#last year especially i really did focus on a few bands and that was is. not much variety

[moonchild-in-blue]

Actually Cuco is so good and I live in shame for not having listened to him more last year. All because of a WHITE MAN. SHAME, SHAME FOR 100 YEARS.

[raylynnn]

Katsuki x Y/n (Drummer Katsuki AU)

Warnings ⚠️ heavy smut, BJ, fingering, oral, vaginal sex, cursing, and getting caught. Hope you enjoy<3

It was out of nowhere honestly. The group had joked and dabbled in the thoughts of starting a band, but no one ever thought it would take off like it did. It started off as more of a joke, I mean seriously we probably had 2 maybe 3 people who could actually play instruments. We all knew Katsuki could play the drums and knew Jiro could play about any instrument you threw at her. But the others not so much, including yourself. You and Mina excepted that this whole “band” thing wouldn’t work for you two. So y’all were just kind of the girls who took tickets and then watched behind the curtain while the others killed it on stage. You had Katsuki as your drummer, Ejiro as your bass player, Sero as your backup bass guitarist, and Kaminari as your lead guitarist. Everything worked out that way.

You and Mina would regularly go watch their band practices and plan out their next concert and etc, but out of the group you were definitely the closest to katsuki other than Ejiro. At performances his only focus was the music, not the crowd surfing, not the absurd amount of fangirls flashing him from the crowd, or the money, but sometimes you’d catch him let go a little bit, every time he did he’d look at you watching from the corner of the stage. Sometimes especially if the band killed it you would catch him giving a small smile at you from the stage. At one of the garage practices they were trying this new song that jiro had written. And it was a big step from their usual music. She had given Katsuki a drum solo. And he would never admit it, but he was nervous when he couldn’t get it the first try. He had played drums for so long their wasn’t much he couldn’t play.

The practices lasted about 2-3 hours, but katsuki waited behind for a bit. He couldn’t get it down and jiro had reminded him multiple times he had plenty of time to master it but he just wasn’t satisfied. Since you didn’t play an instrument the least you could was lend them your garage right? And lots of times one or two members would stay behind to work on some music solo, and it never bothered you cause to you it just meant they were dedicated.

About 30 minutes after practice ended everyone pretty much had left. So it was just you and Katsuki. You went to your room for a bit just to chill out but you started thinking about how close you and katsuki were compared to the others. You wanted to seek him again, talk to him or something. You were about to get a drink from the fridge out in the garage anyway..so what could it hurt really.

When you headed out to the garage you saw katsuki looking over the music once again before hammering at the solo again it sounded a lot better but it wasn’t as fast as it needed to be from what jiro had said earlier. “Still working on it?” You said as you opened the fridge door. Katsuki set his sticks down before wiping the sweat off his forhead looking over at you and you grabbed a water. “Tch..yeah I can’t belive I’m saying this, but this solo is kicking my ass” he said tiling his head back a bit stretching his back from being hunched over the drums for so long. You tossed a water to him which he caught taking the lid off. “How long have you played again?” You said thinking it over, must of been a while to be as good as him. “I started playing when I was 6, so probably 12 years” he said taking another sip. “What about you nerd? You play anything?”

You let out a soft laugh before shaking your head. “Haha..no I tried a few times but never stuck with me, always thought the drums were cool though” you said as you closed the top on the bottle. Katsuki chuckled slightly before patting his lap gesturing for you to come closer. “C’mere” he said softly. He got out of the chair and stood behind you while you sat down of the stool chair. He took the sticks and placed them in your hands fixing your hold and posture. He grabbed your wrists gently before hovering your hands over a symbol and a smaller snare. “Here put your foot on the base drum, and tap your foot against the pedal continuously and take your right hand and hit this-“ he explained oddly calm and relaxed, his lips near your ear as he talked you through the steps. “Dammit” you muttered after your 3rd attempt of trying the simplest beat.

“Here get up.” He said you got up thinking he had given up on you but then he pulled you into his lap and positioned you just like you were before instead his foot was on the base. He grabbed your wrist and started maneuvering your wrists like a puppet. The beat came out at a good Rhythm thanks to him basically playing the drums for you, but you didn’t give two shits. You were in Bakugo’s lap with his hands on your wrists and his face close to yours. So you were winning anyway.

Getting closer to the end you started moving your wrists on your own with his grip still guiding you but with all this movement..you didn’t even realize what you were doing to him until his hands faltered all of sudden when you moved back on his crotch. Fuck. You didn’t even mean to but that’s all it took. You weren’t fully sure so you tried something. You stopped with the drums for a second before muttering. “Um..hey katsuki can you move your keys It’s a little uncomfortable to sit on” he rested his forhead on your shoulder trying to hide his best red face. “Those..t-those aren’t my key” he said flustered as ever hoping he would just nuke right there. Your face flushed red as you giggled slightly. “Excited are we~?” You giggled out. He brought his hand to his face trying to conceal his burning hot cheeks. “Tch..shut it, it’s y-your fault” he muttered out trying to fix himself under you. Suddenly without thinking you went to get up rubbing back once more this time stealing a groan from the boy under you.

“Ngh..” he groaned slightly. You relized this was your mess to clean up. If you had just stayed in your room none of this would have been happening. I mean the least you could do was help him out. You sighed nervously before getting up and dropping to your knees. His eyes widened before he stuttered out. “W-what are you doing..?” He said covering the lower half of his face with his palm. “Just..shut up and let me take care of you..ok?” You said undoing his belt before slipping them down till his boxers were visible. He wasn’t just hard he was solid. All because of you. That tent in his boxers with a little wet spot assumably pre. The big bad katsuki all of sudden looked so vulnerable so needy and eager. God this was such a beautiful sight.

You looked up at his before taking his boxers down. “Is this ok Katsuki?” You said laying your head ontop of his crotch. He nodded eagerly. “Y-yes..” he stuttered. You slid down his boxers revealing his cock. Pretty and pale with a light pink tip smeared with pre, god he was perfect. You took his cock into your hand giving it a few pumps before taking it into your mouth you only reached about halfway yet he was already throwing his head back and gripping onto your hair. It took so much not to just you like a rag doll and push you down farther but he managed for you using the last ounce of respect he had. Your mouth left his dick with a loud pop before you muttered saliva dripping down your chin and eyes lidded. “Just use me katsuki.” You could tell he was getting needier from below.

His eyes widened before he gripped your hair shoving you back down on his cock. Shoving you down till your nose hit his blonde tuff. “Ngh..fuckkk. Your so fucking g-good for me..f-fuck” he said bucking his hips into your mouth, you could tell he was close. You braced your hands on his thighs digging your nails slightly deeper as he used you like some sort of fuck doll. “Fuck..baby- ah fuck I-I’m gonna..g-gonna..” he babbled thrusting impossibly faster. “FUCK!” He said before he shot his load into your mouth and once you pulled off slightly choking he released the rest onto your face and chest. As he rode out his high he started babbling on and on about how good you felt. “B-baby..f-felt so good..need you a-again..” this is was such a different side of katsuki and you were loving it.

You had a cheeky smile worn on your cum covered face as you watched him calm down a bit. When he caught his breath he locked eyes with you and relized the mess he had made of you. “Fuck..sorry I didn’t mean to be too rough” he said taking your jaw into his hand while using his other hand to grab a rag he had next to his drum set for when he gets sweaty. He took it to your face and wiped most of it off. “Heh..it’s ok I liked it, plus..I kinda told you too” you said sheepishly while trying to conceal the slight red tint on your cheeks. He just smiled at you as he wiped your face “yeah well..we’re not done yet pretty” he said tossing the rag to the side as he scooped you up setting you in his lap facing him this time.

You giggled as he sat you in his lap. He smirked slightly before bringing his lips to yours. God everything about you was so intoxicating. He could get drunk just off your lips. He brought his hands from your waist to resting of the fat of your ass squeezing gently. He trailed open mouth kisses down your neck till his got to your collar bone, he pulled away from your skin looking up at you through his soft lashes. “Can I take this off..?” He asked tugging at the hem of your shirt. You smiled softly before nodding and kissing forehead gently. He lifted your shirt off your shoulders leaving you now in just your leggings and black laced bra. “Fuck your gorgeous..” he muttered before groping your breasts gently before unclipping your bra.

When he finally took off your bra you almost thought he was mimicking kaminari when he would go dumb. When he finally snapped out of it he looked up at you with hungry eyes and you could tell somthing changed. “Lift your ass up hon” he said grabbing your ass and gesturing you to hover. Once you did he slid off your leggings and pulled your panties to the side. “Fuck..look at her already soaked for me yeah?” He said swiping a finger through your lips. He took two fingers into his mouth after coating them he brought them to your slit once again his thumb rubbing soft circles while one finger started to prod into your little hole.

Your eyes widend and you gripped his shoulders trying to brace yourself. He slid in another finger moving at quick pace. “Yeah? Does that feel good pretty?” He asked whispering in your ear while you bucked against his fingers. You were too blissed out to answer until he slapped your clit. “I need an answer princess..” he growled. You whined at his mean way to keep you in line but soon you babbled out your praises. “Y-yes..f-feel sooo..” you babbled out trying to answer him but he started to remove his fingers leaving you feeling empty. He wrapped his hand around his cock and brought it to your entrance. “This ok pretty..?” He said looking into your big innocent eyes.

You nodded your head hoping he’d give it to you but he just sat their. “I need an answer pretty, I won’t fuck you unless you tell me it’s ok” he said sternly. You smiled softly before whispering, “y-yes..you can fuck me katsuki..I need you to fuck me.” You said holding onto his hand. He grinned slightly at your words before taking his cock and lining it up with you again. He pushed slowly entering your pussy, he let out a small quiet groan and he was only tip in.

“Oh god k-katsuki..” you moaned out as he layed your body back sprawled out against the drums as he stood up slightly hovering over you as he pushed in farther. Once he was half way in he stayed still for a second trying to give you time to ajust. “Am..am I g-good to move pretty..?” He asked sweat beading down the sides of his face. “Yes please..” you moaned out. He soon started to move at a slow pace before gradually getting faster. He really tried to hold back, to hold onto the last bit of self control he had..but he simply couldn’t not with how your walls were squeezing him so tight, your greedy cunt sucking him in like your life depended on it. Soon he was railing the fuck out of you. Pulling almost all the way out before slamming right back into your greedy cunt.

He was stuffing you full, you felt high almost you could remember how this even started and you didn’t even want to imagine it ending. The way he pounded into your soft hole treating you as you were some time of toy somehow only made you wetter. His grip on your waist was dangerous, you were holding onto the rim of the snare drum trying not to break it, he noticed this and figured you were uncomfortable so he raised you from your back, his dick still digging into you like a dog. He sat you in his lap and thrusted his hips up to meet yours. This position made you feel him a lot deeper causing you to lose yourself in the moment.

“FUCK..oh god..oh my god K-Katsuki! Fuck me baby! Cmon please..p-please don’t stop dadd- K-katsuki..” you babbled out like a slut. You were to caught up in the pleasure of his cock assaulting your cunt you didn’t even notice you were calling him daddy. His eyes widened before he smirked like a devious mf. “Fuck. Call me that again princess..” he said lifting you up off his dick almost all the way before slamming you back down. You moaned out loud due to the overwhelming pressure. “Fuck d-daddy..please” he smirked again and his movements started to get sloppy. “Fuck baby..tell me your close..” he groaned resting his head between your tits.

“Y-yes baby..gonna..gonna CUM” you moaned out bucking your hips to meet his as you had a death grip on his shoulders. “!Cum..cum..cumming” you moaned out as your body shook and trembled over his cock. Soon he whispered “f-fuck where can I cum..” you didn’t even answer you just wrapped your legs around him and trapped against your soaked cunt grinding against him trying to ride it out. His eyes widened as he thrusted hopelessly against your pussy whimpering like a dog. “Yes..yess! Plzplzplz..” he babbled shooting his hot, sticky, load into your cunt. “Fuck baby..” he muttered. your body’s both relaxing into each others touch.

He pulled out his body stuttering due to the overwhelming sensation. He watched his cum spill out of you like a fountain and he couldn’t help but want to pump you full again. But as much as he wanted too..all good things must come to an end. The two of you’s sexy and intimate moment was cut short due to the sound of the back door next to the garage door opening. You forgot you gave the band members keys so they could practice anytime. Their came Ejiro and Sero walking through. Y’all quickly scrambled to get your clothes but y’all knew that they knew.

“HOLY SHIT” cursed Ejiro as sero just started cackling. Katsuki took one of the black drapes that was usually used to cover the drums to cover y’all’s..sticky situation. Bakugos face flushed red as he yelled at the two. “GET TF OUT!” He barked trying to cover the two of you. They stepped out for a bit while y’all got decent and when you did you yelled out “your good now..” you said trying to hide your tone of embarrassment. Katsuki was still sat on the stool as he zipped his pants and fixing his belt his shirt still on the floor though.

“Heh..sorry sero forgot his music here, seems like hall you too were making some of your own..” he snickered as sero tried to mask his laughter. You and katsuki couldn’t even defend yourselfs. Soon they left with their forgotten music before it was just the two of you again.

“Aside from their appearance..I had fun katsuki.” You said behind a soft smile. “Me too pretty..” he said kissing your lips softly before looking around the garage. “Jesus were messy..” he said behind a small chuckle.

[dreemurr-skelememer]

Hello :D

I have been following you for the last year or so (a few days after I got my Tumblr lmao) and I absolutely love your art!

I have been wanting to study your art style for a while but don't really know where to start,,,

Could you please show me a small portion of your art process, if it isn't too much trouble of course. Thank you and have a nice day!

hello. oh my god. this took forever to find.

im sorry it took 2 WHOLE FUCKING MONTHS for me to respond to this but i wanted to put it off until i felt happy with my art process again, so here it is

my fall 2024 rendering tutorial!

(this will be very very long)

FLATS AND WHATEVER YOU WANNA DO WITH LINES GIRL. then make sure to recolor the lineart to better match your base. trust me it helps, bold dark lines are Not your best friend when rendering. wait for that post-rendering

i start off with a doodle or a sketch, and then filling it in with flats and other details such as blush

FIGURE OUT YOUR LIGHT SOURCE. FIGURE IT OUT GIRL YOU CAN DO IT you can make it as simple as possible, make it as big as possible, dont even THINK about the details.........just make it really fucking big so you at least know where the shadows and the light goes THEN add smaller shading details LISTEN TO ME. LISTEN TO ME OKAY!!!!!!!!

my key point with this is for you to learn lighting fundamentals.

it's SOOO ANNOYING but alas......they are all correct. it helps a lot.

one thing i also really want to point out is that i like creating a big shadow shape first before fixing up the little details (such as folds and whatever) because it helps me focus on the way the lighting actually works instead of tunnel vision-ing into making the shading make sense on the clothing.

contact shadows (i dont remember if thats what theyre called okay) theyre fucking ugly because im not actually thinking sorry 💔

okay so basically:

contact shadows (if that's what they're called) are the spots in shading and lighting where light will NEVER hit.

shadows are still influenced by the colors and lights around it (it's why a blue shadow and a yellow shadow feel completely different, despite both being shadows) so it's not always COMPLETELY dark.

