#like the show was fine and i honestly think the viewing order i got was pretty great if anyone wants a reccomendation

[new-bird-song]

My main takeaway from kaleidoscope (netflix) is that i want to watch leverage again

[imagineanime2022]

The Variable *Part 2*

Caspian Keyes X Fem!Reader

Word Count: 4648

Requested: Anon

Request: https://www.tumblr.com/imagineanime2022/768228245966569472/the-variable?source=share

Op this is amazing! Please do continue it!

Warning: gun shot wounds, existential crisis, panic attack (if you've seen the show or like really squint)

A/N: I honestly don't know how I got so carried away with this one, again will continue into another part, hope you enjoy it.

*Part 1*

“If I come with you she’ll be suspicious.” You mumbled as you paced the room, you didn’t like that Caspian would have to do all of this by himself if we were to avoid raising suspicion. “You gotta calm down, it’s not like they know anything.” He reminded you standing from where he was sitting on the sofa “how about I call you and leave it open so that you can hear everything, if something happens then you can call someone.” “What good will that do, not like the police will get to you before they do.” You grumbled defeated and he rolled his eyes, a playful smirk on his face. “Are you sulking?” He asked. “Shut up.” You ordered. “Look I have to go if I want to meet her.” He squeezed your hands. “Fine… Fine, be careful and make sure that you call me.” You ordered. “Thought that didn’t matter.” He teased. “Doesn’t mean that I don’t want you to do it.” You followed him to the door before he opened it. He pressed a kiss to your forehead “I’ll see you tomorrow.” “See you tomorrow.” You watched him leave, waiting until he was completely out of view before going back inside.

It took about 20 minutes for him to call you and briefly explain the plan he had apparently thought up on the way there “you didn’t tell me this before, because you knew that I would not let you drive full speed into traffic to scare someone.” your voice gradually rose as you got to the end of the sentence, you vaguely registered Caspian’s chuckle and he put his phone in his pocket. You muted your mic to make sure that you didn’t ruin the plan and waited. “Hannah.” Caspian called. “I was looking for you, where’d you go today?” You heard Hannah ask. “Just getting your surprise ready.” He answered. “My surprise?” She asked. “Gross, guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.” You heard Nicole, you carried the phone with you as you walked into the kitchen looking for something to eat as you listened for anything that worried you. You heard car doors closing as you assumed they both got back into Caspian’s car. “It’s about time stranger, thought I’d have to send a search party.” Hannah joked, you heard the care start moving “where’s my surprise?” “First I have a question.” You honestly weren’t sure how she didn’t pick up on it, his voice was flat and uninterested, something that would have made you uneasy had you been the subject of it. “The answer’s yes.” You had to admit her dedication was admirable, they must have been paying her something. “No it’s not.” “Okay.” Hannah drew out the word she was finally getting suspicious. “Who are you and who do you work for?” He asked. “Oh we’re just going to say it.” You nodded to yourself. “What?” Hannah asked. “I saw you talking to my mum at the civics centre yesterday. Talking about me like I was some job. So I want to know exactly what the job is.” Caspian was pulling no punches. “Okay I don’t know what you're talking about, but it’s not funny or whatever, so I think I want to get out.” She was panicked but you heard the click of the door locks with one simple word from Caspian. “Nope.” You giggled slightly considering the delivery of the word but it was immediately silenced by the car speeding up. “What are you doing!? Slow down!” Hannah ordered. “I will when you tell the truth.” Caspian answered. “I am telling the truth!” She yelled back, Caspian was unfazed, you heard the wheels screeching and the honking of horns but no crash. “Who are you?” Caspian asked. “Stop! Stop! Please stop!” Hannah pleaded. “What’s the job?” Caspian asked. “You are you’re the job!” She finally answered. “Talk.” Caspian ordered.

“My name’s Rachel, Rachel Brooks I’m from Hoboken! I’m an actor! I’m- I went to NYU! I graduated last spring, I got this audition, I thought it was a show, but it was for a company! They said it was a social experiment.” Her rushed explanation was fast and almost impossible to hear, you had to concentrate to catch everything that she was saying. “Wait… What company?” Caspian asked, he sounded distracted, you could tell that he was a little too focused on the answers for how fast he was driving. “What company!?” he asked more urgently when he received no answer. “Candle Street, I think it's a shell for someone else but the check, the check cleared.” Hannah answered. “How much?” Caspian asked. “1 million up front 5 million over the next 3 years.” She answered “I said yes, I signed all these contracts and NDAs, if I break I get nothing they take it all back” you heard the car slowing to a stop letting out a breath and relaxing now that the worst part of the plan was over. “My mum my mum is sick, she has cancer, she can’t have surgery and her insurance doesn’t cover the immunotherapy, that is the truth I swear, if I mess this up-” “Rachel, it’s okay I’m not going to tell anyone you told me. What does my mum know?” He asked. “Renee? Renee knows everything, she won’t tell me shit I have to report to her.” Hannah, or Rachel answered. “What about (Y/N)?” He asked. “They wanted me to split you both up and offered me extra, like a bonus if I did.” Hannah answered. “Why?” Caspian answered. “They said something about her being the uncontrolled variable.” Hannah answered. “Something they couldn’t control.” Caspian mumbled. “Okay if you help me, you will get your money and we will make sure that none of this comes back on you. If you help me, if you do exactly what I say.” “What? What do you want me to do?” She asked. “I need you to pretend that everything is normal, make her believe that nothing has changed.” Caspian ordered.

The next day school went very much the same as it had been the past few weeks, you had decided that you’d have to continue to pretend that you weren’t talking so you walked into school with your earphones firmly placed in your ears as you made your way to your locker. Your locker was a little off the main corridors, when you got to your locker you opened it and grabbed everything that you needed, you closed it and walked towards your first class but before you could get too far someone wrapped their arm around your waist and pulled you back into a small alcove. “It’s just me.” You recognised Caspian’s voice. “I was about 3 seconds away from elbowing you in the ribs.” You informed him as the arm around you relaxed. “Good.” He leant down resting his chin on your shoulder. “I’ve set up cameras at my house and Rachel managed to convince Renee that everything is fine.” “Good. So she doesn’t suspect anything?” You asked. “No.” He answered, you assumed that was the end of the conversation but he didn’t let go. “Is there something else?” You asked, he gave a shrug looking around, with no prying eyes he quickly leaned down and pressed a kiss to your lips, firm and reassuring, a promise that it would be okay. His hand came up to cradle your face, thumb pressed against your chin under your bottom lip, his own lips trapping it as he pulled away. “See you later.” You reluctantly pulled away, again glancing around before hurrying off to class, you set yourself up at a table and waited. The test made the class easier since you didn’t have to work with any other popular kid that left you to do the work. Caspian caught your attention when he stood asking to use the bathroom, your eyes connected briefly and you knew that it had something to do with his mum.

“What happened?” You asked when you finally got out of class. “She was talking to someone, sounds like something has happened, like someone got out.” Caspian explained. “Renee sounded panicked, like she was worried that they would come down here and ruin everything, she said his name was Cary. I think it might be your dad.” “Why?” You asked. “She said that he couldn’t even break her arm, that she had to do it herself.” He sounded distant when he said that. “She broke her arm herself?” You asked, Caspian had sat down with you and told you everything that had happened since you stopped talking but the fact that she had gone as far as to break her own arm to keep in role. “Then she’s more dangerous than we first thought.” “What do you mean?” He asked. “She’s extreme, she won’t hurt you but she’ll hurt anyone else so we have to be careful.” You explained. “That’s all you’ve said.” Caspian rolled his eyes. “It’s not all I’ve said but it is the most important thing that I’ve said.” You corrected him, he just squeezed your hand affectionately. “We’ll be careful.” You promised.

Later that afternoon, your phone was ringing “Hello?” You asked. “She wants to go to the coast.” Caspian informed you. “The coast? Why?” You asked. “She said we need a vacation, that I’ve been working too hard and hse needs to get out of the house.” Caspian answered. “How long does she want to go for?” You asked. “She said for the weekend.” He answered. “But?” You asked, feeling that there was something else that he wanted to say. “Maybe that would be the perfect opportunity to run.” He said softly, leaning back in his chair. “Run?” You asked “Alone.” “Well I can’t ask you to-” “Fine then I’ll tell you that I’m coming with you so what’s the plan?” You asked. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He argued. “Well then I’ll be following you across the country because I’m not letting you travel around alone.” You answered like a petulant child “so I meet you or I follow you your choice.” You heard him make a noise over the phone before speaking again. “Fine, once I know where we’re staying I’ll give you the location, then you make your way up there, I’ll leave the keys for my car out front so that you can drive it up once you meet me up there, we’ll figure out a plan.” He explained. “Good sounds like a plan. I’ll pack some stuff.” You informed him. “I’ll text you.” He said. “Hey Cas… I- be careful.” You settled on those two words something that had started to mean something else by, not that you knew if he knew that yet. “Yeah, you too.” He said before hanging up the phone.

It was a couple of hours later that you got a call from Caspian “Meet me at my place.” “What?” You asked “I thought you were going to the coast. What happened?” “She went through my stuff and unpacked it, I need to go back and get it, I stole the car, I’m heading back now.” You stood from where you were looking at your clock. “How long?” You asked. “At least a few hours.” He said. “Fine, just get back safe okay, I’ll meet you at your place.” You said.

By the time that you had gotten to Caspian’s it seemed that a lot had happened, you could see Renee and Cary along with Caspian, it looked like they were leaving the house, you saw Renee pull out the gun “Cas!” it was shouted at the same time that the gun was shot. She wasn’t aiming for Caspian, she was aiming for Cary and she hit him, you rushed over sliding to a stop and scuffing your knee at the same time. You grabbed a shirt out of your bag and pressed it to the wound as Caspian came to stand on his other side. “Are you okay?” Caspian asked. “I’m fine.” You answered, his eyes cast down to your knee but you didn’t correct yourself. “What do we do?” “Help me get him in the car.” He said. “Are you sure?” You asked. “Mm.” Caspian hummed, you helped him get Cary into the car and then he directed you to the back of the car “get in.” “Cas?” Your eyes moved to Renee who was still pointing the gun now solely at you. “It’ll be okay I promise.” He said softly pressing a kiss to your forehead before opening the back door, your eyes never left Caspian as he made his way around the car, you leaned forward. “How are you doing?” You asked, looking down as Caspian opened the car door to assess the wound. “I’m really sorry about this.” You pressed down harder on the wound, he grunted. “Sorry.” “It’s okay.” He managed to say through laboured breaths and gritted teeth. Caspian started the car and pulled away from the house, with his mum screaming after him but instead of calling his name she called out Stephen.

You have been driving for a couple of hours when you came up to an emergency hospital. Your hands were covered in blood as were a good few of your tops “No, no hospitals.” Cary managed to say. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.” Caspian argued but eventually pulled away. “They will still find us, keep driving.” Cary’s voice was breathy and strained. “We have time, I can hold out.” “There’s someone I can call.” Caspian called. “There is?” You asked at the same time as Cary spoke. “No. Caspian we can’t trust anyone, we just have to get somewhere safe. Off the grid. We have to focus.” Caspian glanced at you through the rear view mirror before speaking. “Stop saying ‘we’ I don’t know who you are. Okay.” “My name really is Cary. It’s Cary Duval.” Said person admitted. “Alright anything else?” Caspian asked after a minute of silence. “What do you want to know?” The breaths between his words were becoming more laboured and honestly it was becoming a little worrying but with him refusing hospitals you were at a loss for what you could do. “Was anything real? Like, are you really an asshole?” Caspian asked. “I’m a believer, I believed in the mission, I believed in Stephen Holstrom. But you, I’ve been watching you all your life, Caspian. Van Leuwen may have the plan, but I watched you. I was with you but when the plan called for me to be… I saw what I was doing and I didn’t want that. I didn’t want that for my son, I didn’t want that for you. It sounds horrible but I’m glad that your parents left you.” His hand latched on your in an affectionate grip. “Left you to look after him, give him something real.” “Who is Van Luewen?” Caspian asked, bringing the attention from you. There was silence as you looked to see that Cary’s eyes had closed. “Cary?” You asked, that caused Caspian to look over. “Cary! Hey! Hey! Dad!” Caspian attempted to rouse him but nothing worked. “I have to call Maddie.” “Maddie?” You asked. “You remember I told you about that person who thought that Logorhythms was holding their Dad hostage?” He asked, you nodded. “Yeah she’s the one that thought that, she told me her name in the same call where she warned me that I was being watched.” “Right and you can get in contact with her?” You asked. “I think so.” He answered, pulling out his phone. “Here, pull over, we'll swap, you call them and I’ll drive.” You suggested and he nodded.

Once you were both swapped over you started driving while he dialed whatever number he was looking for. It was a couple of minutes of arguing back and forth between him and someone else before he spoke to you “she called from a friend's phone before, she’s calling her.” You nodded. “Caspian!?” A new voice asked, you glanced back to see that he had put the phone on speaker. “Yeah it’s me.” Caspian answered. “Yeah it’s him, now who is he?” Another voice asked. “Justine, you can hang up now.” The first voice said, the one you assumed was Maddie. “Uh - uh I’m hearing this.” Justine said. “Whatever, Maddie I’m coming to Sacramento, I’m coming to you.” Caspian said. “What?” Maddie asked. “You said Logorhythms was watching me. You were right and now my… My dad has been shot.” Caspian explained. “Then get him to a hospital.” This voice was a grown woman, again different to all of the others. “What? Who is that?” Caspian asked. “It’s my mom she.. Mom, let me handle this.” Maddie ordered. “Listen, I can't go to a hospital. Logorhythms will find us.” Caspian explained. “They… They are the ones that shot him.” “How far away are you?” Maddie’s mum asked. “150 miles maybe.” Caspian gave a rough guess, honestly you were no help with that, you hadn’t done much travelling yourself given your past. “Sacramento Raceway, one o’clock. Parking lot should be empty.” Maddie’s mum ordered before hanging up the phone.

When you got to the raceway everything was empty, there was one car in the car park opposite.” Caspian said, leaning forward between the front seats as you hummed in confirmation. “There’s three people in that car.” You said as you glanced at Cary in the passenger seat. “It’s them.” He said. “How’d you know?” You asked. “When I spoke to Maddie before she said that she was younger than us, I don’t know who the guy is though.” Caspian said. They all got out of the car first, they didn’t seem to be carrying anything so you opened the car door climbing out, Caspian was behind you, he moved to stand in front of you but you reached out to stop him from completely covering you. “Are you hurt?” Maddie asked, looking at the two of you. “It’s not our blood.” Caspian answered. Maddie’s mum moved forward causing you to tighten your grip on Caspian, who gently shuffled your hand down until your finger intertwined, squeezing in reassurance. Maddie’s mum looked into the car catching sight of Cary. “Okay we are getting him to the ER.” She said. “I said no hospitals.” Caspian said. “Cas he’ll die if we don’t take him to a hospital.” You said softly. “Mum, if we do this won’t that just lead them back to us? To Dad?” Maddie asked. “Not if I take him, I can check him in with any five of my fake IDs, avoid the cameras. I’ve been a ghost on the ground for a year, give me your keys, you’ll ride back with them. I’ll drop him at a hospital far from here, I promise.” The guy stepped forward. “No you don’t understand, you don’t know what these people are capable of, whatever you think you know, whatever you think you know about me, you don’t.” Caspian argued. “You’re a clone of Stephen Holstrom. You’ve been raised just like him so you can complete his life’s work.” Maddie said, you could feel the shock “My Dad lives inside a computer, so we get it let’s go.” Maddie turned back towards the car getting in the front seat. “Come on.” Caspian pulled you behind him to get into the car.

You had been driving for a while, your leg had not stopped bouncing since you got in the car. It had been a while since he had seen this kind of a response from you, when your parents left it was common for your leg to bounce like that, he used to use it as a way to tell what you mood was and it had been a long time since he had seen you scared. He reached out placing his hand over your bouncing knee, your hand coming down to rest on top of his. “Who shot him?” Maddie’s mum asked. “Who shot your father, specifically?” “He’s not my father.” Caspian looked out of the window, though his hand still didn’t leave you. “And the woman who shot him was not his wife… She, she was a liar.” “Where is she now?” Maddie’s mum asked. “I don’t know, can you call your husband and make sure that they made it to the hospital?” Caspian asked, slightly changing the subject. “That’s not my husband.” Maddie’s mum glanced back at him through the rear view mirror. “That’s Cody, Laurie’s husband.” Maddie added, you didn’t recognise the name but Caspian seemed to. “You mentioned that name on the phone, said that was the one I talked to, who knew Logorhythms was watching me.” Caspian explained. “She’s Laurie Lowell, the first person to be uploaded.” Maddie explained. “My father was the second.” “You're serious, that other guy, that’s not your Dad.” Caspian said, catching her eye in the rear view mirror. “Just like the guy he’s driving isn’t yours.” Maddie said. “Maddie.” Her mum warned. “What do you… How do you know about me?” Caspian asked. You watched as they both looked between each other. We’ll show you when we get back.” Maddie finally said.

