#like. i always end up losing what makes em fun and gorgeous and it turns into this. no 2 tone. just looks bad and messy.

[skunkes]

original colors

[al3x1ss]

Cheerleader Captain {HCs}

Includes: Terushima, Oikawa

THIS IS WRITTEN WITH A GENDER NEUTRAL READER!

Authors Note: This is a sort of collab with @lexysclubhouse based on our conversations LMAO, but seriously go check hers out!

If a part 2 is wanted, leave an ask!

Warnings: Cursing

Terushima

aLRIGHT KIDS LETS GET TO IT

also hello go check out Lexy’s part of this (collab? Idfk)

SO

you two probably met while he was in practice, but since you’re the cheer captain, you needed to get the last jacket for one of your competitions coming up

so they’re on a water break and they just see a random person come in like

👀

are you lost baby gorl 😏

ANYWHO

Terushima comes up to you smirk and all

“Hey gorgeous, you lookin for me?”

You just look up at this man

Bored as hell

And you’re just SILENT

sO HES JUST LOSING CONFIDENCE LMAO

“No.”

YOU JUST SHOVE PAST HIM

HOMEBOY LOOKS LIKE A LOST PUPPY

so you go to your coach, and immediately a smile comes of your face

and he’s like oh my god

Angel 🥺

so you talk with your coach, get the jacket and say goodbye to her

jacket w a v i n g in the wind behind you like there’s literally a fan on but there’s not?

you’re just so cool to him

so he has already fallen like

IMMEDIATELY

was trying to find you but he can’t

He’s over here thinking you’re a 3rd year from how mature you were

(You’re a second year hehehehe)

so the next time he sees you, YOURE at practice!

His team wasn’t told that their gym was gonna be used for a little before practice

So his team got their early and saw your team doing a routine to “Livin’ La Vida Loca”

ONCE AGAIN HE HAS FALLEN IN LOVE AND CANT GET OUT

DUDE

YOU WITH YOUR POM POMS?

YOUR HIPS

MF ALMOST GOT A NOSEBLEED SHIT

LIKE IT WASN EVEN EROTIC

YOJ WERE JUST SO STUNNING AND COOL LIKE SHIT

HE FELT LIKE A LITERAL NERD

the words “I don’t deserve their oxygen” full on came out from his mouth

ONE OF HIS TEAMMATES JUST STARTED WHEEZING LIKE

OH MY GOD

THEIR CAPTAIN?

W I M P

Like you’re practicing in sweats but shit I mean I’d simp 😳

About 2 weeks later he hears about you guys winning your competition

At this point you kind of know him? Like after that small interaction the cheer team and volleyball team were introduced to eachother

Especially since you were going to be cheering at prelims in 2 months

So the next day he pulls you aside and confesses

Stuttering and ALL

HE GOT YOU FLOWERS

LIKE HE GOT ROSES CUZ HES A BASIC BITCH

BUT LEAVE HIM ALONE HES TRYING 🥺

Shit I’d KILL to get flowers from someone

especially him

okay lex not the time

HE TAKES YOU ON A DATE TO THIS REALLY CUTE DINER

YOU KISS HIS CHEEK AT THE END OF THE NIGHT EIRHHTHTYN

YOU LUCKY MF I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

literally the first conversation was about his tongue piercing

And he got REALLY self conscious

BUT

YOU HAD ONE TOO?

WHICH WAS SUPER COOL

LIKE OMG TWINSIES

like of course you took it out for comps and stuff but for just hanging out you had it in

You look so hot with it to him

so two weeks pass and it’s pre-lims!

At this point you’re one of Johzenji’s favorite couples

Like why didn’t y’all get together sooner you cute as FUCK

So you guys are doing a small routine while Terushima goes up to serve

ITS THE SAME LIVIN LA VIDA LOCA ROUTINE LMAO

MANS IS JUST HOLDING THE BALL STARING AT YOU

NOT KNOWING THAT THE WHISTLE BLEW ALREADY

AND THEN HE SNAPS OUT IF IT REALIZING HIS 8 SECONDS WERE UP

HE LITERALLY G A V E A POINT TO THE OTHER TEAM BECAUSE YOU WERE SO PRETTY

Now between switching sides after losing the 1st set, you walk up to him

He’s just staring at you smirking

“So, you wanna talk about that serve?”

“OH IM SOOOOORY, my pretty baby was just so beautiful, I couldn’t look away.”

THIS MAN DOESNT WALK AWAY

HE MF S K I P S

YOURE RED AS HELL

PRETTY BABY?

BEAUTIFUL?

UGH

Oikawa

heheh HES WEARINT MY NUMBER I ALWAYS SCREAM AT THIS

OKAY SO I HAD A DRESM AB THIS

AND I LOVED IT

SO ITS HAPPENING

ENJOY

OKAY

SO

here’s what I’m thinking

Terushima HAS a cheerleading partner?

Oikawa HAD a cheerleading partner

Your schedules just never lined up and it was a mutual break up!!

You guys broke up about 3 months ago so the awkwardness is basically gone?

Like y’all are friends ya know

And yeah both of you do both still think about it randomly

mostly oikawa 👀

So they’re at practice and you come in SPRINTING

LIKE BOYS ARE ABOUT TO BLOW THE WHISTLE TO START A GAME AND THEY JUST SEE YOU ZOOM

SO EVERYONES JUST KINDA WATCHING LMAO

you don’t come out of the office for a while so they end up starting the game

you wanna know who’d up to serve

Oikawa :)

boy serves RIGHT when you come out

Like the universe was like “oh? let’s scare the mother loving SHIT out of ‘em!”

literally hits the wall next to you

��OIKAWA TOORU GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!”

MAN FREEZES

like shit

He was already gonna get scolded by iwa

but you?

he comes up to you with his arms behind his back, his eyes obviously terrified

“Do you know what you just did?”

“Yes.” 🥺

“And do you realize what you’re gonna do?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Homeboy has never eeen this side of you so he’s terrified.

And when you go to walk away he realizes you’re wearing a captains jacket

“Wait, Y/N, you got promoted?”

“Oh, yeah, I tried for it like a month ago.”

“Congratulations.”

he kinda just stares at you walk out like

Me?

oIKawA tOoRU

missing my ex?

n e v e r

okay maybe sometimes

so the next time he sees you they’re at the prelims against date tech

And he seems you come in in your uniform

wOOSH 🥰

So you guys lock eyes and y’all wave at eachother

you can see his face is r e d so you’re smiling

the game starts, you guys doing simple cheers, but as they get to the transition to the second set, you guys start doing a cheer to “Idol” by BTS that you choreographed

And seeing you as a captain?

H I T THIS MAN

HIT IT TIL IT BREAKS TYPE BEAT

he literally paused to stare at you, iwa was like

“GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER AND DROOL AFTER THE GAME”

stan iwa honestly y’all would make fun of him together whenever you guys had time to hang out

So, end of prelims, they lost to Karasuno

And you’ve been to his house maybe a few times when you guys were dating?

so you remember where it is

his mom?

kinda shocked to see you?

especially in a cheerleading uniform since she never realized you did that?

but you were talking about how you just wanted to see him

so you go upstairs and into his room and he’s just in the corner with his alien plushy sobbing

Your heart is breaking at this point for this man

You go and sit beside him, him not really acknowledging you

“Tooru, I’m really really proud of you and what you’ve become. That will not be the last time you’re on a court, and I will make sure it that as long as I live.”.

he turns to you and turns his alien pushy, instead clinging onto you

You can feel your uniform getting soaked, but you run your fingers through his hair anyway, giving him forehead kisses

after a while of crying, he lifts his head to look at you, eyes still very puffy

You look at him back and you give him a small smile

And he puts his hand on your chin

Gotta get that kiss kiss after missing you for so long

SOFT MAKEOUTS WITH OIKAWA OKAY

so here you guys are at about 2am

Talking about how you missed eachother

“Y/N, I really want to get back together with you.”

😳

“Who would I be to say no to an offer like that?”

You guys go to school the next day

Give the rest of Seijoh 4 sQUEEZES

cuz they deserve it I love them dearly

on Saturday you guys actually went on a date!!

you wanna know what song came on the radio

MF IDOL

HE TURNS TO YOU GRINNING AND GOES

“Ya know you looked really cute doing this cheer, might want to see it again~”“OIKAWA TOORU I WILL NOT HESITATE TO CRASH THIS CAR”

End note: “Just a Friend to You” begins in two days and I’m v excited! (Once again thank you for 100 notes!) (self promotion ✨) But in all seriousness, please go check out Lexy’s stuff! She’s a great writer and is so sweet ❤️

~ Lex 🖤🤍

[fortheloveoffanfic]

Behind Closed Doors

Keanu Reeves x OFC (A/n- And now, I shall make it complicated)

Masterlist

Warnings- Jealousy

Chapter 2 All In a Long Weekend

Saturday

That Saturday morning, breakfast had been done a tad earlier than usual, and afterwards, Emma had stayed back in the kitchen, packing a picnic while Keanu oversaw the children as they got ready for the day's beach trip. Matt and Poppy had been raving about their trip to Malibu for the past two weeks, asking every night before bed if they'd still be going. Each time, Emma had assured them that unless it rained, they were certainly going.

"You look excited," an older woman came up beside Emma, setting down some sodas into the cooler, just as Emma continued preparing sandwiches for the container that was set to be packed into the woven basket. She and Zelda, despite the fifteen or so years between them had become fast friends, always eager to help each other out when possible. The older woman was also sometimes keen of giving Emma little snippets of advice that she thought my be helpful; never go into Keanu's office when he had the door shut, don't give the kids ice pops inside and possibly the one that had saved her the most trouble, always check the allergy list that Keanu had stuck to the fridge before making the kids something new.

Beaming absently at her comment, Emma carried on with her task, making cheese and turkey sandwiches; a favorite among Keanu and his kids, "I am, it's been a while since I've been to the beach, and even if I'm still working, it's gonna be fun." Closing up the Tupperware, Emma set it in the basket, moving on to prepping snacks, just as Zelda started on some frozen treats for the sizable cooler. In retrospect, it might have seemed like a lot, but when you were having a day trip with kids, it was best to prepare for anything. "Plus, it'll be nice to spend some time together, just the four of us."

Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, Zelda paused for a minute, "Five dear," she corrected, a little shocked when Emma didn't understand what she meant.

Certainly, Keanu must have told her!

But really, he hadn't.

Just as Zelda was about to explain though, the sound of the front door opening and shutting, followed by a very loud, and an annoyingly exuberant; "Darling!" After that, it wasn't long before the sound of heels clicking against the floor drew nearer, and out of the long hallway emerged a woman, tall, blonde and just as famous as Keanu.

"Sweet-" Upon seeing the pair, the Miranda Riley, former Victoria Secret model and world famous actress, stopped in her tracks, scrunching her perfectly straight nose as if she'd smelt something terrible, "Oh," her made up face fell, "Its you; Zora and…….the new one."

A little annoyed by her obviously snooty behavior, Emma opened her mouth to speak up, "Actually it's-" Though, when Zelda grabbed her arm, squeezing warningly, she shut up immediately, sealing her lips tightly.

Though, it didn't really seem like any of it greatly affected Miranda, especially when Keanu jogged into the room from the other hall, still bare foot while his worn out t-shirt was soaked at the front, probably from herding the twins into a bath. "Mandy," he grinned, and Emma swore it was stiff and forced. Maybe it was just her imagination though, cause with barely any hesitation, Keanu was taking the woman in his arms, holding her in a more than friendly hug before planting a lengthy kiss on her deep, ruby lips, one of his hands reaching up to cup her face.

The world seemed to slow down as the entire scene unfolded before her; the way he held her, looked at her when they pulled away to speak. A soft, pained gasp seeped past her lips and Emma wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting when Miranda walked into the house, but she did know that the last thing she’d predicted was that it would hurt so much. Her lungs were set ablaze and a similar sensation prickled at her eyes. Rage, betrayal, jealousy, Emma couldn’t tell which it was, but she did know that she wanted to run out of the room and not have to face Keanu for the rest of the day. Hell, maybe even the rest of the month.

Slowly, as if she were just coming up from being submerged in an ice cold bath, Emma brought herself back to the moment, raising her gaze when Keanu sought to introduce them, “Mandy, you remember I told you about Emma, our new nanny.” That was what she was, the nanny; the woman who took care of his kids, nothing more. Even if quieter moments had suggested otherwise. The tension, the long stares and innocent touches that thrilled her nerves, they meant nothing to Keanu. “And Em, this is my girlfriend, Mandy.” Well that didn’t feel like a bullet to the chest at all.

“It’s nice to meet you,” the smile that she plastered on her face was probably the hardest one she’d ever managed, and when Emma offered her hand, it wasn’t difficult to miss the flash of disgust that crossed Miranda’s pale features. Never meet your heroes, they said. For as long as Emma had known herself, Miranda had been an icon in the fashion world, she was well connected, and had set most of the trends that Emma had her friends had desperately wanted to mimic in their teens. It was her, among other inspiring names in the fashion world that had prompted Emma to go to a design institute and not a conventional college. But right then, she might have been happier going back to a time where she’d never crossed paths with Miranda.

Hesitating before offering Emma a toothy, winning grin, Miranda took her hand, shaking quickly over the counter before letting it go again, “Mmm, yes, it's…….nice to meet you too, Emily.”

“Emma,” she corrected, having to bite her tongue so she wouldn’t say anything more. The last thing she’d want was to lose her job after telling off her boss’s out of touch bitch of a girlfriend.

“Right,” Miranda appraised her look, a bright blue sundress, raising an impressed brow, probably only complimenting her to appease Keanu, “Cute dress.”

Before Emma could speak up, Keanu interjected, “She looks lovely doesn’t she? Made it herself,” he didn’t seem remotely aware of the heaviness in the room, or the way Miranda clenched her jaw when another slew of praises for Emma left his lips, “She’s so talented, Poppy is already roping her into making princess dresses for Halloween,” he chuckled, shaking in his head.

After another minute spent gritting her teeth, Miranda sought to change the topic, clearly having had her fill of Keanu’s pride in his nanny, “Where are the little ones anyway? It's nearly ten, we’re going to be late.”

With that, Emma’s head snapped towards Zelda, who'd opted to finish the cooler and snacks in silence, so she wouldn’t have to endure any of the painstaking conversation, “She’s going?” She whispered when Keanu and Miranda weren’t looking, eyes wide and frenzied.

“Yeah,” she nodded, barely looking as Emma when she followed her to the fridge, while Keanu and Miranda spoke, or rather, canoodled in hushed tones, "I feel like I should have told you he has a girlfriend," Zelda paused, just after reaching for a half filled carton of strawberries.

"Ya think?" Emma hissed, glancing backwards at the couple, feeling her heart pinch at how lovey dovey they were. She could have sworn there was something between herself and Keanu. "How hard was it to say 'Hey Em, you know our boss has this girlfriend, and she's like, a total bitch.' What the hell does he even see in her anyway?"

"She's tall and gorgeous?" Zelda shrugged casually, "Look, I don't get it either, but he loves her, they've been together for almost two years and I think she's convinced him to go public by the end of this year." Her face fell at Emma's troubled expression, reaching out to rub her shoulder sympathetically, "I see the way you look at him, and if there's something between you two, then……and I don't mean this harshly at all, maybe you need to back down. Miranda, she's……she's not someone you want to mess with," sighing deeply, Zelda peered over to see if they were being overheard, "She gets what she wants, and right now, she wants Keanu and you don't want to be in her way."

Gritting her teeth, Emma pulled away harshly, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about," she squared her shoulders, "There's nothing between Keanu and I," maybe she was getting more defensive than she needed to be, but Emma didn't care. "I'm gonna go finish getting the twins ready," she announced loudly, stalking out of the room and down the hall, and hopefully, leaving behind whatever she'd started to feel for her boss.

As it turned out, Matt and Poppy had all but put their clothes on over their swimsuits, and they were so excited about going, that they got into their little summery outfits without fuss. Afterwards, tiny feet clad in colorful sandals, they raced each other downstairs, leaving Emma to collect their bags before she headed down.

She was walking towards the stairs, backpacks in hands, really just minding her own business, having just started to calm down after the whole Keanu/Miranda fiasco, when, just as she neared the door of Keanu's home office, she heard it. He was deep in conversation, and had unknowingly left the door just a sliver open, enough for her to catch on to some juicy bits. "I know mom," he sounded exasperated, and when she dared to peek in, Emma found that his back was to her, as he stood facing the window, one hand stuffed into the pocket of his jeans, "But I'm not getting any younger, what do you want me to do? Wait till I'm sixty?" He sighed heavily, shaking his head, "Matt and Poppy need a mother, and Miranda……" he trailed off, listening intently to what his mother had to say. Leaning closer, Emma wished she could be privy to the other end of the call, aching to hear what his mother thought about the succubus that he called a girlfriend. But alas, she'd have to settle for whatever she got.

After a few minutes had passed, Keanu spoke again, turning around, leaving Emma to dash for cover, though still within earshot. For a minute, she held her breath, awaiting the moment where Keanu would poke his head out the door and catch her eavesdropping. But it never came, and instead, he continued, "I think I'm going to do it tomorrow night, we're going to dinner, and the nanny will watch the kids. I have the ring already. I think she might like it."

Ring?

The sirens in Emma's head were going off so loudly that she barely registered his tone, the absence of excitement or joy, things that were usually there when someone was smitten enough to propose. There was too much going on in her head; the irrational fear of never having a chance with Keanu, the more rational fear that Miranda might become her boss too. Tuning out the rest of the conversation, not caring to hear anymore, Emma dragged herself towards the stairs, slinking down towards the kitchen, where she found Zelda entertaining the children.

“Everything okay?” She probed when Emma placed the bags on the counter, next to the cooler and picnic basket, her features still crestfallen.

“Yeah,” she mustered up a smile, inching closer to her friend, her voice dropping an octave, “I think Keanu’s going to propose to Miranda, like tomorrow night.”

“What?” Zelda’s eyes went wide, her jaw hanging slack, and she almost dropped the dishes she had just started putting into the cupboards, “How do you know that, did he tell you?”

“Tell her what?” Speak of the devil. Miranda startled them both, and for a second, Emma was worried that she’d overheard their conversation, though that too was short lived.

“Everyone ready?” Keanu strode into the room, and though Emma wanted to meet his gaze, she restrained herself, not even trying to respond, just going over to gather some of their things, her teary smile faltering when the kids excitedly started following her to the car.

At some point, Miranda had eased Keanu away from where they’d set up their picnic on the beach, urging him into a walk even though the kids had pleaded with him to stay and help them build sandcastles. Emma had taken his place, helping them with their little construction project, highly aware of how upset Poppy still was. “You okay Pop?”

The girl frowned, using her fragile fingers to sweep some hair out of her face, “I wish daddy would have stayed and built it with us,” she mumbled, dumping another bucket of sand to create segment of the castle, though doing it so harshly that the new section just crumbled, “He always leaves when aunt Mandy comes around.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” even if she didn’t like Miranda, if she was going to be Matt and Poppy’s step mother, Emma couldn’t go around bad mouthing her to them, “I’m sure he still spends time with you. And aunt Miranda seems really like you two.”

“Not as much as you,” that was Matt, his expression skewed by his dark mane falling over his face, “She’s always telling us to be quiet. And she’s so boring,” he stressed, lurching forward, only half interested in ranting about Miranda, still very invested in their sandcastle, “She almost made dad stop my swimming lessons.”

“What?” That time, it was a struggle to keep her annoyance at bay. Even if it was just one side, even if Matt couldn’t possibly know the entire truth, it was still enough to rile Emma up. How dare she? Matt was the best on his team! Taking a breath, Emma knew it was time to shift the conversation, and cheer the twins up before she said something that she’d regret, “You know what? Why don’t we give this a break? We can go to the water, have a splash war!”

“Yeah!” They jumped up immediately, barely giving Emma a minute to shimmy out of her sundress, revealing her simple, floral bikini before joining them in the water. It didn’t take long to lift their spirits, and before long, Matt and Poppy were teaming up to out splash Emma. Their gleeful giggles were music to her ears and she adored seeing their wide grins. They’d waited almost a month for that trip, they deserved to enjoy as much as they could, even if Miranda was going to take up most of Keanu’s time.

They probably spent hours past noon in the water, and not once did anyone’s smile falter. Emma gave them ice pops, and insisted that they have some water once or twice, though each time, they accepted without fuss, and she couldn’t tell if was the sugar from their snacks, or just how immersed they were in the games, but even when Keanu and Miranda returned near sunset, they didn’t show signs of tire.

“You guys having all the fun without me?” Keanu let go of Miranda’s hand, standing where the water would wash over his feet, pulling the sand back as it receded.

A pang of anger flared inside of her, making Emma want to remind Keanu that he was the one that left, but she suppressed it. A fight wouldn’t solve anything. She was so caught up in being annoyed with Keanu, that she hadn't noticed how dark his gaze had grown when his eyes fell on her, kneeling in the water, rivulets rolling off her tan skin, the top of her bathing suit pressing her breasts together, a generous amount of her cleavage spilling out voluptuously. “Well why don’t you join in?” She made herself laugh, and while Emma was hardly as much of an actor as the two A listers before her, she’d liked to think she managed pretty well.

“Sounds great,” he didn’t even seem to notice Emma’s irritation, bubbling beneath the surface. In a flash, he was pulling off his t-shirt, tossing it to the sand, getting into water wearing just his swim trunks, and as he drew closer, his cheerful tone faltered, probably realizing that being in the water with her wasn’t going to do him any favors, “Do you guys wanna play chicken fight?” Keanu turned to his kids, only to be met with excited nods, “And maybe Mandy wants to play too?” He turned to her, eyes somewhat hopeful, “And we can let Em have a break,” swallowing thickly.

“Oh, I…..” Miranda seemed perfectly out of her element, smoothing a hand over her stylish, white sundress, and then pushing up the dark tinted sunglasses, which formerly guarded crystal green orbs. It took a minute, but eventually, she conjured up a tight grin, “Chicken fight isn’t really my kind of game,” she laughed nonchalantly, “Besides, the water will ruin my hair. You should let Emily play, childish nonsense seems right up her alley.”

Subduing the urge to roll her eyes and fire a few obscenities towards Miranda, Emma took a breath, gazing between Keanu, who’d gone cold, and Miranda who’s wicked mirth was reflected in her defiant smile, “Like I said this morning, it’s just Emma. And that’s fine, I actually love childish nonsense, its way more fun than sitting on the sand like a……” stuck up bitch, “Boring grown up.”

Amused with her half hearted insult, Matt laughed loudly, while Poppy just giggled, already trying to get up on Emma’s shoulders. Fuming, Miranda turned on her heel, stomping off towards the mat, and it wasn’t long before the rest of them had forgotten the almost-spat, getting on with their game.

Monday

As usual, Emma was up early, preparing breakfast for everyone. It was just past seven am, and since Mondays didn’t promise cartoon reruns, the kids weren’t up yet. Instead, Zelda had come in earlier than usual, saying that she wanted to get a head start on the housework, but really just looking to gossip. They were in the kitchen together, preparing for hash browns, eggs and bacon, working over quiet chatter, “So…” Zelda nudged Emma’s shoulder with her own.

“So?” Emma chuckled, nudging her back, the comfy cotton of her robe brushing against the sleeve of Zelda’s shirt. She knew exactly what her friend was seeking, but truthfully, she didn’t know how Keanu’s proposal had gone. All she knew was that they’d left for dinner around seven, leaving her to make something for Matt and Poppy, and hadn’t returned until the twins had fallen asleep and Emma had stolen away to her room.

“So, is the wicked witch of the west coast going to be out new boss or not?” Zelda teased, continuing with helping Emma shred some potatoes.

“Honestly-” Emma cut herself off when Keanu walked in, sans shirt and with low riding sweat pants. His hair was a mess, and his good morning was punctuated by a tired yawn. "Good morning Keanu," both women greeted in unison, sharing a look.

They both wanted to know so badly that the itch was almost physical, but it wasn't like they could simply ask. With their one question would come a dozen more from Keanu. Though, as faith would have it, the truth they were seeking wasn't far behind a still half asleep Mr. Reeves.