BUT! there are small points in shadows where light never hits, and they're almost always super dark or pitch black.

it's hard to explain shadow and light so briefly for a tutorial, but you'll notice it when watching fundamental studies and when trying it out for yourself

YES i unclipped the multiply layer YES its ugly and terrifying but it makes coloring the multiply layer easier okay the colors merged w multiply so now it looks cool and has depth overlaying colors that actually make sense

so basically what i did was color the multiply layer that i used to shade the overall drawing

adding a band of red/orange/yellow around where the light hits, and blue where the shadows get big and wide, gives it a fake ambient occlusion effect in the way that a person would get if they stood under the sun with a clear blue sky

the colors don't have to make sense, especially because i never draw backgrounds, but coloring the shadows really help it give a sense of depth and extra subtle detail and effect that just helps make the painting look nicer

around the end, i also put in colors (in an overlay layer with a low opacity brush) that actually make sense in context of the drawing, which is the lit cigarette and the yellow eyelights

mostly because none of the colors were making sense and i needed to actually make use of the lighting that DOES exist in the drawing lol

adding a muddy golden yellow pin light layer (opacity turned down to like 40-50%) to make the light colors less ugly lol

i SWEAR by the fucking pin light layer style. it's so useful and so so underrated.

i used an almost brown-ish gold color on stop of all the layers, and with the pin light layer, it helped make the bright (almost blue-ish) white colors more warm and more yellow. it just helps make things more warm (something i prefer)

i could probably show what it looks like without adjusting the layer opacity to truly show off what i mean (like in the coming section) but i sadly forgot to do that lol

make a layer on top of your drawing with this color in these ranges YES the drawing is fully merged NO don't be afraid, the base was fucking ugly anyway 💔 make this layer into an exclude/exclusion layer style TRUST turn down your exclusion layer opacity from a range of 10% to 40% literally until you're happy with the contrast and the way the color over the drawing. use your eyeballs. i know you can do it im so proud of you

this is pretty self-explanatory instruction-wise, so i'll go into why i do this instead

i really like art that seems like it has low contrast, with almost mid-gray shading and lines. i don't personally use dark and bold lines and shading, unless i find it necessary for the tone of the piece, so using this method helps lower the contrast of the art and make it look "pleasantly muddy" in the way that it's easier and softer on the eyes.

the inverted blue color also helps makes things warmer!

the exclusion layer style is still a bit of a mystery to me but i really like the effect it gives, even if i don't completely get how it works lol

if you want an alternative method to this, and if you have access to it (because i primarily use sai and sai only),

i absolutely encourage you to play around and experiment with gradient maps.

there are so many out there you can make yourself or even get from others that just give the painting an extra amount of depth and color variation. they're SO fun.

personally, if sai2 gets a gradient map update, it's over for y'all it will literally be so over no one will be able to stop me

then i merged everything and actually adjusted the contrast back up because it was looking too muddy for me 💔 but the color adjustments are still there so all hope is not lost here's a comparison of the adjusted contrast in black and white (adjusted on the left) (newly merged layer without adjusting the contrast on the right)

as you can see, i actually turned the contrast back up (despite talking all about how i liked things with less contrast lol)

i wanted to demonstrate that doing adjustments should be done in moderation, and is why i adjust layer opacity often when making color effects

you are free to play around with colors to help your style, but don't lose your initial idea and colors along the way.

you still need to trust your own colors and intuition!

along with that, i just want to say that it's completely okay to change your mind mid-painting, and it's okay to make somewhat drastic changes.

don't be afraid to change things you don't like or change your mind about certain aspects way later on

that's basically the whole thing of this!!! don't be scared!!!

now im gonna hold your hand when i say this..........but you need to learn how to render by yourself. it seems like i can teach you but i literally can't, because rendering is different on every piece and depending on how clean your base is. i have to render A LOT because of how fucking ugly my sketches are LMAO to simplify it, think of it as obsessively cleaning up every detail you can see, but with a color picker and a clean, hard edged brush. if you have shit lineart, you don't have to redraw it cleanly over and over, just paint over it. that's basically what rendering is

THIS especially is where you need to be brave and stop being scared.

like i said, i can't teach you how to render, and it's something you have to discover yourself because rendering is something that will always be personal to every single piece you make. the way you render on every piece is different.

on one piece, you will barely need to render, and on another, rendering is more than half of your ENTIRE process.

don't be afraid to paint over your old art.

rendering is a process that's both very perfectionist yet also very careless.

find your balance and just go for it.

and then that's it……..u did it………..now yuo know how to paint and render. it's literally just layering shading and lighting knowledge until you think it makes sense and looks okay lol additional note: since i render in only one layer (you don't HAVE to do this, but it'll be harder for you…), i also made slight adjustments with the transform (and liquify, if you have it) tool to make things more proportionate. (i drew the head too big lol)

if you compare the finished piece to the final unrendered base, you can see that a LOT changed, including a bit of subtle proportion adjustment.

particularly, the sleeves changed A LOT (because i really didn't like them)

but it's also over all cleaner and more coherent, instead of having haphazard colors and shading just thrown about.

rendering is when you finally use all 100% of your brain to finalize and figure out where the shading should go, where to clean up your lines, where to ERASE or ADD BACK in lines, and make sure all your colors look coherent.

it's not as intimidating as it seems, i only use a hard edged brush with a little bit of color mixing and my color picker.

it's like dragging and dropping colors to cover up mistakes, it's really quite fun when you get used to it

i wish i could explain it clearer but it's hard to describe without visuals!

i hope this helped, and i hope all my yapping isn't annoying (art as a special interest beloved)

have fun studying and trying to render in my art style!

[gffa]

Over the last week, I decided to go ahead with bookmarking all the fics I've recommended over the years on AO3 since I abide by tumblr poll results always (and man pour one out for all the fic that never made it to AO3 or has since been deleted, sooooo many gems lost to time!) and it was a bit more than the ~3,000 I was expecting:

Hopefully, this will be easier than browsing the hundreds of recs posts I've made, since you can filter for any of the author's tags now! These are mostly focused on Star Wars and DC fandom, but I did my time in the anime mines and occasional tours through some TV fandoms or movies. You can dig into everything unfiltered and start your own filtering, or the bigger fandoms you'll find:

MAJOR FANDOMS: Each of these should have 100+ at minimum and, in the case of Star Wars, literally almost half of them are in that fandom. Look, Star Wars fandom might be a trash fire in a lot of ways, but it is ON FIRE with some good fic. (Older bookmarks not guaranteed to match my current sentiments, especially re: the Jedi, but they did catch my fancy at that point in time!)

STAR WARS: - All Star Wars -OR- All Star Wars minus the Obi-Wan/Anakin ship - OR- Nothing BUT Obi-Wan/Anakin

BATMAN/DC: - DC can sometimes be tricky, but you can do a Batman* search and get most of them (though, sometimes Nightwing* or Young Justice* or Superman* will catch some of the others). Honestly, though, you might want to just do a search for what character or dynamic you like and have fun from there, because otherwise you're getting a face full of my Dick Grayson Is The Center Of The Universe And I'm Making That Everyone Else's Problem agenda. ;)

MARVEL/MCU: - Marvel* will probably get most of the various properties, though you may want to filter for Defenders* or Guardians of the Galaxy* if you're interested -OR- Marvel* without the Thor/Loki - These focus a lot on the Thor* fandom if you want to witness the results of like 8 years of constant voracious reading in that fandom (Minus the ship), because, seriously, I read a LOT of Odinson family fic. - Bonus, just do a search for Maximoff* to find some really good X-Men: First Class-verse because, listen, I have been ALL ABOUT the Maximoff twins since long before the movies or MCU brought them over and I will DIE ON THE HILL of "Marvel, make Magneto their bio-dad again or I'm never reading another comic of yours ever".

TOLKIEN/LORD OF THE RINGS/SILMARILLION/HOBBIT: - Tolkien* -OR- Hobbit* -OR- Lord of the Rings* searches will turn up most of my Elf-hunting, I primarily focus on the Sindar Elves, but look I can't resist my problematic Feanorian faves or that I will die on the hill that Fingolfin is the best ever. (You have NO IDEA how sad I am that so much fic on Stories of Arda or FFNET is not easily bookmarked on AO3, sob. I externally bookmarked a few of the bigger ones, but sooo many shorter faves are missing from my recs tag.)

CLAMP: - X/Tokyo Babylon legitimately bums me out because it's not a huge fandom and yet so much of what was written was pre-AO3 and lost when CLAMPesque went down or was never brought over from Livejournal, yet this fandom (well, the Seishirou/Subaru pairing) still burns brightly in my heart.

MINOR FANDOMS: Ones that probably only have under 100 bookmarks (often around the 20-30 bookmarks range), but will at least give you a place to start! ANIME/MANGA: Bleach | Cardcaptor Sakura | Dragonball | Finder no Hyouteki/Viewfinder | Katekyou Hitman Reborn! | Kuroko no Basuke | One Piece | Sailor Moon | Madoka Magica | Naruto | Princess Tutu | Trigun | Weiss Kreuz | Yuri!!! on Ice

BOOKS: Chrestomanci | Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

DRAMAS: Nirvana in Fire | The Untamed -OR- Modao Zu Shi

TV SHOWS/MOVIES: Community | Game of Thrones -OR- ASOIAF | Good Omens | Hannibal | Highlander | The Old Guard | Our Flag Means Death | Stranger Things

VIDEO GAMES: Dragon Age: Inquisition | Final Fantasy 8 | Genshin Impact | Okami

BANDS: Arashi

All right, whew, that was actually a fun project, despite how much work it was to hunt down a lot of older faves to see if they were on AO3, hopefully you'll find this useful!

[micamicster]

HII MICA i just wanted to ask your thoughts in the new season now that youve finished it, especially your favorite moments, episodes, and songs!!

Ok here are my long awaited (sorry babe!) season 2 thoughts! This really got away from me haha but long story short: I loved it ❤️

Long story medium: Nida Manzoor has done it again—beautiful, vibrant, funny, and poignant. A season 2 that succeeds in expanding the world and deepening our understanding of the characters. And the songs are great!

Long story LONG: under the cut <3 (and also I’ve reread this and i have managed to avoid any major spoilers so if you haven’t watched yet this post should be safe!)

I went into this season VERY apprehensive. I think the first season is a practically perfect season of television, and over the last few years I’ve had plenty of time to think of all the ways a second season could fail to deliver. But as the credits rolled on season 2 episode 1 my sister and I just sat there grinning at the screen like you guys we are SO back!!!!

Some thoughts, in no particular order:

The writing: Nida Manzoor has a knack for putting her finger right on the sore spot—right on the place where the show is most likely to receive criticism, and digging in. Not in a gotcha, bad faith sort of way, but by pulling those issues apart and showing how painful and complicated and nuanced these questions of representation and responsibility really are. Not to give too many spoilers but whew. Her episode fives! Other people can speak to this better than me but this seasons episode 5 was raw, painful, pointed… simultaneously a criticism of art and representation as political commentary, and like the only possible political commentary that could be made under these conditions. Fictional battles with censorship, identity, representation, and responsibility meet the very real world, where Nida Manzoor is producing a real show. To quote manzoor herself, “i don’t want to give the answer to the audience because i don’t have it—I don’t want to ever feel like I’m preaching or delivering a sermon about anything; instead, just posing the question.” It’s such a good show guys.

Character Arcs: The arcs given to the band members who were secondary characters in season one were executed beautifully. Getting more insight into Taz, Ayesha, and Bisma (and giving more to do to their incredible actresses!) was exactly what I’d hoped for from a season 2.

God I Wish The Show Was Longer part A: While I loved (and badly wanted!) more time with the other girls, I did miss the tight focus on saira and Amina as narrative foils and drivers of each others character development that season one had. Not just from a shipping perspective! (although we all know I’m guilty of shipping for sure lol). But I did miss their relationship, and a longer season would have given us more time to spare from the other important arcs going on to return to things I loved about season one.

Compared to season 1: One difference I noticed was how the surrealist elements aren’t only contained to Amina/her narration anymore, but that other characters have them or interact with them (Bisma pausing her arguments, Ahsan trying and failing to interrupt the spotlight on Amina and Billy). I thought it was a great way to show how much closer the characters have become (that Ahsan would even notice Amina’s little fantasy!) and also as a way to give narration over to different characters (Bisma being the clear pov in those fights as compared to Amina narrating things she’s only heard about in season 1). Another difference is how each episode of season 1 is so well-contained and precise, while I feel the show sprawls more in season 2 as a result of expanding the world and becoming more of a true ensemble show. This isn’t a criticism—shows need to expand in order to continue to grow! Just an observation, which leads us to:

God I Wish The Show Was Longer part 2: Around episode 4 and 5 I wondered if they were going to be able to tie everything up, given how many complex issues and conflicts had been raised. I had no reason to doubt—Nida Manzoor brought these conflicts and arcs to deeply satisfying conclusions, without feeling like these issues lost nuance or were reduced in complexity for the sake of a finale. It’s incredible what all she managed to achieve in 6 episodes! That said, I would have loved to have been able to see more of the characters journeys, and one or two more episodes would have given things more room to breathe. I would have loved to see more of Taz’s work with other artists, or Saira becoming more comfortable with the idea of herself as a mentor. Bisma’s arc in particular I thought could have used more time, although Faith Omole’s stunning performance of Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood does beautiful emotional work for her arc (and tbh for everyone else’s arcs—it’s a centerpiece of the episode and a great example of what a song can do for character, emotion, and arc in a musical narrative). Which brings us to!

The performances/songs: Putting these two together to say that every actress delivered an incredible award-worthy performance, juggling comedy and dramatic acting skillfully. And the songs! Villain Era is on fucking repeat in this house. Already said Misunderstood is amazing but it should be said again. Nina is pretty much the toughest act in the world to follow but Faith fucking does it. Stunning ❤️ Speaking of Faith her doing the voices in Oops I Did It Again was the happiest I’ve been all year oh my god this show is so much funnnnnnn everyone watch it it’s so! fun!

