#like I could stop posting fic and no one would be upset cos I’m not one of the ‘big names’ in buddie fic

[daffi-990]

I haven’t posted a fic since September but just know that I have two waiting in the wings .. one that is done and awaiting to be beta read and the other that I just need to reread and edit a bit before sending it off to my beta.

Soooo stay tuned I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️

[iridescentxstars]

｡˚ ꕥ 𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐱𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬' 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 '𝟐𝟒

Kinky season is coming and I thought I'd get a head start. From today until the end of September, I'll be taking kinktober requests while also working on some other fics that I hope to have done and ready soon (yes, the wolf fic is at the top of the list) This event is split into two different types: typical NSFW and dark, spooky NSFW because as someone kept making a point of, it's kinkTOBER and lines up with spooky season and I should have fun with that.

Idols allowed: Jongin, Bangchan, Minho, San, Seonghwa, Juyeon, Sangyeon and Irene

RULES:

Must have all qualifying factors to the prompt otherwise it will be deleted.

Drabbles made that are on the darker side will be tagged and properly trigger warned. Do not read them if you are uncomfortable. Every post will state everything used.

Always take care of yourself and be aware of what you read. This is all for fun and is not designed to upset anyone. Nothing written is believed to be how someone may behave and is all fictional.

Try to be original and fun. If a kink/prompt has been picked too many times, I will not do it

If you don't like a particular prompt/kink, feel free to ignore it, do not send snarky remarks to belittle what someone may enjoy

Some will very clearly work well together, some will not, while I do like a challenge, please be mindful about how it would work as I only have around 500 words to make it make sense

Please do not make the prompt too restrictive. These are meant to be drabbles and there needs to be creative freedom

Format: Must contain the following: Idol, AU, trope/dialogue/prompt, kink

You can have a trope OR a dialogue OR a prompt OR all of it. Mix and match. Requests that spark inspiration might get a longer piece written. You can choose up to 3 kinks but only 1-2 AU, tropes and prompts/dialogue to keep it easy!

All these prompts have been either thought about or found on other accounts because sometimes it's hard to remember or think about different ideas. The darker/spooky choices are coloured red to separate them from the safer choices.

Note: They can be interchangeable in the right circumstances. Mafia can be considered dark or maybe having a werewolf boyfriend is softer than we think.

AU: (some found here)

Roommates!AU

Mafia!AU

Werewolf!AU

Vampire!AU

College!AU

Angel!AU

Demon!AU

Hunter!AU

Co-Workers!AU

Friends With Benefits!AU

Superhero/Villain!AU

Yandere!AU

Monster!AU (specify what kind)

Killer!AU

Circus!AU

Stalker!AU

Mythology!AU (specify what kind/who)

Hybrid!AU

CEO!AU

Alien!AU

You Choose (will allow 3 max of this)

Tropes: (found here)

Enemies to lovers

Fake Dating/Marriage

Only one bed

Love potion

Kissing as a distraction

Jealousy

Blind Date

Taking care of them

Forbidden Love

Confessions

You Choose (will allow 3 max of this)

Dialogue/Prompt: (some found here)

“Don’t act innocent when we both know where your mouth was two minutes ago.”

“I could make you feel better.”

“My tongue still remembers the way you taste.”

“Come on, you have to work for it.”

“We won’t be missed for a couple hours, we should take advantage of that.”

“Hmm, is that a threat or a promise?”

“Let’s commit some sins.”

“Jealousy is not a word I’m familiar with.

“This is your work place, leave the boyfriend at home next time.”

“This seems like such a bad decision, but I just can’t help it.”

"You'll scream? Oh, baby, I really hope you do~."

You've been hearing noises for a while now, shuffling under your bed in the wee hours of the night. Most people would be scared to check whether it's their cat or not but you? You decide to lure the monster out by having a little fun.

There are no such things as monsters in your closet, that's what's always been told to you but how do they explain the eyes that watch you as you touch yourself? Or why you can't seem to stop doing it?

Everyone has a pet, a cute kitty cat or a puppy dog but you? Well, you have something that can't be found in a pet store... or... on this earth, actually.

A new haunted house has opened up and everyone is dying to go! You are scared, you won't deny that but what do you find scarier? The house and all its horror or the fact that being chased turns you on?

They told you that they would kill for you but you didn't think that they were serious... or did you?

You always joked with your extremely hot best friend that you would flirt and fuck your kidnapper because you read a lot of dark romance. So, they decided to make that dream a reality. Oh no, whatever will you do to gain your freedom?

Two words: Masked Men

You go to a party with your friends on Halloween and spot a handsome guy, walking around, shirtless, covered in fake blood with a mask on. Little did you know that it isn't quite a costume...

The dare was to enter the creepy, abandoned, possibly haunted asylum... not make out in it.

You Choose (will allow 3 max of this)

Kinks:

Oral

Toys

Knotting

Primal Play/Predator/Prey

Bondage

Praise/Worship

Degradation

Orgasm Control/Edging

Roleplay

Breeding/Creampie

Knife play

Blood play

Fear play

Dom/Sub

Impact Play

Overstimulation

Public

Dacryphilia

Free use (established/consensual)

Breath Play/Choking

Somnophilia

Owner/Pet

Voyeurism/Exbitionism

Photo/Video

Sensory Deprivation

Size Difference

Age Gap

You Choose (will allow 3 max of this)

I won't be putting the pressure on myself to do one a day as I do also work and everything else BUT I will try to do them every few days so there is no limit on what can be sent in as I'll go through and post like 1-5 at a time when I'm online and writing!

[mariaofdoranelle]

Look at Us Now - ch. 17

Fic masterlist

Hey! It feels like forever since I last posted, probably because I was kinda handling a crisis at home 😅 the crisis is very much still on, but I’m ~excluding myself from the narrative~ for mental health reasons, which hopefully means I’ll stop skipping classes and write more lol. Anyway. Have fun!

Warnings: language

Words: 2,7k

Rowan failed her.

He was reminiscing, reflecting on a rocking chair, under the faint light of the beach house’s side porch. Alone. The hammering sound of the rain against the roof was loud, but not as much as Rowan’s thoughts.

His doom was a lot easier to deal with when Aelin was just someone who broke his heart because she didn’t care enough about him.

He rocked his chair a bit harder, his muscles strained. He was too angry at himself to stay still, but too gloomy to have an eruptive reaction.

Rowan got up, pacing around the porch. He couldn’t stop thinking what would’ve happened if he’d done his job right. Maybe they would be together now. Maybe their co-parenting arrangement would’ve stayed friendly. Either way would be better than what it became.

The purely physical affair he had with Aelin was brutally interrupted by his incarceration and the discovery of her pregnancy. After that, they bonded in a way that made him feel like their souls were melting to be forged as one, but it was just another way of not having her.

Aelin was never fully his, and she would never be after what he’d done.

And even if she wanted to take a risk and have him, what if Rowan broke his family all over again?

Three knocks against the doorframe snapped Rowan out of his thoughts, and was all warning his mother gave him before sitting on a rocking chair.

“I brought some hot tea for you to tell me what happened. Come on.”

He complied, knowing he didn’t have the energy to defy Rory Whitethorn right now. Rowan could trust his mom to read his moods like a manual. He sat on the other rocking chair next to hers. “Did I ever tell you you’re too nosy?”

“I’m your mother. If I didn’t pry, I wouldn’t know anything that happened in your life ever since you left for college.”

He let out a quiet chuckle and sipped the chamomile tea she brought. Breathing the rain’s fresh air in, he let it fill his hollow chest. Rowan couldn’t even begin to explain his situation without uttering the words he dreaded the most, something he’d never dared say out loud before.

“I’m in love with Aelin.”

He stilled, bracing himself for the I’ve been telling you that forever or You’re six years too late, but all he got was an unreadable motherly look.

Rory reached for his upper arm, stroked it with her thumb before she said, “That’s a good thing, honey.”

“We were growing closer lately, and I… well, I didn’t have a plan, but—“ Rowan ran a hand through his hair, closed his eyes and let out a pained breath. “She explained today why she asked me to move out of her house. It’s bad, mom.”

“I see…” Rory trailed, his chest caving as she did. This was a bad indicator. The situation was so serious his mother was actually thinking before she opened her mouth. She continued, “I’m assuming you won’t tell me what happened?”

“I’m not sure I can.”

Even if Aelin allowed him to tell Rory about her mental illness, everything that happened between them back then still felt too raw, too intimate.

“That’s okay.” His mother gave him a small, reassuring smile. “Did she forgive you?”

“I—“ Rowan’s mouth hung open for a moment, then he closed it. He was about to say ‘no’, but even though Aelin didn’t say the words, she didn’t look mad or wounded either. “I’m not sure.”

“It was a long time ago, and she doesn’t look upset about it anymore.” His mom’s voice was soft, her touch on his forearm gentle. “This looks a lot like forgiveness to me.”

“Yeah, but that’s beside the point.” His mouth was ajar as he flailed his arms in front of him, struggling to explain that weight in his chest. “I shouldn’t be looking for cues and forgiveness. I shouldn’t have done anything that—“ Rowan rubbed both hands against his face, coming to terms with the fact that it’d take a while until he found the right words. “I don’t even feel like I deserve her forgiveness, to begin with.”

Rory recoiled. “But that’s not your decision.”

The sudden change in his mother’s tone, from soft to firm, snapped Rowan out of his spiral of self-loathing. “What?”

“Honey,” she pursed her lips, that trademark Whitethorn frown on. “Only Aelin can decide whether you deserve her or not. If she thinks you do and wants to try again…” Rory shrugged. “Just take that chance and don’t make the same mistake twice.”

Rowan’s mouth and shoulders went slack. “Am I supposed to forget I deeply wounded the mother of my child?”

Because that’s exactly what happened. Rowan was so scared to hurt Maisie it made him blind to some of Aelin’s needs, and he hurt his family anyway. His throat closed, and he felt as heavy as Aelin’s words on the night that crushed his dreams. That’s what happens, right? It’s impossible for a man to wound the mother exclusively. As if this isn’t bad enough, it leaves a trail of hurt that affects the entire family.

This one was on him.

“That was included in the ‘don’t fuck up again’ part.” Something about his expression made his mother soften. “It’s normal to wallow, but you can’t let that stop your life, Rowan. It’s always the same thing.” Rory sighed, and Rowan felt she was gazing right into his soul with the same green eyes she gave him. “Honey, you’re so full of what-ifs, it’s putting your entire life on hold. Sometimes you gotta be a little bold to get the things you want in life.”

Rowan stared at his mother, dizziness taking over him as his insides sank to the pit of his stomach. The rain was dying down, the gentle wind rustling his hair, but he couldn’t move.

At that moment, Rowan wanted to defend himself. He didn’t have the energy to, but he wanted to say that his mother was wrong, that she didn’t understand. He wanted to get up and scream.

He doesn’t like the way things are now, he never liked the co-parenting arrangement.

He didn’t choose this.

He never chose to wait for things to settle until six years passed by, it just happened.

Rowan is a careful person, that’s part of him. Always weighing his next step, always waiting for the right time.

And while he waited for the timing to be perfect, Aelin got pregnant, moved in with him, birthed his baby, kicked him out, grew to hate him, stopped hating him, and now their daughter is five years old.

He was still gravitating around her, waiting for the right time to do something. Anything. Rowan wasn’t even sure what exactly he was supposed to do, he just knew it involved bringing Aelin back into his life.

Sensing his struggle, Rory sat back and decided to not press on the subject. “This reminds me of your dad, you know?” Her gaze grew distant, a bittersweet smile on her lips. “It’s easier for him when I mess up than when he does. The guilt is always the worst part for him.”

“Sounds like Dad,” Rowan said around a faint chuckle.

Rory wiggled her eyebrows. ”You know what helped him a lot?”

“Huh.”

“Therapy.”

Rowan tensed, and he narrowed his eyes at his mother, trying to decide if he should believe her. “You’re lying.”

“I am! But it got into your stubborn head, didn’t it?”

Rowan chuckled, his gloomy state not strong enough to survive his mother’s antics. “Not now that I know it’s a lie!”

She gave him a small grin, then reached for her son’s hand. “Honey, your father’s mental well-being is called retirement, a grown child, and leaving the big city to a beach house. You can’t have any of that now, so you should consider therapy.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Rowan waved her off. “I’ll think about it.”

“Also, you should really talk to Aelin. You’re not good at reading cues, honey, you got this from your dad as well.”

He gave her a sidelong glance, noticing that she was off her handling-my-son-in-crisis mode, back to her usual self. “Is that so?”

Rory adjusted herself in chair, picking back the long-forgotten mug of tea. “Did I ever tell you your father hired a band when he proposed to me? You have no idea the amount of unsubtle hints I gave him.”

“Mom.” Rowan interrupted, giving her a pointed, knowing look. “I don’t remember saying anything about proposing.”

He had no idea if Aelin would let him get anywhere close to that.

“I know.” Rory’s elbow on his side was as faint as her subtlety. “But keep that in mind.”

He chuckled. “The band or the hints?”

“Both. Especially hints about bands.”

~~

“And what if you want to swim?” He asked, crouched on the floor and eye-to-eye with Maisie, his face as serious as it could be.

“I can’t swim without a grown-up.”

“Any grown-up?”

“No strangers!” She dramatically shook her head. “Just Mommy, Auntie Sellene and Aidan.”

“Maisie.” Rowan’s voice was firm. “Your cousin Aidan isn’t a grown-up.”

“But he’s nine!”

“No, he’s still a kid. And…” He bowed his head, running his palm against his forehead. “I’m forgetting something.”

“Daddy.” She gave him a pointed look. “You’re being a buzzard.”

Rowan bit back a smile. The weight in his chest almost crushed him to pieces the first time Maisie called him that, about a month ago, but he was growing to love hearing the nickname Aelin gave him come from his daughter’s mouth.

“Oh.” He looked back up to her. “And what do we do about the beach animals?”

Maisie crossed her arms. “Leave them alone because it’s their home.”

“Perfect.” He kissed the top of his daughter’s head. “Time for sunscreen.”

“You done, Buzzard?”

Rowan startled, snapping his eyes to the doorway and finding Aelin there. If he wasn’t on his knees already, he would be now.

Her pink bikini made his eyes linger, but was enough to make him train his eyes back to her face, and Rowan thanked Mala she was at least wearing denim shorts. He plastered on a smile, looking at her face. Not her pink bikini and exposed curves. Blonde hair—not the ends hugging her breasts—and blue eyes. He focused on her face.

It was a regular beach attire, but Aelin didn’t need much to take his breath away.

She smiled at her daughter, pointing at the lotion in Rowan’s hand. “Auntie Sellene can’t find Bree’s sunscreen, can you hand yours to them?”

Maisie got the tube from her dad and ran downstairs, a girl on a mission. After a quick peek in the hallway, Aelin closed the door and took a step closer to Rowan, her arms crossed.

“You sure you don’t wanna come?”

Rowan shook his head. “I got a thing.”

“You got a thing… in a city where you have no work, and half the people you know are going to the beach?”

His lips pressed together in a slight grimace. “I’m staying home with the other half.”

“Rowan, are you—“ Aelin took a step closer and lowered her voice before asking, “Are we alright?”

“Yeah.” His voice came higher than intended, then he corrected, “No. Um.” Rowan grimaced. “Actually, can we—“

“Come on, Aelin!” Sellene shouted from downstairs.

He gave her a close-lipped smile. “You should go.”

“Sure.”

She took a step back, eyeing him carefully before fully turning around. Rowan’s shoulders dropped in relief when she left. They needed to talk, yes, but Rowan needed to organize his thoughts before they did.

He waited in his room until the rental car drove off the garage, and headed towards his dad’s office. Rowan flinched every time the wooden floor creaked—he didn’t know why, since he wasn’t sneaking, but something about that moment made him want to go unnoticed. It wasn’t his childhood home, but it still had the same smell of baked goods and the same pictures on the wall. Except that now the pictures of Rowan as a kid were side-by-side with Maisie’s.

In one of the frames, he was wearing his daily camouflage uniform, while Aelin wore the hospital staff’s maternity uniform—white pants and a white wrap blouse she absolutely hated, but her blinding smile suggested she wasn’t worried about it at the moment. Rowan remembered it was taken on the day they moved into her house, but he never understood why his mother kept it there. She wasn’t even with them that day, Aelin texted her that one, but maybe she noticed how Aelin’s silly smiles and enormous bump broke his usual serious stance in pictures.

Rowan didn’t miss how she ignored his love confession yesterday.

He glanced at the watch at the end of the hall. It was almost time. He wanted a better way to look at things, but it was a difficult task. What was Rowan supposed to tell her? Hi. Remember when you made me realize the biggest mistake of my life, I confessed my love to you, and you stayed silent? I already have my rejection, I just need the complete humiliation to have some closure.

It could be a dramatic depiction of what he was going to say, but he couldn’t find a better way to put it right now.

Depending on how the conversation went, Rowan could even grovel enough to confess that he didn’t need Aelin to love him back, that was not his issue. If she chose to share her life with him, that’d be more than he could ever ask for.

But would that be what he deserves?

Deserving of her or not, Aelin is the mother of his child, the love of his life. He didn’t expect her forgiveness, but he couldn’t let go of her either.

He opened his dad’s computer and logged into his email to get the link. He opened Zoom two minutes early, but the meeting’s host was already there.

“Hey there!” Yrene cheered from his screen. “I wasn’t expecting your text, but it’s good to see you.”

This session had been canceled for a very long time, since he and Aelin decided to not do therapy during their vacation. However, it came in very handy that Rowan’s mental turmoil started a day before their weekly session was supposed to happen, so he texted Yrene asking if they could meet online.

Rowan tried to smile, but his expression was strained. “Did I crash your plans?”

“Not at all! I was going to lie on the couch and play Subway Surfers for an hour. It’s a good thing you called, since I’m always encouraging people to fight their vices.” Yrene leaned closer to her screen, as if it’d help her see Rowan’s better. “Where’s Aelin?”

He scratched the back of his head, fighting the unease in the bottom of his stomach. “It’s just me today.”

She straightened her posture, squaring her shoulders. “An individual session, then?”

Rowan nodded.

“Good!” Yrene cleared her throat and continued in a serious tone, “I mean, good. What made you take that decision?”

Rowan swallowed, fiddling with his fingers and steeling himself for what he was about to say. For the second time.

“I’m in love with Aelin.”

“Go on.”

He frowned. “You don’t look surprised.”

“I’m really not.” Yrene’s own blunt answer made her grimace. “What I mean is, I’ve been working with families for a long time. It gets easy to tell.”

“Sure.”

He looked at Yrene. She looked at him. He was the first one to break, darting a glance at the wall, feigning interest there to ignore the awkwardness of this situation. Rowan wasn’t used to leading conversations, Aelin and Yrene usually did that.

“Okay.” His therapist cleared her throat. “I’ll give you two options, and you’ll choose how we start: you can tell me what happened in your vacation, or we can talk about how you only choose therapy because of your family, never yourself.”

Rowan was halfway into a flinch when he schooled his expression. This wasn’t a difficult choice at all.

“We arrived here last Saturday…”

You can get notified when I update by either turning notifications on for @backtobl4ck-fics or entering my (sometimes glitchy) tag list!!

TAG LIST

I couldn’t tag the people in bold, sorry!

