#let me know if you do run the event! either in asks or dms!

[fwhimmy-week]

i was gonna ask this in messages but tumblr absolutely nuked my sideblogs messaging tab AS i was sending them??? idk ANYWAY

well first of all- how do you get people interested? i was thinking of making an interest check form but have never made one before and was wondering what questions to put on it

oh rip your messaging tab. that sucks.

as for getting people interested: my form of interest check was a poll i did on my main (since i don't mind having people know what events/accounts i run.) it only had four options, all of them pretty general [link here!]

i had two yes's, participant and non-participant, to get an idea of how many people would actually make something, so that's a good thing to put on the form! obviously if the event your running is for a lesser known ship/duo/character, there's gonna be more no's and maybe's then definite yes's, but don't let that discourage you. I even had to tell myself "don't get caught up on the numbers, focus on the fun. focus on if I WANT to do this, not how much attention it will get." before making this event!

Another good question would maybe be the timing of the event? Especially now that we're in the latter months of the year. (Summer break is ending for any American still in school, the holiday season is getting closer, etc etc.) A lot of things are either gonna be giving people more time and other things giving them less time. This was probably a question i should've asked myself, in all honesty. Do try to make it happen at a time that's both good for you AND others. Don't be afraid to delay or push the event back a week, either. Life often gets pretty unpredictable

You could also ask for inputs on theme! Especially if your like me and suck at this stuff. Or you could be like fwhimmyweek #1, and just have daily themes based off the character(s) themselves.

I would also asks what type of art is most likely to be created, assuming you allow multiple types. Bigger events (think treebark week) are more likely to get more varied stuff (writing, stimboards, webweavings, etc) while smaller events like this one may only get art and a few fanfictions here and there

I would also leave an open response question, for any ideas or suggestions people have!

Actually getting people interested is the hard part. All i can say is promote the hell out of it, on here, in any discord server you can, with friends if you can too; but sometimes that only gets you so far. I saw an increase in followers and mentions of this event when it actually got going. (And it was, a little amusing to be honest, seeing mcytblrsource and other accounts in my reblogs post-event.) Sometimes just running it once will be what gets more attention.

(if you don't know what mcytblrsource is: they keep track of fandom events. i'm not sure what tags they check, but it's probably somewhere on their blog. Or they might allow asks. Getting them to see it, sooner or later, and tagging with #mcyt event could also work in your favor)

also! promotional images leading up to it! post your full event pfp and header, if they're both original pieces. my promo posts for the week before the event helped a little, and the header art is like the most popular post on this blog. so they both definitely did something.

that's all i can think of right now, hope it helps!

[towriteloveontheirarms]

Your dorm or mine? (Felix Catton x reader)

synopsis: You went to the party only to make your friend happy. In the end it is you who gets the happy end.

warnings: innuendo, making out, afab reader

word count: 1.7k

taglist: @hopelesswritergall

(If you want to be tagged for a specific character/fandom or in general let me know in my asks, comments or DMs)

Dividers by me

The bass of the booming music fills out the entire room and runs through your body to make for a stuffy atmosphere. People are drinking and dancing all around or sitting to the side to either attempt conversation over the noise or making out. And you would lie if you would ask yourself why you were here. Despite belonging to the ´popular crowd´ at Oxford by extension this wasn´t your usual scene. Yet when your friend begged for you to come out to the Halloween party thrown by some students, you decided to indulge her. Ignoring the way, she wiggled her eyebrows as she mentioned that there would be more than enough cute boys attending to get your mind away from the bits that you hated about going out. However, your face does begin to burn the smallest bit at the thought. You are aware that she really means that one specific boy, that she had seen you looking at for weeks now. One of the only things that made you truly like every other girl on campus. Felix Catton. Yet how could you not. Whenever you saw him, he was smiling so genuinely. He was kind and surprisingly smart and sure he had that old money not having to care about anything vibe surrounding him, but no one was entirely free of fault. So, what? You are convinced you have never seen your friend smile brighter than in the moment you agree to go. Except for maybe when she more or less drags you along to look for matching costumes and finally finds the one. It´s stereotypical almost. Her as a devil and you as an angel, but you don´t complain about that. With a bit of luck, it will give you the benefit of getting lost in the masses. When it came to parties, people always seemed to go crazy. Going all out for the event. No matter if it was Halloween, Christmas or any other occasion. Even if it was just a random weekend. You highly doubt some of them even spend half of the energy they put into partying in studying, but luckily that wasn´t your problem. Your problem was the insufferable pain spreading slowly from the metatarsals throughout the whole foot, caused by the high heels you had been handed to wear along with the costume and the incessant dancing.

Yet you don´t get a break either. Right as you manage to convince your friend to take a break and sit down at the side to get a drink, you get approached by an impossibly tall figure, but even in the flickering lights and with the cowboy hat pulled down to hide his eyes you know instantly who it is. Felix gives you one of his signature, and to your detriment very charming, half smiles.

“Hey.” He says just loud enough to be heard over the music.

Even over the smell of sweat from the people around you you can detect his aftershave. One of the most alluring scents in the world.

“H-hey.” You answer though you can´t hide the stutter, giving away the surprise at him talking to you. Something that had never happened before and you thought scientifically impossible of ever happening, but here you were.

“You wanna dance?” Felix holds out his hand towards you, to be able to pull you onto the dancefloor should you accept his request. Unsure what to do you look back at your friend, who nods enthusiastically and holds both her thumbs up to signal that she would be fine on her own.

“Yeah, sure!” You smile widely at him and take his hand.

The next thing you know is being surrounded by people as you get pulled close Felix´s body. He guides your hips with his large hands to sway from side to side to the beat of the music that now vibrates all throughout your body. All the pain and tiredness from before is forgotten as you feel the vibration from the improvised dancefloor through the soles of your feet and up your spine and the firm grip Felix has on your body. You let him lead you willingly until the two of you are close enough to breathe in the air that the other has breathed out. You look up into his eyes only to find them already looking down at your lips. You pull your lower lip between your teeth and turn around in his touch to dance up on him some more, rubbing your backside against his front. As you do so, you can feel his excitement fit snuggly between your ass cheeks. One of your hand sneaks up to take it´s place in his neck, pulling him down ever so slightly.

Felix gets the hint and leans down the rest of the way himself to meet your lips with his. The kiss only lasts for a short moment, but the way he nips at your lower lip has you craving more instantly. How could you not be instantly hooked on the feeling his impossibly large hand holding your face by the chin. The room around you gets cut off from the little bubble you are in when you turn around again to press your chest to his, your hands cupping his face to keep him close, but no matter how much you try to stay away from him just to tease, you fail. Even with the added height that the heels give you, you have to stand up on your tiptoes to claim his lips again. This one lasts longer, each of you pushing and rubbing your bodies against each other as it goes on, getting more and more worked up. All you can feel is his stubble underneath your palms and his hardness press against your lower stomach. The noise, the people it all gets relocated to the furthest place in your brain. There is only him and you for the time your lips crush together, tongues exploring each other’s mouths until you feel like you know it like the back of your hands. When you part, your panties are staining heavily and his pants couldn´t possibly get any tighter. Your eyes straying upwards to the hat he wears gives you an idea.

You steal the cowboy hat from his head onto your own and smile at him, with him laughing back at you as it slides down from being a bit too big.

“Do you know the cowboy hat rule?” He mischievously mutters into your ear.

“Of course, I do. If you steal a cowboy’s hat, you have to ride him.” You recount the rule, running your hand over his shirt up and down his chest.

“So… Do you want to go to your dorm or mine?” Felix ponders as he takes both of your hands into his ready to lead you away.

“Let´s do yours.” You answer almost a beat too fast, making him chuckle again.

“I´m starting to think that you and your friend should have switched costumes. You are at least only half the angel you dressed up as.” He jokes, but every one of his words lights the fire of need in your core further.

Multiple times along the way to his dorm you two stop just to make out for a few moments before being able to continue. Even after you leave the initial party the air between you continues to stay thick to a point of almost being unbreathable. The only breaks of air you get when his lips are on yours. It also serves well to work the two of you up even further.

When you do finally arrive at the destination, Felix cages you up against the door with his much taller frame.

“Finally.” You breathe out in relief.

“I don´t think I would have been able to hold back another minute.” Felix agrees. “I would have had to fuck you right in the middle of the hallway.”

You poorly bite back a moan at the thought, letting your head rest against the wood of the door to give him more space as he begins to trail his lips down your neck.

“You like that thought, hm? What a dirty girl.” He acknowledges your reaction.

“Technically we still are in the hallway.” You giggle in response. “So, we haven´t entirely made it yet.”

Felix lays a hand on the small of your back to stop you from falling and with the other opens the door behind you. Walking you inside like this, your eyes are captured by his. The only indication for where you are is when your legs bump against the bed. Turning the two of you around, you gently push Felix to sit on the edge of the mattress. Giving him a show of undressing yourself, while he impatiently disposes of his shirt, touching every new patch of skin that you expose of yourself. Left in only your panties, you kneel between his legs to open the button of his jeans, pulling them down along with his boxers. As you climb onto his lap to straddle his hips, you feel Felix grab onto your hips once more. Fingertips digging into your skin from the sheer neediness of the touch.

The next morning, you wake up with a pounding headache and a ringing in your ears, but also deeply satisfied with one of Felix´s long arms laid over your middle. It seems as if he is still sound asleep, chest rising deeply and regularly, and even more angel faced than when he was awake. Carefully, you place his hand on top of the blanket that hangs loosely around his hips while you stand up. Hurrying around the room as quietly as possible to get dressed and out of there before Felix catches you. You are in such a hurry that you don´t hear the rustling of bedsheets behind you.

“Leaving already?” Comes the muffled, bleary voice through the pillow. Signalling that your efforts had been futile.

“Y-yeah.” You zip up the dress and turn slowly to face him. “I thought you were still asleep.”

“And yet here I am, awake.” He takes in a deep breath and turns his body to face you as well. Letting the blanket slide further down in the process. “I know you were just about to grab the rest of your costume and sneak out, but how would you feel about being invited to a cup of coffee or tea or whatever?”

The offer floors you quite a bit. Thinking about it for a second with what feels like only half of your usual brain power however leads to the same answer any other day or circumstance would have lead to.  “Uh, sure. I´d like that.”

[flecks-of-stardust]

Donation Commissions for Palestine (PAUSED)

I am opening commissions in exchange for donations to any particular fundraiser I choose for any given day. I am not asking you to donate to me. Payment involves showing proof of donation to the selected channels, and we will discuss from there.

I am opening commissions primarily for writing and fiber arts patterns. If you are unfamiliar with my written work, my old pinned post has links to the work I've done in the past. Additionally, my AO3 is flecks_of_stardust. I am focusing on fanfiction for writing commissions.

The general run down of this process is as follows: You have the option to donate to either the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund or a selected fundraiser for the day. I will change the fundraiser selected for any particular day at 11 am Pacific Time. The selected fundraiser is chosen from the Vetted Gaza Evacuation Fundraiser List. To commission me, you must donate to either the PCRF or the chosen fundraiser and send proof of donation to me through DMs. Please ensure that the fundraiser you donate to matches the one I have selected for today. Once I have received proof of your donation, we can discuss the commission.

More specifics on donations are under the cut.

The fundraiser for now is for the Abu Ramadan family.

General Policies

I am but one person, so there are limits to what I can do. For each donation category, there are a limited number of commission slots that can be taken up. Once those slots are filled up, I will temporarily close commissions for that category. Proof of donation is accepted based on the time you DM me. However, if all my slots are taken, even if you have sent me appropriate proof of donation, I cannot take on your commission until a slot is open. I will notify you when I've taken on your commission should this happen to you.

In the event that this happens to anyone, I will list the overflow slots next to the commission slots. Overflow slots indicate how many people have shown me proper proof of donation, but are not currently having their commission being worked on. This is an estimate of how long it may take for me to get to your commission.