[possibilistfanfiction]

nightmare for the one word prompts

[a little sad but mostly very silly, butch bea universe]

//

'i really don't have to go today,' beatrice says, kissing your forehead before settling down next to you on the couch. you know she means it: beatrice means everything she says, first of all, and you have grown — despite your brain's best efforts to steer you otherwise — to trust her when she offers care. you take her in: her fresh haircut that she gets done every month now, usually neatly parted on the top, messy from sleep; her tender wrists; the soft skin of her thighs; the soft sweater you bought her last christmas, sleeves pulled down over her hands, which are always cold.

you sigh. you had had nightmares — more than one, which is rare this many years later, after the worst of it — and woken up with scars that you don't think about too often, or at least with too much pain or sorrow anymore, aching all over your body. your legs had been pins and needles — worse, you've discovered, than feeling nothing some days — and your spine had ached, the halo feeling your sorrow, sharing in it. beatrice had skipped her typical surf session this morning, partially because she'd woken up with you both times last night, and partially because she's worried. she doesn't try to hide it anymore, her concern written all over her gentle face, in her sweet eyes, her soft hands. you find it nestled along all the small things she did for you in the past two hours: bringing you pain meds along with an easy breakfast of scrambled eggs and your favorite rosemary sourdough toast, doing a few snuffles with korra's morning unkibble so she's calm and ready to work today for whatever you need, helping you, after your glum nod, transfer from bed to your chair. you twist the wedding band around on your finger, focus on the few freckles that sit on the tops of her hands because of her time in the sun. your life is real, you remind yourself. your time on the other side, every endless day you spent in hell, was worth it for this, for beatrice quietly and patiently sitting next to you, soft and always becoming more herself; for your family visiting at the end of the week, camila begging to go to universal studios, lilith grumbling but giving in; for the respect people owe you now, and ready give; for your dog and your bar and the edibles you share with beatrice some nights, easy with laughter, and the farofa you feel confident in making for dinner when your friends come over, a warm offering.

'no,' you decide on, firmly, and you know beatrice will trust you. 'we should go. it'll be fun.'

'it will be fun,' she says, the same gleam in her eye you remember from years ago when she was ready to "maim or kill" (lilith's words) anyone who was in the way of her and the mission, especially once you became involved.

'you remember this is, like, your weekly tennis match for fun, right?'

'of course, ava.'

the way she cracks her knuckles tells you that the for fun is lost on her for the most part. it's endlessly amusing to you, though, and quite harmless — although maybe not to her opponent's pride — so you don't bother to argue any further. 'okay, well, i think angela and ruth wanted to have lunch anyway today after their jazzercise class, so we can watch you play.'

'no catcalling.'

you pout. 'you're my wife.'

'not from you, not from ruth or angela.'

'they're old, bea. let them have some fun.'

'at my expense? no thank you. i need to focus while i compete.'

she's already sitting up straighter, eyes lively. she's playing david today, you think, if you remember the club's "adult intermediate to advanced tennis league" rotation correctly. he's a decent player, and their head to head record is relatively even. he's also a bit of an asshole, and a venture capitalist, so it stands to reason beatrice despises him.

'fine.' you squeeze her hand. 'but can you change your shirt between sets?'

'ava.'

'gratuitously towel off or something at least.'

'ava.'

'whatever,' you say. 'i'm wearing a bikini. at least ruth and angela will appreciate it.'

'oh, i'll appreciate it,' she says, and then laughs softly and leans over to kiss you.

/

everything about beatrice, you decided years ago, is endearing. can she kill a man in, like, one second using just her hand? yes, sure, but you've seen her very skillfully practice her forms every morning for years, barring injury, and frown when anything is off, even by a breath. most people find her precision in all things kind of terrifying, but you've learned that some of it is a trauma response — from her childhood, from being a soldier, from losing you — and some of it is really just how she is. her books sorted exactly how she wants them — by genre, subgenre, and then author's last name — on the bookshelf; the meticulously labeled spices in your pantry, always in both their language of origin and english; her surfboards waxed perfectly and neatly stored in the small shed in your yard. everything about her precision is endearing because you understand her and you love her, and maybe the most endearing, or at least you think some days, is the way she treats rec league club tennis.

no matter how many times you've jokingly reminded her that your club isn't wimbeldon, she likes to wear all white little outfits; men's shorts and, your favorite, a neat polo. in the summer, she favors tanks, which you are not complaining about. she has three racquets and a very impressive bag like all the pros carry onto the court, special towels, pristine sneakers, and, when you're most amused, a wristband she very sincerely wipes her sweaty forehead on. since you'd met she'd loved watching tennis, and she'd taught you — as patiently as she has always taught you anything — the rules, her favorite players (not that it was, like, hard to think serena williams was the best athlete ever), common terms to know. you'd gone out with her a few times to the courts and she'd shown you proper form; you'd found out, eventually from her, that her dream as a little kid was to be a tennis pro, which was so charming and a little unexpected. you had thought she would've wanted to be some kind of scientist, maybe a really good lawyer, but her brother had dug out some pictures of little beatrice in her tennis getup, her expression so, so serious for a nine year old, and you'd fallen in love all over again.

she listens to her "pump-up music" — a lot of pop, surprisingly — as she drives you both to the club, focused already in her tennis outfit, complete with a quarterzip warmup top and everything. you're endlessly amused by her, in a way that most people are too intimidated to be, and you think it's good for her, to feel human, to not be taken so seriously when she should get to just enjoy things. your pain meds are helping by the time you get to the club, the pins and needles down your legs leveling out, the halo shaking off some of its deep sorrow, the memories of torture and abject aloneness that sometimes show up in your dreams. today is bright and sunny, the bluest sky, and your friends wave to you once you get out to the tables near the tennis courts. beatrice says a quick hello and then bustles off to start her very precise warm up routine, and you all wait until she's out of earshot to share a fond laugh.

'david today?'

'i swear she was rewatching coco and iga's last match yesterday to prepare.'

ruth pats your hand and angela orders a charcuterie for the table, gets prosecco for ruth and herself and — they both know you well enough by now that your chair usually means you've had to take medication, which you don't mix with alcohol — a cranberry soda for you, your favorite.

david shows up a few minutes later as you're gossiping, angela gasping at ruth's latest escapades with her new boyfriend while you laugh delightedly. he's the kind of muscular dude that likes to run along the beach shirtless because he thinks it's impressive but really it just looks ridiculous, the kind of dude that would give unwanted pointers in the gym. you don't have a disdain for him like beatrice does, because he's never done anything abhorrent to you personally, but when you see her steely gaze as he goes to his bench on the court, you get it. and, also, it's hot, so, like, you shoot a quick thanks to david and his douchey backwards cap for that.

/

things go just about as you'd expected: beatrice plays with the amount of passion you'd see in a wimbeldon final, and angela and ruth relentlessly whistle and cheer and boo. the charcuterie has a new truffle havarti you're all in love with, and the bottle of prosecco gets split happily while you watch. it's a fairly even match — david hits harder than beatrice but is slower and definitely stupider — and she wins the first set 6 games to 4. she gets mad at him for serving too slowly, and they briefly have an argument over whether or not one of his backhands was in. it's all deeply ridiculous for an afternoon at in an amateur club league, but beatrice and her overhand serves get you every single time.

she's down a break in the second set when she hits a drop shot that has david falling over his own feet, and you know it's over then. the second bea realizes someone is truly out of sorts, in any scenario, she's already won.

they shake hands after the match is over, beatrice taking the second set much quicker than the first, and then she makes her way over to your table and sits, very satisfied, in the chair next to you, a towel around her neck.

'my champion,' you say, and she rolls her eyes, accepting the congratulatory beer angela had already ordered for her as the last game was winding down with a thankful nod.

'great match, beatrice,' ruth says, half-sincere, half-teasing, but beatrice smiles anyway. sometimes, things are not good; sometimes, on the worst days, even now, even still, even with all this love, you still remember what it was like to suffer alone — without feeling, with too much feeling — for so much of your life. but beatrice slips into her quarterzip next to you and you smell sweat and laundry detergent and the pomade she puts in her hair, you feel the sun warming along your back and you hear the small group of children starting their lesson, laughing brightly. beatrice holds your hand and you'll nap later; you'll order takeout from your favorite thai place and watch the sunset on your patio; you'll fall asleep in her arms. you'll wake up and do it all over again — the loneliness, the pain, the longing — just for this.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

I love to see my biases get the BB 1s, but when one starts making that their goal, hmm that kind of disconnects me from them as an artist.

I won't say more. I just wish artists I stan placed more focus on the art. Let charts happen naturally.

You're blog isn't like the blind fandom, so I am saying this here.

It's not hard to see through things. Chapter 2 has been interesting so far. I am not making any opinions based of things that are happening, but if it becomes a pattern with the artist, well... that's a problem.

Anon, we both know who were're talking about, lol. I'm gonna use the names, for the sake of making it easier for me to write a response.

A few weeks ago, I was watching this documentary about Wham. Some light entertainment for me initially, but it did offer me the chance for a fresh perspective. I don't exactly remember the details, but they've reached a point in which George Michael wanted to have 4 songs to reach number 1 on some chart, the fourth being Last Christmas. He was a bit obsessed with this and he also wanted to be a bigger artist. In later archival interviews, Michael actually mentions it was his ego as an artist because he knew he could. And he did, he outgrew the boyish band and the situation was almost ideal because Andrew, his bandmate, also knew that. It also meant getting away from their carefully constructed image, the object of desire for teenagers and women everywhere. For George, it was also about stepping away from performing a specific type of heteronormativity that can be found in boy bands. It never crossed my mind while watching it that his ego is too big, or why is he so obsessed with the charts. Maybe because it was all in the past and I've seen what the future would hold for him. Or that when I heard him talk about what he wants to achieve and his inner struggle, there was sincerity there and also that drive that only someone really young can have when they believe they can do anything.

I've read Jungkook's Weverse interview and listened to what he had to say during the Seven promotions. And while there may be some comparisons to be made to how George Michael came across when talking about his musical career, there were also some differences.

I'm glad to see Jungkook being more confident. I remember some of the things he used to say in the past, about his self worth, a lack of confidence and meaning outside the group. That wasn't healthy. And to hear him now, especially on Suchwita, it's a 180° change. But in his case, there's a very fine line between being confident and becoming cocky. And that's not a good look. It's almost like he's trying to project an image of a new Jungkook but one that is still in the works and not all parts fit perfectly together. He's going through a transformation ever since the hiatus, which I expected. It was about having to adapt to a different pace, life after 10 years of being part of a group. Jungkook was always trying to find his identity and this single is only one step in that journey.

But that doesn't mean that I as a fan and as a person, have to like it. If it doesn't match with what I'm looking for in the artists that I'm interested in, then so be it. I will talk about it, but I'll also not follow that person's musical career anymore. If I don't like the artistic direction and I don't like this overconfident, slighly exaggerated bravado, then that's it.

It's also impossible to not make a comparison to Jimin. Not for some dick measuring contest (it's what pjms and jjks are doing), but because there is room and justification for it. Both are from the same kpop group, both have embarked on a solo career and both chose a more mainstream pop music, as opposed to their older bandmates. And both got that BB 1. And what we can compare is song quality, artist reaction and how the company's response came across into fan spaces.

In terms of the songs, I could write entire essays because at the end of the day, it wouldn't matter. It's all subjective. There is no rule that says a number one song should be about some personal experience, or the singer should have writing credits on it. And I also can't take away my subjectivity. I will chose Like Crazy over a song that not only sounds like a Bieber tune from years ago, but also has lyrics as if they were written by the boys from Larry Clark's Kids.

As to the reaction, Jimin did exactly what I expected him to do. He was humble, grateful and emotional and we saw that when he turned on the livestream. It's what makes him who he is and how he always behaves. As opposed to that, Jungkook wanted to be appear cool. And for what? Especially when later he said how excited he actually was but he refrained from expressing that. Where's the authenticity that he seeks so much through his livestreams? Because he released a song about sex for which he never officially performed live the explicit version, that means that the attitude should match that? I know the next day he was live and he was really nice. But that entire event is tainted in my mind with this almost expectation and confidence that he'll get that no. 1 and after he got the western validation, they decided to remember there's fans at home too and went to Inkigayo.

Which leads me to the last point that shows the obvious bias and preference that cannot simply be denied when it comes to BH. It's even more obvious because the entire BTS brand was that there are no favorites, which is not the same strategy as with other companies and groups. And now, all of a sudden, there is. It's great that BH celebrates an artist's success and they can immediately put on a show. But it doesn't justify how the first one to have the achievement was ignored. I have to admit, I was happy when Jimin got his no. 1 because I thought it only meant more promotions, more Jimin, more of everything. Just to be left utterly confused.

I've put that all in the past and I really try not to get too emotionally involved because as an individual, it has no bearing on my personal life and it doesn't have that many negative effects on my fan engagement.

I side eye Jungkook for how he presents himself in official promotions, but then he goes live and all of a sudden, it's the Jungkook that I'm used to. The guy who is a dork and funny and grateful to his fans. The one who cries hearing fan songs and who still beats himself up for hours because he messed up a song. I do criticize some of his actions and statements, but I'm not slandering him. The guy seems like a genuinely nice person and I still like him. He's still one of my biases for many reasons. But me having this reaction to content catered specifically for fans to create a more intimate connection is something BH was always good at. We only have to look at all the BTS footage out there. They've perfected the way in which personality comes first a lot of the times. It's what draws fans in (aside from music) and what keeps them interested. I'm part of that.

I'm convinced that it's most likely that a Jungkook fan or army or whoever disagrees with me, will read all this and believe I hate Jungkook. Which would be a shame because all I'm trying to do is explain how complex this situation is. It's never as black and white as solo stans would like everyone to believe and it's not a debate that can be generalized and tossed aside as solo talk by the ot7 chorus. I'm sure there are a lot of reasonable people in this fandom still who are able to have more than one thought in their head and see that only through a naunced discussion we can look at facts, see what's an exaggeration and what's false. To be able to distinguish between facts and personal opinion and also to admit that. That's not possible if we're not looking at these people as complex beings, instead of victims and villains.

[seumyo]

hi eumeum, im finally here after taking such a long time to figure out something for your event. happy 1000th, eumy. im soso proud of your journey ! i'm gonna send in an entry of me + dabi ♡

i'm a very laid-back and chill, but i can be serious in certain areas. for mbti it's istj-a. my hobby is performing (singing/acting) interests includes gothic culture and rock music. um um i like spiders and i dislike overly loud people.

uh i actually don't have any idea what to write for the description thingy, i apologise 😭 but id love to have a totally like expectant relationship w dabi like the "oh ofc they'd be tgt, they're literally made for eachother 😒" typa thing

colour uhh black, white, blue. song is always been you by chris grey :v aesthetic? rockstar core.

teehee im so excited for a scrapbook thingy from eumy herself 😳😳 take your time and don't stress, okay? giving you jars of hearts and affirming you from here. mahal kita eumyyy

ᯓ★ DABI | TOUYA + SEN!