The rest of the drive was quiet, they pulled into a nice looking neighbourhood with an even nicer house. We all walked into the house, Maddie led Caspian towards the stairs “hey you knee looks like it needs cleaning, do you want me to help you with that?” Maddie’s mum tapped your shoulder and for the first time since it happened you looked down at your knee, bloody and bruised. “I should clean it.” You mumbled. “I’ll wait with you-” “No go and get your answers, we’re one floor away from each other, I’ll shout if I need you.” You smiled. “Are you sure?” He asked. “Of course I’m sure.” You nodded, he looked at you for a second longer before following Maddie, you followed Maddie’s mum into the living room where she directed you to sit down. “This will sting.” She told you and you nodded, hand fisting into the cushion underneath you. “You never told us your name.” “I assumed that you already knew it.” You answered as she started cleaning, she was right it did sting. “They referred to you as the variable, Maddie didn’t mention a name.” Maddie’s mum explained. “My name’s (Y/N).” You answered. “My name’s Ellen.” She smiled, before you could say anything else Maddie ran down the stairs and straight out the house. “He’s not really good at dealing with people at the best of times, right now his communication is probably abysmal. I usually do that for him.” “This is a pretty deep cut.” Ellen said as you looked for something to cover it. “I slid across the pavement to catch Cary after he was shot.” You explained. “That will do it.” She nodded as she put a bandaid over the top, Maddie walked back into the house and you looked at her. “I’m sorry.” You said. “What are you sorry for?” She asked. “I promise he doesn’t mean to be that harsh or unapproachable, he’s never been good with people stuff, I said it to your mum I’m the one who usually deals with the people.” You explained. “Lucky for them.” Maddie muttered. “I don’t think they would agree with you, they used to call me his guard dog.” You shrugged, “is there somewhere that I can wash my hands?” You asked. “Yeah.” Maddie showed you to the bathroom where you washed up and changed your clothes. It was the quickest that you had ever changed.

Once you changed you walked out into the garden, giving yourself a moment to clear your head. You don’t know how long you stayed out there but before you could go back a heavy weight crashed into your back, his arm wrapped around your waist and a face pressed into your shoulder. You could tell it was Caspian from the harsh breaths, the harsh breaths became less aggressive the longer he stayed wrapped in you “What happened?” You asked. “T-there were some videos, just stuff about where I came from, hiring Rachel, all of that stuff.” He explained. “Mmm.” You hummed, you turned in his grip wrapping your arms around him “just talk, it doesn’t have to be about this.” “Have you ever heard the theory that our whole life is a simulation, like the Matrix, but the whole universe? And we’d never know the difference.” Caspian said as he pulled you both down to sit, he pulled you close, legs crossed under yours that were pulled up. “I don’t know much about losing people, or feeling like your world isn’t real, in fact to me the world has always felt as real as it could ever be. I’ve always been hyper aware of the world and all the things that hid in it because in some way they’ve made their mark on my life. The part of my world that didn’t seem real is you.” You explained. “Well I’m not.” Caspian mumbled. “Not like that, I mean that you were too good to be mine, everyone left me but you never did, I believe in you and I trust you. Those feelings are real, that's what I choose to focus on.” You explained. “I always had this feeling that it wasn’t real, I even told Hannah that, told my fake girlfriend, in my fake house with my fake mum probably listening in.” His hold tightened on you as he finally looked up “that feeling was the only real thing in that house.” “I would have ignored it too.” You shrugged. “They say when you're a teenager you're not supposed to know who you are yet. But me I-I don’t even know what I am.” Caspian’s face took on a far away look, something you could only see from the corner of your eye. “Well at least we all have a reason to be dramatic.” You shrugged. “I think I win.” Caspian said. “Mmm.” You hummed. “I don’t think so my dad is digital.” Maddie called from where she had walked out to check on you. You pointed at her while nodding in agreement. “My mum is a robot.” Caspian answered as you and Maddie burst out laughing “don’t laugh I came out of a robot womb.” “I’m sorry.” Maddie laughed as you patted the space next to you for her to sit down. “It’s called ectogenesis.” Caspian added and that set you all off again for the first time in a couple of days and it felt good, you leant back against Caspian head rested on his shoulder, eyes falling closed for a second. “So your dad… Is he really real?” “He doesn’t know what he is.” Maddie answered. “You got a lot to talk about.” You mumbled. “I can show you if you want.” Maddie said. “I can wait up here if you want.” You added, Caspian glanced down at you, your eyes were still closed and he could tell by the tone of your voice that fatigue was catching up to you. “There’s a sofa down there that she can rest on while you talk to my dad… If you want to.” Maddie stood dusting herself off. “You should talk to him.” You said forcing your eyes open, “he might be able to help you understand.” “Fine but you need to get some rest.” He gently ran his hand over the top of your head before you lifted it, Maddie took your hand helping you stand before Caspian stood behind you, you all went down to the cellar in her house. You sat down while Maddie handed Caspian the VR headset. With nothing else to do but wait it didn’t take long for you to fall asleep.

*Part 3*

Request Here!!

[eightmagicballs]

Filthy Reins Fix

Okay nerds, here's the skinny.

(long story short yes you can have nicer reins no it's not a simple or perfect fix)

Reins ingame (kinda), yay (kinda)!

@studiosweetpeacc has been kind enough to let me upload the bridle that they made and I've been using to figure out reins since I was too lazy to make my own :') All LODS (but there is some clipping around the noseband at the lowest LOD bc I clearly can't decimate to save my life), base game swatches & gold versions HERE. You will also need the Invisible Reins fix I made for these reins HERE otherwise the default reins might clip through.

Just drag and drop both the bridle file and the invisible reins file into your mods folder, and you're good to go!

Note: These reins are always permanently visible. It does look a bit janky, but from what I've seen, it's better than nothing, and it'll do for now until I can muster the strength for the proper fix that's needed. Please bear with me until then :')

For the CC makers, read on to see how to apply this absolutely rancid addition to your fine work!

First, download this folder. It's got two packages, reinsinvisible.package (to hide the default ones) and a reinsOnly.blend file. You need the invisible reins in your mods folder to stop the default reins from clipping through yours.

Open the file, and import your finished bridle.

Delete the bone_bone_shape.001 layer and the rig.001 layer, you don't need them.

The reins UV map is sitting in the 'Bridle' section of the map, this is where they'll get their textures from, not the reins section. Make sure you move the reins UV islands out of the way, you'll be rearranging them with the bridle UV islands later.

Make sure both your reins and bridle layers are in Object Mode

Click the reins layer, and then CTRL/Cmd+Click your bridle layer (order doesn't matter)

Make your your mouse is on the view that shows the reins & bridle on it, then right click and select 'Join'.

They will now be on the same layer.

Now you can rearrange the UV islands as you see fit, and it's pretty much standard operating procedure from here on out, except you've got extra parts to your bridle mesh now.

IMPORTANT.

This here is the Rein bone that originally attached the reins to the noseband. That sticky-up bit is what keeps the reins attached to the bone. It's honestly not hugely noticeable in-game, unless you're looking real close. When you're making your own reins (which I recommend as this mesh has been beaten into submission, and it shows), use this reins file as your base for copying weights, etc. Any change will work, but your must have this sticky up bit that connects to that little blue thing as its what attaches the rest of the bridle to that bone and stops your reins from floating off when the horse turns its head to the left or right.

Okay, I think that's it.

I did say that this was a filthy fix.

If I can be of any help if you do decide to add this to your bridle mesh, please let me know. AND DON'T FORGET: you need to include the Invisible Reins package with your cc otherwise the default reins will clip through yours.

I do plan on making a better fix to this, especially since I'm after recently learning that there might be a source horse rig hidden somewhere, as there's a sim rig that is in fact capable of making overrides to every sim rig in the game (adding bones, etc). It's very exciting news if this is the case, as it means that it might be possible to add bones for things like martingales and stirrups as there are people who have added things like tails to sims already.

[bluegiragi]

Oh bestie you can’t just say “they’re all switches (with personal preferences)” and then not drop the details 👀👀 also does this mean you’d ever draw bottom!Ghost and top!Soap??

(nsfw warning: explicit talk about sex)

I think that Ghost, Soap and Konig are pretty flexible in the roles they play within their polycule, but certain traits remain consistent throughout. Also please note that this is all headcanon, and just how I see these three.

Ghost is in a lot of ways just a dominant person. By nature of his past, he enjoys having control, and exerting that control. Which isn't to say he doesn't also enjoy surprises (he's learnt to roll with the punches) but it does mean that I see him as a very focused top and a very domineering bottom. He's definitely more comfortable being the top in almost all situations, but he loves Johnny too much to deny him anything, and I think he'd dangle the prize of getting ridden over Konig like bait. He definitely gets off to the idea of using people for his own pleasure (especially when it comes to Konig, who is so needy and eager to please, without the coy brattiness of Soap). As a top, he really gets off to seeing how much Soap or Konig want him, and takes a lot of pleasure in pushing them to their limits (with consent of course).

Soap is a brat through and through when it comes to Ghost, but Konig brings out the bully in him a little. He likes to tease and flirt and push and pull - the game of it is fun to him and seeing Konig be so plaintively desperate for him in ways that Ghost just isn't does it for him. But Ghost is truly his kryptonite. I love reading fics by whisperwarm and prettyunhinged because they write their dynamic pretty much exactly how I imagine it - just constantly starving for each other, knowing they push each other's buttons that nobody else can. In the same line, captaindominoes is stellar at portraying how they're the only one for each other. Soap is loud as a bottom and a top (he sort of never knows how to shut up) and i think he's open and affectionate as both. And he's got a MASSIVE manhandling kink. He also definitely gets a lot of pleasure from seeing how much he's wanted (he probably tests this out most on Konig though, Ghost can only take so much before his self control runs thin.)

Konig is such a submissive and I can't wait to get to the actual nsfw part of this comic miniseries so I can start showing that, but I also think his feral' mode is interesting. I think it only comes out in flashes of confidence so things like crazed quick fucks post-mission while he's coming down from an adrenaline rush would be on the table. Fighting Ghost also gets him going (to his own partial mortification). Something about him just gets under his skin, in a way that irritates, intimidates and turns him on in no specific order. Part of it is probably the fact that he views Ghost as a superior in almost all senses - he definitely has a massive praise/degradation kink (i think he gets off to both honestly). And on average, Soap is sweeter on him while Ghost never really lets him forget who's top dog (which is fine with him). Konig and Ghost definitely butt heads sometimes and I won't lie, a sly hatefuck after a botched assignment isn't exactly out of the question, but I think at the end of the day Konig craves his approval, in one way or another. As for Soap, in contrast to Ghost, Soap is Konig's VERY assertive boy next door, but what if the boy next door also had a box of handcuffs (and other things) hiding under the bed. They're honestly just very sweet together - they're both very attentive and vocal and honestly I think Ghost would get off to just watching them.

I don't know if this answered your question but I just wrote like way too much on these three (and yes I'd definitely consider drawing top!soap and bottom!ghost at some point)

[ahungeringknife]

slightly new and improved Writeblr intro

About me

I'm bb (bibi, and BB are fine but not Bb, that's a writing signature not mine), 30+, queer, she/they, and I like to write.

My fave genres are fantasy, scifi, and romance. Sometimes with historical fiction and slice of life thrown in too.

I have a probably unhealthy amount of OCs and I want all of them to kiss.

I write both fanfic and original stuff.

I mostly post my own writing, writeblr games, and posts that give me crazy OC thoughts to be tagged. I don't reblog a lot of writing advice or self deprecating writer posts because honestly? Couldn't be me.

I did a HUGE writing challenge this year that was an attempt to write 365 1-shots. One a day. I failed but that's okay. I wrote like 200 of them and that's great and I'm proud of myself.

This is a side blog. I follow from @xaz-fr

I love asks and tumblr messages. I do writeblr games but I could really use some writeblr friends to tag in the ones I do get :,D

I'd love to look at your stuff. You should def show me your writing in a reply or reblog :3

Main tags (that aren't WIPs)

#365 - the big year long project. It has some original stuff, and some fanfic. Lots of adult themes. Lots of original spooky stuff. Lots of 'horror and love are the same thing actually'. Things that are Very Adult are posted on AO3 with a link.

#Fey Alliance - catch all tag for my main setting, the Fey Alliance

#rattling - headcanons, world building, story thoughts, character questions, commentary. Mostly any original posts that aren't writing.

WIPs

The Zealous Servant - Dark high fantasy with lots of magic, necromancers, gods, and political drama. The main character Spayar needs to help his friend the crown prince kill the entire royal family before they turn around and do the same to him in order to claim the throne. Very queer, and is written for an adult audience not YA.

Entropy - My main fanfic WIP from the Destiny 2 fandom. Follows my OCs on their journey to bully the fuck out of Shin Malphur; resident Worst Guy Ever. Along the way he gets a hot girlfriend and I force him to have some actual friends because his lone wolf shtick is tired and stupid lol.

Lonos [working title] - This is a backburner one I need to really hash out a bit more. So I'll probably be posting a lot of rattlings about this one. Vaguely middle eastern appearance in setting about a traveling circus where all the players are also mercenaries for hire. Post a massive plague that wiped out almost all the magic users on the continent and the ones that are still around are viewed as cursed or unclean. (I swear I had this idea before the panny :,D) Gonna be a big long gay slow burn. For adult audiences.

Witchbane - Another backburner one I need to churn out some rattlings about. Steampunk set in a country called Ravthica where everyone thinks magic isn't real. When Spencer's parents go missing he's got to start believing in magic real quick when the hag that lives on his family's property tells him witches kidnapped his parents and the only way to get them back is to kill them. But witch hunting isn't exactly easy and he needs the help of some Wild things to find the witches that want his family and their witch hunting dogs all dead. For YA audiences.

[anonymous-rendezvous]

An Unconventional Relationship

💛 Luca Kaneshiro x GN!Reader

✦ — Written by Mod S 👿. Beta Read and Edited by Mod I ✨.

✧ — Contains: Humor, strangers to friends to ???, & open ended

✦ — Word count: 3.3k+ | Ao3

Based on these prompts - "You're lucky you're cute." "Wait, you think I'm cute?"

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅��� ───

The sun is just beginning to dip below the horizon as you take your usual route home after work. “Hmm, maybe I should order something for dinner…I don’t feel like cooking, plus I’m pretty sure I still have to do the dishes. Ugh, curse you past me!” You trudged your way down the street, practically sulking as you walked. This was virtually routine for you at this point: getting off work, walking home, debating about dinner, sleeping, repeat. It was a pretty average life, and you accepted it wholeheartedly; the motions and all.

Well, it had been pretty average until a fairly strange encounter happened; the monotonous routine led you to make a very unusual… friend(?) roughly half a year ago. You can still recall the night vividly; the events playing through your mind are more similar to a show than an experience that had happened to you.

You had worked overtime resulting in you leaving work much later than you normally did. The moon was already high in the sky as you attempted to rush home. That was cut short when you were suddenly pulled into an alleyway; a knife pointed right at your neck. Like any sane person, you were about to give the person all your money, until – inches from your face – you see your attacker get punched straight in the jaw. The force sent him tumbling further into the alley. Hardly having the time to process anything, you didn’t notice that the nice stranger had proceeded to pull you away, two people dressed similarly to bodyguards rushing past you towards the mugger.

“Are you okay?” With the moment of calm, you took in your savior’s form. Broad, blonde, a very expensive-looking suit and matching hat that almost hid his lavender eyes from view, and from what few words he spoke; an Australian accent.

“U–um…” You quickly collected yourself, looking down to take a deep breath before thanking the stranger. “Yes, I’m fine. Uhh, thank you for that, by the way. You sure got a punch on you.” Before you can mentally smack yourself for being so awkward, he laughs, causing you ease.

“Well, thanks! I pride myself on my good punches! Oh, but do you need a ride home? Don’t want you to get mugged for a second time tonight. Lots of unsavory characters walking around during this time.”

“Really? Well, sure, a ride would be nice! Although, in exchange, I’d like to know the name of my savior.”

He takes off his hat, and brings it to his chest, letting you see his face without obstruction. “Heh, I can’t give you my full name, but you can just call me Luca, okay?”

You accepted his generous offer, and he did, in fact, drop you off safely. Ever since then, he’d occasionally pull next to you in his very expensive-looking car to check up on you. Hell, sometimes you’d run into him on your later shifts, and every time he’d offer to take you home. In his words, “To make sure you don’t get mugged again, you know?”. Honestly, you have no clue why he cares so much about you. He dresses so expensively, his car looks like it costs more than your entire life’s savings, and he has what you assume are bodyguards. He seemed like someone very important. So why is he constantly coming back to check on your safety?

This question loops back into your brain again as you walk, so much so you don’t even notice the car that pulls next to you. It’s not until the person rolls down their window and calls, “Hey!” that you snap back to reality, head-turning quickly as they stop. You notice there are two people in the car, and they look very similar to the same bodyguards who were with Luca the night he saved you. “Heya, you're the Boss’s friend, right? He wanted us to come pick you up.”

“Pick me up?” You blink in confusion, shuffling closer to the car and leaning toward the window in order to talk clearly. “For what? I don’t remember us making plans or anything…” You rack your forgetful brain for a moment, but nothing comes up. Hell, you’d have probably made a memo on your phone about something like this.

“He made dinner plans so he could talk to you. Said something about feeling bad that he hasn’t had the time to properly talk to you.” The bodyguard has to hold back a laugh at the face you make, waving their gloved hand in front of your face to get your attention again. “He also wanted to make sure we tell you that you don’t have to come if you have prior plans.”

Shaking your head, you respond, “He’s very lucky I don’t have any plans. I’m not gonna turn down a free meal. I’ll meet up with him.” Lowering your voice to a mumble, you speak aloud to yourself, “Lucky too that I had no clue what to eat today…” With your confirmation, you hear the car unlock and, with slight hesitation, you slide into the back seat. As soon as you're all buckled in, they take off.

It’s not long before you realize the car is heading toward an area of the city that you rarely go to. Looking out the window, you watch as the car moves through the richer part of town. Fancy hotels and lights everywhere, you even pass a fountain show going on outside. When the car suddenly stops, your eyes move to the two bodyguards in the front seat, who are already getting out. You scramble to reach for the door, but before you can grab the handle, one of them has already opened the door for you.

“Don’t worry, I got it. My partner here will show you to the Boss. I gotta park the car, then I’ll be in there as well.” You give them a nod as you get out, patting yourself down to look more presentable; and to shake off your embarrassment. Looking up at the restaurant, your jaw almost drops at just the exterior. Suddenly, you feel like you might need more than just a pat down.