Some notes and rules that apply to all the commission categories:

Donation to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund does not include the processing fee. You must donate the whole dollar to PCRF. This means that if you're donating only a dollar, your actual charge is going to be around 1.35 USD. Keep this in mind for the donation categories; if less than 1 USD goes to PCRF, I cannot accept your donation. Similarly, PCRF must receive at least 2 USD in full for me to accept your donation for the lowest writing commission category.

I will not make anything involving NSFW content, but I am okay with a certain extent of gore and violence. Discuss it with me. I have the right to refuse to create anything I'm uncomfortable with, but I am willing to negotiate.

You will not get anything extra from donating more than the commission category you're asking for, but it's very kind of you if you choose to do so.

I am extremely aromantic. Please keep that in mind if you want me to create something romantic. It is highly likely I cannot deliver, and I recommend you ask someone else.

Do not send me an ask with proof of donation. I need a reliable means to discuss with you, and an ask is not that. You have to DM me. You may request to communicate over Discord if you already know what my username is there, but primarily I will be communicating through Tumblr DMs.

Though all prices are listed in USD, I do not need you to pay in USD. This is just a relative measure of pricing. If your native currency is not USD and/or the payment doesn't display in USD, please let me know what it is so I can confirm how much you've donated.

I will refuse all offers for extensions. While the gesture is sweet, my goal is to get more donations out, not to polish every commission I do to the best I could manage. Quantity over quality, if you will. While I'll make sure to make my commission pieces as high quality as I can manage, if you're really concerned about the quality of what I create, I suggest you commission someone else.

In general, these are the media I am comfortable doing commissions for:

Hollow Knight

Rain World (Downpour included)

Bug Fables

If you'd like to request something that isn't on this list, note that I will only be accepting commission requests for fan media that I am familiar with, and where an exchange of money is allowed. One example is Team Cherry's explicit permission for small scale selling of fan merch. If I cannot confirm it and you do not show me proof that it is allowed, I will refuse your request.

If you at any point violate the rules I have stated in this post and any additional rules I may issue upon discussion of the commission, I reserve the right to refuse future requests to take your commissions even with proper proof of donation. If you do not respect my time and energy, I will not entertain you.

If you are unable to donate yourself, please spread this post around, and I welcome you to follow my lead! There's more than one way to get donations to the people that need it.

Writing (0/3)

Because I want to get through these commissions fast, I will not be spending more than 3 days or 12 total writing hours, whichever comes first, on each commission. I will be churning out these commissions as fast as possible while maintaining as satisfactory a level of writing quality as I can manage. To reflect this, the word counts and the prices for each word count are relatively low:

2 USD - approximately 500 words (hard limit 800) [must donate to PCRF due to donation limitations]

5 USD - approximately 1000 words (hard limit 1500)

10 USD - approximately 2000 words (hard limit 2500)

In the interest of time, I will not be taking original fiction requests. I will allow OCs, but you must let me know specifics on how you'd like me to write them. I am most confident working with canon characters, but please specify the type of characterization you want if you don't want me to use my own characterization.

Once the commission is complete, the completed work will be posted to a Donations for Palestine collection on AO3 unless you decline it. Additionally, you are discouraged from posting the finished commission in public spaces, but if you do so, then you must credit me without making edits to my writing. If you post it on Tumblr, please tag me in your post.

Fiber Arts Patterns (0/2)

I'm also willing to provide you with crochet or knitting amigurumi patterns. I will not send you the finished product. I will, however, send a picture of the finished product alongside the pattern. I will spend a maximum of 10 days on each pattern, and the resulting product will not be larger than 4"x4"x4"/10cmx10cmx10cm in approximate size. Pricing guidelines are as follows:

Baseline price: 12 USD

3 or more colors on the design: +3 USD (be warned that I may not have these colors)

Knitted pattern: +5 USD

I am most comfortable making little animals, and am significantly more familiar with crocheting little dolls than I am with knitting them, though I'm willing to try my hand at that too. I will also try my best to make characters from the above listed media; if you've browsed my crochet and knitting tags, you'll see that I've already made many characters from these franchises, but in much larger dimensions. If I think I'll need the doll to be bigger than my listed dimension limits for the pattern to be viable, I will refuse your request. In either case, please provide a reference picture/drawing of what you'd like me to make, and I'll match it as closely as I'm able to.

The pattern will be delivered to you through a File Garden link to a PDF; please download this PDF, as I may accidentally delete the link later on. Once you have received the pattern, you are not allowed to post it in public spaces. You may, however, post the finished product created from the pattern with credit to me. If you post it on Tumblr, please tag me in the post.

Bonus: Shitty Doodles

If you have less than 2 USD lying around but would still like to donate something, you can still show me proof of donation to PCRF of whatever amount that is for a shitty 10 minute doodle of anything you choose. I will set a timer for 10 minutes and scribble as fast as I can, and what comes out the other side is your commission piece. Do note that this will be a pencil sketch. While I have drawn in the past and consider myself a semi-decent visual artist, it is very much not my forte, hence why I'm not offering it as a serious commission. But if you're down for it, I'm willing to do this too. Just don't expect it to have any sort of quality. Be as ridiculous as you want (as long as you adhere to the above rules)! This is meant to be silly, so pretty much anything goes.

If you have any further questions or concerns, shoot me an ask or a DM. These guidelines will likely be refined as I gain more experience with this.

Major edit on July 10th: I finally noticed that the donation limit for GFM is 5 USD minimum. I have updated the guidelines to allow donation to PCRF as well.

[upsidedownsmore]

ENTRIES CLOSED, reblogs turned off, thank you everyone for entering and sharing your wonderful works!!

A compilation of every entry piece can be found here!

The winner is @mugbearerscorner and the information has been confirmed in DMs!!

Roll proof:

A link to the full spreadsheet of entries can be found here!

I'm so so grateful to all the people who participated in this event!! I'm so happy with how well it turned out and I'm so so thankful to be able to host it!!! Love you all!! :) :) :)

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

GAUSS PRIME ACCESS GIVEAWAY!

* Provided by Digital Extremes! Info about the prime access here.

To enter, simply reblog with your art of ANY warframe giving a thumbs up!

Giveaway entries will close on FEBRUARY 10TH at 10:00pm CST

The post for the above drawing (with reference screenshot and wips) can be found here.

MORE INFO UNDER THE READ LINE, PLEASE READ IT IF YOU WANT TO ENTER

Notes:

This is not a contest! The winner will be decided entirely randomly, image quality will have no effect on chances of winning! Make whatever you can in any medium you want! (This can also include 3D mediums! The only thing I'm not including is unedited game screenshots/captura, though edited might be okay). Everyone can draw regardless of how good you think your own skills are!

Please submit your own drawing(s)!! Only one is necessary but you can make more if you want of course! Do not use any AI generation tools for your entry.

When reblogging it might be a good idea to enter some text either in the post or in the tags! It turns out reblogs with just an image and nothing else might not show up under the original post, which means I might miss your submission!

Only one entry per person, you will not get more entries for additional reblogs and/or drawings.

The goal of this is for the community to have a fun little gallery of warframe thumb ups in the reblogs, but again don't stress over how "good" your drawing is! As long as you have fun and submit something vaguely in line with the prompt you're good! (such as a wave instead of a thumbs up or an operator instead of a warframe, etc. Up to you how closely you want to follow the prompt!)

You DO NOT need to engage with me in any other way (likes, follows, etc.) to enter, just a reblog with a drawing loosely following the prompt!

This giveaway will only run here on Tumblr due to issues with bots and impersonation on Twitter. The issue of course is that the only way to submit images under a single post on Tumblr is through reblogs, but please know that I do not intend this to be a means of promotion. If people could submit images in the replies I would gladly take that option! If this post gets taken down I will look into other giveaway options.

As this is my first giveaway as a Warframe creator please let me know if I've made any mistakes!

Here are some example drawings that would all work, but of course whatever you want to make shouldn't be limited to this!

Inspired by @ritens, I will be assigning one unique number per individual and then throwing them into the random number generator on random.org. After the entries close and I roll the winner, I will update this post with the winner's name and a message saying that the giveaway is closed. Reblogs will also be turned off once the giveaway is closed, as I am only using reblogs as means of congregating drawing submissions under one post during the giveaway period.

Whoever's number get's chosen will be contacted via DMs here on Tumblr, so please make sure your DMs are open! I will be asking for your Warframe IGN and platform so DE can give send over your prize! If you have cross-save linked or merged then please tell me, though I will also be asking in DMs as well. If the winner doesn't respond within 48 hours or no longer wants the prime access pack, then I will roll a new winner with the same method but with the previous winner(s) number(s) taken out of the pool.

Topmost drawing without giveaway text:

Anyways good luck and most importantly have fun!!

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

🙏 CALL FOR ARTISTS/WRITERS/MUSICIANS IN THE TIN CAN FAM 🙏

As many of you might be aware, the Tinlightenment Kickstarter is currently a little halfway over, but only 40% funded. This is... not great. While we'll definitely pick up some steam towards the end, that won't be enough to carry us past the finish line unless we get to a pretty good place before then. And the third quarter of kickstarters can be notoriously slow.

As such, I'm launching two projects fueled by fan-generated backer rewards to help encourage more pledges.

Project One is going to be a collected list of all artists/writers/musicians/ect. willing to do a small project (a request-style drawing, a drabble, a jingle, etc.) for anyone who dms them proof that they either have just pledged a certain amount, or else just upped their pledge by that number. Each creator will get to choose the dollar amount for themselves, and is invited to do so based on evaluation of the time and effort they will put into each individual request, but the typical price seems to be five dollars. If you are already doing this, please let me know and I'll add you to the list. If you're interested in starting, DM me and we can chat details and I'll add you to the list as well. To be clear, you will not be asked to make a project for every single person--just those who specifically reach out to you with a request.

But if multiple smaller projects isn't really your style and you'd rather contribute a singular, larger piece, no worries! I direct you to...

Project Two, a SWEEPSTAKES GIVEAWAY! Essentially, anyone who sends me proof that they've just pledged/upped their pledge by five bucks will be entered into a giveaway sweepstakes (submissions not yet open). While the grand prize will be any item from the StarCanWrecked merch shops, I would love to offer some other fan generated prizes as well. @booigi-boi has agreed to offer a free head-shot commission as a prize, and I would be over the moon to get even more artists, musicians, or writers involved. So if you'd be happy to give away one free commission as part of this prize pool, please DM me! I'd be happy to discuss details and get you added to this second list.

(Depending on the success of this little endeavor, I would like to use it as a work-out-the-kinks dry run for a similar fundraising event for Palestine that I would hold a month or two down the road (after American tax season). If you're not interested in helping TCB but would be interested in such a charity drive, please get in touch as well!)

(All DMs should be sent to man-down-in-hatchet-town)

Even if you aren't an artist/willing to participate, reblogs are GREATLY appreciated to help spread the word!

Now let's get FUNDRAISING!

🙏 TCB WITH YOU! 🙏

[scar-lie]

Hi! Could you maybe do a heavy angst where reader found out that Nat is cheating but still go home to Nat cuz she have no one to go, and then maybe Nat realising but it's too late cuz reader is dead! Pleaseee and Thank you!

-L

Widow [Natasha]

I DO COMMISSION JUST DM ME FOR THE INFO

Summary : Everything is lifeless in Natasha's lifee

Pairing: Natasha Romamoff x Fem ! Reader

Warning : Cheating,

Word Count : 1,432

No one has permission to repost my work anywhere, if you see it let me know.

Everything seems blurry; every second passing by feels like eternity; the noises that surround her are getting muffled by the voices inside her head; and the scene in front of her feels like a dream, a nightmare that she fears in this world.