★ The moment Dabi met you, it's like every other day, something that isn’t new to him. In an alternate universe where Touya is a burnt-out music prodigy set to inherit the family business (which he doesn’t particularly take interest in because of how strained his relationship with his father is), he’s a college student in psychology when he met you.

★ Did not even notice you because he was blinded by all the pent-up frustrations he had with the expectations placed upon him as the first son of the Todoroki family, plus he wasn’t one to be drawn to people that much considering he also had his studies to focus on. He was balancing everything all at once, so he doesn’t notice the well-known lead vocalist on campus trying to talk to him.

★ That is, until he’s encouraged by his classmates to try and join the school band to pass the time. He didn’t see the point of trying, but he decides to stay and watch one of your performances during an event to see if it’d pique his interest. Man, he was pulled into a trance when he heard your voice and took note that the band was indeed lacking a bass player to tie it all together.

★ It’s a shame to let your talent go to waste, so he thought about it thoroughly. And finally, he finally approached you after one of your performances with his application sheet.

★ Touya finds himself not being able to say no to you. Your other bandmates could ask if he could start again from his succession, but he’ll just say he’s on a little break (maybe even pretend to be busy on his phone for a few minutes), but when you do ask the same thing from him, suddenly he’s already ready to begin from that exact part as many times as you want him to.

★ He’s chill whenever he’s not stressed with anything and would take most opportunities to tease you. “Oh, you want me to teach you how to play? You sure you’re up for it, hm? I mean, you could just say that you want to spend some one-on-one time with me.”

★ Practices with him include just Touya staring at you (he can’t focus on the music sheet). Whenever you have him as your sub vocalist, he's secretly happy that he can finally see your face when you’re singing (he's used to seeing your side or back most of the time since he’s playing the bass).

★ He confesses when he’s sure of his feelings. Touya doesn’t want to rush into things haphazardly, so it takes him a lot of time to even consider confessing. In your graduating year, he finally confesses on your last performance together. He’s so scared of rejection (and the fact that he might not see you as often anymore—so he’s just imagining getting rejected and losing contact with you) that his hands were slightly shaking.

★ Everyone isn't surprised anymore. You’re right, Sen, you and Touya are that couple that just screams, “Oh, definitely. They’re each other’s halves, if you ask me.” You complement and balance each other so well that it just works. Yes, there may be ups and downs on the relationship, especially since Touya hasn’t really pursued anyone but you (he’s new to everything that one does in a relationship), but he tries his best to ease arguments as soon as he cools down, remember your likes and dislikes, and put in a bit more effort than he already was doing.

★ The relationship includes him being just soft (he tries to hide it) whenever he watches you perform, whether it’s acting or singing; he’s your number one fan. Touya introduces you to Natsuo first, then his mom second, and his other siblings last. He never introduced you to his father because he just didn’t want to. Him sending you videos he sees of couples doing subtle yet romantic things together with the message that says, “us.” Him letting you use his phone for whatever reason you have, he doesn’t have anything to hide, and trusts you so you could literally just take his phone whenever he's not using it, and he’ll be ok with it. His love language of physical touch comes out whenever you two are out; he just holds the top of your head with his hand and thinks it’s the most appropriate thing to do so he doesn’t lose you in the crowd.

[gotham-ruaidh]

Little Bit Better Than I Used To Be

Catch up: Chapter 1 (Starry Eyes) || Chapter 2 (Save Our Souls) || Chapter 3 (Dancing On Glass)|| Chapter 4 (Merry-Go-Round)|| Backstage (1) || Backstage (2) || Chapter 5 (Danger)|| Backstage (3) || Chapter 6A (Love Walked In) || Chapter 6B (Without You) || Backstage (4) || Chapter 7 (Stick To Your Guns) || Chapter 8 (Time For Change) || Backstage (5) || Chapter 9 (Take Me To The Top) || Backstage (6) || Chapter 10 (Home Sweet Home) || Backstage (7) || Chapter 11a (Nightrain) || Chapter 11b (Nothing Else Matters) Chapter 12a (Handle With Care) ||| Also posted at AO3

Chapter 12B: I’m So Tired of Being Lonely

I'm so tired of being lonely // I still have some love to give Won't you show me that you really care?

Soundtrack: “Handle With Care,” Traveling Wilburys, 1988 [click here to listen]

“Here – these were still on the table.”

Faith smiled gratefully, elbow-deep in water at the kitchen sink. “Thank you, Claire – but really, you don’t have to help out. You’re our guest.”

“Nonsense. It’s the least I can do.” She picked up a towel and started drying the dinner dishes. “Does Alec do most of the cooking?”

“He does. I did, for a long time. Especially when the kids were little. But he’s really gotten interested in it over the past few years. So now we split the cooking, more or less.”

“Does it help with his sobriety?”

“I remember something Dougal once told us. He said that an addict is always an addict. And once an addict gives up their intense focus on scoring drugs, they need to channel that focus into something else. Something more constructive.”

“I get that. Jamie has his music. That was so, so helpful for him when we were at The Ridge.”

“He told Alec last night that he’s got an album’s worth of material.”

Claire nodded. “He wants to tour in the spring. Acoustically. That’s how he wrote the songs – so that’s how he wants to perform them. Get the band together and show everyone a different side of Print.”

“And did he ask you to tour with him?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t sound too enthused about that.”

Claire shrugged, stacking the now-dry dishes on the counter. “He told me that he’s fine when he’s at home. It was on the road where he started to get fucked up.”

Faith nodded. “Alec was always into something or other. He was using, even when I met him. I didn’t think anything of it – all the musicians I saw were into one drug or another. But it didn’t start to get to be a problem until their first big tour in ’66.”

“Did you tour with him?”

“Whenever I could. Our kids were so little. I wanted our family to be together, but it was so hard to travel with them and sleep on buses and figure out what to do for childcare when the gig always started way past their bedtime.” Faith turned off the sink and watched the water slowly drain. “So I started staying home. And that’s when it got really, really bad.”

“How bad, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Faith sighed. “I remember it so clearly. I’d just dropped the kids off at school, and I heard the phone ringing when I came home. It was Tom – do you know Tom?”

“Tom Christie? Jamie told me he’s a fixer. Whatever that means.”

“Well. Back in the day, Tom was Uprising’s road manager. He told me he’d found Alec in his hotel room, ice cold, with a needle sticking out of his arm.”

“Oh my God,” Claire gasped.

“He was alive, but just barely. They were in New Orleans. I called my sister to pick up the kids from school, and Tom got me a plane ticket to come down that morning. I held Alec’s hand in the hospital for three days until he woke up. Thought I’d divorce him if he didn’t die. But then he woke up.” She closed her eyes. “I’ll never forget what he said. ‘I’m sorry. I fucked up. You can leave me, and I get it. But I swear on our children that I’m gonna get better for you, Faith.’”

Alec and Jamie’s laughter drifted into the kitchen from the living room across the house.

“He went cold turkey. It was the most awful three weeks of our lives. But he’s kept his promise.”

Faith opened her eyes and turned to Claire. “I don’t know you, honey, but I do know Jamie. He’ll never do that to you. He had to hit bottom in order to come up and find you.”

Claire licked her lips, stunned. “I – ”

“Trust me when I say that another one like him won’t come along. He wrote a whole album for you, Claire. You’re it. I know it probably scares the shit out of you – what would a guy like him see in a plain Jane woman like you? But believe me – you’re exactly what he needs.”

Claire’s heart thundered.

Jamie’s arms wrapped around her middle, drawing her against him for a kiss. “There you are. Come on – Alec says it’s time for dessert.”

Claire pivoted a bit to look up at Jamie. Gently cradled his jaw in one hand. Kissed the corner of his mouth.

Faith smiled at her over Jamie’s shoulder, Alec’s arm wound around her tightly.

--

“I think this used to be their daughter’s room.”

Jamie opened the closet door, keeping busy as Claire unzipped her overnight bag and took her toiletries into the ensuite bathroom.

“Have you ever met her?”

“Yes, a few months ago. Before The Ridge. My record company threw a party in LA and Alec brought her as his date. I was already half shitfaced but at least I remember being nice to her.”

He closed the closet door and stepped over to the other side of the bedroom, watching Claire wash her face.

“They are such a wonderful couple.”

“Yeah. Alec – he’s such a good sounding board. He got clean before it was even a thing. There were so few places like The Ridge back in the early 70s. Betty Ford, of course, but mostly for alcohol detox. Not a lot for the hard stuff. Faith and the kids have kept him on the straight and narrow. And he’s a much better man for it.” He paused. “I want what they have, Claire. Do you understand now?”

She set down her washcloth and turned to face him, leaning against the sink. Listening.

Jamie swallowed. “I want to share a home like this with you. A house that we can fix up, and call our own. I want you to have you own career, and for me to support you in what you do. And I want to have a houseful of kids. I want to share my life with you, in every way.”

She walked toward him, and hooked her thumbs in the belt loops of his jeans. “Are you proposing?”

“That’s what I want, Claire. But I need to know that it’s what you want, too.”

His eyes burned into hers. Outside, the wind whipped something against the window – tree limbs, or the branches of a rosebush.

“I can think of a thousand reasons why not. But none of them seem to matter.”

“We don’t have to rush it, Claire. You can come with me on tour this spring. We’ll just be playing clubs and theaters – no arenas. Not the full production – we’ll warm up to that. I want you to see me on the road. I want you to know what you’re getting into. But I want to share that with you, Claire.”

“Are you sure, Jamie? You sure you want to spend all that time with me? For all you know, I could be a horrible travel companion.”

He smiled. “Do you know what? I don’t think I care.”

She leaned up for a kiss.

“I’ll do it. The tour, I mean. And for the other stuff…”

He kissed her again. “We can talk about that more.”

She nodded. “I’m all in. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good. I need to show you something.”

He stepped back a bit, and began unbuttoning his shirt.

Her eyebrows raised. “I thought we said we’d keep it PG-rated until further notice.”

“We are. I just – you need to see this. If you have any questions about how I feel.”

Now unbuttoned to the waist, Jamie pulled back the left flap of the shirt.

There, directly over his heart, was Claire.

He hissed as her thumb explored the tattoo.

“Got it as soon as I landed in LA from North Carolina. Friend of mine, who did most of the work on my arms.”

She bit her lip. “I don’t know what to say.”

His heart hammered beneath her thumb.

“We still have so much to learn about each other, Jamie.”

He reached out to tilt her chin, eyes meeting hers.

“I hope to have the rest of my life to learn about you, Claire.”

She parted her lips, and he dove in for another kiss.

“Starting tomorrow,” she breathed.

He nodded. “I want that.”

“Me too. Speaking to Faith – I can see how it’s hard for her sometimes. But the good always outweighs the bad. And I want that, too. I want what she has with Alec. I want that with you.”

He kissed her again. Again. Again.

Finally she pulled away, and rested her forehead against his.

“Can you hold me as I fall asleep?”

“Are you comfortable with that?”

She nodded. “I want to wake up next to you. The other stuff…it can wait. But I don’t want to wait to feel so close to you.”

He granted her wish that night. The next night, too – after a fun-filled day with Alec and Faith. And the night after that, when they stayed up very late, talking about their future, holding each other close.

At their very small wedding six months later, Alec gave a particularly rousing sparking grape juice toast. And Faith took the candid photo of Jamie and Claire that sat proudly, framed, on Claire’s bedside table for many, many years.

[niigata-division]

ARB Birthday Special: Lyall Shiba

~~ January 21st ~~

“To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.”

Login Lines:

“Sorry, I’m a bit busy with a case at the moment if you could just…eh? Is this a gift?” 

“My birthday? Oh shoot, it’s today, isn't it? Thanks for reminding me. Now then, if you excuse me, I need to focus on my case.” 

Voice Lines:

“25 years old…if you had told me a few years ago I’d reach this age, I wouldn’t have believed you…or more accurately I would have been too drugged out of my damn mind to understand what you were saying.”  

“My phone has been blowing up all day from my fans sending me Happy Birthday on PROFILE, so I placed it on silent. Not that I’m ungrateful, but I always assumed that with my retirement I’d fade out of the spotlight, but I assume not.” 

“I had a dream last night…and I saw him just standing there with that goddamn smile on his face and…I just got so angry when I saw him that I wrapped my hands around his pathetic little neck and tried to choke him…I hate him.”

“I lit a few candles on my altar to send a few prayers to Anubis and Thoth. It’s a tradition I do every year on my birthday. Mainly, I pray that the next yearly cycle of my life is a good one, but considering I’m in the DRB this year I’m not holding my breath on that one.” 

“Ah shit….I mean, hey Chief, I haven’t caused any trouble lately, so what brings you here? Oh wow, I didn’t think you’d remember it was my birthday. Awwww, I always knew you liked me, Chief! Maybe I'll even break my record for the longest amount of time without giving you a migraine. Ouch, so cold, Chief.” 

“Uhhhhh….Chief? Is this a get-out-of-jail-free card? Okay, but why? Well, I better make sure to save for when I get into some major trouble then. Anubis knows I seem to always be in your office every other day.”  

“Oh Hey Ayumu-san, I take you here to wish me a Happy Birthday too. Just a bit. I owe my life to you, Ayumu-san. It's because of you that I’m still here to celebrate my birthday. I can’t thank you enough for that. Easier said than done. Ah, you didn’t have to get me anything, Ayumu-san, but thank you.” 

“Oh gosh, out of the palettes, you could have gotten…ah it’s perfect Ayumu-san. Did you know this is one of my favorite bands? No offense, Ayumu-san, but I can’t imagine you listening to this band. You're too cheerful of a person for some of the songs.”

Seiji Lines:

“For once you’re not in trouble, Rookie. I just stopped to wish you a happy birthday. Of course, I did. I know the birthdays of all the officers in the department. Normally, I'd wish you a Happy Birthday and just be done with it, but given that you haven’t gotten on my nerves much recently, have this. Consider it both a gift and a reward. Nope, a migraine is starting. *sighs* Get back to work, Shiba.” 

“Of course it is. Given how often you seem to get in trouble, I would think you’d appreciate it. You can redeem it and get off scot-free from any punishment I would usually give you. Only once, though, so use it wisely, Rookie.”