Now listen, you've been to some pretty nice places before. However, this part of town is way too expensive for you to even think about coming here too often. So when you take in what you know to be the most expensive restaurant in the city, your nerves start to settle in. You're brought out of your thoughts by the car starting and taking off down the road as the other guard calls to you. “Please, this way. The Boss will be super happy to see you. And don’t worry about being underdressed. I’m sure the Boss doesn’t care.”

Pouting a bit, you begin to follow them. ‘Yeah, but that doesn’t mean the other people won’t think that…’ Preparing yourself for the telltale heat of judging stares, you keep your head down as you follow the guard inside. Eyes only watching the nice red carpet and the backs of the movement of the bodyguard's brown dress shoes – preoccupying your eyes with the stitches in the leather. It’s not long before you arrive in the section where Luca is waiting, only looking up when the guard announces so. “Here we are.” You look up and take in your surroundings, eyes widening at the amount of gold detailing in the room. The lights are warm and dim to give the space a sophisticated yet cozy atmosphere. Something you take in almost immediately is that there is no one else in this section of the restaurant, the only one being the person your gaze falls onto next. As soon as Luca hears his guard talk, he sets his menu down and gives you one of the most infectious smiles that you’ve ever seen. Your lips barely refrained from smiling just as widely, settling on a small polite smile and a wave.

The blonde opens his arms in welcome from his seat, energy radiating from his voice. “I’m so glad you could make it! I was so worried you’d have other plans since this was pretty sudden on my part. Next time, I promise I’ll get your opinion on future hangouts first.” Before he puts his arms down, he beckons you to sit, the chair across from him being pulled open by the bodyguard. “Come, sit. We can order and then finally have a proper conversation.”

You take the invitation, even if you are a bit nervous about what exactly is going on. After you sit and are pushed in, thanking the guard as they make their way to stand behind Luca’s seat. Picking up the menu, you immediately try your best not to physically cringe at the prices. Flipping through the pages, you go all the way back to the appetizers – probably the only thing you can afford on the menu. Luca seems to notice, and he tilts his head, voice laced with confusion.

“Oh, are you not hungry? Hm?”

Looking up at him, you give a nervous smile. “Uhh, well, everything here is pretty out of my usual price range. The only thing here that I can really afford is a soft drink and a small appetizer…” You’re about to wave it off as fine until he puts his hand up, stopping you from continuing.

“Oh! Don’t worry about that. I invited you so I’ll be paying. It’s the least I can do for springing this on you. So order anything, I got it.” He smiles, then looks back down at the menu.

Okay, now you're really suspicious. No one this loaded just… does this. Or if they do, they have a catch. Forcing your expression to remain neutral, you decide you’ll ask when dinner arrives. Even if this is immensely suspicious, he doesn’t seem to have anything malicious planned. Although you haven’t known him long, nothing has really set off immediate red flags in your mind. He’s been super kind and if this is a kidnapping or something, he wouldn’t go through all this trouble. He’d have just done it by now – he’s had more than enough opportunities. Taking a deep breath, you settle on a meal and let him talk you into sharing a bottle of some high-class wine with him. When the server arrives to take your orders, you notice the other guard has returned from parking the car, making their way to Luca standing behind him next to the other one. You're too busy giving your order and feeling nervous about the establishment, that you don’t notice how uneasy the server is; constantly looking to the side and shifting nervously. He scurries off pretty quickly after your orders have been filled, and before you can ponder it, you’re pulled into a conversation with the blonde. 

Luca lets you talk about your life first, and you're surprised at how intently he listens. It’s not like you lived anything remarkable as he must have, but when he listens to you speak, you see the genuine spark of interest in his eyes. The wine arrives in the middle of your story, and you're about to thank the person, but they leave so quickly that you barely have time to. Maybe they saw you talking and just didn’t wanna interrupt or that could just be how the service is here. Either way, you finish talking about yourself before turning the questions back to him.

When Luca starts telling you what he does, you make sure to give him the same level of attention he gave you. He tells you how he’s the owner of a casino; explaining that they have passed it down to him through the family. Well, that explains why he looks so expensive. The bodyguards are still a bit weird to you, but you’ve heard that children of rich families tend to get kidnapped so that could be explained away. After he talks about his family business, you are actually glad he starts to talk about his hobbies and interests. The longer you talk to him, the more you realize just how down-to-earth he is. Admittedly helping you calm down as the minutes roll by.

The food gets to you just as he finishes talking about how he used to surf, and you can’t help but express how talented he seems to be. “Wow, you have so much skill under your belt. If you didn’t own the casino, you’d still be set for life.”

Luca laughs shyly, sipping at his wine. “Well, most of it my parents had me take classes for. They wanted me and my sister to be prepared, you know?” He sets his glass down and gestures to your food; changing the subject. “I hope you enjoy the food, by the way! That looks really good. I might have to get that next time I come here.”

You chuckle, picking up your utensils. “Don’t worry, I’ll give you my premium review of it after I’m done.” He laughs and follows suit in your actions. You both dig into your food, and you have to hold yourself back from letting out a noise of delight. This food was unlike anything you’ve ever had, really tasting like the high price it was. Being so engrossed by the food, you almost forget what you wanted to ask Luca, your brain circling back to the suspicions you had earlier. You wait a little while, but when you think enough time has passed, you call the blonde’s name. “Luca?” He pauses in his sentence, looking at you with concern at the seriousness of your tone. 

“Y–Yes? Is something wrong?” His lavender eyes scan over you, trying to get any hint as to what might be bothering you. 

“No! It’s nothing wrong, per se." You immediately reassure, seeing how he physically deflated. Luca perks back up, a look of anticipation on his face, encouraging you to continue, "I have an important question to ask you." He gives you a firm nod. Seeing his silverware down to give you his full attention. “Okay, this is gonna be a very uh… interesting question, but I have to ask. Is this like some sort of, uhhh, fancy dinner to win me over for favors? Like… convincing me to be your sugar baby or something?” The blonde in front of you seems to choke on a breath, one guard coming up to pat his back. Glancing at the three people in front of you, you realize there's a look of shock written across each of their faces. When Luca gets over his coughing fit, he looks back up at you, starting to chuckle, believing you're joking. He stops, however, when he takes in your serious expression – worry in your eyes – and quickly explains himself.

“No no no! This is nothing like that!” He’s a bit frantic with his tone, waving his hands in exaggeration as he speaks. “I just wanted to have a genuine conversation with you. I…” He pauses for a moment, brows furrowed as he thinks over his next words. “I’ve felt bad that I’ve never gotten to talk to you properly all those times I would pass you and say ‘Hi’.” His gaze re-meets yours across the table. “This is just a normal dinner with a friend, I promise.” 

With a sigh, you cross your arms, “You realize how…” you struggle for the right word, “odd that is right? Like, you look like you own a private island and seem very comfy in places like this.” One of your hands gestures to the lavish restaurant around you. “I’m just a regular person you saved once from getting mugged. I'm nobody. What reason would a rich person like you have to constantly come to talk to me if not for some other motive?” Honestly, you almost feel bad about the way you're interrogating him. Though this is something to be questioned, and as nice and sweet as he is, it’s still good to have a sense of caution. Especially with the wealthy. 

Luca’s silent for a minute, seeming to think over what he wants to say; eyes downcast, staring at his half-finished food. It’s only a few silent moments until his lavender eyes look back up at you, their determination shocking you. “Because you didn’t treat me like that when I helped you.” You blink for a second, confused, tilting your head as he continues to speak. “Well… how do I put this… You just seemed like a nice person who wouldn’t judge someone no matter their status, so I wanted to get to know you? I–It’s honestly nothing like a ruse or a scheme. Trust me, being in this business, many people do try to deceive me. I’m an excellent judge of character because of that, and you just seemed very kind and down-to-earth. It gave me the push to try to befriend you.”

As he speaks, you can feel warmth start to pool in your cheeks, causing you to look away, not expecting that answer. After a moment, you let out a deep breath and then turned your gaze back to him. “Well, honestly, that’s pretty surprising." You say with a light laugh. Slouching back into your seat, you continue. "I’m sure all of this is normal for you, but maybe when we hang out in the future, these places–” your hands raise to gesture around the restaurant once more– “are not really casual for people like me.” 

His eyes seem to light up a bit, a small crooked smile on his face. “So… you still wanna try to be my friend?” 

You have to hold back a giggle at how closely he resembles a puppy at this moment. Uncrossing your arms and picking up your utensils as you return to your meal. “Mhm, you're not a bad person. I can tell that you really are interested in my life, and if you did have any bad intentions, you would’ve done something by now. Plus, you’re lucky you’re cute. Hard to say no to the puppy dog eyes you’ve been giving me.”

He hears his guards snicker behind him, but chooses to ignore it as his cheeks begin to flush. “You think I’m cute?” He watches as you laugh, smiling at him as you take a bite of your food.

“Mmn, this is really good. Do you wanna try some? I can give you a bite.” Luca pouts a bit as you change the subject, but nods nonetheless. He’s happy as you converse for the rest of your meal, talking about nothing and everything. It’s refreshing for you and him, as you act like equals. Feeling like friends.

The pair of you stay for a while, but eventually, you do tell him you have to work the next day. He, of course, offers to take you home, especially since you’d both had a bit of wine. With the moon smiling in the sky as the four of you leave the restaurant, and the surrounding street was lit up by dazzling lights. The bodyguards escort you to the car, giving them your address. The trip gives the two of you a chance to continue talking. Luca couldn’t help the smile on his face, content with just listening to you speak, and this time remembering to give you his number so you could make future plans together. It wasn’t long before the car pulled up to your home. Luca, ever the gentleman, helped you out and up to your door. When you finally say goodbye and wave them all off, you feel warm, and you’re sure he shares the same sentiment.

To Luca, this experience feels like a blessing to him. To have a normal conversation – a normal friend – in his unpredictable life. And to you, this was an exciting change to your routine; being able to make such an excitable and interesting new friend. You only saw good things ahead, and you hoped that it’d continue to get better from here.

It could only get better from here. Right?

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

Likes are nice and we do appreciate them. However, comments/feedback is what really motivates us to continue writing. Even just a keyboard smash or emojis are a joy to see!

We do not allow our stories to be translated or reposted/shared anywhere. The only places our stories should be found are on Ao3 or Tumblr. Nowhere else.

[kissingkiszka]

The Sweet Symphony - Chapter Five: Pool Table Trouble

Jake Kiszka X Reader series

Words: 4.5k+ (they’re gradually getting longer)

Summary: After attending the Starcatcher album release party, you and Jake feel a certain kind of tension lingering in the air, one that grows deeper over a game of pool.

CW: MDNI, 18+, SMUT, p in v, sexual tension, drinking, cursing, jealousy, fighting, playing pool, suggestive touching, flirting, teasing, use of pet names, praise k!nk, hickeys, degradation k!nk, finger!ng, fem receiving oral, fluff, i think that’s it?

Masterlist

I honestly think this might be one of my fav chapters! Enjoy :)

—————————————————————

Jake’s POV

I had been at the venue for a few hours now, impatiently waiting for y/n to show up. I couldn't wait to see her. I had been thinking about her ever since our breakfast the other day. The event started 30 minutes ago, and people were still piling in. I had already hung out with a few fans, but nothing major had happened yet. And that's when it felt like time had stopped. There she was. It was just me and her. I needed to show her a good time tonight, to show her I'm in this for real. I'm truly into her. She looked so beautiful. She was wearing thigh high black boots, a black faux leather miniskirt, and a black lacy bra top. God, I just wanted to take that top off of her. She looked so breathtaking with it on, but I know it would look even better on my bedroom floor.

Y/N's POV

You notice Jake across the bar. His wandering eyes are accompanied by a large smirk. He's wearing black dress pants and only the last three buttons were buttoned up on his dark blue dress shirt. Three necklaces hung from his neck, decorating his open chest.

"It's nice to see you y/n, you look...so gorgeous."

"You look pretty fine yourself, Kiszka," you slightly readjust his chains, goosebumps forming from your touch on his chest.

A smile begins to grow on his face.

You see his eyes trail down your body, stopping near your chest and traveling back up meeting you at your eyes.

"Would you care for a drink? it's on me." Jake asked.

"Of course."

You walk over to the bar, Jake leading you there. You felt eyes all over you. We're you that big of a deal? You really never had this much attention before. You stand at the bar, waiting for someone to take your order. As you're about to speak, you are cut off by the man next to you.

"She'll have an old fashioned."

You were shocked at his memory from the other night, but your mind got the best of you. The bartender walked away and he turned to you with an impressive look on his face, almost like he was waiting for some praise on what he just did.

"I actually wanted a lemon drop martini."

A look of worry came over his face until he heard a chuckle escape your lips.

"I'm just joking Jake, lighten up."

He snapped back to his regular demeanor, and you notice he couldn't take his eyes off of you. You continue to take a look at him and your eyes are stopped by his waist. You see an outline of his growing hardness through his pants.

"My eyes are up here, y/n"

"So are mine, Jake." You mocked back to him.

Just then, a man who looked similar to Jake grabbed his shoulder and yanked him up towards the stage. He gives you a small wave as he follows behind his brother.

In the distance, he mouths to you "I'll be right back." And he disappeared from your view.

A few moments later, the lights went dark. Fans gathered around the small stage. When the lights turned back on, the 4 boys were standing there. The crowd cheered, and Jake gave you a subtle wink.

As you see Jake up on the stage, you can't help but let your mind wander. The opened button down shirt revealing his smooth chest made you want to know what your skin would feel like pressed against his.

The boys begin to talk and introduce themselves.

the man who previously dragged Jake up on stage grabs the mic first. "WHO'S READY TO HAVE A GOOD NIGHT?"

You remember hearing that he had a twin brother, but you couldn't remember if it was him or the other long haired boy beside him.

He handed the mic to Danny. You had recognized him from the FaceTime call the other night. "We worked so hard on this album and we hope you all enjoy it as much as we do."

"We're so glad you guys get to be the first to hear it! Let's get this show on the road!" The other sibling with long hair leaned on and spoke on the microphone. He clapped his hands together and the music began to play. They all looked so similar despite only three of them being related.

As the music began the boys dispersed back into the crowd, and Jake met back up with you.

"You aren't much of a talker." You welcomed Jake back over.

He lets out a little laugh, sitting down at the bar. You join him, sitting on the barstool next to him.

"I've never really gone out of my way to be the front man, my brother usually does that for me."

"Well, I still think you should speak up more, you have a very attractive voice, Jake." You take another sip of your drink and notice a smirk appear across his face.

"You have a very attractive voice too, y/n." He reaches over, moving a strand of hair from your face. He admires you for a moment. "I'm just letting you know, somebody is gonna have to steal me away. We have to do individual press interviews. I'll be thinking about you the whole time though."

Jake motions over to the bartender.

"I'll have a Jack Daniels please." Jake notices you're getting low on your drink. "and another Old Fashioned for my date please."

Your eyebrows shoot up and you look over at Jake with a wide grin across his face.

"Date?" you questioned.

"Well, what do you want me to call you?" he asked in a condescending tone

You had thought about it in your head, you didn't quite know what you would call it. I mean, you're two grown adults with each other at an event. I guess that's what you would consider a date?

"Yeah I guess I'm your date. If you want me to be."

"Why wouldn't I want a gorgeous woman as my date?"

He stares at you again, his eyes not leaving you for even a millisecond.

A bodyguard taps him on the shoulder, whispering in his ear that somebody from the press is there and it's time for him to be interviewed.

"I'll be right back, love." With a little squeeze of your thigh he was off and you were left alone sitting at the bar.

You sat there wondering what to do while he was gone. There wasn't much to do other than wait for him to return back. As your eyes wander across the room, you notice a long haired man that was up on stage earlier in the night. He began to approach you.

"What are you doing here all alone?" He questioned.

"Just waiting for someone, and you are?" You had recognized the man from the band but didn't know who he was.

"I'm Sam, I play bass and keys for the band."

"I'm y/n, it's nice to meet you." You reach out to shake his hand, and his large hand has a firm grip around yours.

"You want anything? A drink? It's on me." he smiled, but you politely shook your head no.

"I already have one, thanks though."

It was obvious there was a sort of tension in the air. "How are you enjoying the album so far?"

"It's good, I've never listened to you guys before." You politely smile. "I mainly came here for someone else."

"Well, that someones a bit of an idiot for leaving such a pretty girl here by herself." he cocks his head to the side. "Where is this supposed date anyway?"

As he says that, you see a figure coming up behind him. An arm wraps around Sam. It's Jake.

"So, Sammy, I see you've met my date." He grabs your hand, interlocking his fingers in yours. "I wouldn't be doing that if I were you."

"You brought her?" Sam's eyebrows jolted up in shock. "This is the girl you've been obsessing over?"

Jake's cheeks got bright red. "What's that supposed to mean, Sammy boy?" his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes squinted with anger.

"Well, I never expected you to bring such a babe as your date."

"I don't know if you have the privilege of calling her that, seeing how you just met her a few minutes ago." he started to raise his voice.

"And how long have you known her? A week, maybe? Huh, Jakey?"

You watched as Jake's jaw tightened and his fists clenched. Jake was fuming, and you loved it. You loved seeing him get so possessive and defensive over you. It was even turning you on a little bit. He opened his mouth to defend you, but you cut him off.

"I don't see how this is any of your business, Sam." You grab Jake's hand, pulling him closer. "And by the way, I think it's time for your interview. Bye, bye, Sam." you whip around, pulling Jake with you.

After Sam is out of your vicinity, Jake turns to you. You can see he's still livid from what just went down.

"Im sorry, I didn't know it was gonna get like that."

"Its okay, I dont blame you." he runs his hand up and down your thigh in a forgiving manner. "Sam knew what he was doing." he paused for a moment, thinking. "But you should know, that while you're my date, you're mine. no one else's."

You were shocked. You didn't think he had this kind of side to him. As you continued to drink through the night, listening to the music, and carrying casual conversations, you couldn't stop staring at his lips and thinking about the various things he could do with them. Jake brought you over to the rest of the band to finish out the night together.

