and warmth and love than any of them could have ever predicted. 

[writingjoycebyers]

A/N: Heyyy ! I was in the mood for some Jopper heartbreak, based on my own ideas and not on a prompt. I‘d appreciate any constructive feedback. My inbox and dm‘s are open <3 Enjoy!!! xx writingjoycebyers

JOPPER AU - Gave you all the best years of my life - A one shot songfic

idea based on the song „Rock & Roll I gave you the best years of my life“, gif source at the end

Rating: Mature - heartbreak (sorry!),very slightly nsfw, serious case of romantic simping.

I can still remember when I bought my first guitar

Remember walking from the shop to put it proudly in my car

„It‘s so pretty!“, Joyce said, her small hand wandering across the wooden guitar that was securely stored in her lap. Hop was steering the car, carefully eyeing his best friend as she held his new treasure, his baby.

„So what songs are you gonna try first?“, she asked curiously. She knew Hopper had been practicing with some guitars at school for some time already, and she loved the sparkle in his eyes whenever he was playing. The shiny blue, the happiness radiating from his gaze whenever he could fiddle a tune. The light in his eyes and smile had grown to no end when just fifteen minutes ago he had fulfilled his dream of buying his own guitar finally - a graduation gift from his parents, they had given him the money to go and choose the instrument of his dreams. „You never can tell.“, he said. „Chuck Berry.“

Hopper smiled over at her for a second before putting his eyes back on the road. „Dunno, there‘s so much great music. Maybe even write a song myself?“, he said with a proud smirk, eyeing the dark brown six string. Joyce chuckled, he looked at the guitar as if he was in love, as if the guitar was a very pretty girl. And yeah, he probably was in love with it, with music. Joyce found his passion beautiful as they drove through the Indiana summer afternoon, the car‘s windows down and freedom lurking around the corner, graduation just a few days away. She felt light and free, safe and in place with her best friend by her side. Her best friend - Jim Hopper, who looked at a guitar the way she sometimes wished he‘d look at her. She turned the radio up and held the guitar tight as Hopper had to stop at a traffic light on their way home. She could not wait to hear him play.

___________

And my family listened fifty times to my two song repertoire

I told my Mom her only son was gonna be a star

A week before graduation Joyce was at the Hopper‘s for dinner. It was past nine already and they were all out in the Hopper‘s large backyard - her, Jim and his parents. Dinner was long eaten and the sun had gone down when Joyce sat on a garden bench next to Elaine, Jim‘s mother. She felt so at home with them, sometimes even more at home than at her own place, with her mother barely there, chasing her lovers around the state, and her father having left a few years ago, to start a new family and leaving his first born daughter behind in Hawkins, Indiana. Joyce had grown into the Hopper household without anyone actively noticing, being around a few times a week for homework, dinner or just to hang out with Jim after school.

Elaine squeezed Joyce‘s hand tightly as Jim played a tune on his guitar in the dark of the garden, the warm summer night around their bodies as Jim‘s dad went inside to get another beer. Hop's mother held Joyce‘s hand even tighter in a moment she saw Jim giving Joyce a smile whilst playing. The blonde woman leaned over to Joyce and whispered into her ear, making Joyce Horowitz, tough as she normally was, blush like crazy.

„You two would make such a sweet couple. I say it again and again.“

Joyce looked at Elaine next to her with her dark, deep eyes, giving her an insecure smile.

„He talks about you all the time“, she added, shrugging her shoulders as Joyce giggled sheepishly. There was some truth in the elder woman‘s words, and although Joyce and her had had some heart to heart talks in the past, they were just crossing a new line. Neither Hop nor Joyce had actively confessed any feelings, but Joyce knew the tingling feeling in her gut became harder to ignore with every hug, with every funny car ride, with every hang out at Lover‘s Lake. She just had not thought it was that obvious, especially not to Hopper‘s mother.

Later that night, Jim‘s parents had long gone to bed, the two friends ended up on that bench, the guitar on the bench on Jim‘s left, his all time best friend close to him on his right. They talked about music, dreams and the future, as suddenly her head dropped down on his shoulder, and his strong arm found his way around her shoulders a few minutes later. The guitar was forgotten for that night, their minds focussed on each other as they held each other tight long into the night.

_________________

Well I bought all the Beatles records, sounded just like hall

Or Buddy Holly or Chuck Berry's, seventy-eight in all

And I sat by my record player playing every note they played

I watched them all on TV, copied every move they made

The days before graduation, Hopper had nothing left to do for school. Joyce was busy preparing prom night with some other girls, having joined the committee earlier this year, so he did not get to see much of her. He did find something to occupy himself with, drowning in music as he usually did, though he found his mind wandering off more often then not, to the moment on that bench, her small hand in his, her smell, her smile. Every Chuck Berry song would make him day dream about swirling her around on the dancefloor on Prom Night, every Beach Boys song would make him see her in a sundress in the California Sun.

Oh, Rock'n'Roll I gave you all the best years of my life

All the dreamy sunny Sundays, all the moonlit summer nights

California. Frisco. A stupid little dream they had developed together. He‘d write songs and she‘d work in a café or a bookshop, enjoying life for some time before she wanted to enter college, before he‘d maybe get a contract for his own songs, make a record. It was a stupid little dream, but Joyce in a sundress - he could imagine that.

I was so busy in the bed room, writing love songs to you

She was at school preparing Prom, and he was glued to the TV, watching a Beatles concert as he tried some new tunes. Her birthday was coming up too, and he was planning on giving her a special present, on finally spilling the details about his hidden feelings for her. Joyce in a sundress, was that a good title for a song?

But you were changing your direction and I never even knew

That I was always just one step behind you

Joyce was at school, helping with the chairs and tables to set up the gym for Prom as her friend Karen approached her. Joyce was busy unfolding some chairs and the girls chatted for a bit. Karen would bring her boyfriend Ted to Prom, a guy who was in college already, and so the talk of college began. Karen was surprised when she heard Joyce, bookish little Joyce with the good grades, would take a gap year, work or maybe even go to California for some time, enjoy life and not study, like she usually did.

„I always thought college was your number one dream, Joy.“, Karen smiled. „Seems like love changes us all.“, she smirked, hinting on Joyce‘s plan to follow Hopper to the coast for some time.

Without really wanting it, it made Joyce think. Was it his dream or hers? Could they really dream together? Oh, she was probably just confused with prom around the corner. Typical teenage angst - she‘d do the right thing, they‘d always done the right thing - together.

_________________________

On Prom night, Jim Hopper kissed Joyce Horowitz on the mouth as they danced in the crowd, bodies sweaty and limbs exhausted from all the dancing and standing, hands entangled at their sides as the world around the, the students, the lights, the music, went silent. That night, Joyce Horowitz and Jim Hopper turned from friends to lovers, ending their night in his small bed, kissing each other with a curiosity that kept them awake til the early morning hours, When the sun went up, he showed her his song for her, and she laughed, embarassed and touched by his sudden rush of feelings, as she went to grab his small pocket knife.

Ever since then, J.H. & J.H. was carved into the back of his wooden guitar, a sign lasting over time, a sign lasting longer than they would, and longer than Jim Hopper would own his first guitar.

__________________________

Prom week and the summer flew by, and Jim Hopper and Joyce Horowitz from Hawkins, Indiana packed their bags and took his old truck up north to California, up north into a new life. She found it thrilling really, a perfectly romantic adventure as she watched him drive into the sunrise the day they left their hometown, before falling asleep beside him in the passenger seat of his car, feeling safe and sound with no thoughts of the future. There was no work, no college, no money - There was just J.H. & J.H.

Well, sixty-six seemed like the year I was really goin' somewhere

I was living in San Francisco wearing flowers in my hair

Singing songs of kindness so the world would understand

The guys and me thought wer were more than just another band

Five months later Jim had found a decent band to play with, working the nights in a beach bar as the boys covered songs of the most popular artists of the time. He worked the nights, she worked the days in a cafe by the sea, and quickly, J.H. & J.H. began to miss each other terribly. They lived together, sharing a small room in an appartment complex, but they seldomly got to really be together.

Joyce would sometimes go to the bar at night, and she still loved to hear him play and sing, but so did many other women. She preferred the nice and quiet of her room way too often, cuddled up next to the record player, imagening it was him singing her a song in his parents‘ garden in good old Hawkins, Indiana.

Oh, Rock'n'Roll I gave you all the best years of my life

All the crazy, lazy young days, all the magic moony nights

I was so busy on the road, singing love songs to you

But you were changing your direction and you never even knew

That I was always just one step behind you

It was another saturday night when she was occupying a small table in the last corner of the bar, reading a book despite the place being loud and crowded, as suddenly a guy approached the empty chair next to her.

„Good evening, young lady, is that seat taken?“, the tall man asked. He was wearing a leather jacket, and his hair was styled with a lot of gel. „My name is Lonnie, by the way.“

Jim Hopper eyed the scene from the other end of the room, singing some Elvis Presley love song as he saw the spark in his girlfriend‘s eyes be rekindled by the words of another man.

__________________________________

The door fell into it‘s lock with the familar click Joyce had not forgotten in the nine months she had been away from her home in Hawkins, Indiana. „Yeah, this is it.“, she smiled, walking around the empty first floor. Not much had changed, and her mother wasn‘t even there. „Lon?“, she asked, as she did not get a response to her little house tour, realising her boyfriend was still outside carrying their bags from the car to the house.

As he walked in, she smiled at him, and kissed him sweetly. He let the bags drop to the floor and she felt his hands wrap around her waist as their kiss intensified with every breath. She was glad to be home.

„My old room‘s upstairs.“, she whispered. He followed her, and she opened the wooden door to the small space under the roof, a room from another life. A life where she had a picture of Hop and here hanging on the wall next to her door. J.H. & J.H. She swallowed hard as she saw it, quickly placing herself in front of it before Lonnie could see it. Her heart began to race, and it wasn‘t because of the way Lonnie‘s hands were exploring her sides now, as they made their way to the bed.