"Darling," an all too familiar voice purred, shuffling into the kitchen, her blonde hair held up in a loose ponytail and her elegant frame wrapped up in fine satin. Unlike Keanu, Miranda didn't even bother with pleasantries, going straight over to where he stood at the integrated refrigerator, holding him in a hug from behind, strategically angling her left hand so the large rock on her finger would be on full display.

"Still wanna know?" Emma whispered near Zelda's ear, their heads almost touching.

Scoffing, Zelda seemed caught between a sarcastic smirk and a frown, "Not any more."

And because the world was such a cruel place and open wounds would be pointless without a little salt, Miranda abruptly turned to them. "Ladies! Have you two seen my ring?" Without warning she thrust her hand towards them, making the engagement ring on her finger hard to avoid, "Gorgeous right? Keke loves to spoil me," her words were perfectly gag worthy and Emma was finding it difficult to keep down the half cup of coffee she'd had. It wasn't like she was opposed to love or affection or anything, she'd really liked to think of herself as well adjusted in that way, but during the one weekend she'd spent around Miranda, her affections for Keanu always seemed so dramatic that it was nothing short of an elaborate farce.

Yet, it wasn't like she had much of a choice when it came to going forward and having to endure it. Jobs in the fashion world were hard to come by and freelancing would hardly be enough to cover living expenses. So, alas, she'd have to put up with Miranda for a quite while to come. "Don't worry Emily," Emma hadn't even realized she'd zoned out until Miranda called her by the wrong name, for probably the dozenth time. At her next words, Miranda's voice dropped below what Keanu could hear, and there was a wicked glimmer in her gaze, "You're pretty enough, I'm sure you can trick a man into buying you a nice ring. Might not be as many carats, but you'll manage."

That little quip was definitely pay back for Saturday. Fuming, Emma longed to just let her have it, but she was growing so versed in holding her tongue that she did again, deciding right then and there that as much as she loved the kids, she was wholly willing to take the next sustaining job as long as Miranda was in the picture.

*****

Tagging- @harrisongslimited @magnificentclodpiebanana @keandrews @greenmanalishi @rdjloverxxx @danceoftwowolves @planetkt @wheretheriversrunintothesea

[lustinglilac]

Disrespect

A/N: Garcia siblings are back baby! And this time, they get into some unwanted trouble at a local bar... (Platonic!Reader x Benny)

Warnings: strong language, sexual harassment, blood. *gif not mine*

Their late night bar “dates”, as she had named them, were always a good time. Pope and his sister stood on one side of the high-top table while Francisco and Benny stood across from them. Will hadn’t been able to attend tonight, though, having had some things to sort out.

She looked particularly hot tonight, blue jeans hugging her thighs and ass in all the right places paired with a dark crop top that stopped right at her bellybutton.

“Let’s fuckin’ go, baby!” Benny hollered as he downed his second shot, slamming the glass down onto the wooden table with a reverberating clink.

“Benny, we literally just got here.” She rolled her eyes at him.

“So what! You know you used to be way more fun, Garcia.” He scoffed, winking at the annoyed expression on her face.

“Oh, really? Okay. Me and Frank verse you and Pope. Let’s go.” She nodded her head in the direction of an unoccuppied pool table in the corner of the dimly lit bar.

Benny smirked at her, eyes flitting between Pope and Fish, “Why do I get Pope? You take ‘im, he’s your brother.”

“I‘m with him every single day of my life, give me a break, Benny.” She spoke a little too loudly and Pope had heard her amidst his conversation with Frank, making him frown, “Kidding, Tiago!” She cut him off with a tight smile as they made their way over.

“Alright, fair enough. What’re we playin’ for?” Benny drawled, passing down the pool sticks to his friends.

“Losers have to—“ Frank paused, thinking of a good way to end the sentence. “Losers have to go skinny dipping in the lake behind the high school!” He points his finger wildly in Pope and Benny’s direction.

“Frank?! And what if we lose? I’m not doing that!” She put her hands up, not wanting any part of that deal.

“I mean it would suck but I’m not arguin’—“ Benny smirked, weighing his options in his head.

Pope disagreed with a violent shake of his head, “We’re not doin’ that.”

Frank grimaced, slowly realizing that it probably wouldn’t be the best idea, “Yeah, never mind. We’ll just let the winners decide at the end.” He winked, nudging her softly making her laugh.

“Ladies first.” Benny bumped her shoulder playfully on his way past her, pretending like he didn’t see her standing there. She narrowed her eyes at him, pressing her lips into a thin line.

She leaned her body over the table, calculating her shot carefully before scattering the colored balls across the velvet. Only two had pocketed as she tried again, not being able to make anymore.

Frank shouted a compliment, high-fiving her as she walked back to him. She simply watched as the younger Miller took three easy shots, failing to make a fourth one.

“Your turn, Frankie.” She encouraged him to move towards the table as he set up his shot. Frank looked like a pro at it, showcasing his skills as he too managed to pocket three balls.

“Okay, Fish!” Her eyes widened, she raised her eyebrows at him, smirking at his talent.

“Y’all suck!” Benny taunted loudly, slapping Pope on the ass as he leaned over the table to get his shot in, “Get ‘em Pope.”

She gasped at his action, biting the inside of her cheek to hold back a laugh as not to distract her brother.

“Benny! What the fuck? Don’t smack my ass!” Pope grimaced at his partner, turning back around to focus on winning. He, like his sister, managed to sink two in and retreated back to the corner where his teammate stood.

“Let’s go, we’re halfway through. You got this, baby.” Frank egged her on, pinching her shoulders before she stepped up to the table once more.

Unbeknown to them, they’d had a few spectators watching as they played the game. They were particularly focused on the pretty girl with the gorgeous body who was currently setting up her shot, bent over the table.

“Hey gorgeous! Why don’t you come over here and bend that ass over my lap—“

Pool game completely discarded the moment the words left the punk’s mouth. Their pool sticks dropped to the ground harshly, wood on wood colliding.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Benny’s eyes narrowed into slits, turning his whole body to face the bar where the disgusting man and his disgusting friends were seated.

“Don’t— do not.” She pleaded with her brother and Benny and Frank. She tried to hold Pope back by his shirt to no avail. But they were fuming, no, worse, they were livid.

“Move.” Pope’s voice deadly as he spoke to his sister. Frank gently pulled her to the side out of Santiago’s way, she anxiously watched her brother approach the man who was bold enough to make a comment so lewd about his little sister.

“What? I can’t have some fun? She’s a pretty thing.” The drunk man slurred in his face, cackling obnoxiously loud as two of his friends riled him up.

That was all it took for Santiago to reel his arm back, landing a bone-cracking punch to the bastard’s face, knocking him full force off of the bar stool.

Benny stalked behind him, clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides dying to get a shot in, “Watch out, Pope—“ He seethed eagerly, staring down at his bloody face.

His two friends did nothing to back him, shutting up immediately at the sight of the two revenge seeking men who had come to the “pretty thing’s” defense.

“Don’t you ever disrespect a woman like that. I’ll fuckin’ kill you— you hear me?! Motherfucker!” Benny had gotten the man pinned beneath him with his hands wrapped tightly around his throat, throwing in three punches for good measure and continuing to yell at the pervert.

“Frank— Frank you have to stop them.” She spoke hurriedly, begging him to go over there and stop the commotion. Fuck, she just wanted to go home.

Frank was torn between wanting to get in on the action or take her advice and stop his own friends from getting detained if the fight lasted any longer.

“Shit.” Frank muttered under his breath, running over to the scene, “Benny, enough man.” Frank grunted, pulling a very begrudging Miller off of the barely conscious body.

“Piece of shit.” Benny grunted with a final kick to his leg.

Pope had noticed the worker behind the bar had a phone to her ear, most likely on the line with the police.

“Let’s get outta here.” Pope spoke, wiping his knuckles on the back of his pants wincing quietly before taking his sister’s hand and leading the four of them out of the bar.

No one dared to stop them as they walked out, not one employee, they’d all heard what was said and they knew the vile man had it coming.

Once they were outside, she shut her eyes for a brief moment. Finally able to breath properly, she inhaled deeply, her lungs filling desperately.

“Bastard.” Benny grunted under his breath, face red with anger as he paced back and forth, trying to calm his rapid heart rate.

“We should go before the cops get ‘ere—“ Frank replied hastily, the faint sound of sirens approaching catching their attention momentarily.

Pope wiped at his mouth, “Hijo de puta. Fucking sick bastards.” He breathed out through his nose, leading them to where they were parked. He fished his keys out of his pocket slowly as not to disturb the swelling knuckle of his right hand.

She was quiet, getting into her brother’s vehicle silently, occupying the seat behind Pope as Benny settled in next to her behind Frank, their knees knocking together as he found a comfortable position, leaning his head against the window.

Benny was less heated now, his pulse returning to a normal rhythm, “Shit— we didn’t even get to finish the game.” He jolted upright, looking to the girl sitting beside him.

“It was a tie.” She remembered correctly, both teams had each sunk the same amount of balls.

“We were definitely winning though—“ Frank nodded his head, attempting to convince his friends that they would’ve been the winners had they finished playing.

“Not a chance.” Benny smirked at the younger girl who couldn’t help but scoff at him.

Coming to a harsh stop at a red light, Santiago hissed, “Fuck— my hand’s killing me. Benny, you alright?” He asked him, catching his eyes in the rearview mirror.

“Yeah— for now. I’m not feelin’ it yet.” He looked down at his own knuckles, the dark red blood drying on them.

“Well, we’re definitely not coming back to this bar anytime soon.” She hummed, looking out the window as they began to drive again, “Or ever, honestly.”

Benny’s arm absentmindedly wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him as she relaxed into his side.

“You’re getting real close back there, Miller. I don’t like it.” Pope eyed them warily.

“He literally just fought someone for me. It’s a gesture of kindness, Tiago.” She glared at him, one eyebrow arched in his direction.

“So did I!” He scoffed, raising his arms.

“Someone’s jealous.” Benny’s statement provoked him even more, making Frank laugh from the passenger seat and earning him a pointed stare from Pope.

Pope laughed humorlessly at him, “Just— keep a distance, please.” He grimaced.

“Whatever floats your boat, handsome.” Benny winked at him in the reflection.

She rolled her eyes, biting back a grin, pushing off of Benny and sitting back in her spot.

“I love fuckin’ with you, Pope.” Benny snickered, reaching over to grab at his shoulder pinching it between his fingers.

“Yeah, yeah.” The older Garcia grunted, rolling his eyes.

Tags: @chibsytelford

[atlafan]

Take it Slow - Part Fifty-Five

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry.

Warnings: Smut and Fluff.

Masterpost (all previous parts can be found in the masterpost)

Your alarm goes off at four the next morning. Harry groans like you’ve never heard him before.

“Why are you up so bloody early?”

“I’m going to the gym before work.” You whisper. “Go back to sleep.” You change and pack up everything you’ll need.

“Why?”

“Too dark in the evenings right now, I have zero motivation after work. I’ll be back before I go to work.”

You ran three miles. You have no idea why, but you did. You lifted some weights, and then got back to your apartment by 6:30 to shower. Harry was still in bed when you got back. He rolled over and saw you. You strip yourself of your clothes and he thought you looked like a runway model with the way you were strutting around.

“Right, so I’ll be showerin’ with ya.” He says getting up. You turn to grin at him.

“We have to be super quick.” You fix your hair into a bun so it won’t get wet. “Niall and I are going to carpool today, and he leaves super early.”

“Well, enough talkin’ then, let’s go.”

You turn the water on and wait for it to heat up. You stand under the warm water to wash the sweat away. Harry gets on his knees and pulls you towards him. You giggle, and then gasp when you feel his mouth on your clit. Your hands rake through his hair. He moves one of your legs over his shoulder so he can lick your center easier.

“Ugh, Harry.” Your head rolls back. “Feels so good.”

He dips a finger up inside you while his mouth focuses on your clit again. He curls it up inside you making the “come here” motion, and you’re not sure how much longer you’ll last.

“Harry, shit, don’t stop.”

You feel him smirk while he flicks his tongue faster on you. It’s when his second finger slips inside that you lose it. You gasp loudly, and practically scream while your stomach coils. One of your hands grasps at the tile on the shower wall. Your release comes and he continues to pump in and out of you while you ride it out. He stands up as you catch your breath. You lean your forehead on his chest.

“Shit.”

He lifts you up quickly and puts your back flush with the wall. You wrap your legs around him and he thrusts up into you. Your eyes roll into the back of your head.

“Always so reactive in the mornin’.” He smirks. He starts moving in and out. He grabs one of your hands with his and laces your fingers together.

“I love you so much.” You kiss him while he fucks up in to you.

“I love you too.” He says into your ear. “Love this tight little cunt too.” You moan at his words.

“Keep going.” You breathe out. He could feel you pulsing against him.

“Feels so good wrapped around me.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, s’like it was made just f’me.” You tighten around him.

“Fuck, Harry.” You start panting while he moves in and out of you faster. “I wanna come at the same time, can we do that?”

“Fuck, yeah.”

“Harry, it’s gonna, I’m, oh god!”

His come shoots up inside you as you release around his cock. He stays pressed against you for a moment before pulling out, and setting you down. He kisses you before stepping into the water to rinse off. You give his bum a little pinch as you step into the water.

“Oi!”

“I love that ass.” You giggle.

You get dressed quick and throw some makeup on. It was already 7:15. You made a quick smoothie and kissed Harry before heading out the door. Niall had just pulled his car up.

“Mornin’.”

“Good morning.” You smile big at him. You certainly didn’t seem the way Harry had described. But it was a new day after all.

“You seem perky.”

“I went to the gym really early, I feel so energized.”

“That’s good. Wish I could do that, I get every last drop of sleep I can possibly get. Plus, Sarah usually gives me a good work out.”

“Don’t be gross.” You nudge him.

“As if Harry doesn’t give you a parting gift in the morning.”

“Oh he does, did this morning in fact, but that’s none of your business.” You smirk.

“Mhm, yeah.”

You and Niall stop for coffee and head to the office. You liked carpooling already. It was nice to have that time together in the morning. You decided to switch off every other day. You get to your desk and get through some lingering emails. Harry texts you a kissy face and it makes your heart flutter.

//

Harry gets to work around nine. Isaac says good morning like he usually does.

“Harry! We missed you last week.”

“Thanks, wish I could say the same.” He smiles along with his joke.

“Very funny.”

“Actually, I would have much preferred you had come with us. We coulda had a lot of fun.” Isaac blushes as Harry walks into his office.

His coffee was already waiting for him. He sighs with relief. He logs onto his computer and loads up some of the pictures he started editing. He gets them onto a flash drive and walks down to Mykenzie’s office. He taps on the outside of the door.

“Hey.” He says to her.

“Hi.” She says looking over at him.

“Got the pictures from last week for yeh.”

“Thanks, you can just leave that on Julia’s desk.”

“You’re not even gonna look ‘em over?” He pouts.

“Why do I need to? She’s the one writing the pieces.”

“You’re gonna look her shit over though right?”

“Yeah, when she’s done. I’m working on something else right now.”

“Alright then.” He turns on his heel and leaves her office. She hated when he’d pout like that. It was too cute. He walks over to Julia’s desk where her eyes are glued to her computer screen. “Hey, here are the pictures from last week.” He places it on her desk.

“Thanks.” Her cheeks heat up looking at him.

“Ya good?”

“Mhm.”

“Thanks for the coffee.” He winks at her and walks away.

//

You were too busy jamming out to your Glee cast playlist playing loudly in your ears to notice Harry standing in your door way around lunch time. He got a kick out of you bobbing your head around, mouthing the words that he knew you desperately wished you could be belting out. He makes a coughing noise, and you look up at him.

“Oh! Hi, sweetie.” You pause your music and get up.

“It okay I came by?”

“Course! Wanna eat with Niall too? He missed me all week.” Harry goes to speak but you’re already walking down the hall to Niall’s office. “Hey, come to my office for lunch, Harry’s here too.”

“Sounds good!” You come back and get your lunch out of your lunch box.

“What?”

“Nothin’…” He sits down in one of the chairs by your desk. Niall comes in and sits next to him.

“Hey mate.”

“Hey. How was car poolin’?”

“Good! We’re going to do it every day.” You say sitting down.

“It’s a nice way to start to day off.” Niall says.

“Agreed.” You smile at him. “How’s work today, babe?”

“Good, everyone really liked my pictures.”

“That’s great! They were beautiful. Niall, Harry got to dive under water.”

“Ohh, he likes doin’ that.”

“Shut up.” He nudges him. You roll your eyes at the inside joke. “Hey, Niall, you ever notice how much Y/N rolls her eyes?” They both smirk.

“Oh, all the time. She should have an award for it.”

“I really don’t even notice I’m doing it!”

“The best is when I catch you doin’ it in a bad meeting, I have all I can do to not start laughin’.”

“Good to know I can be so entertaining.” You stick out tongue out at him and he sticks his back at at you.

“You both wanna come over tonight to watch The Bachelor?”

“Or you could come to our place! Is that okay Harry?” He nods yes.

“Perfect. Sarah can’t come over tonight, and I hate watchin’ it alone.”

“I cannot believe you like watching it.”

“It’s addicting as fuck! Y/N actually got me into it. When she first started here she was talkin’ about the Bachelorette like all the time.”

“Mhm, so I started Niall off with Bachelor in Paradise that summer.”

“It was wild.”

“Jesus, you two are a married couple.” Harry chuckles.

“We’d be one of the couple’s from the fifties that have the twin beds instead of like a normal bed.” You joke.

“Yes! That’s exactly how I’d picture it.” He laughs.

Niall leaves you and Harry to hang out alone around 12:30. He closes the door behind him, and you move to sit in Harry’s lap.

“Hi.” You nuzzle your nose to his.

“You’re in a good mood today.”

“Hard not to be when you gave me an earth shattering orgasm this morning.” You blush as you say it.

“Earth shatterin’ huh?”

“Didn’t you hear me scream? Jesus, I’m still thinking about it. You have magic fingers. Actually, you have magic everything.” You giggle and lean down to kiss him.

“Would love to do that for ya again, now.” You stand up immediately.

“I already told you I’m not going to fuck you in my office.”

“Can we make out then?”

“Yeah, okay.”

You sit on the edge of your desk and he stands between your legs. Your hands stay on his hips while he kisses you.

//

Harry left your office with swollen lips and a fresh hickey on his collar bone. Isaac smirked at him as he came back up to the studio. Harry grabs a mint from the top of his desk.

“What’s that face for?” He asks him.

“Nothing, I just think it’s cute that you have this like high school romance with your girlfriend.”

“High school romance?” Harry scoffs.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone ready to pounce like you, you’re a like a teenager going through puberty.”

“Come off it. Can’t help that I’m with the most gorgeous girl in the world. Need to her to kiss me any chance I can get.” He shrugs.

“It’s nice seeing you so in love, H. It looks good on you.”

“Thanks, mate.”

Harry shakes his head and goes into his office. He was genuinely over the moon happy.

//

Niall drives you home at the end of the day, and says he’ll be over around 7:30. You get home before Harry, so you decide to start dinner. You get your music going and start a pot of water on the burner. You were thinking egg noodles with mushrooms and peas. Harry comes home to the smell of your cooking and sits down at the island in the kitchen.

“Hi sweetie.” You say to him. “Dinner’s just about ready.” You kiss him on the cheek. “How was the rest of your day?”

“Good, no complaints for once. How was yours?”

“Pretty good. Had a few meetings. I hate afternoon meetings, people are exhausting after lunch.” You plate up the foot for the two of you and sit next to him.

“Mm, this is delicious, thank you.”

“I made enough to have leftovers for tomorrow.”

“Sounds good. What time is Niall comin’?”

“7:30.”

“Perfect, plenty of time for a shag.”

“Harry.”

“C’mon, let’s go. Need t’save time for a cuddle and all that.”

“Okay, can we just clean up first?”

He practically throws the plates in the dishwasher, and yanks you into the bedroom. Your legs were over his shoulders before you knew it. Your back arching upwards several times. This man truly knew how to fuck a woman right, there was no doubt about that. When you were both done you laid their facing each other, legs tangled up in each other. Light pillow talk, giggles, and stolen kisses.

Around 7:15 you both get up and throw on some sweats. You decide on wearing Harry’s clothes. He notices you’re not wearing a bra.

“Hey, could you put somethin’ on under that?”

“It’s a sweat shirt, you can’t even tell.”

“Yes you can.”

“That’s because you’re looking. He won’t be.”

“Y/N.”

“Harry, I don’t know how else to say this, but Niall has seen me without a bra on several times. It’s really not a big deal. It’s not like I’m wearing a tight little white shirt. I’m wearing one of your sweatshirts. I’ll even keep my arms crossed. See?” You hear the buzzer go off. “I’m gonna let him up. Could you make some popcorn?”

“Mhm.”

“Hey!” You say to Niall as he comes in. He had his glasses on and was also clad in sweats. Harry comes out of the kitchen. “Look, he’s got his glasses on, full relaxation mode for the Irish lad.”

“Shut up, I was done with contacts for the day.”

“Want a glass of wine?”

“Wouldn’t be the bachelor if we didn’t.”

“Perfect! Go sit, I’ll get it.”

Harry felt like he was intruding on a date or something. He sits next to Niall on the couch and puts the popcorn on the coffee table. You come over with three wine glasses and pour it for them both, and yourself.

“Harry, could I please sit in the middle?” He shuffles over. “Thank you.”

The show starts and Harry is already bored. He really felt like a third wheel while you and Niall made comments to each other.

“He’s lettin’ her come back?!” Niall shouts.

“I thought we were free! I’m gonna say it, Peter’s a stupid bitch.”

“You’re right, and you should say it.”

“He literally just wants to bone, I don’t know why he wanted to do this.”

“Probably for that exact reason. Just wait for the fantasy suites.”

“What in the fuck are fantasy suites?”

“When he gets to the final three women, they each get an overnight date with him.” You explain.

“But only if the girl accepts.”

“And it’s no cameras. So the couple can talk all night without the producers meddling, or they can fuck.”

“And there’s no cameras at all?”

“Mhm, it’s like the most crucial date.”

Harry found himself getting more invested with the show. It reminded him of one his novels. You felt your eyes start to get droopy. You had been up really early, and the wine was making you sleepy. Your head falls on Niall’s shoulder. He looks down at you and chuckles. Harry’s jaw tenses. Niall nudges his shoulder up to wake you.

“Hm? Sorry, dozed off for a second.” Harry hooks his arm around your shoulders and pulls you into him. “Ya good?” You ask looking up at him.

“Yup.” Niall shakes his head, but keeps his attention on the TV.

When it ends the three of you are exhausted. You and Harry say goodnight to Niall, and you both shuffle into the bedroom, and into the bathroom to do your nightly routines. You take the sweat pants and sweatshirt off and get into bed. You couldn’t wait for Harry to wrap his arms around your soft skin. You sigh with relief when he does.

“That was fun tonight.”

“Yeah, s’not the worst show I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s very addicting.”

“Clearly.” He yawns.

“Love you baby.” You kiss his cheek.

“Love you too, goodnight.”

//

You were sort of embarrassed when you went to see Dr. Mara. You had called her office last week and told them you were too sick to come in.

“Hi, Y/N, are you feeling better?” She says to you as you sit down.

“I wasn’t really sick last week.”

“Oh?”

“I just didn’t feel like coming in and talking.”

“Well, that’s alright. Do you feel like you don’t need weekly appointments anymore?”

“No.” You sigh. “I definitely still need weekly appointments. I’ve been sort of depressed, and I’ve been trying to repress all of it.”

“What are you depressed about?”

“I don’t know…could be my seasonal thing. Harry and I have had sex from behind a couple times and I’ve had some bad flashes. I kept it to myself, but I told him about it…so I’m a little better. I was just feeling really low for some reason. I don’t know if it was because I was keeping something like that to myself, so I was just making it worse?”

“Why do you think you kept it to yourself?”

“Because I didn’t want him to worry, or treat me differently. I could tell he was really enjoying it, which made me enjoy it too…”

“You don’t have to put yourself through anything just because you know he wants it a certain way.”