"For those who haven't met her yet" Jake shoots Sam a snarky look, "this is my date, y/n."

Danny's face lit up. "Its nice to meet you in person, and not just over facetime."

Josh smiles, bringing you into a warm embrace. "Make sure Jake treats you right. If not, call me up. I'll whip some sense into that small brain of his."

You laughed, nodding your head.

"Trust me, there's only one brain between the two of us. And we all know who got it." he laughs, pointing to his temple.

Friendly conversation continued for a while longer before Danny invited you for a quick game of pool. However, Sam stayed silent as he sulked at the bar.

"Me and Josh versus Jake and y/n." Danny hands you the cues and returns to set up the table.

Jake turns to you, whispering in your ear. "Are you any good?"

Josh clapped his hands together, signaling for the game to start.

"I don't know, I haven't really played before." You smiled at him, hoping he wouldn't be too mad.

"Don't worry, I'll guide you through it." Jake led you up to the table, ready for him to break the balls.

As he leaned over the table, you watched as his shirt tightened, his back muscles peeked through the fabric of his shirt.

He lined up his cue with the balls in the middle of the table. Bringing his arm back, he struck dead in the middle of the white ball, hitting it directly into the tip of the triangle. A solid red ball hit into the back left pocket. He followed through and slowly brought his body back up with an impressed look on his face.

He walked beside you, waiting for you to compliment him on what he just did.

"Are you ready?" He asked in a self-assured manner.

He had a confident look on his face. He knew what he was doing and you could tell. The way he carried himself was attractive, and you couldn't help but wonder how confident he would be in other situations.

He pulled your waist closer to him with one hand, directing you on where you need to stand. He slightly bent you over the table, making your mind go crazy.

"So, put your left hand at the top of the stick directing where you want to hit the ball," You feel his body against yours, mirroring you. "And your right hand should be bent right here, this is how you'll hit the stick forward."

You were barely doing anything, just letting him take control of your body. Your mind was focused on other things...

Like his cock pressed against your ass.

You knew he could feel it too. When he pushed himself forward to hit the ball you could feel a thrust onto you, letting you let out the faintest whimper.

Oh my god.

You hope he didn’t hear that.

You couldn't take this. You needed him badly. You shook your mind out of it and realized that the ball hadn't gone in.

As soon as you both stood up you heard Josh scream immediately. "Aw man. Better luck next time! Now it's our turn."

As Josh and Danny prepare their game plan, you take a seat on one of the bar stools, Jake standing behind you.

You look back at him. "Sorry I didn't get it in, I was a little distracted."

"By what, darling?" He pushed your hair back behind your ears.

"Oh, nothing." You nodded your head, half embarrassed and half turned on.

"No, I think it was something, y/n, I heard the noise you made when the ball was shot."

Your face went red.

He lightly pulled your face back, making you look directly at him. "But I would be lying if I said I wasn't distracted either, so what was it?"

You sat there in silence not saying anything.

"That's okay" he leans down to your ear so only you can hear. "You may not have gotten it in, but I know I will later." He walks away with a chuckle leaving you there dumb founded.

Jake's POV

I walk away from her with my cock still throbbing. I needed to play it cool, but now I know she feels what I feel. I know she wants it as bad as I do.

As I walk towards the boys, Josh pulls me next to him.

"Are you going to at least pretend like you're not busting in your pants over her?" Josh grabbed my shoulder, whispering into my ear.

I hit Josh in the stomach taking my pool stick. I took a good shot getting the blue ball into the right pocket giving y/n an easy shot for her turn. I motion her over so she can go. She still looks flustered, but I would be lying if I said it didn't turn me on.

"Remember what I told you, y/n." I remind her, making her flush even more.

She took the stick and was trying to see how to line up her shot. I wanted her to do it on her own so I didn't intervene just sitting back watching her. She looked sexy in her outfit tonight, that leather skirt hugged her in all the right places, but it wasn't covering much. As she bent over the bottom of her ass stuck out of her skirt, her lacy thong poking out.

I don't know how much more I could take. She knew what she was doing, she looked back to see if I was watching.

"Am I good Jake?" She asked innocently.

Fuck, all I could do was nod. She turned her head back around, beginning to take her shot. She hit, and somehow it went in. She was jumping for joy and dancing around, cheering for herself in a tipsy manner.

She came over pushing the stick into me, "Try and top that, Jakey." I grabbed the stick that was pushed against my chest. Her hand trailed down on me letting go of the stick, getting lower until she lightly brushed over my cock.

With that she walked back to the bar stool with a smirk. She knew what she was doing, and I had no problem with it.

Y/N's POV

Half an hour later, and the game was over. Danny and Josh won due to the fact that they were mostly sober. You would be lying if you said you didn't drink a lot. But you were fully aware of what was happening.

The night was full of sexual tension, everyone around you had seen what was happening between you and Jake. the touching, the flirting, the teasing, it was all too much. Even though it was you and Jake against Danny and Josh you and Jake had some type of competition going between the two of you. It had just built the tension.

The night had ended and people were clearing out, slowly but surely.

"Well, I think it's about time we head out." Danny picks up his car keys, dangling them in the air. "Coming, Jakey?"

"I'm gonna stay back here with y/n for a little bit longer." Jake slips his dominant hand around your waist, slightly gripping you. "Might stay the night." He gives you a certain suggestive look.

"Okay, you two have fun." Josh playfully pats you on the back as he passes by. He leans in your ear and whispers. "Remember what I told you!"

As you hear the footsteps walk away towards the door, you hear a shout in the distance. "Make smart choices, kiddos!" It was Josh once again.

You turned back to Jake to laugh at his twin's funny comment, but he wasn't laughing. Infact, his eyes were full of lust. The hand that was once on your waist was now gliding down your backside, traveling lower, and lower. He begins to give you soft, light kisses, eventually picking up the pace to hard, rough kisses. However, he quickly pulls away before anything can get serious.

"So, you wanna tell me what really happened between you and Sam?" He stepped closer, his eyes unforgiving.

"Nothing happened, Jake. Trust me."

"I don't know, you seemed pretty happy over there with him."

"Yeah, he was nice. I was just trying to get to know him."

"Don't make me have to find out for myself. Just tell me, it's the easy option."

"I promise you, nothing happened!" You began to raise your voice.

"Don't raise your voice at me, you little brat." He takes a step forward, and you take a large step back. "I guess I'll have to fuck the answer out of you."

Just then, you tried to take another step back, but you bumped into the pool table instead. He takes another large step towards you, his body towering over yours. He lightly, but forcefully pushes you into the table. You were speechless. Although your panties were already wet before, now they were soaked. He hoisted you up onto the table, your legs dangling off the side. At a slow pace, he began to spread your legs.

His large hands slowly run up your thighs, leading to your throbbing core.

"Already so wet for me? Huh, darling?"

All you could do was let out a small whimper.

"Use your words, y/n." He commanded as he pulled your panties down to your ankles.

You couldn't manage to get anything out. You squeezed your thighs together, needing friction.

"I said use your words. Spit it out, princess."

"What if somebody sees us?" You stop him before he begins to spread your legs even farther.

"No one's here. So, tell me." He continues, starting to lift up your skirt just a tiny bit.

"I'm so wet for you, Jake."

"That's right, only for me." He lowers his face, so his eye view is right against your pussy. He takes you all in for a moment, admiring his view. He looks up at you with beady eyes, waiting for a sign of your approval.

You give him a frantic nod, needing him immediately.

He begins to trace his huge fingers over your slit. They glide smoothly from your wetness.

"So, so wet baby, I can't wait to taste you."

He slowly brings his finger over your clit rubbing it in slow circles. You couldn't help yourself and let out a moan. He looks up at you with satisfaction, he knows he has full control over your mind and body.

You begin to moan louder and louder as he circles your clit faster.

He pulls his hand back. "I think it's about time we see what that beautiful pussy tastes like."

His large hands grips at your inner thighs, his head going down, disappearing between your legs.

His tongue finally made contact with your folds.

"Jake, your tongue feels so good." you practically crumble under his touch, right then and there.

His tonguey makes its way to your clit, swirling back and forth.

"Jake!" You cry out. Your hands fly to his head, clutching onto his hair.

"You like that, sexy mama?" He asks, his mouth full of your slick.

A small "mhm" was all you could manage to get out. A special kind of heat was building inside of you and needed to be released. "Jake, I'm about to-" you whine.

"Not yet, sweetheart." He pulls away from you. He wipes his mouth and gives you a seductive smirk. Sweat is beading at his forehead. Strands of his long hair stick to his forehead and neck.

He begins to unbutton his pants, his large hard cock slaps against his stomach as he pulls it out. He runs it up and down your folds, teasing you even more.

"I want you to tell me who this dripping wet pussy belongs to." He says, still teasing you.

"Please, Jake." You whispered. "Please."

"Hm?" His demeanor made it seem like he wasn't going to let up anytime soon.

"You, Jake. It belongs to you." You moaned. "Only you."

"Good girl." He groaned. As soon as he said that, he slipped his pulsating cock into your sopping cunt. "Oh fuck, y/n."

"You're mine." He moans through gritted teeth as he moves in and out inside of you.

His nose crinkled and his eyes squinted as he went deeper and deeper inside of you. He throws his head back, a loud moan escaping his lips. He brings his head back up and bends down. His lips meet your neck, and then travel to your chest. He's leaving hickeys all over your body.

"You're marked as mine now." He smiles lovingly, but at the same time he had a dark manner to him. His fingers dig into your hips as he continues to pound into you.

Your eyes squint as you let out a loud moan that fills the air. "Jake."

Jake grabs your chin, holding your face steady. "Open your eyes, sweetheart. I want you to see me while I fuck you stupid."

You opened your eyes to see his deep brown eyes staring into yours. He was taking you all in. His motions started to become sloppy, as he continued to fuck you.

"y/n" he cried out, throwing his head back once more. This time you felt him come undone inside of you. You felt yourself fill up with his load. "Come for me." He kept going until you released as well.

The waves of fire begin to form in your lower stomach. You squeezed your eyes shut, beginning to see stars.

"Fuck!" You whimpered, finishing all over his cock.

You certainly didn't expect this to be how your first time with him would go, but you weren't disappointed by any means.

He collapsed onto the pool table right beside you.

"That was...amazing." He sighed, catching his breath. "You were...amazing."

You watched as his chest slowly rose and fell.

"I hope you know that I don't want Sam. I only ever wanted you." You told him, watching as he began to stand back up.

"Oh, I know." He chuckled. He made his way over to the bar, grabbing a clean rag. You continued to lay there as he wiped you down. "I just wanted an excuse to fuck you. Plus, now you know you're mine."

"I know it was our first time together but..." You nodded in agreement. "It was perfect." You slid your thong back up your legs.

"Hell yeah it was. Almost as perfect as you." He held out his hand for you to take, stabilizing you on the ground. Your legs were still quivering, but you managed to walk.

He continued to hold onto you. "What do you say we go back to my place and get cleaned up?"

Tag list:

@gretnavannfleet @pattypanini @mar-rein12 @terry-66

[eww-y-tho]

Every Single Thing I Have Ever Shipped!

Okay, let me be clear with a disclaimer that this has been throughout my entire life, and obviously, media targeted towards children that are mentioned are most definitely in the past.

I have them formatted with a small chunk of info as to why I ship/shipped them. I sorted them in order of how weird I think they are, from plain vanilla to the esoteric. I am also going to have a checkmark [✅] signifier that will indicate whether I've read fics for the ship or not.

This is a long one, so turn away while you still can, because "keep reading" will kill you unless you're actually invested, which, I don't know why you would be.

Also, this couldn't possibly be everything I have ever shipped. But it's as much as I could possibly think of.

Heartstopper

Nick Nelson/Charlie Spring ✅

I love these two, and even though I figured out most of the things about my sexuality before Heartopper graced my screen, Nick Nelson still had a very similar, albeit not identical, journey of discovery to mine, which makes me even more attached. 

Elle Argent/Tao Xu ✅

They are so adorable. I love what their relationship represents and their dynamic in the sense of their attachment to each other. Like most people, I think I got a bit frustrated on their first date scene, but it was understandable, so that’s just a small gripe I have.

Darcy Olsson/Tara Jones ✅

I already made a post talking about how I felt about the foil between Darcy and B*n, but my opinion boils down to ‘the girlboss is slaying despite her situation,’ and I think Tara is an amazing girlfriend for her and they genuinely made me cry.

Bridgerton

Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington ✅

Bruh. Just look at my acc.

Supernatural

Dean Winchester/Castiel ✅

I could not be more late to Destiel and the queerbaiting was murderous, but I still love the ship. They also trigger my religious trauma sometimes but I never claimed to value my mental health, so yeah.

Samuel Winchester/Eileen Leahy ✅

C’mon, she was the only fit that I loved for Sam other than Jess. She could not be any cuter with him and I just think they’re adorable af. Another reason to hate 15x20.

Shadowhunters

Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood ✅

Are you joking? How could I watch this show and not ship it? They’ve made me straight-up sob on multiple occasions. The immortality thing does depress me, but I can live with it.

Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood ✅

God, when I tell you this ship single-handedly revived my interest in the nerd/hot person trope I am not lying. They’re honestly too perfect for each other sometimes.

Lord of the Rings

Frodo Baggins/Samwise Gamgee

“Sam.” But meme aside, I was fighting tears by the end. Honestly, I love their dynamic as it is, but I could still see a romantic reading.

Aragorn/Arwen Undómiel

Fuck, they got me so invested it’s not even funny. I felt less attached to them than I could’ve been but I still loved the dynamic and rooted for them so much.

Star Wars

Anakin Skywalker/Padmé Amidala

I think everyone loves this ship as a tragedy to some degree, even if you hate the prequels. Plus Clone Wars just made me sad af all over again so they deserve a spot on the list.

Star Trek

James Kirk/Spock ✅

Okay, you got me, I never watched an ounce of Star Trek besides Spirk content. And even from a peripheral view knowing that Kirk is supposed to be a lady's man, they’re still gay beyond reason.

The Nanny

Fran Fine/Maxwell Sheffield

This show was my childhood, I think I started watching it with my family when I was under 10. Anyway, I feel like they were a slow burn done correctly. Wholesome as all hell, plus Fran is an amazing character and I love how she integrated herself into the family the right way.

C. C. Babcock/Niles

You cannot deny that the “I loathe you” kiss was perfect. They hated each other for so long, and I get the dislike of that aspect to the relationship, but they still made them believable without squashing their pre-established chemistry.

H20: Just Add Water

Cleo Sertori/Lewis McCartney

I cannot believe that Sea Change and the episode where Lewis left made me cry. I must’ve watched Sea Change like 50 million times because it was just peak cinema to me, but I couldn’t watch Lewis leaving again because it crushed my soul so violently. The moment when he came back with that sweeping camera motion made me audibly gasp and kick my legs. It was that bad. 

Rikki Chadwick/Zane Bennett

I’m really sad they didn’t work it out in the end, although I completely understand Rikki and I wouldn’t want to go back to Zayne myself. Although it did seem like Zayne was trying to make things right with her in the last episode? But Mako Mermaids didn’t show her with Zayne, so I’m inclined to believe they never made up.

Yuri On Ice

Yuri Katsuki/Victor Nikiforov ✅

When I tell you I fully screamed at the kiss scene AND the proposal, I am not lying. They were just the ship you freak out over, you know?

Yuri Plisetsky/Otabek Altin ✅

Welcome To The Madness made me open my third eye. I didn’t ship them before then, even though I did think they would be good together. 

Free!

Makoto Tachibana/Haruka Nanase ✅

This was my OTP ride-or-die for a solid year. I’m still very fond of the ship because I joined the fandom just when the war was ending so I didn’t experience a lot of toxicity.

Rei Ryugazaki/Nagisa Hazuki ✅

These two were perpetually second place, but I still adored the dynamic and was obsessed with two specific fics for ages.

Rin Matsuoka/Sousuke Yamazaki ✅

Is perpetually in third place. I’m not as invested in this ship, but a fic would get +5 points if it was a side pairing, you know? That vibe.

Kuroko No Basket

Tetsuya Kuroko/Taiga Kagami

I’ll be honest, I only like this ship by aesthetics alone, and I haven't seen enough of this show to really get into the fandom, because, you know, I dropped off of sports anime. I still like how they look, but I just don’t care about them enough.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Elizabeth Swann/Will Turner

Like, I don’t think I need to explain myself here. The sheer sexual energy present in this ship is suffocating. 

Hunger Games

Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mallark ✅

Oh my god, where to begin? I love these two, they were my Bella and Edward if that comparison makes sense. Except for a better relationship in every single way, no biggie. Personally, that quote is a bit overused to explain their relationship, but it still made me shrivel into a prune.

Finnick Odair/Annie Cresta

The only person I would want Finnick with other than myself. They gave cute, wholesome, true love and just passed the vibe check with flying colours.

Merlin

Merlin/Arthur Pendragon ✅

Again, another ship I love even though I haven’t watched the source material. I do remember watching the ‘two hours of merthur scenes’ YouTube video a few years before I got into the fandom, so It’s been in my peripheral view for a while.

My Hero Academia

Arcane

Jayce Talis/Viktor ✅

Like- okay. They just hit different; I binge watched s2 with my sister, and the entire time, I was wondering who the mage guy was. Meanwhile, she was trying to convince me that Jayce is actually the villain because of obvious reasons, and she started being whiney when I was like, "I still don't see why." and then, when he was chatting with AU Viktor in ep 7, I had the lightbulb moment and was like "IS THAT VIKTOR?" and she TROLLED ME, she just went "nah" and I believed her like the good sister I am. Anyway, jayvik has my whole heart. THEIR SOULS ARE INTERTWINED IN THE ASTRAL PLANE.

Oof, I don’t like MHA anymore because it was just too toxic, and this ship used to be the OTP after Free!, but like, it’s fallen in the ranks super hard. 