As they let their bodies drop onto the bed, her pulse had calmed down a little. It was J.H. & L.B. now.

______________________

Five years later, J.H. & L.B. have become J.B. & L.B. - It‘s a rainy sunday afternoon and she‘s in the kitchen, making tea as the TV plays in the living room. She‘s just carrying the cup over to the coffee table when a song comes on on TV, Chuck Berry. You never can tell.

She freezes in the middle of her movements as memory hits her like a wall, his face in front of her inner eye, that sparkling blue of his eyes, his wooden guitar in her lap as the summer breeze caresses her face.

Which songs are you gonna try first? - Dunno, there‘s so much good music. - You never can tell. Chuck Berry.

Where might he be now? Frisco? New York? Paris or London?

She‘s ripped from her thoughts as she hears noises upstairs, a sharp cry, the cry of a baby. Jonathan‘s awake. She rubs her tired eyes and brushes her bangs out of her face as she makes her way upstairs. Lonnie should be home by now.

—————————————

Seventy-one in Soho, when I met Suzanne

I was trying to go it solo with someone else's band

She listened to my problems and she seemed to understand

When she came up to me softly and she took me by the hand

And she followed me to London to a hundred hotel rooms

To a hundred record companies who didn't like my tunes

„What do you mean they did not like it?“, the blonde woman asked Hopper.

„They said it‘s a stupid title.“, he said in defeat, letting his old, worn out guitar drop down on the bed next to his girlfriend.

„Which song did you play?“, she insisted.

„Joy...— I mean, Girl in a sundress.“

„Jim, I don‘t like to say it, but I also don‘t think it‘s a potential hit, it‘s...“,

„I thought it was special.“, he whispered, looking at Suzanne as her hand found his cheek.

_____________________________

And she followed me back to Indiana when I finally sold my old guitar

I'm never gonna be a star.

I'm just a plain old Country boy and that's all I'll ever be.

Jim Hopper returned to Hawkins, Indiana in 1972, married. He sat at Enzo‘s with his wife one night, talking about his new job with the police as outside the window he saw a woman, short, dark hair in a messy bun, a toddler on her arm, and another little boy walking next to her. Joyce in a sundress.

_______________________________

Oh, Rock'n'Roll I gave you all the best years of my life

All the dreamy sunny Sundays, all the moonless summer nights

Oh, I never knew the magic I'm making it with you

I'm getting along with a Country song doing what I wanna do

When I was always just one step behind you.

__________

A/N:

(the gif at the beginning is not mine, i found it on pinterest and this is the source)

Also I found so many versions of the song that I didn't knew which lyrics to use. Here have a good mixture. 😂

Pleeeeease give me feedback and let me know how you like my original fic content. I sometimes struggle with prompts and hope you enjoy this too. Oh and. Reblogs. Comments? I simp for that.

I‘M THIS SORRY FOR THE HEARTBREAK:

[purplerose244]

Sweet Aftermath

Hi @forthegloryofdragons! I’m your Secret Santa for the @toa-secret-santa event! 😊 At this point it probably looks more like a New Year present, but Merry Christmas anyway and I hope you spent nice festivities!

Here we go with some Jlaire and our favorite punk wizard! ❤❤

Summary: Peace is momentary in their lives but when they get it, they enjoy it as much as they can. Dessert is always welcomed.

Also on the AO3

“Ouch!”

“Jim!” In the blink of an eye Claire was at his side, holding his hand before he could even process the idea of having a look himself. “You dummy, cut the strawberries, not your finger!” Granted that there wasn’t even any traces onto the actual cutting board – it was one drop at max, his girlfriend could be such a mama sometimes –, maybe it would had reached him some kind of prideful chef wound at being scolded for something this basilar.

It didn’t. All Jim could feel at the moment was the slightest pinch at the top of his finger, where the littlest red bubble was forming. It hurt. In a completely ignorable, absolutely meaningless way. But it hurt. It hadn’t hurt this little in a while now.

He couldn’t help smiling a little, even while Claire was already opening the cupboard to get the med kit. He had forgotten this type of common, after being the Trollhunter had become his everyday.

It was nice. And destabilizing. And a little freaky.

Then again, what wasn’t in his life?

While the little med kit was brought onto the counter of the kitchen and the cutting noises interrupted, the cheerful chatters coming from the living room brought his mind back. The party had been completely random, it had started with his mom wanting to know everything about what happened since they had last seen each other – well, she said that after the both of them managed to talk, with the messes of tears they had become with the both of them human again –, and it was continuing with plenty of people and food around.

Food gently cooked by the best chef of the Lakes’ house… not much of a competition really. But hearing his mom from the other room, chatting and gasping and laughing again, was enough to forget the bowl of popcorn on the table that she still somehow managed to mess up.

Jim breathed in, and then breathed out. Everything felt so new, yet exactly the same.

“Skin’s fragile. I forgot.”

“Well put it on a memo, it’s pretty important if you ask me. A mental memo…” The witch stopped midway, as she was pulling the plastic off the band aid. “I wonder if there’s a way to make that? A magical note stuck into your brain so you don’t forget it? I should ask Teach.” At last, the little medication was applied, At least none of the little red fruits got dirty. Yet Claire still wasn’t letting go of his hand, and when Jim looked up, there were those big brown eyes in front of which he could do absolutely nothing. “I’m serious, okay? Don’t get hurt, or at least try not to get hurt. I really think you had enough for a while.” She probably wanted to sound ironic.

It came out sad. Of course it did. And a lie as an assurance would had been pointless, the former Trollhunter would had made every single choice of his life all over again, to ensure the safety of those he loved. But maybe out of egoism, he would had not dragged them all in like this, knowing how much they were going to suffer for his sake. He wanted his friends near, yet not nearby. Did it make sense? Who knew? Maybe it didn’t have to.

Claire held onto both of his hands, looking up at him, lips curved in a little hopeful smile. And that put an end on any thought. It didn’t matter after all. As a human, as a half-troll, as a full troll, the sight right before his eyes had not changed. And he didn’t want it to change.

Jim sighed softly, nodding with a smile.

“I’ll do my best.” Claire sighed softly.

“Please do.” She leaned and kissed his cheek, and oh, magically there was absolutely no more pain into his entire body. A witch indeed, eheh. “What do you need the strawberries for?”

“Decoration mostly, but there’s so much chocolate in this that you need something fruity to make it less strong.” Right on cue the timer went off. He quickly stopped the noise and hurried to the fridge, taking out the cream that seemed perfectly chilled and ready to use. “Also should I say, strawberries and chocolate? Mucho romantico.” He shot a wink towards his girlfriend, who made that fond eyeroll from whenever he attempted to speak Spanish.

“Whatever, charmer. Get it over with, I’ve been smelling amazing stuff all evening and I’m really tempted to paralyze you with a spell and have it all myself.” Well if that wasn’t one of the sweetest compliments for his cuisine he had ever received. “How can I help?”

“Get me the sponge cake, it’s near the window.” Jim gave the cream a further whip to make sure it was airy and homogenous, before pulling out a spoon from the drawer – reminding himself last minute that he couldn’t and probably shouldn’t munch it anymore. “Alright, now for the tester…” He could had taken it himself of course, his sense of taste was back to human-like. Yet it was still hard to accept it, like his mind wasn’t fully into the all magical transformation that brought him back. He just needed a bit more of time, maybe. “Mrs. Nunez? If you could be so kind?”

“Oh well, if I really have to…” Claire smirked, putting the baking tray in front of her boyfriend with the sponge cake all rested and ready for the use. Then she leaned forward, taking the spoon into her mouth. She licked her lip. “Mm, oh yeah.”

“So it’s good?” She arched an eyebrow at him. “What? Let me brag a little, I’m good!”

“What if I still prefer guacamole over this?”

“Claire, you make amazing guacamole, but you also make a major bowl of it with, like, three tortillas. That kind of love is a little hard to match, even for my chef skills.” He got an elbow, because clearly some people couldn’t handle the harsh truth. “Just tell me if I should add something or mix it some more.” If it wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t going into the cake.

She knew that. She knew it, and she grinned widely, putting a hand over his cheek with a very evident intention into her eyes. With the sudden realization Jim had to claw onto the bowl with both hands to prevent any catastrophes like letting it drop accidentally, because kissing Claire was that mind-blowing – and it took him quite a bit to make this cream, thank you very much. A chocolate kiss that got him such jelly knees he was considering just letting himself go with the unconsciousness, it would had been the sweetest knockout of all of his Trollhunter life. This girl had gotten so much more confident since they first started to hang out. She was as gentle as a lady, and as vigorous as a warrior.

His Claire. His amazing, beautiful Claire.

She pulled away first, perfectly in control of the situation, smiling softly at him. The aftermath was possibly even better, knowing that this was real and it happened and it was going to happen again. Somehow he still could hardly believe his luck.

Claire bit her lip, staring with those big impossible eyes.

“Too sweet, maybe?” Jim shook his head with a grin.

“Nope, absolutely perfect.” Did that come out corny? Smoothness wasn’t exactly a skill of his, hopefully he didn’t ruin- and Claire was kissing him again, never mind, he loved life.

“Okay mates, quick update, we’re out of snacks in the other room and since I lost rock paper scissors I got sent here also to sneak on the dessert, and if you’re wondering how I lost let me remind you that Binky got four aaaaaarrrrm…” He loved life a little less with their good old – apparently very old – master wizard coming into the kitchen uninvited. That sheepish little grin was kinda funny though. “So, you mess with the timeline once, and you acquire the magical ability of having a terrible timing. Noted.”