“I know that, and he’s said the same thing to me.”

“So why try to force it?”

“Because I just want to be able to do things!”

“And you will, but not if you force yourself before you’re ready. I mean look at you, you look depressed.”

“I’m feeling better.”

“You look exhausted.”

“I’ve been sleeping just fine, getting up early, going to the gym.”

“Are you fatigued?”

“A little.” You sigh. “I’m going to Aruba in April…Harry and I got into a fight about it.”

“Why? Isn’t that a family trip?”

“Yeah, he was upset because he had just gotten back from a work thing in Florida, and he felt like I wanted to get away from him by bringing up my own trip. He really missed me. I missed him too, but he like really missed me.” You pause for a moment as she nods along. “He felt really bad for leaving because we were supposed to have the week off together to move. I told him it was no big deal, it really wasn’t. I honestly didn’t care, it was out of my control.”

“You usually like being the one in control.”

“On a person to person basis, yeah. But something like this, a bigger picture thing, like there’s literally nothing either of us could do, so it was whatever.” You shrug. “I don’t think he handles being out of control very well. I think once there’s a plan in place he gets really upset when it changes drastically.”

“Do you think that’s why he was upset when you brought up Aruba?”

“I think his family is supposed to come here for Easter, and he hasn’t truly accepted that I won’t be around for it. I don’t think he fully understands the relationship I have with my Nannie, even though he’s seen me absolutely sob over her…I hate it when we fight. We fight over the stupidest fucking things. We were in a restaurant over the weekend and he threw my fucking degree in communication in my face! Can you believe that?! And then when we got home he put on this big show of making it known he was going to sleep on the sofa. Good! I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him not to. An hour later he comes back in and starts yelling at me. So we talk some shit through. I mean, he drives me crazy sometimes. I know I’m not the easiest person sometimes, but Jesus neither is he.”

“Do you want to break up with him?”

“What?! God, no. I love him too much. The thought’s never even crossed my mind.” You sigh. “We had sex after our fight, it was good, but I got really emotional. It wasn’t like we had made love, it was almost angrier than that. Like a hate fuck or something. Only I was in control the entire time, all of it was coming from me.”

“Maybe you hadn’t resolved everything like you thought you had when you talked.”

“But I don’t want to have angry sex with him. Sure, a little rough is okay, but not angry. That shit doesn’t solve anything. It sure as hell didn’t make me feel better after.” You cross your arms and look away. “The next day I didn’t get out of bed until nearly one in the afternoon. I knew he was worried. I went to take a shower and he told me he needed to go to Niall’s for something. I know he went there to talk about me, why else would he have slipped out like that?”

“What do you think they would have talked about?”

“Why I was acting the way I was, I’m sure. I don’t like that it feels like I’m not allowed to not be okay. I can’t be okay all the time. Besides that, Sarah was with them and she texted me.”

“How did that make you feel?”

“Incredibly annoyed, but she told me what they talked about…I chose to just let it go.”

“What did they talk about?”

“Every depressive episode I’ve ever had. It was like a fucking team of doctors or some shit.”

“Y/N, we’ve talked about this before, but do you think you’d like to try going on some kind of medication? We could start you on a very low dosage-“

“No…that’s like a last resort. That stuff just fucks with your mood.”

“There are some side effects sure, but-“

“I said no.” You both look at each other for a moment. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. So you know Harry went over there to get some information on you, and you chose not to freak out about it. Very different from a couple months ago.”

“I honestly just didn’t have the strength or energy to fight with him again. Now he knows these things about me. Awesome, I really don’t care.”

“But you do care. You look pissed.”

“Of course I’m pissed! How would you feel if three people who were really close to you had a conference to talk about every time you’ve ever been sad? It’s embarrassing. You think I like getting like that? I’d say it’s the only thing about living with someone I don’t like. They can see every time you’re vulnerable.” You groan. “And I lied to Niall last week. I told him I came to see you, and Harry had to have told him I lied.”

“Are you going to talk to him about it?”

“I don’t know. It’s sort of a moot point now…but now who knows if either will believe me when I come here.”

“Niall’s opinion of you really matters, doesn’t it?”

“We love each other, I don’t want him looking at me differently because I fibbed one time.”

“How does Harry feel about the way you and Niall love each other?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes he cares and sometimes he doesn’t. He gets jealous really easily. But he’s just a clingy, needy, guy.”

“Does that bother you?”

“Not at all…until it starts some shit. I think it’s cute he wants me all to himself. God, you don’t think we’re toxic do you?”

“No…but you two need some boundaries set. He shouldn’t get upset with you because you’re going on a trip with your family. But you’re not off the hook either. I know how you can be. You need to cut him some slack once in a while too. He’s not a mind reader, remember?”

“But I’m not one either.”

“Exactly. So, instead of biting each other’s heads off, just try communicating more clearly. If you notice him act a certain way, don’t just call him out on it. Take a step back and think about why he may be acting that way, and go at it from another angle. I know you do that work, bring it home with you.”

//

As you drove home from your appointment, you knew she was right. She was always right. The doorman greets you as you go inside, and you check your little mailbox just in case Harry hadn’t. You say hello to the desk attendant, Michael, as you head up to the elevator. You had gotten to know Michael well during the week of moving.

You key into your place. Harry was up in the loft working. You go right for the kitchen since you were starving. You take out the leftovers from last night, put some in a bowl, and heat it up. Harry comes into the kitchen to greet you.

“Barely heard ya come in.” He kisses you on the cheek. “How was it?”

“Annoying.” You say under your breath.

“Hm?”

“Good, it was good. Actually, it exhausted me.” Your mood had soured. “I just wanna chill out and watch Chopped.” The microwave goes off and you take your food out.

“Why was it exhausting?”

“Um…I told her about what happened over the weekend.” You say taking a bite of food.

“Oh.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Would you, um, like some time to yourself?” You smile at him.

“That would be kind of nice, actually.”

“Alright, I’ll just be upstairs.”

“Thanks, Harry.”

After you eat, you change into some of Harry’s sweats, and plop down on the sofa. You turn the TV on so you can watch Chopped. After the two episodes, and some time to yourself, you looked up towards the loft. You get up from the sofa and climb the spiral staircase. Harry had his headphones in and he was playing a video game. He pauses it when he sees you. You crawl right into his lap and wrap your arms around his shoulders, nuzzling your face into his neck. He wraps his arms around you as well and rubs your back.

“My sweet girl.” He coos.

“Miss you.” You nuzzle into him more. “Can we go cuddle in bed?”

“Mhm.”

You stand to get off him, and you both go down the stairs. You both go through your routines and get into bed.

“Harry, can I just lay on you for a bit?”

“Course, love.”

You shift and lay completely on top of him. Head resting on his chest, and legs on either side of his. His hands move up under your shirt just to rub your back. You sigh happily.

“So soft.” He coos. You smile against his chest.

“Harry?”

“Yes, love?”

“I love you more than anything, I hope you know that.”

“I do. I love you too.” He holds you a little tighter to him.

You fell asleep on top of him. He didn’t mind. He actually really liked when you were needy for a change. You were his sweet little angel.

[angst-fairygodmother]

Light Fingers (The Umbrella Academy)

Diego’s vigilantism brings him repeatedly across the path of a young cat burglar. But as he finds himself developing feelings for the thief, he begins to wonder if there’s more to her than meets the eye, and whether they’re really on opposite sides. And as their relationship deepens, it brings with it a plot involving his estranged adopted father, and threatens to destroy all of them.

CHAPTER 4: ALLEGIANCES 

Word Count: 2663 Pairing: Diego Hargreeves x Reader; teased Eudora Patch x Reader Rating: T Content Warnings: violence, guns, threat to a child, injury Cross-posted to AO3: here

Previous Chapter: Taking Your Heart || Masterlist

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“Oh come on Al,” you begged, following the gym manager across the room. “just tell me where he is.”

You had decided several days ago that you were going to make amends with Diego, but so far he had proven impossible to track down, and worry was beginning to twist in your gut. What if he was avoiding you intentionally? Or worse, what if he wasn’t, and something had happened to him?

“Do I look like Hargreeves’ nanny?” Al snapped in response as he paused to rearrange some equipment, refusing to even look you at you. In his defense, you had been by every day and were making something of a nuisance of yourself, almost in the hope that he would get annoyed enough to force Diego to talk to you so you would go away.

You sighed, running a hand through your hair in frustration. “Fine. Can you just tell him—”

“No.” The old man made a dismissive gesture and walked away, headed for his office.

“Oh don’t be like that,” you whined, following him until he slammed the door in your face.

While you were arguing, you didn’t notice the woman who walked in. She leaned against one corner of the boxing ring at the center of the gym, watching you. When you flipped off the door with a growl and turned away, sagging against the wall nearby, she smiled, walking over.

“Officer Eudora Patch,” she said, offering you a hand.

You shook it, trying to hide your flinch. “Y/N.”

“I saw you strike out with Al,” she grimaced in sympathy that felt shockingly genuine. “He’s a tough nut. Mind me asking why you’re looking for Diego?”

“He’s…a friend. Just needed to talk to him about something.” You shrugged.

“Seems like it was pretty important?”

“I guess, yeah. I just…we had an argument and some dumb things were said,” you sighed dragging out the words. “And I haven’t heard from him in a while since, so I was…worried.”

“You haven’t heard from him in a while?” she seemed surprised and disappointed by this but quickly covered it up. “How long’s a while?”

“Couple…weeks,” you admitted, deflating, before eyeing her more curiously. “Why are you asking anyway?”

“I’ve been looking for him too.”

“Oh? What’s he to you? No offense officer, but you don’t seem like the ‘get punched for fun’ sort that he seems to spend most of his time with.” You gestured to some of the other members of the gym who were sparing or warming up.

“He and I go back to the police academy actually. We were…close before he left. And I need to talk to him about a case he may have…been a witness to.”

“Oh.” Recognition dawned on you from the stories Diego had told you. “Oh! You’re that Patch!”

She raised an eyebrow. “Should I be worried what that’s supposed to mean?”

You shrugged. “Diego’s just talked a lot about you, that’s all. Oddly, failed to mention how gorgeous you are.” You smiled winningly.

She looked down and away, blushing.

“Hey listen,” you said, suddenly getting a terrible, wonderful idea. “Obviously, neither of us is going to find the mysterious disappearing Hargreeves by just standing around here. Let me buy you a coffee and we can help each other look for him?”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that sounded like you were asking me out on a date.”

“Would it be a problem if I was?” you quirked an eyebrow at her.

~

Eudora’s case closed without Diego’s involvement several weeks later, and you were beginning to give up on ever fixing things with him. In the meanwhile, coffee with Eudora had become routine, or dinner, or spending hours watching bad movies and eating popcorn together in one apartment or the other on the rare occasions you both had the same night off. Talking with her felt natural, and while the bond between you began with having both become familiar with putting up with Diego’s particular brand of shit, it was now much deeper (though she, for obvious reasons, still didn’t know about your thievery) and in many ways she slipped into the gap in your life that he had left behind, sealing the jagged edges with soft smiles and open nature. Too often, you found yourself toeing the line, considering if crossing it would be worth the risk of losing one of your few genuine friends. But no, you had done that once, and look where it had ended: a literal disappearing act.

Of course, as soon as you had found a new normal and gotten comfortable, things went straight to hell.

It was an average day, meant to be a quick trip to the bank to deposit your paycheck, and then you were going to treat yourself to takeout and a horror movie marathon after a long, grueling week. And then someone came crashing through the door with a shotgun, waving it around and scaring everyone. Two more ‘customers’ pulled weapons out and the three started directing hostages. It was only when Shouty Shotgun turned the muzzle of it toward you that you fully realized the situation you were in.

“Shit,” you muttered, following the order to get down on your knees with your hands behind your head, back to one of the counters.

Cat-burglar turned hostage, nicely done, you scolded yourself while you started planning your next move. If you focused, with all the commotion around they might not notice you disappear and you could get out.

But what about everyone else? a voice that sounded strangely like Diego’s asked in the back of your mind.

As much as you wanted to pretend that you didn’t care, that they weren’t your problem, you knew that probably wasn’t the case, and you tried to take the dozen or so others in the room into account in your plan. Two more gunmen came in, barring the doors behind them, bringing the robbers’ total to five.

Too outnumbered to do anything. Give em what they want and we all go home. Maybe I’ll track them down again later. Just as you thought this, the bank’s security officer lunged at one of them, only to fall back with a cry, and more screaming from the gathered civilians, as he was shot. He clutched at his stomach, and one of the others crawled over to try and help him, only to be warned back with a wave of the offending pistol.

A woman in a grey pencil skirt and bubble gum pink blouse stood, trembling, and introduced herself as the branch manager, trying to negotiate with them.

You tried to tune out the distractions so you could think. Scanning the room, you spotted a shadow out of the corner of your eye, moving fast and low. Not far from you, the figure halted. You tried to ignore it. And then, there were lips at your ear and Diego’s voice was no longer just in your head.

“What are you, the decoy?” he hissed.

You frowned. “What are you talking about?” you snapped softly, not turning your head and doing your best not to move your lips noticeably.

“The gunmen make a big show and attract all the attention and then you slip into the vault and clear out the cash, make your escape and rendezvous with whoever doesn’t get arrested later. Or you get lucky and keep all of it for yourself. It’s a clever trick, ‘til I showed up.”

“Wait, you think I’m with these assholes?”

“You expect me to believe you’re not?”

You were actually hurt by the accusation, though you fought the feeling down so that it didn’t affect the pitch of your voice. “When have I ever done anything to make you think I’d be part of a bank robbery. I have always hit empty buildings, worked at night. No witnesses, no hostages.”

“Or so you claim.”

“Hey!” you growled. “I don’t hurt people to get what I want. Ever. In fact, of the two of us, you’re the one who’s caused more injuries.”

“So you expect me to believe that you just happened to be in the bank when it got robbed?”

“Frankly Hargreeves, I don’t give a shit what you think. But I do want to get out of here, and get everyone else out safely. And the best way to that right now, is for the two of us to put aside our differences and deal with the situation before anyone else does something dumb.”

He was silent for a minute that felt like it dragged on forever.

“Fine. Do you have a plan?” he asked condescendingly.

“I was working on that, prior to your appearance.”

Suddenly one of the robbers whipped back around in your direction and you froze. Diego somehow managed to duck behind the counter unseen.

“Who the hell is talking?” the robber shouted. He was greeted with utter silence.

As soon as he had moved away, Diego reappeared.

“I’ll take out the gunmen, you get the hostages clear,” he suggested.

“Sure, and then I’ll give you a nice eulogy. There are five of them and only one of you. And bullets move faster than knives,” you hissed.

He smirked. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that sounded like you were worried about me.”

You scoffed. “Don’t kid yourself. I’m just not interested in the hostages becoming collateral damage when you epically fail.”

He raised a challenging eyebrow.

“And…I guess…if not wanting you to die means that I care…maybe I do a little bit,” you admitted reluctantly, almost petulantly.

“Mama, what’s happening?” a child’s voice cut through the room, pulling everyone’s attention, including your own, to the boy who looked to be about seven and who you hadn’t noticed in the crowd prior to now.

“Shut up,” the gunman with the shotgun growled.

The boy’s lip trembled. “I want to go home Mama! I’m scared! I don’t like it here.”

“Shut that brat up before I do it for you!”

Your whole body thrummed with tension as you watched the scene unfolding: the pistol being waved at the little child, the mother trying to hush and calm him, his face screwing up with fear and overwhelming emotion that he was much too young to understand or contain. You were vaguely aware that Diego was talking again, but you couldn’t hear the words past the ringing in your ears.

“Shit,” you muttered, biting your thumb nail nervously as your eyes flickered back and forth from the child to the gunman, to the rest of the robbers and the woman who was still trying to negotiate with them, to the security guard still bleeding out quickly. “This is bad. This is really, really bad…”

Like a bolt of lightning, an idea came to you.

“Diego,” you murmured. “Cover your eyes and be ready to move quickly. Get as many people out as you can.”

“What?”

Time seemed to slow down as you rolled to your feet and moved, placing yourself in front of the child. If you let yourself think, you wouldn’t do it. All you had was the hope that your plan would work, that Diego would trust you enough to do as you said. The criminal cried out in surprise as you jumped in front of him, calling the attention of his cohorts. Well at least that was convenient. You closed your eyes.

At the same moment that you released a pulse of energy, you heard a bang and the faint hum of sirens. You opened your eyes. The room had been plunged into darkness by your actions, draining it out of everywhere possible, but slowly the fluorescents flickered back on.

All five gunmen were flailing, rubbing at their eyes and muttering to themselves. Most of the hostages were out of the line of sight, and Diego was nowhere to be seen. There were still several who were in the risk of harm’s way though: the security guard, the manager, the child and his mother who were sitting, stunned behind you, and a few scattered others, mostly on the other side of the room from where you had been moments before.

You trembled with exhaustion, biting the inside of your cheek, the sharp pain keeping you focused.

A gloved hand appeared behind a panel of plexi-glass, waving at you and pointing toward the door. Hazily, you registered that it was most likely Diego and he was probably trying to tell you that he could get the hostages outside.

Cautiously, you began drawing light inward again, gearing up for a second burst. One of the gunmen turned back to you, weapon raised and you let go of all the power that had been building.

Your head swam and your blood pounded in your ears, the rush creating a strange echo like listening to the ocean through ears stuffed with cotton. A heat crept up the sides of your neck and you felt the beads of sweat break out across your brow. But when you finally registered the world on a mostly untilted axis again, it was over. The gunmen had been subdued and there were no hostages still inside.

“You okay there?” Diego asked, concern roughening his voice as he approached you.

“Shit,” you swore, swaying slightly. “Remind me never to do that again. Is everyone…okay?”

“Ambulances and police are outside, they’ve got things under control, and you’re the last one out.”

“Oh good. Wanna show me your back door in so I can leave without anyone knowing I was ever here?”

“Why wouldn’t you want…?”

“Because I don’t like the attention. You had the Academy sheltering you, but I don’t think superpowers are actually as welcomed or exciting as they might seem. Pretty sure the words that’ll get thrown around are ‘dangerous’ and ‘threat.’”

“You saved people’s lives.”

Your brow pinched in a frown. You felt like shit and you didn’t want to argue with him right now.

“Diego, please.”

The world tilted sharply again, and you started to realize that it was more than just from the overexertion of your powers. Now that the crisis was averted and the adrenaline was wearing off, fast, you registered a sharp pain in your left leg and an uncomfortable, damp warmth creeping down it. The edges of your vision began to go fuzzy.

For the second time in a very short period, things looked very bad indeed. You couldn’t remember being shot, had no idea when it might have happened, but that was the most logical explanation. Not that knowing helped, really. You might have been able to manage, get to somewhere safe and secure (or to the emergency services vehicles waiting outside for the hostages at least) if you hadn’t just expended a huge burst of energy using your powers. Instead, you would be lucky if you could get to somewhere where you wouldn’t bust your skull open on impact with the ground.

“You don’t look so good, Y/N….” Diego said and you jumped, having momentarily forgotten he was there.

“I’ll be fine,” you said through gritted teeth. “I just really need to get out of here, okay.”

Reluctantly he nodded, gesturing in the direction of the safe deposit room. “I came in through a window that way. It took a little maneuvering, but you’re good at that sort of thing.”

You smirked softly. “Might need a little assistance, just this once. Being the hero is exhausting.”

He chuckled but didn’t move, clearly waiting for you. You sighed. Damn him and his concern.

Trying to keep the majority of your weight off your left leg, you took a tentative step. Suddenly your vision narrowed to a single point and the sound of your blood rushing in your ears became a roar. Your knee buckled beneath you.

You thought you felt hands, someone catching you, but you weren’t sure you weren’t imagining them.

And then it didn’t matter and the world went black.

[dontasktheradiodemon]

Coastal Waters (1/8/2021)

Click here if you’re like “What the heck is this about?”

Valera @autokrates and Madame @usedhearts meet underwater, talk about Madame’s history, eat an eel, and head to the library when Valera discovers to his horror that Madame, an octopus, doesn’t know shit about octopuses. octopodes. octopi.

Madame

The sea. She hadn't even seen the ocean since she was just a girl, let alone swam deep in her waters. The water was warm against her skin, and she flowed through it with an effortless grace that she honestly didn't know she had. It felt good. It felt right, to be among the waves of this alien planet. This was were a giant octopus of a lady should be.

Madame just sat there, under the water, watching curious fish and other creatures flit towards her. She was far larger than any of them, so they were either brave or foolish. A few of the more foolish ones found their way inside her mouth for their crimes. She intentionally kept her skin a pinkish red, wanting to stand out among the reef. A color that said 'Here I am, and I'm bigger than you, so watch out!' It was perfect really.  She kept a look out for anyone else going for a swim-- she'd be sure they got a little kraken scare, just for fun.

Valera

Funny, how even on an alien planet, the ocean is still comforting to anyone who loved it. Colorful fish were abundant, the reddish light of the suns lending a faintly pink tinge to the rays coming down through the water.

And here comes Valera to torment innocent wildlife, a flash of silver followed by pink as he chases a mirror bright eel adjacent creature past Madame's resting place.

Madame

Madame's head snapped to the side as Valera passed, and quick as anything, she's off after him. That eel is the target, hm? Well, she wasn't about to let their host have an easy go of it. Tentacles opening and then thrusting back to get her speed, she closed in, trying to get it first-- or at least, make a little game of it for Valera.

Valera

It takes a few seconds for Valera to notice the appearance of a competitor, movement in the corner of his eyes nearly distracting him enough to lose track of the eel. But then the slippery menace turns on a dime, diving into a crevice in the rocks for all its worth. Valera's forced to brake, fins flaring out dramatically as he backpedals just to not smash into the rocks.

He perches on the coral, snorting out a few bubbles as he looks up at Madame. "Damn! Ah well, it'll have to come out eventually. Hello! What's an octopus like you doing in a place like this?"

Madame

Unfortunately, Madame doesn't catch herself quite as quickly as Valera, but she does slow herself enough to not smash hard against the rocks. She winced as she pulled away from them, rubbing her arm.

"Ouch. Them eels are slippery fuckers, ain't they?" She smirked at Val, swimming over to them and perching in a similar manner. "That it does. And thought I'd go for a swim, enjoy it while I can 'n all that. The closest I get to all this is my aquariums at home. This is...heaven, honestly."

Valera

Valera frowns, leaning in to sniff at Madame. Any blood? He can patch up a scrape no problem! The praise for his planet makes him purr, a soft buzz in the water that makes nearby fish start swimming closer to nibble at the pink fish's scales.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself! I was hoping my home would be a place of relaxation, but it seems like it's getting even more of a positive response than expected. If you really like it though, I'll see about inviting you back sometime!"

Madame

No blood, luckily, but she'd probably have a bruise or three later. Octopus skin is durable but not the best when it comes to impacts.

"Oh, I'd simply love that-- even give ya free drinks for life at the Cabaret if that'd sweeten the pot." She winked and laughed, before turning to look up at the surface, watching the sunlight glitter through. She was glad they were surrounded by salt water-- a few tears wouldn't be noticed down here.

"It truly is beautiful. Reminds me so much a home-- I ever tell ya, me 'n Alastor hail from the same place? Good ol' Nawlins, right there on the gulf. Gorgeous city, full of wonderful people 'n the best food 'n the south. When I went west with my husband, I knew I'd miss the ocean, but I didn't think I'd die without ever seein' it again." She smiled as she turned towards him.

"Ya really put some joy back in an ol' lady's heart, Valera, invitin' me here. Didn't think it'd mean as much as it does...but here we are." She laughed, and wiped at her eyes-- before remembering there was nothing to wipe. "Forgive me, gettin' all emotional. We supposed t' be lookin' for an eel, right?"

Valera

"Oh, that eel can go tie itself in knots for all I care, we're talking about this old lady here right now." Valera leans in, a clawed hand delicately patting at Madame's shoulder. "I didn't know you were from New Orleans! I've been there a few times. Lovely place. Very...." He pauses to think, plucking a wandering shrimp off the reef to gesture with. "Lively? Vibrant! You can really lose yourself in that city"

His tail winds around an outcrop, the fish settling down like he was lounging on the finest swooning couch. "So, you were married? Happily, I hope!"