"Grand that our sister, Y/F/N, may sleep here in peace until you awaken her to glory, for you are the resurrection and the life. Then she will see you face to face and in your light will see the light and know—" Everything is suffocating: the people gather around for today's event; the sound of the rain with thunder; and the prayer from the priest in front of her.

It's all too much that she doesn't know how to feel—guilt, sadness, mourning, or disgust toward herself. She stopped listening to the people around her, but her mind kept running to the old days where everything seemed like a dream in their paradise but got tainted with horrifying blood.

It feels like she never gets to clean up her ledger after all.

(FEW MONTHS EARLIER)

Y/N's mind is messy; the scene she saw a few minutes ago can't seem to register in her head—or she just didn't want to believe it—and Y/N doesn't hear the car pulling up the driveway; she keeps stirring the dish she's cooking for dinner.

"Y/N?" Natasha shouts, panicking and worried about what's going to happen even though she already knows what's waiting for her, and as much as she hates to deal with it, she has to face it.

Natasha stopped seeing you steering something in the pot and focused on your thoughts, which made her hand sweat, so she slowly but cautiously walked to you.

"Y/N? Baby?" She whispers softly when she finally reaches the kitchen table, keeping the distance in case you don't want her near you.

"Y/N?" Natasha calls you out a bit louder, which makes her so anxious that she starts to pick her own skin on your hand.

You snapped out of her thoughts when you heard your name being called, and you know who the person is: Natasha, your wife for over 5 years now, the woman you love dearly.

You sighed and took a deep breath before you turned off the stove and turned around, trying to be as calm as possible and give her the warmest smile that you could.

"Oh, you're home; sorry I didn't hear you." You swallow the lump in your throat, trying to be as positive and unsuspisious as possible.

Natasha frowns at your acting; this isn't what she expects your reaction to be; she expects you to pack your stuff or rage at you; she expects you to shout at her, but she didn't push it and went to her plan and apologized to you.

"Y/N, I'm sorry, I swear it doesn't mean anything, I-I love you." Natasha softly begged, slowly walked toward you, and took your hands on hers.

"What are you sorry for?" This clearly caught Natasha off guard; she does know what was happening to you, whether you're pretending you didn't know or you truly don't know, and she can't read you; she doesn't know either way.

"The affair," Natasha simply said, playing it safe and trying to test you.

"What affairs, wh-what are you talking about?" If you're in the running for the Oscar for best actress, you're definitely winning the award.

"Are you having an affair?" You asked with knotted eyebrows and a questionable tone.

"Uhm.....no, sorry, just.....forget I said anything, okay?" Natasha quickly withdraws and kisses your forehead, hugging you tightly, afraid you will be gone.

She would rather lie to your face than lose you; she doesn't know if she will be in her right mind when you're finally gone, and she can't imagine the future without you.

"Dinner's ready; are you hungry?" You asked, tapping her bicep, and she nodded, then proceeded to kiss your face.

"Stop, please," you whisper and beg her, and she smiles and nods, letting you prepare the dining table while she goes upstairs and takes a quick shower.

You can't sleep or think straight; your mind is only focusing on what happened earlier. You look over your shoulder to your wife, who's sound asleep while her arm is wrapped around your waist.

You sigh, seeing her peacefully sleeping form behind you while you can't seem to find a little bit of tiredness in your body to fall asleep.

Your mind is filled with thoughts: how she held her, the way she touched her, kissed her, and pleasured her, the things she did to you, and the things you have done with her that she's now doing with another woman behind your back.

The promise you both held in front of the altar is now broken; her loyalty and faithfulness had been tainted with dark ink, which ruined your marriage.

The promise of in sickness and in health is on the edge of your marriage, but you decided against it; you chose to be silent and blind to her lies.

Even though she cheated on you, you can't leave because you have no one to run to, no place to stay but this house, no one to call but her, and no one to hold on to if you decide to break the marriage.

You risk everything to be with her; you lose your acting and modeling career; you turn around on your family; you push away your friends just to be with her; and now, you have no place to go; you have no one but yourself.

"Nat?" Natasha snapped out of her thoughts when Wanda tapped her shoulder, worried.

"Ye-yes?" Natasha whispers, looking up at her with a defeated face.

Everyone is already on their way home; do you want us to drive you off? "Wanda looked at her with sympathy while Natasha looked around to the darkish raining field and saw no one but her teammates, the Avengers, who dressed in all black with black umbrellas, looking to the both of them, waiting.

"Oh........uh, no, thank you. You all can drive back; I want to stay here." Natasha gave Wanda a sad smile and tapped her hand that was in Natasha's bicep.

"Are you sure? We don't want you to be alone." Natasha nodded at Wanda.

Ok," even though Wanda didn't want to leave her alone, she didn't push Natasha; instead, she pulled out her handkerchief and extended her hand to Natasha.

"Take this at least," Wanda said. Natasha looked down at the white handkerchief with a flowered design at the edges.

She swallowed the lump in her throat when she saw it. It's your handkerchief, one of your favorites; it's one from your mother, which is why you love it, but when Wanda joined the Avengers, you decided to give it to her as a welcome gift.

"Thank you," Natasha whispers, taking the handkerchief while her tears keep flowing down her cheeks.

"Call us if you need us." Wanda gives Natasha a smile and finally turns around to join the team and go home with them.

The team is worried for Natasha, especially Clint, when they see Wanda walk on her own, but they respect Natasha's decision and let her mourn.

The team didn't know what happened; you decided to keep it to yourself. When you decided to stay, not a single soul knew that you knew about the affair.

Natasha doesn't know what to feel; she doesn't know what is the right thing to do; she feels guilty and disgusted for having an affair; she's sad that she missed the last few months of her life with you when she was busy somewhere else; and she's mourning the loss of her love, her greatest love.

You're her life, the sun in her dark and rainy days, the rainbow in her sky, and her nature in her land; without you, she will be nothing, a useless woman who seeks her lover's embrace; she will never be Natasha Romanoff without you in her arms; she'll go crazy if ever so

Now she's soaked from standing alone in a cold, rainy cemetery, standing in front of your newly fresh grave in all black, her umbrella long forgotten that she dropped, crying silently while looking at the dirt in front of her, a nightmare that she didn't expect so soon to come true.

She's now living under her own name as a Widow.

[lovetaroandtaemin]

Kinktober 2024

Day 1: Edging

Lee Seokmin x Reader

Word Count: 1,033

THIS FIC IS NSFW, MINORS DNI!!!

Warnings: Switch!DK x Switch!Reader, Edging, blowjobs, teasing in public, unprotected sex, creampie, begging, dirty talk. If you think I missed a warning let me know!

A/N: I'm so excited to be participating in Kinktober this year! I always read so many amazing fics during this time, and it's going to be fun to try to write my own. I hope y'all like them! If you'd like to be added to the Kinktober taglist, you can either send an ask, send a dm, or leave a comment on any of my Kinktober related posts. Happy reading, and happy spooky season!

Fic is under the cut.

When you agreed to accompany your boyfriend to a prestigious awards ceremony, you had no intention of sucking him off in the venue’s bathroom. Seokmin was the one that drove you to this point because he spent the entire time you were getting ready teasing you. It started with small comments, like how he wanted to see your pretty makeup run and how sexy you looked in the dress you had chosen to wear. Then, the comments escalated to grabbing your ass on the red carpet and kissing your neck whenever the two of you weren’t the focus of the cameras. So, since he decided that he was going to be a tease, you decided to return the favor.

After what had to have been the tenth time that he had grabbed your ass that evening, you leaned in and instructed him to meet you in the family restroom once the ceremony’s intermission began. He did as instructed, and the moment he entered the room you locked the door and kissed him. He let out a small moan when he finally felt your lips on his, and you had to admit you almost didn’t follow through with your plan. You had never been a quitter, however. So, you pulled away from the kiss and slowly got on your knees.

Before you continued, you looked up at Seokmin and said, “Can I?” Too turned on to speak, he only nodded. You unbuttoned his slacks and pulled them down along with his boxers, then you got to work. You started to move your mouth along his shaft, and a series of moans left his lips. Even when your lovely boyfriend was lost in pleasure, he had a beautiful voice.

You two were at an event, however, so you stopped sucking briefly to tell Seokmin to keep quiet. He reluctantly agreed, and you continued. Even without his moaning filling the room, his heavy breathing and his grip on your hair were strong enough indicators that he was thoroughly enjoying your actions.

The prior teasing had Seokmin more turned on than he cared to admit, so it didn’t take long before he felt his orgasm approaching. With a moan, he said, “Fuck, baby, I’m close.” When you promptly stopped sucking his cock, he groaned and said, “What the hell?”

“I’m sorry, honey, but we’re at an awards show. I don’t want to make a mess of my dress at such a high-class event. What would people say?”

“Baby, please?”

“If you behave for the rest of the night, you’ll get to cum later.”

Seokmin sighed and put his pants back on. You grinned as your plan worked exactly the way you intended it to. Then you stood up and left the restroom, with your disappointed boyfriend following you. After the intermission, the ceremony continued with no further teasing.

On the drive home, it took every ounce of self-control Seokmin had to keep his hands off of you. When the two of you got back to your shared apartment, he practically dragged you to your room. As soon as the door was shut, you were pinned against it, and he was kissing you like it was the last thing he would ever do. When he pulled away to breathe, you took the opportunity to regain control and instructed him to take his clothes off. He hesitantly did as told, watching as you did the same. When you dragged him to the bed and told him to lie down, however, he was much less hesitant.

Seokmin once again did as he was told, so you climbed on top of him and kissed him again. He loved kissing you, but he was also desperate to be inside you. So, when you pulled away, he said, “Please?”

You grinned and lowered yourself onto him, moaning as you felt him inside you. You took a moment to adjust to the feeling, and Seokmin let out a sigh of relief as he finally felt you start to fuck yourself on his cock.

“Baby, you feel so good,” Seokmin said with a moan, “I’ve been waiting to fuck you all day.”

“I know, you’ve been driving me crazy all day.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but you’re just too fucking sexy for your own good, honey.”

You continued to ride Seokmin until he warned you that he was getting close. Then, you lifted yourself off of him and grinned as he whined, “Baby, why did you stop? I was good for the rest of the awards show.”

“I know, but it is so much fun to toy with you.”

“Please, baby?”

You thought for a moment before deciding to go easy on your boyfriend. He had been incredibly well-behaved for the second half of the ceremony, after all. You gently lowered yourself back onto him and kissed him, reveling in his small moans as you did. The fucked-out expression on his face as you moved up and down on his cock was adorable, and you had to admit for a moment you considered teasing him just a bit more.

You didn’t have long to consider it, however. Before you realized what was happening, Seokmin flipped you over so you were the one lying on the bed and started to pound into you. You enjoyed being the one in charge sometimes, of course, but when your boyfriend decided to take charge in the bedroom it made you go crazy.

It was embarrassing for Seokmin to admit, but he was nearing the edge again. He tried to warn you of this fact, but before he could get the words out, he came with a loud moan. His orgasm triggered your own, and you held onto him for dear life as you came undone around him.

When both of you had calmed down, Seokmin kissed you softly and climbed off of you. You whined when you realized that he was no longer inside you, but you didn’t miss him for long. He got up briefly to get both of you water, and then he got back in bed and held you. Once he felt that you had enough water, the two of you fell asleep in each other’s arms.

Thank you for reading! If you'd like to see the rest of what's planned, you can find the Kinktober masterlist here. If you'd like to read one of my non-Kinktober works, you can find my general masterlist here. If you'd like to see what I'm going to be working on once Kinktober is over, you can find my upcoming works here. If none of that interests you, or there's something specific you'd like to see, send a request via asks or dms!

Thank you again for reading, happy spooky season!

[starillusion13]

Like We Just Met! (Intro)

Alien AU

“MY MBTI is ISTJ.” “No your MBTI is OURS.”

Pairing: nct dream(ot7) x reader

Genre: Alien au, Fluff

W.C: N/A

Warnings: The events in the story contain themes like obsession, manipulation, possessive behaviour and restraining acts.