Jim pouted. Claire laughed. Jim laughed. That was just how it was, also his girlfriend suddenly had that malicious look into her eyes that told him he wasn’t going to dislike the next following minutes – and he knew she had that look before she became a shadowmancer so… destiny?

“You’re actually right on cue, these dirty dishes are dying to meet you.”

“Uh… how badly are they dying?” And now the witch was glaring, the wizard immediately raised his hands for surrender. “Can’t blame one for trying.”

“Try and ruin another moment between me and my boyfriend, you’d wish I was only blaming you. You got out with little.” That was probably true and that was probably a given, hence why a second later Douxie was over the sink, pouring down the water and reaching for the soap. Claire gave him a firm nod. “Alright, what do we got?” She turned to the counter, gathering a few snacks onto another tray. “Okay, all kinds of chips, cold popcorn from the microwave Barbara made oww, socks, so many socks, a few burritos Krel’s friend brought…” Given the discovery that aliens were real, having an extraterrestrial as a taco seller so responsible for the burrito that had gotten Gatto that nasty stomachache somehow even made sense. “This should do for a while. Be right back.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and went to the living room.

Again, human’s skin was sensible. Jim hadn’t realized it made a difference before, he had been sturdy, strong as a half-troll. And so hardly soft and easy to please. It was still a little complicated listing off what was good and what was bad of his current situation. But one thing for sure, he loved how Claire’s kisses were sweeter than ever.

A snort. Apparently he had been staring at the door for a while, and Douxie was holding back his laughter with little success. So the former Trollhunter grinned back, giving him a shoulder while putting down the cream onto the squared sponge cake.

“Shut up and do the dishes.”

“Roger that.” The wizard stopped the water as the sink was full, getting to work. A minute of silence was filled solely by the tinkling of dishes and the dripping of water. A nice moment of normality. It had been a while after all. “You know, I gotta say.” Douxie wasn’t looking, yet there was definitely fondness into his eyes. “Spending 900 years adventuring and protecting the world, I’ve seen a lot of things. But a witch learning how to control dark magic in order to save her human-half-full-troll-hunter boyfriend? That one I’ve been missing.” He was fast at cleaning, swift and careful. He must had done it quite a lot at the restaurant he used to work in.

Jim sighed, nodding softly, his eyes lingering on how nicely the chocolate smelled and look. He carefully pushed the remaining onto one side, smoothing the surface.

“I’m so lucky to have her.”

“She’s also lucky to have you. You’re pretty great, and brave. To the point where it gets scary. And worrying. A lot.” Douxie laughed a little awkwardly, clearing his voice. “Not that I can talk, really.” Right, the two of them got so close to their demises for the sake of others.

They were similar. Very similar. Jim couldn’t help smiling.

“We really need to stop trying to die.” The wizard cracked a real laugh.

“Got that right.” Another moment of peace followed, and to this mindless noise Jim was starting to get used to again. “What are you making anyway?”

“Bouche de Noel.” Wow, exactly the same frown as Claire, was it a wizard thing? The confused judging eyebrow? “Yes, you don’t have to tell me, it’s a Christmas dessert. Yes, you don’t have to tell me, it’s disgustingly anachronistic. And no, you really don’t have to tell me, because I’m not trying to pull a Christmas on July thing. You got a British accent, not an Australian one, I wouldn’t even have a stretch to work on here.” Another little laugh. “I’ve been postponed it since forever not knowing if I had the bakery skills, but now that I got functioning tastebuds back I’m all in for it.”

With the cream down, he finally went over the cake, rolling it carefully to form the base of his dessert. It had chilled perfectly and had maintained the form, it looked just like the one in the picture where he got the recipe from. The thrill of making something with his own hands. Another absolutely pointless fun of just a human. It felt great.

Douxie gave it a peak, whistling.

“That looks and smells possibly even better than the mince pies from Camelot. For what’s worth I’m very glad we’re getting Christmas today!”

“Right, because you never know what might… uhm…” Jim swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry. From the wizard’s widened eyes, it looked like he couldn’t take that back even if he wanted to. “… today feels so nice. My friends are all here, my mom is here, my girlfriend is here. It hasn’t happened in a while, and I guess I realized how rare this is. We’re not even at the end of summer and we got three different apocalypses, so I thought of… not having too many regrets?” Now that it was coming out it felt very stupid. And insecure. Which wasn’t exactly weird coming from him, but at this point? A fight more a fight less? What was the difference?

He didn’t want to know what it was. He got too close already.

The master wizard breathed in and out, extremely deeply, the washing work momentarily forgotten. He picked a towel from the counter, slowly passed it through his fingers, then let it down. Only to bring one hand onto the former Trollhunter’s shoulder.

“You’ll make a fruitcake, at the real Christmas. A Panettone, or a strawberry cake maybe?” He was smiling, with that renovated determination that had gotten him ever since he came back from beyond the grave. “So you better invite me, and all the others. We’ll have another party just like this one, all together. Every single one of us.” That sounded like a promise. And this guy, this wizard was always ready to give everything for his promises.

So Jim nodded. It was barely a confirmation that everything was going to be okay. But the effort, that alone, was worth at least hoping for. They were all in this together.

Luckily for the guitarist there wasn’t much to clean up besides the bowl and various plates – for now at least, he was half sure Claire was taking this long just to pile up other stuff –, but he stayed to watch the trunk taking form. Two cuts for the shape. Ganache all over. Without worries.

Without problems. He was here. Right here, safe and alive… oh.

“I didn’t thank you, huh.”

Douxie blinked, taken back.

“… there were, like, five dishes. Doesn’t really compare with my shift at Benoi-”

“For saving my life.” Another sequence of batted eyelashes, and it was almost too easy imagining what were going to be his next words. Today Jim felt completely in charge of the situation, finally. “And I’m not talking about the whole turning back into a human thing, neither about the Arcane Order, even though that’s also worth mentioning.” Having Nari around was mildly unusual for that, but she was adorable enough to forget about it. “Claire told me about you guys at Camelot. About trying to find a way back to our time, saving everyone, saving me… the dungeon break was your idea. I wouldn’t have escaped if it wasn’t for that.”

Douxie seemed to have problems grasping this, or simply accept it. He turned his eyes back to the sink, almost as he wished there was still something to make himself busy with.

“It was nothing.” This time it was Jim who snorted.

“You messed up a timeline for one single half-troll, that’s a bit of something. I mean… I doubt Merlin would’ve done it.” That was probably uncalled for. But despite knowing how much those two wizards were close, it didn’t erase what that old man had done to him in the past.

There was no hatred into those amber eyes though. Just thoughtfulness.

“… I knew it was risky. But I also knew that too much depended on you.” The wizard managed a sad smile. “If that wasn’t a mistake, because Merlin didn’t believe in them, then I guess I really wanted to believe in the unexpected possibility that you were going to create… I didn’t want to leave a single friend behind.” He scratched the back of his head, shrugging a little. “Also my wallet couldn’t bare losing a tipper like you.” Sarcasm had to be some kind of special power of those who had been playing with life for too long.

Maybe that was also what made them so similar. Maybe that was also why, in some way or another, they had managed to survive. Jim smiled, bringing an arm onto his shoulders.

“Thank you, Douxie.” The wizard looked at him in bewilderment. And then, slowly, he lightened up, clenching his hold onto his shoulder. Giving him the feeling that maybe, just maybe, there hadn’t been many satisfactions for him lately. And this one came right on time.

“I did fix something after all.” He smiled too. “You’re very welcome, my friend.”

“So NotEnrique bet and won all the socks at Monopoli and I don’t know why I didn’t see it coming, that brother of mine will be the death of- aww, look at you.” Claire smiled at them, putting down the empty tray. “Having a little moment?” When he had taken that little detour for school at the beginning of this adventure, he definitely didn’t expect that one day he was going to be found by his girlfriend preparing a dessert for a bunch of mythical creatures and humans, while sharing a bro gesture with Merlin’s apprentice.

Did he ever say that his life was weird? Because boy oh boy it was.

Douxie took all his time to gave him one last pat and then turned to the girl, this time him being the one to showcase the little menacing grin – he never did dark magic before right… right?

“Indeed we were, guess who ruined it and will join me at cleaning dishes?”

“… well played Casperan. And that’s the only reason why I’m agreeing.” Claire huffed humorously, getting the dishes she just brought in onto the sink. “How’s the cake?”

“Almost done, just need to cover it and decorate it.”

“Good, because Toby got to his praising of your culinary skills, with plenty of more details now that he got all confident about making that one movie. So I’m pretty sure there will be a riot unless they get cake.” She breathed out, picking up a sponge only to look intensely at how her boyfriend was putting down the chocolate bark of the Bouche. It used to bring him such crazy butterflies in his stomach he could had passed out just by the knowledge alone. Now he couldn’t think of a life without those eyes on him. “We really need to do this more often. Just… this.” No silence felt more eloquent than the one that followed. It barely needed a nod from the two of them, while the dessert was finally put altogether with the covering and a smoothing for the surface.

Jim picked up a fork and started passing it over the covering, creating traces that made the trunk look somehow real. He moved the tool steadily, enjoying this, enjoying every moment of this peaceful time of them. Then he turned to the strawberries, all arranged nicely onto the cutting board, and he smiled a little.

He picked up a knife and one of the fruits.

“Let’s see…” He engraved it, creating little petals getting smaller towards the center, and placed it onto the cake. “Roses for my love.” Claire giggled, lancing her arms around his neck from behind. Then Jim picked up another strawberry, cutting it in thin pieces, then placing them onto the surface to form a note with a long tail, the only notion he had about music – at least not including that one piano kinda-serenate to Senor Uhl for not repeating the year. “And a note for my friend.” He completed with a few leaves of mint all over. “I think we’re ready now.”

Today Douxie looked so easy to please. Or maybe he really did spend a long time without being recognized for much. Because his amber eyes were shining, and it looked like he was holding back a much wider smile.