Madame

She took a few breaths, the water filling her chest with warmth, and nodded.

"I was, born 'n raised. Got married a fresh faced youth 'n me 'n the husband decided to try 'n make our fortunes out west. We made it out there too, 'n then he caught ill 'n passed. Left me with a house built and some livestock bought 'n not much else. Started up doin' work on my back, 'n then collected some other girls, some a them like me, others on they own from the start. Home my husband built became my saloon 'n brothel, 'n a whole town sprung up around it. Lovely lil' place.

"But with people come folk what think they the law in a lawless patch a ground. Dumb fucks didn't like me much, and I ain't care for them neither. Startin' smugglin' for local outlaws, hidin' some. The quote-unquote 'law' got it in they heads to burn my place down, cause I was hidin' some poor boy they wanted-- surprised them when the whole thing blew to smithereens cause we was sittin' on a couple boxes a dynamite. Oh, if I coulda seen their faces...." She trailed off and then cleared her throat, laughing a little.

"But then I landed in Hell. And they did too. Strung 'em up by they own insides for I staked a claim on the land I landed on. That's where the Cabaret sits now. The asshole's skeletons're in the aquarium now, housin' crabs and whatnot. Serves 'em right."

Valera

Valera makes a sound more like a dolphin noise than a whistle, crossing one leg over the other as he listens to Madame tell her not especially tragic backstory. "It certainly does. Though I'm sure the short time they spent in Hell came as a rather nasty surprise, if they were going around calling themselves the *law*."

A snort. "It sounds like you've been a woman with a talent for business since day one, Madame. Can't say I'm surprised with the way you run things, but what a story. Sorry to hear about the husband though, losing someone is never easy."

Madame

She nodded, crossing her legs as daintily as someone who was fifteen feet tall could.

"Oh yeah, real nasty surprise for them-- shame I didn't keep 'em around longer, woulda been fun to have 'em strung up on the dart boards or somethin'."

Madame shrugged. "I did miss 'im but, after he died, I realized that I never _really_ loved him. Not like a woman 'n a man 'should' love each other. Dunno why, always been like that I suppose. But we was best friends since childhood 'n it made sense back then to marry someone y' at least liked, instead a some stranger."

Valera

"Hah! I can see it now! Are you a sadist? Five bucks a pop and you can throw your darts at the living dart boards! Ten points if you get them in the eyes, fifteen if you throw hard enough to knock a tooth out! Oh, Hell would have loved that." He cackles, popping the shrimp into his mouth for a quick snack. Mmm, crunchy!

"...Is there a 'should'?" His face twists in confusion. "Maybe it's an alien thing. I was set to bond with my own best friend before I cut that short in favor of running the Autocracy. Romance seems secondary in favor of... You know. Benefits."

Madame

"Dunno. With humans there's always a 'should', it seems. 'Ya _should_ love a man. Ya _should_ marry 'n have kids. Ya _should_ pick yerself up by yer bootstraps 'n get shit done. Ya _should_ know all the right things ta say'." She sighed and shrugged.

"Never much cared for the shoulds. Married because it seemed better'n bein' alone-- and I ended up alone anyways. So, what was the point 'n the first place? I sure as shit don't know. Just lost my best friend, that's all." Madame leaned her chin on her hand, elbow on her knee. "Think I woulda fared better with aliens then humans."

Valera

An eyebrow is raised as Valera turns what Madame said over in his mind. "I don't think marrying your best friend directly resulted in him dying, Madame. But I will admit, you wouldn't be the first human, former or otherwise, to say they would have likely been happier with an alien partner." He's absolutely talking about Pentious. And maybe a few others. He's a popular fish!

"Humans are silly creatures, and I do say that fondly! I've seen very few races as determined to bind themselves to strict social rules and roles that none of them seem to actually enjoy. It's baffling."

Madame

She laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I know whatcha mean. Most people seem happier when they break social conventions. Makes ya wonder why we even got 'em."

Madame took a breath and smiled. "And I didn't mean it so much as an alien partner as, well, maybe I was just meant to not be a human-- alien in a human body or some such. Maybe it's why I adapted ta bein' a weird giant octopus demon so well!"

Valera

"Your guess is better than mine, I'm only a human when it suits me."

He grins, all teeth. "It wouldn't surprise me. You never struck me as especially *human*, tentacles nonwithstanding. A lovely person? Yes, absolutely. You take good care of all your girls. But human? Not really." Well that's cryptic. But good luck getting him to elaborate, he's already distracted by trying to shove his arm into the crevice where the eel is hiding.

Madame

Madame let out another laugh, smirking as she shrugged and waved a hand.

"I'll take the compliment, and y'know, that reminds me a one of my go-to numbers." She slid off the rock she sat on and floated down a bit, twirling as she went.

"_I admit that in the past I've been a nasty, they weren't kidding when they called me well, a witch_...." She trailed off, giggling. "One of my favorites. That and 'When You're Good To Mama', acourse."

Valera

"Mm, I had you pinned as a contralto day one, my dear Madame." Valera glances over, against the rock up to the shoulder as he scrabbled for the eel. "You run that routine at the cabaret, right? I'll have to swing by to see it sometime! Maybe with my beau, though I don't know his opinion on burlesque just yet."

Madame

"Oh yes! Just tell me when y'all are droppin' by and I'll be sure to add myself to the night's roster." She winked and swam closer, looking at Val's arm, stuck deep in the rock.

"Any luck findin' the squirmy bastard? Or do ya need something a little more dexterous?" She wiggled a tentacle at him.

Valera

He frowns, then pulls his arm back and gestures for Madame to take his place. "I think you may have better luck, my dear. And for more than just that dexterity of yours! Mind the teeth though, those eels aren't the sharpest around, but they bite and do NOT let go."

Madame

Her arms crossed as she slid the tentacle inside, and Madame's face screwed up in concentration. A few moments later she let out a shout.

"Ow! Fucker got me, but I got him too!" With a mighty yank, her tentacle pulled back out, the eel wrapped tight in it, even as it chomped down on her. "What now, Val?"

Valera

"Now you eat him!" He crows, clapping his hands together as the eel gives the most hateful look it can muster. Though, underwater, there wasn't actually any sound to the gesture. "It's your catch, just bite him behind the eyes, nice and clean kill!"

Madame

She arched a brow, but brought the eel closer, moving to get a good angle. Madame opened her mouth and snapped down on the eel's head-- and it released it's own bite on her. She took it in her hands and bit it in half, swallowing down the front half.

Madame offered the other half to Val, grinning. "Here. Only right a guest share with her host."

Valera

He affects a dainty gasp, accepting the eel with a coquettish fluttering of his lashes. "Why THANK you, my dear Madame. Such a gracious guest, my hearts are warmed by your consideration."

And that chunk of eel is gone in a flash, yam yam. "Gods, always a tasty little morsel. Those have a lot of interesting names in various languages here, but my personal favorite is the one that translates best to..." He taps his chin, trying to think of the closest words. "Something like Bastard Snake. Bastard as in abandoned son, not the insult."

Madame

"Nah, I think the insult worst better, cause he sure was a bastard ta get outta there." She gestured toward her bitten tentacle.

"Think he mighta torn a chunk outta me. Ouch..." She brought it closer to inspect and while the chunk wasn't _gone_, it was barely hanging out. "Oh, that's a doozy..."

Valera

He leans in, taking a closer look at the damage to Madame's tentacle with a sympathetic hiss. "Oooh, that looks painful. Want me to fix it?"

A waggle of his fingers, and he extends a glowing hand. That's probably not ominous, right?

Madame

"Can ya?" She asked, her head tilting. "I'd love ta not have to whip out the scar cream for somethin' so small."

Valera

"I can! Healing and barriers are actually my specialty." He trills, looking VERY pleased with himself about that fact. "No strings attached for you, of course."

Madame

"Well, then, thank ya kindly. Yer a lovely 'n gracious host." She beamed.

Valera

He takes her tentacle in hand, smoothing over the wound with a slow sweep of his palm. A brief flash of numbness, heat, and there, good as new. No dramatics necessary! But he's still going to deliver with some SPECTACULAR jazz hands and the cheeriest grin he can muster.

"There, how's that?"

Madame

Madame let out a little 'oh!' at the numbness and heat, and as soon as her tentacle was released, it flexed and wiggled of its own accord.

"Well, that was sure somethin'! Never had a healin' like that."

Valera

"Never? Is healing magic not common in Hell?" Well, either that or Madame just didn't get hurt often. Either seemed possible.

Madame

"Oh no, it's not that. Usually gettin' somethin' healed costs-- usually a soul, or a favor, but always somethin'." She shrugged. "Try not to get into too many fights, cause the healin' is usually worse than the damage."

Valera

He squints, planting his chin on his open palm as he stares at the fixed tentacle. "I mean, I guess it cost something? All I did was encourage your natural healing. A few cell divisions to smooth over the damage, replace the torn up cells. Something that small didn't require actually replacing any massive swaths of material. You'll be hungrier than usual later, but that's about it!"

A shrug. "It would have been worse if you'd actually lost a chunk, but even then, I could have just converted a pebble to matching flesh or something. No biggie!"

Madame

"A pebble? Huh!" She tapped her chin. "That is somethin'. Yer magic's a lot more powerful than anythin' I can channel. Usual I go to good ol' Al for any real punchy magics."

Valera

"You know, people keep saying that. I never thought of myself as especially powerful." He holds up a finger. "Well, no. I have plenty of RAW power. But as far as efficiency goes, I'm absolute garbage. My magic isn't nearly as finely tuned as it could be. I burn tons of it on even small spells. Like, embarrassing amounts. Horrendously sloppy."

A sigh. "What kind of magic do you usually need from good old Alastor?"

Madame

"If I need a costume on the fly, he can magic up some pretty good threads. He's fairly good at some basic healin'-- like if ona my acts sprains somethin'. And of course, the best magic of all-- his reputation. Ain't nobody gonna mess with the Cabaret none if I got the Radio Demon in my back pocket." She paused.

"Don't tell him I said that, he wouldn't take kindly to it."

Valera

He waves a hand, grin turning downright impish. "What, me? Tell an Alastor that his reputation is helping protect his friends? My dear, I would *never*."

Madame

Madame giggled, and winked at him. "Yer a peach, shug." She put her hands on her hips.

"Anythin' else ya wanna tag team, huntin' wise? I'm down for a lil explorin' 'n huntin', if you are."

Valera

Valera sticks his tongue out, slowly unwinding his tail from his anchor point. "No, I'm a fish! But I understand the confusion. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone your mistake." A wink.

"We'll have to browse the local selection, Madame! If you're amenable to a bit of window shopping, that is."

Madame

"I dunno about that, ya ass is pretty peachy!" She cackled, swimming closer to take his arm.

"I'm a fan a any kinda shoppin', includin' the window kind!"

Valera

Oho! Quick on the sass with that one, was she? Good! Keeps things interesting. He politely flutters his fins, turning his head this way and that to scout out a meal.

"You're more of an ambush predator, no?"

Madame

"Think so! Don't know too much bout octopuses honestly? Only what I've been able to figure out, mostly. But it worked earlier!" She laughed.

Valera

... He turns his head back to look at Madame, eyebrows inching up slowly but surely.

"Pardon? You don't know about octopuses? The very animal your soul was moulded after for your eternal punishment?"

Madame

She laughed, oh that look on his face!

"Yup! Thinka how surprised I was when I dropped inta Hell lookin' like this!" She gestured to herself. "Knew things like fish 'n gators 'n the like, 'n even the tiny little octopuses, but never one as big as me!"

Valera

He squints, slowly turning them back towards the shore. Sounds like they're about to make a trip to the *library*.

"I'm sure. So you're not familiar with how octopus brains work? Or the semi-independent "minds" of their tentacles?"

Madame

"Oh, is that why they sometimes do shit on they own?" She giggled again, going along with Val's movements.

"And no, I ain't. Never thought to look it up, too busy buildin' my business 'n keepin' it."

Valera

He snorts. Yes, this library visit is sounding more and more necessary. But he's not above setting a sedate pace. A couple of friends on a relaxing swim, no need to flip.

"Yes, Madame. You'll also be pleased to know that were you an octopus of the male persuasion, one of your tentacles would also be your penis." A pause, and he amends. "Well, theoretically. It gets wibbly when you mix humans and other species. I doubt you'd lay four hundred thousand eggs and then die from a single mating."

Madame

Her eyes widened and she can't help but laugh again. "Oh fuck! Yeah, sure glad I don't do that! Woulda double died a long time ago!"

Valera

"If it makes you feel any better, the Earth fish I most resemble, the lionfish, can lay..." A tap at his lips, give him a moment to recall... Oh, yes, there we go. "Fifteen thousand eggs every four days?"

That's so many. He shudders at the very thought. "I'm not *quite* so prolific. But fret not, my dear. All those facts and more can be safely tucked into your noggin once we find you a book that doesn't read like watching paint dry. I know there's SOMETHING about octopuses being able to tamper with their own biology on the fly."

Madame

"Oh? That sounds interestin'. And yeah, glad we ain't out here layin' thousands of eggs, that's just too much." She laughed, giving his arm a squeeze in hers.

Valera

And off they go, back to shore and beyond, to educate an octopus woman on her own partial biology. How lovely.

[suitofvibraniumarmor]

** Writing Challenge **

I know, I know, my next one isn’t quite wrapped up yet, buttttt this idea came to me when my cousin and I were taking a walk down a ridiculous part of Memory Lane and I got excited. I’m guessing this has been done before at some point -- that’s not stopping me from presenting to you: 

I love fluff. And I wanna see more of it! 

Below the cut you will find some prompts that, in the context of Twilight, are absolutely cringe-worthy. My challenge to you is to take that prompt and make it something we can love. 

Disclaimer: I’m not Twilight-shaming ANYONE. I literally sat and watched all of Eclipse and now want to watch both Breaking Dawns. It’s more about sentiment, and the occasional girly giggle for me, but ... yeah. No judgement here, friends. 

Guidelines, prompts, and tags are below the cut! (Yes, I copied and tweaked from my last writing challenge. I’m being efficient, thank you! :P )

Please read all of the information carefully!

Rules, Guidelines, Important Dates:

Sign-Ups start when this post is live and will go through to December 30, 2020. I will accept two people for each prompt, one prompt per author.

Please send your sign-ups to my ask box so they’re easier to keep track of. I will answer them privately so I’m not flooding anyone’s dash!

In your ask, please include your preferred prompt and a backup option, as well as your pairing (so I don’t take the same pairing for the same prompt). Also, please let me know if you’ll be posting from a URL other than one you’re asking from.

To be included in the challenge masterlist, please post your fic (or the first part, if it’s a series) by Decemeber 31, 2020.

Please include an author’s note tagging me and mentioning the challenge in your fic post; include #BetterThanTwilightWC in the first five tags. If the tag doesn’t work, you may DM the link to me, also. If you decide to write a series, please tag me in the masterlist.

Please give me up to 48 hours to read your fic before checking if I have seen it. If I have not liked it after 48 hours, please DO check. (You know, since we’re all aware of how unreliable tumblr is. And how unreliable my mind can be. Yikes.)

The challenge masterlist will be posted between January 1 and January 4, 2020.

There are no word count limits, but please use the Keep Reading feature if your story goes beyond 500 words. Additionally, if your fic goes beyond 5000 words, please consider splitting it into multiple parts. This is not a requirement, only something to think about.

Yes, this is a FLUFF challenge, so you MUST have fluff as your main genre. You’re more than welcome to include other genres, but you MUST have a happy and/or hopeful ending.

You’re welcome to think outside of the box! Just because I’m talking Twilight and love stories, doesn’t mean there has to be romance! Give me  amazing friendships or strong family bonds or self-love. Or romance! Whatever you’d like. 

You're welcome to change pronouns in the prompt as necessary! Heck, I tweaked a few of ‘em so they’re not Twilight-specific.

For personal reasons, I do not read and will not accept into the challenge (which means I will not reblog or add to the masterlist) stories that include: non-con/dub-con, underage sex, adult-child romantic/sexual relationships, spouse-bashing, child abuse – I could go on, but I think you get the idea. If you’re not sure about something, I’m always happy to answer questions!

Bring on the ships, OC’s, reader pairings – I’m trying to be more open-minded as of late, but I can’t promise that I will read everything. Again, for personal reasons. But I will reblog everything! 

Characters and RPFs from Marvel/MCU are both welcome. 

If you need an extension or need to drop out, please know that I am extremely flexible when it comes to that deadline/due date. In the words of Captain Barbosa, “It’s really more of a guideline.” Just shoot me an ask or a message and we’ll work something out, no worries! 

Prompts: 

1. “I have always loved you, and I will always love you.”  2. “The clouds I can handle. But I can’t fight with an eclipse.”  3. “I know what you are.”  4. “You held out your hand and I took it without stopping to make sense of what I was doing.” 5. “You have a connection with her that I’ll never understand.” 6. “I’m glad she has you.” 7. “It will be like I never existed. I promise.” 8. “I knew who I wanted to be. I wanted to help people. Brings me happiness.” 9. “That will take a while to get used to.” “We have a while.” 10. “What if I’m not the hero? What if I’m the bad guy?” 11. “I’d rather hear your theories.” 12. (sarcastically) “Super. That makes me really happy.” 13. “You’re like my own personal brand of heroin.” 14. “Maybe I shouldn’t be dating such an old man. It’s gross. I should be thoroughly repulsed.” 15. “It’s an extraordinary thing to meet someone who you can bare your soul to and they’ll accept you for what you are.” 16. “I’ve been waiting for what seems like a very long time to get beyond what I am.” 17. “I feel like I can finally begin.” 18. “He’s totally gorgeous, obviously. But apparently nobody here is good enough for him.” 19. “He did say I couldn’t step inside the door. I came in through the window.” 20. “I know things. Like how to hunt somebody to the ends of the earth. And I know how to use a gun.” 21. “Now I’m afraid.” “Good.” 22. “I’m not afraid of you. I’m only afraid of losing you.” 23.  “About three things I was absolutely positive ...” 24. “You’re so stubborn.” 25. “Do you know how worried I’ve been?” 26. “I can’t even think about someone hurting you.” 27. “The only thing that can hurt me is you, and I don’t have anything else to be afraid of.” 28. “Don’t antagonize her. She’s the strongest one in the house.” 29. “All right. That’s enough experimenting for one day.” 30. “It never made sense for you to love me.” 31. “I wish there had been someone to vote no for me.” 32. “It’s just a little baby.” 33. “How strongly are you opposed to grand theft auto?” 34. “I’m not missing another fight!” 35. “No one can hide like me.” 36. “If I asked you to stay in the car, would you?” 37. “I have one condition, if you want me to do it myself.” 38. “I had an adrenaline rush. It’s very common. You can Google it.” 39. “How did you get in here?” “The window.” 40. “I love a happy ending. They are so rare.” 41. “You should put your seatbelt on.” 42. “Can you talk about something else? Distract me so I won’t turn around.” 43. “I can’t live in a world where you don’t exist.” 44. “After all the thousand times I’ve told you I love you, how could you let one word break your faith in me?” 45. “Maybe that’s why they kicked me out.” 46. “All of my best nights have happened since I met you.” 47. “You know everybody’s staring?” “Not that guy ... no, he just looked.” 48. “She wishes she was that awesome.” 49. “Does he visit often?” “Yeah, all the time.” 50. “Lie ... Lie better.” 51. “I’m Switzerland.” 52. “That should have been our first kiss.” 53. “Would you like to hear my story? It doesn’t have a happy ending -- but which of ours does?” 54. “Another party?” “It’ll be fun.” “Yeah. That’s what you said last time.” 55. “You are the only one who has ever touched my heart. I will always be yours.” 56. “The way he watches you. It’s like he’s willing to leap in front of you and take a bullet or something.” 57. “Kill me! Not him!” 58. “Stay.” “Give me one good reason.” 59. “Yeah, it’s and off day when I don’t get somebody telling me how edible I smell.” 60. “Damn it! You’ll be the death of me, I swear you will.” 61. “If I could dream at all, it would be about you. And I’m not afraid of it.” 62. “Do I dazzle you?” 63. “I’m tired of trying to stay away from you.” 64. “Bring on the shackles, I’m your prisoner.” 65. “You are my life now.” 66. “And then we continued blissfully into this small, perfect piece of our forever.” 67. “Nobody’s ever loved someone as much as I love you.” 68. “I don’t know what happened.” “You love him.” 69. “All of sudden it’s not gravity holding you to the planet, it’s her. Nothing else matters. You would do anything, be anything for her.” 70. “You really love her?” 71. “I don’t see the whole point of the rest of the world without her.” 72. “Then I found a promising site ... I waited impatiently for it to load, quickly clicked closed each ad that flashed across the screen. Finally, the screen finished -- simple, white background with black text; academic-looking. Two quotes greeted me on the homepage:” 73. “I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.” 74. “I’ll be fighting for her, too, and I’ll be fighting twice as hard as you will.” 75. “It’s always been him.” 76. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for you.” 77. “They’re coming for her.” “They’re not gonna touch her.” 78. “Doesn’t he own a shirt?” 79. “You know, if it weren’t for the fact that we’re enemies and that you’re also trying to steal away the reason for my existence, I might actually like you.” 80. “You have disappeared. Like everything else.” 81. “The absence of him is everywhere I look.” 82. “I don’t have the strength to stay away from you anymore.” 83. “Your number was up the first time I met you.” 84. “We all like to drive fast.” 85. “It’s too easy to be myself with you.” 86. “I’ve never given much thought to how I’d die, but dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go.” 87. “Don’t tempt me too far. My patience isn’t that perfect.” 88. “His tone questions my sanity, but it only made me more suspicious. It was like a perfect delivered line by a skilled actor.” 89. “What’s he mad about?” 90. “No measure of time with you will ever be enough.” 91. “I promise to love you forever, every single day of forever.” 92. “We’re gonna be great friends!” 93. “If I had my way, I would spend the majority of my time kissing him.” 94. “Until your heart stops beating.” 95. “I touched the cool miracle of his ski, and I was home.” 96. “Forbidden to remember, terrified to forget; it was a hard line to walk.” 97. “This isn’t the time to make hard and fast decisions. This is the time to make mistakes.” 98. “Leave it to you ... you have to start hanging out with the first weirdos you can find.” 99. “I love him much more than I should, and yet still nowhere near enough.” 100. “I refuse to be affected by territorial disputes.”

Tags for possible interest/signal boosting (if you’re so inclined): 

 @captain-s-rogers​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked​​​​​​​​​ @hurricanerin​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @horsesandbandsforlife​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @im-not-an-armrest-im-short​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @captain-rogers-beard​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @shynara51​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @sea040561​​​​​​​​​​​​​  @pinknerdpanda​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @xtina2191​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @jackryanplz​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @beakami​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @heartsaved​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @fullprunerebelstatesman​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @blackwidowismyhomegirl​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @the-murder-strut-murdered-me​​​​​​​​​​​​​  @shield-agent78​​​​​​​​​​​​​  @jennmurawski13​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @okay-maybe-i-like-marvel-too​​​​​​​​​​​​​

[midnightmoonkiss]

Failed-Night Stand

Midoriya Izuku X Reader

Summary: A one night stand with a handsome stranger that doesn’t really end up being a one night stand.

WARNINGS!: Has some spicy mentions, ages 14+ !

Category: Fluff

Word Count: 3.5k+

Just to Clarify:

(B/F/N) = best friend name

(Agency) = the hero agency, you get to choose because I can’t.

This is an adult!au, where everyone has graduated UA years ago

                                         ───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────

A deep inhale cuts through the muffled city-morning sounds of birds chirping and cars honking, tired eyelids slowly fluttered open to reveal a room not at all yours. Light filtered in through the large, pristine window.

You slowly sat in a bed mind-blowingly comfortable, taking in the unfamiliar space. Nope. Definitely not yours. That was easy enough to tell, especially considering your room wasn’t light blue, nor were there walls lined with All Might figurines and assorted medals and trophies. 