@aelinchocolatelover

@autumnbabylon

@bookcide

@booksandteaonarainydayislife

@cookiemonsterwholovesbooks

@courtofjurdan

@dreamer-133

@elentiyawhitethorn

@elizarikaallen

@emily-gsh

@empress-ofbloodshed

@fangirlprincess09

@goddess-aelin

@gracie-rosee

@leiawritesstories

@lululululululuop

@renxzs

@rowanaelinn

@s-uppertime

@sarahjswift

@staghorn-mountains

@superspiritfestival

@swankii-art-teacher

@thegreyj

@throneofus7

@violet-mermaid7

@wishfulimaginings

[aserene]

I’m Bored and Anxious So I Slapped Together a List of Fan Fic Writer Asks

1. Share a song that makes you think of [The Heir of the Dragon]: How to train your dragon theme.

2. Do you read/reread your own fics? Guilty.

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written? Snow.

4. How many WIPs do you have right now? 52

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write? Andreas gets Stella Pregnant

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time? 100% Happy to Help (reylo love) , Who We Are (Silrah, my reason why Saul is a selkie), and currently Someone in her Corner (my new HOTD obsession)

7. How many ideas for fics do you have right now? 12... possibly 13

8. What project(s) are you currently working on? Heir of the Dragon (for real), a new Fate multichapter, and finishing some old NCIS stuff

9. Do you write every day? Do lesson plans count? If you wrote today, share a sentence of what you’ve written! Take a swamp tromp.

10. Is there a fic that got a different response than you were expecting? Snow, I didn't expect anyone to think it was good.

11. Do you have specific playlists for writing fics? I do. It's saved on my spotfiy.

12. Do you have a playlist for your current WIP(s)? Share it! I don't. I should though.

13. How much planning do you do before writing? Uh... a lot

14. If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick? Heir of the Dragon or the Enchantrix stories

15. How do you come up with titles for your fics/chapters? Song lyrics, poems, and prompts

16. At what point in the process do you come up with titles? Uh at the end? Sometimes I save it something funny in my drive and that's the title.

17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic? Best tools for dismemberment

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic? “If you mean they can cause a snowstorm, so you don’t have your magic history test tomorrow, no. Sorry to disappoint.”

19. Give us a small teaser from one of your WIPs.

“Da! Da, I sort of…oh,” Sky skidded to a stop in front of the two men. “Um, hi, Uncle Ben.” “Sky,” Ben greeted. “Did you set fire to the school?” Saul asked, sipping his scotch. “Not exactly.” “Did you spot a Burned One?” “No, I…” “Is it some sort of magical disaster?” “Um…no?” “You sure?” Saul pressed, glancing up at his son. “You ran in here like the hells of hound were after you.” “I turned Bloom into a dragon,” Sky announced. Ben, who had just taken a sip of the scotch, found it flying out of his mouth as Saul sat up. “Fire breathing?” “I mean, she does have the dragon flame, so yea,” Sky replied. “What did you say to her?” Ben demanded. “Did you use some sort of artifact?” “I swore the oath.” “Oh Shit,” Ben sighed. “Like father, like son.”

20. What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written? Noli timere malum, sed time heroa

21. Have you ever deleted an entire scene after spending hours laboring over it? If so, why? Yes. Yes I did. Because I was co-writing and I was embarrassed that it was so bad. My co made me un delete it.

22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing? Sometimes.

23. How do you choose where to end a chapter (if you have multi-chapter works)? I try to plan out the chapter but sometimes they get to big and I'm like it needs to be done now.

24. Share a moodboard for (one of) your current WIP(s). I don't really do mooadboards. Sorry (I'm working on it)

25. Have you ever upset yourself with your own writing? Yes. I killed Jenny. Again.

26. Is there something you’ve written that you would never want your family to see? All of it? Most of my family thinks when I'm writing I'm working on my novel...

27. Is there a fic you were nervous to post/share? Why? Heir of the Dragon. I didn't think it would live up to expectations.

28. Have you ever tagged a fic “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat”? Not yet.

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

“You think…you know what I don’t care what you think, get lost Anna. Next time, don’t interfere.” “Next time…believe me Jethro if you try assisted suicide again, I won’t stop you. Consider this in honor of my sister’s…affection for you. It won’t happen again. In fact give me a reason and I’ll put you in the ground here and now.” He walked away from her heading back out to the main street to get his team. “Walk away Jethro, bury this if you want. I’m not going away.” “Go to hell Anna.” “After you,” she whispered.

30. Ask anything!

I’m Bored and Anxious So I Slapped Together a List of Fan Fic Writer Asks

1. Share a song that makes you think of [fic title] 2. Do you read/reread your own fics? 3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written? 4. How many WIPs do you have right now? 5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write? 6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time? 7. How many ideas for fics do you have right now? 8. What project(s) are you currently working on? 9. Do you write every day? If you wrote today, share a sentence of what you’ve written! 10. Is there a fic that got a different response than you were expecting? 11. Do you have specific playlists for writing fics? 12. Do you have a playlist for your current WIP(s)? Share it! 13. How much planning do you do before writing? 14. If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick? 15. How do you come up with titles for your fics/chapters? 16. At what point in the process do you come up with titles? 17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic? 18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic? 19. Give us a small teaser from one of your WIPs. 20. What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written? 21. Have you ever deleted an entire scene after spending hours laboring over it? If so, why? 22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing? 23. How do you choose where to end a chapter (if you have multi-chapter works)? 24. Share a moodboard for (one of) your current WIP(s). 25. Have you ever upset yourself with your own writing? 26. Is there something you’ve written that you would never want your family to see? 27. Is there a fic you were nervous to post/share? Why? 28. Have you ever tagged a fic “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat”? 29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.) 30. Ask anything!

[sluttywonwoo]

pretend || j.ww x reader

Summary: reading thirst tweets with your co-star/boyfriend’s best friend makes things a little tense

Warnings: swearing, smut mentions (18+)

Word Count: 1.8k

a/n:  originally posted on my tom holland fic account ( @wazzupmrstark )

Masterlist

The sound of Mingyu cracking his knuckles next to you sent a shiver down your spine, making you cringe instinctively. You turned to glare at him and leaned away from the noise.

“I hate when you do that!” you groaned.

He smirked. “I know, that’s why I like doing it.”

You looked over at Wonwoo, who was sitting across the room with the crew, and pointed to Gyu. 

“Can you tell your best friend to stop being annoying?”

“Can you tell your girlfriend to stop being dramatic?” Mingyu retaliated.

“I’m not picking sides!” Wonwoo shouted back and held up his hands in surrender.

You let your jaw drop. “I’ll remember that, Jeon.”

“Baby, I-” Wonwoo started to defend himself, but fell silent when the producer got up from her chair and approached you and Mingyu who were sitting behind the camera. 

“Which one of you wants to take this?” she asked, holding up a large insulated jug full of paper strips. 

“I’ll take it,” Mingyu offered and set the cup in his lap. 

“What a gentleman,” you said, fighting the urge to roll your eyes. 

“You’re lucky you’re pretty,” he muttered, “because you’re so fucking annoying.”

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

The producer gave you both a sideways look. “Are you guys alright? Should we take a minute before starting?”

“No, we’re fine,” you assured her.

“We don’t actually hate each other,” Mingyu added, “this is just how... we are.”

She didn’t look any less concerned, but nodded anyway. “Okay, well remember what your director said about playing up your chemistry to promote the show. And when we call action just give a quick slate and start reading the tweets.”

She walked back over to her spot next to the cameraman and took a seat before looking over a checklist that had been handed to her and writing some notes on it.

“Nervous?” Mingyu whispered to you as you both waited for your cue.

“A little,” you admitted. “You?”

“I’m a bit on edge,” he concurred. “Mostly because your boyfriend is about to watch me read filthy comments about you on-camera.”

You glanced over at Wonwoo who gave you an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up. “He’ll be fine. How bad can they be?”

From a distance, the producer you had just spoken to called for everyone to be quiet on set and signaled the cameras to start rolling. You perked up and straightened your dress, waiting for Mingyu to take the lead. 

“Hi guys, I’m Kim Mingyu.”

“And I’m y/n y/l/n.”

“You might recognize us from our new Netflix series, Breaking Curfew, where we play opposite each other in what you might call a... complicated romantic relationship.”

“We’re enemies with benefits,” you summarized. “And today we’re here with Buzzfeed to read thirst tweets about each other.”

“Ladies first,” Mingyu said and held the cup out to you.

You closed your eyes and sifted through the strips of paper with one hand, selecting one at random. 

“Okay, this one’s about you. ‘Kim Mingyu has the prettiest eyes’.” You grinned as you watched your co-star’s cheeks turn pink. “He’s totally blushing right now! We haven’t even gotten to the good stuff!”

“Thank you very much to whoever tweeted that,” Mingyu said and cleared his throat. 

“I agree with this person,” you continued, “you do have really pretty eyes.”

“Aw, thank you, y/n.”

“You’re welcome.”

“My turn.” Mingyu closed his eyes and rummaged around the cup before picking one. “‘Someone tell y/n y/l/n that I’m single and I get a discount at Olive Garden if she ever wants to let me take her out on a date’.”

You chuckled. “I do like Olive Garden.”

“She’ll get back to you on that one, mate,” Mingyu said quickly and let the crumpled piece of paper fall to the floor. 

You took that as a sign to move on so you reached into the jug and pulled out another tweet.

“Oh, this one’s about me again. ‘Y/n y/l/n scissor me challenge’.” You clapped a hand over your mouth in shock and thrust the slip of paper towards Mingyu.

“You know what, props for being so bold. What do you think, y/n? Are you going to take them up on the offer?”

“I’ll think about it,” you managed to choke out, sending Mingyu into a laughing fit. You fanned yourself with your hand as you tried to recover and motioned for your co-star to read another one. “Your turn.”

“‘Kim Mingyu and y/n y/l/n are my dream celebrity threesome,’” he read. “What a compliment, don’t you think?”

“Oh, for sure,” you agreed and winked as you held your hand to your ear in a call me motion. 

“These are just getting more and more vulgar, aren’t they?” Mingyu asked. 

“I don’t know that anything can beat the scissoring one,” you pointed out as you fished another tweet from the bucket. “Another one about Mingyu, okay. ‘I wanna suck Kim Mingyu’s soul through his dick then spit it back in his face’.” You blinked at the piece of paper in front of you in shock, scanning back over it to make sure you had read it right the first time. “Jesus... christ.”

Mingyu smirked and nudged your shoulder with his. 

You ignored him and pointed a finger at the camera in disgust. “I cannot believe you made me read this with my own two eyes. I could have lived my entire life without seeing those words in a sentence together!”

“I think that’s the best compliment I’ve ever received,” Mingyu countered, running a thumb along his jawline cockily. 

“No, I have beef with whoever tweeted that now.”

“You’re just jealous that I like this tweet better than the threesome one.”

You sighed. “This interview was a bad idea. Your head is already so god damn big.”

Mingyu opened his mouth to retaliate, but paused like he had thought better of it and took a deep breath to compose himself. 

“Anyway, moving on.”

You watched as he sifted through the tweets and chose one from the bottom, reading it to himself and grinning slightly before reading it aloud. 

“‘Petition for y/n y/l/n to start an OnlyFans because I just know her tits are incredible. I can feel it in my bones’.”

You brought your hands up to your boobs self-consciously and laughed. “I don’t know about that, but thank you.”

“I’ve seen them,” Mingyu added nonchalantly, “and I can confirm that twitter user ‘geminisuns’ is correct.”

“Mingyu!” 

“What? Do you know how many sex scenes we had to shoot? We’ve seen each other naked plenty of times.”

You looked back over to the crew and made eye contact with the producer. “Do you see what I have to deal with?”

“Maybe we should take a quick break,” she suggested and motioned for the cameras to stop rolling. “Get a drink, freshen up and be back here in five.”

“Do you think they’re going to use that part?” Mingyu asked as he followed you over to the water cooler. 

“I don’t know, dude,” you sighed in annoyance, “but great fucking job. The whole world already thinks we’re boning.”

“I don’t know about the whole world.” You glared at him. “Wonwoo knows we’re not.”

Wonwoo. You had nearly forgotten that your boyfriend was there on set with you. You looked around for him, and saw him still sitting in his designated guest chair looking at his phone. You could only imagine what he must be thinking of all of this. You should probably say something to him. 

You told Mingyu that you’d be back and made your way across the room to Wonwoo. Even from a distance you could tell that he was upset. 

His knuckles were pale and his jaw was tight. He didn’t look up at you when you approached him. 

“Sorry this is taking longer than expected,” you said, brushing a stray curl out of his eyes. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he murmured in response, still not looking at you. 

You sighed and draped yourself across him, slinging your arms loosely across his shoulders as you leaned down to see what he was doing on his phone. He was scrolling aimlessly on Instagram, not even liking any of the posts. 

“If you’re bored you can leave,” you said curtly and stood back up. 

“I’m not bored.”

“You’re not even paying attention to the shoot.”

“Trust me, it’s impossible not to. I’ve been trying to tune it out for the past ten minutes with no luck.”

“Why would you not want to pay attention?” you demanded even though the answer was sitting right in front of you. “This is a big deal for me.”

Wonwoo swallowed and finally looked up at you. “I know, baby. It’s just- do you know how hard it is to listen to my best friend talk about doing all of these dirty things to you-”

“He’s my best friend too,” you pointed out in a quiet hiss. “The only reason we’re together is because of him.”

Sometimes you felt the need to remind Wonwoo that you had known Mingyu longer than you had known him. If Gyu hadn’t brought him to set all those times back when you were filming in the fall, you wouldn’t even know about each other’s existence. 

“I know that.”

“You’ve done interviews like this before,” you argued. 

“I know,” he repeated.

“Then why are you being like this?” He didn’t answer, so you kept going. “You know my bare ass has been on tv, right-”

“Don’t,” Wonwoo warned and grabbed your wrist.

You gasped and flexed your fingers gingerly in his grasp, challenging him. “Don’t what?” 

“Y/n,”

“Don’t... act like I want to fuck your best friend?”

He narrowed his eyes at you. “You’re enjoying this.” It wasn’t a question.

“Don’t pretend like I’d rather fulfill those tweets with him instead of you? Give the people what they want?”

You had to bite your tongue before you went any further and said something you might regret. Your words had already had the desired effect. You didn’t even have to look at Wonwoo’s lap to know that he was struggling not to get hard. 

You could see it in his eyes. The arousal that had turned the warm brown into black. The way he was looking at you told you everything you needed to know. You wondered if you would even make it back home before he’d break, if he would pull the car over on the side of the road and take you then and there. 

Your knees were weak at the mere thought of what you were in for later that night. Making Wonwoo jealous was admittedly one of your favorite pastimes, purely for selfish reasons. Possessive sex was arguably the best sex. The teasing, the hair-pulling, the choking, the face-fucking, all hit different when Wonwoo was reminding you who you belonged to. 

Wonwoo released your wrist from his grip and raised his eyebrows expectantly. “Are you finished?”

You shook your head and grinned. “Just getting started.”

lmk what you thought; i always appreciate feedback!!

wonwoo tags: @wonw00t

shoot me an ask to be added/removed from my taglist

[chaotic-tired-bastard]

hi i just wanted to say i adored the fic! I hc him to be a dork so you wrote him perfectly in my eyes >:) I know you just posted the fic but I want to request another if you don't mind. Salgexicon and co stop at a hotel for the nighy but *dramatic gasp* there's only one bed! So him and his crush share the bed :)

Ohohohohohoh >:D Anon, I love you

You groaned, limping along the dark, dirt highway and wincing with every step. Your feet were killing you. You and the rest of the party had been walking this highway the entire day, going up and down hills and around pits, and you all were ready to drop. Well, everyone except Bessie. The undead minotaur had yet to show any signs of exhaustion, instead staring ahead into the dark night with a look that could make a tarrasque drop dead. “Are we going to stop any time soon?” You wearily asked Salgexicon.

The sorcerer was using his staff as a walking cane, leaning on it heavily with each step. “Probably. If there isn’t an inn or something up ahead, we’re camping again,” He said, muffling a yawn.

You could see his dark eyebags contrasting against his pale skin, still visible in the dim light. “Salgexicon, if we don’t stop soon, I’m going to use your skin as a blanket,” Scarla warned her brother. From the look on her face, she probably wasn’t kidding.

“My feet are goin’ ta fall off,” Skurdgvrm complained.

“Just a few more minutes, I promise,” Salgexicon pleaded, stifling yet another yawn.

There was a lot of grumbling, but you all trudged on, forcing your eyes to stay open. You rounded a hill and stopped, shock on your face. “Guys, look at this…” You said, your shock giving way to glee.

Salgexicon and the others followed you and stopped, obviously processing the situation. Finally, Scarla let out a whoop of joy. You had finally found an inn! “Race you there!” She called, taking off in the direction of the house.

You wanted to run, you really did, but you were sure your feet would never forgive you if you did. However, Skurdgvrm’s feet weren’t as reserved. He took off, his axe swinging dangerously on his back. “…I’m not running,” Salgexicon said, glancing at you warily.

“Me neither,” You replied.

The both of you looked at each other before glancing back at Bessie, who was staring down at both of you. You felt a sense of dread overtake you; you knew Bessie probably wouldn’t hurt you, but she was still terrifying. “I’m…I’m just gonna go…” You said, gesturing to the inn.

“Yeah, me too…” Salgexicon said, glancing back at the minotaur.

Bessie snorted, brushing past the two of you and heading for the inn, which Scarla and Skurdgvrm had already entered. You and Salgexicon made your way over there, going slowly so your feet wouldn’t get even more bruised. When you entered the lobby, you saw Scarla haggling with some poor innkeep, who was staring at Bessie with terror on their face while Skurdgvrm looked around. “C’mon, just for the night! We’ll be out of your hair in the morning,” Scarla said.

“I-I’m sorry, but I c-can’t,” The innkeep stuttered, trying not to meet Bessie’s eyes.

“Why not? We’ll pay for the night,” Salgexicon asked, limping forward.

Bessie snorted and the innkeep let out a terrified meep, jumping a bit. Scarla and Salgexicon shot each other a smirk; they were thinking of some sort of scheme, for sure. “If you don’t, Bessie’ll be upset,” Scarla said, pouting.

“And when she gets upset, she tends to rage. I’m afraid, if she did, you wouldn’t have much of an inn anymore,” Salgexicon warned, trying to look trustable.

“Ya, and ye probably wouldn’t have much of a face,” Skurdgvrm added, finally piping up.

The innkeep glanced up, their face sheet-white. Bessie stared down at him, her red eyes glaring. “Uh, h-how many rooms would you l-like to book?” The innkeep asked nervously, pulling out a small book from their pocket.

“Three, thank you very much,” Scarla said, looking very self-assured.

The innkeep plucked three keys off of a ring, their hands trembling and making the metal ding together. Scarla took one, Salgexicon took the second, and Bessie took the third. She gave you all a look that said, “My room,” And walked off, ducking to avoid hitting her head on the ceiling beams.

“Welp, I’m going to go be dead. Skurdgvrm, you get the couch,” Scarla said, grabbing Skurdgvrm by the arm and dragging him off. Skurdgvrm looked a bit disgruntled, but anything was better than the ground.

“Shall we?” You asked.

“Yes please. I can’t wait to pass out,” Salgexicon groaned, leading the way with unsteady feet.

You felt a pang of pity go through your heart. Salgexicon never liked walking all that much. You used to have a cart with a horse, but it had been taken by robbers some time ago. Now you all had to walk everywhere, and you knew Salgexicon didn’t like it one bit.