“Were you always this mushy, or was it Claire that has changed you?”

“Don’t know, don’t care, don’t ever want to find out.” Jim picked up the dish with the Bouche on it. “This is all I want.” The witch tightened her grasp – never mind, butterflies still lived.

She showed her tongue to the wizard.

“Jealous that I got the sweetest guy ever?”

“Nah, I have a punk rock soul, I’m immune to pure cheesy lovey-dovey situations.” Douxie grinned, looking fondly at them. “But if I can say it…” He lingered onto them, perhaps a little troubled. And somehow it was clear, he was pondering about the future, it was a thing that he couldn’t help doing apparently. Despite that, his eyes were sincere, and this determination still as solid as before. “Yeah, the both of you have great taste in people.”

They were going to have more parties like this. For sure.

With Claire right next to him, Douxie opening the door, and the number of smiling familiar faces waiting for him, Jim managed to push away the thought of tomorrow, with everything that was most likely still going to come for them. Here, now, they were happy and alive. It was enough.

So he snickered, showing up the cake to his cheering family.

“Merry Christmas, everyone!”

[snzyflowrr]

It was the end of the winter holiday, and the students who had went home for holiday were now all piled onto the Hogwarts express on their way back to school. Two of these people where Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, who has snuck away from their friends to a compartment all by themselves. they were both desperate to see eachother after the two weeks apart. the windows were fogged with ice and the compartment door curtain was drawn, so it was as if they were the only two in the world. Sirius thought he could never get tired of snogging Remus. His soft lips, his bouncy curly hair, his delicate fingers, and Dainty nose. The two boys were huddled together for warmth in the coldness of the weather, each other’s breath feeling hot. suddenly Remus broke the kiss pushing Sirius‘ shoulders back before a soft “humptshh!” into his lap, that he has been desperately trying to hold back.

”ugh sorry“ Remus chuckled.

”s’alright,” Sirius whispered leaning in meeting the other boys lips again. Remus ran his fingers through Sirius’ long smoothe hair. But soon Sirius felt labored breaths against his face. Remus pulled away again and Sirius lifted his robe sleeve to Remus’ nose to catch the sneezes for him.

”humptshh hepchhmpt humpchh!”

“bless you, Moony,”

”ugh, cheers,” he responded scrubbing at his nose.

“good?”

”yep, just a tickle,”

sirius would just have to come to terms with the fact that everything Remus did was adorable. So he leaned back in the kiss more passionate than before. Soon Remus moved down to Sirius’ neck. But this seemed to tigger something, for Remus didn’t have enough time to pull himself way from Sirius when, “huhEsshh-kchh!” Remus sneezed, leaving a bit of spray on Sirius‘ collar bone, ”Ugh, sorry that one snuck up on me,”

“you alright?” “yeah, cold air, heh, making my n-nose, Hehckshh! Making my nose run,”

“finished?”

”yeah reckon so, heh, hold on,” Remus turned his face away from Sirius and gave into the build up of sneezes in his nose, cupping his hands over his mouth and nose, “heptshh hepchhmpt heptckk humptchhnt hupTshheh!” Remus sneezed desperately into his hands. Sirius watched at his boyfriends head bobbed with every sneeze. He reached out to him and Remus let himself he pulled into Sirius. He began kissing smoothly and rhythmically behind Remus ear, then down to his jaw. remus hummed with contentness. Then Sirius moved down to Remus neck. Remus buried his head in Sirius’ hair. Inhaling the scent of him. And almost immediately his breath began to hitch. He pulled away from Sirius just in time to spare him of the spray but he didn’t have enough time to bring up his hands to cover his sneezes before the fit began.

”HuhEshh HupCHhhmp hepChkk HiihTshhh HumpKishh huh-Esshhh HepEshh-Hnnkkk!” Remus‘ sneezes were becoming rapid and breathless.

”whats the matter, Moony?” Sirius asked voiced filled with concern.

”I dunno, I just can’t, huh, can’t stop, huh, sneez- HuhEptchhnt! can’t stop sneezing,”

“do you think your getting ill?” “I feel fine its just loads of sn-sneezing, HiihEKtchhhmpt!” he sneezed Welty into the air and a bit of mucus leaked out of his nose, Remus quickly clamped a hand to his face to cover it.

”let me get you some tissues,” Sirius said patting his pockets realizing he didn’t bring any, “did you pack a Kleenex Moons?” Remus shook his head wordlessly from behind his tented hands, “I bet Prongs has some, I be right back Moony,” Sirius said and leaned down to press a kiss to Remus’ forehead And Remus let out two very wet sneezes into his cupped hands.

”humpChhngt HiihEptchhgehh!” Sirius left the compartment and made his way down the narrow hallway. He would have to think of an excuse to why he would need the tissues. James didn’t yet know about the two boys relationship, and it would look very suspicious if Sirius was just alone with Remus for no reason. “Hiya Prongs,” Sirius waved at he enters James’ car.

”Hiya Pads, were’ve you been?” he asked. “no where, any chance you‘ve got a pack of Kleenex?”

”probably snogging some girl,” Peter chuckled.

”maybe i have, maybe I haven’t. but do you have some tissues Prongs?“

“yeah course I do,“ James got up and riffled through his trunk for a bit then pulled out a small pack of Kleenex, and handed to Sirius. “thanks Prongs, i owe ya one,”

Sirius hurridly exited the compartment to avoid any further questioning. And headed back to his car. He opened the door to find Remus, red-nosed and flushed, but looking better.

”its dying down, reckon it was just a really awfull tickle,” Remus shrugged.

”good,” Sirius smiled and sat down to throw an arm around Remus who rested his head on Sirius’ shoulder pressing his nose into his neck. After a moment, Remus breath became labored.

”heh, huh, oh for fucks sake, huh heh, hih, Hiih...”

Remus’ head tilted upward with a Pre-sneeze face. Sirius plucked a tissue from the pack and held it up to Remus’ face. as if on cue Remus gave way to a volley of congested sneezes.

“HiihEcktshh HepChhhmpshh HiihEptchhgehh HuhKishhh-guhh!” Remus sneezed, congestion quickly leaking through the tissue.

”here Moons,” Sirius handed the pack to Remus who gratefully took it. And gave four wet blows before he was finished. “thanks Padfoot your a legend.”

”I thought it was dying down?” Sirius said perplexed.

”I, heh, thought it was. now I feel sneezy again,” Remus took another tissue from the pack and scrubbed at his already raw nose.

”poor thing,“ Sirius tutted running his fingers through his boyfriends golden brown curls As he fought the sneeze trying to make it way out.

”ehhh-heh-Eptchhh! HiihTChhahhgnt! HehChuhhhh-guhh!” Remus clutched the damp Kleenex to his nose.

”bless you Moony,” Sirius said sympathetically. “it’s, Hiih, huh, HepEckk! you,” Remus stuttered.

”what?” “the sne-sneezing, HetChhnnkk! It’s you,”

“oh Merlin!” Sirius clamped a hand over his mouth, “I’m wearing new cologne,” Sirius riffled around in his trunk for the little gold bottle of cologne and held it up to Remus’ nose, “is it this?”

As soon as Remus inhaled the scent his breath hitched. He was taking in gasping shuddering breaths. He pulled a few Kleenexs out of the pack and pitched foreword, “Huh, Heh, heh, Hih, HiihIHKShhhh! hehCshhhh! hehSHUHHHH! Ehh-KUTChhhhhh!“

“oh moony I’m so sorry,”

Remus sneezed rapidly hands pressed firmly to his face as the fit wouldn’t seem to end, “heh-IPShhhh! Heh-EKShuhhh! huhShuhhhh! heh... heh-IHTShhhhhhh! HiihEPTchhhhmgnt HeTshhch HihItchhhump!”

“it’s, Heh, its okay, Hih, you didn‘t kn-know heh-IMPHSHH!” “I still feel terrible,”

“Heh, its not your, Huh, Heh, not your fault I’m all- AllergICKKK! Allergic to everything,”

“let me go wash this off, I only be a minute. Want me to open the window?”

”heh... heh, that would be nice HepTchshhh!”

Sirius hurried from the car to the washroom and throughly scrubbed the areas where he had aplloed the cologne. he couldnt believe he had been so stupid. He has a werewolf boyfriend with super human sense of smell and is senseative to literally everything, and he didn’t check with him first. Sirius entered the car once again. Remus’ face was pressed into his jumper sleeve.

”I ran out of tissues,” he mumbled exhaustedly.

”I’m sorry I don’t have anymore, we’ll be at school soon. Why don’t you try and sleep. Your not allergic to me anymore“ Sirius held a hand out to Remus to reluctantly took it and was pulled so his head rested on Sirius chest.

“ humptshh!” Remus sneezed into Sirius’ chest.

”ugh sorry“ Remus mumbled.

”s’alright,” Sirius whispered leaning in meeting the other boys lips again.

[songtoyou]

Chapter Eight: Be Still

Would You Call That Love

Pairing: Chris Evans x Raina Morrison (OC)

Rating: PG to PG-13 (Might be 18+ for some chapters)

Story Summary: There was always that one person Chris Evans tended to turn to when he was not in a committed relationship, Raina Morrison. He could confide in her about things going on in his life that he did not feel comfortable talking to his family or close friends about. Chris and Raina were able to establish a way to openly communicate with one another, but also being respectful of the other’s time and needs. It was the only constant “relationship” he had, but without all the nonsense of trying to build a life together. A “friends with benefits” situation. However, what happens when Chris starts rethinking his “relationship” with Raina and if either are willing to pursue something more?

Chapter Summary: Raina and Chris are having trouble dealing with their time apart. Long-distance relationships suck.

Chapter Rating: PG

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2,258

Author’s Note: I was having trouble with this chapter. I had to end up rewriting it because I was not feeling the first draft. 