Taglist: (open! reply/ask/dm)

@mymoodwriting @justhere4kpop @vvshere @yeoobin @anyamaris @icchyi @jwnghyuns @piratequeen-queenofgames

*under the cue*

“Is that poison?” Your big round eyes with shock evident on your face look up to the seven figures in front of you.

“Yes baby!” He is licking his lips while eyeing the glass in his hand.

“Why nothing happened to you all?”

They laughed on your question. The eldest one comes in front of you with slow steps and a sly smirk in the corner of his lips.

“Are you so desperate to get rid of us?”

“I want to go away from this place. Go away from you all. I don’t want to live here anymore.”

You are ranting out your thoughts which you had suppressed since morning so that you can poison them and run away from here but nothing happened like your set up plan.

“Why? You have us and this is the place where you are safe and away from the people who always try to separate you from us.”

“I don’t want you.” You eyed each one of them, who all just look like some funky college students. Their flashy clothes are contrasting their acts.

A sweet melodious voice makes his presence near you, “no matter what you try or where you go. We will find you. Your running away from us sends a SOS signal to our hearts.”

“What the hell? You are talking nonsense.”

“No baby, he is correct. You are connected with us.” This boy always has to call you with nicknames even in this situation.

“Stop with your names and act.”

A deep voice chimes in, “Don’t speak like that to him.”

Your frustration building up on the command and at this point yourself is feeling to drink the poison. Ah! If I don’t get the chance to get away from here then it’s better to end my life inspite of theirs.

“I was happy to finally stay somewhere cheap and then when you all showed up here with whom I need to share the place. I thought everything will be okay until you all literally started to treat my like your doll.”

The demanding deep voice again spoke up, “Lower your voice Y/N. Don’t test me.”

“You don’t test me as well.” You shout at him and picked up the nearest glass on the table. You are sure one of them was drinking from it but now you don’t care about the person but the poison in the liquor in the glass.

“Don’t dare to drink it and you know it’s gonna be worst for you.”

“You don’t tell me what to do or not. Either you let me go away or am drinking this.”

“y/n…..” a panicked voice from the corner of the room is audible to your ears even in all these chaos.

The youngest always panic during these situations but he is as worst as his brothers.

When everyone followed your gaze towards him, you quickly chugged down the liquor.

“Y/N!”

“No please, why did you do this?” Someone hugged your dizzy figure. You are loosing your balance and just let him handle your form in his arms.

You smiled at them with your hooded eyes, “ My MBTI is ISTJ.”

“No your MBTI is OURS.”

You closed your eyes slowly and your warm self turning cold in his arms.

“What will we do now?”

“Let’s pretend like we just met.”

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

They will find you again. Who will meet you first though? Will you be able to remember them?

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Navigate to NCT MASTERLIST

———————————————

Next

———————————————

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not letting someone stream a movie in a server?

So I (27M) moderate a server for fans of a video game who wanna RP together. It's not small but I'd call it cozy, and there are several mods and it's understood things have to stay like... Pg-13/T. We don't mind if you say fuck but we're also in a fandom that appeals to minors.

There are minors in the server. Minors are welcome to join the server.

This is simply context for what follows.

A member (32F) joins the server, and broke a rule here or there, and I am the mod that was most active so I was the one that usually corrected her. It was nothing personal, she just broke minor rules and needed to be corrected, or asked for something the mod team disagreed with, and I answered the question.

One day, this member comes in and announces she will be streaming a movie in the server soon for anyone that wants to join. Specifically she's going to stream Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.

So, on one hand, this might be our bad. We didn't really have streaming rules? Because no one really streamed. Ever. Server's years old and it's only ever been a few art streams.

So the mods quickly huddle up and make up rules about what we do and don't allow to be streamed, and all agree that streaming R rated movies in a server with kids under 18 is a bad idea.

I let her know we have to ask she doesn't stream this movie in here, and announce to the server our new streaming rules. (Which are "no streaming games above T, no movies about PG-13. If you think it's fine anyway, please ask us for permission first instead. If you want to watch something someone is streaming but might be triggered, please ask either the person streaming or consult 'Does the Dog Die'")

She immediately write a several paragraph response informing me that I'm the reason they're leaving the server, that she's tried to extend the olive branch to me several times but every time I've been condescending and rude. But she was having a bad day and wanted to stream this beautiful movie and share it with people but because of me she can't so she's leaving.

I legitimately don't know what events she's even talking about? I try to sound professional, which I guess could make me sound aloof but I also run all my responses past the other mods??? Who all okayed them? None of this happened in DMs, it's not like I could've been hiding it from them or gone rogue to do this, the other mods were aware of any rebukes given to this person, and I honestly don't know what olive branches she thinks she offered. Unless she means that time she asked us if she could be made a mod?

I'm just baffled, and a bit worried because I try to be fair to all members in the group and honestly, we just didn't want a movie with like, rather explicit stuff shown in our server? Where minors might see it? But I guess I really hurt her feelings and made her feel like she had to leave, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[acepodcastweek]

2023 Ace Week Fiction Podcast Fan Event (October 22nd-28th)

October 22nd to October 28th 2023 is ace week, and fiction podcasts are a great medium to be asexual.

Prompts

Sunday, 22nd October

Ace of Spades | Realisation/Acceptance

Monday, 23rd October

Cake & Garlic Bread | Invisible/Seen

Tuesday, 24th October

Ace of Diamonds | Effort/Rest

Wednesday, 25th October

Space Ace | Past/Future

Thursday, 26th October

Ace of Hearts | Isolation/Connection

Friday, 27th October

Dragons | Divergence/Diversity

Saturday, 28th October

Ace of Clubs | Mourning/Celebration

More information on each list is available here.

How does this work?

I've made up two lists of daily prompts, above, to get you started. Using them is encouraged but entirely optional, and you may do as many or as few as you'd like. One per day is great, and one in one week also great. You can pick and mix, stick with one list, do both, or even just do your own thing entirely.

You can start working on them any time from right now up until during ace week, but if you're comfortable sharing them be sure to schedule or save them for the date and either @ me here at @acepodcastweek, or tag them with #ace podcast week, which I'll check daily up until November 1st.

You can join in by:

Creating art of any kind: visual, baking, music, etc

Writing fanfic

Doing poetry

Media analysis

Making recommendation lists

Holding polls

Highlighting creators

Sharing headcanons

And whatever else might strike your fancy.

Whether you want to dote on (or, let's be real, torment) your favourite ace characters, help other people find new shows they'd like, show the creative teams behind these works your appreciation, flex your brain creatively, just think it'd be interesting, or any other one of a myriad reasons, you're welcome to give it a go.

Image descriptions for visual art are not mandatory, but are strongly encouraged.

Creator Featurettes

Podcast creators and contributors who are acespec or have acespec characters are very welcome to put together little features of their characters and/or projects in advance of (or during) the week, which I'll reblog here.

Resources

There are many acespec characters in audio fiction, and I've attached two lists below to get you started.

Questions & Queries

If you have any questions, concerns, ideas, or anything else in that realm, get in touch with me here. You can drop them in the comments, my DMs, or send me an ask. Is there something I could be doing better? Let me know!

If you run any kind of community group or are a creator and would like to run a podcast ace week event, go for it. I sure don't have exclusive rights, and would welcome the company. If you let me know, I'll even promo it.

A list of asked and anticipated questions can be found here, and will be updated as additional questions are asked.

[obislittleone]

Tw: suicidal thoughts (don't be alarmed I'm just venting)

I am so tired. I am so worn out. It doesn't matter what I say. It doesn't matter what I do. I have been financially and physically giving to Palestinians and Israelis who have been injured and were innocent victims through this war. The organization my family and I are working with has done so much to try and save lives. I have done all I can possibly do, but it's not enough. Those of you who drop in my dms or my asks to call me a 'genocidal colonizer' are so truly lost. I hope you all get help, because the amount of hate I've seen against not only myself but against literally every Jew I know is absolutely abominable. Don't say 'from the river from the sea' unless you know what it means, and if you say it, don't say it to a jew. You may hate Israel, and you may even think that all the people there deserve to die, but have you ever taken into consideration that the innocent Jews of either Israel or the rest of the world have nothing to do with their government or the mistreatment of Palestinians? Did you ever once think before you commented on a Jews post to 'wipe Israel off the face of the earth'? Chances are you did not. Chances are also that if you did, you probably just hate jews. Don't comment any bullshit on this post, I'll just remove it. I'm not here to fight anymore, I'm just here to say a few words, and give a perspective to those who think I'm some devil worshipping satanist just because I'm jewish.

These are the asks in my inbox on the daily:

Do you have any idea how this mentally affects a person? Do you even know how horrifying it is to know that so many people want you dead? I've had run ins with depression and suicidal attempts and thoughts my entire life, but never have I been this influenced by outer forces into thinking that I should be dead. Never once has anyone encouraged me to pull a trigger or off myself. Not until this has happened.

The comments and reblogs on posts about my best friend who lived in Israel, and her mother (who is arab, btw) that was killed in the October 7th attack are beyond wild. I can't even imagine how crazy it must be to live in the middle east as a jew. This is only a fraction of the hate that I experience in my day to day life, now.

The middle fingers I get from pissed off passersby at Walmart because I wear a star of david, or the slurs I get called because I told someone I had to leave an event early for Shabbat. It's all hatred, and it all sucks.

The violence, and the aggression that innocent jews are getting from random people who hate them. The little old man who stood on a street corner and held a sign in protest of Jewish hate that was killed today by a pro-hamas protestor. Its all too overwhelming. Why? Because even if you choose not to see it, or even if you condone it and think its 'not that bad', Jewish hate is getting dangerously close to what it was during the time of the holocaust. What's worse? It's being praised. Not just accepted, but encouraged. I posted on my instagram asking for prayers over my friend who's having to hide in a bomb shelter because of the war. The amount of comments saying 'just let her die' were astounding.

I have to ask you, where is your humanity? When jews can not only feel compassion but openly support Palestinians and try and give their services to save their innocent women and children from dying in the war, where is your compassion for innocent jews? Where is your willingness to feel an ounce of sadness for the loss of a life? Are you so hateful that you will condemn a teenage girl to die because of the violence her government commits? And if it happens, will you be so heartless that you will praise the notion that she is dead?

A common phrase used when I ask pro-hamas bloggers what their stance is on the beheading of children or the raping of women is, it usually comes out as: "well what do you think declonization looked like?"

I am always shocked. Every. Single. Time... why? Because I hope with every shred of naivete i have in me that people who have lost so much will understand the pain of those who are also losing so much. When you condemn one government for killing your children, and bringing a genocide upon Palestinians, why do you not also condemn the murdering of children and innocent Jews? Is it because 'that's not your team?' Is it because you want to win so badly that you don't care what the cost is? Do you think that turning into the thing that killed your people will make you a hero? The only thing I can possibly think of that would make a person respond that way is bloodlust. When you condemn an entire nation (including the innocent people) of killing your own, then turn around and do the same thing to their innocents, do you think you've proved something?

Whenever I address these things I'm usually met with the same stuff about how I'm a Jew so I'm biased and I don't get to have an opinion... but I don't think it's fair to say that to someone who's literally living with the repercussions that your hate is causing. Don't tell me to be quiet if you're spreading nazi rhetoric about jews and telling people to kill us.

Again, don't bring any bullshit on here. It will be deleted, and you will be blocked. I've spoken my piece. If anyone is interested in learning more about the organization I work with and donating to help Palestinian and Israeli families getting caught in the crossfire, please drop me a message, I'd be glad to give you more information.

[emry-stars-art]

tell us about the royals au!!! (im on my knees. please.)

Ohhhhh my friend you have started me on a RANT I hope you’re ready!!!