Confusion momentarily sat in your system, the haze of sleep still residing in your mind gradually dissipated as tiny gears shifted into motion. 

Oh dear.

Groaning, you let your sitting form fall back against the bed with a soft thwump, letting your eyes slip back shut. It was pretty easy to tell what had happened last night, if your lack of clothes and the stale stench of sweat clinging to your body had anything to say about it.

An alcohol-induced one night stand.

With who? You couldn’t quite remember, despite the fact that the soreness in your throat came from screaming his name at some point in the night. It was impossible to even remember what took place, the last thing that you could recall happening was passionately kissing plump lips as large, warm hands traveled down exposed arms. One thing that you did remember, though, were his looks paired with an adorable personality. No doubt were they part of the reason you were here in the first place.

Judging from the lack of a person in bed and empty open bathroom connected with the room, he either left or was somewhere else in this apartment. You prayed for the first, not wanting to have another awkward encounter with someone you slept with the night before.

With a hum, you rolled out of bed, shakily getting to your feet. By god did it hurt to even stand, just how big and rough was this guy? He seemed like such a sweetheart.. Then again, most people lose themselves in the heat of the moment. It was quite flattering, really. 

As you stumbled about the room, picking up and putting on the undergarments you wore last night, memories slowly came into your mind. Alcohol was such a funky thing, only allowing you to remember certain things off the get go and wait for more to trickle in or figure others out. 

Luckily, or what seemed to be lucky anyway, the first was occurring.

                                            ───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────

The beat of drums pounded in your ears as you slurped at a cocktail, cringing at the almost addicting burn. Another Friday out late at a bar, drinking to soothe emotional cuts and bruises that manifested over the course of a particularly rough work week.

It’s always fun working late because your boss in an incompetent dick-wad.

Working in a hero agency is mostly everyone’s dream, but god were there always mountains of work and unreasonable deadlines.  

The desire to drink and relax with friends overthrew your weak sense of judgement, knowing it’d be better to have just stayed home with your beloved cat than go out and potentially get a migraine from the music that was too damn loud.

Luckily this night didn’t turn into what they usually did, no guys have tried to get into your pants yet, more than likely from the choice to dress cozy and not sleazy. Who wants a tight fitting dress when you could have a comfy sweater?

“You’ll n-ever believe who I met toooodaayyy~” (B/F/N), who was a horrific lightweight, slurred with that goofy drunken smile that always brought a laugh out of you. It was just too funny, childish glee radiating from them whenever their conscious got seized by the devil's drink.

“Who?” chuckled Katsumi, someone you had met in college and gotten along well enough  with to become friends and welcome into your pair, officially making it a group. Pretty sad how small it was. Perhaps you were all too picky with potential friends, who were you to complain though? It’s better being close to a select few then have an army of people you barely know, right?

(B/F/N)’s sweaty arm slithered behind your neck, bringing you closer to them as if to grasp onto their last bit of sanity before turning into an incomprehensible child to spew out their story.

“Ground~ Zerooo~! Can you believe it..? He’s soooo cut-e~”

“Yeah right!” Katsumi snorted, sipping at a fruity drink, something he was never afraid to order.

“I did..! Don’t you believe me, (Y/N)!”

Playfully, you tapped your chin with a finger, “Hmmm..”

The whine that you pulled from them was worth the act.

“I did! I did!” (B/F/N) felt the need to chant, arms raised high and face scrunched up in frustration. “Sure.”

“He smacked my ass!” They pouted,

Katsumi and you both shrieked with laughter, eyes watering from the no doubt large ass lie. My, how serious they looked too!

As if they’d ever meet a rising pro hero, the chances were too slim to even consider it. More than likely it was a weird dream they had but fought against it to make it seem real. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Couldn’t blame ‘em.

Going to take another sip of your drink, desperate to cool down your overheated body from the heat drifting off everyone and mixing into one big shit show,disappointment flooded your being to find it empty, nothing but melting ice left in the glass. 

“I’m going to get another drink.” After getting a reluctant understanding nod from your friends, you stood up, waddling to the bar and plopping down on one of the highly used bar stools.

Surprisingly, it was cooler over here, no doubt from the many freezers resting near the bar to hold wine coolers, beer, and other assortment of drinks people liked to be cold. Ice could only do so much, especially when it melts faster than Olaf in front of that fire. Typically they lasted longer, but maybe time flew by without your comprehension of it doing so, causing the ice to melt faster than expected. It wasn’t fully melted, you’d give it that.

But that wasn’t to say it was all that pleasant, drunk off their mind young adults littered the other stools, shamelessly making out.

You huffed, unable to be one to talk on the account that you’ve personally been there before, much to your horror.

“What can I get you, (Y/N)?” Yokuto, the kind owner and barista of the bar in his mid fifties questioned, a small smile on his face at seeing one of his favorite customers. Has he mentioned that before? No. Did you believe it because you were somewhat narcissistic when tipsy? Yes.

“Mm..” Humming, (E/C) eyes looked over the large menu, “let’s go for an old fashioned.” A classic drink, good for giving you that delicious buzz without knocking you on your ass. Well, depending on how many you have that is. Hopefully that bite to eat before drinking tonight will do you a good service.

“Ah, look at you. Adventurous tonight, are we?” Yo teased, all too used to preparing you basic drinks.

“Shhshshshs.” You hushed him, not needing to go through the same conversation once a month despite it being one of the highlights of the night. Tonight would be relaxing, spent with your friends, boy were you determined to make that happ-

“Put it on my tab.” A man with a sweet yet deep voice interjected. Ah shit. Here we go.

You rubbed your temples, sighing. Of course this would happen when you didn’t want it to, that’s how it always works right? Can’t get laid when you want to, but suddenly everyone wants you the moment you’re not interested. ‘No. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.. Maybe.. He’s just being nice!’ Your mind decided, internally desperate to be left alone.

“Very well, sir!” Chirped Yo. The fucker. I mean, at least you get a free drink?

That was always a plus, especially considering your student loans often times left very little money to buy such expensive drinks. Typically old fashions weren’t expensive, but it always depended on the bar you went to. Either way, ten bucks seemed over priced. Because of this, t’s like this man was a godsend, because no doubt this drink would’ve been the last your budget could’ve allowed.

Turning, you were just about to offer a ‘thank you’ before your voice caught in a dry throat. My, my, my, a godsend indeed, in more ways than one. This man was absolutely gorgeous!

Disco lights reflected off his shimmering emerald irises, soft looking curly green hair bouncing as he took a seat beside you. Lord, did you just want to touch it. Surely he was making big bucks, that much you could tell from his appearance alone. A suit too pristine and finely fitted to him to be bought from any old plain store, a watch large and complicated to match. His face was gorgeously sculpted, but still somehow managed to have chubby cheeks leftover from childhood, skin clearer than a piece of paper. Not only that, but those faded freckles dusting his cheeks were the cutest thing imaginable, his smile--- his smile? Why was he smiling? Not that it mattered considering angels were singing around it, the golden glow of heaven behind his head,

“Hey?” Sound re-entered your ears upon seeing his kissable lips move, ah shit has he been speaking this entire time? And you just zoned out?! Fuckfuckfuck-

“H-hi..” You stuttered, currently too tipsy to feel all too embarrassed about it. “Thank you uh, for the drink..” It was hard to keep such an overactive mind focused on talking and not making yourself look like a fool in front of someone ten times out of your league. Hell, were you even trying to be in his league? A calm night, right? No hullabaloo. 

“No problem!!” His eyes shifted around the bar, smile now nervous as a light blush coated his cheeks, “I just.. Uh..”

It was almost impossible not to coo at the adorable sight in front of you.

He glanced back, your gaze following his own to a group sat at a table meters away, all holding men giving him a thumbs up. Now just what was that about?

Without giving it too much thought, you grabbed your drink and took a sip, patiently waiting for the mystery man to finish his thought.

“You’re just.. Really cute.. And I um.. Wanted to get to know you a bit..?” He stuttered out, gnawing on his plump bottom lip, the bastard. How dare he say and do something so enticing? Clearly without meaning to as well. Or perhaps this was his tactic all along, not that you were entirely beginning to mind. 

Besides, he did buy you a drink, what’s the harm in chatting for a bit?

                                           ───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────

Funny how chatting led you to a handsome man's apartment and unable to remember parts of the night. Were you complaining? Absolutely not. It was easy to admit that last night certainly helped bring your week to a nice ending, but the intense ache between your legs almost wasn’t worth it.

It was just then that the appetizing smell of bacon wafted under the bedroom door, or perhaps it was always there but you were too caught up in your own world to realize it. Regardless, your mouth watered, tummy rumbling from lack of food, but surely it wasn’t for you.

It was funny how he was still here, though you should expect as much since this was his place and it was a Saturday. 

Perhaps once you find your purse, you could grab breakfast at a Denny’s or something..

A shriek followed by violent coughing tore through your throat as the door suddenly opened, the savory smell of breakfast food hitting you full force.

Not allowing yourself the time to look at him, you turned around, “Ah s-sorry.. I’ll be out of your hair in a minute..”

Gah. He must be pissed that you’re still here. Forgetting about sulking, you took a step towards your discarded sweater, violently cringing at the awkward angle and pain. By no means were you a virgin, so the only way this could have happened was if the guy was absolutely humongous and rough as shit. Not like your lust-filled self would’ve minded.

“Wait wait! Ah, sit down! You’re in pain!” 

“Wha?” The clang of a tray being set down and dishes rattling echoed in the room as you were suddenly pushed back onto the bed.

“Wh-what are you-?!” You were shushed as a glass of water pressed against your dry lips, 

“Here, drink this. It’s water!”

Your eyebrows furrowed, eyes absentmindedly trailing up muscular arms all the way to his worried face. 

This all seemed a bit too suspicious, never having been treated so kindly after a one night stand. Well, so far ‘kindly’ was a bit of a stretch but at least you now had something to finally moisten your screaming throat.

Eagerly wrapping a hand around the cold glass, you chugged like your life depended on it, which it probably did considering how dehydrated you felt.

It was almost as if the water cleared your head more, for memories hit you like a freight train. Nervous touches, untrained yet gentle hands, sweet moans filtering through your ear, the pure ecstasy of last night. Your face flushed, teeth grinding slightly as you fought off the memories to actually look as professional as you could, as you were currently only in your undies.

“I. um.. I figured you would need some since you were..ah..”

Amusement flooded your being watching him suddenly turn red, his eyes trailing over your barely clothed body before whipping away to the other wall. What a gentleman. At least you remembered his name now, on the account of praising it last night. Midoriya Izuku. Cute.

Gulping down the last sip of water, you were dead set on teasing him, curious to see what reaction you’d get. Even though now and before he seemed like a shy baby, which he probably is, you remembered clearly how dominating and hot he was. “Screaming and moaning like a bitch in heat?”

“Gahh!” He shoved his red face in a pillow he grabbed, incoherent mumbling escaping the crevices of it.

Oh how precious he is. It was unusual to see an adult act this way, but it certainly was welcomed with open arms.

His head shot up, realization crossing his features. “Ah! You’re in pain right? I’m really sorry..” Guilt sunk in his shimmering mesmerizing eyes, sunlight bouncing off them from the open curtain adjacent to the bed. “I was.. I lost myself last night and was a bit too.. rough with you.  I’m sorry. Really, I am..”

He was apologizing..? This was new, but it sure did feel nice.

Just as you were about to speak, he picked up the tray beside him on the floor and plopped it into your lap.

“I uh! I made you breakfast-! The pill is a standard ibuprofen for the pain.”

It was as if his voice was made of honey from how sweet and smooth it was, the pure innocence of it wrapping around your body in a warm blanket.

How refreshing it was, but..

A teasing smile made its way to your lips,

“You’re new to this whole one night stand thing, aren’t you?”

His mouth opened and closed like a fish, the flustered man clearly trying to form a sentence in his head.

“I-I- I.. N-no um..”

Humming, you took the pill, washing it down with water before you cut off a piece of pancake, tugging it off the fork and into your mouth and almost moaning at the flavor.

Sighing in defeat, he pouted up at you, “How can you tell..?”

You licked your lips slowly, marveling at the way his eyes followed its movement, “One night stands don’t usually involve breakfast in bed.”

“Well.”

He stood up, moving to sit next to you, awkwardly patting his thighs as you munched on a piece of crispy bacon. “I was kind of hoping this wouldn’t just be a one night stand.”

Confusion contorted your face, “You want another round? I wouldn’t be opposed-”

“No!” He interjected hands waving frantically as his face burned a vibrant vermillion.

“I meant like..! Like me taking you out on a proper date or something..! I.. I don’t want this just to end..”

“What do you mean?”

“I like you.”

“...huh?”

He scratched at the back of his neck, praying to every god out there that he didn’t sound like a major creep. He wasn’t! You both just so happened to work in the same building, and his eyes just always naturally pick you out in a crowd, sometimes drifting to you when in the same room or passing by. Granted, he’s in his hero costume then where his secret identity is sealed from the public. It sure would be nice to tell you who he truly was,  but he couldn’t let his cover be blown. Even if he did like you, trust was something no longer so easily gained after having the career he did. He’s seen what happened to people like Shoto and Tenya, he had no intention of having ever part of his personal life blown up like theirs. And so, he would stay hidden behind a green and silver mask.

The dilemma at hand, though, was telling you of his affections without seeming like a creep they’ve never seen before, which he probably would anyway considering you had no idea he was Deku.

It was actually a pretty lucky thing he had no merchandise of himself, in his home out in plain view that would give himself away. True, he had no idea he’d be lucky enough to take you home, but he couldn’t help but feel bad about it. You both had been drinking, and before he knew it, you were beneath him in his bed.

He was a lucky man to have been able to get you there in the first place, but you seemed interested enough in him. Truthfully, he was scared you’d immediately leave upon waking up, wanting nothing to do with him like he’s always heard from his friends and their one night stand experiences. It was nice that you actually stayed and ate the breakfast he spent far too long on.

Here goes nothing.

“I’ve actually noticed you around work for a while now. You’re so reliable and kind to your co-workers, always the goofball cracking jokes to pass time.. Last night, my friends encouraged me to finally talk to you.”

Wait! He sounded like a total stalker just now didn’t he! Gah! You look like you think he’s a creep! Fuck! He probably is isn’t he! No! He isn’t- oh no,,

“N-not that I’m stalking you I swear! We just happened to be at the same bar at the same time..! I had no idea it would lead to this..”

What a word vomit. It was endearing, really. You couldn’t help but giggle, he was just so cute.

The giggling only made him blush harder, hands quickly going down to grasp at the hem of his shirt, a nervous habit he picked up somewhere along the line. 

“It’s okay~” You sang, immensely happy to know someone actually likes you and desperate to calm him down a bit, despite having no idea who this handsome stranger was. By god wait that sounded kind of creepy.

It’s not like you needed to know a stranger well to sleep with them, but it sure did peak your interests to know he was a fellow co-worker at a hero agency. 

“Thank you for the food, by the way.” You took another bite of fluffy pancakes, turning to look at him again, “So you work at (Agency)’s too? I’ve never seen you around before.”

You always had a knack for noticing almost everyone, and you pride yourself on knowing the majority of people considering you’ve been working there for three years now. It was strange, surely you’d notice such a strong stud.

Wait.

“Oh! You’re a hero, aren’t you? Those scars and muscles, paired with the fact that I've never seen you before, you must be?”

Shock slapped his face. Bingo.

“Heh. I knew it!”

That victorious smile that graced your lips immediately died off once you noticed him clearly internally freak out. He looked like he was about to pass out, eyes wide and pupils shrunk, mouth shakily trying to speak.

This certainly wasn’t how you wanted this to play out, but beggars can’t be choosers?

“H-hey calm down..! I don’t know who your hero persona is, if that helps!”

Geeze, you pulled yourself into a mess, didn't you?

Lips pulled into a worried straight line as you tried to calm him down by rubbing his shoulder.

“Oh! Ok, good! Ah..” He breathed a sigh of relief out his nose, chuckling bashfully, “That’s a relief.. I don’t think you’d be even the slightest bit interested in me if you knew the other guy first.”

It was hard to tell if this meant he had a completely different personality when in the suit, or if he just all around dislikes his normal self. Honestly, it doesn’t sound like it would at all be the first option. It wasn’t uncommon for heroes to prefer being their hero-sona rather than, well, them. ‘Confidence comes from the ability to impress and protect people!’ You recalled one hero exclaiming on the screen when that topic popped up late one night on a talk show interview.

It was sad to see such great people felt that way.

“Well. I don’t need the other guy. I’d like to get to know you better, if that’s possible, Midoriya.”

His face instantly brightened, that beautiful smile from last night resurfacing, the light from that window making it look like a halo formed around his head. Which wouldn’t be too weird considering he was practically an angel already. 

“R-Really?!” He excitedly asked, sparkles dancing in his eyes at the implications.

“Yes-”

“Then how about I take you on a date today then!! I know this really great restaurant and they sell these cheesy biscuits..!”

You would’ve gotten whiplash if you hadn’t already been expecting this. You smiled sweetly at him.

“I’d love that.”

Thus started your relationship with Izuku, unknowingly the bright pro her, Deku.

“But uh.. Can I get changed now..? And I need to call my friends-”

“Ah! Right! Yes, of course! Sorry-”

                                          ───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────

[nataliedanovelist]

GF - Two and a Half Men

Summary: Shermie leaves his son with his twin brothers, fully trusting them to take good care of the baby for an afternoon. What a terrible mistake.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was Spring Break, a glorious and yet hectic time in Glass Shard Beach. No one wanted to go to that trashy shoreline for a vacation when compared to the nicer beaches along the Atlantic, but lower-middle class families and broke college students settled and still had a good time for a cheaper price. The weather cooperated perfectly and Ford had worked so hard on his Science Fair project that he could afford to take a break while they were out of school, so today he and Stan were babysitting.

Shermie counted off the list of things for his brothers to remember while Stan held the baby. “Now remember, he needs to take a nap after he eats or he’ll be fussy later, he likes cereal the best and he can snack on that if he wants, but he needs to eat his peas or carrots for lunch, or a little bit of both. Also make sure he drinks his milk and for Moses’ sake, if he makes a mess, please wash him! Now, whatever you do, don’t lose Ottie! Last time we lost him Alex screamed for hours on end, I had to get a new one, so just keep an eye on him, and…”