Italics represent flashback conversations.

Sadly, I do not know Chris Evans or anyone in his family, and this is just a fictional take on his life. I do not permit this fic to be reposted on other platforms.  

Tag List: @patzammit​

Three months. That is how long Raina and Chris had been apart. She continued to star in the Broadway version of Moulin Rouge as Satine. Shows were constantly selling out. Reviews were acclaimed. Unfortunately, Raina was feeling bored. The same routine was beginning to annoy her. She didn't like that there was no room to change things up. Being in a Broadway show was vastly different from her concerts. Raina knew it would be.

Jerry had warned Raina that Broadway was a whole different ballgame than what she was used to or experienced. "You won't be able to change or add things from show to show. It is more rigorous than what you are used to, kid," Raina remembered Jerry telling her one day before she accepted the role. 

Raina wanted a challenge. She wanted to do something different. There were times where Raina felt stagnant in her career. Plus, Raina was now considered an aging pop star, so she had to begin the process of branching out into different fields of entertainment. 

"You should do the voice," Jerry would always suggest, which Raina repetitively turned down. It wasn't that Raina looked down on voice competition shows. She didn't want to open that door to be on television every week for months on end. She was a performer, not a judge.

Again, three months. Three months since Raina had physically seen her boyfriend. They talked on the phone and skyped regularly, but it was not the same as being in the same room. She missed Chris terribly. And he missed her.

Chris had been pretty busy himself, first having to take Dodger back to Boston before getting ready to go to Toronto. With Raina's busy schedule, she would not have been able to take care of the canine. For a week and a half, Chris would attend the Toronto Film Festival to promote the movie Knives Out. Raina wished she could have gone with him. Chris wished she could have gone with him. 

After the film festival, Chris didn't have much downtime. He rushed into working on A Starting Point with Mark to outline the website and coordinate interviews with politicians. 

Raina made it a point to steer clear of conversations about ASP. Truthfully, she didn't find the idea appealing or exciting. Yes, Americans needed to be informed about certain aspects of politics and important issues. But many outlets already offered what Chris and Mark were trying to do. She asked Chris one time what made ASP different from the others. She was surprised that he wasn't quite able to come up with a sufficient answer. Raina knew Chris meant well. 

"Chris," she spoke up one day before he left the City, "You know I will never bullshit you, and I won't ever blow smoke up your ass. That has never been the kind of friendship we had. Nor is it how we want our intimate relationship to go."

He looked at Raina and told her to go on. "Sometimes, I have noticed, is that you tend not to be able to look outside of your privilege, Chris. You know what I am saying?"

Chris turned to his girlfriend. He was confused about where she was getting at. "No. What are you saying?"

Raina sighed. She could tell Chris was on the verge of getting defensive. "Nothing," she said, throwing her hands up in defeat. "Look, let's no…argue about…stupid stuff, okay." Raina pleaded and walked up to Chris to put her arms around him.

He reciprocated by doing the same. Leaning in, Chris captured Raina's lips. "I don't want to argue either. Especially not before I have to leave," he whispered in her ear.

There would times when Raina would look back on that exchange between her and Chris. She felt weird about how Chris became so defensive. Yeah, she could have worded things better; however, why should she? 

Truthfully, Chris was a privileged white male. If he took the time to recognize his privileges, it would make him a better ally to those who represent underprivileged groups. Raina was worried about any possible backlash Chris could face with a project like AS, which was not what she wanted for him. She understood that this was a passion project for Chris and Mark as well. Raina only wanted Chris to make sure that everything was in order and that nothing would be thrown at him unexpectedly. She knew Chris wasn't able to take criticism very well, even when it was constructive, mainly when it came to projects he was enthusiastic about; she understood as she was the same way.

With their time apart, Chris had to miss her birthday, October 19. Chris made sure to send Raina an enormous flower arrangement he could find, along with an array of goodies from Dylan's Candy Bar store. Chris knew the gifts would something Raina would appreciate. However, he still felt guilty that he was not with her to celebrate her birthday in person.

"Hey, birthday girl," Chris greeted Raina through skype on the day of her birthday. He laughed when he saw that she was holding the cupcake pillow he got her.

"I love it!" she exclaimed happily. "And I love my three-tier candy cake. I can't believe you got me that," Raina pointed out as she adjusted the laptop camera to show Chris the candy cake. "I won't be able to eat all of that."

"Yeah, you will," he laughed.

"I miss you," Raina said to Chris. "I didn't think being away from you would be this hard."

Chris sighed, "I miss you, too, sweetheart. But we'll see each other for Christmas, right?"

"Yes, of course. I made sure to schedule that time off. I still plan to come up to Concord for Christmas. My dad has already made plans with Diane for not only Christmas but Thanksgiving as well. So he is taken care of," Raina revealed. "Speaking of Thanksgiving, what are you doing?"

Shifting in his seat, Chris shared that he would spend it in Concord with his family. He noticed the slight disappointment on Raina's face and shift in her demeanor. "You don't want to come here and spend the holiday with me?" she asked solemnly. She didn't want to press on the issue but wanted to hear Chris's reason. 

Raina understood that Chris always liked to spend the holidays with his family, but deep down, she hoped he would change it up this year. "It's just been two and a half months since we saw each other," Raina began but stopped. The last thing she wanted to do was to make Chris feel guilty. "Do you have any time off before then?"

"Like you, I'm completely booked up until Christmas. Mark and I are still working on the website for A Starting Point for the rest of October, then when November comes around, it is all press for Knives Out and premiers. Trust me; I would rather be with you than have to do press junkets or walk red carpets," Chris acknowledged.

Raina grabbed a piece of candy from her three-tier candy cake. She just sat back in her chair, not looking at the computer screen. Raina focused on the candy. She didn't want to look at Chris because if she did, tears would begin to form. For some reason, missing Chris and wanting to be with him felt like the equivalent of homesickness. It was a feeling she had never experienced when it came to another human being. Even when she was a teenager touring across the world, she never felt homesick. Her relationship with Chris brought along a whole new set of feelings for Raina, and part of it scared her. 

She suddenly asked herself, 'Am I becoming too dependent on Chris?' The last thing Raina wanted to be, was co-dependent.

Raina shook her head and sat up in her chair. She looked at Chris and smiled. "I'm sorry. I know you're busy. I don't mean to pressure you or make you feel bad."

The two continued to talk a bit longer until Chris noticed Raina yawning. "Okay, sweetheart, I will let you get to bed."

"No, I can still talk. It's early," Raina whined like a child.

"It's a quarter after eleven, and that is now your fourth yawn in the last fifteen minutes," he pointed out. "You need to get to bed."

Raina sighed, "Alright, boss. I'll get to bed. Talk to you later or when either one of us is available. Bye, honey. Love you."

"Love you, too. Bye."

Thanksgiving rolled around faster than Chris expected. Time flies when one is busy. He continued to talk to Raina via phone or skype. However, Chris was also beginning to get frustrated at their time apart. Currently, he was home, sitting in his living room with his brother and brother-in-law, watching a football game between the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys while his mom and sisters prepared dinner. Lisa would poke her head from the kitchen, asking the boys for help from time to time. His niece and nephew were running around playing with Dodger, who appeared to love the attention. 

It was almost perfect, except one person was missing. Raina. He called her earlier that day. She shared that she was celebrating Thanksgiving, Chandler Bing style, with some of the Moulin Rouge cast. 

"What the Hell is Thanksgiving, Chandler Bing style?" Chris asked, confused. 

"Damnit, watch friends, Christopher," Raina scolded teasingly. "Chandler Bing doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving. Because that was the day his parents told him that they were getting divorced. So, instead of all the turkey fixings and stuffing, we have grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, and a family-size bag of Funyuns as an appetizer. We have lots of booze, so don't worry. Oh, and pumpkin cheesecake. Good times, right."

Chris only laughed. "You're living the dream. I don't think what Ma is making could compare."

"Just be sure to tell her to make her spaghetti for Christmas dinner. Or at least make a small pot of it just for me, okay."

"She's planning to, so don't worry. What are you watching? I hear gunfire," Chris enquired.

"I'm watching my husband, Tommy Shelby, shoot at the Italians," Raina informed as she watched Peaky Blinders. "I love Tommy Shelby. I tell you, Chris, if Tommy Shelby showed up at my door asking me to marry him, I would most likely say yes."

"Is that so."

"In a heartbeat. Sorry, hon, but Tommy Shelby, the things I would let him do to..."

"Thank God he is a fictional character," Chris interrupted. 

"Not in my dreams he isn't," Raina taunted.

"Okay, I'm hanging up now."

"Alright, I'll stop lusting after my fictional husband while I'm on the phone with you," said Raina and switched topics.

The two continued to talk until Chris was ordered into the kitchen by his mother. It was his turn to help.

Chris was chopping carrots and celery when his mother asked how Raina was doing. 

"She is doing fine. Raina wishes she could be here."

However, Lisa could tell something was bothering Chris. He could never hide his emotions from her. "What's the matter, Christopher?"

Chris continued to chop the vegetables until he stopped to look at his mother. "I didn't expect being away from Raina would be this hard, Ma."

"Of course it is. You love Raina," Lisa stated as she continued cooking. 

"I do. But in the past, I had girlfriends who I loved and had to do long-distance," Chris explained. "None of those worked out."

"Because you weren't truly in love with them," Lisa pointed out. "Don't compare what you have with Rain to your past relationships. Every relationship is different. What you and Raina have now is not something you have experienced before, which is real love. True love. Everyone always knew that you two would end up together, except you and Raina. You both are so cute but also clueless at times. You both will get through this. The work commitments will die down. You both will be reunited. Everything will be fine."

Chris took in what his mother was saying. He knew she was right. He had things to look forward to beginning the start of the new year.