Izuku Midoriya/Bakugo Katsuki ✅

Shōta Aizawa/Hizashi Yamada ✅

They were the subtle one that I shipped because why wouldn’t you, you know? They were beyond cute in their scenes together, and I loved the perpetual teasing.

BTS

Jeon Jeongguk/Kim Taehyung ✅

My OTP for two years after MHA, I used to be pretty crazy about them. I realized that these were people and it started to feel gross so I fell off the ship pretty quickly after that.

Kim Seokjin/Kim Namjoon ✅

Again, my youthful mind just reduced them to mom and dad and I didn’t think about it until I got more into fandom politics.

Min Yoongi/Jung Hoseok/Park Jimin ✅

I would ship them in any configuration, I liked all of them, although I did have a preference for Yoonmin.

Dan and Phil

Daniel Howell/Philip Lester ✅

DON’T KILL ME, I WAS A TWEEN. I wasn’t insane about it, but I read some fics and watched ‘Moments That Hit Different’ videos once they both came out. I know they haven’t confirmed anything, and I am respectful of that. I still watch them and I’m glad they’re in a better place now. 

DC

Batman/Joker ✅

Judging by the posts I have already made, you can tell I’m very passionate about this one. But it’s honestly more of a guilty pleasure ship than anything else. I don’t like that I like them.

Harley Quinn/Poison Ivy ✅

They’re another story. Cuties indeed. I love them. I think their relationship is very interesting although it can also cross into toxic territory.

Telltale: Batman

Bruce Wayne/John Doe ✅

I’m singling these two out because they’re just unique from the rest of the ship in a way I can’t explain. Like… If normal Batjokes yearning levels were dialled up 10x more.

Marvel

Venom/Eddie Brock ✅

It’s just a hot ship, sorry. Not to mention their really weird relationship with each other and the fact that they HAVE CHILDREN. Plus I love the cute Venom blob fanart.

Peter Parker/Wade Wilson

I just think they’re an amazing dynamic, with the whole team-up comic and subsequent moments together.

Detroit: Become Human

Simon/Markus ✅

Even if the cut romance path with Simon is just a rumour, I feel like we were robbed of some great LGBTQ representation. “Our hearts are compatible” will make my heart clench to this day.

Hank Anderson/Connor ✅

Another one I’m not too proud of, in retrospect, although I still do see some romantic tones to the relationship. But the fics were great, not gonna lie.

Kara/Luther ✅

I love them in a found family way, but I can see them being together in a hypothetical future together in Canada scenario.

Tales of Zestiria

Sorey/Mikleo ✅

Boi, another ship I feel very strongly about. Objectively, they are canon and I’m going to continue to believe they are. I love their shared dream and I think the foundation of their relationship is very precious.

Rose/Alisha ✅

Super cute. They honestly feel stronger in The X, but the DLC did also make me ship them.

She-Ra

Catra/Adora ✅

I understand the arguments against this ship, that it’s kind of toxic and all that, but I just don’t care. They literally feel like soulmates and I just vibe with this dynamic. A perfect kiss, and a great ending.

Sailor Moon

Haruka Tenou/Michiru Kaiou

I only watched the first few episodes of the original Sailor Moon and the ending with my sister for my birthday, so this is another ship that I haven’t seen. But I still love them from what I’ve been exposed to and I hate that they were reduced to friends with the English dub.

Cardcaptor Sakura

Touya Kinomoto/Yukito Tsukishiro

Again, a peripheral ship where I didn’t watch or see Cardcaptor Sakura, but I mean, they’re adorable and canon. Not much else to say about it.

Attack On Titan

Ymir/Krista Lenz ✅

Let me break this down before everyone hates me. I love Ymir and Krista. Ymir was really the push she needed to become her own person and I love that arc. But I’m also a firm believer in bisexuality existing, headcanons are fine, and that it’s okay to move on from past loves.

Eren Yeager/Historia Reiss ✅

I was kind of cringe during this era, and I did think they were endgame, which is why the ending tainted my opinion of the show overall. I fell off the show pretty shortly after the manga finished. But sometimes I will revisit these two to torture myself for some reason. I’m sure Destiel and Merthur shippers can concur.

Erwin Smith/Levi Ackerman ✅

You know, I loved the fake Ackerman lore that Eren came up with because it was an interesting literary device and at least confirmed this ship slightly. They felt very gay in a weird way.

Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhart ✅

It’s funny, I shipped them before Annie was revived and fell off the ship once they became canon. It felt really strange, but the way the relationship played out felt just contrived and fake afterward.

Haikyu!

Hinata Shoyo/Kageyama Tobio ✅

Ya’ll, symbolism at its finest. I’m not sure what happened to their relationship after watching season 3, which is when I dropped the show because I lost interest in sports anime in general.

Daichi Sawamura/Koshi Sugawara ✅

Oof, another mom and dad ship that I appreciated a lot. It was another constant +5 if it was a side pairing in a fic.

Seraph Of The End

Mikaela Hyakuya/Yuichiro Hyakuya ✅

(For anyone that’s alarmed and doesn’t know, they’re not actually related.)  They’re very frustrating for me because they are so aesthetic, and they are honestly quite close to canon. But I just think there are certain aspects to the relationships that I don’t like, like Mika’s obsessive behaviours toward Yuu. Just reminds me of Eremika.

The Betrayal Knows My Name

Sakurai Giou/Luka Crosszeria

Okay, the one thing that I actually love about this ship is the reincarnation aspect to it because it really drives home how in love they are with each other. Yuki will always love Luka even if he doesn’t remember him, and Luka will love Yuki no matter what form he takes. Very deep.

God Of War: Ragnarok

Atreus/Angrboda ✅

I don’t understand why a lot of people didn’t like this relationship. They were very cute and gave me some Rapunzel/Flynn Rider vibes, especially in the very beginning. And I can see them in a very cute, mutually supportive romance.

Last Of Us Part 1

Ellie Williams/Riley Abel

I refuse to have my adolescence destroyed by part 2 after I saw the smallest clip of Joel dying, so I’m sticking to Left Behind. I was sobbing by the end of that DLC. Also, the show handled THAT scene perfectly. Loved it.

Last Of Us Part 2

(so. I decided to bite the bullet as soon as I wrote that. and I watched a playthrough.)

Ellie Williams/Dina

Okay. Listen. I would love it if they got back together in that theory with the bracelet. But I also see a poetic parallel to Tommy and Maria. Tommy kept disrespecting Maria and putting himself in danger, and it's clear that that's the main reason for them taking a break. There might be a chance to get back together, but it would take a lotta time.

My Little Pony

Fluttershy/Discord ✅

I am shooketh at the implications of the last episode. They were my favourite ship in MLP, and I am sad to share the cringe that I watched Bride and Daughter of Discord when that was around. But the whole paper bag thing during the epilogue made me implode, I’m so happy they ended up semi-canon.

Rainbow Dash/Apple Jack

They did have many moments that left me in a chokehold when I was in my older childhood years, but I fell off MLP for a solid 5 years before hearing the rumours on the grapevine that they became canon. And they are super close, you can tell.

Undertale

Undyne/Alphys ✅

These iconic chaotic lesbians made me squeal at Undyne’s cheek kiss in the end credits. I love practically every single one of their scenes together.

RG 1/RG 2 ✅

They literally made me blush during their boss fight. Raw dude bro love that turned into something more. Something deeper.

Lightning Point

Zoey/Kiki

I’m pretty sure no one in existence knows what this show is, but lemme tell you, Zoey and Kiki just gave me the vibe of an alien couple on a little adventure that gets trapped on Earth. I don’t remember the ending, but I do remember how cute they were. 

Life Is Strange

Chloe Price/Maxine Caulfield

Despite the bad rep this ship has gotten over the years, I would still sacrifice Arcadia Bay at any opportunity. Their kiss was truly a magical moment.

Stanley Parable

Narrator/Stanley

The Not Stanley ending still breaks my heart when I watch it, and Ultra Deluxe just expanded on their relationship so well. They give “I hate to love you and love to hate you” vibes.

Ace Attorney

Phoenix Wright/Miles Edgeworth ✅

Oh come on, anyone who doesn’t ship them confuses me. They have the backstory, they have the revealed, close relationship, and everybody acknowledges the subtext. This ship feels so similar to the Destiel situation rabbit hole, honestly. And it’s also incredibly frustrating.

Little Nightmares 2

Six/Mono

Kind of crazy, considering the end of the game, but I thought that their dynamic was very poetic and tragic. Personally, I don’t think that Six was malicious when she let go of Mono, I think she just recognized Mono was The Thin Man and wanted to prevent him from becoming himself in the future.

Mario

Bowser/Luigi ✅

I love how this ship exploded so quickly and I just love the duality of the ship. It’s either very good smut or the cutest diabetes-inducing sugary fluff.

Scream

Billy Loomis/Stu Macher

Textbook queercoding. I’m sorry, that back hug still makes me shiver. They truly felt threatening and scary which is an especially difficult emotion to get from me.

60 Parsecs

Baby Bronco/Emmet Ellis

I have Markiplier’s video of his playthrough of this game to thank for me shipping them. I couldn’t stop laughing when he was like ”You were elevated, de-elevated, ascended, descended, repeatedly.” He made me ship them so quickly it was actually insane.

Sims 4

Malcolm Landgraab/Cassandra Goth

It’s a weird ship that I found from someone else, but I do love the idea of a Romeo/Juliet situation with these two. Except that they’re both rich. And Malcom is an asshole. Who cares though, that can be fixed in post with a little thing called MC Command Center.

Kim Possible

Kim Possible/Ron Stoppable ✅

This show opened my scope for multishipping. To this day, this is the only time where I ship two things at once with the same level of love. Anyway, Ron was just such a dumbass and I love them.

Kim Possible/Shego ✅

COME ON NOW. They were the first jerk of a pull start to the discovery of my sexuality. Also very cute, I love their storyline together. I find it easier to believe Shego was in love with Kim, but it’s still a very solid ship.

Ever After High

Apple White/Darling Charming ✅

I know people make a huge drama over it, but I also can’t get over the fact that Darling’s kiss breaks the curse. But even then, their small moments do make me think that the story might’ve been gearing up in that direction. I’m not sure, though.

Raven Queen/Dexter Charming

These two are miscommunication gold. And I hate it. But I love it. They are less compelling than the other ships that I enjoy from this show, but I still like them together a lot.

Rosabella Beauty/Daring Charming

I don’t know, I’m just a sucker for a good Beauty and the Beast story, plus this is the only relationship that gave Daring even a modicum of character development, in my eyes at least.

South Park

Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak ✅

This ship is wild. Like, I love it so much, but I honestly think it came out of nowhere. Their unique energy just gives me life, the ball of stress next to a cool bean.

Thumbelina

Thumbelina/Cornelius

Ok. SO CORNELIUS' VOICE- "AND I'LL NEVER LET YOU FALL-"

Me and my mom had a moment where we were both sobbing when Thumbelina got her wings. Like everytime we watched this movie. Like 15 times. One of them last week. Yeah, this one hits different.

Sesame Street

Bert/Ernie

CLASSIC HUSBANDS. How could you not ship these literal LGBTQ icons? They say they aren’t in a sexual relationship, but does that matter? No. I love them as Bert and Ernie, two puppets in love.

Henry Stickmin Collection

Henry Stickmin/Charles Calvin ✅

I refuse to talk about the Valiant Hero ending. I’ve never seen such a strong marriage between bro and mance, and their scenes together are always fun.

Reginald Copperbottom/Right Hand Man ✅

I’m just saying that the amount at which Right Hand Man protects Reginald is sus beyond normal proportions. Also the level of trust? “Reg?” It feels absurdly gay.

West of Loathing

Player/Gary

This is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever shipped, considering one of them is just the player character. But Gary is so cute! I love him so much! Any playthroughs where they go with Gary make me so happy.

Dream Daddy

Player/Craig

Another player character, but this one tugs my heartstrings differently. I know a lot of people think Craig is the most bland. Honestly, I just think everyone else is super messy. Like I’m not about to get with the youth minister, my religious trauma did not crush me for this.

VeggieTales

Bob the Tomato/Larry the Cucumber

I actually heard this isn’t too crazy of a ship, but I swear, if you grew up as a Christian queer and watched VeggieTales, you felt the vibes. Like Bert and Ernie, tbh. But also, a scroll of the fics indicates gratuitous smut that I am not down for.

Tom and Jerry

Tom/Jerry

I love the fanart of human Tom and Jerry, but if you think about their relationship, I would say they’re almost as fucked up as Batjokes. They care about each other, but they also inadvertently or purposefully almost kill each other. Love them tho.

Magic School Bus

Carlos Ramon/Phoebe Terese

A wtf ship. But hear me out. I was a literal child and saw a very adorable relationship dynamic that made my heart squeeze. That’s it.

Clifford

Emily Elizabeth/Jetta Handover

Okay. I know what you’re thinking. “What the fuck’s wrong with you?” I know. Another wtf ship. But they were cute, no denying that. I love how Jetta’s character developed and the friendship these two managed to cultivate together. And again, I WAS A CHILD. 

Greek Mythology

Hades/Persephone

I love them. They scream love in such a unique way, and they trigger my arranged marriage turned love story guilty pleasure. Also, we love the fact that Persephone has equal authority to Hades.

Achilles/Patroclus

Have you ever seen anything as gay as these two? They are true mythological tragedy icons at their finest and are just peak masculine love.

Babylonian Mythology

Gilgamesh/Enkidu

More gay tragedy. This one actually makes me emotional, though. Who knew we could find that much of the first story known, have it be major character death and enemies to lovers, on top of being gay af?

Bible

David/Jonathan

Is it heresy? Yes. Is it assuming things? Yes. Is it benefiting from a dodgy translation? Yes. Do have any fucks to give? No. Besides, I have no respect for the Bible. They are gay.

[thinking-emoji]

wait you’re cooking. it wasn’t a hiatus (just a dapg hiatus) it just wasn’t the content everyone wanted/liked/were used to/whatever.

writing a book and pitching shows and preparing and going on tour is hard work. he was working he just… wasn’t like live streaming writing lol. also he was extremely depressed for a while. obviously that warrants a break.

but i do think you’re right about people just not liking it so they just kind of black it out. which like, if you don’t like something, fine. but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t doing anything. and also, like you said, covid fucked everyone’s sense of time so like. it feels like it’s been 50 billion years since 2018, not 6. which obviously doesn’t help.

Thank you! People in the notes of the post also pointed out how dnp had been doing A Lot of work in the mid 2010s (remember when we had 3 liveshows every week, including one on the BBC?), so it didn't help that phannies were unbelievably spoiled in terms of regular content. But I also don't think it's fair to dnp to expect them to never change the type of content they want to put out. Like, phannies keep saying they'd still love weekly livestreams where Dan just sits at his desk and yaps for an hour, and like. I'm sure he could do that. But I genuinely don't think he'd be more successful with it than with what he did do.

Like. Look at the other popular youtubers from the time of dnp's zenith. Zoella stopped posting. Marcus Butler stopped posting. Troye Sivan has fully pivoted towards music. Connor Franta gets 40k views on his videos. Tyler Oakley streams on twitch? For 60k subscribers, idk how many people he's usually got online in there? And like, the big guns? Shane Dawson? Pewdiepie? Should've quit! Jenna Marbles? Did quit!

I'm rambling on again but like. People need to understand that being a YouTuber from 2014 is not a long-term sustainable job. I honestly think it's almost a miracle that the phandom is still so committed and that they managed to keep their engagement so high (coming out at a time when most people expected their careers to be over probably helped a lot though. To be clear I don't think they came out in order to revive their careers, not at all, but I'm convinced it helped. A lot.)

But yeah what I was saying is. I get that phannies want the content they know and that they grew to love dnp for. So do I!!! But I think we're overestimating our stamina in watching the same thing for years and years and years without ever getting a taste of what it feels like to *miss* that thing. I don't know if the gaming channel return would have been as successful as it was if they both (especially Dan) hadn't disappointed us a little before. And like, I'm kinda sad for Dan bc I don't think that was his plan. I would love to like WAD! I would love to see the vod have millions of views! But unfortunately, I don't love it, and I don't want to click on it when I see it in my recommended, and it feels even more disrespectful to give it sympathy views. Because I want to have fun watching Dan and Phil. And I think we all do.

[mychlapci]

Episode 8 - Con Job

Interesting, Miko mentions chores. Do you think Optimus has a chore chart? It’d be really funny if they did. What do chores even constitute on a disused American nuclear bunker?

Hello Wheeljack. 

I thought Optimus said, “Wheeljack, I know him by reputation only.” And I was like, oh hey he/they Wheeljack. 

Arcee ships them. She’s like “Who’s the boyfriend?” 

Hey do they ever bring up the fact that Soundwave can apparently just make clones of people using vehicons? Like what the fuck? I’ve never seen this brought up in anything. 

Ngl, I’m not sure how I feel about Wheeljack’s voice. Like it’s a damn good voice, I just don’t think of it as Wheeljack. 

WHY DID THEY GIVE HIM SWORDS?!

His fuckin helm spike thing is so goofy. 

Oh it’s so fucking cute how Bulkhead just scoops him up and nuzzles his helm into his chest. <3

I think they should’ve put Prowl in the ship with Wheeljack, as a treat for me specifically. 

Okay so the con who replaced Wheeljack is named Makeshift…. Girl why do we never hear about him ever again and why is he just a normal Vehicon and why did Soundwave have to tentacle grab him in order for him to transform into Wheeljack. Also this adds to my growing pile of evidence that all the vehicons are sentient and have their own powers and abilities. 

It’s really funny seeing Soundwave from side view because they have to arrange his helm outstretched because otherwise he wouldn’t be able to see around his shoulder pauldrons. 

Oh hey they put Wheeljack in bondage. I wonder why they’ll do to him- *I am forcibly dragged away by the Kellog centipede*

“Strike team” Starscream says as the camera pans over 100 of the exact same canon fodder that have been ripped apart by the Autobots. 