Salgexicon opened the door and walked through, only to pause in the doorway. “Uhhh…” He said.

“What? What is it?” You asked, peering inside.

Oh. Oh no. Instead of two beds, like you had expected, there was only the one. “Oh,” You said.

“Do we want to do anything about this or..?” Salgexicon asked, still in the way.

“No. That poor innkeep looked like they were going to faint. Besides, I can take the floor,” You said, pushing Salgexicon inside and locking the door behind you.

Salgexicon turned, a frown on his face. “No, I’ll take the floor, it’s no problem,” He said, already taking off his pack.

“No, you’re not. When’s the last time you slept in a bed, Salgexicon? I’m fine with the floor,” You said, crossing your arms.

Salgexicon frowned at you, poking you gently with his staff. “No, Y/N, when’s the last time you slept in a bed? Exactly- I’m taking the floor,” He said stubbornly, crossing his own arms.

“Like hell you are! Listen, how about we just share the bed?” You said, frustrated.

Both of you paused as you took in what you had just said. It wasn’t necessarily a bad idea, but your mind raced as you thought about it. You and Salgexicon. In bed. Together.

Oh no. What a horrible time to remember your crush on the sorcerer. “…Good idea,” Salgexicon said, somewhat begrudgingly.

There was a small blush on his cheeks, making you blush as well. You shucked off your armour and climbed into the bed, repressing a groan of relief. Compared to the ground, this bed was heaven.

You smushed your face into the pillow, letting out a happy sigh. A few moments later, you felt Salgexicon climb in beside you. You peeked to the side to see Salgexicon laying down, a sleepy smile on his face. He was wearing his normal undershirt and pants (which was good- you weren’t sure your heart would have been able to take it if he had taken anything else off), and had, thankfully, taken his boots off.

“Glad we’re sharing?” You mumbled, turning over onto your side, facing him.

Salgexicon’s eyes shot to yours and he blushed. “Y-yeah…” He muttered.

You nodded, feeling sleep beginning to overtake you. You mumbled a barely coherent, “Goodnight,” before you finally passed out.

✴💙✴

You blinked groggily, shifting as something pulled you from your lovely, lovely sleep. It was still dark out- you couldn’t have been asleep for more than an hour or so. You went to roll over, but a weight around your waist stopped you from doing so. “Wha..?” You mumbled sleepily, peering over your shoulder to see what was wrapped around you.

Salgexicon mumbled in his sleep, his arm around your waist tightening as he pulled you closer against his chest. Your mouth dropped open and you blushed furiously, your eyes wide. There was no way you were getting back to sleep now.

He sighed and rested his cheek against your neck, totally oblivious in his unconscious state. His breath made you shudder and you mentally cursed yourself. Why, oh why did you suggest sharing the bed?! This was just plain torture!

You felt him smile softly and you couldn’t help but smile yourself. His soft, slow breaths were lulling you back to sleep, your eyes drooping as the fog of sleep slowly spread across your mind. You settled back down, pulling the blanket over both yourself and Salgexicon; you didn’t want either of you to be cold.

Salgexicon made a little happy noise and you swore your heart melted. You then slipped back into dreamland, where you had a dream about one sorcerer in particular.

✴💙✴

“WAKE UP YOU TWO!” Scarla bellowed, bursting into your room. “SKURDGVRM AND BESSIE ARE ALREADY U-”

You shot up, torn away from your dream and Salgexicon jumped back, falling off of the bed with a cry of surprise. “Scarla, what the-!” He asked furiously, pulling himself off of the floor.

You looked him over out of the corner of your eye, worried that he may have gotten hurt. He wasn’t, but he had the cutest bedhead. Scarla just stared at you, a look of shock on her face. You blushed, suddenly realising exactly what Scarla was thinking. “Did you two-”

“No!” You shrieked, throwing a pillow at the witch, cutting off her sentence.

“Just asking! Anyways, hurry up or we’ll leave you two here- Bessie and Skurdgvrm are already up and rarin to go!” She said, still smiling deviously.

She shot Salgexicon a lopsided grin before prancing away, leaving the two of you alone. The both of you got dressed quickly, narrowly making it in time to avoid being left behind by the party. You set off on the road again, ignoring how Scarla snickered and the blush that was painted across your cheeks.

[conarcoin]

SMPEarth Fanfics

There really isn’t that much fic for SMPEarth so I decided to make a post with a bunch. Some of these are my own, but most aren’t. Long post, so under the cut. I haven’t read all of these myself yet.

MY FICS:

playing imitation games - JoshA20 character study, largely based on the ARGs of SMPEarth. (Oneshot)

and if they laugh at me, i’ll make your heart my home - In an AU where Deo is exiled from Business Bay and joins AE, he finds comfort in Wisp among his new cold & hostile home. (Oneshot)

i’m so sorry (returns) - Slightly canon divergent (just timeline changes, shifting events around). Wisp apologizes for abandoning Business Bay. Deo is upset. (Oneshot)

OTHERS’ FICS:

The Stars Still Love You (They Always Will) - c!Tommy gets sent back in time to SMPEarth. (40/?)

off with their head (wait, are you serious?) - Caught in the middle of the war between Business Bay and the Empire, Charlie has to face his friend, Wilbur, on the battlefield. (Oneshot)

To cure it of sorrow would destroy it - An immortal god, Deo, grows attached to a mortal named Tommy, and is devastated by his death at the hands of a traitor. (Oneshot)

we are the crossroads - Technoblade overworks himself on a particularly scary night at the Antarctic Empire. Phil helps. (Oneshot)

the criminal from korea - Charlie got banished from New Zealand, and lives alone in his country, Kpop. Jack, a leader of the island nation, pays him an unexpected visit to apologize, much to the dismay of the other two New Zealand Soots. (Oneshot)

step one, light me on fire - On Day 19 of Charlie's SMPEarth history, he was named the first and only criminal of New Zealand. (Oneshot)

Letters From Another Millennia - Tommy and his family move into a new house in a small village, it is said to have sheltered magical creatures hunderds— maybe even thousands of years ago. What happens when he finds old letters hidden underneath the floorboards and decides to write responses to them for fun, but ends up getting in touch with a certain someone from the past? (2/15)

Before We Get Older (Let’s Do Everything) - The happiest Deo has ever seen Tommy, he thinks, is right now, as he looks over at Tommy from where he’s lounging in the co-pilot’s seat. (Oneshot)

Misunderstood Emperor - The Antarctic Empire is a grand but isolated country. It plays by its own rules in the grand scheme of things, but one thing is for certain. They are powerful extremely powerful. Ruled by their Emperor Technoblade, who is a mystery to everyone. There are several legends that have told people stories about the great Emperor but none ever tell as much as people would have liked. As one of the immortals, he is a legend in that part. But it's something more for his people and the world. He is a god, The Blood God. He not human as he is above them. This is great and all but what happens when Antarctica is forced out of isolation and people really start to meet the ruler himself. Is he anything they thought him to be? And is being called a god as good as people imagine? We shall see... (2/?)

it’s just a waltz (i’d give you anything you wanted) - After a successful battle campaign across the globe, co-emperors Technoblade and Philza take a reprieve in their mountain palace they call home. A reprieve means a break. Avoiding work. Techno struggles with this, so Phil takes matters into his own hands, and orchestrates a simple, fun plan to help Techno loosen up. (Oneshot)

Moonglass - The Antarctic Empire has long since peacefully disbanded- really, there never was an Empire in the first place. A means to an end and nothing more, their work was done and they retreated back to where their simple work waited in the southern snow. That is, until one day, when Commander Philza Minecraft is nominated to be part of the first group of players to land on the moon. Just a simple trip to survey the land, to evaluate what could be built there one day.... The reports never mentioned the dragon. (7/7)

Snow Angel - The Angel Of Death, now more than ever, is faced with the prospect of eternity. He selfishly hopes he will not fly it alone. (21/21)

Earth and Its Connotations - If things were different, if time had been a little more fluid when her hands had set events into motion, then we might have watched a completely new story unfold from the start. Dream has a question to ask of one of his friends, and that friend has an answer. The butterfly beats its wings and a hurricane brews in the far reaches of the arctic north. (Oneshot)

The Cold Brings People Together - No one would question the bond between the leaders of the Antarctic Empire. Some would call them thick as thieves, birds of a feather, peas in a pod, bolder ones would even call them like a father and son, others would run in fear at the titles 'Blood god' and 'Angel of Death'. Everyone knew that to get to Techno you would have to go through Phil and to get to Phil you would have to go through Techno. The question on the more curious, more daring peoples' minds was, how did the two get so close? (Oneshot)

for dust thou art - The Antarctic Empire's civilization fell long ago, it's cities in ashes and it's kingdom fallen to dust. The ruins are precarious and no one dares trod to the arctic to pick them over. No one, that is, except for you. The ruins of an empire beckon at your mind like the claws of a beast. (Oneshot)

hell hath frozen over. - in a world where not one angel showed him warmth, techno finds life in the arctic thrall of Death. (Oneshot)

Why Did You Return. -  And even as Deo brought the feared Midas sword to hiss neck, he couldn't find himself to feel any fear. The only emotion he could feel was raw regret, and acceptance. He knew he would relinquish his life to a God-slayer, a renowned fearless being, who would stop at nothing to protect those who he considered family. He would lose his life to TimeDeo, once a brother, now an enemy, and Wisp could not bring himself to feel any fear, only the relief that it was someone he still deeply cared for taking the anger out on him in a way he deemed justified, and there was no fear. Only the cold accepting that this was the end. (Oneshot)

I Wear The Chain I Forged In Life - “Oh,” Doomsday says. “We’ve run out of time.” “Doomsday, please, just tell me how to stop this,” Tommy begs. Doomsday does not meet his eyes. “I wear the chain I forged in life, TommyInnit. I made it link by link, yard by yard. Let us hope you’ve done the same.” (Oneshot)

old friends, old scars (new starts) - After betraying him during SMPEarth, Wisp joins the Dream SMP to offer his alliance to Tommy once more. (Oneshot)

After What I Did, How Could You Not? - Nobody had heard from this world-conquering Empire in quite some time. It had been months since Phil or Techno had spoken out for their kingdom and even Newfoundland had been wondering where they’ve gone. Tommy seemed to know, but he didn’t seem keen on sharing. (Oneshot)

[reylofanfictionanthology]

TO FIND YOUR KISS IS NOW LIVE!  

Authors will be revealed next week!  For now all fics are anonymous.  Treats can be posted through author reveals on 2/21.  We will post an updated masterpost at that time.

To Find Your Kiss collection on AO3 | Treats Masterpost

GIFT FIC MASTERPOST

- Reap the Stars for abbytheatre08

The prompt: After Ben's death, Rey goes mad and turns to the dark side. Only Ben's not dead anymore. ----------------------- She is consuming fire, magnificent in her rage. She will burn the galaxy to its foundations, until the ashes rain down and pile high as mountains. She will gather them into bouquets and scatter them like petals upon his grave.

He will be remembered, and they will not.

Call him The Light Bearer and Joy Giver. Call him He Who Loved and Laid Down His Life. Call him Ben.

- we are question marks that hang above the endless unexplained for AlwaysEverlark

The first time she walked into his club, she was looking for a job. Kylo took one look at her—the stubborn pout of her lip, the determined glint in her eyes, the ruddy glow of her face where the sun had kissed it—and swallowed a lump in his throat that was shaped like the words you’re too good for this place.

They needed a singer. Kira Johnson could hold a tune, knew the old standards, and had a knockout pair of tits to boot. A few slinky ballgowns and a touch of lipstick, and she’d more than do the trick of distracting suckers long enough to part them from their money.

The club solely needed to break even; anything they made on top of the Syndicate’s cut was gravy, and Kylo Ren had been lining his pockets with his own take for long enough that he could see Kira for the lump of clay that she was: rough-hewn, misshapen, but soft and supple and sure to curve under his touch.

- Eighty Bucks Says Sweetheart for Amoreusou

Ben likes puzzles. Rey needs help with a bunch of them. Good thing it's a slow day at the office.

- Seldom Visions for Andrina_Nightshade

After visiting an old Sith temple, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren has fallen into a deep sleep when he pricks his finger on the point of a red crystal. Rey become is the first to find him, but his rescuer isn't just any general or pilot, it's the woman he shares a soul with, who haunts his waking hours, who still sees him even in his sleep.

- The Dyad for aneighthdomain

Based of the Prompt: Groundhog Day scenario. Ben and Rey keep getting sent back to the first time they met and no matter what they do, Ben always dies so they stop trying to change events and just live a life time in the year between and couple of weeks and run away together.

- Saudade: The Love That Remains for AnneAnna

- The Delegation for aNerdObsessed

A humanitarian delegation from Naboo arrives at Niima Outpost. Rey is skeptical, to say the least.

- i don't want you like a best friend for anopendoor

It’s not like she hadn’t seen this coming—Rose told her weeks ago that he was invited. It was an inevitability Rey was always going to have to face, she just didn’t think that Rose would be so merciful as to also give every guest a plus one.

But Rey can’t really be upset—and she is totally, unequivocally not upset—that Ben's bringing someone because, well.

She is, too.

- Love is Weakness for bittersnake

“He’s someone I found on my recent trip to Corellia,” Rey replies placidly, her face practiced in its boredom. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Love is weakness,” her grandfather reminds her, the way he has for years. It’s why he doesn’t love her. He will not be weak. It’s why she doesn’t love him, either.

- in sickness and in health (with health being less likely) for BlueButterflyKisses

Deciding to spend the rest of their lives together is the easy part for both Rey and Ben; the trouble is in how to propose.

- Snowed In for Blueyedgurl

Never in her wildest dreams did Rey Johnson think she would ever get to meet her favorite other Kylo Ren. She also would have never entertained the idea of the scenario she found herself in. How did a hike in the woods lead to a snowstorm and taking shelter in a remote cabin in the woods? The idea was so ridiculous but had become reality. Stuck inside with a handsome stranger surrounded by a winter storm, Rey wonders what will happen with no power and only one bed. Will they be polite co-habitants stuck in a strange set of circumstances or is there room for something more?

- Curses, Comforts and Capybaras for Bombastique

Arrogant CEO bites off more than he can chew when he angers a witch... And suddenly finds himself transformed into a capybara. Can kindhearted wildlife rehabber Rey Niima help him break the curse?

- To Heal a Broken Soul for Cat2000

Ben survives the fallout of Exegol, but his connection to the physical world is in danger. Rey tends to him as she searched for a way to heal him.

- holding me like water in your hands for Ceallaigh

After Hux finds out Ben killed Snoke, Hux encases Ben in Carbonite. Rey refuses to let Ben stay frozen forever so she mounts a rescue.

- Like a Thief in the Night for chagrins

Their bond won't let them be alone. At least this time it's the middle of the night and they can't get into a shouting match.

- The Chance for Crysania

When Rey and Ben, long time co-workers who have never been able to admit their feelings to each other, go on a weekend retreat to work on a movie adaptation script together, a Nor’easter leaves them snowed in. On Valentine’s Day.

- Awake for cuddlesome

Something inside him is awake, and something inside her is about to wake up.

An alternate interrogation scene.

- darkness rises, and light to meet it for czechia

After the throne room, Jedi Ben Solo and Kira Ren meet again a year later.

- Not Quite a Fairytale for DarkMage13

Rey lets a stranger use the phone of the café she works at late one night. It changes the whole course of her life.

- You Won't Escape Me ('Cause I Set You Free) for DoorKeeper9

- The Canvas of Your Skin for darlingreadsalot

She was incapable of touching him without drawing blood, it seemed. Lines like vermillion paint streaked where her fingers sketched down the contours of his face, his back, and now his chest.

In which a Force bond is splintered, a resurrection goes wrong, a kiss is forgotten, and two almost-lovers avoid speaking for the better half of a year.

- Fleeing the Storm for driverfever

As the granddaughter of an merciless aristocrat, Rey’s life hangs on a thread at the hands of the French Revolutionaries. When her childhood friend, Ben, offers to platonically marry her in order to take her to his home in England to safety, she has no choice but to accept.

But her suitor and revolutionary Hux won’t give her up so easily. Hounded by revolutionaries and falling in love, Rey and Ben must use all their wits to flee Paris and make it to England.

- Equal Measure for dustoftheancients

When Princess Rey of Coruscant calls upon the cursed Sir Kylo Ren to help her escape her grandfather the emperor’s political machinations, she discovers freedom in the ancient familial magic that binds them together.

- Benimina Solo's Late On-Set Force Ability for Evangel10n

Benimina Solo has never, not even once, had an ounce of Force Sensitivity. She's done a great deal to move on with her life after failing out of her uncle's Jedi training school. So when Rey Palpatine comes into her life and suddenly everything changes, she's not a happy camper.

- Splatter for expendable

“You’re Palpatine’s girl,” he says coldly.

“His chief of staff, yes.” Rey’s eyes narrow. “And you have your hand on my ass, Kylo. Kindly take it off.”

“Or what?”

AKA powerful corporate rivals Kylo and Rey put the hate in love/hate.

- The Haunted Mirror for FangirlintheForest

When Rey travels to UK to attend the reading of his grandfather will, a grandfather she didn't know existed until that very moment, she finds a house, and a old story that will haunt her...

- i'm your secretary for firelord65

Kaydel pressed her lips together in a thin line, passing a pile of datapads over the desk. “I don’t know what that pretentious nerf herder has put into your brain, but these are tales of the key roles women have played in past rebellions.” She stood, tapping the pile. “They’re great reads,” she added, with a pointed raise of her eyebrow.

- and they danced across the sky for flipflop_diva

When he was still a child, he constantly watched the blue butterflies as they danced in the sky.

They seemed to be calling him, aiding him each instance that icy-cold darkness flowed through his very veins. The magnificent creatures saved him from the voices. They drowned out the incessant chatter in his head. Temporarily cleared away all the anger. During those brief respites, watching those blue wings flutter in the sky, Ben felt free.

But that’s another life. Another world. Another time. Another, another, another.

And Kylo's no longer a child.

No. He welcomes the darkness now. Embraces it.

- Finding The Answer for FrenchMartiniPlease

Rey pines for Ben Solo…so why does her soulmate mark always drain of colour whenever she gets close to him?

- Almost Unforgettable for HopeRebel

The woman in the mirror has blood on her clothes, cash in her bag, and a letter from her husband telling her it's better to forget. Well, he got his wish. She forgot everything-- including her name. And she wasn't the only one afflicted.

It'll take the combined efforts of gumshoes, a flatfoot, a washed-up Hollywood starlet, and more to get to the bottom of this bad business. In the end, these things always come back to the beginning.

- The Curl of a Sigh for irridesca

During the last song in Maxine’s set, a song she announces is called “Soul Companion,” Ben heads back out to the lobby to look for Rey. He finds her not with his eyes but with one broad shoulder, when he bumps into her and knocks her gig bag out of her hands and onto the plush carpet.

- and they were roommates for Lady_of_Haven

When Ben loses a bet to his roommate, Rey, he has to eat her out for 30 days.

- torn away from you (my heart is broken) for lakerose

The Force binds more than minds.

- If You Take Me for literallynoonecares

She sighed wistfully as she watched her two friends lean in toward each other as they danced, their lips meeting and melding together as they seemed to become one person instead of two separate beings. She had seen them kiss so many times, but this kiss … it was special.“I just want someone to kiss me like that,” she mused softly to herself, her eyes not leaving her friends.“I could make that happen if you wanted.”