I don’t know that I’ll ever actually write it so I’m not too worried about spoilers, and the wonderful people in my dms (which are still open btw) bouncing ideas with me are always going to come up with great ideas so I’m putting WIP in big red letters, things are subject to change! But for now, some ideas. Most of what I have will be under the cut, but if you want to know more about a specific part/have any questions please I’d love to chat :D will link to the art/posts I have so far!

(In this au I’ve been referring to Neil as Nathaniel at first and then Abram (hello names as a plot device), and everyone else right now is some version of their name)

Kevin and Nathaniel were raised at Evermore castle, Kevin to be in direct competition to Riko/see which of them might claim the throne (not thought out yet), and Nathaniel as the Moriyama’s attack dog, born and raised to take his father’s place as such. The two never met in person, but Nathaniel knows and recognizes Day because of course he does, and Day knows the name Wesninski means a very, very dangerous person. Essentially the top assassin on the continent.

But as we do, Day decides he can’t/won’t handle the treatment anymore, whatever the last straw may be, and runs off to Palmetto in a kind of desperate chase of the stories his mother used to tell him when he was little. He knew she loved that kingdom. Somehow he finds Wymack - the twin’s royal advisor - or Wymack finds him, and once Wymack realizes who this kid is and has reason to believe he’s not here on Evermore business, he puts Day’s incredible talent and training as a tactician/commander to work as his pupil.

Meanwhile Nathaniel is still at Evermore, mistreated and learning from his own failures and mistakes until he’s nearly as good as his father at the family business.

I don’t know how long Nathaniel plans it, but he either plays the part for long enough or his skill is so undeniable that when the Moriyamas have plans for the Palmetto Kingdom, they send him and one other accomplished fighter to kill the king. Nathaniel goes quietly and decides he’s not coming back if he can help it.

So instead of killing the young king, Nathaniel’s panic has him turn on his partner at the very last second, stopping them just before they can get to the king. He takes them somewhere far away and does what he does best, leaving no one to report back to the Moriyamas. From then on it’s a waiting game to see how long the family will wait before they send someone after him.

Day’s followed them, and Nathaniel turns around from the body and sees this man he hasn’t seen in years, alive and safe away from Evermore. It’s as elating as it is crushing - because Day heard his partner call him by name, and there is no way Day will ever let a Wesninski walk away alive. Not if he knows what’s good for all of them.

Except Day doesn’t kill him, even when Nathaniel asks him to. (Better Day than Riko, Nathaniel knew that even when they were all stuck at Evermore). Instead, he takes Nathaniel back to the twins/Wymack, gives him a little bread, and they sit until he can pry out an explanation. (See the comic of this first meeting here.)

Day and Nathaniel spend most of their time together because Day refuses to let Nathaniel out of his or Wymack’s sight until he proves not a threat to the royal family, which proves an issue because between Andrew’s rotation of personal guards (he never gets along with them well enough that they stay/aren’t fired) Day is Andrew’s guard, which sometimes means Nathaniel is stuck a lot closer than Day would like. But after a long, long time, Day and Wymack decide Nathaniel was serious about the whole “runaway” thing and isn’t playing spy (maybe there’s some dramatic event/Nathaniel protecting a twin that convinces them or maybe it’s just a lot of little things over time). Andrew, after a rough spat with the latest guard, is again in need of a new one. Finally Day just asks “is there ANYONE you could possibly pretend to get along with that can do the job” and Andrew knows Nathaniel is dangerous he just doesn’t know exactly how or why (but oh he is curious) so maybe he just straight up says. “Wesninski.” And Day has to go “…. Fine.”

So boom. They knew each other superficially before, but now Andrew and Nathaniel are spending most of their time together and miraculously - no arguments. No spats. Day thanks the gods there’s no physical altercations (that’s probably what got the last guard fired so quick). Nathaniel is just a mystery with shady ability to tell the truth and Andrew can’t help his curiosity. Good old fashioned andreil :D

From here the timeline becomes essentially nonexistent, I have no idea when these things happen in relation to each other but so far they’re all things I like and want to include!

1) there’s plenty of games and competitions at Palmetto, we love a good tussle, and Nathaniel usually does quite well - he’s not good at playing fair, but his underhanded methods are not technically illegal and usually he can use his preferred weapon - dagger rather than sword. He does well except for the one time an opponent accidentally says/does something that was constantly said or done to Nathaniel while “training” at Evermore, and he comes back to Andrew and the tent he watched from in the beginning of a panic attack. Andrew doesn’t know anything about Nathaniel’s past at this point, but he knows a panic attack when he sees one. In trying to talk him through it, Andrew realizes that yes Nathaniel is scared of being hurt, but he’s more afraid of hurting others. Nathaniel won’t let Andrew call him by name, he flinches every time Andrew says it. After, Andrew asks what he should call him instead, and Nathaniel finally asks to be called Abram.

2) Balls! Masquerades! Abram doesn’t have many outfits, he wears the regular issued uniform to every event. Andrew will not stand for this. Abram always wears clothes that cover him fully, which is fine, Andrew can work with that. He’s still seen Abram in a tight shirt or two. So he commissions one of the most knowledgeable people in the court (we’re thinking it might be Allison, she’s a noble but she’s great with textiles/embroidery/etc) and gets Abram a new outfit. It still covers him, its still protective material, but it looks better. (Find Abram in a corset here). Andrew handles it totally normal and rational in his head when he sees Abram actually wearing it of course.

3) Day probably assumes for a little while that Andrew and Abram have got a more or less normal guard/charge relationship, even thinking it’s slightly antagonistic considering this is Andrew we’re talking about. (This doesn’t fit the timeline, but here’s a mini comic of one of Day’s misunderstandings hehe)

4) king Aaron! He became king at 18/20/whatever age we decide this universe deems old enough because he is in fact the elder twin here. I imagine their parents have both been dead and gone for at least a few years at this point. Dan is Aaron’s guard and she and Abram hit it off great as coworkers and friends. More on the uncertainty of the twins backstory later. (Drawings of Aaron and his queen Katelyn here!)

5) the angst. The Moriyamas should have heard from the Wesninski boy months ago - something somewhere went wrong. So, naturally, they go to collect their property. If they get away with it, we can imagine how it goes. What I don’t know is if the twins, Day, and Wymack know for sure he was kidnapped or if they have a little nagging in the back of their head that wonders if he’s only run away from the castle or if he’s run back to Evermore with everything he’s learned.

When he’s recovered, Day doesn’t let Andrew too close too often for a while. If Abram forgets where is for even a second too long - waking up from a nightmare, having a flashback - it’s long enough for it to be fatal to whoever might get too close to Abram. It’s already almost proved fatal for Andrew, after Abram played normal so well that Andrew let it slip - he forgot Abram was taken back to Evermore for them to finish making him into a thoughtless weapon, and they’d nearly succeed. He wakes Abram too quickly and ends up extremely lucky Abram recognizes both his voice and the way Andrew didn’t call him ‘Nathaniel’ or ‘Wesninski’. There’s really a huge amount to possibly be covered about this point so I won’t go into detail here - but if you like hurt/comfort you know where to find me 👀

6) the biggest thing we haven’t figured out is Andrew. Either he was kidnapped at a young age and only recovered in his teens, or the elder King Minyard didn’t much care for his second son. Though I’ve always liked the idea of Mr. Minyard being a good man who died shortly before the twins’ birth and their mother just couldn’t handle the grief or knowing that the twins look like him. Anyway a lot of the twins’ issues after both of their parents are dead are the advisors or other people around them that try to take advantage of their youth and inexperience for their own gain, without realizing that both Aaron and Andrew have had to grow up much too fast, each for their own reasons. They can usually see right past the tricks. It’s why they both trust Wymack so much - he’s one of the few adults that are truly there to help them, and not make decisions for them.

Im sure there’s more I missed, but this is long enough as it is lol. People have asked about the Trojans/Jean in this au, and I’d love to include them! My brain’s instinctive response is that Jeremy is some sort of high end noble/royal of a faraway kingdom, and Jean (always last to leave the nest, im so sorry baby) somehow gets over there, but I don’t have an idea of his or anyone else’s roles yet. Renee could even still have a hand in him getting there if we really want.

So I’m still writing snippets and drawing over here lol but i promise I don’t bite if you want to talk :D

[billboard-hotties-tourney]

FAQ

Decided to answer any questions/address any complaints all in one post as we move into the next round:

BILLBOARD HOTTIES TOURNEY/MISS BILLBOARD TOURNEY:

How am I meant to vote in the tourney? The vote is supposed to be for the best-looking/hottest musician/singer/composer/etc, not for whose music you think is better. Looks should be based on pre-1980 looks, not anything after that.

How can I submit propaganda? What can I submit? You can submit photos, videos of performances/interviews, and even songs. Between rounds, the best way to submit propaganda to be used for the next poll post is through the asks or submission box. DMs are also accepted but not preferred. Submit as much propaganda for the post as you like; if it's got a direct link or you have the direct image, it'll work. During rounds, asks and submissions are still welcome, but DMs are not. Instead, tag billboard-hotties-tourney in posts to get them reblogged here. Please do not spam this blog with propaganda. One submission per nominee per day per person, PLEASE. If you submit more than one per day, it will be ignored. You are still welcome to reblog poll posts and add unlimited propaganda there. Any negative propaganda submitted to the inbox will be ignored. If you want someone to lose, find positive propaganda about their opponent.

Why did you use the pictures you did? Why did you use the songs you did? Since this poll was supposed to be for musicians pre-1980, I'm only using pre-1980 images for the polls and pre-1980 songs for the propaganda. It's why you didn't see the classic Tony Levin look, or any modern-day Geddy Lee images, for instance. You can always reblog with post-1980 pictures, but as for the original poll posts, there will only be pre-1980 images. As for the song selections, I tried to pick songs that are either a popular song of theirs, or songs that may be lesser-known but still highlight their musical ability.

TANTALIZING TUNES TOURNEY:

How am I meant to vote in the tourney? Your choice should be based on what the hotter/sexier song is, not necessarily which song you prefer. Choices should NOT be based upon the artist or how the artist looks when they perform it.

ALL TOURNEYS:

Where is ____? If you don't see a person/song, they either weren't submitted and not considered by me, or they were eliminated in a previous round. If they were here at some point, they have a tag.

Is it too late to submit ____? Yes.

Why are these two frontrunners paired against each other already? Every pairing is random; it's all down to the luck (or lack thereof) of the draw.

Where is the propaganda I submitted? Either it definitely didn't fall into the pre-1980 category (although if you see any that slipped past me, feel free to correct me,) the image wouldn't attach to the post, or the person's face was obscured to the point where it wouldn't have made sense to keep it. Please also do not send NSFW pictures, I don't want butt naked people on my posts.

Can I submit propaganda for a person/a song no longer in the running? No.

What happens in the event of a tie? Due to the previous rigging of a tie, the rules for what happens in the event of a tie have changed. If there is a tie for a poll, the two will no longer advance together, but instead, there will be a second poll that lasts 24 hours to determine the winner. If there is another tie after the second poll, neither will advance.

Thank you for your understanding here! Please let me know if you have any questions not answered here, and enjoy the rest of the tournament.

[darklydeliciousdesires]

London Will Burn - Chapter Seven.

Huge thanks to my little audience for your continued investment in this. Your commentary gives me joy to read, so don't be shy, DO let me know what you think of it :)

Previous chapters - One Two Three Four Five Six

Tag list - In the comments, please DM to be added/removed

Words - 3,815

Warnings - 18+ content throughout. Minors DNI.

The feeling of something solid, inflexible and metal hitting his arm preceded it, the irate scream of the girl he had wronged in trying to do right for his father, despite his own feelings. “You fucking bastard, Sean! You fucking cunt! How dare you do that, how fucking dare you!” 