“Shermie, can you relax? Geez.” Stan rolled his eyes, bouncing his nephew. “We’ve got this. We can handle the little guy for the day.” “I know you can, I just want to make it as easy for you as possible.” Shermie shrugged off the baby bag and held it out to Ford. He took it and immediately sunk to the floor with it. “Sweet Lord, Sherman, what did you put in here?” Ford groaned as he hoisted the bag on his shoulder. “Rocks?” “Everything Alex needs.” Shermie answered and patted the full-stroller that was by the door. “Clothes, diapers, wipes, breast milk, formula, bottles, blankets, toys, Ottie, sunglasses…” “Why in the world would he need sunglasses?” “For his eyes, Stanford!” Shermie defended. “Great, this is perfect, we’ll be fine!” Stan said cheerfully and grinned like a salesman. Shermie checked his pocket watch and winced. “Shoot, gotta go! I’ll be back later tonight to pick him up.” Shermie bent his knees and little and tickled under Alex’s chin and cooed, making the baby laugh and grab his finger. “Alright, Lil’Lex, love you, sport.” And Shermie kissed his tiny hand and headed to the door. “Oh, and guys,” His eyes darkened and the twins felt shivers go down their spines. “If anything happens to my son, I will never forgive or trust you again… Bye, have fun!” And Shermie was gone. Stan sighed with relief. “Finally! Now that Stuck-Up’s gone, the real fun begins!” He lifted his nephew above his head and asked in a wittle-baby voice, “Who’s ready to be the best chick-magnet in the world? You are, yes you are, you little stud!” “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.” Ford said cautiously as Stan put the baby on his hip and bounced him as he was getting a little bit fussy. “Hey, you’re the one who admitted to needing help with girls.” Stan said and reached into the stroller for the stuffed otter. He gave it to Alex, who cheered up and hugged the toy, and then said, “Trust me, girls love babies! They’ll see us taking good care of little guy here and bam! You have your pockets full of phone numbers! Now go put on your trunks!” Ford was uneasy about taking Alex out to the beach and trying to talk to girls, but he ultimately decided that it would be fun to take their nephew out and let him play (and it might help to find a new girl for Stan since Carla dumped him), so he did as he was told and changed and then watched Alex while Stan changed. About an hour later, Stan was holding Alex by his hip with a towel over his opposite shoulder and Ford walked next to him with that torturous baby-bag. The stroller had no chance in the sand, so they left it home and decided that if the beach didn’t work a walk around the park certainly would. Stan happily strode around topless in his red swimming trunks while Ford wore a white t-shirt with his blue trunks. Alex wore a white t-shirt, too, as well as little baby-trunks with ducks on it, and he threw down his little green sunglasses every time Ford put them on him. Stan laughed and said, “Squirt’s got good taste already.” Ford sighed and pocketed the sunglasses in the bag, hoping the baby wouldn’t become blind and Shermie wouldn’t be mad. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Stanley? What if he gets into some glass, or goes into the water, or is stepped on…” “Sixer, you’re somehow worse than Sherm.” Stan lightly punched his shoulder. “Relax, we all deserve to have some fun. Alex doesn’t live by the beach; he won’t get to grow up like we did, playin’ here every day. Let him enjoy it with the best uncles in the world.” He threw the towel down on the sand and sat Alex down while making rocket-ship noises. Ford smiled and said, “Alright, but he really should put on sunscreen.” And he pulled out a bottle and lathered up Alex’s soft skin. The baby giggled and blew raspberries while Ford rubbed his arms and legs and face. The six-fingered teenager used his birth-defect for great evil and tickled the ribs and little baby-fat as he applied the sunscreen and smiled at the beautiful laughter his nephew made. Stan smiled at his brother, glad to see him coming around a little bit more when it came to kids, and he ruffled the little brown fluff on Alex’s head for being a good sport; he can remember throwing a fit at the idea of sunscreen when he was a toddler, meanwhile Ford would hold his breath and pray the chore would be done quickly. “Aw, how cute.” A girl in a light-purple bathing suit suddenly cooed as her long brown hair fell by her shoulder when she bent down to get a better look at the baby. “What’s his name?” Ford could feel his face getting very hot, despite the admirer standing in front of the sun. “This is our nephew, Alex.” “Aw, you two are great uncles.” She complimented sincerely and wiggled her fingers at the baby in greeting. She glanced up, saw her boyfriend waving at her, and she told the three boys to have a good day as she jogged across the beach. Stan gave out a low whistle. “Hot tamales, this kid’s gonna score us with some gorgeous babes.” “Stanley,” Ford chuckled as he shook his head and he reached into the baby-bag for his book, but Stan snatched it from his hands. “Hey!” “Nu huh, Sixer. No nerd stuff.” Stan put the book back in the bag and laid down on his back to soak in some sun. He shielded his eyes with a pair of sunglasses and said, “If you’re so bored play with Alex. Ooph!” Alex had climbed up on Stan’s chest and sat right on his ribs, not that the six-month-old was very heavy. Stan lifted his sunglasses to his forehead and smiled at the baby. “C’mon, squirt, I’m tryin’ to get a good tan here.” “No, Stan, no naps.” Ford mimicked his brother from earlier and stood up. “Why not let him try the sea and splash in some water?” “Good idea.” Stan picked up Alex and left their stuff on the towel and walked to the shoreline. Alex looked down at the waves that gently crashed on the shore. They rolled close to the sand and splashed peacefully. Stan helped Alex stand by holding him by his hands and Ford sat on his knees just where the water touched the sand at max. The baby awed at the splashing water and wiggled with chills when the water touched his little feet, but then laughed with delight over the new experience. Stan then sat Alex down next to Ford to sit and he wiggled his arms up and down as he squealed with joy. Here, the sand was squishy and fun to grab and the water was going away and coming back, like magic. Stan laughed as Alex shoved a fistful of sand into his mouth and Ford scrambled to help the little guy spit it out. Alex didn’t cry, merely confused as to why something so pretty tasted so bad, but the uncles were too distracted by Alex’s sand-eating that they didn’t notice a bigger wave coming. It wasn’t dangerous, but it did splash Alex on the face and spooked him and made him fall backward and cry over being overwhelmed. “Oh no, oh no,” Ford cooed and picked Alex up as he stood up. “Perhaps snack time would be more efficient with real food and away from the sea water.” “I think Shermie packed some peas and carrots to give him.” Stan said as they went back to the towel. He rummaged a bit and found two containers of food, a baggie of cereal, and a small spoon. Ford sat Alex in his lap so he could use his uncle as a highchair and Stan opened the mushed-up peas. “Alright, lunchtime squirt, open up.” Alex, however, turned away at the spoon filled with food and put his lip out. “Oh, what, you’re too good for my peas?” Stan asked and tried again, but Alex dodged the spoon and scowled. “Oh, come on, ‘Lex. Work with me.” “Maybe a snack or milk first?” Ford suggested. “Nah, he’s just being picky.” Stan reasoned. “Look, Alex, Uncle Stan loves ‘em, look.” He put the spoon into his mouth and thought he might vomit. His face turned as green as the mashed-up peas and he spat the disgusting food back into the container. “Who in God’s name would feed that to babies?!” He yelled in horror and hurled the food into the sea. “Stanley!” Ford scolded, trying not to laugh but he was snickering all the while. “That was awful!” Stan shouted and coughed and gagged. “No way I’m feeding that to my nephew.” Ford sighed with a smile on his face and said down to the baby, “Good rule, always make Uncle Stan test it first.” “Whatever, he can have his cereal instead.” Stan plunged a hand back into the bag and pulled out a bottle of milk. “Here, kid, something to wash down the sand with.” Alex happily accepted the bottle and even held it himself. His uncles smiled, and one of them finally noticed the giggling happening a few feet away. Stan saw four cute girls sitting at a picnic awhile away, probably in college. They were giggling at them and awing at the baby. Stan smiled and tossed them a wink. The girls giggled again and stood. “And now to reap from the benefits of babysitting, Sixer.” Stan whispered. “Keep it cool.” “What?” And Ford finally noticed the four girls. One with flaming red hair and a yellow bathing suit sat on her knees next to Ford and cooed, “Aw, how adorable! He’s very cute.” “Um, thank you.” Ford said, his face turning red. “I would have also accepted ‘handsome’ and ‘extremely cute’.” Stan stared at amazement that his brother came up with that on his own and grinned proudly. The girls laughed with him, a lovely change from at him, and the girl with tanned skin and black hair said, “Oh my gosh, you’re so funny! Is he a cousin or something?” “Our nephew, Alex.” Ford informed the girls as the one with tanned skin sat with her knees by her chest in front of the baby for a good look at him. “Wow, you two are so good with him.” A blonde girl with blue eyes sighed admirably and smiled at Stan. “Yup, he’s our little buddy.” Stan said smugly. “Just making sure he has a good time.” “Aw, well you guys have fun!” And the blonde girls squeezed Stan’s shoulder and the red-head waved at Ford with a cute wink as they resumed their picnic. “That was the longest a girl didn’t talk to me out of pity.” Ford said breathlessly. “We should totally take him to the park and catch more babes there.” Stan advised as he took Alex’s bottle to make sure he didn’t drink too much at once. “Or we could just take him just to spend some quality time with our nephew.” “Yeah, that too I guess.” Ford snorted with laughter and noticed Alex’s yawn. Apparently the excitement of a new place and the soothing crashing of the waves, mixed with the warm sun, was making him sleepy. Ford laid Alex down on the towel on his belly, Stan gave him Ottie the otter, and Alex soon fell asleep. Ford opened his book to read while Stan laid and sunbathed for a bit. A few minutes passed and Stan rolled on his front to tan his back. While on his front, Stan rubbed Alex’s back and kinda got lost in thought over his nephew, the warm sun making his brain melt into mush and all seemed too right in the world to care. Ford was invested in his book, enjoying the story about stupid jewelry or whatever, but then Stan’s eyes looked past his twin and saw some very pretty girl in a bikini, lying on a blanket with a magazine and a nice sunhat on, her freckled body covered by a black bathing suit and her eyes right at him. Her lips were naturally red and lush, biting her bottom lip as she gave Stan this look that made him a sucker. She waved at him and Stan grinned excitedly and hurried to go talk to the pretty woman. A few moments after Stan left, Alex woke up. He blinked his tired eyes and looked around. His brown eyes landed on a seagull and he smiled at the birdie. Alex grabbed Ottie by one of his little paws and slowly crawled off the towel. He started to get the hang of the new trick and crawled faster towards the birdie, but it soon flew away and went back down farther away from the ocean and closer to the town. Alex followed it as he giggled and he was off. Stan soon walked back to the blanket with a phone number in his hand and he twindled it between his fingers. He smiled down at the towel to tell Ford the good news, but his blood ran cold. “Sixer?” “Hm?” “Where’s Alex?” “He’s right…” Ford put his hand down right where he believed Alex to be sleeping, but he touched nothing but towel. His heart skipped a beat and he snapped his book closed and scurried around the towel, even lifting it off the sand in case the baby was somehow under it. “Alex? Alex?!” “What did you do?!” Stan yelled. “You left us?!” “You were with him!” “You couldn’t tell m- This won’t help us find him!” Ford shook his head and tried to control his mounting anxiety. “He couldn’t have gotten far… I didn’t even know he was crawling yet!” “Aw, man. His first crawl and we missed it?” “STANLEY!” “Right, right!” Stan looked around and gasped with horror. “What if he went into the water?! I’M COMIN’, ALEX! UNCLE STAN’S COMIN’!” He ran into the water and looked around, even diving into the deeper parts and checking where the tide was drifting in a different direction. Ford was shaking, but he then looked down at the sand and noticed small hand prints and a disturbance in the sand. He sighed with relief that Alex hadn’t drowned and ran up to his twin, who was now waist-deep in salt-water and panicking. “ALEX! ALEX!” “Stanley, there’s a trail we can follow! I think Alex went into town!” Ford called from the shoreline and Stan splashed to him and ran back to the towel with him, gathered their stuff, and ran off of the sand. The terrified young men looked around on the sidewalk, but saw no sign of their baby nephew. “Okay, if we were Alex, where would we go?” Stan huffed. Ford held his chin and tried to think through his fear. “Babies are generally attracted to colors and sounds… perhaps something caught his eye and curiosity got the best of him…” “There!” Stan bolted down the sidewalk and Ford followed him with the baby-bag on his shoulder. On the corner and lying helplessly was the stuffed otter. Stan picked it up with trembling hands. “Okay… now all we need is a dog! To track Alex!” “Stanley, be serious!” “I am, Stanford!” Stan snapped back at him. “If anything happens to that kid I’m gonna kill everyone in this stupid town and then myself! I can’t lose Alex!” “We won’t, we’ll find him.” Ford said, his voice quivering with fear. “How many mysteries have we solved together? How many missing objects and people have we found? We just have to put our heads together and think of a plan. Again, he has only learned to crawl today. He couldn’t have gotten far. Let’s go down this road and keep searching.” ~~~~~~~~~~ Thistle strung his ukulele beautifully, picking notes and finding his tune. Just as he thought he had one, his girlfriend jumped in and sang along. “I don’t need gold, I don’t need silver, I just need you here. I don’t need fame, I don’t need glory, I just need you near. All of my ambitions have gone away, for I’m complete with you.” Carla sang as a soft breeze flew by her long brown hair. Thistle smiled as they both sat on the front steps of Carla’s townhouse in a small neighborhood by the beach. “Not bad, not bad. Pure poetry, my flower.” Carla blushed and shrugged. She listened to Thistle playing solo for a bit, the soft instrument filling the air, and her mood was improved to hear a baby’s giggling. She opened her eyes and looked around, expecting a stroller with passerby, but a lone baby sitting on the sidewalk. Carla gasped and hurried over to the baby, on one knee and looking around for anyone who might be with the little guy. “Hello? Anyone?” Carla called and then scooped up the baby. “Oh, you poor little thing. C’mere, I know.” She cooed and held him by her shoulder and rubbed his back. The baby seemed okay and unafraid. Whoever was looking after him must be close by. Carla carried the baby back to the step and Thistle looked at the little human with sympathy. “Aw, you think he was abandoned?” “No, he’s wearing a bathing suit, see? I think some tourists were distracted and this rascal left his parents, didn’t you?” She cooed and tickled the baby’s ribs. The baby laughed and Carla got a good look at the baby. Something… seemed familiar to her. Maybe it was because she wasn’t around a lot of babies, but this baby reminded her a lot of her ex’s newborn nephew. “Wait a minute…” Carla had only met Alex one time. The day he came home, Stan called her and caught her up on everything. He was kinda cute, all excited and a big lug around the little baby, and he invited her over a few days later and she got to hold Alex. He was amazing and Carla missed him, almost as much as she missed Stan. “I know you, don’t I?” Carla asked, bewildered, but the more she looked at the baby, the more familiar he looked. “Alex?” He only grinned and grabbed her hair to play with it. Carla gave in, wincing a little but she smiled and hugged the baby. “I’ve missed you, too.” “You know him?” Thistle asked suspiciously. “Yeah, he’s Stan’s nephew.” “Oh.” Thistle said darkly and his face hardened. “Trust that idiot to lose a kid.” “Oh, c’mon, that’s not fair.” Carla scolded lightly. “If this little guy is anything like the rest of his family he’s impossible to keep track of.” And she tickled Alex’s ribs, making him laugh. “I’m sure he’ll be around in no time. He’s probably tearing up the whole town for him.” Thistle only rolled her eyes and strung a few cords. ~~~~~~~~~~ Stan and Ford walked into a toy store, in case Alex somehow crawled into it for the brightly colored toys in the window. With no luck in finding him there, they went down the road and called his name cautiously; they wanted the baby to hear them but not any adults who might catch on what had happened. Alex was a smart kid and seemed to know his name by now, so if he heard them he might crawl to them, right? They entered the bakery and found it empty apart from a sleeping teenager at the counter. They even checked behind alleys and underneath parked cars. The more locations they tried and failed at, the higher their nerves got. At one point, Ford even puked into a neighborhood trash can (but that may have also been due to the pile of rotting fish outside the hatchery) and Stan was losing his mind, every sound making his heart pick up speed and his rain making him think it might be Alex or something about to take Alex. A few minutes into their search and they had wandered away from the shops and stores to an area filled with apartments and townhouses. Stan was too distracted to notice this was Carla’s neighborhood, calling his nephew’s name and praying something positive would happen. At long last, they turned a corner where music was playing, vaguely guessing Alex was attracted to the sounds, and they saw Alex in Carla’s lap as she sang along to her new boyfriend’s music. But Stan didn’t give a rat’s ass about any of that; Alex was safe. “ALEX!” The twins screamed and ran to him. Carla smiled and held up the baby. Alex was wiggling and giggling, his chubby arms outstretched for his uncles and happy to see them again. Stan scooped him up and held him tightly and close to his heart, rubbing his back and trying to control himself, but composure be damned. His kid was safe. “Alex! Thank Moses, you’re okay! Don’t you ever scare me like that again, squirt!” Ford rubbed the baby’s back as he clanged onto Stan’s chest and giggled at the extra affection. “Alexander Jackson Pines, I’m so sorry. I should have watched you more closely. I can’t believe I put something as meaningless as knowledge before my own nephew.” “Don’t blame yourself, Poindexter, that’s what I get for…” Stan stopped to find a pair of eyes on him. The entire time, Carla was smiling at the two teenagers and the baby. Ford followed Stan’s eyes and narrowed them at Carla, meanwhile Stan just stared, not a trace of anger on his face. “Um… hey.” “Hey,” Carla said softly and stood on the sidewalk with her arms crossed over her chest loosely. “Glad you found him.” “Yeah, and thanks for watching him.” Stan said as he looked at Alex instead and his smile returned. “Great, you got him back,” Thistle said coldly and stood by the door. “C’mon, baby, let’s have lunch.” “You know what,” Carla said firmly and gave her boyfriend a hard look. “Why don’t you go ahead inside? I’ll be right there.” Thistle growled in his throat and went inside. Stan didn’t know how to feel about things being cold between his ex and her new boyfriend. The little green monster in his gut known as Envy was purring with satisfaction, but he wasn’t so sure if he would ever take her back. Okay, maybe he would give it a chance, but he couldn’t imagine it lasting long. Not after Carla’s true colors were shone. Carla turned back to the Pines and kept her eyes on Stan. “Hey, I… I actually wanted to talk to you for awhile.” “Oh yeah?” His voice was calm. It was just too easy to growl or snap or yell at her. Too easy to go through with it. With Ford next to him and Alex in his arms, he didn’t feel like letting Carla have it; he just wanted to go home and take a nap. “Yeah, I… I’m sorry.” Carla said. “I’m sorry for how I left things. I’ll admit it, I shouldn’t have just dumped you out of the blue like that, and I’m sorry. If I could I totally would’ve done things differently.” “Okay, but what exactly are you sorry for?” Stan asked as he raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you sorry you dumped me the way you did, or are you sorry you left me for the hippy?” Carla narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m sorry that I hurt you, Stan, but I’m not sorry we broke up. I think it’s better this way.” “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t need someone in my life who doesn’t know what’s most important. I dunno why I didn’t see it before; we’re both free spirits, Hotpants, but at least I think of the people I care about first.” “Oh, don’t hold yourself all high and mighty!” Carla snapped. “You’re the one who lost a toddler, Stan, not me! And you’re the one who always says ‘if you want something, get it’. I’m sorry that it hurt your feelings, but I’m not sorry that I wanted a better person and I’m not sorry that I left you at all.” “Well, that’s fine by me!” Stan retaliated. “For what it’s worth, I’ll never be sorry I drove hippy-boy’s van into a ravine, but I’ll always be sorry I ever went out with you in the first place!” And he turned around and walked away with Alex in his arms. Ford and Carla looked at each other. Ford opened and closed his mouth a few times like a fish. Carla raised an eyebrow at him mockingly, but then Ford settled on flipping her off with his two-middle fingers and walking away, leaving her red-faced and alone. When Ford caught up to his family, he found Stan holding Alex by his shoulder and rubbing circles into his back. Alex hugged him back, smiling and looking up at his uncle with round eyes. Stan, however, looked like he was doing some deep thinking. “Are you okay?” Ford asked gently. “Yeah, Sixer, m’fine.” Stan said casually. “We’ve got Alex back, he’s safe, let’s just get home.” “Yes, I am grateful to find him safe and sound, but… is there anything you want to talk about?” “To be frank, no. I said everything I needed to say.” Ford smiled and patted his back. “Alright, Knucklehead, whatever you say.” ~~~~~~~~~~ Shermie let himself into the flat above Pines’ Pawns around six o’clock. “Hello? Stan? Ford? Anyone home?” He wandered down the hall and thought he heard snoring as he approached the living room. He peered down at the couch and smiled. Stan was sprawled out over the couch, lying on his back with the baby curled up on his chest and holding onto Stan’s black t-shirt. Sitting on the floor and against the couch was Ford, with a book on his lap and his head back as he slept; apparently he had been reading to them until they all fell asleep. Shermie guessed he could leave them all to sleep a little while longer and so he picked up Pa’s newspaper and read it at the kitchen table.

[evieveevee]

What We Lost: Returning to Tumblr in 2020

On December 17th, 2018, Tumblr banned 'adult content' across the site, marking the end of an era. The ban was the result of a cavalcade of issues which reportedly made maintaining NSFW content unfeasible for Tumblr. Now, it's 2020. I'm back on Tumblr, and I can't help but meditate on what we've lost both on Tumblr, and across the globe in 2020.

Part One: Tumblr and Adult Content

*Things we lost to the flame Things we'll never see again All that we've amassed Sits before us, shattered into ash

— Bastille, "Things We Lost In The Fire"*

A bit of personal history: Tumblr was the primary community I used in various forms from 2012 onwards, associating with various fandoms, doing what I could to design interesting things. The various communities I was involved in intersected with social justice communities, and eventually I dug into those further and tried to learn to better myself in the process, starting along the path to becoming the person I did.

Part of that process was also learning to love my own body, a thing I was not particularly good at and still struggle a bit with nowadays. One of the ways I did this was by making 'adult content', or more plainly, pornography. It was a unique opportunity to experiment with femininity and sexuality - something I'd been very closed off from as part of my upbringing - in a supportive, fun environment. Experimenting with my self image first in this way, in semi-private, led to me experimenting more publicly and eventually embracing aspects of that as part of my day to day life. That's right: making pornography was part of what led me down the path to figuring out I was trans and embracing that part of me.

Making porn on Tumblr was a great time; the adult content creators and consumers community on the site was largely supportive of queer people and sexuality, different body types, all manner of things. It was - in my experience - a healthy and fun place to be, and certainly one of the better places you could be on the internet for a visual medium like pornography. Tumblr's format made it easy to share both adult content you made yourself, and stuff you were curating. Vex Ashley wrote that "this sharing was so desperately vital for women and other marginalised people whose sexualities are often overlooked or infantilised in media about sex in preference for the tastes of the traditional porn consumer – the straight white guy" in a eulogy and love letter to Tumblr's adult content communities.

Tumblr's format remains novel to my knowledge as well: the notion of having a large image-focused feed which also allows for easy sharing and curation, gorgeous, high resolution pieces and photos to be uploaded with relatively little compression, custom arrangements of photosets, and personalized theming of your blog. There was, and remains, lots of potential for expression on Tumblr., and its focus remains unique. Twitter and Mastodon's focus is on what's written, Wordpress doesn't have the sort of interlinking of blogs that Tumblr does, and Facebook is... Facebook (read: evil).

I think the novelty of that format is what made the announcement of the ban on 'adult content' so impactful. Even looking back at the framing of it is gross: the post posits that 'adult content' is something which is negative, and says that removing it is working towards a 'more positive' Tumblr. There appears to be an attempt to try and strike a balance in allowing conversation about sexuality and such, but this is the killing blow. A huge portion of the community, including countless queer and furry artists, needed to find a new home online.

3 months after the ban had hit, traffic had reportedly dropped off 20%. Recent data from SimilarWeb, the outfit which published that initial data, shows that visits to the site have dropped off a little bit more, but have stayed otherwise pretty consistent. August 2020's data shows about 317 million visits. [1] In other words: any hope that this move would allow Tumblr was dashed. A massive portion of the userbase deleted their accounts after archiving them; Tumblr and the internet at large had lost a massive, vibrant chunk of community, and it was completely in vain.

I lost contact with a bunch of those folks I was following on Tumblr for years. The mass exodus left both people who wanted to find and share artwork and adult content and the people who made it completely adrift. Years later, some artists are still picking up the pieces. Archaic policy like SESTA/FOSTA being brought into the picture has left very few standing when it comes to adult content, Twitter included. Who knows how long that will last? If something happens to change the way that Twitter handles adult content, for example, what options do casual creators like myself have?

Fortunately, platforms like OnlyFans exist. But even those are at potential risk from legislation like the EARN IT Act, not to mention the danger this poses to Twitter and to the internet at large. OnlyFans and its ilk, as they exist right now, are fantastic for sex workers because they offer pay-gating and a variety of features to make sure sex workers get paid. But they leave those of us who want to be able to curate the content they enjoy or casually create their own content freely without real options, and without real community.

We stand to lose a lot, and as always people in the margins will be the ones most impacted: the queer, the people of color, the disabled; all will suffer greatly if adult content is found without a home. Media dealing with queer themes is enough to be considered "adult content" by some and it's not hard to imagine what we could be staring down the barrel of here.

What have we lost in eliminating platforms like this?

Part Two: 2020 and the World

*These are the things The things we lost The things we lost in the fire, fire, fire.

— Bastille, "Things We Lost In The Fire"*

Meditating on what we have lost seems to be a running theme for the year 2020.

January: New Year's Day. In Aotearoa New Zealand, smoke covers the skies from a fire a literal ocean away. The Australian bush has been on fire, part of one of the most and it has turned the skies of a nation not it's own orange at midday, across thousands of kilometers. What did we lose in those fires? What stories and history? What wildlife, what species? What will remain afterwards? What will grow anew?

April: Aotearoa New Zealand hits the peak of COVID-19 related lockdown with the entire nation moved to Level 4, meaning that nothing except truly essential services, such as roadworks, pharmacies, and supermarkets were open. During that time, I thought a lot about how some of my favorite small shops were doing; the bakery with astonishingly good pies, the charming dollar store which always has a few things that catch my eye, the coffee cart near one of the local parks every morning. As a nation, Aotearoa acted early to deal with COVID-19 with a strong hand, and it was risky for all of those small shops across the country. What would we come out the other side of the lockdowns having lost, both in terms of human cost and cost to the places around us?

May: Following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, massive protests against police brutality, racism, and white supremacy break out across the United States of America. Daily protests have continued to the time of writing in some cities. George Floyd is one of 781 people killed by police in 2020 at the time of writing in the United States alone [2]. 1099 people were killed by police in 2019 [3]. What incredible lives and stories have been lost in the process? Are those stories being told now? How do we prevent this from happening again? (Hint: defunding the police will be a start, and supporting the cause now is a good choice too.)

It is now September: The incompetence of the US Government has allowed COVID-19 to spread beyond control, leaving tens of thousands of deaths in its wake; lives and stories which must be remembered and their stories carried on by others. The western coast of the United States is on fire, blanketed in smoke and ashes. Massive west coast cities like San Francisco gain an apocalyptic feeling as the skies turn orange, like they did for me in January. Friends of friends lose everything in small Oregon towns. The costs of the prolonged fires will be paid by people all up the coast; it's their health outcomes which will suffer. What will we lose as a result of this in the future? What can we do to make things better?

I want to be clear: this is not a comprehensive list, and is centered around the things that me and my social circles have been aware of and talked about. Even with that consideration, we have to reckon with massive, ongoing, and far reaching concerns. The loss felt as a result of all of the above issues is staggering, and far reaching, and we must fight to ensure that loss is not in vain. Voting alone is not going to solve these concerns, and there's more to concern yourself with than any one person should have to cope with. There's not a magic bullet to solve all this stuff though.

Rather than pretend that I have one, I want to propose a couple things to close this out: one bit of advice, and one plea for yourself and others.

The advice: pick your battles carefully. Pick issues you want to focus in on, and fight for those things to make things better where you live, and in your social circles. Choose things to care deeply about first. Keep caring about them.

The plea: think carefully about the questions I've asked throughout this piece, and think about the things in your life and communities that you have lost. Think about how to make sure those losses are taken with you and learned from; to take lessons learned and better yourself and the people around you. Think about the things you don't want to lose, and how to fight like hell for them.

Move forwards to something, and some place better than where we are now. Stand united with the people around you, and press on.

*Do you understand that we will never be the same again? The future's in our hands and we will never be the same again.

— Bastille, "Things We Lost In The Fire"*

If you enjoyed this piece and want to support my work, please contribute to my Ko-fi. If you are interested in re-publishing this piece on another site, please contact me either here or via my business email.

References

[1] Data provided by SimilarWeb; accessed on 15/09/2019 at 5:30am. (https://www.similarweb.com/website/tumblr.com/)

[2] Data provided by Mapping Police Violence (https://mappingpoliceviolence.com); accessed on 15/09/2020 at 4:08am NZT

[3] Data provided by Mapping Police Violence's (https://mappingpoliceviolence.com) database, downloaded on 15/09/2020 at 4:08am NZT. Count obtained using the following formula:

=COUNTIFS($'2013-2020 Police Killings'.F:F,">=1/1/2019",$'2013-2020 Police Killings'.F:F,"<1/1/2020")

[you-a-southpaw-doll]

Lovin’ Him - A Negan!AU Story ~ Chapter 1

Story Title: Lovin’ Him - A Negan!AU Story

Story Summary: When high school student Leigh Sullivan feels like the world is against her, and she’s prepared to end it all, there’s only one other person in the world who could save her from herself. Her best friend, neighbor, love of her life, current United States Marine, and even bus driver, Negan Morgan. But what if even his love isn’t enough? Will Negan be the one to save Leigh, or will it be too late? If it is not, what will come of Leigh and Negan? Will they stay best friends and maybe become more? Or, will the strain of Negan trying to save Leigh become too much for their long-lasting friendship, and it’ll all come tumbling down?