- 3 Days in Vienna for Like_A_Dove

Kylo Ren, trained mercenary Alpha assassin, is on a mission—assassinate Chancellor Palpatine and bring his underground authoritarian regime to an end. It’s what the First Order demands, for the better of society.

It should be an easy task. He’s been getting close to the Chancellor and his cronies for years. So how is it that the unexpected appearance of an Omega, with a seemingly similar mission—and a wholly inconveniencing scent—become a distraction he hadn’t accounted for?

- Confidence and Desire for LittleLostStar

“Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually, the confidence will follow.” - Carrie Fisher

- Love brightens even the most monstrous parts of ourselves for LRRH17

No one knows since when the giant, black bear has lived in the forest near Theed. Many stories about the origin of Kylo Ren circulate in the small village. After Rey has run away from Jakku, and arrived in Theed she has heard them all of, but has never actually meet the creature. This changes when her and her friends get attacked by bandits on their way back from Otoh Gunga.

- Your Sweetness Comes With Sugar on the Side for Lutrosis

Rey's daughter loses her mother as she wanders around the Supermarket. Ben finds her and the two connect over both being Type 1 diabetics. They find Rey, and Ben and Rey are instantly smitten. As they date and fall in love they discover that Jade and Ben are connected more than they thought and healing is brought to the Solo/Skywalker clan.

- Allegories, or Allusions to Real Life for maq_moon

“Boys, please stop arguing.” Rose rubbed her temples. “Poe, we get it, you’re childhood best buddies, you’ve got a better grasp on his character than some rando of a rando you met at a party. Finn, for fuck’s sake, we’ve been working with Ben for months. I’m pretty sure if he’s a serial killer or whatever, it would have come out by now.” Finn sat back in his seat, grumbling. “Not how serial killers work.” Rey was going to have a headache if this continued any longer, so she lied through her teeth at the reality of a new player joining their D&D party. "He seems nice." She didn’t trust a single inch of skin on that man. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

- A Mad Man, with a Box for MBlair

Rey and Ben meet, move in together, get engaged, and marry.

- Invite the Wild In for midwinterspring

Kylo Ren, the mysterious senator who appeared from out of the deserts of Jakku and somehow brought them back to life, has spent a long and unproductive session on Hosnian Prime. Now, it's time to go home. After all, there's someone waiting for him and so much for them to do together.

(The ancient Sith had some interesting rituals.)

- Purim Party for MissCoppelia

Rey goes back to visit her foster mother for a Purim celebration. She meets Ben Solo who's visiting his parents, who are friends with her foster mother. They have an attraction to each other right away, but try to play it cool.

- The Banished Heart for misszeldasayre

On Rey of Niima’s nineteenth name day, Jakku gains a new wizard.

Jakku is a withering outpost of the kingdom, and its people hope the new wizard - the mysterious Kylo Ren - will bring them the rains the land needs to heal. Rey is a lonely, clanless girl living in Niima, and she has a secret. One she hopes the wizard will be able to help her with too.

- The Smuggler's Bride for MyJediLife

Miss Rey Nemo is the new mistress of Manor Takodana, left to her by the late Lord Skywalker. When a strange man named Kylo Ren appears on her doorstep, she decides to hire him as her new groundskeeper. As Rey faces sinister threats and secrets are revealed, Kylo Ren may be the only person who can save her.

- Annabel Lee for myownlittleinfinity

Rey keeps finding these ... notes in her locker. She doesn't quite get them. They seem like love notes, but she doesn't know who they could be from. Meanwhile she's paired up with Ben Solo (who hates her despite her gigantic crush on him) for this English assignment. Who knows how THIS will go.

- with my body i thee worship for niennathegrey

Miss Rey Nemo is the new mistress of Manor Takodana, left to her by the late Lord Skywalker. When a strange man named Kylo Ren appears on her doorstep, she decides to hire him as her new groundskeeper. As Rey faces sinister threats and secrets are revealed, Kylo Ren may be the only person who can save her.

- the losing game for no_big_deal

Sith Princess Rey Palpatine is given a peculiar gift for her Life Day: a Jedi. Not only that, one who is boorish, spirited, and stubborn. But, he presents an opportunity: one that could liberate her from a life under the thumb of her grandfather. She has seven weeks to change his heart before all her freedom is taken from her - forever.

- standing right in front of you for notkellymarie

When Senator Solo's engagement is pushed forward, he and his Jedi bodyguard, Rey, travel to Naboo alone for the announcement ball. The pair despise each other, constantly bickering and disagreeing with each other, which makes spending extensive amounts of time alone together all that more difficult. Until of course, one of them breaks...

- the good, the bad, and the smuggling for OccasionallyCreative

Ben Solo is a seasoned smuggler. And he’s not bad at it, either. But when bounty hunter Rey offers him a temporary partnership he can’t refuse, Ben will find himself pushed to the limits of his skill, patience, and resourcefulness on a job that’s dangerous enough to be his last.

It’s like his dad used to say: bounty hunters are nothing but trouble, kid.

- Whatever our souls are made of...his and mine are the same for Padawan_Writer

Ben and Rey meet only after Kylo has defected from the First Order and returned to the Resistance and his mother. Will the dyad still find a way to be?

- They say that only the dead have seen the end of war for politicalpadmé

“He traded his life for mine,” Rey choked, stomping back and forth in front of him so fast he could barely keep track of her. “He died. He died so I didn’t have to—and it’s not—it’s—after everything he’s gone through—it’s not fair.” Tears were running down her cheeks now, and Poe wanted to do nothing more than hug her, but there was nothing he could say—nothing she would want to hear. Poe remembered all the people he’d lost, all the times he had raged and screamed and cried about the unfairness of it all. “Leia sacrificed herself to bring him back,” Rey declared suddenly, ceasing her constant pacing around the fire as she looked straight at him. “And he sacrificed himself for me—and now no one’s going to know. All he’ll be remembered as is Kylo Ren, but he was—he was so much more.” She exhaled with a shudder and whispered, “He was a part of me, and I—I don’t feel whole without him.” ~

A Force Ghost Ben/Rey love story, with a side of rebuilding the galaxy.

- Cicatrix for Priestly

Getting cut up by Rey on Starkiller awakens something in Kylo.

- I Will Always Be With You for Prix

But she wouldn’t be able to hide her pregnancy for much longer. She was starting to show, and her friends would start asking questions. She would have to give them answers, some of them would not understand, and none of them would accept.

She carried his child. The tiny spark of light woven with darkness, just like her. Just like his father.

—————

The world has gone dark More times than you Or your mother Or your grandmother Can remember. And every hurricane That was meant to be The end of it all Had instead ended In sunshine again.

So believe me When I say; You will survive this And the next one too.

World’s End—Nikita Gill

- all my daydreams are disasters for QueenOfCarrotFlowers

During her search for the infamous Luke Skywalker — the man who predicted a devastating earthquake in New Madrid, Missouri — Rey finds herself entangled in Luke’s family history and with his brooding nephew, Ben Solo.

- on what ground I was founded (when I first saw you) for redbelles

Kylo dreams of Rey after the Battle of Crait. And the yearning is mutual...

Some Force Bond dream smut inspired by "Shrike" and "NFWMB" by Hozier.

- Last Summer for Reykenobi68

Rey had started to get used to Ben not living next door anymore by the time the holidays came around. Then he's back for the holidays. Rey is really expecting things to go wrong after the way he left at the end of the summer. ut is it really going to be that bad.

- The Long Way Home for reylotrash711

In the aftermath of Exegol, Ben and Rey are divided by misunderstandings.  It will take time and danger for them to work things out.

- Under the moonlight for shariling

I don't know why I followed you here. She wanted to reply. Maybe because you're so tall I couldn't help but notice you. Maybe it's because of your hair or the way you move, or maybe it's because of that kind of melancholic look in your eyes. There is something about you that I find terribly attractive and I don’t know what it is: maybe the moon or the alcohol or the wolf I have met before infected me with some strange parasite and now I am hopelessly attracted to dogs, I do not know. She could have said one of these things, any of them, instead she said: “I've never bitten anyone before, and I want you to be my first.”

- Fallen for shipperofdarkness

Prompt: Devil!Ben and Angel!Rey or Angel!Ben and Devil!Rey. How do these two on completely opposite sides fall in love and defy worlds to be together?

- come away with me for silentfleur

Rey owns a tinker shop, but her life changes when she meets Ben Solo and is cursed by a witch. Not necessarily in that order.

- A Picture of Me Without You for SpaceWaffleHouseTM

"I suppose I'd somehow struggle through / But I'd hate to picture myself without you."

It's impossible not to have a soulmark. It's not a big deal, not in the lax and gin-soaked speakeasies of 1920s Manhattan, but it's still a heavy weight to bear, as Ben Solo and Rey find out side by side.

- Lips Raw With Love for stellardarlings

Their kiss on Exegol wasn't their first kiss...

Nor would it be their last.

- Everyone Makes Divine Mistakes for Takekurabehime

Jedi Knight Ben Solo is sent to Naboo on an errand of mercy (and to visit his grandparents). He arrives in springtime; but will he be able to complete his mission without finding himself distracted and bewildered when love and intrigue waft through the fragrant air?

- Glitter & Gold for TearoomSaloon

Rey is lead singer in an up-and-coming glam metal band. They've finally got steady performances, but that means playing at the same club as the Knights of Ren, whose lead singer definitely isn't interested in any competition.

- To kiss like lovers do for the-reylo-void (Anysia)

Ben and Rey spend their formative years growing up together in Medieval Scotland and it looks like they will end up together. Circumstances intervene and Rey loses her chance to be with him. Devastated, she carries on until the day clan Ren attacks Castle Jakku lead by the notorious killer Kylo Ren.

- Snow Turns To Rain for thehobbem

For a moment, he wanted to ask what she meant, but if he was being completely honest, he already knew.  He asked himself that same question over the years, and none more often than tonight, since seeing her again.  Was leaving worth it?  Was going their separate ways worth leaving each other?

 “I’m not sure,” he said finally, shaking his head.  “I’m happy...” he said, and she tensed a little, so he continued, “with my work.  I’m glad I’m doing what I love, but....”

 “But?”

 “But it wasn’t the only thing I loved.”

- Change the Dance for theresonatinglight

- Meet Me in the Woods for thewayofthetrashcompactor (BriarLily)

“What do you mean no one goes in there?” A chuckle. “It’s haunted. People see all sorts of weird things in there and some don’t ever come out. You’re better off living with your curiosity.” Rey wakes in a shadowy forest with no memory of where she came from, only her name. With the help of the resident guardian she takes a journey to figure out her past, and maybe even discover her future.

- permanent calligraphy (your name on me forever) for Thursdaygirl

As they continue to work together, two things become clear. One: Ben Solo is an enigma. He’s preppy yet humble, privileged yet introspective. He’s the opposite of lazy; she kicks herself every day for assuming otherwise. And two: Ben Solo will never love her.

- show me the stars. for tmwillson3

“I don’t hate Christmas, I just don’t love it the way you do.” Lifting his head, he pulls a face, loosening up a tangled ornament of a poodle with pink, curly fluff. Rey snatches it from him possessively, tossing it back to the cart. “No one loves it the way you do, to be fair.”

“Now that’s the truth,” says Poe, who Finn invited about half an hour ago to keep him company.

“People have bad taste, I don’t know what to say.” Huffing, Rey scrolls through her phone with more intent. “Neither of you are helping me, anyway.”

“What’s the problem?” says Poe.

“Rey thinks her hot neighbor hates her —”

“He does hate me.”

“ — When really he’s been flirting with her for the past, oh I don’t know, how long have you lived there?”

- I realized that I need you, I wondered if I could come home for VR_Trakowski

Rey is doing exploration work for the Resistance, searching for force sensitive planets so any force sensitives that they find have a place to train.

One day, midflight she finds a slip of paper with the elegant scrawling words of the ones that came before. The ones that she found when Ben still roamed the galaxy.

When she lands on a dark and barren planet she is forced to face the feelings she thought she buried.

- Shadows of the Moon for walkingsaladshooter

The hallways got darker, the corridors grew longer. Shadows stretched across the walls. The ghosts of Breha Manor grew each night.

Rey clutched her necklace. Ben met her gaze.

And every night, there was weeping.

- show the way (the world could be) for writergenie

In the aftermath of the Battle of Crait, Rey struggles to find her place among the Resistance. However, her lingering Force bond with Kylo— Ben— whatever name he calls himself— complicates things, blurring the line between friend and foe.

When the tension threatens to boil over and a desperate plan goes awry, Rey begins to wonder whether there really is a line between light and dark after all.

(Stars do burn brightest in the blackness of space.)

- why don't we go (somewhere only we know) for XarisEirene

The bond snaps back into place, even stronger than before. He is here. With Rey, yes, but with Luke - Luke, who is looking at them now with that same dangerous glint in his eye that haunts Ben’s dreams.

- renewed, transfigured, in another pattern for yodalorian

Rey mourns on Tatooine while Ben is stuck in the World Between Worlds. But neither of them are alone, and blue butterflies light a path back to each other.

[ceratonia-siliqua]

Update about Sweeter Than Sugar and the Ru Situation

The original text for this update is pulled from the ao3 post on Sweeter Than Sugar I made. This original is here in order to both update those on tumblr and so I have a physical record that can not be tampered with as proof of my words on the subject. This post is fine to reblog if you feel the need to spread it but I stand firmly behind no hate being sent to anyone involved whether or not they were named here. Anyone vying for a fight will be blocked. 

I would like to start off by saying that I hope this doesn't get deleted as I cannot remove Ru as a co-author for my end. Secondly, I would like to apologize to anyone who has been worried about Ru. 

I found out in early December that my former co-author and friend was lying about being sick, what was going on, and other things that are private at this time. I am deeply sorry to anyone who was stressed by this situation. I know that it was not anywhere near as big of a deal on here as it was on Tumblr but I feel responsible for not seeing red flags sooner and stopping this situation before it began. 

I am struggling over what I should do with this fic. While neither Ru nor the supposed family member I was in contact with has surfaced since about December 7th-ish, I have no idea if she will return to Ao3 or Tumblr. I imagine not given it would require explaining what happened and why she has cut contact with me. I did try to address the situation in an adult and unjudgmental manner but given I haven't heard a peep in over a month I am going to assume she has chosen to wash her hands of all of this and disappear. I am hesitant over continuing the story only because she still has access to it all. I would like to round it out, maybe post an update or two before concluding, but I don't want things poked at in a way that would hinder all of you from reading and enjoying the story as it is. I would be happy to take suggestions on what to do here as I don't want to leave you all with an unfinished fic. 

I ask that you not attempt to contact Ru. I do not want anything hateful going towards her. Yes, I have sufficient evidence to know the illness was not real but I will not be publicly sharing these details because I do still believe that she deserves her right to privacy. Much of it contains things such as phone numbers and pictures. I have reason to believe she may have lied about being of age so I especially do not want anyone harassing a minor for any reason or having their safety put at risk.

I wish I could tell you what the motive to lie was. I believe it may have just been that she wanted out and had no idea how to do so. That does not make it right but it is the best explanation I can offer.

I am sorry I waited over a month to say anything. I was in an extremely fragile place emotionally up until recently and even then I still have difficult days. Ru, or at least who I thought was Ru, was someone I considered my best friend. Ru was someone I placed as the most important person in my life. Being jerked around and told she was dying and even that she had to resuscitated twice within a week, was an emotionally damaging and deeply upsetting experience. I am coming out of a very, very dark place and I am still dealing with and processing the last ten months as a whole. I am deeply thankful for the people I have met since discovering what was going on, I do not think I would be here right now without their unconditional love and support. I can never repay their kindness and patience, I only hope that I can one day pay it forward.

If you made it this far into the message, thank you for hearing me out on all this. I know many of you were Ru's fans before mine and I am sorry I could not give you all good news on this. I do regret the time I spent creating stories with Ru, I only regret how it ended. I hope all of you are safe and taking care of yourselves. I understand if you would like to walk away from this fic after this. I just felt you were all owed an explanation. I do not want to continue much of this conversation to be honest. I would like to looj towards a better future after everything. Ultimately, I am not mad at Ru, I'm just hurt. You do not have to follow my lead in this but I thought I should at least make that clear from my end. 

Thank you for your time and your support. I hope someday soon I can bring this fic to a satisfying end for all of you. 

[livesincerely]

Here’s a concept:

Javid office/co-workers au. Davey is a Very Tired HR associate and Jack is the artist in the Graphic Design and Marketing department that keeps calling him through the inter-office phone line because he’s bored.

Jack gets in trouble for being on his personal cellphone during office hours—after so many of the same infraction, he gets a call from HR to emphasize the importance of following company policy. The HR person that makes the call is Davey.

Somehow, in this short conversation, Jack becomes a little obsessed with the guy from HR who’s voice makes Jack’s brain feel like it’s actually tuned in to the right frequency. So he calls Davey again, and they somehow end up chatting for, like, an hour right in the middle of the work day.

And then this happens several days in a row. Davey isn’t sure what to make of Mr. Kelly, who apparently is not at all upset about the verbal warning Davey had to give him and likes to just???? Call??? And talk??? And he’s so funny and charming and a little stupid in such an earnest and endearing way that talking to him quickly becomes one of the best parts of Davey’s day, but Davey just can’t figure out why Jack keeps wanting to him, of all people

It eventually comes out that the reason Jack keeps making personal calls on the clock is because he does his best artwork when he’s talking to someone while working. (Not sure how much this will be made explicit in-fic, but Jack’s got ADHD and he needs just enough of the right kind of background stimulus to focus on other tasks.) Unfortunately, the other artists in his department are the listen to music/podcasts/audiobooks or the ‘total silence to Focus’ types and don’t like to be bothered when they’re in The Zone, so whenever Jack gets frustrated and hits a block—which has been more and more often lately—he’s been calling up his friends/brother for as much conversation/distraction as they can stand.

“Kloppman wouldn’t have even filed the complaint if Weasel hadn’t’a insisted on it,” Jack says. “The fucking brown noser.”

“Well, have you considered informing Kloppman about your reasons?” Davey asks. “I mean, explicitly phrasing it as a accommodation that you need in order to do your best work? There’s a form you can fill out and file with us that would keep you from getting any more citations, no matter how often you’re on the phone. Well, as long as you can get a work request from your doctor.”

“Can I really do that?” Jack asks.

“Sure you can,” Davey says. “Here, I’m sending you a copy of the relevant section of the employee handbook and the paperwork you need. Just drop it off at HR whenever.”

“You’re an absolute godsend, aren’t you Jacobs?” Jack says. “Fuck, that would make things so much easier.”

“Just hand in those forms and you’ll have the company’s full permission to call your brother as much as you want,” Davey assures him.

“Spot’s gonna fucking hate me,” Jack says with what sounds like a delighted laugh. The sound of it sends a shiver down Davey’s spine, even as his heart pangs at the thought of not getting to hear it anymore.

“Happy to help,” Davey says. He takes a breath, then forces his usual levity into his voice. “Will that be all, Mr. Kelly?”

“That’ll be all, Mr. Jacobs,” Jack says. “And hey, David? Thanks.”

And Davey thinks that’ll be that. He regrets that he won’t get to spend an hour talking with Jack every day, then feels stupid for getting so hung up on someone he’s never even met—all he knows of Jack is his voice and that they work for the same company. But the next Monday, Jack calls right when he usually does.

“Spot told me he’d murder me dead if I called for anything less than a fully-fledged emergency,” Jack says cheerfully. “So it looks like you’re stuck with me.”