Okay note down that pastimes on Cybertron include throwing a giant metal ball at each other. 

Bumblebee dancing my beloved <3

“Primes don’t party” tell that to G1 Optimus and get back to me later. 

I think Ratchet deserves 50 days of paid vacation. 

I feel so fucking bad for Makeshift. He’s just like. Some fucking guy, he’s not getting paid. If his disguise gets revealed he’ll probably get ripped to pieces. Do you think he got sad knowing how kind the Autobots are? 

“I’ll have to rip out your spark chamber” Okay Miko. 

Sorry I honestly thought Makeshift was gonna fucking squish Miko. 

The music and framing is so fucking ominous lmao. I cannot take it seriously. 

It’s always so funny to me whenever the show tries to make the vehicons actual threats because like, they’re not. There’s no universe where I’m ever scared for the autobots when they’re fighting the vehicons. Which is honestly just sad for the vehicons tbh. They should’ve gotten at least one W. 

God this soundtrack is so fucking dramatic. That’s not like an insult against the actual music, it just feels so fucking out of place. 

Man wouldn’t it have been so cool if Makeshift actually ended up killing Wheeljack and just took his place because he was sick and tired of running with the cons. 

Man…. why’d they fucking blow him up. He would’ve been so cool :[

Episode 9 - Convoy

Episode nine was not in the official TFP playlist on Youtube. The video is literally on Youtube, it’s just not in the playlist. So odd. 

I like how Optimus says they cannot transport the DINGUS through groundbridge tech because of potential accidents but never once does the groundbridge actually fuck up anything in the show itself. Like the actually machinery controlling it breaks all the time but actually transporting characters and it works perfectly fine. They could’ve just said that nuclear material interferes with the signal and that’s why they can’t use it. 

Oh yeah I remember this episode. Dreaded MECH introduction episode. 

Agent Fowler perfectly demonstrates what it’s like to drive on the roads in America. Some asshole will be honking their horn at your for driving the speed limit and it’s like, just go around asshole. 

God I feel so bad for Agent Fowler, none of the budget went into his model TwT

Man, I’m so mad about how MECH was handled. Like it’s so weird to me that they’re a season 1 introduction when Unicron, aka, robot satan, is literally the final battle of this season. 

Ough. Silas get the fuck outta here you homophobic cunt [he killed Breakdown that’s homophobic] 

Also is it ever explained why MECH was going after that nuclear material. Cause like, it’s shown that they didn’t know about cybertronians until this point in the timeline and yet non of their actions are ever explained. 

WHAT THE FUCK IS SILAS TALKING ABOUT?! NEW WORLD ORDER WHAT MY GUY??????? WHY DOES THIS NEVER GET EXPLAINED??????

Man if I was a vehicon I would just want to be on cleaning duty 24/7

Thank you Ratchet for being the only guy in the room that actually cares about these kids’ safety. But also I think it’s so funny that his main concern is the kids getting physical trauma from the ground bridge transportation, and not, y’know, the heavily armed adult humans who have guns. 

I like how Bumblebee fights like a boxer up close. He should be able to do that more I think. 

It is always morally correct to mentally redesign Arcee in your mind so she’s not built like a fucking twig. Give that girl some meat on her bones!

OPTIMUS SHOOT HIM OUT OF THE GODDAMN SKY. KILL HIM. 

Episode 10 - Deus Ex Machina

Yay Knockout debut episode <3

I love how you can see one of the girls who teased Jack in the opening episode in detention with Miko. What did she do? I wanna know. 

Once again, Miko and Bulkhead continue to be the best human/bot dynamic in this show. 

“You can’t just cut detention.” He says, actively driving her away from the school because she asked him. 

I love you Bulkhead <3 He supports union rights, he’s a union man. 

Literally I’m not even joking I actually physically squealed when Knockout showed up. I love him so much <3

“Yes right, you’re one of those.” HOMOPHOBIC STARSCREAM

The tubes they have placed all over Megatron’s body are so silly. There’s one attached to his knee, one on his chest vents, another on his shoulder pauldrons. What do they even do? From the looks of the animation, it seems like they’re forcing his chest to rise up and down, but like, Cybertronians don’t need to breath. Maybe it’s stimulating the energon pumps inside of him?

Where is my assistant.” They were too homophobic to say husband 😔

Breakdown’s tits are so massive good lord. How does he even see over those thangs. 

God I’m dreading Breakdown’s death so bad. He’s so cool and he has a rivalry with Bulkhead and I cannot remember if he and Wheeljack ever get to interact and rouoguaourogugh killing the TFP writing team for their decisions. 

“Megatron will have to wait.” How much you wanna bet that if Starscream got to keep the energon draining orb he would’ve set that thang to kill Megatron as soon as possible. 

Knockout is so fucking based for flirting with Optimus and then immediately telling him that his husband is going to kick his ass. I love him so much <3 “You’re reallllll heavy duty, just like my friend here.” God. I need him to show up again in another series. Also it’s so funny that Knockout manages to take out Optimus literally as soon as he shows up and he probably would’ve killed him if their goal wasn’t focused elsewhere. Like damn Megatron, do better lmao. 

I think this episode has the most Soundwave body animation since the series started and that’s not saying much since he literally just kneels down, grabs something, transforms, and takes off. 

Literally it’s so funny to me that this random fucking security guard is like, interrogating Miko and it’s like. Dude that’s a 14 year old. Her ass is not getting that orb out of there on her own. Like obviously it’s suspicious but kids do stupid shit all the time, I would’ve believed her when she said she just got lost or fell asleep past closing time. 

God the reaction time between KOBD seeing Bulkhead and them immediately giving each other smug ass smirks before they try to kill him. Get you a power couple like that <3

They should’ve let Starscream keep his life draining orb. He needs a W every once in a while. 

But Bulkhead smashing is it a very nice scene. The lighting is good. 

Knockout, at Bulkhead’s unconscious body: He’s a glutton for punishment

Breakdown: Hehe

GIRL THEY WANT HIM SO BAD. 

Anyways yeagh, sorry this took so long lmao. School’s been kicking my ass. My professor finally got around to grading my assignments which is nice. I would give these episodes a 7/10, a 5/10, and an 8/10 respectively. 

-burnt ice anon

oh helllou, we are so back. don’t worry, school has also been kicking my ass, but as long as we’re all kicking, am i righr fellas.

…. you know, i’ve seen people discuss Makeshift before, and i can’t lie, i’ve thought about him before. i thought he was an outlier or an experiment of sorts, with all the cloning and stuff, and he’s clearly done it multiple times already… I think it’s a pity he didn’t have a bigger role. A decepticon realizing that the autobots treat their own nicely and deciding that he wants to stay no matter what would have been so interesting, and very heartbreaking... also, I liked how his voice changes when the bots realize he’s a spy. Was he doing a Wheeljack impression this whole time?

also Wheeljack, i’ve had a thought about Wheeljack (you know what week it is, i can’t talk about anything so i have to fill our air time with other stuff), because they made him much unlike his other iterations, but he’s very clearly Wheeljack, the writers even put a nod to his previous selves by giving him explosives. What if he underwent a Perceptor-style transformation. He was a scientist, something terrible happened, and he turned himself into a warrior out of necessity and trauma… Would’ve been an interesting backstory, especially considering Bulkhead insisting that Wheeljack never changes. Maybe he changed once, very drastically, before he'd joined the wreckers, and that’s the stubborn Wheeljack he knows… many thoughts, and they are normal.

Convoy is absolutely hilarious. It’s an episode about robots transporting the DINGUS and they say it multiple times. That said, yeah, Silas is… God, I actually always really disliked the MECH episodes (maggot helped remedy this don’t worry maggot my friend). Still, “new world order” this and that, Silas I think you are a white supremacist of sorts. Maybe not good to admit that after we’ve tried to milk him for his sperm but yeah, he really does strike me as a nazi guy. That is my explanation for why the shit he says is weird, senseless lunatic shit. He doesn’t mean anything by “new world order” he’s talking about nazi stuff. yeah.

ah, yes, the Deus Ex Machina, also known as the episode where Knockout and Breakdown are thirsty for a third. Knockout is the best thing to happen to this show and to transformers as a whole. gay boy. so good for him. Can you see me straining to stop myself from saying what I need Knockout and Breakdown to do to Bulkhead? Do you see my pain, underneath layers of ramblings?, hrggh…

[niallsgoldhoop]

Chapter Thirteen

Niall

"That's fine."

With a pen in my hand, I scribble the date of the business trip in Italy, one that hovers around the same time as Jenna's wedding.

But honestly, fuck that wedding.

The more I see Wren pour into that and the way her sister treats her in return, the more it makes me want to tuck her away and show her exactly how important she is.

George Finley hums under his breath. "Will you be needing any extra accommodations?" As the person in charge of setting up every aspect of the event, I can't help but smile at his grumpy nature. "Usually you just need passes for one."

"Two." I say without thinking. "I'll have someone with me this time, Wren Jacobs."

Silence settles over the call, everyone else knowing that not once have I ever requested added amenities to a stop on any of the tours that I've attended.

"I've got that taken care of." His gruff voice comes through the receiver before he checks on everyone else. "Does anyone have any questions?"

Sitting at my desk, I turn around in the chair and look out of the floor to ceiling windows of my office that overlook the course as the call ends. It's hard not to want to just get lost in the view when the rolling hills stretch out forever and the clouds paint the skies in the most perfect ways.

Something cold presses to my hand only to be replaced by soft fur and the tiniest little growl, pulling my attention away from the view and to the dog in front of me.

"Does someone need some attention?" Scratching under his chin, I smile when his back foot hits the hardwood flooring. "Yeah? Did I get the right spot?"

"Niall?"

I know it's Wren before I even turn around. Her voice is soft but it reaches into every part of my body even from where she stands at the door to my office.

Cal abandons me, running across my office and sliding to a stop at her feet, tail swishing back and forth along the hardwood floor like a dust mop. "I swear he would pick you over me every single time."

"Hey there, cutie." Bending down, Wren smiles as she holds a couple folders in her hands but makes it work in order to pet him. "Do you like me more than your mean, old daddy?"

Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I do everything in my power not to focus on the way that last word sounds coming out of her mouth. Or how much I wouldn't mind hearing outside of this office.

"I am not mean or old." Crossing my arms over my chest, Wren looks up at me. "Thank you very much."

She hums, standing up and straightening out her skirt that makes me want to do the exact opposite. "That's to be determined. I was bringing you a couple of things for the spring marketing ideas. You'll just need to look over them and finalize whichever you would prefer."

Cal decides that the two of us are boring, retreating to the oversized bed next to my desk, resting his head and looking up at the two of us with those big brown eyes.

"I'll add it to my list of things to do." Stepping closer to her with a smile on my face and grabbing the folders, I let my fingers trail across her skin and relish in the way it feels. "You look beautiful today."

The apples of her cheeks flush the perfect shade of pink and she pulls back, crossing her arms around her waist. "I can't stand you."

"Are you sure about that?" Crowding into her space, my fingers reach out and tug on one of the loose curls framing her face before letting it slide through the tips of my fingers. "Because I feel like that's a lie."

Those perfect dark eyes with a hint of golden honey find mine, framed in dark lashes. "Who says I'm lying?"

There's nobody around, but I slide my arm around her waist anyway, pulling her body flush to mine. "I do."

Wren looks up at me, her pupils taking up more space and pushing the rich brown out even more. Cupping her jaw, I let my thumb travel along the edge of her bottom lip, my eyes glued to the motion.

"You are so dangerous. So fucking dangerous, do you know that?" My voice sounds rough, like gravel. "It drives me insane."

"Niall—"

Just as I'm about to lose any sense of self restraint, the phone on my desk starts ringing just like it has all day, breaking through the tension and making Wren pull back.

Which is probably for the best.

At this point, it's getting painful to not be able to touch her in all the ways I wish I could.

It's beyond painful trying not to tell her how much I don't think I want to pretend anymore.

By now Wren and I have spent enough time together for me to realize that she's the person that I didn't know was missing from each corner of my life and she was right under my nose the whole time.

Every single time I see her, I want to ask her if she feels the same. If she wants to trash the rules as much as I do.

If she wants me like I want her.

Sure— she's seven years younger than me and thinks that coffee should always be iced, but what does that really matter in the end? In the end what matters is that she makes me laugh harder than anyone I've ever met and her presence makes me feel more relaxed than I've ever been.

The phone keeps ringing as we stand there and look at each other, tension thicker than ever. "I should get that."

"You should." She whispers.

"Are you coming over later? For the date?" My hand hovers over the receiver as I wait for her answer.

We were supposed to go out to a nice restaurant but due to some issues with the ventilation issues in the kitchen, they called and canceled. So instead, Wren suggested we just cook at home and watch something on a streaming service.

It didn't matter to me. We could sit and watch paint dry for all I care. As long as I got to be around her that's all I cared about.

"Yeah." Wren backs out of my office. "Do I need to bring anything?"

Shaking my head I pick up the phone and tell them to hold, pressing it to my chest as a smile pulls at my lips just thinking about her being in my space. "No, I've got everything."

Turning and walking away from me, I watch her go.

Before I can stop myself I call out to her, making her turn around. "Have you ever been to Italy?"

And when she tells me that she's never been, I decide right then and there.

I'll make it happen.

For her.

__________

"Act cool, alright?"

Looking down at my dog, he looks up at me with his new green bandana, tail wagging as always.

Wren texted me that she would be a little later than she thought she would be because of traffic on her way home. It worked out perfectly because it gave me time to take a shower and take my little buddy on a walk before she got here.

A knock at the front door draws my attention away from the plethora of food that I ordered. When I asked her what she wanted before I left Willow Lake, she said that she didn't really care... So I ordered a little of everything.

Sushi. Tapas. Italian. Burgers. Pizza.

Literally everything spread all over the island in my kitchen.

Callaway barks excitedly as I make my way across the house, pushing open the door and looking at the most stunning woman I've ever seen standing on the other side of the threshold.

"Sorry I'm late." Wren smiles at me, pushing a lock of hair that slipped from her ponytail behind her ear. "The traffic was crazy."

Stepping aside and letting her pass me, I try not to focus on the way the dark blue leggings hug her in every place possible. Fuck, those leggings.

I know that I need to snap out of it— but I just fucking can't. I've never been so tired of fighting something in my entire life.

"Are you hungry?" Turning away from her and walking towards the kitchen, I smile when I hear her talking to our little guy. "Because I kind of—"

"Please tell me you didn't order all of this?" Wren laughs when I turn and grip the back of my neck, feeling exposed. "Niall!"

"Well you didn't really give me a lot to go off of when I asked what sounded good, therefore..." Spreading my arms wide, I give her a cheeky grin. "You get everything."

"You didn't have to get all of this." Crossing her arms over her cream colored sweater that's missing the bottom hem, she rolls her eyes. "What are you even going to do with what we don't eat?"

"Leftovers— Duh." Grabbing a couple plates from the cabinet and handing her one, we both fill up our plates. "What's in the bag?"

When she walked in, there was a tote bag hanging from her shoulder, the very one sitting on one of the barstools along the other side of the island.

"Oh!" Brown eyes grow wide as she sits her plate down, one already piled with various things. "I brought some face masks. I didn't know what you wanted to do but skincare is never bad."

"Let's do it." Without missing a beat, I put a few sushi pieces on my plate. "You gonna put it on for me?"

Wren swallows hard, looking down at her plate. "Yeah, yeah. That sounds good."

We look at each other for a couple more minutes, only the sound of the automatic water bowl for Cal piercing the quiet.

God fucking help me.

_______

This is the worst idea I have ever fucking had.

Just being around Wren in any capacity shreds every single sense of self that I've ever known.

"Okay, so we just sit here for like, five more minutes." Next to me on the couch, Wren settles back into the cushions with her head tilted towards the ceiling. "Then we can take them off and work the excess into our skin."

After we ate dinner, one that felt less like a date that we had agreed upon in a contract, but more like one that just felt right— We ended up here.

Wren was eager to dig into her bag of secrets and I can't say I didn't love sitting back and listening to her talk about skincare and what she liked.

All I wanted to know was how soft her skin was.

I know it is, I just fucking know it.

When she helped me put my own mask on, I almost said fuck everything and pulled her into my lap. From the way she sat next to me on the couch while One Tree Hill played in the background, it could have been so easy.

"I'm going to take mine off really fast and I'll be right back." Lifting herself off the couch, I stifle a groan when her palm pushes off my thigh. "Be right back."

In the few minutes that she's gone, I try to count backwards from a thousand or literally anything to get my mind off of the way her ass looks as she walks away from me.

"Okay so—" Coming back around the corner, Wren smiles at me and I know that I want to see that smile every single day. "Let's get this off."

Stepping between my legs, she leans forward and her fingertips trace over the edge of the mask before peeling it back and laying it on top of the discarded package on the table.

"How do I look?" A smirk pulls at the edge of my lips. "Well rested? Hydrated?"

Shaking her head, her laugh fills up every corner of my house— of me.

Her fingers work across my skin, her thumbs working the serum in, the feeling making a low groan work its way from my lips. "God, that feels good."

"Yeah?" Smiling down at me, I can't help but return it. "All done—"

Something happens outside of the floor to ceiling windows because all of a sudden the dog that was laying on the end of the couch has torn past us, going between our feet.

In the process, Wren loses her footing— tumbling straight into my lap.

With her hands fisted in my Nirvana shirt, my own hands find purchase along her waist, my fingertips burning against her skin from the absolute want that fires through every part of my body.

"Wren." My eyes drop to her lips. "Fuck."

Her eyes lock onto mine as she moves to straddle my lap, shaking her head back and forth so slowly it's almost like I'm imagining it.

"This is a bad idea." Breathless, her fingers find the nape of my neck, toying with the curls that lay there. "Such a bad idea."

"Please, baby—" I'm desperate for her in any fucking way that I can get her. "Please."

Resting her weight in my lap, I let my head fall back as her hips roll forward over the rough material of my jeans.