Chapter Summary: Leigh and Negan interact a little before the bell rings on the last day of school before Christmas break. An exchange of Christmas presents. :)

Word Count: 1,709

Warning(s): Explicit language. Caring Negan. Loving Negan. Slight angst. Fluff - LOTS of Fluff.  Somewhat of a slow burn? Eventual relationship. Hella teasing. Negan’s very sneaky and naughty in a good way. Teacher x student relationship – The reader is of legal age, and Negan’s a bus driver. NO Zombie Apocalypse.

Author’s Note(s): Sorry that it’s taken me so long to get this first chapter posted, y’all. After I got back home from Christmas break, school started right back up the next day. Then my laptop decided it wanted to stop working, so I had to get a new one. It’s just been crazy. But, don’t worry. I have a good bit of this story already written, so I just need to get my amazing and wonderful editor to look over the chapters, and then post them. I’ll do my best to post to a new chapter at least once a week, at least up til the end up April, since that’ll be finals week, and graduation for me. If y’all have any questions, feel free to message me! Also, if you wanna be tag for future stories, just shoot me a message and I’ll be sure to add you!

Relationship(s): Negan x Leigh Sullivan (OFC)

Characters: Negan. Leigh Sullivan (OFC). (More characters will be added as the story continues.)

Taglist: @negans-network, @prettyboynegan @mychemicalimagines @spnnnxangelsx @rockinkel21 @misskittycat02 @band--psycho@ofxallxwexlost @iron-halt @thamberlinawrites

___________________________________________________________________

Chapter 1: Last Day Before Christmas Vacation

 “C’mon, Leigh. Wake up.”

I keep hearing his voice in my sleep. I slowly open my eyes, even though I really don’t want to. I want to keep dreaming ‘bout him. Although, when I open my eyes, that perfect face, smiling, greets me. That amazingly gorgeous face of his. Man, oh, man. 

He is fine, with a capital “F”. Like, no joke. This man is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. So what if he has a scar running through his left eyebrow? So what if he has a scar beside his left ear? So what if he has a scar along the right side of his cheek that’s faded over the years? 

There’s a story behind each scar. Moreover, it’s a part of him, and who he is. In fact, if you were to ask me, I’d say that his scars add to his sexiness, but that’s just my opinion. His scars lead straight to his hair. At least, the one by his ear does anyway. 

It leads into that somewhat wavy, and somewhat curly, brown hair that’s been lightened over the years thanks to the sun shining down on it. He’s got a chiseled jaw and cheekbones that would put any Hollywood actor to shame, male or female. 

Even his slight beard and mustache he has going on, that’s been trimmed recently, makes him look sexy. Like extremely sexy. I’m guessing that he probably trimmed it this morning before leaving his house. Those lips. Man, those lips that are always turned up in a devious smirk whenever I catch him glancing at me with those eyes.

Those brown eyes, with a small tint of darkness, that gives him the “I’ve been there and done it a time or two” look. I bet he probably has, and even enjoyed it too. Knowing him, he has. I’m sure he’s had fun in his life before becoming a bus driver. 

He’s not one of those grumpy, old, mean bus drivers. No. He’s cheerful, young, and really nice. Or at least, he’s cheerful and nice to me. I haven’t really paid attention to how he is with the other people on the bus. I’m too busy admiring him like a lovesick puppy.

“There you go, Leigh. There’s that pretty face I love to see. C’mon. School’s ‘bout to start for you.” He says, in that sexy drawl of his.

I groan. “I don’t wanna go. Can’t I just stay here on the bus with you?”

He chuckles. “I’m ‘fraid not. The rules won’t allow it, darlin’. Besides, you got an education you need to get. And, I’ve got some fuckin’ shut-eye to catch up on.”

“Who cares ‘bout the damn rules?”

“Well…you see, I do. If I lose my job, then you won’t have me as your bus driver anymore. Then, you might get stuck with some old grumpy ass fucker.”

I laugh. “I don’t want that. I like you too much as a bus driver. You’re nice to me.”

“You’re easy to be nice to.”

I roll my eyes. “If you say so.”

“I do say so. Now, c’mon. Up and at ‘em. The quicker you get off, the quicker your day will go by, and the quicker you get to be back on the bus, heading home to enjoy your vacation.”

“Well…when you put it that way…ok. I guess I’ll get up.”

He laughs. “That’s my girl. Figured that would work.”

I uncurl my legs from underneath me. He takes a step back into the seat in front of me so I don’t kick him. By the way, I’d never do something like that. I sit up in the seat, and stretch. He just chuckles. He leans forward, and tickles my sides slightly. 

I squeal and drop my arms to my sides, trapping his long fingers against my body. I look up as his nostrils flare and his eyes dilate. He sucks a deep breath in. I smirk to myself, and relax my arms. He removes his fingers, and swallows deeply. 

I stand up in the aisle and bend down to grab my backpack off the floor. The only reason I brought it is so I could carry his Christmas present. I don’t really need my backpack today, except for that reason. I set my bag on the seat I was sitting in. 

I unzip it, and get his present out. I look up to see him looking at me. He quickly looks away once he sees that I’m looking at him.

“Um, hey, Neegs? I have something for you.” I mumble.

He looks back at me. I haven’t even given his gift to him yet, but he looks surprised, yet excited. I hand him the wrapped up box. I’m not really good at wrapping presents, but for him, I spent a little more time on it to get it to look decent. 

He holds the box in his hands. He looks at it, then back at me.

“Can I open it now, or do I have to wait till fuckin’ Christmas?” He asks, genuinely curious.

“Umm…whatever you wanna do. It’s yours.” I say.

He carefully, but quickly, unwraps the box. I drew a little smiley face on the top of the box. He grins once he sees it. He lifts the lid and peers inside.

“Awww, shucks, darlin’! You didn’t have to!” He says, once he sees my gift to him.

“I wanted to. I wanted you to have a present this Christmas. Plus, you’re always nice to me. So…I um…made you a bracelet.” I mutter quietly.

Another thing I’m not good at is making stuff. But, once again, for him, I tried to make him a bracelet. I just took some black nylon cord, some forest green nylon cord, and some hunter orange nylon cord, and braided it into a bracelet. I even added a watch face to it, and a tiny compass. 

It’s kind of like a survival bracelet. I took his favorite colors, and some things he might need and mixed ‘em together, and ta-dah! I made a bracelet watch for him. I hear the click of a buckle and look up as he wiggles his left arm slightly to get it in place on his wrist. 

He looks up at me, grinning like a little boy who just opened the best present ever. Before I know what’s happening, he scoops me up in his arms, and is hugging me. I wrap my arms ‘round him to hug him back. He holds me close to him for a moment before setting me back down. 

I bite back a groan of protest. I wish he didn’t set me down. I’d gladly stay in his arms all day. I don’t just like him because of his looks. No. I like him because of the fact that he’s nice, and he’s a gentleman. Plus, I really respect him. Not only is he still in the United States Marine Corps, in the Reserves of course, but he’s also the only person that’s ever been nice to me.

“Thank you, Leigh. I really ‘preciate it. It’s special to me already. Just because you made it for me, and you didn’t have to.” He says.

“I wanted to.” I say, blushing.

He smiles that megawatt smile at me. I can’t help but smile back at him. His smile drops for a second.

“I guess you should get on to class now.” He mutters.

I sigh. “I guess so.”

“You riding this afternoon?”

“Of course.”

He smiles again. “Al-fuckin’-right! I’ll see you this afternoon.”

I grin. “Ok. Sounds good to me.”

He chuckles. We start walking up the aisle since I was sitting in the last seat on the left side of the bus. I walk in front of him. Once we get to the front, I have to wait for him to open the bus doors. I climb down the stairs.

“Hey, Leigh.” He calls from behind me.

“Yes?” I ask, turning ‘round to face him.

“Thanks again. I really do love it.”

He holds his wrist up and shakes it a little bit. The bracelet watch that I made him jiggles on his arm. I giggle. He’s acting like an adorable little kid. He just grins at me.

“I’ll see you later, darlin’.” He says.

“See you later.” I say, smiling.

As I walk away from the bus, and towards the school building, I can’t stop thinking ‘bout him. We’re not dating or anything, but I really like it when he calls me “darlin’”, or “his girl” or something like that. I’m sure that nothing could exist between us relationship-wise, but we’ve been friends, and neighbors, for years. 

He’s always called me his girl, or darlin’. I smile as I think ‘bout him.

“Hey, Leigh!”

I turn and look back towards the buses. He’s standing by his bus. Once he sees me looking at him, he smiles and waves. I giggle, and wave back. He does a little hand gesture signaling that he’ll see me later. He points to himself, makes circles over his eyes – almost like he’s looking through a pair of binoculars – points to me, and then to his watch. 

I laugh. He’s insane, but that’s ok. I like it, and it makes me happy to see him goofy. I make a gesture letting him know that I’m looking forward to seeing him later. I point to myself, do the binocular thing, but move my head side-to-side as if I were really looking for something. 

After I do that, I move my hand and make the gesture of moving forward, hold my hand in a peace sign, do the binocular thing again, but keep looking at him. I end with pointing to my wrist to signal time. I hear him laughing despite the distance between us. 

He gives me a smile and a thumbs-up. I grin. He waves goodbye. I wave back, and turn to continue on my way to class. All day long, I can’t help but think ‘bout him.

I can’t stop thinking ‘bout the man who goes by the name of Negan Morgan.

I can’t stop thinking ‘bout the man who happens to be my bus driver.

[desirevu]

Imagine BTS (maknae line): when you two are mad at eachother (nsfw)

—i kNOW finally a maknae line imagine, really be SLAKCING on em but maknae line is a force of power that i am scared of FKSK and since i have been neglecting maknae line i’ve decided to make this longer then hyung line but there is more longer and better content coming for both soon!!

Park Jimin:

Jimin was brutal when you two are not on good terms. Maybe it was the fact that he had a meeting later that day so he couldn’t fix the issue or maybe it was that you didn’t help either. When you were asked to join the meeting Jimin let out a groan seeing you wink at him.

“Let’s go.” Jimin says grabbing his keys you getting up walking to the car. The car ride was silent till you turned on the radio and then suddenly he turned it off. “It distracts me.” Not what he says when he’s singing in traffic two days ago.

Arriving at the building you two held hands walking up to the elevator checking in with the front desk. Jimin tapping his foot waiting for the doors to open, you glancing at him seeing him get frustrated.

Before you got to say anything the doors opened, Jimin walking in the hall to see the meeting room numbers finding the one assigned to you two. You followed Jimin till he opens the door letting you walk in first.

You see a circle table all the tables filled besides a couple. You and Jimin sat on the end of the table resting your hands on the table seeing Jimin say hello to the others.

As moments pass you felt Jimin’s hand get comfortable on your thigh, you freeze almost till you wanted to play his little game. The game you always talked about but never really put into action.

Placing your hand on top of his thigh rising your hand towards his crotch which was hot, feeling him huff out trying to keep his noise down. The meeting already becoming a blur to both of you, you two wanted to ruin eachother.

Jimin fully wrapping his hand around your cock through your pants causing you to cover your mouth from hissing out. Snickering Jimin starts to play with you dragging his fingers along your veins, you feel him glance at you wanting you to lose but you had a fighting sprint in you.

You palmed his tip hearing him moan out but cover it with a cough. Seeing all the business people look at him, you smirking thinking you’re going to win. Till Jimin pressed his vibrating phone against your clothed cock.

“Did you really just download that?” You whisper at him seeing Jimin smirk. Two could play that game, you accidentally dropped a pen on the ground going down next to his crotch licking his clothed cock. Jimin bucked his hips seeing the wet spots of your tongue, getting back up you placed the pen on the table.

The whole meeting was like this, full of acidents and excuse me’s. Jimin was close to cumming and he didn’t want to tell you but the way you rubbed him and teased his tip. You were in the same spot of him, the other hand gripping the arm rest of the office. Keeping your stern face for as long as you could.

“God I just want to fuck you on this table. Make you feel so good on this table.” You whisper in his ear, Jimin bitting his lips wondering when this meeting will finally be over. Jimin raised the vibration of the app, seeing you squirm.

Taking it a step further you unbutton his pants, he wasn’t going to stop you. Quickly you placed your hand in his boxers feeling him wet. Sloppy with pre cum all over his boxers. You pressed your thumb into his slit, feeling his own climax you saw him cover his mouth with one hand.

“Cum for me, let’s cum together.” You whisper in his ear, Jimin finally releasing in your hand while you grip his cock harder when you came in your own pants. Jimin needing a second to adjust himself to focus back on the meeting.

When you two left the room, both wearing black dress pants thankfully the cum not leaving a obvious wet spot. Shaking hands with the important people in the room, thankfully Jimin had hand sanitizer you two weren’t animals.

“Thank you, come again!” They wave at you, smirking you look at Jimin.

“Oh we will.” Jimin grins walking out with you, holding his hand.

Kim Taehyung:

Your roommate was great in all areas expect one. He washed the dishes when asked, he bought and made food to share, and he was quiet usually. Usually most of the time till summer had arrived. The nights were spent you trying to sleep hearing moans and grunts in the other room, and when you are in the living room you would see the girl walk out waving an awkward bye while Taehyung takes a shower.

Obviously you think the man is straight first reaction to see how many girls he brings. Who has that much energy in the world to bring girl after girl after girl. Snacking on your cereal with the side of girls sometimes screaming out Taehyung’s name. Great nights.

“You done?” You ask scooping another spoonful of cereals in your mouth. Trying to have annoyance in your voice so he gets a hint. Taehyung coming out of his room with a towel around his hip and wet hair.

“Yup, Lizabeth... or Jessica was great.” Chuckling at his answer not even remembering the girl he pounded into two seconds ago. Taehyung sat next to you scrolling through his phone full of a feed of girls. The straights were something else.

“You think your dick will fall off?” Joking as you changed the channel, a cartoon of your personal favorite showing. Taehyung scoffing nodding no.

The next night same thing has happened, expect you forgot your toothbrush in his bathroom the other night. You had ran out of toothpaste groaning waiting to go to bed. The lady came out, you not even caring about her closing the door locking it behind her.

You walk in his bathroom opening the door seeing him in the bath holding his cock in his hand throwing his head back. He looks up moaning till you cleared your throat. Taehyung covering himself quickly getting up from the bath.

“What are you doing in here?!” Taehyung asks while you raise up your toothbrush. Chuckling that he’s red all over.

“They don’t leave you satisfied?” Laughing at him you saw Taehyung frown his eyebrows. The look of being pissed off being shown in his face. “You know I expected that many girls you would at least cum once. No wonder they leave so unhappy.” Something came over you, seeing him flustered that he was just caught jacking off. That this entire time Taehyung jacks off pleasing himself because no other could.

“You did not just say that. I could fuck you till you beg.” Taehyung says trying to act big. You chuckled in his face looking down his body, just two bros in a bathroom one of them naked.

“You could say that but I think we all know what you really want. A cock stuffed in your ass till you’re weak whining out ‘Oh Y/N! Oh!’” You mocked him titled your head smirking darkly. Taehyung pushing you against the wall his towel dropping, seeing precum drip down his cock.

Taehyung looked down and back to you, finally exchanging a messy sloppy kiss. Sharing saliva with him, your tongue playing with his Taehyung moaning out. You wrapping your hand around his cock twitching in your hand, it’s fun to do things like this and you never knew how addicting seeing someone completely be ruined.

You pressed your thumb against the slit him bucking his hips holding onto your shoulders till he held his breath. His stomach tightening while he felt the built up.

“Please go fast, fuck!” Taehyung says quickly bucking once more into your hand till he came jittering his hips breathing hard till he calmed down. Seeing your pants messy with his cum, you pulled him by the back of his head to make out once more.

“Happy?” You whispered in his ear kicking him out of the bathroom so you could clean yourself. Taehyung standing outside completely in shock.

“That was the hardest I ever came in my life.” Taehyung looked down seeing his cock still sensitive.

Jeon Jungkook:

Jungkook team’s and yours was known rivals from the beginning of time. The freshmen college year to now. A senior about to graduate wanting to win the last game against him. You saw them arrive at the gym seeing the high shorts in those gorgeous strong legs he has. You hated him but you weren’t blind!

All the cheerleaders tried to hit on him whenever they had the chance only to get nicely shut down by him. He was an angel outside the court but inside the court he was a monster. Completely ruthless till he won, then he would go back to innocent Jungkook.

This game was close, so close you crossed your fingers in order to win. You wanted every right to brag to that little brat. Jungkook’s team got in the court ready to play. Doing a little cheer with your team you played your hardest.

The game ended with you scoring the last point, you quickly looked up to see the score 26-24. You screamed along your team jumping up and down high fiving all your coaches. The sweet victory against Jeon Jungkook was addicting.

The game ended and clean up was done, you got inside the locker room seeing Jungkook in the locker room fishing for his bag. You wave at him couldn’t resist a little smirk while you got to your locker.

Jungkook has enough with your shit pinning you against the locker hearing the slam across the entire lockeroom. Jungkook basically breathing heavily till once again he presses your body in the shower. The water running getting your shorts wet along with his.

“Jeon this is not good sportsmanship.” You growl at him feeling the cold water run down you two. Jungkook’s eyes dark and his eyelashes pretty. “Didn’t know the innocent Jeon likes to be risky in public.” You press your finger along his abs you see through his shirt. The white uniform let you see everything.

He wore no boxers underneath, nothing seeing his cock through the soaked material, it was twitching in response of your hand touching him. Jungkook didn’t say a word, he didn’t know what to say. All this pent up sexual tension that he only got to release in the safety of his bedroom but he had to take his chances.

“Do you ever shut up?” Jungkook presses himself more closer to you. You tilted his head pressing your lips against his neck, leaving hickies all over his neck.

“Good luck explaining those Jeon.” You muffled between his neck, Jungkook placing his hands around your hips lowering himself till you lose grasp of his neck. Jungkook on his knees, looking up at you.

“Good luck trying to not get caught.” Jungkook says pulling your pants down seeing your cock. The shower still running but you heard the locker room door open. The shower area was in the back of the lockeroom and most of your teamates don’t take showers at late night games.

Jungkook wrapped his mouth around your cock playing with the tip. A low groan came out of you hearing Jungkook’s and your teammates get louder and more showed up. You put your hand in his hair pulling it hearing a whimper from him.

“Don’t make me fuck your mouth Jeon.”

“Would that really be all bad?” Jungkook smirks going back to your cock playing with your balls seeing you lean against the wall. Still your hands tangled in his hair pressing him further taking your cock further.

Soon enough you heard footsteps get closer to the showers, you taking him off your cock scooting him to go to another stall. Quickly getting out and then in a different stall. The teammate was quickly recognized as Jungkook’s.

“Hey when did you start taking a shower Jungkook?” Jimin asks Jungkook pretending to take a shower as best as he could. Jesus his knees were red.

“Oh not too long ago. Just wanted to shower the dirt off me.” Jungkook hissed making you laugh still he somehow hated you but you know you’ll see him again.

[qm-vox]

So You Want To Play Hades

I spent six hours coming up with that title because I have problems in my mind which I refuse to either examine or resolve.

So, Hades! The latest work from Supergiant Games, who brought you the interactive soundtracks to Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre, all superb games in their own rights known for their intuitive gameplay, build-your-own-hard-mode difficulty style, incredible atmosphere and characterization, thought-provoking stories, and that sexy, sexy fuckin’ music.

Like, listen to this sometime it’s amazing (all of their soundtracks are available from them on Youtube, by the by, though if you like ‘em you can support the creators by buying the music from them directly too):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH3Aoj1nw58

You’re likely asking, quite reasonably, why in the infinite and undying fuck I’m writing this post right now, and the long and short of it is I want more people to talk Hades with so now y’all are gonna get hit with the sales pitch and what I hope will be a helpful beginner’s guide if you decide to get into the game. Let’s get into that first part, shall we?

Thou Shalt Subject Your Gods To Market Forces

(Image sourced from Supergiant’s website)

Hades is an action-roguelike/lite that places you in the role of Prince Zagreus, secret son of Hades. Zag is trying to move out of his father’s house and live somewhere else for awhile and, well, Dad’s just being an entire dick about the whole thing. Hades challenges you to face down the endless ranks of the dead one chamber at a time, gathering the resources you need to breach upward through the Greek underworld and open the mighty gates into the living world. You can acquire it on Steam or on the Epic Store.

How do you know if Hades is or isn’t for you? If you like action games with tight controls and widely varied playstyles, we’ve got you covered here (if you’re thinking in terms of previous Supergiant offerings, Bastion has the most bones in). Hades also offers a great character-focused narrative, centering around the relationships Zagreus has and develops with the people around him - from legendary shades like Achilles and Sisyphus, to the gods of Olympus, to the cthonic gods of the underworld like Charon, Nyx, and the Furies - which fully incorporates the conceits of the genre. Unlike many roguelikes which sorta quietly elide failed runs or deaths, Zag’s defeats are part of his journey. After all, he’s already in the underworld. Where the fuck else is he going to go when he dies? Connecticut?

Though I can gush about the characters and narrative all day (and I’ll do it a bit more later), don’t get me wrong: Hades expects you to perform some pretty tight mechanics. Since dying is just the end of this run and not the game, the game feels pretty free to take brutal measures; the environments you move in are full of deadly traps, the seething ranks of the dead outnumber you to vast degrees, and you’ll fight a dizzying mix of opponents who do not hesitate to catch you in cross-fires, push you into lava, or drop bombs when you kill them because fuck you for succeeding you weird godling bastard. If you get easily frustrated or flustered, Hades may be quite stressful for you; before it’s anything else, it’s an action game with a heavy focus on combat, and if you decide to ride this train that’s the price of the ticket. If you relish the challenge and especially if you like the satisfaction of watching your play improve, though, it’s one hell of a ride.

In terms of accessibility features, Hades is a mixed bag. It has subtitles and aim assistance available, as well as a variety of supported languages and control adjustments which can alter how you do things like dash or attack, but it’s missing, for instance, a colorblind mode (and that’s gonna be important here in a minute), and many enemy behaviors & traps have audio cues which are not part of the current subtitle support. A rumble feature for controllers that have it is supported; Hades strongly suggests the use of a controller, but I know several players who choose to use a mouse & keyboard and seem to prefer it. Semi-recently, a God Mode option was added which empowers you when it’s turned on and does so further every time you die; it’s the closest Hades comes to an ‘easy’ mode, and while reception of it from my fellow players has been highly positive I’ve not tried it for myself.

If you’ve liked action games in the past, I’d highly endorse giving Hades a try as long as it’s accessible for you. The current build of the game (just before formal release) is selling at $24.99 USD on Steam right now, and like...I am not a highly skilled Gaming Individual(tm). I lose at games a lot. I play most of my games on Easy or maybe Normal if I’m really feeling like my dick is big - and with that in mind, I loved this one enough to buy it twice. I love the tight feeling of the combat, the way the mechanics feel, its gorgeous environments and its captivating characters. Hell, that’s why I’m out here writing a whole-ass article.

Stealth, Guile, Subtlety, And Other Things You Will Not Need - Getting Started In Hades

(Artwork sourced from the Hades wiki)

So you’ve decided to acquire Hades, you already own it, or the first part of this article was intriguing enough for you to look at the advice portion and see what sort of game you could be dealing with. Hades can be intimidating at first; it throws a lot of stuff at you, very quickly, and while it gives you some strong guidance on what to do with many of the resources you’ll acquire not all of those uses are immediately intuitive. The following is a guide to help your first few runs go a bit more smoothly and work on the fundamentals that will help you through your entire experience.

Let’s start with some General Tips that will help you out with every run and every weapon:

- Relax. No, seriously: relax. You haven’t ‘failed’ a run if you don’t beat the final boss. Hell, you probably haven’t even ‘failed’ a run if you die in Tartarus. If you learned something or got any permanent resource - gemstones, darkness, nectar, keys, blood, diamonds, ambrosia - then that run was a success. Even if the game wasn’t currently early access and thus without a proper ‘end’ at the moment, it’s supposed to be fun. Don’t castigate yourself for dying, just dive screaming back in and rip your vengeance from the spectral chest of your slayer.