"Raina is the first person I dated, well since Jessica at least, that I have really begun to think about marriage and kids. Part of me is scared because it's all so fast. We have only started dating back in mid-July. I don't want to rush anything. I don't want to scare her off. I don't want her to get bored of me," Chris confessed honestly. 

It was heartbreaking for Lisa to hear. She gestured for Chris to sit down at the kitchen table. "You need to stop, Chris. You are allowing your anxiety to get the best of you. Just take a deep breath, okay," she instructed her oldest son. "Raina will never get bored of you. She loves you very much. Don't think about the past; only focus on the future. You and Raina will be fine. More than fine. Yes, there will be hard times, along with good times. It is normal for every functional relationship. You can't have the good without the bad, the sad without the happy, the ups and the downs. The universe needs balance."

"Okay, Oprah," Chris joked. "I get what you're saying."

"Do you?"

"Yeah, I do, Ma."

"Good. Now get back to chopping," Lisa ordered, and Chris went back to cutting vegetables for Thanksgiving dinner. 

[mrsmarymorstan]

Now Furuba S2 is over, what now?

I’m already seeing a lot of people asking for recommendations now the S2 Sub is over; so this is a list of series that I think you’ll enjoy if you like Furuba! 

All platforms listed are true for the UK, but might not be for other residences. More viewing options may be available in other territories. 

Unless specified, All Manga/Comic recs are available from regular bookstores and EBook Stores. If you’re in the UK I’ll suggest checking out Hive, which is an online store where a potion of each sale goes towards a Local Independent Bookstroe of your choice! They also have flat-rate free shipping! 

Okay, so the actual recs! (I got lazy in some places and used the official synopisis) 

Romance

Convenience Store Boyfriends Funimation (Dub) Crunchyroll (Sub) 12 Eps Total 

“Six high school boys hang out at a local convenience store where they talk about their daily lives. Haruki Mishima and Towa Honda are first year students looking forward to the high school experience. Alongside them, there’s Nasa Sanagi, the only member of the cooking research club. Natsu Asumi is a loner but has third year students, Mikado Nakajima and Masamune Sakurakoji, looking out for him.“

Kaguya-sama: Love is War S1 - Crunchyroll, Funimation (Sub) S2 Funimation (Sub/Dub) 24 eps - Ongoing Manga: 18/20 volumes available in English 

“Known for being both brilliant and powerful, Miyuki Shirogane and Kaguya Shinomiya lead the illustrious Shuchiin Academy as near equals. And everyone thinks they’d make a great couple. Pride and arrogance are in ample supply, so the only logical move is to trick the other into instigating a date! Who will come out on top in this psychological war where the first move is the only one that matters?”

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Netflix (Dub/Sub), Crunchyroll (Sub) 12 Eps Total Manga: 12/12 volumes available in English 

“High school student Chiyo Sakura has a crush on schoolmate Umetarou Nozaki. When she confesses her love to him, he mistakes her for a fan and gives her an autograph. When she says she wants to be with him, he invites her to his house and has her help on some drawings. Sakura discovers that Nozaki is actually a renowned shōjo manga artist working under the pen name Sakiko Yumeno. She agrees to be his assistant in order to get closer to him. As they work on his manga Let's Fall in Love they encounter other schoolmates, who assist them and serve as inspirations for the story.”

Snow White With the Red Hair Funimation (Dub/Sub) 24 Eps Total Manga: 9/22+ volumes available in English. Anime ends Vol. 8 

“In the kingdom of Tanbarun lives an independent young pharmacist named Shirayuki. Shirayuki is a plain girl, save for her shock of beautiful apple-red hair. Her stunning mane gets her noticed by the prince, but instead of romancing her, he demands she be his concubine. Shirayuki chops off her lovely locks, and runs away to the neighboring kingdom where she befriends a handsome stranger.”

Tsuruedure Children Funimation (Dub), Crunchyroll (Sub) 12 Eps Total Manga (Ebook only) 12/12 Volumes available in English

“Short and charming comedic vignettes offer a quick glimpse into the unique and funny situations, misunderstandings, and all around confusion that can happen in a high school romance. For starters, there’s a story about a delinquent girl and the student council president, and one about a stoic boy confused about an emotional girl. Relive the charm of high school romance!”

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku Amazon Prime (Sub) 11 Eps Total Manga: 4/9 volumes available in english 

Looking for a slice of life romance but you’re an actual adult now and don’t want to read about teenagers? Try Wotakoi! It combines office romance with childhood friends-to-lovers. Narumi is a Fujoshi who doesn’t want anyone to find out the truth of her ways, Hirotaka is a Game Otaku who doesn’t care what anyone says about it, together they go about the ins-and-outs of dating as an adult. 

Coming of Age

BOFURI: I don’t want to get hurt, so I’ll max out my defence Funimation (Dub/Sub) 12 Eps Ongoing 

“She may be new to gaming, but Maple has found the secret to invincibility! Just put all your skill points into defense until you can't even move. That works, right? She doesn't want to experience any pain in the VRMMO game she started playing, and somehow it works better than anyone expected. Now she's got followers??”

Brand New Animal Netflix (Dub/Sub) 12 Eps Total 

“Set in a world where humanoid animals (known as beastmen) inhabit Earth, the series centers on Michiru Kagemori, a young teenage girl who one day suddenly starts turning into a tanuki beastman. Running away, she seeks refuge in Anima City, a city built for beastmen to be able to live peacefully as themselves, and ends up meeting a wolf beastman named Shirou Ogami. Together, they investigate how and why Michiru became a beastman, becoming mixed up in even stranger events in the process.”

Hyouka Funimation (Dub/Sub) 23 Eps Total 

“A worthy addition to any animation fan's collection, Hyouka is a stunning masterwork that spins a charming tale of high school romance and mystery. After disenchanted student Hotaro Oreki joins his school’s Classic Lit Club, he meets Eru Chitanda, a kindhearted and inquisitive girl with boundless curiosity and a knack for getting him caught up in all sorts of trouble.”

Koto Oto Tomara! Sounds of Life Funimation (Dub/Sub) 24 Eps Total 

“Down to its last member, the koto club will accept anyone who is interested in the traditional Japanese instrument. But when a delinquent and a prodigy player sign up, finding harmony isn’t going to be easy—especially not with ensemble competitions looming around the corner. With enough time and some incredible skill at the strings, perhaps this motley crew can strike a chord with the judges.“

O Maidens in your Savage Season HIDIVE (Dub/Sub) 12 Eps Total Manga: 7/8 volumes available in English (8th available for pre-order) 

The series follows a High School Literature club as they make their nervous first foray into the nature of sexuality. What is the difference between sexual attraction and romantic attraction? Does watching porn mean wanting to have sex? What are these strange feelings I am having down below? Why are boys so gross and girls so pretty? Each girl undergoes their own journey and finds their own destination, a brutally honest yet heart warming look at teenage female sexuality. 

CW: Sexual Assault, pedophilia (both portrayed as BAD AND TERRIBLE things) 

Our Dreams at Dusk Manga: 4/4 volumes available in English 

IF YOU ONLY CONSUME ONE THING ON THIS LIST MAKE IT THIS!!!!! The series is the VERY DEFINITION of “It Gets Better”. 

After his classmates discover some gay pornography on his phone, Tasuku Kaname contemplates committing suicide. Just as he’s about to jump, he spots a mysterious figure parkouring down a mountain. Shocked out of his moment, he decides to go and investigate what’s happening and finds an LGBT+ Drop In Centre. The series follows the lives of the people in the drop in centre, from Haruko who wishes to marry her closeted girlfriend, to Misora who is still trying to figure out what their gender is but has the threat of puberty hovering of their shoulder. 

It’s very clear that Kamatani-sensei has written this story FOR the Queer Community. It’s a truly beautiful story. Please give it your money if you can, so that Kamatani-sensei can actually earn some money, and so that Seven Seas know that there is a viable audience for these stories! So that we may get more content!

Reverse Harem 

Fruits Basket is NOT a reverse Harem, but i figure there’ll be some fan crossover. 

Kiss Him, Not Me Cruncyroll (sub) Funimation Dub available on DVD etc. 12 Eps Total Manga 14/14 volumes available in English

“Kae Serinuma believes one thing—princes belong together! As an avid boy’s love fan, she loves nothing more than fantasizing about faux relationships between the boys at her school. But when she loses weight due to the stress of her favorite anime character dying suddenly the boys want…her?! From pretty average to prettiest girl, Kae just wants these boys to date each other, not her!”

Sub uses an irritating “Silly Fat Person” voice that the Dub doesn’t. CW for Sexual Assult, though it is depicted as a BAD thing and used for Kae to question why she is so into it when reading BL, when IRL it is terrifying? 

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom Crunchyroll (Dub/Sub) 12 Eps Total 

A TRULY Bisexual harem! After bumping her head, young Katarina Claes awakens with all the memories of her past life... and promptly realises she’s been re-incarnated as the antagonist of her favourite Otome Game! Determined this time to live past the age of 17, Katarina starts to make plans to turn all her enemies into allies through the power of kindness and understanding! Throughout the series, she tries harder and harder to avoid her doom flags... without realising that she’s turned those doom flags into romance flags! 

Katarina lives out the fantasy of going to magic school and eating cake as all the pretty people fall head over heels for her. A pity she’s too dim to notice.

Ouran High School Host Club Funimation (Dub/Sub) 24 eps total Manga: 18/18 volumes available in english 

Set in the high class elite private school of Ouran High, the Host Club exist to provide entertainment for the ladies of the school. Looking for a quiet place to study, Haruhi Fujioka, stumbles across the Host Club and in their haste to leave they knock over an ¥8,000,000 vase. Now she must earn that money back by working for the Host Club, all the while disguising the fact that she’s a girl. Not that she ever felt much like a girl before hand anyway. Along the way, she gets to know better the Cool Kyoya, the flamboyant Tamaki, the Mischievous Hikaru & Kaoru, the Strong and Silent Mori-senpai and the adorable Honey-senpai. Comedic Hijinks ensue! 