“You could call one of those friends I’ve heard so much about,” Davey volleys back, feeling lighter than he has all morning. “Unless this is your way of trying to tell me that you don’t have any friends.”

It’s nothing different than their usual banter, but when Jack speaks again, his voice sounds a little weird.

“If you don’t want me callin’ so much, I can dial it back,” Jack says. “I mean, even my own brother gets tired of the sound of my voice sometimes, so I can’t imagine how you feel after spending so much time humorin’ me these last few weeks—“

“No!” Davey blurts out. “No, that’s not what I— I don’t mind talking with you. I like talking to you,” he corrects.

“Yeah?” Jack asks, strangely hopeful.

“Yeah,” Davey answers with a smile Jack can’t see. “And besides, I wouldn’t want to be the reason your brother ‘murders you dead’,” he jokes.

A bark of laughter. “Yeah, how would you live with yourself,” Jack teases.

Lots of office shenanigans. I love the idea of Katherine being one of the workers in Davey’s office and just constantly teasing him about the mysterious artist upstairs that’s always calling him. Similarly, I’d have Charlie as one of the workers in Jack’s office, and every now and then Davey can hear his voice in the background of Jack’s side of the line—he can’t always make out the words, but it always makes Jack sputter and yell at him to go away.

And maybe cameos from the other newsies if I can think of places to sneak them in? Not sure yet, I’ll have to think about it some more.

I’d love for them to not actually meet until the absolute end of the fic, and by complete accident. Like, maybe there’s like an internet safety/email and interpersonal etiquette seminar that the HR department requires everyone to attend, and when Davey goes up to the podium and introduces himself as Mr. Jacobs from HR, he happens to notice a very handsome man sitting in the back straighten up in his seat, suddenly avidly attentive.

But most importantly, a Javid office romance/mutual pining/strangers to lovers where the whole fic takes place almost entirely over the phone. And also they call each other Mr. Kelly/Mr. Jacobs bc ever since I saw that text post I can’t stop thinking about it.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Fandom 5k letter:

MDZS (novel)

I would like NMJ centric fic - something where he's the center of attention and the focus of someone's affection, rather than a secondary character in someone else's story. I want him to be the hurt-and-then-comforted, I want him to someone's crazy obsession, I want him being put first over other people, etc. Stories in which another character has an emotional arc in which they realize how much NMJ means to them are also good.

In terms of genre, I really like darkfic, h/c, or plotty action/adventure (and more worldbuilding re: the Nie sect is always great!). Smut is OK if there's character development during, but no PWP. For romance, I prefer getting together, not established relationships, and enemies-to-lovers (or, well, enemies&lovers) over friend-eventually-becomes-a-lover.

Ships are flexible, but some optional specific prompts below:

NMJ/JGY (silver-tongued manipulator JGY, not sad misunderstood JGY please!)

yandere!JGY obsessing over NMJ because he gave him respect when he was nothing or because he’s just so damn moral and it fascinates amoral!JGY; scheming to get him back (whether via manipulation, an arranged marriage, kidnapping, whatever) or to trap him as his own (mind control could be fun!)

JGY finding out about a traumatic non-con or dub-con incident in NMJ's past (SLN post-qi deviation? WRH before/during the Nightless City captivity? JGS?) and/or seeing it happen, then going feral in his defense and/or providing him with comfort over it

if you want to do a modern AU, serial killer/assassin!JGY becoming fixated on righteous man NMJ

NMJ/WRH (generally prefer this to be noncon/dubcon and then a rescue h/c by someone else; if you want to write them romantically, please avoid completely whitewashing WRH - murderous bastard but not outright fascist tyrant is OK, but please no versions where he’s not a murderous bastard in some fashion)

WRH becoming creepily fixated on NMJ, whether pre-Sunshot (discussion conferences?) or during the campaign, and the fallout from that (wanting to make him his empress? wanting him to bear him children? etc.) – prefer this to be in the NC/DC/rescued by someone else vein

WRH sets up an arranged marriage to NMJ to get him out of the way but finds he likes him more than expected (or possibly one where WRH time travels?)

if you want to do a modern AU, mob boss!WRH obsessed with righteous man NMJ (genre shift AUs with this dynamic are also OK) – this one is OK to do as romantic between them if you want

NMJ/LXC: Would love alternate meeting, canon divergence, or genre-shift AU here; not so interested in friends from childhood with puppy crushes on each other that eventually get together. I want to see LXC doing some pining!

NMJ & Baxia: positive relationship only, please! NMJ loves his sentient or semi-sentient saber and she loves him. Other than that, go crazy – do they team up to fight his death by qi deviation? Does she cultivate to humanity? Are they weirdly co-dependent? All the worldbuilding!

NMJ/any male: go crazy! NMJ/WWX? NMJ/JC? NMJ/Wen Ning? NMJ/XXC? All good! In all cases, prefer NMJ as the pursued, not the pursuer :) no modern AUs unless they specifically fit into the type described above (i.e. if you want someone else as the mob boss/serial killer/etc. that's fine)

Wants/DNWs:

dark, creepy, dub con and non con are obvious yes, including temporary mind-alteration (hypnosis, mind control, common sense adjustment, age regression, aphrodisiacs, somnophilia, training to respond to stimuli, etc.), but no outright mind-break or permanent personality alteration (no leaving someone as a doll, no implications of long-term drug addiction, no bimboification, no permanent amnesia, etc.)

I'm very fond of AFAB!trans!NMJ but if you go this route please have him present as male and not angst over his gender assignment - being upset over forced feminization is OK, forced impreg/breeding kink is great, but no focus on gender dysphoria under normal non-extreme circumstances

ABO is fine as long as it's omega!NMJ, but no bitching/NMJ-was-once-an-alpha-but-changes-due-to-trauma

for fics involving outright non-con, please end with NMJ being rescued and getting comfort from someone else; dub-con fics can have bad end/ambiguous end (i.e. NMJ as WRH's empress, JGY's hypnotized pet, etc.)

DNW: no top!NMJ, no character death for NMJ including no implications he suffers his canon fate, no permanent physical alteration (amputation, piercings, tattoos, etc.), no voluntary infidelity, no watersports/scat/vomit/lactation/focus on body hair, no replacement pining (i.e. I want person X but I can't have them so I'll settle for you), no LXC/JGY or any ships with Wen Qing, no Christianity

no modern AUs other than those explicitly specified

no pure PWP

MDZS DONGHUA

The MDZS donghua is my absolute favorite form of MDZS (though I haven't seen the audio drama yet). I love the way that it's so much more high-fantasy and EXTRA - WWX controlling flocks of crows, using resentful energy to fly, summoning green ghost fire, ripping out Wen Zhliu's core with his bare hands..! The beautiful arrays, the magical tools (giant bells!), techniques (gravity-bending by Wen Ruohan!), literally everything Jiang Cheng does with Zidian...plus I love the small but significant canon divergences (like how NMJ is not captured by WRH but confronts him in open battle with LXC at his side).

I would like NMJ centric fic - something where he's the center of attention and the focus of someone's affection, rather than a secondary character in someone else's story. I want him to be the hurt-and-then-comforted, I want him to someone's crazy obsession, I want him being put first over other people, etc. Stories in which another character has an emotional arc in which they realize how much NMJ means to them are also good.

In terms of genre, I really like darkfic, h/c, or plotty action/adventure (and more worldbuilding re: the Nie sect is always great! ESPECIALLY with the donghua: I want to see NMJ get some of the special high-fantasy powers like we see for LWJ or WWX). Smut is OK if there's character development during, but no PWP. For romance, I prefer getting together, not established relationships, and enemies-to-lovers (or, well, enemies&lovers) over friend-eventually-becomes-a-lover.

Ships are flexible, but some optional specific prompts below:

NMJ/JGY

AU for the donghua! NMJ was never captured in the Nightless City, there's no indication he ever worked for NMJ, as far as we see he just appears when he kills WRH and then became sworn brothers with NMJ and LXC; there's not even any indication (yet) that he killed NMJ. Different meeting point? Different interactions? Wonderful opportunity to go completely off canon

I'm extremely fond of yandere!JGY or JGY going feral in NMJ's defense for some reason

if you want to do a modern AU, serial killer/assassin!JGY becoming fixated on righteous man NMJ

NMJ/WRH (generally prefer this to be noncon/dubcon and then a rescue h/c by someone else; if you want to write them romantically, please avoid completely whitewashing WRH - murderous bastard but not outright fascist tyrant is OK, but please no versions where he’s not a murderous bastard in some fashion)

WRH becoming creepily fixated on NMJ, whether pre-Sunshot (discussion conferences?) or during the campaign, and the fallout from that (wanting to make him his empress? wanting him to bear him children? etc.) – prefer this to be in the NC/DC/rescued by someone else vein

WRH sets up an arranged marriage to NMJ to get him out of the way but finds he likes him more than expected (or possibly one where WRH time travels?)

if you want to do a modern AU, mob boss!WRH obsessed with righteous man NMJ (genre shift AUs with this dynamic are also OK) – this one is OK to do as romantic between them if you want

NMJ/LQR (based on the interaction in the archery contest in the donghua, where LQR is the only one NMJ listens to)

something playing on inherent weirdness of someone a generation younger than you being your equal, plus seeing them having to stand up against the whole world more or less on their own

one of the other sect leaders tries to scheme against NMJ, LQR tries to intervene to stop them, stuff goes out of hand

NMJ/any male: go crazy! NMJ/LXC? NMJ/WWX/LWJ? NMJ/JC? NMJ/Wen Ning? NMJ/XXC? All good! In all cases, prefer NMJ as the pursued, not the pursuer :) no modern AUs unless they specifically fit into the type described above (i.e. if you want someone else as the mob boss/serial killer/etc. that's fine)

Wants/DNWs:

dark, creepy, dub con and non con are obvious yes, including temporary mind-alteration (hypnosis, mind control, common sense adjustment, age regression, aphrodisiacs, somnophilia, training to respond to stimuli, etc.), but no outright mind-break or permanent personality alteration (no leaving someone as a doll, no implications of long-term drug addiction, no bimboification, no permanent amnesia, etc.)

I'm very fond of AFAB!trans!NMJ but if you go this route please have him present as male and not angst over his gender assignment - being upset over forced feminization is OK, forced impreg/breeding kink is great, but no focus on gender dysphoria under normal non-extreme circumstances

ABO is fine as long as it's omega!NMJ, but no bitching/NMJ-was-once-an-alpha-but-changes-due-to-trauma

for fics involving outright non-con, please end with NMJ being rescued and getting comfort from someone else; dub-con fics can have bad end/ambiguous end (i.e. NMJ as WRH's empress, JGY's hypnotized pet, etc.)

DNW: no top!NMJ, no character death for NMJ including no implications he suffers his canon fate, no permanent physical alteration (amputation, piercings, tattoos, etc.), no voluntary infidelity, no watersports/scat/vomit/lactation/focus on body hair, no replacement pining (i.e. I want person X but I can't have them so I'll settle for you), no LXC/JGY or any ships with Wen Qing, no Christianity

no modern AUs other than those explicitly specified

no pure PWP

UNTAMED

Oh, the Untamed, my favorite AU fanfic that they filmed into an 50 episode series. I consider this canon completely distinct from the novel or donghua canons, so feel free to lean in to the canon divergences. Yin Metal? Ghost puppets? Completely different age gaps and/or chronologies? Baxia’s – uh – DISTINCTIVE appearance? All good!

I would like NMJ centric fic - something where he's the center of attention and the focus of someone's affection, rather than a secondary character in someone else's story. I want him to be the hurt-and-then-comforted, I want him to someone's crazy obsession, I want him being put first over other people, etc. Stories in which another character has an emotional arc in which they realize how much NMJ means to them are also good.

For the Untamed, I’m less interested in darkfic (thought it’s still OK!) and more interested in hurt/comfort.  For romance, I prefer getting together, not established relationships, and enemies-to-lovers (or, well, enemies&lovers) over friend-eventually-becomes-a-lover. Smut is OK but not preferred.

NMJ/JGY:

yandere!JGY obsessing over NMJ because he gave him respect when he was nothing or because he’s just so damn moral and it fascinates amoral!JGY; scheming to get him back (whether via manipulation, an arranged marriage, kidnapping, whatever)

JGY finding out about a traumatic non-con or dub-con incident in NMJ's past (SLN post-qi deviation? WRH before/during the Nightless City captivity? JGS?) and/or seeing it happen, then going feral in his defense and/or providing him with comfort over it

if you want to do a modern AU, serial killer/assassin!JGY becoming fixated on righteous man NMJ

NMJ/LXC: Would love alternate meeting, canon divergence, or genre-shift AU here; not so interested in friends from childhood with puppy crushes on each other that eventually get together. I want to see LXC doing some pining!

NMJ/any male: go crazy! NMJ/LXC? NMJ/WWX/LWJ? NMJ/JC? NMJ/Wen Ning? NMJ/XXC? All good! In all cases, prefer NMJ as the pursued, not the pursuer :) no modern AUs unless they specifically fit into the type described above (i.e. if you want someone else as the mob boss/serial killer/etc. that's fine)

Wants/DNWs:

dark, creepy, dub con and non con are obvious yes, including temporary mind-alteration (hypnosis, mind control, common sense adjustment, age regression, aphrodisiacs, somnophilia, training to respond to stimuli, etc.), but no outright mind-break or permanent personality alteration (no leaving someone as a doll, no implications of long-term drug addiction, no bimboification, no permanent amnesia, etc.)

I'm very fond of AFAB!trans!NMJ but if you go this route please have him present as male and not angst over his gender assignment - being upset over forced feminization is OK, forced impreg/breeding kink is great, but no focus on gender dysphoria under normal non-extreme circumstances

ABO is fine as long as it's omega!NMJ, but no bitching/NMJ-was-once-an-alpha-but-changes-due-to-trauma

for fics involving outright non-con, please end with NMJ being rescued and getting comfort from someone else; dub-con fics can have bad end/ambiguous end (i.e. NMJ JGY's hypnotized pet or puppet, etc.)

DNW: no top!NMJ, no character death for NMJ including no implications he suffers his canon fate, no permanent physical alteration (amputation, piercings, tattoos, etc.), no voluntary infidelity, no watersports/scat/vomit/lactation/focus on body hair, no replacement pining (i.e. I want person X but I can't have them so I'll settle for you), no LXC/JGY or any ships with Wen Qing, no Christianity

no modern AUs other than those explicitly specified

no pure PWP

BLACK BOOK

This movie is a delight - as long as Fouché's on screen, anyway, out-acting literally everyone else by miles (especially the terrible main leads). As someone who did their history major on the French Revolution, I'm deeply, deeply aware of how inaccurate this movie is - as someone who enjoys over-the-top villains and endless snark, I love it anyway.

Fouché (solo): The snark! The inability to take anything seriously even once! The blatant amorality! The ambiguous relationship and chemistry he has with literally anyone who is on screen with him! The willingness to side with anyone at least once, and then turn on them shortly thereafter! The surprising competence he has at everything he does - politics? investigations? flirting? lock-picking? He's your man. For now.

Requests: I'd love some canon-style shenanigans (investigating something? arresting people? having to team up with someone unusual? politics! ALL THE POLITICS!) or something plot-focused. Maybe even the glimpse of the future we get with Fouché establishing a relationship with Napoleon, or possibly an AU where Max really does become dictator (but keeps Fouché around)?  

Feel free to draw from Fouché's actual history (son of a (suspected) privateer! former math or physics teacher! may or may not have flirted with Robespierre's sister pre-Revolution while hanging out with Robespierre in a pie shop! may or may not have literally stolen a wife out of a convent and stayed very happily and monogamously married until she died decades later, much to the confusion of everyone around him!), but please maintain his key features from the movie (super competent, shameless, more amoral than outright evil). Complete genre shift AUs are also fine - I'd love to see a world where they're all mages or, like, steampunk, or IN SPACE! - but I'd prefer the vibe stay like the movie, aka completely ahistorical villains win/mad demagoguery/intrigue. Lean into the (light-hearted) dystopia!

Fouché/"Max" or Fouché & "Max": The inherent fun in a relationship where both parties know that it'll end with one of them killing the other and both of them are trying their damn hardest to achieve it, but also being absolutely essential to one another right now so. you know. let's just not talk about that.

Also just the way that Fouché calls Robespierre Max despite how much he hates it, speaking to a History between them, and the sheer glorious villainy of Robespierre in this movie - I love that he has basically a silver tongue, an almost hypnotizing ability to convince people (mostly the mob) of what he wants no matter what the situation, no matter what they know...I'd love to see that played with, including as a total AU/fantasy (magic-user AU? literal hypnosis powers? is Max planning on becoming a god?)

Would love to see plot-focused or "forced to work together" stuff, with a lot of mockery (and a great deal of competence) on Fouché's part and being ridiculously badass on Max's. Would prefer that they genuinely like each other, even if it's not going to stop them from murdering each other. Even if Max really, really wishes he didn't. Also would love to see an AU where Max really does become dictator but keeps Fouché around.

DNW: narrative endorsed anti-Revolution views (royalist or even "good idea but they went too far in 93"), no unasked-for crossovers with the Scarlet Pimpernel or something (using characters from actual history are just fine!), no major character death, no retrospective angsting (i.e. no "alas if only I hadn't killed him"), no focus on torture, no infidelity (except as approved and endorsed by spouses), no permanent amnesia, no permanent disfiguration/amputation (yes including Max losing his tongue), no "I want other person but you'll do" substitution, nothing that mind breaks either of the characters' personalities

[neverendingstories00]

Past The Point Of No Return (Ch.1)

Summary: Your the young and fiery Cryptographer for M16 who happens to be the obsession of the mysterious and disfigured Safin. When you threaten to bring him down, he makes sure to drag you down with him.

Word Count: 2.8k

Warnings: Minor descriptions of blood/violence

A/N: Please Read!! I haven’t seen any Safin x reader fics, so I decided to write one myself. Ik the movie comes out in November, but I cannot wait. I’m in love with this pyshco man. This will be a mature story by the way and I’ll try updating as soon as I can! I’ll add warnings before each chapter starts. Just take a few notes in! Ik the movies come out in November so this is pure speculation on Safin’s origins/motives. Bond is back in business and took back 007 while Nomi took 008. Reader is a Cryptographer for M16. Your codename will be C but y/n will come in soon. Also, Reader is female. Hope you enjoy!

The Pandemic had caused discord throughout London. It didn’t seem like it would infect the globe in less than three months. But when Q had gotten the virus, the office had shut down in less than twenty-four hours. If you weren’t a field agent, then it was required to work from home. For someone like C and Q, it wasn’t a big deal. All of there work required communication from electronics. But evil was always on the rise. It never stopped. March had dragged into June as the Pandemic only worsened. y/n wasn’t one for social interaction, so thriving in isolation wasn’t the worst thing on the planet.

M16’s biggest threat was the infamous Safin. Even Q couldn’t encrypt any information on him, nobody could. Safin was a prime example of an anarchist. He refused to let some Pandemic stop his reign of terror and thirst for world domination. His movement of so-called “absent authority” was causing terror in post-soviet countries. Violent protests, property damage, the list when on. The anarchist targeted smaller countries that wanted to break free from there governments. Bond called Safin “a man who wanted to play god because he was bored”. Safin was a true anarchist (and a possible sadist). Information on his past and whereabouts were near impossible to find. He would insult M16 constantly since he knew he was winning the game of cat and mouse. It seemed like Safin was going to keep upsetting established order until the brink of a civil war.