Repeated strikes hit his arm and chest, the cosh she wielded unlike anything he’d ever felt strike him, his head only narrowly missed when he put his arm up to block the blow. That’s when she changed trajectory and instead, sent a painful welt across his ribs, her next catching his cheekbone and splitting the skin.  “Fuck you! Fucking fuck you!” 

“I’m sorry, Rin,” he began, grabbing her arms and preventing any further blows, Finn coming between them and hauling her back. “I’m sorry.” 

“Catherine, what the bloody hell do you think you’re doing? For Christ's sake, calm down, girl! What’s the matter, eh?” he growled, yanking her away from his son, Rin glaring unblinkingly.  

Her rage was palpable, her cheeks puce, teeth gritted. “Ask your fucking son what the matter is.”  

Finn didn’t have chance to say he’d prefer it to come from her, Rin shaking herself loose of his grip and fleeing, running up the street to jump into a waiting Maybach, the car roaring away as he turned to view his son. “What in god’s name was all of that?” 

Gingerly touching a hand to his cheek, he didn’t think the bone was broken, although the split over skin hurt like hell and was pouring with blood. “Trust me, it was bad. The Strand isn’t the ideal location to reveal it, either.” Twenty minutes later and they were in the kitchen back at home, Sean holding a towel full of ice to his face while explaining the event that had prompted him to receive a beating via an irate blonde brandishing a cosh.  

Finn stood and absorbed it all before speaking, which gave an also present Marian plenty of room to open her mouth. “You bloody did what?”  

“My methods might not have been orthodox, but they yielded results.” 

Her mouth dropped open. “Not orthodox? Not fucking orthodox? Jesus Christ! What you did was vile!” 

Sean was incredulous. Not because he didn’t know what he done was wrong, but that his mother of all people was the one pouring scorn upon him for it. Marian Wallace was not exactly known for her genial magnanimity.  

“Son, you made the wrong choice. Getting Kevin’s back up like that, for fuck’s sake! We want him compliant,” he began, Sean cutting in. 

“And now he is, so what? Fucking what, dad? I did what you told me and secured the deal. You should be happy.” 

“For the love of god,” Finn groaned, shaking his head. “What the hell is wrong with you?” 

“Oh, come the bloody hell on!” he scoffed, reeling from the reaction he was receiving. “It isn’t like half of our dealings are in any way, shape or form cogently principled, so I fail to see why I’m being lambasted here! Honestly, you pair of all people are lecturing me about morality? That’s rich.” 

Marian was incensed. “Sean, she’s eighteen fucking years old, and you took advantage of her!”  

“Oh, what? Scared that my actions will have you cast out of Diane Cavanagh’s elite social circle are you, mum?” he charged her with, his mother narrowing her eyes. Of course, he was right. The moral high ground she had climbed upon was for no other reason than how all of this would reflect upon her and his father.  

Finn leaned a white knuckled hand against the counter, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It isn’t how we handle business, son. It isn’t how we continue receiving respect, to counter it with such fucking disrespect,” Finn began, Sean’s mouth dropping open in incredulity. 

“Yet you fucking had me kneecap someone only three weeks ago?” he charged with a snort.  

His father pointed a stern finger. “You’ll not fucking interrupt me! You’ve been in this for four years, you ought to understand the way we operate by now. Using a man’s daughter against him as a bargaining chip is not how we remain professional, exert our dominance, or come to an agreement.” 

Sean smirked, and his mother had to be held back from slapping him for his gall. “Funny, that. Because my dominance is exactly what led to the agreement we sought being completed.” He closed his eyes momentarily and saw her there beneath him, at the mercy of his cock, almost crying for how good he gave it to her.  

 His guts then prickled uncomfortably. Again.  

“You absolute bloody shit, Sean!” his mother raged, opening her mouth to continue, her husband cutting her up.  

“I’ll handle it,” he assured her, grasping her upper arms and kissing her head before turning to his youngest. “Office, now.”  

He followed his father silently from the kitchen, wondering just how large the barrage of shit he was about to have heaped upon him would be. Entering the office, Finn went to his whiskey and poured two glasses, passing one to his son, his free hand then clipping him hard straight around the head.  

“That’s for the mess you left with your actions. You’ll fucking learn your lesson there, boyo.” His eyes narrowed, the portly man staring him down for a few moments before his smile began to grow. 

“However, you got the signature and truly, that’s all I care about, me lad. I had to come down on you a bit, because of your mother. You have to learn, though, we keep our messes hidden and easily cleanable, and you should have known that the girl would publicly give you hell when she found out. She’s her fucking father’s daughter, that one. You need to deal with it, should she make any more noise that brings our name and reputation into disrepute.”  

Sean nodded; the message understood. “Shall do, dad.” 

They remained silent for a time, sipping their drinks, Finn suddenly snorting softly with laughter. 

“What?” 

Sinking his whiskey, the elder of the Wallace’s shook his head. “Holy fuck, she really fucking came at you with both barrels blazing. Jesus wept!” 

“I’m glad you find it so entertaining,” he pouted, his ribs and face still throbbing.  

Finn lifted his chin, walking back to the whiskey bottle. “Learned your lesson there, eh?” 

He had. It was a lesson learned in how to handle the nature of the business, how to be ruthless in a more covert way, to handle fallout but ultimately, how to keep the Wallace name both clean and on top. He’d also learned that emotional investment had its place, and it was not within the realms of subterfuge.  

As for Finn, it was the moment that first sealed the notion over his son’s predisposition for reckless actions borne of emotional volatility. It also meant he had to involve himself in the deal to smooth things over, try to gauge whether Sean was likely to receive a bullet in the back of his head at some point in the future over his actions. That of course meant visiting Kevin personally.  

While underneath, he truly didn’t give much of a shit over his son’s methods beyond wishing his punishment for them hadn’t been so public, he had to make appearances directly to the contrary as he sat with Kevin in his home office at the fireside, the men sipping whiskey.  

“I ain’t happy. I really bloody ain’t, old lad. Using my daughter to hold me over a barrel like that? He went too fucking far. The fact he made it so I had to witness him fucking sexually brutalising my girl an’ all? Fuck that, and fuck him,” he spat, his eyes leaving the fire to stare menacingly at Finn.  

He sighed, knowing this anger wouldn’t be quelled at any point soon. “I know, Kev. Believe me, I gave him a fucking broadside for his actions. I did.”  

“If there wasn’t so much money tied up in all of this, so much to gain long term for me, and the fact I fucking think the world of you, trust me, Finn. I would have personally cut your fucking son from his ears to his arsehole for doing that to my girl. Fuck, I’m fucking surprised she only took a cosh to him and didn’t end up knifing him herself. She’s got one hell of a temper, my Catherine. He needs to know, though. That ain’t the way we do business. Not now, not ever.” 

Finn nodded, in complete agreement, or at least seeming to be for appearances sake. True, he’d rather Sean hadn’t acted so below the belt where professionality was concerned, but at least it had secured a signature that Kevin should have given in the first place. “I’m in agreement with you there, mucker. However, if anyone is going to lay hands on my son, it isn’t you. Catherine gave him a damn good hiding, and it’s done with. We’ve signed, now let’s move on.”  

Kevin saw it well In Finn's eyes, the flash of menace, the reason why within London’s reach, he was king. Of course, he returned it. Finn Wallace might’ve been king, but he was the treasury, one of the main investors into his projects, both above board and below. He only stayed for a further half an hour, gauging that Sean wasn’t in any danger of reprisal retribution, leaving the office just as Rin was alighting the stairs.  

“I’m sorry, love,” he offered, resting his hands to her shoulders and placing a kiss on her head. He liked the girl, that much was true enough. He supposed in some small way he felt a little guilt that she’d been hurt by his son’s actions, but not much. “If it’s anything to you, he took himself off to casualty earlier. Fractured cheekbone and a broken rib.”  

Rin sniffed, clenching her jaw. There was no way she would show weakness before the powerhouses that were her father and Finn Wallace. Never. “Your son means less than nothing to me. I appreciate you for apologising, though.” Finn went in the direction of the side door, Rin the lounge to grab the bottle of nail polish she’d left in there, going back up to her room and her vodka.  

She treated herself to a very large bottle of Absolut Vanilla on her way back home from giving Sean the beating he deserved, but that she felt absolutely no better for having delivered to him. How could she, when the only thing she wanted was to kiss him rather than take a cosh to him? When all she wanted was for it not to have been true, for him not to have sold her out like that?  

How could he, after the weekend they’d shared? Her father had shown her the video he’d received, of which she’d only been able to watch two seconds of before demanding he delete it. He’d recorded it on that first Friday afternoon, but surely, if that was all he’d needed, why had he turned up again? Moreover, why had he stayed right through until Sunday?  

There’d been a connection there, she knew it, she was neither blind nor stupid. She wondered if he’d had his arm twisted into it, if he’d decided to use her, then during the weekend they’d spent together felt differently, only to have to resort to his original blackmail plan. Rin being Rin, she groaned at herself, sinking another measure of vodka. 

“He used you for what he could get. Fucking deal with it. That’s what happened, anything else was all in your own head.”  

But was it? Pondering upon it would do no good, trying to explain it to herself. It didn’t mean Sean Wallace and his fuckery did not live rent free in her mind for the foreseeable, though. Still, she moved on, continued a life without him in it, knowing that some pieces of that puzzle would forever remain incomplete.  

As for Sean himself, he’d walked out of his father’s office that afternoon and back into life as normal, the deal went ahead as planned, and he tried not to give Rin too much of a second thought. Besides, so he heard on the grapevine, her plans to remain in London had changed just a few months later, the eldest of the Cavanagh children making an unexpected move overseas, for whatever reason.  

Out of sight, out of mind. Or rather, she should have been, yet there was not a day that passed where the guilt of it and regret didn’t gnaw at Sean like an angry wolf. He knew she could have been the one thing in his life that was real, true and beautiful. He had nobody but himself to blame that what he’d felt spark between them never did flourish. Truly, he had no one else to admonish for the fact that for the relatively fleetingly short remainder of his life, Finn Wallace saw him as little more than an impulsive liability, steadily putting more and more trust in Alex Dumani than his own son. 

And then, then everything changed years later with one visit to a tower block within the Albanian district, the mighty Finn Wallace taking his last breath because of the actions of a naive young gypsy boy and a loaded gun. It was the start of a chain of events that saw the Wallace empire topple into ruin, and would ultimately leave Sean almost dead on two separate occasions.  

The second, after murdering the brutal enforcer and untrustworthy partner that was Koba, saw him hanging by his neck after a lengthy final showdown with the ex-policeman-turned-hitman Elliot Finch, the investors closing in to prevent Sean’s return to the top.  

As he struggled, his air being cut off by the ratchet strap he dangled from, Sean saw white spots clouding his vision, trying desperately to loosen his crude noose. His eyes darted between Elliot and Billy, the latter begging the former to let him down.  

This was it, he thought, sliding from the precipice of life and into death’s cold, gleaming jaws, his vision fading further, but not enough that when he heard a shot ring out, he didn’t see Elliot’s skull blown open, his body dropping. The jaws of death had indeed closed, but not around him.   

Figures dressed in black suddenly swarmed the area, one running to Sean, swinging the rifle responsible for Elliot’s demise behind themselves and grasping the metalwork he was dangling from, brandishing a large knife. The pressure gave, air rushing back into his starved lungs, his body hitting the ground with a thud.  

“Silas, get Billy. Get him in the fucking car, quickly.”  

That voice. No. It couldn’t be.  

Her hands reached for the strap, yanking it free of his neck, Sean gasping and gurgling, his vision still swimming as she pulled up the balaclava that had been covering her face.  

Time had only made Catherine Cavanagh even more beautiful than he remembered.  

He wheezed, attempting to speak, although he had not a single clue over what the hell to say to her, the lover he’d wronged almost seven years before. Now here she was, returned to him, saving his life.  

He coughed, watching as one of the men she was with came running over, crouching to lift him.  

“Why?” he eventually croaked, the burly man throwing him over his shoulder.  