"Niall, god." Letting her head roll to the side, Her eyes flutter closed. "That feels good."

"You think it feels good sitting in my lap like this?" Dropping my hands from her waist, I reach up to cup her jaw and bring her closer to me. "Show me what else feels good."

Tentatively, her hips move just the slightest. "But this is against the rules— We shouldn't."

Those soft lips move against mine with every word, a tease.

"Wren." Dropping one hand back to her hip, I guide her along my length, knowing that there's no hiding how this makes me feel. "Who give a shit about the fucking rules?"

"If we do this—" A moan slips from her lips as she presses down harder. "No kissing."

"On the lips." I add, leaning up to press my lips to the base of her throat barely showing over the collar of her sweater. "But everywhere else is fair game, yeah?"

"Sure, yeah."

As soon as the words come from her mouth, there's no time to waste as I leave a trail of open mouth kisses along her throat, sucking the skin between my teeth and groaning at the whimper coming from Wren's throat.

Her palms flatten out against my chest, nails digging into my skin through the thin material of the vintage shirt, her hips rolling in an even rhythm against me.

"Can I take this off?" Kissing along her skin, I toy with the hem of her sweater. "Let me see more of you."

Nodding, she helps me pull it off before throwing it behind her and baring her torso to me.

I'm a dead man.

If I thought I was done for before?

It's nothing compared to how I feel seeing her smooth skin with the black lace right in front of me.

"I need—" Wren frowns. "Please—"

Leaning up, I nip at the skin of her breast above the edge of the lace. "Tell me what you need. Let me give you what I can."

"I just need you right now."

"Use me, Wren." Pulling at the waistband of her leggings and letting it snap back into place, I groan when she presses herself into me harder. "Be a good girl and get yourself off for me."

The way she moves against me has me half a second away from losing my mind, happy that she's using me to get something that she needs and not going somewhere else for it.

"I could come like this." Breathless, Wren arches her back when I thrust my hips up to meet hers. "You feel so good."

"Have you been thinking about it? Thinking about how good I could make you feel?" Leaving a mark along the top of her breast, I soothe it with my tongue. "Do you think about me when you're alone?"

Biting her bottom lip, she nods just a second before she pushes her hair out of her face. "All the time, Niall."

"Show me— Show me how you'd move above me." Dropping my hands to her thighs, I let her move even more frantic above me. "Tell me how wet you are— How easy it would be for me to get inside of you."

Reaching for anything to hold onto, her hands slide up my arms and just barely under the sleeves of my shirt to grip my biceps. "So easy. So fucking easy, Niall."

"Birdie—"

I watch her as she gets what she needs from me, knowing that I'm going to relive this moment in my mind for the rest of my life.

"I'm so close—" It's a heavy whisper, her breath hot on my neck as she buries her head into the crook of my neck.

"Take it— Take what you need." I groan, doing everything I can not to come in my pants like a teenager. "Let me see that pretty face when you come for me."

Wren looks at me, those beautiful brown eyes so full of everything I've ever wanted. "Yes. Yes."

With one more roll of her hips, I watch as she lets herself go, the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen.

A strangled moan falls from her lips just before she lets herself collapse onto my chest, my hands immediately going to her back and running up and down her spine.

"You're so perfect, don't you know." It's barely above a whisper, but it's true. "So fucking perfect."

Pressing her lips to my neck, I tilt my head to the side as she leaves her own trail of kisses up my neck and to the scruff that covers my jaw. "Thank you."

"Let me get you something so you can clean up, yeah?" Still tracing my fingers over her warm skin, I don't really want to get up but if I don't then something else will happen on this couch that shouldn't.

She nods as I stand up, lacing my fingers with hers and walking towards my room and into the master bedroom, showing her where the bathroom is and leaving a pair of old sweats for her, I take myself to the guest bathroom and step inside.

While she cleans herself up across the house, I wrap my fist around my cock and bring myself to my own climax without an effort with the thought of her on my mind.

It's both the best and worst high of my life.

Cleaning myself up and expecting to meet her out in the living room, I frown when I see her packing up her bag and awkwardly making her way towards the front door.

Before I can even get close to her, she gives me a terrible excuse and slips through the door before I can do anything to stop her.

Before I can do anything to make her stay.

And I would... Ask her to stay.

But as I watch the lights disappear down my driveway, I can't find myself to feel bad about what happened between us.

Because it might have started off as fake, but I know just as well as she does that there's no way that it's fake anymore.

Whatever lies between us?

It's real, so fucking real.

Whether we want to admit it to each other or not.

________

twitter @ niallsgoldhoop

-Alex 🍀

[ryndicate]

How bad do you want it? ⨳ Ichida Ryuken

"Then you know what to do."

notes: for @semisgroupie 's what's done in the dark collab! I've finally written something for bleach and I couldn't be happier to be writing about daddy Ishida >:3

warnings: uneven power dynamic, abuse of position, reader is given multiple outs aka consent, unprotected sex, public/risky sex

By expanding you are agreeing to viewing adult content and all warnings listed above. 18+ Minors DNI

Rules & Main Links

Whispers have been echoing around you since you arrived at work this morning, early but not so bright at a severe three in the morning. 

"Have you seen next week's schedule?"

"I haven't had a day off in three weeks."

"At least you don't have four back to back doubles. I've done nothing but work and sleep for god knows how—"

"Ma'am!" The youngest nurse in the lineup, Sachi you think, pops up from her seat after catching sight of you frowning at your boards. You turn to see her pacing towards you and grimace. 

You had seen the schedules too and were feeling the drain the same as everyone else. A few staff members from your department had been transferred last month with no replacements in sight.

"Can you please talk to Dr. Ishida," she all but begs you, her voice carrying enough to draw some of the other nurses towards you, their expressions taking on a hopeful outlook. "If anyone can convince him to hire more nurses it would be you."

Too late to escape, you try to ready a smile as the other nurses chorus at you, anxiety climbing.

"He always listens to you! It's probably because you're so good at your job."

"Yeah, I couldn't even get him to order new pens."

"He's so curt with everyone else."

"It wouldn't hurt to try, right?" Sachi throws on her best puppy eyes for good measure and you feel your willpower splinter. "Worst he could say is no?"

"Fine," you sigh, the pulsing of a new headache sounding like the last nails in your coffin. "I'll ask him after my shift today; he's got surgeries for most of the afternoon and a consultation in the evening."

Everyone relaxes measurably, breaking off one by one to get back to their duties and thanking you in hushed tones as the man in question appears around the corner.

Dr. Ishida Ryuuken barely gives you a cursory glance before breezing right past and you stiffen, making a show of studying the papers in your hand until he's gone. 

It's right to feel intimidated; tall and fit with vibrant snowy hair and a sharp jawline, he's incredibly handsome, barely looking a day over thirty despite having a teenage son. Quiet and icily strict, he’s a talented and sought after doctor despite losing his wife all those years ago. You could hardly imagine a man as cutting as him to even have had a wife, but you've never married so you guess you don't understand what it's like to lose a partner.

"Wouldn't hurt him to be nicer though." You rub your eyes, mumbling the words under your breath before glancing over your shoulder to make sure no one heard you. 

It’s a long day, like always. The work is hard, but in the end it’s good work. Infected stitches, bed sores, endless looping conversations with worried patients… someone has to do it, right?

You’re standing in the nurses bathroom exhausted, starving, and making a small attempt to wash some of the day’s grime away while you work up the nerve to go back upstairs to your department head’s office. This is honestly the last thing you wanted to do today, but you’ve been here longer than the rookies who swarmed you this morning, and honestly? They’re right. If they tried to talk to Dr. Ishida, he would have sent them running with their tails between their legs. You, on the other hand, have a little more backbone than that.

Feet still sore from the day you take the elevator up, thankful to find it empty and silent, and make your way down the familiar path to his office. You pause outside the door at the sound of muffled voices coming through the door. You check your watch. It’s nearly eight; you thought he’d be done with his consultation by now. There’s no way it would have run this long. Listening intently you try to make out the words.

“Sir, it’s the board of directors again. They’re trying to schedule—”

“Tell them I’m not here.”

“They’re not going to believe that.”

There’s a beat of silence and you can almost feel the undoubtedly stormy glare roiling behind his glasses.

“Then tell them to contact me during my operating hours. I’m off duty. They can leave a message like everyone else.”

“Sir, it’s the board.”

There’s more silence, and you step back from the door quickly when you realize their conversation is over, trying to appear unassuming. 

Ishida’s haggard looking aid doesn’t spare you a glance as they leave, and suddenly you feel less pessimistic about your own job.

The door is ajar so you tap your knuckles on the door, peeking in.

Dr. Ishida looks up from his desk, eyes still sharp, but some of the severity dissipates as he realizes it’s you.

“What is it this time?” He goes back to the papers on his desk. He’s aloof, bored, but with no direct dismissal you gather your nerves to do what you came for. You leave the door open to make the point that this won't take long.

“The nurses are still having a hard time since the transfers finalized,” you start, haltingly.

There’s several long moments of silence and for a moment you think he’s going to ignore you indefinitely before he looks up, raising an eyebrow at you.

“And?” 

The dry expectancy of his tone has heat rising beneath your collar, but you grit your teeth and work up your customer service smile from the days you worked retail to put yourself through nursing school. You never thought that experience would actually be useful, but here you are.

“Well, I understand how important your time is, sir, but we were hoping you might take some time out of your busy schedule to hire some additional staff to help balance the workload.”

As much as you try, there’s no curbing the biting undercurrent to your words. You’ve been in this position too many times to not be tired of it, and today you really just want to go home.

The good doctor turns his chair to face you, and his now piercing stare is enough to whittle away at your faltering confidence shakily propped up by indignance. You find your feet shifting as you try to ease your discomfort as he looks you over.

When he doesn’t say anything you’re getting ready to turn and stalk out of his office, but he finally speaks.

His voice is smooth now, nonchalant. “How important is this?”

“It would really help, sir,” you sigh, meek and defeated as he moves his chair a few feet back from his desk, the wheels giving a light squeak as they catch on the carpet. He leans back in it, crossing his arms. There’s an intensity in his eyes now that's different, an unspoken dare.

“Then you know what to do.”

There's that moment of resistance, there always is, where you simply maintain his stare with the blankest expression you can manage. But you inevitably crumble.

With a silent sigh, you reach for the hem of your scrubs and pull the colored pattern over your head. You're reaching for your bra when you pause, remembering the door is still open. 

Your hands drop and you're turning when Dr. Ishida's voice quietly rumbles across the room.

"Leave it." You glare at him and he stares back, immovable. "Unless you're done here?"

There it is, your best chance at walking out. Ignoring his bait you swallow your biting retort and unhook your bra, heat rising beneath your skin as he eyes your exposed tits, already hard from the scrutiny. You don't give him much more time than that, kicking out of your shoes and shoving your scrub bottoms off before coming around the edge of his desk.

You're left in nothing but a simple pair of gray cotton panties. Trying to hide your nerves, you lay yourself over his desk, nipples tightening painfully against the cold wood, hips raised and jutted out, displaying your ass for him.

You inhale slowly as he trails his hand up your outer thigh, skimming over the curve of your ass with such a gentle touch that it’s almost too sensitive. It makes you want to shy away, but you know that would only displease him, so you bite your inner cheek and steel yourself.

“Laundry day?” Ryuuken hums idly, sliding a finger in the band curving your left cheek and letting it go with a soft snap.

“With respect, fuck you, sir,” you sigh wearily, not in the mood for his brand of teasing today.

There’s a single note chuckle behind you, and you hate the way it sears against your skin like a brand, goosebumps rising down your spine in anticipation as you feel him move closer behind you. Instinctively you raise yourself to the balls of your feet as you feel his erection against your ass.

“Good girl.”

He’s amused now and you want nothing more than to hiss at him like a disgruntled cat, but your anxious eyes keep flickering to the open door, the risk of someone walking past keeping you silent.

Ryuuken rolls his hips into your ass a few times and smoothes a palm up your back, apparently content with taking his time.

“Will you hurry up?” you finally hiss, shuddering as his fingers make a third pass up and down your spine. You can feel the uncomfortable wetness growing between your thighs, the damp patch against your entrance sticking to your pussy. 

His hand immediately wraps around the back of your neck, effectively scruffing you, and you can’t help but let out a little squeak of surprise. He presses more tightly against you, leaning down to put his lips by your ear.

“Be quiet or get out,” Ryuuken murmurs, soft and dangerous, but the apparent lust roughening his tone is like little sparks bursting in your gut. You go limp, resigning yourself to his petting, arousal building like bubbling pressure in a coffee machine. 

You’re a hot flustered mess by the time you hear the clink of his belt, and you can’t help the tiny moan of approval as he finally tugs down your panties. The ache between your thighs has you biting every ounce of self restraint to keep your hips from arching towards him, letting him press on the small of your back and bump your feet into his preferred position like you wouldn’t have done it yourself given the chance.

A mewl is on the tip of your tongue, half choked as you chew your lower lip, at the feel of his fingers swiping through the slick you’ve accumulated. It receives a low hum of approval before his fingers are replaced with the blunt tip of his cock.

There’s a fog swirling over your mind. You can’t remember hearing the sound of a condom, but the heat and warmth of him slowly sinking into you is enough to send any worries of that flying from your mind. Your knuckles are white on the edge of the desk as you chew on a whine; his girth is something you’ve always reluctantly referred to as perfect, just enough to leave you full without making you grit at any pain, but his length always has you holding your breath because it never seems to end. He gives a little sigh behind you that has your mind fill with fluff, crackles of electricity sparking like exposed wires through your nerves.

“Breathe,” Ryuuken instructs calmly, and you hiccup, drawing in air like you just remembered how. “Again.”

There’s tears threatening your lashline as he stills, and you want to growl and posture at this stupid, sexy, rude as hell doctor being kind enough to give you time to adjust, but the alternative isn’t worth it. Knowing him, he’d rub it rather smugly in your face just how much you’re dripping all over him. So you sniffle instead, and tip your hips up just a little more, moaning in your throat as it has him pressing tighter against the front wall of your pussy.

One of his hands is stroking over the fat of your ass almost absentmindedly, as your pussy ripples around him at random, finally growing impatient for more stimulation. As if sensing your frustration, his grip moves to your waist and you curl a forearm under your cheek, ready to muffle any sounds if you need to.

His thrusts are quick and dirty right from the start, and your teeth are making divots in your arm before you know it. You get the sense that you’re not the only one stressed from today’s workload; it’s as if he’s trying to slam every ounce of pent up frustration out through your cunt. The unbreaking pace is mind-numbing and your eyes glaze over as he strikes deep in your core. 

Ryuuken’s grunts are quiet but they bathe over your ears, causing your pussy to squeeze down on him, and the hand supporting the brunt of his force flashes back to grab his wrist as you feel pleasure curl so close to the surface that you’re sure you’d crumble if it didn’t peak. He shakes his hand out of your grip and you almost sob, but he’s tugging your hips back further off the desk and reaching under you, the tips of his fingers brushing over your clit and your whole body locks up as your orgasm rips through you. 

His breathed curse falls on deaf ears as you ride out the blissful storm, extended by the way he savagely pulls you back on his cock, jerking into you unevenly, frantically, and you taste iron and salt as he sinks deep and grinds.

He’s still for a moment, breathing hard before his cock slips out of your cunt, and you feel warmth spilling down your thighs. One of these days you’ll have half a mind left to pay attention when Dr. Ishida Ryuuken loses his composure, but you’re too preoccupied with riding out the final aftershocks as he straightens his clothes behind you and smoothes his hair down.

Only then does he slide your panties back up your legs, making sure they’re firmly in place. There’s the soft sound of rustling fabric and finally your awareness rouses. You raise your head to see the office door closed, and your discarded scrubs sitting on the corner of his desk. 

Ryuuken watches you silently as you redress, offering no words, and you don't need them. You've been here before; you did what you came for, and he got what he wanted. Words weren’t necessary. Words complicate things.

He opens the door for you as you slip on your shoes. “Until next time.”

Something indescribable brightens inside you at Ryuuken’s words, and you give him a searing glare. In return you receive a small smirk, and he closes the door behind you with a light click.

As you walk down the hall, you tell yourself it’s only to gain favor with your employees, to help everyone out. That it’s altruism in its finest for you to pimp yourself out to the head of the department. That it has absolutely nothing to do with how well he fucks you and sends you on your way with shaking legs and a dripping cunt. Absolutely nothing at all.

Sachi is sitting at the nurse's station when you get down there, and you belatedly realize she was one of the nurses working double today.

“Oh, your arm!” She gasps, peeling out of her seat and dashing for the first aid cart. “I hate it when patients bite.”

You look down to see the mark on your arm; it’s bleeding, barely, but the crescent shape is like a ghostly reminder of his smile right before he closed the door in your face, and your heart jumps against your wishes.

Your glare returns in earnest.

Damn him.

© All rights reserved to @ryndicate. Do not modify, translate, or repost.

[warsamongthestars]

Honestly you are so right. I never thought about it like that.

Having recently rewatch TBB from their introduction episode in TCW, i kept going "what the hell".

Admittingly, i did NOT like them at first. I enjoyed the other clones, but i just.. couldn't care until after s1 of TBB and even then, only S2 made me fall in love and S3 made me dwell deeper.

But rewatching TCW episodes... i can see why. Its not just that its different writing, that whole episode was INCREDIBLY cheesy, they were cheesy. And whats funny is i don't think they're too bad after their introduction episode.. but its like. They all fit into their sterotypes first episode, but TBB actually gave them personalities i feel, so when rewatching their introduction... it feels.. Not super iconic, sorry if that is an unpopular opinion.

Like their poses and first fight is really cool, but the whole conversation they have not only implies what you said, but also comes off as "edgelord 10 y/o boy who has watched way too many adventure movies". Which i get they were trying to be show offs as well as show the audience they are extreme.