But you were always one step ahead.

C, or y/n, was a Cryptographer for M16. After Bond’s hiatus, they had been recruited for there work in the military. You were the perfect candidate; bilingual, hands-on, young, intelligent, and fiery. One of the many languages you spoke was Morse code and other military languages. Not even Q, the smartest man in M16, was fluent in all of them. But with your aid, he caught onto it quite well. The Cryptographer and Quartermaster had made quite an efficient team and friendship. While Q gave orders and signals to the double’s oh, you stayed in the back, encrypting the signals and decrypting codes. Having a Cyrptographer was truly an aid for M16. You were praised by all of agents for your hard work and loyalty to the world of espionage. Enemies and other organizations envied for the cryptographer.

Before the lockdown, you had noticed a pattern in the protests. The leading agitators would all wear bandannas covered in the phonetic alphabet. Any normal person could see nothing in this. But with years in the military and language, you quickly followed onto the pattern. Q had noticed it as well along with the other double oh’s. The only people who spoke the phonetic alphabet in M16 were you and a few agents, and not even Q could decipher such a code. The message said many things, mainly gibberish. But you did not give up so easily. Whenever you saw a challenge, you attacked it with rigor. After rearranging for hours on end, ten codes had stuck out to M16 that could be a lead in bringing down the anarchist.

ROMEO OSCAR MIKE ECHO

CHARLIE ALPHA CHARLIE ALPHA CHARLIE ALPHA SIERRA

ALPHA MIKE SIERRA TANGO ECHO ROMEO DELTA ALPHA MIKE

OSCAR SIERRA LIMA OSCAR

  TANGO OSCAR KILO YANKEE OSCAR

HOTEL OSCAR NOVEMBER GOLF KILO OSCAR NOVEMBER GOLF

MIKE OSCAR SIERRA CHARLIE OSCAR WHISKEY

CHARLIE ALPHA INDIA ROMEO OSCAR

All of them happened to lead to capital cities across the world, which happened to be countries that were infested with Safin’s anarchism. With even more research, Q managed to pinpoint possible gatherings for the terrorists. It could be a break in the case. Each double oh was sent to these locations. 007 and 008 were both flown out to Rome. The location was near the Spanish Steps. Even after the pandemic, the area had been bustling with civilians and protestors. You and Q had been in charge of guiding them to the location,

“You’d think during this pandemic, these bloody idiots would stay inside.” Bond said as he moved past the crowd of angry protestors. He wiped dust off of his grayish-blue suit.  Safin’s message of tidying the world of “corruption” sent shivers down any sane person’s spine.

Nomi was ahead of him, dressed in a white chic jumpsuit and cat sunglasses. “The wicked never sleep, Bond.”

He huffed, frustrated. Of course, when his vacation had been occurring Q would call for his aid. “Q, how much further?”

“Maybe if you would pick your pace, then you would get there in four minutes instead of forty.” Q responded.

C could hear Nomi chuckle, and followed along with her.

Bond annoyingly huffed, “I truly haven’t missed your remarks, Q.”

“Gentlemen, settle down.” You interrupted, able to see where the agents were through the bodycams.  “Keep your guard up. Your getting stares from some protestors. Oh, and do pick up the pace.”

The two agents squeezed through the crowd. Nomi had noticed them being followed. But thanks to Q, they lost them through Rome’s small puzzle-like streets. Upon losing them, the agents had left the lavish streets of Rome and into the more sketchy and depressed areas. The further they walked the more life began to disappear. Bond and Nomi stuck out in there designer outfits in the slums of Rome.

“On your right,” You stated. The agents stopped, looking upon the building. Nomi took her glasses off to examine the building. It was broken down, dark, and covered by boards.

Bond sighed, “Bloody hell. This it?”

“Unfournelty,” Q said. “Head in the back, there’s an open entrance.”

Nomi and Bond turned to the back of the building, noticing a piece of wood covering the wood. Bond attempted to move it, but his age was beginning to show. The young and muscled Nomi tore it down, letting them enter the broken down building. On the side, it was dark and empty. Shining the light of his rifle, Bond noticed a kitchen that was covered in dust and spiderwebs.

Q and C heard faint noises, which sounded like music. Nomi moved close to the stairs and could hear it coming from the upstairs. Along with the music was a light.

“See anything, double oh eight?” You asked, looking through her bodycam. The song sounded Italian. It could have been singing, or just a record player.

“A light. You think we have company?” She asked, pointing her rifle upstairs.

“Seems like it. Investigate, Keep your weapons at bay.” Q ordered.

Bond had led him and Nomi up the creaky wooden stairs. The music had become much louder. At the end of the hallway was a door closed, with light emanating under it. The two agents tiptoed to the door. Bond placed his ear against it, hearing only the sweet Italian love song. Q and C couldn’t tell what was behind that door. It could be Safin, his goons, anything.

Counting down to three, Bond and Nomi kicked the door down, guns prepared for anything. But the room was empty. It had been lite by a few candles with a CD boombox, blasting a loud Italian song. Bond examined the room for anything suspicious while Nomi went over, kicking the boombox quiet. She picked up the CD player, examining the front.

“E’ la vita?” The female agent muttered, turning the DVD over. The other side had been written in morse code. C found this odd, squinting her eyes to see. The handwriting was neat and done in an expensive ink. Not only was there writing, but it seemed like it was a list of more global cities. It seemed oddly familiar. “Why waste good ink on a CD?”

“Double oh eight, can you r-”

Bond interrupted, “BOMB! GET DOWN!”

All C could remember is Bond running towards Nomi to cover her before both of there bodycams had glitch out. She panicked, trying to reconnect to them. Q had a status of all of the double oh’s, and each of there bodycams began to flicker out. Then Q and you had realized the worst of it.

Safin had set them up.

“Fuck. It was a fucking trap.” You huffed, running a hand through your hair. They had truly hit a dead end. “Q, any signal? I can’t reach them.”

“None. I’m trying to get their signals. There cams both locked out before the explosion.” Q replied. He was just as frustrated as his co-worker. Suddenly, both of there computers froze with glitched screens. “Not only was it 007 and 008, but the other double oh’s went out.”

C could hear Q cursing under his breath, the sounds of him furiously clicking his keyboard. “Shit, Shit, Shit..”

“Q, what is it?”

“He hacked us. Safin inflated the sys-”

Just like Bond and Nomi, Q’s signal that gone out. It had all be planned. Safin wanted for all of us to happen. The other agents had probably been killed. Sitting in front of a glitched-out screen, you let out a small sigh and slumped back into her chair. Singlehandedly, you had fucked up.

“Not such a clever girl now, are we?”

Raising your shoulders, y/n arched her neck back to avoid the sharp blade that was too close for comfort. The voice was velvety with a slight accent to it. From the videos M16 had received, you knew it all too well.

It was Safin himself.

“I-it was a trap..” You stuttered, unable to talk to the knife around your neck. Safin’s hand was on C’s shoulder, holding her from getting up. C heard footsteps from behind. Great, now you were truly defenseless, being held by the world’s most feared Anarchist. In the corner of your eye, y/n saw the white mask he wore to conceal his identity. It looked like a porcelain doll prop straight out of a horror film.  “A fucking trap.”

“Your little friends are gone now, No one is here to protect you now” Safin whispered into your ear. He was too close for comfort. He took an inhale of your Chanel perfume, admiring your breathing pattern. He thought y/n was so gorgeous this close. After months of waiting, Safin was so close to her, yet far. The woman who had threatened to bring down him was now enwrapped in his arms with a knife to her neck. But she wasn’t scared. Her breathing was heavy, but Safin had noticed that she was rather calm for having a blade held to her throat.

You chuckled at his “weak” response, “I have your locations all on record. M16 will bring you to your knees, you monster.”

“A monster?” He marveled, amused by Y/n’s comment. This man was a true psychopath. “My dear, you truly live up stubbornness. You lead all of those double oh’s into there demise. How innocent does that make you feel?”

“Says the one who wants to kill millions.” Y/n hissed, venom in her voice. You felt the guilt pull at your heart. “I saw your plan. You’re killing Europe city by city. Fooling the post soviet states and moving up towards the Medterrian. Your delusional.”

“Your ignorance is their power.” He purred into her ear. He massaged y/n’s shoulder to relax her (as he held her down). “You are a very talented girl, wasting her intelligence on foolish old m--”

Seeing him lose his guard, you reached for your mug full of hot coffee and threw it back at his mask. He lost his footing and fell backward as the lower piece of his mask cracked off. Wasting no time, you pushed yourself up and ran behind the desk to the front entrance. Q’s flat wasn’t far away. If you took the right routes and stayed out of action, then he could help her. As she neared towards the entrance, a sharp sting echoed through your knee to your thigh. Tripping on the edge of your carpet, your tripped and scraped your head against a coffee table, falling to the ground. You tried to stay awake and fight, but eventually succumbed to the darkness.

Safin pushed himself up, noticing that the bottom part of his mask showed his chin and lips. He turned to see y/n’s body by the door, her navy slacks stained by blood.

Safin cursed under his breath, walking over to her body to check if she had a pulse. Thankfully you did, but it was light. “Who shot her..?”

His henchmen did not respond, holding their weapons.

“I SAID WHAT ONE OF YOU IMBECILES SHOT HER?” Safin yelled, pure fury in his voice.

One of the men, donned in black and holding a sniper rifle, stepped forward. “It was me, Safin. You said tha-”

The man with the sniper rifle was shot in the neck and fell backward, choking on his own blood. Each of the henchmen jumped back. They knew when Safin raised his voice that he was going to die.

A small sigh escaped Safin’s lips as he pushed back his hair. Safin turned to face Serrano, his right-hand man. He was tall and lean with dark skin and emerald eyes. “Serrano..”

“Yes, Safin?”

“What did I explicitly say to you to tell these idiots before we entered C’s flat?”

Serrano responded, “Not to bring her back dead, but alive and injured.”

“And what do type of girl do you see laying on the ground?” The anarchist pointed to the ground, showing Y/n’s body. She had a bruise on her forehead and a bloody thigh.

“An injured girl, sir,” Serrano replied, looking down in embarrassment.

There was an awkward between the anarchist and this men before he commanded, “The lot of you, take the girl and prepare the car. Serrano, wipe all of her devices and anything that can track her. We leave on the submarine by dusk.”

The men nodded as the muscule grabbed C’s motionless body and carried her out. Serrano destroyed her phone, computer, and any camera or electronic that lingered in the flat before they left the crime scene. Entering the range rover, Serrano sat in the front with the driver while Safin sat in the back with the unconscious Cryptographer.

As they began to drive to the docks, Serrano asked, “Safin, what do you see in this girl? She is not James Bond or Madeleine Swann.”

“I see a source of information. This girl is not some receptionist or analyst.” Safin explained as he looked at her sleeping body. Your face was more relaxed than it was thirty minutes ago. There was something so intriguing about the Cyrptographer that Safin couldn’t pinpoint. “She fell into her very own trap, letting us access all of the M16 databases. M16 just lost there most valuable asset.”

“A bargaining chip?” Serrano questioned.

“Not just a bargaining chip, but an intelligent girl who is going to be vital to us.” He explained, “Unlike Bond, she is not redundant. She has many values, I know of it. You will see, Serrano. The world will open it eyes to y/n.”

Safin couldn’t take his eyes off of you. The remaining sunlight from the purple sunset shined on her face. Seeing your face, he knew Y/n not only ordinary on the inside but the outside. A woman that was much younger than he was made him feel less bitter about the world. He had a lonely life and seeing a young and beautiful such as yourself made him drop everything to the floor. The way your floral smelling [y/h/t] [y/h/c] hair fell out of the small bun and rested on your shoulders, [y/s/c] glowed in the sunlight, and the sweet aroma you wore drove Safin mad. Unknown to your knowledge, he had been watching over you for quite some time. You had a desk job, but occasionally accompanied the double oh’s and even had taken out some of his henchmen in the past. Y/n was a girl who not only knew how to decrypt some of the hardest codes to M16 but could defend herself if needed. Safin’s mere intrguement with you had grown into an obsession. Now the woman he obsessed over was sitting less than a foot away from him. Upon seeing the cryptographer, he knew that he needed you. He wanted y/n more than anything in the world. M16 didn’t deserve such talent. In Safin’s eyes, all they had ever done for y/n was hold her back from being your best self; by his side.

“I’m sorry they hurt you.” He cooed, pushing a glossy lock to get a better view of y/n’s face. “I have freed you from there incompetence. I know you will demand to leave and mindlessly say that you hate me. But I promise you my sweet, you will grow to like me and your new home.”

Safin felt like he was the luckiest man in the world.

[im-bakugous-bitch]

Katsuki Bakugou - Accident

**A/N hey guys, Sky here!  So I wrote this piece a while back, originally as a Kiribaku fic, but I wanted to post it here so I made it an x reader!  I hope you guys like it!

Katsuki couldn’t take it. Why had All Might chosen stupid Deku? What was so great about him?  He was just some Quirkless loser eight months ago, and now he’s supposed to be the next Symbol of Peace? It was bullshit. He was supposed to be Number One, how could he do that when Deku had All Might’s power running through him?

When he returned to his dorm room, he slammed the door shut behind himself and kicked his trash bin over. “Damn it!” he yelled. How was he supposed to be Number One when his life-long hero had chosen somebody else? And Deku of all people!

Angrily, he turned to face his door. On the back of it was a poster, the single piece of All Might memorabilia he allowed himself to have. He reached for the paper, fingers digging between the door and the laminated paper. His hands formed fists and pulled away from the wall, taking the poster off and dropping it on the floor. “Agh!” he screamed.

Sparks began forming on his fingertips. It should’ve been him. He should blow that stupid Deku to pieces like he’d been dreaming of ever since they were kids. He’d get to take down Icy-Hot too, his only other real competitor.

There was a light knock on the door, causing Katsuki to turn. He didn’t want to see anybody. He didn’t want to be seen in this vulnerable state. “Go away,” he barked out. When the doorknob began to turn, his anger flared even higher. “I said go away!” he yelled.

Standing in the now-open doorway was his girlfriend, y/n. Her eyes were wide with worry, but Katsuki couldn’t see that. All he could focus on was his rage. His hatred for Deku that just kept growing stronger and stronger by the second. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. All his life, all he’d ever worked for was being the top Hero one day. He’d worked for it, Deku was just having it handed to him.

y/n took a step forward, closing the door behind herself. “Katsuki, what’s wrong?” She extended one hand towards her boyfriend, but when she saw just how furious the ash-blond was she retracted her arm.

Katsuki couldn’t tell her. Not only because he promised All Might, but because he was embarrassed. He was always gloating, telling everybody about how he was going to be the best. How was he supposed to tell anybody – especially y/n – that he couldn’t? How was he supposed to explain that he was going to have to take second place, and to Deku of all people! How could he look any of them in the eye? He had to get rid of y/n. She couldn’t see him like this. “Go away,” he growled. He glared up at his girlfriend through lidded red eyes. They could argue about it once he calmed down, but he knew that if they argued while he was riled up, something would happen.

But she didn’t listen. “Katsuki, part of this relationship thing is talking to each other. Talk to me.” She closed the distance between them so she could take her boyfriend’s hands in hers. Her pleading eyes met Katsuki’s, but it didn’t calm him. No, it riled him up even more.

How was he even supposed to look her in the eye? He had become second to some Quirkless nobody! How was she supposed to look at him? How was anybody supposed to? “I don’t wanna talk,” he said, pulling his hands from hers. His hands had been sparking. He couldn’t let y/n touch them or she could get hurt.

“Fine,” said y/n, and she walked over to Katsuki’s bed. It had a plain grey comforter on it, strewn about from his nightly tossing and turning and refusal to make his bed. She sat down on the mattress, patting the space beside her. “Then we won’t talk, we’ll just sit.”

His heart began flaring. He didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve y/n. He wasn’t good enough. She had fallen for the guy destined to be Number One, and that wasn’t him anymore. He grabbed her shoulder and forced her up off the bed. “Just leave me be!”

Before he knew it, his worst nightmare had come true. His hands felt warmer and warmer as sparks began popping from his fingertips, until a full explosion was unleashed. He watched in horror as y/n flew to the wall, crashing into it and causing a rip in the drywall.

His eyes widened as he processed what he’d just done. “y/n!” he yelled, rushing over to his bed and cradling his girlfriend in his arms. Her head was dripping blood, and there was a large burn mark on her shoulder. The entire fabric of her shirt around the area had been burned away, leaving just the charred edges giving off smoke.

The door flew open, leading to Sero and Ashido standing in the doorway with wide eyes. Their gazes shifted from Katsuki’s horrified face to y/n's unconscious figure, and Ashido screamed.

“y/n!” she yelled, rushing in. She knelt on the bed beside Katsuki and turned towards Sero. “Call the Hospital!”

Tears were already forming in Katsuki’s eyes. He couldn’t believe he’d done it. He’d attacked y/n. When she woke up, she was going to hate him. He couldn’t take it. “I’m so sorry,” he cried out, hugging his girlfriend’s unconscious form to him tightly. “I’m so sorry!”

In the moment, he forgot all about Deku and All Might. He didn’t care that his classmates were seeing him be vulnerable. He didn’t care that they saw the tears on his face. All he could think of was his horror and shame for himself.

Of course he couldn’t be Number One. He’d just attacked his girlfriend accidentally because he was upset.

The next twenty minutes were a blur to Katsuki. He watched helplessly as Aizawa ran into his dorm room and used a surprising amount of strength to pick up the unconscious girl. He followed like a lost puppy, even getting into the back of the ambulance when it finally arrived. The paramedics tried to stop him, but he just kept screaming, “That’s my girlfriend!”

When his thoughts finally caught up to him, he was sitting in the hospital waiting room. His forehead was resting in his open palms, elbows on the arms of the uncomfortable waiting room chair. Tears were streaming down his face. People stared at him and whispered, but for the first time ever he ignored it. He couldn’t focus on them.

y/n was going to hate him, and that was all he could think about.

He’d always been so confident about his control over his Quirk. But something inside of him just…snapped. He broke, and it was going to cost him everything. His everything.

It felt like hours until a doctor came out calling his name. Katsuki shot up out of his chair, rushing towards the doctor. He needed to know that y/n was going to be okay.

“Mr. Bakugou,” the doctor said as she looked down at a clipboard. Her lips pursed tightly together as her eyes scanned a paper before she looked up at him. “Your friend is expected to make a full recovery.”

Katsuki sighed in relief. If she was going to be okay, he could live with that. He could live with being hated. As long as she was okay. “Thank god,” he breathed out.

“I wouldn’t be thanking God just yet,” the doctor said. Katsuki’s red eyes shot up to her, and she continued. “She’s got a serious concussion, could take weeks to heal. Third degree burns on the left shoulder. And she’s got a cracked rib.”

Katsuki’s heart lurched. He felt like he was going to throw up. y/n laid in a hospital bed physically broken because of him.

But it appeared the bad news wasn’t quite over yet. “She’ll be going into surgery in half an hour to fix her rib. If you’d like, you may sit with her until then.”

He should’ve said no. He should’ve turned and walked right out of that hospital, as far from y/n as he could get so he couldn’t hurt her anymore. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he found himself nodding and following as the doctor led him down a seemingly endless corridor, until she pushed a door open.