Ayumu Lines:

“Lyall, can I talk to you for a second? Am I that easy to read, huh? Anyway, I'm glad to see you’ve been doing well, especially considering our…first meeting. I was just doing my job, Lyall, but if you want to thank me, just keep living your life would be more than enough. Now then, I know you're into wearing dark makeup, so I got you this as a gift.” 

“Is something wrong, Lyall? It was one of the first palettes I found when I looked up ‘goth makeup’. Really? Maybe I should listen to them sometimes. Eh? Why not? Hey, it’s not my fault. I like to see the bright side of things.” 

[blueberrywhale123]

Can you say what do you think the characters did after the graduation?

I’d love to!

Just a warning that some of it might not be super well thought out. As a kid I didn’t give it much thought, I just knew they would do music and assumed it was preforming. Now that I’m thinking of it as an adult, I’m thinking of more nuanced ideas.

so here we go!

Broduey - Dancer/Choreographer/Dance Instructor. This was the easiest for me to decide on. Broduey doesn’t have that many defining traits sadly but one thing that is consistent is his passion for dancing. I think he’d make quite the career out of being a dancer and choreographer for big time names, someone really sought after. And I think later on once his professional career winds down, he’d open up a dance studio where he can teach.

Maxi - Music Producer. This one was super easy too because he does this so much during the show and it is what he’s most passionate about and gets the most enjoyment and fulfillment from. I went back and forth with him about dancing because he’s so good but I eventually settled on music producer because, of the two, it seemed the most important to him.

Naty - Songwriter. Hands down, this girl goes on to write some marvelous songs and has a brilliant career. I also think it’s be cool if she wrote a few plays because her actress apparently did so too. She writes with León, Violetta, Ludmila, and all of them because I refuse for them to loose touch.

León - Solo career singer. As much as the band was a big part of his story in Season 3, I’ve already sent them on different directions. León gets to be a solo artist and he just rocks it because have you seen Jorge in the tours??? He’s so entertaining it’s not even funny.

Federico - Solo career singer. And a successful one at that, especially in Italy. He’s just too charming and talented to not get signed again by another label. It’d be cute if he did concerts with Fran while they were both in Italy.

Francesca - Solo career singer. There is no doubt that once she wasn’t tied to the studio, Francesca had numerous labels clamoring for her to sign with them. She had what, three offers in the last two seasons? She is probably Italy’s darling; a big deal in Europe. People all over have at least heard of her.

Diego - Songwriter and guitarist. This one was hard. I always saw him as a performer but season 3 made me unsure. I knew he liked being on stage still but he just didn’t strike me as the kind to continue in that vein of the music industry anymore. Then I heard someone say he could be a songwriter and all the sudden it clicked. So I think he’d be a songwriter because he definitely seems more comfortable in that area. He’d collab with Naty a lot and if Diego and Fran stay together (🤞) he’d come with her on tours and play in her band.

Violetta - Solo career singer and songwriter. So this one I went back and forth on. Then I decided on both because why not? I think she’d have a very successful career as solo artist in Latin America on the larger scale or just Argentina on a smaller scale, not out there beyond her continent. I think that eventually though, she’d slow her career down and do songwriting more (plus she writes some spectacular songs so she could totally do it). This could probably be because she and León start a family and she doesn’t want to spend as much time on tour.

Camila - singer, songwriter, actress. So this was tough until I decided to give her them all. I agonized until I realized that Cami would probably just do all three. I can just see Cami on something like Broadway(ha!) doing acting and singing but also having a career as a songwriter. And if anyone would try to make it all work, Camila Torres would.

Andres - studio musician. Andres was hard because he doesn’t get a lot of focus when it comes to his music from what I remember (I’m still rewatching s1 after years). But he is consistently on the drums or some form of instrument when preforming instead of out there dancing. So I feel like if he did take a musical career, he’d be a studio musician, where they play for the songs of artists that aren’t a band. I have this headcanon that he is a beast on the drums.

Ludmila - Solo career singer. So this one was my hardest. And even now I’m not too sold on it. I think Ludmila finds great comfort in music but I also think that she was pushed a lot by her mother into the career she wanted her to have instead of allowing her to discover what she wanted herself. So if Ludmila does end up as a singer, I think it’d be a small one. Actually, this is kinda weird but maybe she’d become a writer??? Idk that just popped up out of nowhere.

[princessmaybank]

Hi! Congratulations on 1.5!!! sent something else for the celebration already but saw you post about warning a “💌 New Message”. I know you mentioned for us to state which character we would like it from but honestly I pretty much like them all the same (except I do like Pope just a little bit more) so either from Pope, or if you think I would for better with sometime else then I would definitely love that! (Also preferably the character being my established significant other (so like at least being together for like 6 ish months)). And even though I’m a really boring person, here it goes haha. I’m pretty shy and introverted when first meeting someone (and in public) but once I get to know and become closer to someone I am more extroverted around them, and more relaxed and carefree. I would describe myself as a very kind, honest, caring, and overall good person. I would also say I’m a romantic and love all that stuff that some people find cheesy. I unfortunately didn’t get the stereotypical high school love and have only had 2 “romances” (a few “dates” (I put in quotes because yes they were dates but no effort was made and were nothing like how I imagined/imagine dates should be) and kissed/made out but then said they didn’t want anything serious). I love both cats and dogs but after we put down our last dog a few years ago we (my family and I) decided just to have our cats (as my mom is getting older and didn’t want to deal with potty training and taking a dog on walks, especially when I am at college). I LOVE music I am listening to music pretty much all the time, exceptions being when I am working/ doing school stuff that I have to have my entire focus on (or obvious things like at a restaurant with family or friends, dr appointment, etc) although once I am sitting in the chair at the dentist after talking to the hygienist, I have it in my chart that I put my headphones in because I hate loud noises the noise, (and the taste, smells, noise all put together makes me freak out). I said I hate loud noises, however I love fireworks and concerts (I put earplugs in lmao). I am a basic white girl with most of my music taste (sue me okay!) and love Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Halsey, Kelsea Ballerini, the glee cast seasons 1-3💀, 5 seconds of summer, one direction, however I do also love Evanescence and Halestorm. In middle and high school I was in band (played the clarinet) and choir for a few years but did not continue when teachers left and i didn’t get much joy from it anymore, but I still sing along to music I listen to. I am NOT into sports/don’t watch/play but when I was younger I was really interested in gymnastics and did it for four years until the price increased and I had to quit. However I love “swimming” (going in the water and relaxing/ moving around, not swimming laps or anything like that). This was all over the place and I feel like this was probably way too many details you don’t need/don’t help you but also possibly not enough info to write a letter :/ But anyways, hopefully it is good enough you can write something from it! Thank you and once again congratulations!!!

Thank you babe ❤️ I guess I'm a post office now because have a letter here from Pope for you! 😂

Hello Beautiful,

It's our 1 year anniversary and I am extremely sorry for not being able to be with you for it. I miss you so much and I can't wait to see you again. I think about you every day, all day long. Not a day goes by where you and your lovely smile don't cross my mind.

I know I told you I'd be away for a few more months but I have something to tell you. I'll be back to visit in a few weeks honey!

You've probably already seen them by now in the envelope, but in case you haven't looked, I got you a little something. I know how much you love Niall Horan, and I saw that he was on tour, so I made a few ends meet and I got us some tickets for his show near us. I'll be visiting that week. Can't wait to see my beautiful baby.

P.S. I know it's not as good as the tickets but I also sent a picture of me. I Love You.

Love,

Pope <3

[kiss-this]

I've been listening to Rush! on repeat for the last two days (via youtube because Amazon chose this particular deliver to suck) and it all still feels new, so I may change my mind on a bunch of things. Anyway, so far, this is what I think.

This album actually better than what I thought, not because my expectations where low for some reason but simply because a) this is the first true test in front of an international audience for the band, and I bet they've been under a lot of pressure thanks to all those booooring "true rock fans" just waiting for them to make a mistake, plus all those booooring they've_gone_to_america_they've_lost_themselves_fans just waiting to be proven right (yeah, you wish). Not to mention all the professional music critics waiting to decide if they're trash or pass. Also, I don't think it's easy writing new music while travelling all around the world, but maybe it's just me having the ability to focus of a slug. The moment they have time to dedicate only to the creative process they'll do even better. This is to say their true masterpiece has yet to come. Good for us :)

About the new music now.

First of all I need to say I really appreciate the little Bowie, Beatles, Smith, Michael Jackson references scattered here and there, it was fun coming across them.

Also, they talk a lot about the downside of being famous. I noticed this came as a (possibly bad) surprise for some fans. Why? Måneskin write about their life and experiences since the beginning. In the last two years they literally had no other experience than becoming famous and learning to deal with it. So of course this is a huge part of what Damiano writes about right now, especially since he's been affected by fame not always in a good way.

With that said, it truly starts with a bang. Own My Mind looked like the kind of song I enjoy listening for three or four times and then become forgettable. I was so wrong! It's one of my favorite and I'm as far from being tired of it as I could be. Similar to Don't Wanna Sleep in this regard. Both of them are going to bring whole stadiums down during live gigs and I'm desperately looking forward to it.

Now beware, very unpopular opinion ahead. The song I like less so far is If Not For You. Don't beat me too hard ^^', please? It's just that I find it too sappy, a little boring and there's also that little backing vocals giving romantic Italian comedy of the 70's vibe which I find funny. Sort of anticlimatic, giving the purpose of the song.

Timezone, on the other hand, gives RHCP/Aerosmith vibes and I could listen to it endlessly and still wanting more.

The most surprising of surprises? Bla Bla Bla. I didn't like it at first but now... It's fun, it's silly and puts me in good mood. More importantly, it's punkish and I love it. Same goes for Kool Kids, but this one we knew already and I liked it since before.

Feel and Read your Diary bring the horny back (when did it even leave?) and I am not complaining. At all. Also, the bass?? The guitar?? They bring quality even in the songs meant to be undemanding.

On the italian trio now. I loved La Fine since it first came out and I still do but among those three is the one I like less. Mark Chapman and Il Dono della Vita are both candidate to become my favourite of the whole album. The first is dark, and I understand that for a short time Damiano had a stalker too, right? This makes it even more of a punch in the gut. Also, I don't want to start anything but to all the people who doubted it could be a song the glorifies a criminal... come. on. which band have you been a fan of for the last few years??

Il Dono della Vita has some awesome lyrics, I know I'll love it even more, the more I listen to it. It's a masterpiece and I also loved the little Icarus reference at the beginning. And if they play it live at Sanremo? With the orchestra?? Omg I may not survive. Yes, it's true, Damiano writes better in italian, he already explained why, and why he's writing more in english. It's his choice, he's a big boy, so I wont go there again.

[nimzay1dstar]

Another unpopular opinion: the true love of a REAL directioner.

Seeing hate towards directioners (OT5 stans), certainly isn't new, but as each member of 1D pursued a solo career, it was the perfect excuse to pour out years of pent-up hatred.

From the general public, the enemy was Zayn. Within the fandom back then, the enemy was Louis. Both were considered guilty of the 1D dissolution either because they quit or because they lied.

So today I'll focus on the hate we get from the solo louies, a hate that increased after the released of All Of Those Voices documentary (Louis' film).

First of all, hating the band that broke Louis' confidence is the obvious acctitude; not hating the fans of the band. Fans who were mostly teenagers or even kids when 1D was at the peak of his career. But some people need to target some group of people or to even someone to relieve the pain. I do not think is right, especially if you are being bitter and harsh. You can say facts while being diplomatic and objective. It's hard I know, but it's possible if we think about what we want to speak.

Louis is the perfect example of that. He loved One Direction, yet he was hurt by the dynamics of belonging to a boyband designed and created for commercial success and marketing exploitation. He learned that once he realized who was really in charge and what he could do from his position.

I also loved One Direction with all my heart, not because they did what they were told, but because of how they did it and how much they mean to me.

Yes, One Direction was another boyband created following the recipe for commercial success, yet they did it in their own way and marked a before and after of all the western boybands.

Nearly the end of One Direction, Louis was the one who talked on behalf of 1D, so when things got confusing and uncertain, everyone looked at Louis for a response that he doesn't even had. That's when for some people, he became the liar. People say we hate Louis because he lied to us with his "promise" tweet, when in fact, is the opposite.

Louis was the only flicker of hope after some devastating news.

Louis was the one who feel the dissolution as much (or now I dare to say even more after watching his film) as us.

When no one understood the pain of losing a piece of your life, a piece of yur heart, a reason to live, Louis silently went through all of that with us.

A great part of what One Direction turned into the last few years, was thanks to Louis. He, as he said, was the one in charge to make all of them feel like a group, like a team. He was who wrote some of the amazing 1D songs that are now considered its essence. Louis's role was like the glue. He put the pieces together, and that's what One Direction is.

One Direction only by name is nothing. Without Niall, Liam, Harry, Zayn, and Louis, One Direction is only the silly name of a band.

What a real directioner loves is not One Direction, is what Louis formed, what One Direction turned into with Louis' help, and the members who formed 1D.

Without any of the guys, 1D is nothing. Lousi learned that and worked to make 1D more than a group by name; he worked to make a team... and he achieve it!

Understanding who One Direction is for a directioner, you can identify a real directioner and that's how you can say that Louis was a directioner too.

[fallcrestrpg]

lıllı Hotel - Calvetti-Holstein Suite - Morning 12/26 ıllıllı

KEAGAN

Her brief reunion with Mack didn't last long as she had excused herself to join her family. And since she didn't want to intrude on her daughter's first date with Callie anymore than she already had, she returned to the suite with Luke. The Paladin's reaction to Mack's appearance had been on her mind since. Once they were inside, she immediately turned to face her. "Today had been quite a series of events, hasn't it?"

LUKE

Luke had allowed herself to focus entirely on the girls once they were off. Callie had helped by pointing out that she was still going to be keeping up with Luke's wardrobe even they were technically no longer an active member of the band. Of course, they weren't going to pester the pair for the duration of their date, so now they were back to the suite. She wasn't entirely sure where her mind had wandered off too, but the question had her snapping her attention back to Keagan, "Huh- oh, yeah. Well....I mean, no more than the usual...well, with the exception of waking up to teenagers when we put toddlers to bed. _That_ bit was definitely new."

KEAGAN

"Good point." She chuckled, "But we were expecting it to happen.. *eventually* We just didn't know exactly when." She sighed, "I'm going to miss their little baby size." She wrapped her arms around the taller woman's waist. She stayed in that position for a moment before looking up again. "..I'm sure you've got questions about today?" After all, even Miles was wary of their unexpected visitor.