Slice of Life

The Emperor and I Manga: 4/4 volumes available in English on Shonen Jump App 

One day Kaho returns home from school to find an Emperor Penguin in her fridge. He quickly becomes a beloved part of the family, but a secret to the rest of the world who would want to take him away from them. Hijinks ensue. 

Kakushigoto Funimation (Dub/Sub) 12 Eps Total 

Doting single father, Kakushi Goto, is determined to hide the fact that he writes echhi humour manga for a living. He couldn’t bare it if his daughter were to ever find out the truth, the shame of his profession only alienating her. A laugh out loud series that will suddenly cut you deep as it explores the nature of grief and familial love. 

My Brother’s Husband Manga: 2/2 volumes available in English 

“Yaichi, a stay-at-home single father, lives with his daughter Kana in suburban Tokyo. They are visited by Mike Flanagan, the widower of Yaichi's estranged twin brother Ryōji, who has traveled from his native Canada for three weeks to learn about Ryōji's past. Kana is fascinated by Mike and is immediately accepting of him, though Yaichi is hesitant to accept Mike as family.

While Yaichi is not overtly homophobic, Mike suggests that his tacit discomfort over his brother's sexuality drove a wedge between them that led to their estrangement. Mike's interactions with the family and neighborhood over the subsequent three weeks prompt Yaichi to confront his own prejudices around sex and sexuality, as his growing tolerance and eventual acceptance of Mike parallel his overcoming of his own homophobia.”

Whilst the trope of “the gay brother dies and the heterosexual brother learns not to be homophobic” might be over done in western media, the same is not true for Japan. It’s a heartfelt and honest look at grief and acceptance, as well as how the nature of family is changing all around the world... but attitudes are maybe conservative attitudes aren’t as quick to catch up. 

Nichijou: My Ordinary Life Funimation (Dub/Sub) 

So apparently everyone went “this show is undubbable! It relies too much on puns and untranslatable humour!” and then Howard Wang said “hold my beer” and did it. A bizarre comedy series set in a high school. It’s probably best known for the ongoing fight between the deer and the principal.  

Way of the Househusband Manga: 4/5+ (ongoing) volumes available in English  

After he meets and marries the career driven Miku, Tatsu AKA The Immortal Dragon decides to give up his life of crime to commit to being the worlds’ best husband. You’d be surprised at the transferable skills between a Yakuza enforcer and a house husband. From knowing how to efficiently cut up a slice of meat, to how to perfectly clean a bathroom of all evidence. Hilarious and heartwarming, Taki and Kyoko would be best bros. 

Slice of Life + Supernatural 

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K S1 Funimation (Dub/Sub) 24 episodes Netflix S1 (Dub/Sub) S2 & 3 (Sub) 50 episodes total 

“Saiki Kusuo is a typical 16-year-old high school student… except he has psychic powers. He can use them to get whatever he wants, but he also knows everything that people are thinking. Everything. No surprises, no secrets, no normal human experiences. He’s kept his powers in check since childhood, but with the temptations of high school now on his mind, he’s bending the rules—and spoons.“

Sabrina The Teenage Witch (2019)

Writer Kelly Thompson wears her magical girl influences on her sleeve in this new take on the Archie Classic. Sabrina is your regular teenager, except she is also a witch and so are her aunts. Hijinks (and Card Captor Sakura References) ensue. 

Toilet Bound Hanako-kun Funimation (Dub/Sub) 12 eps total Manga 13/13 Volumes available in English 

“Kamome Academy is rumored to have many mysteries, the strangest of which involves the mischievous ghost of Hanako-kun. When occult-loving high schooler Nene Yashiro accidentally becomes bonded to him, she uncovers a hidden world of supernatural beings. Now the two of them are conspiring to keep the peace between student and supernatural—that is, if they can only stay out of trouble themselves.“

Jughead (2015) 4 Volumes total

Bought to you in various parts by the creators of Squirrel Girl, Jughead combines slice of life with spy thriller, time travel and the joy of a good burger. Hilarious and heart warming, this run holds a special place in my heart as the one where Jughead was confirmed as canonically asexual and continues to express various aro/ace moods throughout the series. There’s a REASON my friends say I’m a Real Life Jughead.... 

Weathering With You - available digitally/physically 28th Sep. 2019

In June 2021, first year high schooler Hodaka Morishima leaves Kōzu-shima in order to get to Tokyo. When his ferry to the city is hit by a rainstorm, he is saved by Keisuke Suga, who runs a small occult magazine that’s looking for an assistant. As Hodaka becomes broke and struggles to find work, he meets Hina Amano, an employee of a McDonald’s restaurant. She takes pity on him and gives him food. After agreeing to work with Suga, Hodaka learns about the legend of the “sunshine girl” who can control the weather! It turns out that the newly unemployed Hina is a sunshine girl! And with her little brother, they start up their own business to bring sunshine to the never-ending rain of Tokyo. 

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches Crunchyroll (Dub/Sub) 12 Episodes Total Manga: 22/28 volumes available in English 

After tripping on the stairs, School Bad Boy Ryu Yamada and Top Student Urara Shiraishi discover they can swap bodies with a kiss! They then learn that they’re not the only ones with magic powers in the school, and with the help of the Supernatural Studies Club they begin to track down the identities of the 7 witches of Suzaku High. 

This series really stretches my limits on fan service, but at least it does proceed to get a little even in terms of gender. It’s still a really rather sweet and romantic series, once you get past the boobs and panties. 

Your Name Netflix (Dub/Sub) Spin Off Manga “Your Name: Another Side: Earthbound” - 2/2 volumes available in English 

A modern take on the Red Sting of Fate mythos, Mitsuha and Taki are two teenagers tied together. Three times a week, Mitsuha will wake up in Taki’s body and live the life of a Tokyo School boy. In turn, Taki will wake up in Mitsuha’s body and learn what it is to be a Rural Shrine Maiden. A look at the bonds that tie us, and how fate won’t let two young people fall apart before they can meet. 

Also the animation is BEAUTIFUL and it made me cry. Like a lot. There’s a spin off manga called “Your Name: Another Side” that follows the same story but from the POV of Mitsuha’s friends and family. It really brings new light to the events and made me very emotional.

Mental Health 

Green Lanterns: Rebirth (2018)

Jessica Cruz suffers from PTSD and severer anxiety, seeing her utalising her will power to overcome those problems and harness that energy to help save the universe is so incredibly powerful and moving. 

Hawkeye (2012-2015) 4 Volumes 

The Fraction/Aja/Wu/Hollingworth Hawkeye run is widely considered one of the best superhero runs of all time. Fraction and Aja perfectly capture “functional depression” at its finest, and we watch as Clint Barton slowly burns all his bridges before being forced by his friends to sort his shit out and put them back together again. There’s also a whole issue that’s primarily written in sign language too. 

My Roomate is a Cat Funimation (Dub) Crunchyroll (Sub) 12 eps total 

“Mystery author Mikazuki would rather live in total isolation than deal with others. Getting a roommate is the last thing he’d ever do, until a stray cat sparks an idea for his next novel. After plucking the little killer off the streets, this four-legged muse inspires Mikazuki in ways he would have never expected. And for the street-wise cat, this human just opened the door to a whole new world.”

A Silent Voice (Manga/Movie) Movie: Netflix (Dub/Sub) 

“A former class bully reaches out to the deaf girl he’d tormented in grade school. He feels unworthy of redemption but tries to make things right.”

CW Attempted Suicide, bullying

Please watch the dub. Lexi Marman Cowden, who voices Shoko, is an ACTUAL hard-of-hearing actress. It makes for a more real and vulnerable performance that avoids the mild ableism of the Sub hiring a Hearing Actress and robot-ising her voice. 

Yuri!!! On ICE Crunchyroll (Sub) Funimation (Dub) 12 eps total 

“Yuri Katsuki makes his way to the Grand Prix ice skating competition as Japan’s top representative with his eyes on the prize. However, instead of celebrating, Yuri walks away defeated and ready to retire for good. But a run-in with champion Viktor Nikiforov and rising star Yuri Plisetsky ignites a new fire within him. With the two of them close by his side, Yuri will take to the ice once more.”

Yuri’s defeat sends him into a very relatable spiral of lack of self belief that he slowly starts to regain thanks to the help of Viktor. Part sports anime, part love story, all full of feels. 

The Dub is considered hit or miss depending on whether you like accents or not, but honestly it’s worth it for Sabat’s Christophe giacometti. Ayame walked, so Christophe could strut. 

Generic 

I’m gonna start by recommending the Shonen Jump App, it’s £1.99/month and gives you access to all their recent publications as well as their back catalogue in English! So you can read all of Boys Over Flowers, Nisekoi, Naruto, One Piece, Haikyuu, Assassination Classroom, My Hero Academia etc. for a fraction of the cost of buying the physicals! SO much manga at your finger tips! No, they don’t sponsor me but i wish they would. 

Astra Lost in Space Funimation (Dub/Sub) 12 Eps Total Manga: 5/5 volumes available in english, available on the Shonen Jump App

A group of teenagers on a school trip become Lost In Space and quickly discover a conspiracy is a foot. Part thriller, part comedy, saying anything more about this series would count as a spoiler given the number of plot twists throughout. 

Radiant Funimation (Dub) Crunchyroll (Sub) 42 eps total Manga: 13/13+ volumes available in english (ongoing series)

A french manga turned into a Japanese Anime.

“Seth, a sorcerer destined to find Radiant, sets his sights on Caislean Merlin for answers. He’s desperate to find out what the Knight Sorcerers know, but can he trust them? In the wake of all that is unknown, he digs deep within himself for the wisdom and confidence to control his powers. And as the world around him continues to grow with more magic and power, he gains strong new allies.”