“Atticus, get rid of the bodies. Get them over to the plant, George knows you’re on the way.” The chemical plant. Sean remembered well, how Kevin Cavanagh disposed of those who displeased him. Except, there wasn’t a Kevin Cavanagh any longer, the man having passed away from stomach cancer three months before.  

So, Catherine was back to take her place at the helm of the Cavanagh empire. What that meant for Sean was anybody’s guess, and he wagered he’d likely be the last to find out as he was bundled into the back of a black Volvo SUV, Rin climbing into the front, the large man who had carried him seating himself behind the wheel.  

His focus cleared more as he lay against the cool leather upholstery, wondering where he was being taken. He didn’t trust at all that he was completely removed from the line of fire. Sure, Elliot had been terminated, but that didn’t ultimately equal his own safety. Or that of the person most important to him, all he had left in the world after his mother had shown her hand, every card within her grasp duplicitous and cunning, playing that hand against her own sons.  

“Billy...” 

Rin turned as he sat up, watching him struggle to pull a seatbelt around himself. “He’s being taken to a doctor, a very good one.” 

“Who? And where?” 

Of course, once he’d regained use of his voice, she had expected him to begin demanding answers. It was true to form if nothing else. “None of your concern. Suffice to say he shall be well looked after.”  

“I want to know, Catherine.” 

She turned again to view him, her eyes narrowed. “You are not in a position to demand anything of me. I saved your life, I saved your brother’s life, and I took out the menace who would never have ceased coming for you, had he been allowed to live.” 

“Why?” 

“You’ll find out in due course.” 

“I fucking asked you why, Catherine!”  

Oh no, not much ever put a dampener upon Sean Wallace’s ferocious temper. Before she could reply, though... 

“Hey, white man. You do not speak with my boss like that, eh, or trust me, my friend, I do something about it. You will not like if I choose that, eh, so be quiet, yes?”  

“And who the fuck are you?” Sean scoffed; his voice still hoarse. 

Immediately, the driver slammed on the brakes in the middle of the dark, desolate road, taking about a month off the tire tread. Applying the handbrake, he turned in his seat, his coal black eyes staring unflinchingly. “I am former commander in Kenyan Army, white man. I am biggest, blackest thorn in your fucking side if you ever go against me or my boss, eh. I am living hell and no mercy. That is who I am. I am also the man who tell you to shut up, so do it. Shut up. Do not make me leave this driver’s seat.” 

His pride burned, but Sean weighed up his odds. He was at an extreme disadvantage as it was; against a man who was not only ex-military, but also an estimated six feet three in height and around eighteen stones of pure muscle, he could guess. It likely would not end well for him. At all.  

The driver continued, turning to Rin, doing a double take. “Why do you look like this, eh? You bite back biggest grin.”  

She chuckled softly, reaching to squeeze his shoulder. “Ever my no-nonsense protector, Sokoro.” And boy, had he been just that for the past seven years.  

He beamed, putting his foot down. “I promise this to your father, and I promise to you.” He then reached for the dials at the front of the car, turning up the heat. “Ahh, this is better.” 

“Sok, it’s like a fucking sauna in here as it is!” Rin exclaimed, cracking her window a little. 

“It is cold, yes? February in London is chilly, eh.” 

“Well,” she hummed, “I suppose when you’re used to it only getting as low as ten degrees in winter, it must be somewhat of a shock to the system, to experience temperatures in the minuses.” 

He whistled, chuckling. “It is an experience, eh.”  

Sean quickly pieced together what he was hearing, not that anyone could miss it, really. It seemed Rin had been over at the place he remembered her telling him about, the wildlife reserve in Kenya. Why, he wondered, had she chosen that desolate location in the middle of nowhere, abandoning her dream of attending LSE once her A Level’s were done with? It seemed out of character, for her to relinquish a goal she had held for so long, no matter how much fondness she had for the place she’d told him about.  

Why Africa? It didn’t make sense. Had he made good on his threat to release the video of them having sex to the internet, he’d quite understand her desire to run away, find refuge in a place like that. But he hadn’t. Why had she vanished? These questions and more bubbled upon his tongue, but the threat of Sokoro’s ire as well as his own exhaustion after once again brushing up against death kept him silent, resting his head against the window as he watched the dawn break over the countryside. 

Just under two hours later and they were turning into the long driveway that led to Mulford Hall, the vast property exactly as he remembered. How different would life be for him now, he wondered, if he’d ignored his father and deleted that video the last time he was there.  

Stepping from the car, he felt a little lightheaded but not so much that it impeded being able to walk unassisted, not that he was likely to receive such, Rin and Sokoro striding ahead to the side door. He could see it in his mind, the eighteen-year-old version of her standing there in her big sweater and socks, sighing. It still needled at him, how he’d killed dead the connection he had with her, all in the name of power and business, both of which he’d ended up losing anyway.  

Even if he’d still lost everything, he had a feeling he’d have never lost her in it all, had he done the right thing.  

They walked into the kitchen, Rin taking a large, paper bag and sliding it across the counter to him, her eyes not meeting his. “Here, clean clothes. Go take a shower and make yourself comfortable. I have a meeting to get to. Sokoro will be here, keeping an eye on you, so don’t even think about trying to escape.” 

He raised an eyebrow, lifting the bag from the island. For a brief moment, it flashed through his mind, her sitting where the bag had previously been, and him between her legs, fucking the living hell out of her. “So, I’ve been kidnapped, then, opposed to being saved?” 

Her eyes met his then, without any trace of warmth. “You’re here for a purpose. I’ll be back later.”  

The revelation of that purpose was one he’d have to wait upon a little longer, he supposed, Rin exiting and leaving him being stared down by the Kenyan giant of a man, his arms folded.  

Sean couldn’t help but wonder if he’d fared better to have been left hanging. 

[dinosquad-central]

Alright, after running this blog for over a year I've decided to make an actual pinned post—complete with a guide to my tagging system.

First off, who am I?

I am the sole moderator of dinosquad-central, obviously. You may call me Dino Mod, and I use any pronouns, including neopronouns that do not begin with x or z.

My Favorite characters are Caruso and Buzz. I don't actually know that much about dinosaurs in general; I just think they're neat. I'm the event coordinator on the Dino Squad discord server. And I love getting asks! (Although sometimes it takes me a day or two to answer them)

I tag posts with #dino mod to indicate that they are either original posts from me, or things I've reblogged wherein I added something to the body of the post, rather than just the tags. So if you want to browse my thoughts on the show, that's the tag to do it.

Now that you know who I am, what's Dino Squad and where can you watch it?

Dino Squad is a 2007 cartoon about five teenagers who can turn into dinosaurs, and you can watch it for free on YouTube. The first episode is called "The Beginning", but the series is episodic, so the order you watch doesn't really matter after that. If you want to watch in in order, there's an episode list on IMDB.

In the immortal words of my original pinned post, reblogged from @/deerlyloved: "Dinosquad is so bad please watch it forever 😌"

If you already know Dino Squad and want to hang out with other fans, we have a discord server! Anyone is welcome to join.

Is there anything else you should know?

Yeah, a couple of things, actually. But this is already getting long, so I'll continue under the readmore.

Firstly, I need to give credit where credit is due, and make sure y'all know that the person who made the banner I use for this blog, which is also the quintessential "there's like five of us" dinosquad fandom meme, is @scoutbot. Everyone say "thank you, scoutbot!"

My profile pic, on the other hand, is lifted from official Dino Squad promotional material, but if anyone wants to draw me a new one, I'd be willing to trade you a fic for it—DM me if interested.

Secondly, there's one type of tag I don’t list in the tag guide, and that's the type I use to fawn all over everybody's Dino Squad posts. In such a small fandom, every time someone makes something new for it, they do so knowing it won't get much engagement, so I want to make sure they get at least one person who with enthusiastically give a kind, thoughtful, personalized comment on their post. Creating for a small fandom can feel thankless, but I want to mitigate that as much as possible by saying thank you thank you thank you for hanging out with us and participating in our fandom.

I'll mention it a few times in this post, but as long as you tag a post with #dino squad (as one word or two) I am basically guaranteed to see it, and I'll reblog almost anything in this fandom. So if you want more of the stuff you like, I strongly encourage you to create it! I love to see new takes and new faces in this fandom, and I will always lift you up.

I think that’s it.

Wait, didn't I say something about a tagging guide?

Buckle in, because my tagging system is extensive and thorough.

Lets start with Basic Tags.

Every post about the show (which is 99% of what I post, since this is a Dino Squad blog) is tagged with both #dino squad (two words) and #dinosquad (one word).

In most other tags that feature the name of the show, I use the one word version, for consistency. More on that later.

Posts that are not about the show, usually either dinosaur/paleontology related posts, or occasionally technical information about this blog itself, are tagged with #not dinosquad. For cool dino fun facts and art, this is the tag to explore.

Every post on this blog contains at least one of these tags.

Next, how about some Character Tags.

Whenever a character is mentioned or very strongly implied in a post, I tag it with their full name, similar to AO3's character tags. You can follow any of these links to read every post featuring that character.

#Victor Veloci—That's his name, don't wear it out!

#Joanne Moynihan—AKA Ms. Moynihan, beloved mentor of the squad

#Rolf Maxwell—AKA Max, the squad's fearless leader

#Fiona Flagstaff—The Girl™

#Rodger Blair—Smartest kid in school

#Neil Buzzmati—AKA Buzz, the one who likes "punk stuff"

#Erwin Caruso—Yeah, his first name is Erwin

#Peter (Veloci's Assistant)—Remember him? Appears once in the first episode and never again?

#Rump (dinosquad)—The squad's pet dino-dog

#Liam (dinosquad)—Fan favorite autistic character

#Terri Flagstaff—Fiona's sister

#Winifred the Snake—Buzz's pet python

Obviously, some of these characters are going to have more posts in their tag than others, simply because people like and post about some characters more than others. If you want more post about your favorite character, Make Them. As long as you tag your posts with the fandom, I can basically guarantee I'll find them and reblog them to this blog.

That's not all, though, because there are also a lot of original fandom characters, and I tag for those, too.

If you want to see all of them, I use the tag #dinosquad oc on every post that features one, but I also tag them with the OC's name, in case you're curious about a specific one.

#Vega Veloci—Teenage transfem lesbian clone of Victor Veloci, created by @prometheus-adam

#Violette Veloci—Another female teenage clone of Vitor Veloci (though which one of them is trans is left to interpretation), created by @ufolvr

#Valentino Veloci—Male teenage clone of Victor Veloci, created by @al-gay-tor

#Iggy and Chloe—A pair of OCs by @musekicker who will be given individual tags when they have full names

#Gyrian Maelstrom—Buzz's dad who works for RaptorDyne and is also a dinosaur, created by @ufolvr

#Moss 'Rat King'—RaptorDyne employee self-insert, created by @hotratking5592

#Thysbe Ginko—RaptorDyne employee favored by Victor Veloci, created by @boysiinberry

#Miss Disma and Mouche—Head of PR at Raptordyne and her assistant, created by @boysiinberry

#Kalyeen—Raptordyne grunt, created by @boysiinberry

A lot of people seem to think that Veloci would be into cloning—can't say I would argue with them lol. On the discord server, people have shared way more OCs than this, but I can only reblog the ones that get posted about on tumblr. I anticipate this list will grow.

Ship Tags are a subset of character tags

Like with characters, if a ship is explicitly mentioned or strongly implied in a post, I will tag it with a ship tag in the format of characterA x characterB where A is the character whose surname comes first alphabetically. Posts about ships are also tagged with #Shipping.

#Rodger x Max—Those who like this ship often cite S1E2 "Growth Potential" as one reason

#Buzz x Caruso—Those who like this ship have cited S1E12 "Not so Great Outdoors" as one reason

#Moynihan x Veloci—A ship that is much more popular on the discord server than on tumblr

#Peter x Veloci—Remember Peter? Appears once in the first episode and then never again?