Katsuki stepped inside and felt his heart shatter more than the believed to be possible.

y/n laid on the bed motionless. A thick layer of gauze was wrapped around her head, and several machines were hooked up to her. Tubes and needles inserted into her arms and chest, all over her body. And her shoulder… Katsuki couldn’t even look at it. He kept his eyes focused on her forehead, then her torso, then the floor.

Slowly, he walked into the room and sat down in one of the chairs beside the bed. He wanted to reach out and just hold y/n's hand, but he restrained himself. That’s how he got into this mess in the first place.

Fresh tears fell down his face, and he hid it in his hands to hide them. “I’m so sorry,” he cried out into his palms. He felt it with all of his heart, he said it with more conviction than he’d said anything before. The apology hung in the air for about ten minutes, until Katsuki heard a light groaning.

“Ka…” Katsuki’s head shot up, to see y/n's eyes had opened. They looked groggy and dazed, but they were her eyes.

“Shh,” said Katsuki. He scooted his chair closer to the bed but didn’t make any move to touch her. “Go back to sleep.”

y/n's  dazed eyes shifted over to Katsuki. “Hey…” Her voice sounded weak and strained as her eyes scanned Katsuki, then fell to get what little view of her shoulder he could without moving her head. “I’m gonna look…so badass,” she said, a light smile creeping onto her face.

Katsuki’s eyes widened. Why was she smiling? She should be yelling at him! She should be breaking up with him and telling him to go away! Why on earth was she smiling?

“y/n…” Their eyes met, and another tear fell from Katsuki’s eye.

“No tears,” she said as his eyes shifted back up to Katsuki.

“You should hate me,” he said quietly. He sat back in his chair, eyes scanning his girlfriend’s injured body once again. “You should be screaming at me to get away from you. You should be telling me I don’t deserve to be in the hospital room with you, or even within ten feet of you.”

A moment of silence hung between them. y/n seemed to be considering what he said, taking it in. It must have been difficult to think with the concussion. “Then…why are you here?”

Katsuki squeezed his eyes shut to prevent another tear. “Because I love you.” This was the first time he’d allowed himself to be truly vulnerable. He and y/n had had heart-to-heart moments in the past, but never like this. Not ones that brought Katsuki to tears, feeling like he had to beg for forgiveness.

y/n's lips twitched slightly upward, into a small smile. “And I love…you too.”

Katsuki stood up from his chair. “Well you shouldn’t!” His voice was getting louder as he spoke, heart beating faster. “I put you in here! Your shoulder is sizzling because I lost my stupid temper!”

She chuckled lightly. “I’m sizzling? What…am I bacon?”

Katsuki nearly facepalmed. She must have been on pain medicine, and probably some extremely powerful ones. She wouldn’t be herself for a long time, and that was what hurt the most: He didn’t know what was real and what was just happy drugged-out y/n. The not knowing…it would eat him alive. “I’m sorry, y/n.”

“I love you,” she said. Katsuki opened his eyes slowly, to see his girlfriend’s hand slowly reaching for his. He yanked it away faster than he’d ever moved anything before.

Katsuki swallowed his sob. He wanted nothing more than to hold her hand, but he couldn’t. He didn’t trust himself. “I-I should go,” he said. He turned to the door, and as he moved to take the first step out of the room y/n spoke again.

“Say you love me too.”

Katsuki couldn’t turn to face him. He loved her more than anything, but he had a feeling that once she was herself again, she would hate him just as much as Katsuki loved her. “I love you too,” he said. Without another word, he walked out of the hospital room and back into the waiting room.

He sat back down in the uncomfortable chair. He couldn’t go back to his dorm; he couldn’t bare to look at the hole he’d made by blasting his girlfriend with an explosion.

He lost track of how long he sat in that chair with his head in his hands. It had to have been at least an hour when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Kacchan?” a quiet voice asked.

Katsuki’s heart began racing again. It was Deku. It was his fault he’d lost control. He wasn’t even mad about All Might choosing Deku to be his successor anymore, he was mad that it got him so angry he lost control. He was furious, but in no mood to deal with it. “Fuck off, Deku,” he growled angrily.

He saw the seat beside his dip in and looked up to see the dumbass had sat down next to him.  Before them stood his boyfriend, perfectly healthy and uninjured. It wasn’t fair.

“She’ll be okay,” Deku said in an attempt to reassure Katsuki. But he didn’t want reassurance. He wanted to be left alone. “She’ll be better soon, and everything can go back to how it was. This was just an accident.”

Katsuki lost it. He jumped up out of his seat, palms open and ready to fire off explosions at any second. “How can you say that?!” he yelled. “Nothing will go back to how it was! She’s gonna hate me!”

Deku shook his stupid green head. “No, she won’t.” He stood up from his chair as well and grabbed the hem of his white t-shirt, pulling it up ever-so-slightly. There on his skin, hidden beneath his shirt, was a patch of burnt red skin. “Shoto had an accident once, too. And I don’t hate him.” He reached out and took his boyfriend’s hand in his. “In fact, him worrying about me like that only brought us closer.”

A small explosion fired off of Katsuki’s hand. “You don’t get it!” He turned away from them. He couldn’t stand seeing a happy couple. “He didn’t break one of your stupid ribs, Deku! He didn’t give you a concussion! He didn’t blast you into a fucking wall!” His hands reached up to tangle in his own hair, pulling at it in anger. “He didn’t nearly kill you!”

Slowly, Deku reached out one of his hands to rest on Katsuki’s shoulder. He was too exhausted to push it off. “The doctor said she’s gonna be okay, so focus on that.”

Katsuki slumped back down in his chair, leaning his head back against the wall. “How am I supposed to forget about that?”

“You don’t,” said Todoroki. The first thing he’d said since arriving. “You learn from it. You promise to be better, and you keep that promise.”

“Everything’s gonna be okay, Kacchan,” Deku said. He let go of his boyfriend’s hand and bent down to level with Katsuki. “It may take some time, but it will be.”

The ash-blond grunted. “You better be right, Deku. Or I’ll have to kick your ass.”

[blogging-time]

When I Kissed The Teacher

Dialogue Prompt List – Long List My Fic Masterlist

Prompt: “Let’s drink wine and trash talk our co-workers.” - Logan and Roman. (Friendship) - Submitted by @louisthewarlock

Summary: Roman Crowne has just been dumped by yet another co-worker. Logan Sanders makes it his personal mission to console the heartbroken Spanish teacher while also convincing him to turn off that godforsaken ABBA soundtrack.

Warnings: Post Break-Up (Not Logince), Alcohol Mention.

Pairings: Platonic Logince/Foreshadowing Romantic Logince, Past Royality, Past Prinxiety, Past Roceit, Background Intruality.

Word Count: 1,688

~ ~ ~

“Well this seems like a perfectly healthy and not at all counter-intuitive way to conduct oneself post break-up,” Logan remarked as he slowly entered the almost vacant looking Spanish classroom.

The sight awaiting him was that of his co-worker – Roman Crowne – sitting slumped over a rather busy looking table, his unusually messy head of hair tucked uncomfortably between his hastily folded arms. Surrounding him were various pages that Logan couldn’t quite decipher, as well as some familiar looking textbooks that Roman would use to teach his sophomore classes when the school board once again forbid him from making “Pan’s Labyrinth” an official part of the school’s curriculum. The most notable item at Roman’s disposal however had to be his mobile phone, as it was currently playing “When I Kissed The Teacher,” repeatedly on Spotify.

“You know most people actually knock before inviting themselves into a colleague’s classroom, right?” Roman half-heartedly muttered against the cheap plywood.

“Well you should know that most teachers actually prefer to work at their own desks instead of downgrading to a small student’s table. I guess we’re both just feeling a little unconventional today.”

With a heavy sigh and even heavier limbs, the Spanish teacher finally mustered up the energy required to pry his face off the aforementioned table. As soon as the pair made eye-contact, Logan couldn’t help but smile sympathetically at Roman. No matter how many times he found the man in this heartbroken state his tearstained face simply never failed to upset him.

“There’s a window,” Roman responded vaguely before Logan could even make an awkward attempt to console him. Then, upon recognizing the science teacher’s confusion, he unenthusiastically waved his hand and explained, “There’s a window embedded in the door to this classroom – I’m sure you’re well aware of it. Had I chosen to lay about and wail over my lost love at my own desk then surely any old passer-by could have caught me in my moment of lament.”

As sympathetic as Logan was towards his friend’s situation, he still couldn’t help but roll his eyes at how dramatic the man was being.

“Janus Marshall merely terminated his relationship with you, Roman. He himself is not deceased.”

“Hark! For his love for me is dead at least – dead and buried beneath the heels of some younger, prettier thing! Its ghost takes the form of the man I once danced with, and it taunts me as I pass him by in the corridor on my way to lunch.”

“Would you kindly stop and think rationally for five minutes instead of writing another soliloquy?” Logan may sound exasperated, but in reality, he simply hates seeing his friend’s thoughts spiral out of control like this. “Janus made it abundantly clear to you months ago that he would be migrating to England at the end of the year in order to teach Psychology at Oxford. Since neither of you were ever interested in long-distance relationships, I thought this break-up would seem inevitable to you.”

Roman visibly deflated upon hearing such a logical argument, yet somehow Logan didn’t feel victorious.

“I know… I suppose I just got a little carried away again. Deep down I’d honestly hoped we’d be able to make it work.”

“But why?” Logan asked, “Why would you allow yourself to get your hopes up time and time again? Every time you’ve dated a colleague your relationship has ended within six months or less.”

“Now hold on just a moment, Charles Rush-In! Just because I happened to date – and consequently was dumped by – a few of my colleagues doesn’t mean having a relationship with one is inherently flawed and destined to fail.”

“While your current statistics would highly suggest otherwise, that isn’t the part that concerns me the most. What concerns me the most is that you’re clearly upset or made to feel uncomfortable every time you’re forced to work with an ex-partner.”

“Name one example.”

“Patton Hart.”

“You mean the Home Economics teacher? I love Patton! Well… not in that way… not anymore at least… Yeah things were a little awkward at first… and then things got awkward again eight months later when he asked if I would be okay with him dating my brother… but both of us are on very good terms now!”

Logan quirked an eyebrow at that, but ultimately decided it was Remus’ responsibility to tell Roman about his current engagement plans.

“Okay then, what about Virgil Rae?”

“Ah yes, the English teacher who never stopped reading too much into things.”

“You and him seem to argue a lot.”

“To be fair we also argued before and during our relationship too.”

Logan clicked his tongue in perfect time with ABBA before naming, “Janus Marshall.”

“That’s a fresh wound! It’s hardly fair for you to twist the knife in that!”

“I can’t help but disagree considering you’re currently spending your lunch break marking papers and crying in your classroom just to avoid encountering Janus – something you wouldn’t have to do if he wasn’t your colleague.”

Roman couldn’t deflate anymore, so instead he was forced to sink further down in his admittedly rather uncomfortable plastic chair. Mentally he made a note to stop by the thrift store and his aunt Dot’s place after work to see if he could somehow acquire twenty-six cheap cushions that would make hour long lessons in these chairs more comfortable for his students.

“Why are you so determined to prove the successful office romance trope is unattainable?” he asked in a voice that already sounded so defeated.

“Why are you so determined to prove me wrong?” Logan countered.

Roman met Logan’s eyes for just a moment before completely averting his gaze. Logan coughed into his elbow for just a second in a manner that conveniently covered both of his cheeks. A minute passed, and neither man acknowledged either his or his co-worker’s sudden actions.

Eventually Logan decided to break that uncomfortable minute of silence with a sigh of his own.

“Do you have another class immediately after lunch?”

“Not today. I was supposed to be teaching Freshman Spanish for the next hour, but apparently Principal Sanders has called in a public speaker. I won’t have a class again until last period. How about you?”

“It appears I’m in a similar situation. I typically have the hour free after lunch on a Thursday until my Juniors come in for their Chemistry class at 2PM. If the circumstances today were any different then I would undoubtedly use this time to either grade my students most recent homework or to formulate a lesson plan for next week.”

“If the circumstances were any different?” Roman asked with a raised eyebrow and an only slightly watery eye.

“I have a bottle of Chardonnay in my car,” Logan answered. Then, upon recognizing the Spanish teacher’s concern, he quickly waved his hands and explained, “Your brother gifted it to me a few weeks ago, stating that it may help me to ‘loosen up around handsome men,’ - only he used far more vulgar phrasing than I. I can assure you that I would never drink and drive. I’ve simply never felt the need to consume alcohol since receiving the gift, and so I let the bottle sit forgotten in my car until now.”

“What? I haven’t driven you to drink already have I?” Roman joked, but Logan didn’t miss the way another silent tear disobediently slid down his still reddened cheeks.

Again, neither man acknowledged the sudden presence of emotion.

“Believe me, Roman, if any Crowne were ever going to drive me to drink then it would most certainly be that unfathomable brother of yours. My idea was more along the lines of… well…” The science teacher paused for a moment as he remembered how much more important Roman was to him than his reputation. “Let’s drink wine and trash talk our co-workers.”

Upon proposing the idea, Logan let out a nervous breath he hadn’t even realised he’d been holding. Despite the simplicity of their plan, inviting Roman to share a glass of wine with him during work hours just so that they could say negative things about their generally very respectable colleagues to him felt so deeply personal and borderline exhilarating.

Roman must have recognised how much the offer meant to Logan, as he too seemed shocked that the usually oh-so calm and collected science teacher would propose something so unorthodox.

“You want to share a drink with me now?”

“Well encountering your colleagues won’t be an issue after work hours – Perhaps if we start highlighting all of their potential flaws now, you’ll be less inclined to test fate and pursue another doomed relationship with one of them later.”

“Hey!” Roman shouted incredulously, but he was genuinely laughing now.

The sound was so infectious that his co-worker soon found himself chuckling quietly to himself.

“I’ll ask the canteen staff if they can spare two small cups so we don’t drink too much,” Logan offered, “Plus I keep more than enough spare change in my wallet at all times to ensure we can afford a cab ride home. We won’t be stranded here at school if you accept. All I ask in return is that you turn off that infuriating song – I’ve heard it more than enough times now, thank you very much.”

“You drive a hard bargain, Mr Berry,” Roman responded, his lips forming a playful smirk as he pretended to mull the proposition over. “What album would you suggest we listen to in its place?”

“How about ‘The Wall’ by Pink Floyd? I believe I still have that cassette sitting in my car right now, along with ‘The Dark Side of the Moon.’”

“Oh, wow…” Roman drawled as he blinked his eyes rapidly in only semi-feigned surprise. “I think you just aged ten years for every word you just said, Lograndad.”

“Of course, you can always just sit here and listen to the sound of Janus’ voice instead.”

“On second thought-” Roman announced, standing up rather quickly as he grabbed his nearby coat and bag, “-Pink Floyd sounds like an excellent choice. Why don’t you lead the way?”

~ ~ ~

General Tag-List:

@sholaghhh (Formerly @lunamay2006) @not-so-innocent-bi-sander @saphael-malec102 @anastasialestina @seraphlies 

Additional Tags:

@sympathetic-deceit-trash

Note: It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a fic, so this tag-list may be a little outdated. If at any point you want to be added/removed from my tag-list then feel free to let me know!

As always, feedback is much appreciated! I was pretty out of practice here, so I’m sure I’d benefit a lot from constructive criticism!

For spelling, punctuation and grammar I followed Microsoft Word's English (UK) rules. Feel free to correct any errors you may find in the comments, but please keep in mind that some words are spelt differently here in the UK! 

I hope you’re all have a fan-der-tastic day!

~ ~ ~

[im-gettingby]

30 Days of Carry On

posted (and written by?) @captain-aralias

(I’m doing most of these at once because I said so. it’s long so under the cut)

1. Favourite major character

I literally thought — Simon no Baz no Penny no, Agatha!

I guess I will pick Simon, since I relate to him the most — or at least, my connection to him led me into the fandom.

2. Favourite minor character

I think we all know this one 🐑🐑🐑

I have written many a treatise on Lamb Rights. I’ll spare everyone now

3. Character you relate to the most

Oops— I already answered this, kinda. I relate to them in different ways: I relate a lot to WS Simon because he has abandonment issues and “kid who was told he was extraordinary and then grew up to be ordinary” issues. We also both have a “fix all the things for everyone” complex, too.

Baz — It took me a while to get into Baz’s head, but I would say, I relate to him because of his intense emotional world and tendency to see the world through an intensely romantic/tragic lens. But also he’s a Pisces. and I’d never do that like a Pisces does. (Sorry, not sorry.)

4. Which character would you like to go to lunch with?

SHEPARD obviously. I don’t feel the need to elaborate.

5. Favourite non-Snowbaz ship

Ooh! Probably Lamb/Baz or Simon/Shep or just...literally anything. Like, I will read anything as long as it’s well written. The weirder the better. (Within...legal and moral limits.) in my other fandoms I’ve been a big multishipper and there’s not a lot of options for that in CO - which is fine - but wholeheartedly support rarepairs :D

6. Favourite non-romantic OTP

So, obviously Simon/Penny and Baz/Penny are great ones, but I think the nearest & dearest to my heart is Simon/Agatha. The kind of siblings/unwillingly dating/weird exes dynamic and the way they both shaped each other’s lives is just so interesting. And while Simon & Penny are closer, Agatha and Simon represent their aspirational selves to one another. And the way that they were both tied to one another along with their gender roles/places in society and both broke away at the same time is just...mwah

7. Favourite Baz outfit

I honestly dress kinda like Baz. Anything involving a printed silk shirt or a floral brocade suit, so like, all of them? I love WS Baz, his fashion sense is so thoughtful yet fun. He’s so expressive with it — in the sense of both being guarded, being sexy, and playing with masculinity/femininity.

8. How do you feel about Wayward Son?

In case it wasn’t obvious, I absolutely love it. I mean, from a writing/narrative standpoint, I don’t think it’s the most elegant or engaging book ever written, but it’s just so raw and fresh. I don’t see many examples of an author trying to do what Rainbow did, which is build a complex emotional AND plot-driven story with so many characters and so much lore. I’m very excited for AWTWB.

9. Favourite scene from Carry On, besides Chapter 61

I like what the book does/sets up overall. Honestly probably the first scene, where Simon walks to the bus stop & takes the train and just thinks about his life and makes lists -- I love Simon. I know Rainbow said she thinks that bit is boring, but it honestly says so much about his character in a short time. (and he’s an extremely complex character!) Also, Baz’s dramatic entrance. Also, the chapter where Baz says “and I’m hopelessly in love with him” because it’s just so dramatic, and it comes out of nowhere

10. Favourite scene from Wayward Son, besides Chapter 41

Baz and Lamb’s journey across the Strip - vampire lore, jealous Simon, Baz getting to be his own character— it’s beautiful.

11. Remind us about something in canon readers might have forgotten about

Ahahaha um. Simon says he thinks Baz’s cousin Marcus is fit. That’s pretty funny.

12. What are your hopes and fears for Any Way the Wind Blows?

I don’t have any hopes because I don’t want to be disappointed - and that’s not a cynical thing, I just want to go into it with an open mind. (I’ll take a break from fandom and reread the books beforehand so I’m (more of) a blank slate) I guess just...interesting emotional journeys, whatever that ends up being. There’s a lot that Rainbow has to do in the book and I don’t think any one person could get through all of it -- that’s why we have fanfiction.

Fears? I don’t know. I think just...the series ending. Even though I’ve been in fandom for less than a year I just really love this fandom & the thought of that kind of eroding away is sad. But also I don’t think that will happen immediately, and change is a part of life. I’ve never related as much to Cath as I do now :’)

13. An unpopular/cracky opinion you hold

unpopular: Lamb is the best character; I don’t want Simon to get his magic back; both Simon and Baz should have other romantic options.