But it just.. comes across as goofy to me.

and to be clear, i know star wars in general can be seen as cheesy, I'm not knocking down cheesy-ness, and i love most TCW episodes new and old, but i think thats why it bothers me ? I don't remember feeling "oh thats cheesy" in a negative light in any other episode, even with other series.

Sorry that this got long !!!!!

Damn, first ask. XD

Thank you for that! But uh...

... The irony here is that I have to disagree. I liked them in TCWs over TBB, and I wanted to see more of what the TCWshow's BBs had to offer.

I went the old fashioned way of watching TCWs (For the clones, I don't care that much about Jedi stories), and by the time I reached S7, they were announcing TBBshow. I had the build up from that, to reach the momentum and when I made it to the Bad Batch Arc, it was like falling in love with clones all over again.

Cliche in function, yes, by all viewing they fullfill their cliches.

But let me point out something that occurs in character writing--How the character acts to their friends, will be different with how the character acts to their coworkers, and how they act to their own families, to how they act to strangers. This is part of how you create a 3-Dimensional Character.

So my interpretation is different. Here's how my thought process went.

What we saw in TCWs, was merely how the BBs act when acting under officers (Coworkers) they didn't know (Strangers).

( Wrecker starts enthusiastic but "dumb" muscle, but as the Arc went on, he actually mellowed out. Showing that while he's excitable, he's not actually as excitable as what he introduced himself as. He's clever not "dumb muscle", he's multi-capable (he's the second pilot of the Marauder), he's in more control of himself than anyone on the team (hence that when he lifts Jesse up, Jesse is fine afterwards, when by that point we've seen that he lifts ships--he could've easily hurt Jesse but he didn't))

Given they don't look or act like clones, and looking and acting like clones is expected in their position or risk removal, they were effectively playing themselves up as their "cliches" in order to sell their skills and avoid unnecessary or even dangerous questions.

( Hunter is constantly snarky and never directly answers anything about "who you report to" or "how many missions you were on". But at the start, he was promoting the hell out of his unit's capabilities. )

The Bad Batch were a series of characters that bounced off each other beautifully. Its something everyone noticed about them.

(From Crosshair using Tech's shoulder as a mount, to Wrecker tossing Hunter up, to Hunter and Crosshair's subtle backing each other up, to Wrecker quoting Tech. )

Their group dynamics are part of their greatest strength as a set of characters.

With the introduction of Echo, who unlike in TBB, Echo was enthusiastic and clever and crafty, with a playful sense of humor (not unlike how he started as a character in TCWs).

You've got an excellent addition to a group that already has strong character dynamics.

Echo, having been an Audience Surrogate Character for Clones in TCWs, would've easily been the main POV of whatever BB show came out of TCWs. Because he can ask the questions the audience would ask, and Echo is a familiar character with years of backing that the audience would be familiar with.

So you're right, in my book, about TCWshow. Though how I view how right you are is different because of my subtext.

The Bad Batch Arc of TCWs was a Good, if a bit trippy, Start, and not a finisher for the team. After all, all introductions tend to be rather clumsy (just ask TCWs' pilot film).

Which laid in the implication that we're going to Get that Finisher. And the journey.

But when we hit TBB... Then turned the nuance surface of TCWs Bad Batch, and either cut it out, or dumbed it down, or in two cases, changed it entirely.

( TCWs Hunter was a snarky worrywort who let his brothers do the actions while he stays in the corner, but he's dragged out because he's the "Sergeant". TBB Hunter is a stoic quiet type who wants order and control. TCWs Hunter and TBB Hunter are two entirely different characters. In fact, if I may speculate fan wise, TBB Hunter would be the kind of person that would cause TCWs Hunter to Shutdown... and we have evidence of this from TCWs; where Rex gets into Hunter's face, and Hunter shutsdown entirely until after the scene change. )

( Wrecker got dumbed down. That Explosive Enthusiasm he played up, became his defining feature (They effectively pulled a misfandom on their own original creation). While they did show he does have vulnerabilities and some of that TCWs cleverness... it often got overshadowed. )

( They removed Crosshair and broke the group dynamic, destroying the strongest part of their characters, which was their interactions with each other. )

( Echo went from Enthusiastic, Clever and Humor, to Just Bitchy. They didn't bring back his other facet at all. And mid way through TBB, they removed his character--effectively making anything about him a moot point. It nullified his introduction into the BBs )

( And I'm not going to go into a tyraid here about Omega. )

And suddenly, there wasn't any nuance anymore, because the BBs acted the same everywhere they went. There wasn't any developments, because the BBs didn't discuss anything for the audience to know.

Maybe a dramatic glance in the distance--but that's more Cliche than their character archetypes. Character Archetypes, no matter how obvious, can shift and change as they Develop.

But there's no character developing in TBB that doesn't involve how the show broke what made them strong characters to begin with.

Its like trying to make a house, but the foundation is the ceiling and attic, and the "ceiling" is the 3000 tons of solid fucking concrete.

The story, which was about how the Empire rose from the Republic, was literally elsewhere, so there was nothing that spurred the characters to do anything that involved the plot.

Now as you can prolly guess by this point, I'm very very keen on Character Driven stories, and I pay attention to character. While I treat all things as a "fan-fiction" (Given that fan-fiction shows the effort it takes to create a story or create anything), when it comes to officially published stuffed--so with teams, and a budget, and hired people to do the work--I expect the "fan-fiction" to go up in quality, to follow the format and standard set up and simply either stick to it or surpass it.

I think TBBshow was too clumsy, too fragmented, and far too shiny, for what it had. Having a small part of the metaphorical quilt work, doesn't subtract from the fact that the rest of the quilt is full of holes.

Have small good points, I'm afraid, doesn't make up for the fact that it was overall, a poorly written show that bites its prior series' hand.

It just means that, now, you have to steal the good points to add to whatever BBsquad exists in one's mind.

You take the part of the quilt that works... and make your own Quilt, and damn whoever fucked up the first job.

[truearchangel]

@thylightbringer:

"Deep breath, I have you."

Michael likes to think that he is, actually, an incredibly strong willed person. He likes to think that he was stable, emotionally and mentally, when it came to most things. Sure, he tended to suppress a lot of things. He worked hard for many centuries so he just wouldn't have to think about Lucifer. And it did work, of course it worked, otherwise he wouldn't have continued to do it.

But Heaven offered him those distractions. From his thoughts, his questions, from the way that the world was trying to consume him. It gave him all of that because he was so heavily needed up there.

That isn't the same case down here.

Michael doesn't believe, doesn't see himself as needed down here. Not by anyone. He's an inconvenience at most to Charlie, getting in the way of her hotel and daily operations by asking pointless questions and making the sinners uncomfortable. For Lucifer, he's just a freeloader. Granted, he has offered to leave. To not be in the way and taking up space. But that doesn't change how it feels.

He serves no purpose down here other than searching for his own self-validation and that… well it's pathetic. It is pathetic to be like this, to be in the way and causing problems. To be down here because he wants to justify the things he has done.

Any other person would look at that and ask someone what's wrong with them. That doesn't mean he's going to stop, but it puts the things he feels into a different perspective. Emotionally, mentally, outwardly he looked fine.

Internally was a different story.

He felt like he was unraveling most of the time.

The crack to his halo had not improved. Michael had tried many times to fix it. He tired praying, meditating, avoiding Lucifer. He tried sitting down and writing out long mental notes on the reason for the crack. He tried everything he could think of to make it more balanced.

It didn't happen. No matter how hard he tried, nothing worked at all. It just made his thoughts spiral more. Made them chaotically loop around and leave him with nothing. Just more thoughts about the questions that we're trying to eat him alive. And that… that was where things started to get worse.

Lucifer has been busy. Which was fine, the more distance between them the better with this. He let his thoughts run, let things try and work themselves out. The only problem with that was the fact he was then alone with his thoughts. A dangerous thing for an angel slipping from grace.

At first, Michael hadn't noticed it. Hadn't even thought to look. He had been avoiding his halo, since the crack showed up he didn't want to see it really. But—he caught sight of something on it.

Michael had been in the large library his brother own, looking through the books on the top shelf. His wings were carrying him through them, his halo burning brightly on top of his head. As he passed one of those stained glass windows, the colors dancing beautiful along the dark woods of the shelves and something just… drew his attention.

So he turned his head toward it and shifted down a little bit, trying to get a more clear part of the window to look. And in it, in his reflection, he saw something dark on his halo near the crack. Frowning he shifted a little closer, turned his head, and in the clear of the window got a view of what it actually was.

A black spot.

Sin physically manifests itself in varying ways. For the sinners, a lot of them have black stains up their arms. Lucifer was one of these people he could think of, Alastor was another. Some of them have black eyes, others have black scars somewhere. For angels, he honestly had no idea how it would show.

But the moment he saw that on his halo, he knew what it was. The crack hadn't spread, but the sinful thought against the Heavenly Order that caused it did. His distrust, his judgment, his fear of God.

Sin showed itself, clawed along his crack, as was threatening to drown his entire halo. Michael has thought it before, has told it to Lucifer himself, but he can't fall. If he leaves Heaven, what will happen to it? To their siblings? To the people he swore to protect?

He can't.

He can't, he can't, he can't—

When he hit the ground, his body collapsing in panicking and unable to control itself, it felt like his lungs were trapped in his own body. Unable to breathe properly, unable to think past the fear that was drowning him. And how intense it was. Michael had never in his life felt fear like this, not even when he stood across from Lucifer that day in Heaven. That had been sadness, distress, crushing heartache.

This was petrifying terror.

He hadn't even heard Lucifer enter the library, didn't hear him make his way between the bookshelves to try and find Michael. But he felt when his brother grabbed, when his arms wrapped tightly around him and tried to drag Michael up against him.

He struggled against his twin briefly, wanting to just reach up and yank that halo from the top of his head. Something his brother had to know considering how tightly he pinned Michael's own arms against him. When it becomes clear he isn't going to win this he stops fighting to settle for dropping his head against Lucifer's chest, feeling the first prickling sensation of tears in his eyes.

What a failure he was.

[holylulusworld]

Jeannie in a bottle (2)

Summary: You’re out of the bottle. What now?

Pairing: Dean Winchester x genie!Reader

Warnings: magic, mentions of entrapment, genie!reader

Jeannie in a bottle masterlist

<< Part 1

“Hmm…you look much better in that outfit,” Dean purrs as you get comfortable in the backseat. He watches you in the rear-view mirror, smiling to himself. “Pink suits you.”

“I hate pink,” you grumble. “I only did it to appease you. It’s kinda part of the deal, ya know. I didn’t want to change clothing. That fucker turned me into an obedient bitch.”

“Why didn’t you obey his orders?” Sam asks. He looks at you in the backseat, wondering which spell the bastard used to entrap you. The hunter hopes he can help you.

“Well, that creep used a spell to turn me into his dream girl. A genie like the one in the show. But there was a catch,” you chuckle. “Fucker forgot to read the fine print.”

“Let me guess. Everyone but him can rub the bottle,” Dean asks. “Right? You’ve been waiting for me to free you, sweetheart?”

You smirk at Dean. “The spell he used turned me into a genie and banned me into the bottle, but he’s the only one who cannot free me. If he tries, the bottle hurts him. Or rather the spell.”

“Awesome,” the hunter chuckles. “I’m her hero, Sammy. And I got three wishes. Hmm…I need to think about all the things I want.”

“Dean, remember. We don’t get good things just like that,” Sam warns. Spells, curses, and all the things they encountered over the years always have a catch.

“He’s not wrong, Dean,” you start coughing. You feel a little light-headed and, your body starts to dissipate again. “No! I didn’t say a thing…please!”

“Sweetheart? Genie!” Dean jumps out of the car to reach the backseat. He opens the door and grabs your fading hand. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t break the rules,” you whisper as your body turns back into pink smoke. “I’m sorry…you need to find out on your own…”

“Nooo! Sammy help me!” the hunter panics. He tries to grasp for you, but you are already gone. “She’s back inside the bottle.”

Dean looks at the golden Arabian-styled genie bottle. He carefully picks it up to look it all over.

“I think she wanted to tell you to not use your wishes. Something is fishy about all of this, Dean. Let’s go back to the bunker. I can call Rowena, and maybe…” Sam sighs deeply, “Crowley can help us too.”

“Crowley? Why?”

“First, the guy at the store didn’t look like he was using magic all the time. I think he made a deal to get her into the bottle.”

“A bad deal,” Dean grins. “He cannot free her. You think he made a deal with Crowley or one of his minions?”

“Yes.”

“Uh-Sammy…can you drive? I’ll stay in the backseat and make sure the bottle doesn’t get damaged. Drive carefully.”

“Shut up, you sonofabitch!” Dean growls at the shop owner he has restrained to a chair in the dungeon as the man tries to break out of the handcuffs. “You won’t get out of these. So, stop!”

“She’s mine! You can’t have her. You won’t have her!”

“Listen, you sick creep. She won’t be yours. You entrapped her inside a fucking bottle. Do you honestly believe she will fall in love with you after you stole ten years from her?”

“I don’t want her to love me,” the shop owner grins. “It’s enough to know that she’s mine. I own her. No one will ever free her.”

“We will see.”

“Rub it, rub it. Free her,” Dean singsongs as he rubs the bottle again. “Come out, sweetheart. We go that bastard in the dungeon.”

“Dean—” Pink smoke fills Dean’s room as you finally are free to leave the bottle again. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he says as you stretch your body. “Uh-I didn’t know if genies eat. I made you a bacon burger and got a beer or juice for you.”

“I don’t know either,” you answer honestly. “It’s been ages since I got out of the bottle. I spent my days hammering against the walls of the bottle. It felt like I’m trapped in a nightmare.”

“Damn, that’s awful,” he drops his eyes and shakes his head. Dean realizes having a genie is not like in the show. “But don’t worry. We are on it. Sammy called two…” He wrinkles his nose, “Let’s call them allies. We will find out what that bastard did and free you.”

“Even if you can free me, Dean,” you sniffle, “I lost ten years of my life. I was trapped in a nightmare and couldn’t get out. There is no life I can come back to. Everyone moved on.”

“I’m sorry,” Dean softly says. “Especially for the stupid things I said about the wishes and crap. I had this fantasy about Jeannie from the show, and then you appeared out of nowhere. A real-life genie all for myself. I didn’t know you were entrapped and now I feel like the most awful guy ever.”

“It’s fine,” you sit on Dean’s bed and look around his room. It’s the first time you are in a normal room after years of entrapment. “I’m glad it was you who freed me. Not some creep.”

“Or someone wanting to abuse your powers to take over the world or shit.”

“That’s against the rules! No making someone fall in love with you. No taking over the world. No killing people. No committing crimes. No asking for superpowers.”

“Whoa, a lot of rules,” Dean flashes you a smile. “I guess you won't make me a superhero then.”

“You are already a hero. Aren’t you?” you pat his thigh. “Even I heard of the infamous Winchesters. And, I believe in you. If anyone can help me, it’s you and your brother…”

>> Part 3

Tags in reblog.

[reysistance]

a lot of the discussions around the acolyte feel very reductive and boring for me, particularly when it always boils down to that argument between mae and osha when they're children: "the jedi are good!" "the jedi are bad!" and how either of those perspectives mean the show is any good or not.

frankly, i love the jedi. love 'em, but i could not care less what the hell a story has to say about them if it's an interesting well-told story, and if it makes sense. the acolyte is an origin about a dark sider, of course it doesn't paint them across as great, but I also don't think making five jedi extremely flawed counts as the show saying "el em ah oh! yeah they all deserved to get got!" like girl check your reading comprehension for a min...

anyway, I think the most interesting thing about this show to me is how it's typically the Jedi who break the rules and act like they're above the council, that fuck up in drastic ways. Indara is the sole voice of reason, initially, on Brendok, wanting to only perform a wellness check and abide by the Council's decision of "no, they're fine, we're not messing with another culture because we respect their privacy and we're not taking two eight year olds from their mother" - a decision that Sol ignores, because of his own attachment. Torbin also ignores the Council's decision for his own benefit, in an effort to prove the vergence existed. and then of course, Vernestra - I'll admit, I haven't read any of the books with her in it, so I don't know anything abt her besides she's aroace and gifted kid burnout rep - is so focused on the Jedi's political enemies, that she decides to purposely act without the Council's knowledge, and later continue the cycle began by Indara and the others, by covering up what truly happened across the series.

The Brendok team's choices, and Vernestra's, by ignoring the Council and acting out on their own by believing they know what is best, winds up having drastic consequences and making the Sith stronger. By comparison, earlier in the season, we had Jecki and Yord, both of whom are described as by the book and "Jedi-Jedi" basically in various interviews/articles about the series, and I think honestly, they do embody the best things about the Order.

When confronted with the possibility that the person he grew up with, loved, was close friends with, potentially murdered another Jedi Yord likely knew and respected alongside Osha, and is given irrefutable evidence that Osha is guilty (seeing as he doesn't know Osha and Mae were twins) - he lets go of his personal feelings on the matter, and does what he believes is right. He doesn't let his feelings for Osha, or their bond, cloud his judgment. And even Jecki is presented routinely as level-headed, and her initial criticism of Sol lingering on the past and Osha is proven correct: Sol does struggle with attachment, and specifically attachment to Osha.

In my opinion, the show has a lot more to say about Jedi who think they're above the rules of the organization than it does the Jedi as a whole. A lot of what that Senator says is just condensed anti-Jedi rhetoric, certainly, but his statement about what happens if someone with that much power snaps and no one can stop them is simultaneously a wonderful bit of tragic foreshadowing of Anakin, and returns us back to the initial thesis that Aniseya gives the girls: this is about power, and who is allowed to wield it.

The (main) Jedi we view in this series, beyond Jecki and Yord and initially Indara, believe that they are above the rules. That they know better than the Council does, or the rules that are in place for a goddamned reason, because unchecked the Jedi could be extremely dangerous, that's what happens when you're basically demi-god levels of powerful.

And that belief gets a lot of people killed. Just like it will again, a hundred years from now.