#Fiona x Vega—Ship between Fiona and @prometheus-adam's OC, Vega Veloci

#Caruso x Max—Those who like this ship have cited S2E10 "Scents and Scents Ability" as one reason

#Ginko x Veloci—Ship between Victor Veloci and @boysiinberry's OC, Thysbe Ginko

Most of the ship tags are pretty lightly populated, some only have one post. Suffice it to say, shippers are a minority in this fandom, but I still dutifully tag ships when they appear. If you want to see more of your fave ships, or have an idea for a ship not on this list, Create for it! I will happily reblog any ship for this fandom.

Now, let me tell you about my Categorical Tags

If you're looking for a specific type of post, for example, if you just want to scroll through all the headcanon posts, or all the fanart, that's what the categorical tags are for. These tags are usually accompanied by the word 'dinosquad' somewhere in there, and many of them are listed as featured tags on this blog as well.

#Ask—Someone sent me an ask to which I decided to post a public reply

#Character Analysis—These posts will always be tagged with the character being analyzed as well

#Crossover—These posts will always be tagged with both the other fandom in the crossover, and the primary character(s) from the other fandom that feature in the crossover

#Dinosquad AU—Posts about the Dino Squad characters or concepts in an alternate universe, whether it's completely different, or just minor canon divergence

#Dinosquad Fanart—Also tagged with #art and #fanart, in addition to the fandom specific tag

#Dinosquad Fic—Fan writing, typically, but not always, in the form of a link to Archive of Our Own

#Dinosquad Headcanons—Posts containing either a single headcanon, or a list of headcanons regarding the characters or world of the show

#Dinosquad Meta—Posts about the technical aspects of the show, like animation or writing, as opposed to the plot/characters/etc.

#Dinosquad Theory—Theories about the show, both in regard to the plot/characters, and the production (but usually the former)

#Episode Review—Posts in which a specific episode of the show is being analyzed, summarized, or otherwise reviewed

#Incorrect Dinosquad—Also tagged with #incorrect quotes, in addition to the fandom specific tag

#Poll—Posts that have at least one poll in them

#Prompt—Idea(s) meant to inspire the creativity of the members of this fandom. General prompts are distinct from the Dinosquad Monthly Prompts in that anyone can post them at any time. (more on the monthly prompts later)

#Rereblog—Posts that have been on this blog before but I'm reblogging again, either because something new has been added to them, or because there was nothing new for me to post, so I picked some old favorites to pad my queue. This tag stands in the place of all the things I originally tagged the post with, so when I use it I'll only add tags that apply to the new reblog

Most of these tags are self explanatory. Many have sub-categorical tags, which I've included either in the descriptions above, or in the Content Tags section.

After that come the Content Tags

Content tags tell you what's in the post, aside from characters, obviously.

#From the Dinosquad Discord Server—Posts containing content which was screen-shot or copy/pasted from the fandom discord server

#Dinosquad Monthly Prompt—The monthly prompts are part of an ongoing, year-round event hosted by the fandom discord server. Posts in this tag include not only the monthly prompts themselves, but also art and fic created to fill the monthly prompt. Members of the fandom server can DM me on discord to suggest prompts.

#Dinosquad Secret Santa 2022—We did a fandom holiday gift exchange in 2022 and posts with this tags are the gifts created for it

#Digital Art and #Traditional Art—Two self-explanatory sub-categorical tags for Dino Squad fanart

#Feathered Dino Forms—Posts wherein the characters' dino forms are described as or drawn having feathers

#Overheard at RaptorDyne—Posts about working at RaptorDyne, mostly incorrect quotes.

#Max Gets No Respect—Posts about the squad disrespecting Max, also mostly incorrect quotes

#Morally Gray Ms. Moynihan—Posts talking about the possibility of Ms. Moynihan keeping the kids dinosaurs on purpose, or similar theories/headcanons/AUs/etc.

#Trans Buzz—Posts regarding the popular headcanon that Buzz is a trans man

#LGBT+—Posts containing queer content, such as sexuality/gender identity headcanons for characters

#Trans—Same as above, but for specifically trans-related content

#Screencaps—Posts containing screen captures from the show

#Memes—Posts containing memes either related to the show or otherwise

There are probably a few more character-specific ones that I have forgotten, but I'll keep updating this tag guide continually as needed.

There is no #Gay Caruso tag because... well... Caruso. That would be every post about him lol. Maybe one day I'll go through his character tag and add it to every post where it's relevant but it'll have to wait until I'm really, really bored.

Lastly, I have Warning Tags

I don't really have warning tags for things that were in the show, like I'm not gonna have a warning tag for sharp teeth or carnivorous eating habits, because... well... it's a show about dinosaurs. If you had a problem with that kind of thing, you probably wouldn't be here. I also won't use the CW tags for passing mentions—my thinking is that if something's not really in the post I don't really need to tag for it.

#Cursing—I know most people don't have a problem with explicit language, but this blog is technically for a kids' show, so there it is

#Blood CW—For posts containing depictions or descriptions of blood

#Injury CW—For posts containing depictions or descriptions of one or more injuries

#Death CW—For posts containing depictions or descriptions of death

#Body Horror—For posts containing depictions or descriptions of body horror (excluding dinosaur tranformations)

#Long Post—For posts that are more than two screen-lengths on mobile. I will not tag something as a long post if it has a readmore, unless the part before the readmore is longer than 2 screen-lengths.

If there is anything not on this list you would like me to have a warning tag for, or if there's a post you think should have one of these warnings, but I forgot to add it, just shoot me a DM, or an ask, and 99% of the time, I will gladly add a warning tag.

Well done making it to the end! GOOooo GO DINO!

[thisismysecondrodeo]

Twitter Famous (Jason Sudeikis x Reader) - Chapter 2

wc: 1.2k

Story Page | Story Tag

You paced the kitchen while Andie made the two of you coffee, your phone sitting a safe distance away as if it was radioactive. Andie handed you the mug and you paused only briefly to take a sip before continuing your walking. 

“Okay, so walk me through it again. Why are we freaking out in a bad way and not a good way?”

“Andie,” you sighed, finally stopping and hopping up on your kitchen counter across from where your friend leaned against the stove, “he’s going to fucking hate me. The man doesn’t even tweet and he’s getting harassed on Twitter on my behalf.”

“It’s funny! He’s a funny guy, he’ll get it. Plus, so many people think you two would be hot together, they’re shipping it, dude. Did he DM you or anything?”

“No, he followed me though.” 

“See! He wouldn’t do that if he was pissed off. You know you’re allowed to have a little fun.” Andie finished the last of her coffee and stood on her tiptoes to kiss your cheek. “I’ve gotta run, I’m flying out to New York tonight. I know you have to call Kayla, but please can you just live a little? If you can’t meet your favorite celebrity then what the hell is the point of being famous?” 

You chuckled, sliding off the counter to walk her to the door. “Alright, alright, but when Kayla has to manage a PR crisis…” 

“It’s my fault, and I accept that gladly if it means you get to meet the love of your life, Jason Sudeikis,” Andie grinned and you rolled your eyes—there were so many ways for this to go and almost none of them were love, but Andie’s energy was addicting. It was nice to have someone that constantly pushed you to just have a good time; and sure, you hated to make Kayla’s job harder but it wasn’t like she was against you having a good time either. 

You took a long, hot shower before you gave Kayla a ring, thankful it was Saturday and you had nowhere to be. 

“Sooo this is cute, this is fun,” Kayla said and you could hear the smile in her voice. 

“I’m glad you think so,” you laughed, “I was kind of freaking out and I thought you’d be pissed.” 

“Hey, my only job is to get you where you wanna go and if Jason's where you want to go, you have my full support. So what do you think? Let me help you plan?”

“Honestly, I feel bad I made him go viral, but he’s liking every tweet, he can’t be THAT upset…maybe? I don’t know, it's hard to know what he’s thinking when he doesn’t tweet at all.” 

“Okay so use that to your advantage.” 

“How?”

“He’s trending, he’s clearly looking at the tweets, and everyone’s waiting for his next move but he can’t make it because he doesn’t tweet…so you make the move. Tweet and ask him out. See if he likes it.” 

“And you’re okay with this?” 

“I’m not your enemy, Y/N! I want you to be happy and that’s it. You get to decide what that looks like…and I’m here to clean up your mess.” 

You laughed, “I’m sorry Kayla, I know you’re not the enemy. I appreciate you. I’ll talk to you later.” 

When you hung up you couldn’t believe Andie and Kayla weren’t telling you that you were insane; accidentally sending a legion of your fans to tweet at Jason Sudeikis because you couldn’t connect to feelings of romance unless you were looking at his pictures or watching his movies and shows seemed certifiable to you. 

You took out your phone, looking at his name in your notifications, in your followers list. It gave you a thrill that at least he knew you existed. You audibly giggled as you tweeted. 

You didn’t actually expect him to respond, didn’t really believe that he would tweet for the first time to respond to some singer he didn’t know asking him out on a date. But you thought he’d like it and people would hoot and holler again, and then it would all fizzle out. Maybe you’d get asked about him in an interview or he’d get asked about you and you’d circle each other for years until finally the two of you were at an event together and you’d snap a photo and all's well that ends well. 

Except he didn’t like the tweet. 

You worked on rewriting a couple of songs, toyed around on the piano with some new stuff, tried to read a romance novel on your Kindle to get you in the second-album-spirit and he still hadn’t liked the tweet. 

Andie tried to settle you down over text but you couldn’t help but think you’d ruined it. 

Andie: Do you know he’s online?

You quickly switched to Twitter and looked at his likes and he was still liking tweets about you, tweeted after you’d tried to ask him out. Somehow in all the hubbub of should you tweet him, should you not, you never considered how it would feel to get publicly rejected—you certainly weren’t in the mood to sing love songs now.

Y/N: He’s still liking tweets! Ugh, why did I do this again?

Andie: It’s fun to have a crush! Maybe he tried to message you, do you follow him?

Of course you followed Jason. Why wouldn’t you, especially since he now followed you. But now that you think about it… You quickly swiped through to look, might as well, and…you didn’t follow him. You felt like an idiot as you checked the message requests folder you never looked at and saw a message from Jason in your DMs. 

Jason: You’re in LA right? I’ll be there next week, so maybe next Saturday instead of this Thursday 🙂 

Jason: Also hi, nice to meet you. I’m Jason. 

You didn’t know what to do or how to respond and you wished Andie was here to tell you what to do. She certainly wasn’t texting back quickly enough for your liking. You’d already left him on read for an hour, you had to say something. 

Y/N: Oh my god, I am so sorry for all this.

Y/N: But not that sorry 🙂 I would love to hang out next Saturday

Y/N: Also hi, I’m Y/N

Jason: Oh, I know. Big fan. Like, you-were-on-my-Spotify Wrapped kinda big fan ;) 

Jason: Also, do you want to maybe tweet something so I can stop getting roasted for not shooting my shot? No pressure

Y/N: LOL good call, happy to

BIG FAN. He had to just be humoring you, there was no way…but those were some very specific details to include. You were giddy with the excitement of actually getting to meet him, that he actually wanted to meet you. Despite trying to manage your own expectations, it felt like a date. You texted Andie the rundown but you knew she wouldn’t be able to respond from the plane. 

You almost forgot you told Jason you’d tweet something. You purposely left the date out, and you didn’t suggest a location because there was no way the two of you could hang out without drawing a crowd on a good day, let alone if you tweeted it like a meet and greet. You couldn’t wipe the grin off your face as you typed it out and hit send. 

Jason liked it. 

Saturday couldn’t come fast enough.

-

AN: Okay so this is a slow build, don't kill me lol Also I'm posting every day but if you want a taglist let me know and I will happily tag you <3 Y'all have been so lovely and excited for this series it's awesome 🥰