LUKE

"You won't be missing much with Skylar then," she snorted, before her laugh was smothered out by the older woman's next words. She managed a wry chuckle in response, before saying, "To be fair, I think I'll always have questions about a lot of things. But mom used to always tell me my curiosity would be the death of me, and that I shouldn't go around asking questions I'm not entirely sure I actually want the answer too...and well, I don't really know if I want to know what you got up to during college or any of your time away. I mean, no offense, but the bits I _do_ know about, already make me want to scrub my brain with bleach..."

KEAGAN

She tilted her head, somehow suspecting that Lyra might have said *some* things, but it was a bit concerning because her sister really could've said anything *and* omit information at the same time. Honestly the worst combo there was. "Mack is not an ex." She sighed, "I've had a *very* short relationship - Honestly, I think it's too short to be really called a relationship.. I've had a few dates during those years but it wasn't with Mack."

LUKE

"I didn't ask," she replied in almost a sing-song manner. Especially because just as soon as she was reassured that Mack wasn't an ex, she was immediately informed that there _had_, in fact, been a few dates. Dropping her head, she let out a groan, before looking back up at Keagan. "Logically, I do understand you had a life away from Fallcrest, for many years," she began, "_Emotionally_, however, it's still a bit of a sore spot to know that said life was lived _without me_. And I don't mean, I wasn't there -because duh- I mean, that until I came home to find you at my house and my brother telling me you were his new fiancé, I was _shut out_ of your life, and I couldn't even bring myself to be mad because it was all my own fault for being impulsive in the first place."

KEAGAN

"That wasn't your fault, Luke - that had been just a compilations of mistakes I've done which wasn't fair to you at all. I still can't apologize enough when we could have just.. *talked* instead of running away like I did." She gripped her hug tighter. "I did promise no more secrets and I think we've all had enough of surprises exes showing up unannounced.. Mostly *mine* unfortunately."

LUKE

Feeling the shorter woman's arms tighten around her, responded by looping her own arms around Keagan's shoulders as she effectively almost doubled-over so she could burry her face in crook of the woman's neck. It was a wordless way of accepting the apology, because truth be told, it wasn't even something she wanted to dwell on anyway.

Placing a soft kiss to the woman's pulse-point, Luke stood back up and glanced down at her. "In the vein of making sure there is full-disclosure between us, I'll have the twins hand over the literal little-black-book they don't know, that _I_ know they've kept with the names, pics, phone numbers, and current addressed of anyone who so much as complimented me during my time being single."

KEAGAN

Something about being literally engulfed in a hug by the Paladin felt ... safe. Keagan was positive that she was the reason why Sky was so cuddly because she herself did not want to break this position at all. "They ...kept track?" She frowned, "Do I even want to know why they decided to start that book?" She snorted, "They really could be agents if they wanted to pursue the field. Well, Miles more so."

LUKE

"I would love to have an answer for you, but I'm not even supposed to know the book _exists_. I'm sure if anyone would be up to giving you an explanation, it would be Miles. Sky is currently....otherwise engaged," she said, mumbling the last bit as she closed off her connection to the eldest twin, nothing but regret all over her face at having even considered it an idea -good or bad- to try and reach out right now. "And I'm back to wanting to bleach my brain."

KEAGAN

"You're right.. I'll try asking Miles and see if she'll tell me. I don't think we should reach out to Sky until maybe tomorrow night." She laughed, "It doesn't help that Nix helped Erin with some potion that helps increase stamina and prevents fatigue." She slightly grimaced at the thought that her daughter and her girlfriends were going at it the whole day - quite literally. "They have enough food and beverages, right? Well whatever, there's always room service too."

LUKE

Luke's expression only mirrored her increasing horror with every new detail Keagan shared. "My...gawwwwd. That infamous Calvetti libido has now made it to where I don't think I'll be able to look my own daughter in the eye the next time I see her...or either of her girlfriends for that matter. I really hope nothing triggers that girl's paladin powers any time soon, or we may actually become grandmothers before we manage to become _wives_...." Luke trailed off as a thought occurred to her. "If they're gestated and birthed by two different women, but share genetics with one and are born the same day, are they still twins? ... Half-twins?"

KEAGAN

"... We should really look into this Paladin baby thing just in case..." Not that she was oppose to having grandchildren - she just wanted to make sure that it happened when all three girls were ready and mutually agreed in having them. "Half.. twins.... maybe? How does one even start researching about this?"

LUKE

"We have, and have come up with _nothing_," Luke groaned. "We're the unicorns of the supernatural world and short of time-travel or a secret Timeless survivor coming forth with the answers, it's trial and error. Hopefully _my_ trial and error so they don't have to worry as much." The last question made her look ay Keagan matter-of-factly. "Well it would have to _happen_ first."

KEAGAN

"I really hope Sky's Paladin powers don't kick in before we find out how to prevent it..." She repeated what Luke said earlier with a chuckle. "We only know *one* of who knows how many requirements to make it happen and there's a very high chance that the thought crossed their minds already. "

LUKE

Luke shook her head and held her arms up in surrender. "Geezus! If anyone had told my teenage self that one day I would be showing more concern over my daughters' sex lives than in having one of my own..." she trailed off as she thought it over before saying, "Well, I mean, I wouldn't have outright dismissed it, but I _would_ have been rather skeptical about someone having wanted to procreate with me."

KEAGAN

"I don't think we'll ever stop worrying but I have a feeling that we'd worry *less* if Sky and her wives weren't so.. active." She made a face as she mentally blamed that so-called Calvetti Libido. "I.. really hope they're being safe - as safe as they can be." She shook her head to shake off the thoughts, "Okay.. enough about that.. Nothing we can do now anyways.. I want to get out of these clothes and into comfier ones." She was going to *relax* with the time left before she head back into work.

LUKE

Luke was about to say something but was slightly distracted by the sense of her other kid. "I think you'll get plenty of time to relax," she began, "Just picked up on Miles' slight spike in anxiety as she debated what to answer about a sleepover, but all's well and it seems we're kid free for the rest of the day." At the mention of comfier clothes, Luke began to pull off her sweatshirt, forgetting why she wore it to begin with. "Comfy sounds nice. It's so freaking hot and humid here."

KEAGAN

Whatever they were talking about, Keagan's mind just went blank when Luke just pulled off her sweatshirt without a warning. "Ah.. Well.." She snapped her attention back to Luke's face rather than her arms, "Thank god the hotel has AC, huh?" She turned to grab her outfit which was just a plain tee and shorts. "We are definitely not suited for this kind of weather."

LUKE

As she went to wipe at the light sheen of sweat their short-lived adventure as spies had brought on, Luke could only laugh at the comment. "For the price Leo is paying at this place, AC is the least of the things we'd have to worry about. Especially since her entire family consists of wolves, and as I've come to learn first-hand, we run hot." Walking over to the kitchen island, she reached out to grab a glass for some water, and turned to ask, "Thirsty?"

KEAGAN

When she collected her bearings - somewhat - she went ahead and changed into her outfit. "There's a reason why a lot of us don't really want to be sporting winter gear.." She snorted as she came up next to the Paladin. "Mhmm." She nodded at the question, relieved that Lyra was not around to comment on that.

LUKE

Luke's eyes went slightly wide as she remembered _why_ she had opted for nothing but long-sleeves for a while. Brow furrowing at brief question of how Keagan -essentially a _spy_- hadn't noticed yet... Handing the older woman the first glass of ice water, she took a sip from her own before asking, "You really haven't noticed, have you?" There was more concern in her tone, than anything.

KEAGAN

Her attention went to the glass and once she had it in her hand, she immediately *downed* it. She looked up, almost confused to what the other was referring to. Because if it was arms, Keagan *definitely* noticed that. "Hm? What are we-" She cleared her throat when it came out a bit rough, "what are we talking about?"

LUKE

"Hey, are you coming down with something?" she asked, the previous matter once again completely forgotten. "We can get you checked out for heat stroke," Luke added, walking over to take the now empty glass and run the back of her hand over Keagan's forehead. "You feel warm...well, warmer than usual. If you want to skip getting other people involved, I could just heal you in general and-" Luke stopped talking. As she made mention of her Paladin powers, she's also subconsciously opened up her sensing connection with Keagan and now knew that healing wasn't required....at least not that kind of healing.

Clearing her own throat she said, "Well I think Marvin Gaye may think you're in need of some kind of healing, but it seems you're otherwise alright." Chuckling slightly she shook her head and said, "I seem to have some new ink that pretty much runs up from my elbows and I don't really know how I got it. Considering you've seen my back before I'm currently just surprised you managed to miss....this." The tall ginger turned her back to the wolf and pulled her tank over her head to fully show her back.

KEAGAN

She sighed when Luke figured out what was happening. That honestly was a skill she was almost jealous of - *almost* being the keyword. She straightened her back when there was mentions of a tatto - a very apparent one that she somehow didn't notice.

Of course, it really didn't help when the paladin chose to remove her entire tank as if she wasn't already haven't troubles focusing. "Ohh.. Those are beautiful, Luke." She reached out and traced along them. "When did you get these?" It really was a miracle her eyes weren't glowing.

LUKE

She could feel the goosebumps that followed after the point where Keagan was making contact as she traced the lines, and was suddenly _very_ happy that the sensing didn't exactly work both ways, because it was suddenly her turn to struggle with keeping her focus on the matter at hand and the matter _of_ the hand...

"I, uh," she began, voice a little huskier than intended. "I noticed them faintly start to show up about a month back. We were so busy with so much other stuff I just figured it'd be easier to cover them up and address them later. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for nice big piece that's pretty, painless, and _free_, but since it showed up magically, I'm sure it must mean something....right?"

KEAGAN

"That Paladins are literal guardian angels?" She chuckled, "Considering that you're a born-Paladin.. I guess that also explains why Rikke and the others don't have them. Wait- The girls would likely have them too, wouldn't they? If they triggered." That sounded like another thing to worry about once it happened. Her girls being able to orb away or fly away... that sounded like a headache on its own.

Keagan lowered her hand and cleared her throat again before speaking. Luke being shirtless was really no help. "... If you're going to test whatever capability those wings have.. I hope you're doing it in a relatively safe environment..." It wasn't as if she could stop the woman from doing what she wanted, but at least be safe about it.

LUKE

"_When_," she said with ease, "When they trigger they'll eventually get the markings though I hope to have figured out how the actual wings work and such by then. I haven't really been able to make the wings themselves appear, but I _can_ feel them beneath my skin. It's hard to describe...I should start keeping a journal so I can just provide he girls a manual when they trigger, because honestly, it just seems inevitable at this point that they will...and sooner rather than later. Those two are...something else."

She felt like she had to keep herself talking. If she kept herself talking, she could focus on what she was saying and _not_ on how hard it suddenly was to close the senseing connection to Keagan back up was... "I make no promises nor apologies for my methods. They're effective and I've got a 100% survival rate going, so there's that."

KEAGAN

"I do wish we'd have more answers so that *you* don't have to be, quite literally, the guinea pig." She sighed, "But I think noting it all down will definitely help - or maybe video-record it for safe measure." It really was a learning experience for everyone involved.

"I trust you, Luke, with all my heart, but those stats still won't make me stop worrying about you." She chuckled, "You just happened to have really, really good luck so far with those methods."

LUKE

"Oooh! Hunter would love the chance to record my attempts, and it might be a way to get her looped back in the fold. I know she's probably not thinking too much about it, but I do feel like she's been pushed aside a bit what with the music and now the babies. Something tells me she and Teagan will enjoy getting to watch me fail several times before we get it right," Luke snorted.

"Luck has definitely decided to make up for some stuff then, because if that's all I have going for me, it's been wicked good recently," she smirked.

KEAGAN

"Sounds like you're going to be pretty busy when you get back." She smiled, as if she didn't have her own work waiting for her. The one who was supposed to be partially taking on her workload was also on this trip. "The way Hunter and Sage are handling the supernatural stuff cannot be anymore further away from each other." Sage is constant in the state of 'I was perfectly fine without knowing, while her sister was more interested.

"*Oh?*" Her smile matched the other's. "Wicked good, is it?"

LUKE

"I stay busy. It's a thing. Raj says it's not necessarily a _good or bad_ thing, but it's a _thing_ and should be acknowledged...which is what I'm doing right now. Not just like, stating the obvious for the sake of doing so." Luke laughed at the mention of the differences between the sisters. "Those two couldn't be more polar opposite if they tried, which is why so many folks end up surprised to find out that not only they get along, but are even related."

Luke nodded and hummed, "Oh yeah. I don't know if you've heard, but I've even managed to get myself a wholeass fee-ahn-say."

KEAGAN

"You do. On top of all the other video ideas and home reno plans and many other things you have going on." She was teasing. As both Luke - and Raj - said, it was just a thing. "I hope you do have time for me every now and then with all those things happening." She let out a laugh, "One is very sociable, the other would really rather spend her time in the kitche the entire time if she could. I'm pretty sure she splurged - well, *invested* in very big kitchenware ever since she learned about a wolf's appetite."

"Oh, did you now? A *wholeass* one, too? Though I think she has more of the luck to have gotten you."

LUKE

Luke feigned a look of distress as she sucked in a breath through her teeth, clicked her tongue and said, "Man, I'll have to take a really good look at my schedule. I've never really had to make time for anything or _anyone_ since I usually have a tendency of just roping most people into whatever shenanigans I'm up to for the day." The joke was that of course she'd find time for Keagan. The truth of it, though, was that she _really_ did normally just wind up involving her friends and family in her day-to-day adventures, one way or another. "Sage is a saint who was kind enough to share her recipes with me, so I can at least keep _my_ wolves from hogging up her tables."

"Yeah, I hear _half-ass_ fiancés aren't really worth the jewelry investment," she said with a shrug, before getting a slight panicked look and adding, "Oh, no. Please, don't let her hear you saying things like that. She's a _bit_ on the jealous side, though we try not to talk about it too much."

KEAGAN

"Knowing you, those shenanigans really could be anything." She snorted, "She is thankful, just our family alone that's already at least 6 wolves now - not to mention we have *Sky*. The day she learned just how much Sky ate. Oh my god, I think Sage is scared to see us walk in."

She gasped, thought she couldn't really deny that she was jealous person because.. she was. "Mm, is that what they call a red flag?" She raised a brow.

LUKE

"I- no...that's fair," she relented almost immediately. Her creativity wasn't always to a benefit... "I'm almost certain that if we were ever to do a family dinner at the Manhattan, I'd really have to use my connection with Hunter to get Sage to agree...and by that I mean have Hunter give her the ultimate puppy dog pout ala Skylar."