The series has BIG Saturday Morning cartoon vibes. My 12 year-old self would have been ALL OVER this.

Batman Ninja (Netflix)  

What if a Japanese animation studio asked DC if they could make a batman movie? And then just threw a Japanese history book at it? What if there was time travel? What if the main batman villains were all feudal lords in Japan? What if everyone were Samari? What if Damian had a small animal companion he could communicate with using a flue? What if Jason’s hood was made out of wicker? What if Penguin had a penguin shaped mecha? 

A wild ride from start to finish that makes no sense but really, do you care? 

[bangtansfavwriter]

💘bangtan as boyfriends: taehyung💘

-he was rather shy at the beginning of your relationship but you soon realised how serious he was about you

-very commited to you, your relationship and your future together

- but all in all he was rather slow to open up but you have taught him to trust more in people

-with each passing day his walls crumbled more and more and you started to see his soft side

-you have taught him that vulnerability is not something to be afraid of

-this is why tae is absolutely bound to you, no matter what happens

- the depth of your relationship is what keeps you going despite every hardship you face, for example when he's gone on tour for months

-you miss each other terribly and it's difficult for both of you... but embracing each other again once he's back makes it worth it again

-his career is very important to him obviously, but he knows that he must make time for you as well to make things work out

-bc he's also very serious about you.. even when you guys were a new couple he knew that this was gonna be long-term

- he will give you his honest opinion and full support whenever you need it most

- very very dependable

- knows when to be straightforward with you and when to goof around to make you smile

-oh my god he loves your smile so much, it can brighten up his entire day and you get so shy when he tried to tease you to smile at him and he adores it sooo much

-he managed to catch a blurry pic of you while doing that and it's his phone wallpaper ever since

- sends you good morning texts every day and will never end the day without sending you a good night text

- will never let you pay when you're out together so don't even try, he'll take personal offense tbh

- sends u gifts per mail from every country that they're touring through and will write you small letters about how, when and where he bought it and how much he misses you.... you'd send him a picture of it whenever it arrived and it'd just make his day to know how excited you got when the package arrived

-he's very thoughtful and sweet

-and you knew that you wouldn't get to hear him say "I love you" very often but instead he'd show it through actions like the ones I listed before, that's his love language

- also, he's not too big on pda, very private displays of affection, like when you're cuddling at home and back hugs like when you're making yourself tea and suddenly he's behind you and slowly roams his hands up your body and wraps you up against his body, while planting soft kisses against your neck

-needless to say, your focus was not fixing tea anymore

-kisses start off slowly but will turn steady, he knows how to build up your tension

- he's a very sensual lover, stimulate him in the right way and .... you're in for a ride

- very passionate when he wants to be, body talk let's him say things he fails to put into words sometimes

- loves pillow talk and your topic range would be HUGE bc I can see him being into unusual and lengthy conversations with someone who can keep up with his unconventional side and match this energy in a conversation

-so it wouldn't be rare that you guys would chill on his balcony on summer nights talk until without realising how quick time would pass and you both would go "oh, the sun...."

- sometimes your lengthy talk wouold be much to the dismay of the other members who'd chill with you from time to time

-3am-

tae: i just KNOW we're not alone in the universe

you: but will they ever accepts humans and show themselves to us ?

tae: right... 😔 they probably think we're stupid as hell and -

jimin, from his room: go the fUCK TO SLEEP!!!!

- taehyung glared towards the door bc aliens are the best topic ever tbh and you'd look at him and say "the last time I saw you glaring at jimin like that was when the dumpl- ", tae: "DO NOT EVEN START WITH THAT"

- anyway, let's not lose focus here lmao

- since tae and you started off as besties you guys are very chill together, sometimes tae forgets his bf duty because of that

-like the time he forgot valentine's day, which u didn't really mind bc you knew that he was busy but he pulled up at your flat at 11pm and insisted on taking you out and did so.. to a very very fancy restaurant and you were like "oh crap" when you saw the prices there but tae didn't take no for an answer bc he loves spoiling you

- he always makes you feel special and it doesn't take fancy dinners to do that

- whenever you tell him some story he's fully concentrated on you and listens to each of your words so intently that it was making you shy at first bc he'd sit there like you were telling him the secrets of the universe

-so you told him that it's kinda weird for you, only to realise that he didn't even know he was doing that and he became shy afterwards

you: oh god I didn't want to make you uncomfortable with that, I'm sorry 😔

tae: nooo *grabs your hands* I should be the one to say that... I never realised I do that, it's just weird, right?

you: not weird, but unusual, I guess ? It's not like everything I tell you needs your undivided attention

tae: everything you say needs my attention. everything you say is important to me, sweetheart. you could say the dumbest words and it would still sound like heaven to me. maybe that's why I stare at you like that... I don't know.. but I hope you don't feel uncomfortable around me because I do that. You're just very dear to me...

-he told you all of that and shyly scratched his head and you'd sit there completely awestruck about the fact that kim taehyung pretty much adored you in any way, even when talking about whatever random stuff that came to your mind... and you couldn't find words at that moment that could show him the immeasurable amount of love, warmth and affection that he made you feel that moment so you just hugged him very tightly, which was surprising to him at first but then he started chuckling and hugged you back

- makes you knees weak every time he calls you "my love"

-finds your odd habits cute, looks at with the biggest smile when you did a sing-song to remember where you put your keys

- at least 40% of your texts are memes, tae would get a message from you, grin and get up before opening it next to the guys and they'd be like "ohh, risky texts?👀" whereas it was just a meme streak you guys were doing

- your biggest fan and hype man tbh

-you had some good lighting in your room one day and used it to make like 34 selfies out of which 3 were like okay-ish and 1 actually looked pretty nice so you decided to put it as your new profile pic... tae was doing promotions and a fan sign that day and he got the notification and actually suddenly GASPED and everyone was like "????", his fan signs actually captured the moment which made you laugh your ass off when you found out about it and it is now your favourite picture sequence

-he texted you after this happened

tae: how dare you... my heart couldn't handle it.. even the fans noticed

you: ????

tae: your dp... how dare you look so ravishing... 👀

you: lmaoooo, is that what this is about ?? - you sent him a link of the gasp moment -

tae: when u hype ur lover and still get mocked 😔✊🏼

you: nooo you were so cute baby, thank u for being my hype man 😚💕

tae: always, baby 🥰

-btw couple items even couple outfits are a huge thing with you two

yoongi, seeing your matching coats and yeontan's matching sweater:

"why"

taehyung, while trying on some of his 6274 sunglasses with you:

"it's called fashion, hyung"

"and love, yoongo"

"looove, hyung"

*dog panting*

yoongi: -walks away-

-you pretty much feel invincible when he's with you and he feels the same way

- you two are very devoted to one another and that's why everyone is sure that this will very likely be a long-term relationship

-he's rather dominating sometimes but you know... 👀 you don't mind 👀👀

-never jealous bc he knows there won't be any other hoes

- you once were in the front row during a concert and stared him down when he winked at some bimbo who yelled her lungs out.... and he had the audacity to laugh and mouthed "fan service" to you.. you nodded, but still were disgruntled af, so some time later he danced his way to your side of the stage and knelt down, while you put out your phone to film his anpanman antics and he took your phone and filmed him and the guys on stage before he gave you back your phone, but not without turning away from the audience and throwing a kiss into the cam...

the girl next to you: LUCKY YOUUU

you: GIRL I KNOWWW

-one word from bang pd and your relationship would be public right away

-taehyung's trust in you and your support for him are a solid foundation for this and everyone is very well aware of that

- tae goes into these moods sometimes where he puts up his walls again and starts distancing himself from you

-this used to be a reason you got into fights at first until you talked it out and you realised that he needs you show him love in times like these

-he assured you that he doesn't do this on purpose but that it's more like that he loses his trust in himself sometimes and thinks you're better off without him

-this tended to happen most when he was away from you for a long time and this made things worse bc you couldn't speak to him directly

-but when you two finally talked it out (when he was back) you knew that taehyung needed grounding from this stressful side of his life... so you promised him that you're gonna stay by his side as long as he doesn't shut you out, which he promised you too

- after a long talk you both felt drained but knew that this was gonna change things between you, your bond has strengthened and just when you were about to drift to sleep in his arms, you heard him whisper "I love you.. you have no idea how much..." and you finally fell asleep and had the most blissfully peaceful sleep in ages

-he loves to see you interact with his friends or even family members

-you were so nervous when you met his parents but soon your worries faded into thin air as the kim family made you feel their warmth and love

- tae's heart grew like 3 sizes when he saw you laugh with his parents, while playing with yeontan who wouldn't leave your side (taehyung occasionally calls him brutus), all in all he knew that you indeed were a perfect match for him

-loves to help you reach your goals, as much as you support his

- to him, you stand out in any crowd and he's just very proud to have you by his side and call you his

- knows how to surprise you and will give a lot of thought into the dates he plans

- takes a lot of pictures of you, for example when you guys were at the zoo and he saw you looking at cubs with

heart eyes or when you were at an art exhibition and discussed some piece with an elderly man who was there too... half of taehyung's gallery consists of your candids

- btw you two are regulars at a dog cafe nearby and both of you lose every bit of self-control as soon as you see the first pup run towards you

- he once planned a 2 hour trip to some cabin just to go stargazing there with you and it was truly worth it as you saw the night sky in it's most mesmerising form... taehyung and you were trying to figure out some constellations, but some time later you noticed that he went quiet and chuckled when you caught him looking at you.. "you're gonna make me blush again.." you said shyly. "too bad it's dark and I can't see you blush", he teased and winked at you when you looked at him. "seriously, tae, you should keep looking at the stars." - "i am, my love.."