14. Something from your head fanon

Hmmmmmmm well. Just mean things about Baz really. Like that he’s weird looking, not that great at football, and actually has kind of garish fashion sense. (which is a self-roast as well - see above.) I just feel like Simon/fandom put him on a pedestal, and Simon’s an unreliable narrator re: Baz anyway. So I like the idea that Baz is this average looking kinda strange nerdy guy who is everything Simon has ever wanted in life.

And before you tell me that Baz was hot at Watford and Agatha was into him, have you ever been to a tiny boarding school? Standards get weird 😂😂😂 and Terry being into him — come on. The guy’s a violent pervert.

also - back to Watford being a tiny school. Baz doesn’t have much competition to be the star of the football team. (also, does anyone except Simon even think that he is?)

16. Favourite location other than Watford

Vegas!

17, Favourite location in Watford

I’m pretty bad at Watford lore/geography bc again, I’m way more into WS. Probably the floor in the Cloisters where everything happens the same way, just a day later. There’s a fic there, but I can’t wrap my head around all the time travel implications enough to write it.

18. What would be your favourite subject at Watford?

Any potions-esque subject because I loved chemistry lab. Latin because I loved Latin in school. Uhhhh I don’t like history class, so not that — maybe a literature course focused on the derivation of spells.

19. What would your magical implement be?

Ooh! This is a good one. I’d like to think it would be a weird body piercing. Or a belt a la Gareth. Maybe some kind of traditional south Asian jewelry, like a nose chain or mang-tikka or something. maybe a hat. like, imagine your magical instrument being a fedora and you just have to...wear a fedora all the time.

21. Favourite canon spell

Hm. Kiss it better? Candle in the wind?I should try to think of a non-horny one. honestly they’re all so cool and clever - I love the magic system in CO/WS.

22. What would your eighth year spell at Watford be or do?

Maybe something from a poem I love. That would probably be pretty but not very functional. Or a healing spell.

23. Who would you want as your roommate?

Agatha is uptight, Penny is passive aggressive, Simon is a slob, Baz is both uptight and passive aggressive.

Definitely Shepard.

24. Favourite item of merchandise, official or unofficial

My @subparselkie sticker

25. Favourite book cover design

WS. Oh, another unpopular opinion - I don’t like the kevin wada cover of carry on. their faces look so weird and the colors don’t work for me. I own the version with the blue and yellow cover art instead

26. Do you want a movie? If yes - any fan casts for the movie?

Probably wouldn’t want a movie! Because I am way too possessive of these books/this version of the story. And I am historically extremely disappointed by adaptations — I get upset with the smallest of changes 😂

27. If they made a movie, what scenes do you think they’d cut that you’d be furious were missing?

See above. A LOT haha

28. If you could ask Rainbow Rowell one question, what would it be? (If you have already, you can share if you like)

What is Lamb’s full name????? Is it actually Lamb Lambert Lamborghini the third???

What is Rainbow’s relationship with sheep and goats. Why are there so many references to them

29. Have you read any of Rainbow’s other books?

Only Fangirl

30. How did you get into Carry On and/or Carry On fandom?

I read fangirl & the pages at the end mentioned carry on, so I read that, and enjoyed it but I wasn’t obsessed. Then I read WS spring 2020, reread it a bunch of times, reread CO, freaked out about the cliffhanger/cool vampire stuff/unresolved sexual tension, had pandemic cabin fever, got on AO3, and the rest is history.

As @annabellelux knows, I wrote my first (published) fanfic after reading her amazing fic Drop The Game. and the first fanfic I read was @captain-aralias’ Greener Grass. I was so obsessed that about a month later, I searched through the AO3 tags for it, because I couldn’t remember the title or author but kept thinking about it.

[lostbutterflyutau]

The Best Medicine

Note: While this does fit the first Ship Week prompt, it’s actually an excerpt from a longer fic that I’ve been working on behind-the-scenes for awhile (I’m trying to finish it before considering posting). Context is that when Mateo and Carla get sick at the same time -- a time when Elena and co. are planning for a royal visit and her family is away on diplomatic matters -- Rafa is brought in to care for them. Unfortunately, Carla proves to be a very stubborn and resistant patient until someone else drops by to lend a hand.

Also featuring the smallest bit of Rafa and Mateo family fluff.

*********

Despite the occasional nagging worry in the back of her mind, Rafa had fun putting lunch together. Once she explained the situation to the cook, he gave her free reign of part of the kitchen. The only stipulations were that she kept to that section, focused on only Mateo and Carla’s meals and didn’t get in his way.

She smiled to herself as she finished the tray off, hoped that Carla would at least try what she made. Having never cooked for her before, Rafa wasn’t sure if the girl was picky or not, but figured that the plain dishes she had made were a safe bet, both for Carla’s tastes and health. Unfortunately, despite being up by the time she made her way back to the room, Carla wanted nothing to do with the food. She had looked from it to Rafa and back again before rolling over and refusing to move.

“Come on, Carla,” Rafa coaxed as she sat down, set a hand on Carla’s back. “You have to eat something.”

Carla didn’t respond, only pulled the blanket up and over her head in a vain attempt to make Rafa go away. She wasn’t interested in the food, and even less in arguing, she just wanted to be left alone.

Rafa sighed to herself. She didn’t want to push too far, but also knew she couldn’t just give in to Carla’s stubbornness. Even if she didn’t want to, she needed to eat at least a little something for her health.

“How about you just take a small bite? See if you like it?”

“Go away,” Carla muttered, gripped her blanket tighter in case the older woman decided to try and pull it off the same way Abuela did when she was being stubborn.

“You know I can’t do that,” Rafa replied, moved her hand up and down along Carla’s back.

Carla ignored her, hoped that if she kept quiet, Rafa would eventually give up. Nothing she said was going to make her want to eat, not when her stomach was still turning. She was afraid that anything she ate would just come back up and the last thing she wanted was to experience that again.

Her lack of reaction drew another frown from Rafa as she considered her options. Being forceful wasn’t an option, nor was it her style, but waiting it out didn’t seem like a good choice either. Finally, she gripped the blanket with intent to carefully pull it back and at least make Carla look at her, but before she could even make the first tug, she was stopped by a soft rapping.

“Knock knock,” A soft, masculine voice said and Rafa turned.

“Gabe?” Carla said to herself, pushed the blanket off as she shifted and sat up.

Unable to help himself, Gabe gave a small smile at her ruffled appearance. Of course, he wasn’t happy that Carla was sick, especially not after hearing from Elena how she’d actually gotten worse overnight, but her mussed hair and the way she held onto her blanket were too adorable. Though, the novelty quickly wore off when he caught how rundown she looked. She had already looked bad the night before, but now there was more than tiredness in her eyes. Despite the way she smiled at him, he could tell from the way the smile – which quickly faded – didn’t reach her eyes that she was miserable.

He made his way over, took Rafa’s spot when she stood and stepped aside. “Hi, Cutie,” He teased, gently tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Cutie?” Rafa echoed, her eyes filled with curiosity.

Gabe winced. He wanted to kick himself for not thinking. He’d been so focused on Carla that he forgot for a moment that they weren’t alone, and that she wasn’t in her own room. He rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish look washing over his face. But, before he could even think of an explanation, Carla turned, her narrowed eyes locking onto Mateo’s mother.

“Don’t even think about it. And don’t you dare tell anyone, got it?”

Rafa opened her mouth to speak, but immediately shut it again when realised she had nothing to say in response. The look in Carla’s eyes, as feverish as it was, made it clear how important keeping the secret was to her. Finally, she nodded. “Of course.

Carla kept her glare in place, her eyes roving over the older woman’s, looking for any hint of deceit. While she didn’t know Rafa well enough to say so with complete certainty, she knew enough about spotting lies to know she meant what she said. She thought to speak again, but any thoughts she had of doing so faded away when she felt a hand settle on her cheek.

Gabe smiled at the way she instinctively leaned into his hand, asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Sick,” She replied as she toyed with her blanket.

“Sick like how?” He already knew she was sick. Even without being told, that fact was obvious. But no one had told him yet exactly what she had.

“I’m hot and everything hurts and my stomach won’t stop turning.”

“But you’re not sneezy? No sniffles this time?”

Carla shook her head, part of her wishing that she did have those things instead. She didn’t like being any kind of sick, but a cold was far easier to manage than whatever stomach bug she had caught.

“She has a tummy bug,” Rafa interjected. “And she was already sick twice this morning.”

Gabe blinked, looked from Rafa to Carla – who turned her gaze down to the blanket – as he processed the words. “You threw up?”

Carla nodded, kept her focus on the blanket as the awful memories from that morning came back. She hated him knowing that and hated Rafa for telling him.  

He gave her a sympathetic smile, reached over to take one of her hands and whispered as he gently ran his thumb over the back, “My poor, sick Cutie.”

She flicked her eyes up at him briefly and then quickly turned them back down again just as his own gaze fell on the table nearest to them.

“What’s that?” He asked.

“It’s supposed to be her lunch, but I can’t get her to eat. She just ignores me,” Rafa explained. She tried not to take it too personally due to the circumstances but couldn’t help the small sting that tugged at her at the fact that Carla hadn’t wanted to even taste her food.

Gabe nodded once, turned back to Carla. “Carla, you need to eat.”

Carla pretended to be interested in a piece of fuzz on the blanket.

“Carla,” Gabe pressed gently.  

“I’m just going to throw it up,” She said.

“I know that’s not fun. But you’ll never get better if you don’t eat even a little bit. Besides, it’s better to have something in your stomach. You’re going to be sick regardless, but it will feel a lot worse with an empty stomach,” He tried to explain, sighing lightly when she didn’t answer. He then turned to Rafa, motioned with his hand for the small bowl on the food tray. “Can I have that?”

Though she was hesitant, Rafa handed over the bowl, watching as he carefully stirred the broth around before taking a small spoonful and holding it up to Carla.

“Come on, Cutie. At least try it,” He encouraged, hoping that using her affectionate name would make her more agreeable. It was more than her stubbornness, though. He knew that she was probably upset about not being in her own bed and all of her usual caretakers being either gone or busy. Her refusal wasn’t meant to be rebellious or annoying, she was genuinely bothered by being looked after by someone she wasn’t used to and he felt awful for that. If he didn’t have so much on his plate, he’d take on the role himself, if only to make her more comfortable.

Glancing up, Carla considered her options. She knew his concern was nothing but honest, as it always was. Rafa’s was too, but there was something about the way Gabe regarded her that finally made her lean forward and accept the spoon he was offering her.

“Good?” He asked, knowing from the way her eyes had widened slightly when she caught the taste that it was. Still, he watched as she nodded and then offered her another spoonful, saying as she took it, “I’m not going to sit here and feed you. But I will sit with you while you eat if that’s what you want.”

“Can you?”

“Of course.”  He smiled at the eagerness in her gaze, stood to return the bowl as she shifted around in order to give him room to sit and settle himself. Once he did, she crawled over, slid into the space between his arm and the cushions.

Rafa gave her own smile at the sight, part of her wondering how, with just his presence, Gabe was able to get Carla to cooperate after she’d struggled so much with her. She grabbed the tray, carefully handed it over to Gabe, who held onto it after giving Carla her soup bowl.

Carla ate slowly, carefully, pausing every so often to make sure the food would stay down before either taking another bite or switching dishes. The meal was extremely simple, consisting of only warm broth, plain rice and a banana that Gabe cut into sections for her, carefully handing one over when she asked.

With Carla settled, Rafa resumed her chores from earlier, deciding to leave the couple alone while she bustled around the room, tidying up little things and finishing the laundry she had been folding. Only once that was done did she turn to her own belongings and start unpacking the clothing and various small items she’d brought for Mateo, including a small stack of storybooks that she set on the table she’d moved near her own side of the sofa. Instead of staying in a separate room, she decided that it would be easier to stay with Mateo and Carla and opted for the sofa that Carla wasn’t sleeping on.

She glanced back briefly when she heard clattering dishes followed by footsteps as Gabe stood with the tray in hand.  

“She ate about half,” He said when he caught Rafa’s eyes.

“That’s about what I expected,” She replied, moved to take the tray from him. “I’ll take this back. You stay with her.”

“Gabe!” Carla said, reaching over to pull at his shirt when he returned to her side. When he looked down, she pointed over to Rafa’s table, “She has the kitty book!”

He blinked, turned to where she was pointing and, upon seeing the stack of books, finally connected the dots. Sensing what she wanted, he headed over, picked up the picture book entitled “The Lost Kitten” from the top of the stack. He’d learned of her love for it the first time he’d looked after her when sick and caught her flipping through the palace library’s old copy. She had told him then that it was her favourite childhood book and that she actually loved kittens. Then, a few days later, she cuddled up with him while they read the book together since she still wasn’t well enough to attend the first night of Festival of Love and Friendship.

When he returned to her side, she immediately snuggled up to him, looked up with eager eyes as he opened the book.

“Am I reading this to you or with you?” He teased while he brought his arm around and settled his hand on her back.

Carla grabbed the other end of the book. “With.”

He smiled at her enthusiasm and kissed her head before reading the first line, enjoying the way she nestled herself into his side and read the pages in a soft voice as he turned them. Though she was obviously still sick, she was at least relaxed and resting until, just as he finished off the last page, he felt her tense against him, the fingers of the hand that had been gripping the book curling even further around it.

“Are you okay?” He asked as he gently closed the book, frowning when he didn’t get a response as she slunk down beside him. He went to speak again and stopped when he finally registered the sound of footsteps as Mateo made his way around his bed. As he moved into the attached bathroom, Gabe thought for a moment about Carla’s reaction and quickly realised that the whole sharing situation was probably uncomfortable for her, particularly since it was Mateo she was rooming with. If it was one of the girls, she’d probably be more comfortable.

He brought his hand up, ran it over her hair. “This is weird for you, huh?”

Carla nodded, curled into him further. “Very.”

Gabe ran his hand over her hair again, pressed another soft kiss to her head. “I’m sorry. But you know they didn’t do it to make you purposefully uncomfortable.”

He felt Carla’s head shifting as she nodded and mumbled something incoherent. For a second, he thought about asking what it was she had said, but she didn’t seem to be looking for a response.

She wrapped her arm around him, let out a soft sigh as she curled even further into him, the mix between his soap’s faint smell and his natural scent calming her. With his soft t-shirt, he was almost like a big stuffed animal, except with a gentle heartbeat that sent a slow wave of peacefulness through her like a soothing lullaby.

Feeling her relax completely against him, her breathing deepening and steadying as time went on, Gabe decided to stay put for awhile, a warm calmness slowly spreading through him as he closed his eyes, moved his hand down to softly rub her back.

“Why are you two in my bedroom?”

Though the voice hadn’t been particularly loud, both Gabe and Carla flinched when it broke through their peaceful moment. They looked up at the same time, saw a confused Mateo – who had apparently returned from the bathroom – standing next to the sofa. They then exchanged the same unsure look, wondering how neither had registered his presence as he approached.

“And why does Carla look like she’s been sleeping here?” He said it as if it was an afterthought, eyes looking first to the sofa – his sofa – that had been taken over by sheets, blankets and pillows in various shades of purple and then Carla curled up next to Gabe in what looked like a nightgown.

“Because I have?” Carla replied, the statement coming out like a question as she tilted her head slightly. Had nobody told Mateo? And if not, then why? It seemed like something he should know, especially considering his temporary roommate was a woman.  

Mateo opened his mouth to speak again, but barely got a word out before he was interrupted.

“Mijo! What are you doing out of bed?” Rafa said as she crossed the doorway, laundry basket in hand.

“What is Carla doing here?” Mateo asked, ignoring the fact that his mother even asked a question.

Rafa set the basket down, stepped over and sat a careful hand on her son’s back, explained as gave him a gentle push towards his bed. “Carla is here because she’s sick too. And it’s easier to have her stay here then for me to have to run up and down the hallway all day.”

He gave a slow nod in response, climbed back up into bed and waited while his mother adjusted and pulled up his blanket. Usually, he would do it himself, but she was so happy taking care of him that he let her do it.

“Can I get you anything?” She asked, smoothed the covers down one last time.

Mateo thought for a moment, the sudden realisation that he was hungry hitting him as his stomach grumbled. “I guess I could use a snack.”

Rafa kissed his head “Alright. I’ll get you something after I take care of Carla.”

Hearing her name, Carla sat up slightly, glanced from Gabe to Rafa. “Take care of Carla how?”

“By brushing your hair,” Rafa said, pulling a brush from one of her dress pockets as she descended the stairs. “I want to tie it back so –”

“No,” Carla cut her off, buried her head back into Gabe’s shoulder. She didn’t want Rafa even touching her hair. There was no way she would know how to do it right. And, even if she did somehow know exactly how she liked it brushed, Carla still didn’t want a near-stranger’s hands near her hair, especially when that person wasn’t a professional stylist.

“But, Carla…” Rafa tried to start.

“I said ‘no,’” Carla repeated. Her voice was muffled by Gabe’s shoulder, but they both still caught the gist of her answer.

Gabe turned to Rafa, who looked slightly offended, and gave her an apologetic smile. He knew that Carla could be difficult from time to time and that because she struggled with expressing her feelings, she wasn’t always the easiest to figure out, especially when she was sick or distressed. He wished for a moment that he had the same telepathy powers Carla did, if only so he could tell Rafa what he thought Carla was feeling without betraying her trust. But, since he didn’t, he turned his attention back to Carla instead.

Running a gentle hand over her back, Gabe coaxed, “Carla, look at me.”

Carla stayed put for a minute, seemingly contemplating her options before lifting her head to look him in the eyes.

“There’s my Cutie,” He teased. “Look, I know this hasn’t been easy for you, but if Señora de Alva says your hair needs to be tied back, it needs to be tied back.”

“Then you do it.”

“You know I’m not good at that kind of thing. Just give her a chance.”

“But that’s not even the right brush!”

Rafa looked down at the plain brown brush in her hand, raised an eyebrow. As far as she knew, a brush was a brush. Were there different kinds she didn’t know about? She thought to ask, but was interrupted by Gabe laughing as he played with a piece of his girlfriend’s hair.

“That’s an easy fix,” He said and then turned to Rafa again. “I can show you where she keeps her brush and hair accessories.”

Carla’s face fell as she clung to him tighter. “You can’t go! You just got here!”

Gabe smiled, gently patted her back. While she loved affection and kissing and cuddling in private, it was rare that Carla got so clingy. He’d only seen it a handful of times, all of which were when she was either scared or not feeling well. If he was honest with himself, he didn’t particularly like leaving her like this, especially when she was asking. The way she looked at him with those sad, pleading eyes always tugged at his heart just slightly, in part because he knew how real they were. She might have been able to use her eyes and bat her lashes to trick other people, but not him. Never him.

Instead of resisting, he knew it was best to be soft and play along a little. “I know you need me, but I don’t think you want someone going through your stuff unsupervised.”

Her eyes widened slightly at the idea as she realised that the thought had never crossed her mind. In order to get her brush, Rafa would have to go in her room and look for it not knowing which drawer it or her ponytails and ribbons were in. Finally, she murmured, “No.”

“I thought so,” Gabe said, carefully scooting away as she loosened her grip. “I’ll be back in a bit, I promise.” He left her with a soft kiss on the head, motioned for Rafa to follow him.