There was a small shrug at the question. "Probably, but all red flags just look like _flags_ when you're looking at them with rose-colored glasses."

KEAGAN

"To think that we're unofficially on her blacklist. Best if we save it for special occasions. I *hope* that's less likely to get a no from her if it's meant for some sort of celebration. How on earth did Ray manage to feed all of us when we were all hanging out together?"

She snorted, "Hmm... so you're biased, basically."

LUKE

"Oh I'm definitely saving that one," she laughed. "Ray _knows_ what he's doing. Mans has been aware of the fact he's serving a town with a pack of literal wolves since _ever_. He's prepared to feed the whole town, three meals a day, for at least a week if comes down to it."

There was another smirk on her face that gave way to an easy smile, eyes immediately glowing -literally- as she spoke again. "I suppose I am, but I take no blame for it. I'm sure even you'd agree with me that a little bias is worth it when the person you're biased towards is one of the best things to happen to you _ever_, and has also given you the not one, but _two_ more literal reasons to live and die for."

KEAGAN

"It honestly is a skill that I'm sure Sage would love to have or eventually gain after a while." She sighed, "but it's also because of Ray that we never even questioned it."

Again, Luke and her way with words. Keagan could really only smile widely in response as she pulled in Luke by the waist belt so she could tiptoe and give a quick peck. "Have I ever mentioned just how thankful I am to have you in my life, to have you in our family's life?"

LUKE

"Oh she's definitely asked," Luke confirmed. "My very reliable source has informed me that the first lesson was on how to properly keep your kitchen stocked, and given the slight difference in price of ingredients between Ray's meny and Sage's....she'll be working on that one a bit before moving on to step two."

Luke mirrored the smile as she let herself be pulled in, grinning at the sight of the woman having to go on her tiptoes for the quick kiss. "You may have mentioned it a time or two, but it's never a bad time to be appreciated," she remarked, before gripping Keagan by the waist and setting her on the counter beside them, moving to stand in front of the woman. "Now we can see eye-to-eye without causing you any undue stress," she quipped before stopping any coming complaint with a kiss of her own.

KEAGAN

If it took a *lot* to handle one wolf family, she could only imagine the amount of work that was required to serve a whole town filled with supernaturals. Keagan mentally wished Sage good luck.

Letting herself be lifted onto the countertop without complaints, her arms naturally rested on top of Luke's shoulders with her fingers already feeling the back of her neck. She was sure that Luke could actually feel her *melt* at the kids - was she acting like a teenager with her crush? Perhaps but she was enjoying the moment too much to care.

LUKE

The kiss may not have been the best idea, as it quickly became pretty much impossible to decipher which feelings were Keagan's and which were her own. Between the girls becoming babies again, and new folks coming to live with them at the cabin, this was probably the first time they'd been left alone proper, and it was clearly showing. Her hands seemed to have mind of their own, but she managed to find a light in the fog when she felt the warmth of bare skin beneath her fingers and realized they'd traveled _under_ the other's shirt. Breaking the kiss, she moved her hands back to Keagan's hips and attempted a breathless apology but just got, "Sorry, hands."

KEAGAN

While she managed to not *whine*, the pout unconsciously appeared when Luke pulled away. Her eyes was glowing just as much when she opened her eyes. "*Luke*.." Her voice a bit rougher than usual. The wolf leaned forward and used the advantage she had with her arms around the other to pull Luke back, recapturing her lips. With all that had happened, it really had been too long. It also didn't help that she had been waiting for some alone time with the Paladin for *the* longest time.

LUKE

There was no need to verbalize her question, because her unspoken concern was immediately addressed just as wordlessly by the new emotions that made their way to her even before absolutely _destructive_ manner in which her own name was spoken hit her ears. There was no resistance to being pulled back in to another kiss, that somehow managed to be fiercer and tinted in more urgency than the one before. On the surface it wasn't too unlike the one that had suddenly overtaken them both back almost twenty years, but there was so much more to their actions now that to say it was coming from a different place...would be an _understatement_.

Emboldened by the mixture of feelings in their link, and Keagan's own actions, Luke broke their kiss once more, but only swiftly pull Kegan's shirt up and over he head tossing it haphazardly somewhere behind her. Dropping her forehead to the older woman's she didn't have to be a third party witness to know the way their eyes were glowing was bound to be enough to light up the darkling room as the sun started to go down. She brought a hand up to cup the woman's jaw as she used her thumb to gently trace and raggedly whispered, "The last time we were in a similar position to this, I asked if you wanted to stop. Now we have twin teenagers, and now that we know _why_...." though even as she said all this she made no move to allow more space between them. "It's only fair that I ask you again..."

KEAGAN

Keagan didn't fight against it when her shirt was removed; she probably even helped taking it off even faster. However, she did have to let out a small groan when the kiss broke off again. The grip the Paladin had on her, did the woman even realize that? Even the lightest of touches was driving her insane. Who else had possibly made her feel this way? No one. The amount of self-control she had so far was amazing even to herself, that she was still just sitting here on the counter.

She was also surprised that she could pay attention to what was being said too. "While we did happen to have two of the best girls ever... Are you saying that you're going to get me pregnant again?" She smiled softly at that; Keagan definitely didn't oppose to expanding the family though they literally got their first break from having to take care of baby twins again.

LUKE

Luke paused at the question. "Okay, that just makes it sound like I have a level of confidence that I have never possessed. _Especially_ around you," she admitted with a chuckle. "But that considering we _were_ just talking about concern for the girls, it's not exactly a guarantee that I _won't_, and..." Luke sighed, and smiled. "I just want to make sure that whatever happens, _you_ don't end up having it laced even microscopically with regret. I want you to be _happy_. No 'buts'."

KEAGAN

"Well, this *would* be the second time so I don't see why not." She pointed out before giving an understanding smile, "Luke, whatever happens, I doubt that I'm ever going to be upset about it, or regret it because you're going to be there every step of the way. The only thing I've ever regretted was my idiot choices back then - we could've gotten together way earlier if I wasn't so stubborn." She snorted, "Also, I want you to be happy too. Not just me, not just the girls, *You.*" She held a finger, "And do not say that you're happy when we're happy."

LUKE

"Okay look, not to beat a dead horse or anything, but the last time I took that route and went ahead and just made assumption about one Keagan Calvetti, I didn't see her again for like two years," Luke pointed out. It was true they'd already addressed this before and she was in no way holding it against the older woman, but it _was_ still a reason to her hesitation.

Placing a hand on the counter, on either side of Keagan to brace herself, Luke lent in with a smile and began trailing small kisses from the corner of the woman's mouth, down to her neck, the break between each contact to speak one word until her question was done, "Would. You. Rather. I. Lie?" She then stopped and let her mouth hover just barely above the other's skin, breath grazing as she waited for the reply.

KEAGAN

"Okay, you've got a point." She sighed, "But moving *forward*, I think you're more than welcome to have that confidence." She may have something to say if it bordered asshole-level but now was not the time, nor did she think Luke could ever *be* asshole level.

If her eyes can glow brighter, it would've with the way that Luke was teasing her. The growl that came from her before leaving an arm around the Paladin's shoulder, the other hand pushing off the counter so she could hang onto the other like... a koala - yes, one can see where Sky got a lot of her traits from. Though the silver lining was that Luke had a large advantage in the height department . "I'd rather you stop teasing me right now."

LUKE

Luke doubted she'd have had any real trouble with the sudden literal jumping of her bones that Keagan just did, but it certainly didn't faze her now that her powers were giving her a much needed boost in the strength department. "Your wish is my command," was all she managed before they lips were crashing together once more.

The paladin was able to easily stand fully back up and take a step away from the counter. Putting the confidence just recently told she was free to have, her hands found a new home as the came cup Keagan's ass firmly, hoisting her up so they were once again eye-level and Keagan wasn't having to cling onto her for dear life. The fact she managed all of it without breaking their latest kiss was feat in itself. The fact she managed to spare enough concentration to orb them both to their bedroom, and walk over to sit on the edge of the bed as she pulled Keagan onto her lap, while simultaneously reaching up to unhook the older woman's bra, still not breaking the kiss? That was a skillset that was new even to her.

KEAGAN

How she wished she had the ability to just orb away. It really was a very convenient skills.. for many situations, not just this. She held on with ease as Luke redirected them to the bed, enjoying the kiss even more so without interruption. Admittedly, it was very appealing to have Luke navigate them around like this.

Once she felt herself straddling on Luke's lap, Quickly removing her bra and letting it drop to the floor, she resumed her position and closed whatever space was left between them. Her hands started roaming slowly down the woman's sides, then up from the front until they got to the shoulders and gave a push, breaking the kiss herself for the first time.

LUKE

It was a sight Luke had seen only once before, but it was seared into her memory to the point that it may as well be something she'd seen in her own mind's eye on constant reply ever since that night. Which, she would be lying if she said it _hadn't_ crossed her mind at any other point, because she was still partially human. But it failed to even come close to matching the reality of the _feel_ of having Keagan's bare skin come into contact with her own. The only word her foggy brain could muster to describe the feeling was just 'right'. This is where she belonged. Where they _both_ did.

The push to her shoulders was less effective in actually forcing any movement, and more so gave the paladin a cue as to what Keagan wanted in this specific moment. She followed through and laid back on the bed, sitting up on her elbows, unable to keep her eyes from raking up from the hem of the older woman's jeans as she sat straddling her own hips, a perfect fit, all the way up a porcelain torso. Luke was uncharacteristically unabashed in her actions, and did nothing to hide the practically ravenous look in her eyes. Despite the burning desire to latch herself back onto the other wolf, Luke appeased her instead and remained still. Their last time together had been out of the blue, born from frustration boiling over, and frantic as both parties new that it wouldn't last. This time they had all the time in the world.

KEAGAN

From her position, her hand flat against the stomach - or abs - and slowly felt her way up, stopping at the center of the Paladin's chest. Luke had always been - well, *hot* for lack of a better word, but sitting in this position looking down at her like this. The woman was absolutely breath-taking. Her eyes just could not focus, being just as shameless as she looked over her fiancée over and over again with hungry eyes.

She eased off of Luke and scooted back enough to be able to get off the bed before lowering herself to leave a trail of soft yet slow kiss. Up the stomach... to the chest... to the collarbone.. before hovering ever so slightly above the woman's lips. Her hand had also been busy, unbuttoning the pants before also coming back up to cup a breast while her other hand was simply supporting her own weight so that she wasn't completely pressing down on Luke.

LUKE

It was true that at the root of their actions was love, as was evidenced by their girls existing, but even before Luke’s true nature had triggered there had been something _primal_ about the way they carried themselves in such an intimate situation. Beyond the simple glow of their eyes, and even completely aside from their connection as a paladin and their charge, there was just _something_ between them that Luke could just _feel_ drawing them to one another time and time again. All insecurities had been left behind the instant Keagan had latched onto her like Lucas was the only thing keeping her afloat in an open sea, and it made the literal growl that formed at the back of her throat upon the sight of the woman crawling her way up the paladin’s torso unabashedly heard.

She let out a hiss of both pure pleasure and sweet relief at Keagan’s touch on her breast, and wasted no time in closing the gap between their lips. Whatever this magnetic pull between them was, it had been doing nothing but growing in strength since the last time they were together like this, and it refused to be ignored. Reaching down to gently, but firmly take hold of Keagan’s wrist at her jeans, she wrapped her other arm around the woman’s waste and swiftly swapped their positions. Luke took the second Kegan let out a small gasp at the motion to bite at her bottom lip, before sitting up to look down at her. Luke had one foot braced the floor, with the other bent on the bed, knee gently making contact with the apex between the wolf’s thighs. She ran a hand through her hair, and smirked down at the brunette as she used the other hand to take hold of the waist of the woman’s jeans. She pulled and in one swift motion, the garment was off and orbed somewhere on the floor behind them.

LUKE

Using her hands to clasp at either hip, as she pulled Keagan even closer to her, she bent down to whisper in her ear. "The most beautiful star in the night sky could burn itself out and still never come close to your beauty in this very moment," she said in earnest before bringing their lips together once more.

KEAGAN

Was it because Luke had the combine strength of a Paladin and a Wolf? Something about Luke's eyes was just so alluring - not just because it had a unique colour compared to a wolf. And the way Luke was looking back at her. Keagan had always felt something special when the other was involved and today only amplified it.

Every touch just made her skin feel like it's on fire. She was then taken by surprise when Luke flipped their positions, barely even giving her time to react by the time she found herself looking up at Luke now. Both her hands off to the side, high up above her head as she waited - well, not quite since it happened pretty swiftly as well. Of all things, she never would expect that her pants would be orbed away. The close proximity was the only thing stopping her from teasing the other about getting laundry duty if that's the way she was going to handle clothes from now on. "Forever the poet." She whispered back before taking in those lips, teasing the other with her tongue before eventually letting it slide in."

LUKE

Having their tongues moving one against the other, tasting what was uniquely the other person, and breathing each others air -when either remembered to breathe, that is- could easily lead one to believe they were the most connected they'd ever be. But Luke knew better. Luke remembered it all as if it were happening again in synch with their present actions.

As her mouth continued to keep pace with the wolf, her hand was deftly working its way between her own knee and the thin fabric acting as the sheerest of barriers to full contact. She couldn't help the satisfied chuckle that fell from her busy lips at just how soaked through the fabric was. Whether the noise Keagan made was in response to the cockiness or the fact her hand came up to cup the woman's sex before grinding her knee up just the slightest, didn't matter. It was swallowed up as Luke returned giving the woman a pre-show -reminder?- of just what her tongue was capable of in tight, hot, moist spaces.

KEAGAN

The way they were moving with sync with each other, not needing to use words to know what the other wanted at this moment.. there were no words that could explain how beautiful this connection they had was.

It didn't take the sensing skill of a Paladin to know just what the other thought when she felt how wet the wolf became all from making out only, barely doing anything else. The moans she was constantly letting out were muffled by Luke as she matched the pace of the knee with her own good grinding against it.

LUKE

Feeling more than encouraged by the symphony of moans and sounds she was able to elicit from the older woman, Luke eased off from the wolf's lips and began to slowly make her way down. She left languid kiss trailing down, only pausing for a moment to take a pert nipple into her mouth and giving the lightest of bites, before reaching her destination.

Placing featherlight kisses just above the hem of Keagan's ruined panties, she stopped her teasing and slipped them off completely. Dropping to her knees before the edge of the bed, she placed leg over each one of her shoulders before grabbing onto Keagan's hips and giving a decent tug that left her right where she wanted to be. The cocky grin on her face was replaced by a look that would make a starving feral animal look satisfied by comparison. There was little time wasted as she proceeded to lap at the woman's sex and taking in every drop as if she had been left out in the desert and this was her oasis.

KEAGAN

Her eyes watched as Luke made her way down - in a painfully slow pace. A very low growl escaping her throat but was immediately replaced by a soft gasp when she felt herself pulled closer to the edge of the bed briefly.

Her hips bucked the moment she felt the Paladin's tongue against her, her hands gripping down on the sheets beneath them. The wolf bit down on her lips to stop the sounds, only capable of focusing on Luke basically devouring her at this point.

LUKE

At some point while on her knees, and with her focus solely on worshipping the woman in front of her, a small bit at the back of Luke's brain had the forethought to orb her _own_ pants off. Which, not to take the satisfaction away from Keagan to have ripped them off herself, but it certainly came with advantage of cutting down on time. Which Luke would take as a bonus, as she was certain the teasingly slow pace she had taken before was _not_ to the amusement of the Queen.

As she began to feel Keagan's inner walls began to slightly move against her tongue, she eased off and moved to up to lean over the woman so they were eye-to-eye, her hand having deftly moved to replace her mouth. With the woman's legs still drapped on her shoulders, she gently used her fingers to ease around the woman's folds, always near but never daring to actually go further. Not before she leant down _even closer_ to ask in a hot whisper, "May I?"

KEAGAN

The wolf had kept her hands on the sheets, which were now pretty bunched up in those two areas. The way her tongue lapped against her sent shivers with every stroke. To think a whine actually came from her when the Paladin continued with that excruciating pace when she knew that Luke was perfectly aware of how she felt about it.

But there was really something different about being asked for consent with every step of the way. Her eyes flashed brightly at the question and she breathed out a quiet "yeah". Her hands finally let go of the sheets and cupped her fiancée gently by the face while her body eagerly await for Luke.

LUKE

If her response had held left any room for doubt, the way her eyes practically lit up the room was enough to wash it away. As Luke allowed herself to be brought into another kiss, she allowed Keagan's legs to gently slide off her shoulders not wanting to cause any possible discomfort.

Her own arousal was impossible to deny, and as she finally got to feel the warmth of Keagan's want practically pulling her fingers further inside of herself, the Paladin let out a moan of her own. Discarding the last item of clothing on her body, Luke broke their kids gently as she stood up to place a hand on Keagan's chest before she began to add the thrusting of her own hips behind every pump of her fingers inside the other woman. Slowly building up a rhythm and allowing them both to climb towards their high.

KEAGAN

The looks Luke was giving her was just... Captivating. The hunger behind them whilst giving her a sense of admiration. If she had not thought she was beautiful before, she sure did now. Keagan had not looked away once unless their lips were fused together. The wolf within her was absolutely feral from how the other was treating her.

So when the paladin stood tall and looking down at her with a hand on her chest, it was quite the sight. Her own hand clutched the one on her chest as they moved in rhythm as if it was the only thing grounding her. With a smirk, she eventually moved it up her neck until she could take the thumb into her mouth, letting her tongue run around it.

LUKE

The sensations that ran up her arm and through her entire body at the feeling of Keagan's mouth taking her thumb in and expertly reminiding her that she too knew what to do with her tongue, had Luke wanting to test out just what else that mouth could do. But this moment wasn't about herself, it was about _them_. Together.

Sliding her thumb out of Keagan's mouth, she slowly glided her hand down to wrap around her neck -placing the briefest of pressures there- before sliding it around to latch onto her neck. With ease, and care -always mindful of not hurting the other- she used the hold she had on Keagan's neck to bring her up to sitting position, their heated flesh immediately pressed against each other, that mystical magnetism between them not allowing for even a slight breeze to pass between. With the new leverage, Luke lent down to latch onto Keagan's neck before working her way back to her mouth as the rhythm of her hips and fingers continued to lead them to the release they both sought.

KEAGAN

As she felt herself be brought closer and closer to he edge, her arms were once again found wrapped around the taller woman as if to aid in closing any possible gap left between them. The two of hem so in sync as they kept movig together until pleasure hit her like a wave. Breaking the kiss, she cried out as she hid into Luke. Her hands just gripping onto the other though not hard enough to hurt the other.

When she rode it out and was still feeling rather sensitive, Keagan kept her place. Being in Luke's embrace just felt... right. It wad eithout a doubt that she was the source of her daughter's cuddly nature.

LUKE

Their first time together had been incredible, but tinged by the knowledge that both parties genuinely believed to be true at the time: _it would never happen again_. This time, there was nothing being held over their heads. They were _free_ to not just live in the moment, but to actually _enjoy_ it. This time the only saltiness that mingled in with the taste of each other, was the sweat on their skin and not the tears falling from their eyes,

Luke wasn't a novice by any means, so knowing that her partner was close wouldn't have taken guesswork. However, when it came to Keagan..._everything_ was just different. The knowledge that Keagan was right on the precipice was something she just intuitively _knew_ to be true and it was enough to get herself to the same point. They were both right there, and as a cry ripped out of the wolf's throat, Luke immediately followed suit in going over the edge. There was no crying out from her though, mind already focused on helping the smaller woman ride-out her orgasm.

Her focus was such, that it wasn't until she stopped feeling the reverberations around her fingers and had gingerly slipped them out -cleaning them, of course- so she could properly wrap Keagan in a full embrace, that she realized she kind of tehcnically already _had_ her embraced. "I can definitely say with one hundred percent assurance, _you_ are the only girl _that's_ happened with," she chuckled lowly as she looked at the large wings encasing them both in the softest of feather-light touches.

KEAGAN

To both be in the moment was something that Keagan hadn't experienced with anyone else other than Lucas. So to think that she had the chance again was truly a blessing. As they both caught their breaths again, the wolf laid on top of the woman's chest. It didn't even click in her mind until Luke pointed it out.

Wrapped around them were her literally wings. Keagan reached out and touched a feather tenderly, not knowing if Luke could feel it and started brushing her fingers back and forth to feel it's texture. If Luke wasn't a born Paladin, this would definitely never happen in her life. Though the colour was as dark as the tattoo she saw, it was still so majestic that it rendered her speechless as she observed it longer. It felt.. *safe* to have them embracing her - not that she never felt safe in Lucas' arms before.

"Our girls... Will have these eventually, won't they?" Her voice still sounding raw as she asked. "They're beautiful, Luke.." Without much thought, she leaned up and gave a small kiss on the feather she had been observing.

LUKE

It was true when she'd said earlier that she really had no idea how the whole wings thing worked but, now that they were 'out' it felt like controlling any other extension of herself. The feeling of Keagan's fingers brushing against the feathers was definitely distinct from having her brush against her skin, but she could feel it all the same. Chuckling slightly at the tone, Luke simply said, "Yes, I suppose they will. Can't speak to their appearance though, I still don't actually know how it's meant to go, but I do suddenly have a mental image of flying puppies."

Her wings extended to their full span, less to show them off and more so that they wouldn't find themselves pinned down as Luke made to flip their positions. As the wings came in and settled back into their tattoo state, Luke nuzzled Keagan's neck and said, "If the shivers I feel are because you're cold, don't worry love, I don't plan on letting that be an issue for long..."

KEAGAN

The twins really be in situations she had never been prepared for. Flying wolves. The twins would without a doubt test out flying the first chance they get once the wings kick in. "Should we pad up the cabin ceilings and all?" She chuckled, knowing that a simple spell might do the trick.

Her train of thought broke when she found herself being flipped over, with her on her back again. She placed a very gentle kiss to Luke's temple, finding the nuzzling very endearing before that warm smile was replaced with a smirk from the suggestion. A hearty laugh came at that before she learned far enough to look down at her partner. "I would hope we both have more stamina than this." It came as a growl as her own hand snuck in-between them, sliding down the paladin's torso.

LUKE

"They're actually fairly reinforced," Luke replied with ease. From experience, and clearly entirely missing the point. Of course, she could hardly be blamed. Her body wasn't exactly prioritizing her brain on the list of where to send blood rushing to at the moment.

There was something uniquely _delicious_ about having it be Keagan's hand running down her body. The fact this strong, disciplined, independent individual was caving to her desire to just reach out and place her hands where she wanted? And that where she _wanted_ was on Luke? She was almost certain her eyes would never be blue again. Reaching her own hand down to hook Keagan's thigh over her hip and allowing for more leverage as she ground down and trapped the woman's hand between both of their most sensitive areas at the moment, all Luke could do was give her a cheeky grin as she said, "Oh I would hope so too. I'm due at least _six_ more rounds."

KEAGAN

Her low chuckle transitioned into an embarrassed groan when *that* topic came up again. It was clear that no one in the family was ever going to let it go ever since Douchewin *announced* it to the world whether it was true or not.

With that tease, she leaned up and nip Luke gently at the neck. "As alluring as it is to watch you be so competitive which I'm sure you'll be able to beat ten-folds with ease, I'd rather not bring up a certain someone's words..." With a little bit of strength, her fingers wiggled enough to slide them through the folds.

LUKE

There were a lot of nitty-gritty details to her home life as a kid that Luke never really shared with anyone. At least not in a way where it couldn't easily be written off as creative liberty or some such. Malcolm may only have been a part of her life for five years, but the extent of his actions stayed with her well into adulthood. True intimacy was such a foreign concept, and the idea of physical intimacy with a person of the same-sex was mired in memories of awful consequences.

But as she felt slender fingers make their way through the most intimate part of herself, and being able to look into the eyes of the person they belonged too, _none of that mattered_. Lucas would never deny their skill at ensuring her partner had the best of experiences, but the woman was a _master_ at doing so in a way that meant she her sex was never really touched or even considered really. That level of trust, openess, ans vulnerability was one she never really felt with or even _wanted_ to have with anyone else.

Except _her_. As she continued to work her hips into the other woman, she once again caught her gaze as she spoke with nothing but open honesty as she said, "You were the first and _only_ woman that can honestly say they know what it feels like to be _inside_ me..."

KEAGAN

It didn't quite click at first when Luke spoke - esp when she was aware that the twins kept a black book. But then when it did, her golden eyes soften and Keagan leaned in to give a kiss that was less of hunger but of warmth and understanding. God, what did she do to deserve such a woman - a constant question she asked herself. Luke's been nothing but unbelievable since they were children, and more so when they grew up. Not everyone would deal with the things Keagan had dropped on her.

Without holding back, her fingers started with a slow rhythmic pace while thrusting her own hips against her hand as well. Her free hand latched to the back of the paladin's neck. She could honestly say that no one had ever made the wolf feel the same way Lucas had all these years. If only she hadn't been so stubborn, perhaps they would have had less heartaches.

LUKE

The kiss was different. It was less desperate in their need to be in each other's space, and more languid in its confidence that they needn't try so hard to get the other, because they already had it. As they lay here now, their desire was secondary to the certainty that they they had already entrusted each other with their hearts.

Lucas wasn't the most vocal of lovers, but she also wasn't practically riding just any other woman's hand. To know that the one person you love enough to trust your _entire_ self to loves you back the same. That she _wants_ you, as much as you want her? It didn't take long for her to reach the edge again, but she refused to let go unless they were going together. Holding Keagan's gaze, she brought her hand up to cup a breast as she hissed, "I want to absolutely _ruin_ you for _anybody_ else like you did me. Cum _with me_ , princess."

KEAGAN

Her eyes widened, gasping at the hand against her breast.. or at the words being said. To think that she would be called a Princess. Guess it wasn't hard to know where Sky got that trait from because the way it had her blushing yet sporting a dopey smile from a simple nickname... Lord, the vice grip this woman had on her.

However, she didn't think any further on it as she did as she was told, both thrusting while grinding together at a faster speed with the Paladin as she felt the shudders coming from both herself and her lover.

LUKE

There was definitely a sense of satisfaction at the reaction she received from her words, but it was immediately and vastly overshadowed. Any sense of satisfaction she may have ever had in this arena before, paled in comparison to the knowledge that she was able to _bring_ the other woman the same level of gratification. And admittedly there was also an ego boost in knowing she was able to bring them both to orgasm together while her hands were nowhere near the woman's actual sex.

As they both rode out their orgasms together, Luke began placing kisses from the woman's shoulder, up her jaw, and finally captured her lips once more. As she broke the kiss, she eased up onto her knees to take another look at the literal mother of her children and simply gave her a self-assured smile as she said, "I swear, my eyes will never be blue again because you. I can _feel_ it."

KEAGAN

The tender moments in-between were too heartwarming, the wolf sworn her heart could explode with how much love she felt for and from the other. "While I do love your new glowing eyes because they're very unique, it'd be a shame to never see those baby blues again." She chuckled softly.

The room was just filled with their scent; something surely anyone of their pack would notice if they weren't all busy doing their own thing. "Although... They probably won't go away for tonight at the very least."

[esta-elavaris]

ok new fic ask game bc why not!! 📚⏰ — i kinda have my own own question to tack onto these two though and that is if you read any fanfic or if you mainly focus on writing it, and so if you do read any do you have any that you would recommend for some reason or another?

📚 Do you read your own fic?

CTW is the only one I can read for actual enjoyment/out of pride 🥲 I remain stupidly proud of that one. I think LBL was my first properly good fic, but I improved a lot as I was writing it so I wince throughout it a lot, especially with the early chapters, if I have to refer back to it for whatever reason. I've also never looked back at HTWA until literally just last night, because I'm doing a read-through to make sure I can land the thing in a decent way over the next few months, but even that one has me cringeing a lot. Usually if I'm reading something of my own, it's so I can remember what I've already done, especially if it's a fic I haven't touched in a long time 💀

⏰ Do you spend more time reading fic, writing fic, or do you do both equally?

Writing it, for sure. I used to read tonnes of it, easily outweighing the actual books I read, but at this point I have so many actual books I want to get through that I can't justify reading lots of fic unless I have bad fandom brainrot - like, deep hyperfixation style. The last one for that was the Ghost fandom, since the members of the band are characters rather than just normal musicians, so I don't feel weird reading about them. But nine times out of ten if I want to read I just go for a book.

That being said, it doesn't help that I make a point of completely avoiding reading pairings that I write (sometimes even entire fandoms, depending on whether I want to keep writing different pairings in the same fandom later on) because I don't want to be accidentally influenced by another writer to a point where I'd unwittingly copy their ideas without realising it. So the more fic I write, the less I can really read. It's definitely a bit of a paranoid move but it offers peace of mind lolol.

Buuut I did read this Haldir/LOTR fic this year - it's very, very good and it's still being updated! I'm going to reread it from the beginning soon for sure.

Thank you for consistently giving me an excuse to whitter on about writing I do very much appreciate it 💜