- Always Be Moving. You only have so many hit points (you start a save file with a max of 50 and the most you can start a given run with is 200) and healing is limited over the course of a run. If you’re standing still, you’re getting hit. Zag’s quick on his feet - keep him moving and use your dash liberally. Once you’ve dealt some damage, leave and let your enemies swing at empty air, then dash back in and bully them back into their graves. When you start a dash you’re invulnerable until the dash finishes, which can make for some real cheeky dodges once you’ve had time to learn enemy timing.

- Watch And Learn. Early on in the game you’ll be learning about new enemies every chamber, especially when you start transferring to new zones and all of the enemies you’ve been facing just stop being a thing. Take the chance to know your foe! You’re not on a clock: don’t leap into the fight immediately. Dash around and watch how your enemies move and attack. What’s the limitations of their tactics? The reach on their attacks? How fast do they swing and move? If you’d like to watch some of that stuff ahead of time, I’d like to suggest amber_cxc’s Twitch channel: she’s been doing a lot of runs and speedruns of Hades of late, among the other games she plays.

- Manipulate Your Rewards. Certain things in Hades can only be offered a limited number of times per run, and once you’ve hit your quota they stop appearing. You can take advantage of this to get more Boons, Centaur Hearts, and Poms of Power. Specifically, you can only have up to two Daedelus Hammers and up to three Hermes Boons. If you can knock these out early I highly endorse doing so; they’re never bad to have, and even if somehow you want none of what they have to offer getting them off the RNG will help you later. Additionally, you can use Keepsakes (more on these in a minute) to manipulate who you get Boons from, when, by changing in and out of them at each biome. In this way you can control the shape of your build for the run.

- Accept That Your Dick Energy Is Fucking Huge. A lot of games try to keep you humble. Dark Souls is infamous for it, of course, and others in this genre such as Crypt of the Necrodancer and Enter the Gungeon do not reward haste at all. That is not this game. Walk into Hades like you’re the lord god of the Big Dick Dimension even if you know you’re not; take risks and learn from experience how you can mitigate, manipulate, or cancel out those risks. That unearned confidence won’t just help you with tip one (Relax), it’ll help you practice in those high-pressure situations which will occur more and more as your Heat rises.

- A Brief Note On Projectiles. This game has a few kinds of projectiles that you’ll need to learn to identify. Balls and Arrows can be broken - hit them with an Attack and they pop and won’t hurt you. Waves cannot be broken; they travel fast along the ground and have to be dodged or deflected. Lasers can neither be broken nor deflected. Traps can’t be broken, and deflecting them doesn’t always make them safe for you; these include the lava balls in Asphodel, Inferno Bombs, and the shit spit out by Bothers and Pests. Know your foe and always be moving.

In terms of the resources you’re offered, there are broadly two kinds: in-run resources, and out-of-run resources. Let’s talk briefly about in-run ones.

- Boons: Boons are the powerful gifts of your Olympian relatives. They change how you play during your run by augmenting your abilities (like your Attack, Special, or Dash) or by offering passive benefits. In general, look at Aphrodite, Athena, or Dionysus if you want powerful defenses, Ares, Artemis, or Zeus for powerful attacks, and Poseidon and Demeter for a combination of damage and utility. Different gods will be good with different weapons, and we’ll get into that later. Boons have a Rarity and a Level; Rarity determines their starting power and how well they scale if they do scale, and Level is that scaling.

- Centaur Hearts: +25 max and current HP for this run. Do you like not dying?

- Poms of Power: Poms increase the Level of a Boon by 1, which generally makes it better at doing whatever it does. Not all Boons will level up, but the ones that you can attach to your Attack, Special, Cast, Dash, or Call always do. You do eventually hit diminishing returns with these, so you’ll generally want to spread the love around if you keep picking up Poms.

- Obols: DOLLAH DOLLAH BILLS Y’ALL. Obols are the coins preferred by Charon, the Ferryman, who will take them from you for goods and services. Obols can be turned into all other resources - even out-of-run resources. They’re almost always a great choice of investment.

These in-run resources are presented as potential rewards when you’re selecting chambers. I tend to run heavy on Boons and Obols myself, but your own play style is likely to differ! Experiment with the feel of acquiring various rewards and see what you like to invest in. After all, they’re only for the run you’re on; you literally can’t take it with you.

Out-of-run resources are used to permanently advance Zagreus’s power, his relationships, or both. They are as follows:

- Cthonic Keys: Used to unlock new weapons and new parts of the Mirror of Night. Once your weapons and Mirror are wholly unlocked these keys stop being useful more or less instantly, and can be safely traded at the Wretched Broker between runs to acquire Nectar (but see Gemstones, below).

- Gemstones: Early in the game, Gemstones can be traded in at the House Contractor between runs in order to enhance the underworld; in particular, they can be used to install fountain rooms, to open up access to Chaos and Erebus, to give you access to Infernal Troves (and upgrade said troves), and to add in-run resources to Keys, Nectar, and Gemstones. These services are in the first tab of the House Contractor and you should buy them out as soon as possible so that your runs can springboard off of these powerful additions. Once that’s taken care of, Gemstones can be used to renovate the House of Hades, including Zag’s bedroom and the lounge, again at the House Contractor.

- Nectar: The nectar of the gods is in short supply in the underworld, and is a treasured gift that Zagreus can offer to his friends. In most cases, the first time you give a character Nectar they will trade you a powerful Keepsake in return; these are run-altering tools you select at the start of each run and change how you play. Early on, spread the love, but once you’re full up on Keepsakes you can feel free to develop relationships through gift-giving however you see fit.

- Darkness: The power of Night is used to give permanent, powerful passive benefits to Zagreus via the Mirror of Night in his bedroom. I would suggest using Darkness to get your extra Dash and extra hit points before anything else, but once you’ve got those tools kinda fuck around and find out. Eventually a dialogue option with Nyx will unlock the flip side of the Mirror’s talents, which must be developed separately and cost even more Darkness; you’ll want lots of this and you’ll want it for a very long time. Oh, and try to save aside 8,888 Darkness for a rainy day. You’ll need it.

- Titan Blood: Offered by the first and last bosses at each level of Heat (more on Heat later). Titan Blood is used to upgrade your weapons, making them better at doing all of the things they do, as well as to unlock Aspects of those weapons. We’re still shy one Aspect as of the latest patch, so ah, don’t stop collecting this. You’ll always have a use for it.

- Diamonds: Offered by the second boss at each level of Heat. Diamonds are used to buy plot-relevant renovations to the House of Hades, to advance certain relationships, and to acquire the fishing minigame and in-game access to the soundtrack within the House. Like Blood, you’ll have a use for these for a long, long time.

- Ambrosia: Offered by the third boss at each level of Heat. When you reach the point at which you can no longer offer people Nectar, genuine Ambrosia from Olympus becomes the princely gesture by which you can show your gratitude. You may be tempted to trade this for Blood early on. Don’t.

When you’re starting out, Darkness and Gemstones will be the gods of your new world, followed closely by Cthonic Keys You’ll run out of immediate need for Gemstones faster than you will for Darkness, but by that time you’ll either be comfortable with Hades or you’ll have determined it’s not for you. Focus on unlocking access to your new weapons, upgrading the underworld itself, and paying off your talents; at this stage, escaping the underworld isn’t really a priority so much as setting up for your eventual triumph is.

And When You Can No Longer Lay Waste - Infernal Arms And Heat

(Artwork sourced from the Hades Wiki)

The assault rifle with under-slung mortar launcher is definitely my favorite ancient Greek weapon.

So I’ve mentioned unlocking weapons, and I’ve mentioned that Hades offers varied play styles, so I suppose I ought to talk about them. Zagreus’s weapons - his Infernal Arms - form the first layer of your play style choices, which will be augmented by your in-run choices, and the second layer comes in the form of the Pact of Punishment and its Heat. Each weapon has differing values for its attacks and behaves very differently. I’m not gonna give you the specific numbers here - we have a wiki for that - and will instead make some general statements on how they play and what might pair well with them.

- Stygius, the Blade of the Underworld: You start each save file with this bad boy. Stygius is a generalist weapon that leans somewhat towards speed; its Attack is a three-hit combo that ends in a Thrust with knockback, while its Dash Attack (note: these are not the same with ANY weapon) is solely the Thrust, still with knockback. Its Special, slower than the Attack, is a high-damage shockwave that breaks enemy projectiles and knocks them back. You might be asking yourself, Vox, why would I Special when it makes people leave sword range, at which point I will direct you back to Always Be Moving; your Special makes your enemies Go Away, which saves you hit points. Stygius can build into almost anything, though its Attack benefits the least from Zeus and Poseidon, and is notable for having the most wild fucking Hammer options. Some of them do little things like make your Special bigger, but then you get stuff like Hoarding Slash (deal extra damage equal to 5% of your Obols), World Splitter (you do one big swing with a base damage of 80) and motherfucking CURSED SLASH, which is where Stygius rips a line of cocaine off of a mirror, cuts your health by 60%, and then heals you for 2 every time you hit something. My advice for this is whatever you start down, commit. Stygius might build into anything, but it can’t build into everything: once you choose a boon path, pick things to compliment that and go fucking ham.

- Varatha, the Eternal Spear: The forgotten child of Hades’ weapons, Varatha is a versatile weapon that, like Stygius, does a bit of everything - and unlike Stygius, does it all at the same time. Varatha’s base attack is a series of three long-range thrusts with low damage, and its Special throws the spear in a straight line, at which point it hovers in the air until you Special again; it follows a straight line from its position to your current one, damaging anything in that line. Last, but not least, you can perform a powerful Spin Attack by holding down the Attack button and charging up. Spin is one of the strongest single hits in the game, but you do have to stop moving to charge it up. However, you can dash out of the charge - even better, dashing releases the Spin at the end of your dash. This means that once you learn the timings of your charges, you can use Spin to attack and dodge at the same time, in a wide circle around yourself. Unlike Stygius, Varatha benefits to an extent from splitting your build up; its Attack wants big hitters like Aphrodite, Artemis, or Poseidon, whose high multipliers pair amazingly with the spin, while its Special can mount debuffs or stranger forms of damage like those offered by Dionysus and Ares. If you start building into one thing, but then Hammer into an alternate focus, the end result is still going to be pretty cohesive. Like Generic Goodstuff, or want a weapon to use while building up many divine relationships? Varatha does it all.

- Aegis, the Shield of Chaos: Just because this thing has the only block function in the game doesn’t mean it’s a defensive weapon. Aegis is a fast-moving melee weapon whose hits cause native knockback, slamming foes into walls, up against cliffs, and through traps & magma. Since Aegis throws people around it’s great for a highly aggressive style; dash in, hit them, and watch them slide away before they can do damage back to you. Its Special throws the shield Captain America style, where it ricochets off of opponents and obstacles before eventually returning. Use this with care; you can’t attack or block while your Special is out. Holding down the Attack button begins to charge a Bull Rush; while you’re charging, you’re immune to damage in the direction the shield is facing, and then when you release you dash to the end of the indicated line, damaging anything you hit. Despite how sexy that sounds, Bull Rush is honestly kinda slow and can be hard to build for specifically; instead, Bull Rush is best used to get out of bad situations, or to outlast big long boss combos, especially those used by the first and second bosses who are known to spit out absolute STREAMS of projectiles. Aegis hits fast and gets lots of bonus damage against normal enemies by bullying them against walls for that sweet, sweet Wall Slam damage, but it craves big damage multipliers less than some other weapons; consider using Zeus, Dionysus, or Demeter for your Attack, saving big damage choices for if you can get a Dash Attack build going. Special is great for mounting utility like Aphrodite or Poseidon that let you control the engagement further, just remember to think before you hit the yeet button.

- Coronacht, the Heart-Seeking Bow: Meet your first ranged weapon! Coronacht deals damage in a straight line by charging up a shot; when your line flashes, release the shot for a Power Shot that deals extra damage. Its Special is...bad, I’m gonna be real; it’s a wide-sweeping volley of arrows that deal individually low damage and will rarely, if ever, hit the same target. Still, it has its uses. Coronacht benefits from either high damage or battlefield control on its Attack; look into Artemis, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Poseidon. Its Special is harder to build for, but Ares and Zeus both do well on it since they can cause damage out of proportion with the range and/or area of your volley. Play keep-away and use distance to get off those charge shots, and remember that you can break projectiles and hit multiple enemies with each attack. Avoid mounting odd damage (Ares or Dionysus) or utility (Athena) on your Attack; it’s not going to come out fast enough to take meaningful advantage of those tools.

- Malphon, the Twin Fists: Easily the angriest weapon in all of Hades, Malphon is a pair of massive fuck-off gauntlets that are used for fast-moving combos at extremely short range. It is unique in that its Attack has a Dash Attack, and its Special - a massive uppercut - has a dash upper, letting you sweep in and deal big damage in a tight area immediately. Though each of Malphon’s hits are individually small, it throws out so fucking many of them that you can put almost anything on your Attack and it’ll work out. Athena Attack? Why not, you’ll be swinging when the enemy is. Dionysus Attack? Poison stacking has never been easier! Artemis Attack? Sure, you don’t do a lot of base damage, but you swing so often that you’ll crit constantly and take advantage of passives like Support Fire. Your Special has much higher base damage and can easily become the focus of your build, and because it moves slower it wants bigger damage multipliers like Artemis or Aphrodite if it’s your focus. If it’s not your focus, consider Poseidon in its slot (to get enemies to Go Away) or a god that will combo with your Attack (for instance, if you’re doing Demeter Attack, consider Zeus Special so you can potentially pick up the Cold Fusion boon and get 10 seconds of free damage every time you tap the Special button). You pay a price for this ease of use: Malphon’s range is directly inside the enemy’s ass, which means you need to have razor-thin timing to dash out of the way of attacks and keep your combos going, especially if you get swarmed. Since Malphon can mount and build literally fucking anything, it’s the ideal weapon to use if you want to power-level Keepsakes; slap something on at the start of a run and then just never take it off. Sure, you’re letting the Three Fates decide your build, but fuck it, it all just works!

- The Adamant Rail: What if you invaded the underworld with a fucking machine gun. The Adamant Rail has an ammo counter; each Attack takes 1 bullet (and Dash Attack takes and fires 2), and you reload by pressing the right-hand stick in. Its Special is a slow-moving mortar that hits in a wide area. The Rail is a powerful and versatile weapon capable of engaging at great range, which tends to build either Attack or Special. If you’re building Special, look for big hits like Aphrodite, Artemis, or even Poseidon, and any Special upgrade at all from the Hammers. Attack usually wants utility or stacks - stuff like Poseidon, Demeter, Dionysus, or Zeus - but certain Hammer upgrades like Spread Shot might make it more worthwhile to invest in big hits for it if you get them early. However! Just because you’ve decided on a focus doesn’t mean you should neglect the other half of your weapon. For instance, an Attack-focused build might still entertain the Targeting System upgrade so that you can more easily land your hits and avoid the enemy, while a Special-focused one benefits from mounting debuffs like Weak or Chill on its Attack.

For any weapon, once you settle into a play style you enjoy, find ways to be rewarded for what you’re already going to do. If you enjoy, say, the Chiron Aspect for the bow which makes it into a Special-focused weapon, mount benefits like Doom or Weak on its Attack since you still have to use that to make your shit go-go. This applies more broadly too; if you’re saving up Gemstones for something, for instance, use the extra money you get during your run to visit the shops earlier and more often. Let Hades reward you for doing the things you already want to do.

To close this guide out I’m going to briefly touch on Heat, which is how Supergiant Games has manifested their signature build-your-own-hard-mode approach. After you clear the game with any weapon for the first time, you acquire access to the Pact of Punishment. This Pact lets you turn on hostile modifiers to your run, which each have a Heat value; once you clear the game with a weapon at any given level of Heat (0, 1, 2, etc) you can only get Titan’s Blood, Diamonds, and Ambrosia with that weapon by advancing to the next level of Heat. In this way the game gradually gets harder on a weapon-by-weapon basis.

So, what modifiers to turn on? Depends on what you’re good at and bad at, but I would highly, highly suggest that you get used to Extreme Measures, Middle Management, and Benefits Package as soon as possible. Not only are they sources of big Heat by themselves that don’t change too much of the run by themselves, but their primary difficulty is knowledge-based; once you know them, they’re practically free real estate. Since Heat is tracked per-weapon and not in total, you can also always go back to weapons you’re not as good with and use practice with them as an excuse to get more permanent resources that you can pour into the ones you prefer.

Obviously this guide is not comprehensive! I’ve left out a lot of things you might want to know, like boss patterns, enemy types, and a whole lot of stuff about characters. Some of these things I’ve not talked about because I don’t want to give spoilers; others I haven’t talked about because I’m, again, actually pretty bad at games and the Hades community has talented folks whose guides on Steam, on the Reddit, and on the wiki can provide you with thorough breakdowns of the math that makes the game work. Still, it’s my hope that this can ease your entry into the world of Hades and help guide you in those early runs when it can feel like you’re spinning your wheels. I look forward to hearing from you; reblogs and commentary are welcome!

See you all in Hell.

[prettylikeadevil-swift]

Hey Taylor!

We wanted to put together a project to show you how much we love you and your songs! We’re all so so so excited for Lover and all the new songs, the memories made listening to the album, at tour and making and meeting heaps of new friends!!

So here’s a bunch of incredible people’s stan songs and why the love them so much! @taylorswift

Debut

Harishita (ig, @tayalisonswift) - I love this song because the lyrics are so relatable with me sometimes; especially when I am sad

Heidi (@heidilovestay137) - Tim McGraw has been my Stan song ever since I was 8 years old! It has helped me through all my rough patches in life and has just always been the song I go to when I’m feeling sad or happy!! The song brings back so many precious memories and it will always hold a special place in my heart! So thank you so much Taylor, for writing the song that made my life complete💖

Marta (@mlswiftie) - I’ve never really had a favourite Taylor Swift song mainly due to the fact that every single one of them is a masterpiece. However I feel like I relate to Invisible the most… every time I hear this song it somehow makes me feel less lonely cause other people are going through the same thing as me.

Sarah (@sarah-adores-swift) - this song has helped me through basically everything bad in my life. no matter what is happening, its relevant. the emotion is completely raw and just gets out the tears so you can heal :)

Haley Grace (@stateofhaleygrace) - I relate to every single word of this song and it has helped me a lot throughout my life, especially as a teenager. It is very empowering and I love to sing it at the top of my lungs!

Fearless

Rachel (@happy-for-swift) - Forever and always has always been by my side through those tough times by reminding me that the hard times will pass.

Alina (@itsaswiftstory) - Love Story means so much to me because it is such a happy song and it always makes me smile while listening to it! It was one of the first Taylor songs I was listening to and it just amazes me because it is so beautifully written! I don't even know why I love it so much but it always lifts up my mood!💗💗💗

Emilee (@emileelovestaylor) - Change is my Stan because it is just a strong message, and as someone with white skin (and I mean this in the nicest way possible) I want to work with the privilege I have to shine light on marginalized communities. This song pumps me up to do just that, and the melody is gorgeous.

Febe (@13taylorswift13ts) - Love Story was the first song that I heard of Taylor. That was the moment I knew that she was going to be a special person for me

Sammy (@sammylovestay13) - The song Fifteen has always been special to me because I’m always nervous on the first day of school and it’s reminder that I’m not the only one who feels this way. The song Out Of The Woods has always been a special song for me and the fact that Taylor chose New Zealand to do her music video makes me even more grateful that this song is in my life.

Jane (@janeheartstaylor) - I love forever and always because it’s not only was the first song by Taylor that I heard but it also helped me when one of my closest friends and I parted ways. even though the scenarios are different, it felt really nice knowing that I could turn to Taylor and this song and having someone who understood what was going on.

Sarah (@theirgetawaycar) - Change means the absolute world to me. It’s a song that’s been there comforting me in my times of need. When things get tough, it’s a source of hope and reminder things will get better. No matter what happens in life and what struggles I face these things will change.

Speak Now

Bella (ig, @tayobsession13) - This song means a lot to me because it describes my relationship with my best friend. I have the time of my life fighting dragons with her

Clara (@claraisreadyforit) - I love this song because i can really relate with the lyrics, they make me feel better when i’m down, and i always sing along!

Sarah (@theswiftiesarah) - The story of us means the absolute world to em. It’s such a fun, uplifting song with such emotional lyrics. I can’t thank you enough for writing it T, it’s helped me through so much and always puts a smile on my face 💞

Kat (@tookapxlaroidofus) - Haunted is such a powerful song, and it’s one of those that you can sing your heart out to and it will get you out of any bad mood you were in! The violins! The bells! The whole production of the song, and the tour version! It’s also a song I listened to a lot with my mum when I was younger because we loved to sing it together! It’s a beautiful and powerful song that I’ll forever love!

RED

Mika (@handstiedtaylor) - all too well means so much to me because of how powerful the lyrics are. it really showcases taylor's talent as a songwriter and her voice sounds so so beautiful in it. i was lucky enough to hear it on the red tour & again as a surprise song on the reputation stadium tour, so this song also had some incredible memories attached to it💗

Nina (@ninaheartstaylor) - I love that song because it always cheers me up when I'm sad or in a bad mood! I relate to the lyrics a lot because I basically did exactly the things you (Taylor) are singing about. It means A LOT to me because I love the line "like we're made of starlight"! when I'm in a bad mood I just think of that lyric and I'm happy again because it reminds me of how everyone matters and is important.

Abby (@cleanspeech) - i love this song so much. it is a deep song about how fame can really be and it is important to taylor. i love this song because as soon as i heard it, i kept it on repeat for hours when red came out. this song is so glamorous and beautiful and the beat and lyrics are amazing. i love this song so much!

Jasmine (@alltootwell) - All too well means so much to me because the story and emotions behind it are so raw and real. It was one of the first songs I heard from the Red album and it has always been one of my favourite songs since then. This song has showed Taylor’s growth the most in that we’ve seen Taylor’s most vulnerable moments when singing the song and Taylor’s happiest moments when singing the song and realising that millions of people know all the words to the song 💓

Chloe (@thechainonyourneck) - sad beautiful tragic means the world to me because of the depth of the lyrics and melody. this song has gotten me through so much shit and it's just so so beautiful I stg. headphones in and rain outside, it's just perfect. and onto dbm. I listened to reputation and fell in love with this song. the vocals and the prospect of seeing it live just made me fall in love. and when I finally did see it live it literally took me to church in a crying emotional state 💀 will be forever grateful to you @taylorswift for writing these two masterpieces and for not losing the ability to hit home with your lyrics over time. I love you and much you love writing, forever and always 💓💖💕💞💗

1989

Lola (me!! @lolaheartstay) - hey Taylor!! i love ootw so much because it’s such a banger and it never ever gets old,, it was also rep tour auckland’s surprise song which was so special, it was the best day of my life! I remember when Taylor was in New Zealand filming the music video and I was so excited that she was actually in my country, like for real. when I went to australia in 2015 i listened to out of the woods on the plane, it was the first time i’d heard it and i literally listened to it on repeat for the full four hour flight, i was obsessed! one of my favourite lyrics is ‘two paper aeroplanes flying’ and i’ve always planned to get a tattoo of a paper aeroplane for this song! i really hope one day we can hug and i can tell you in real life how much i love out of the woods and you! love love love, lola!! <3

Brittany (ig, @awesomeswifties13) - This song means so much to me because at the time it came out I was in a very bad/abusive relationship and was dealing with an addict. This song gave me the strength to get CLEAN and leave the relationship. I’m now 3 years sober!mI hope can hug taylor someday and just say thank you!

Joji (@youfeltenough) - Clean means so much to me because it really helped me let go of things that kept me from being happy, thank you Taylor 💓

Priscila (@newromanticsss89) - The reason why I love New Romantics is because I can dance to it like no one is watching. It really makes me feel good about myself. My favourite lyric is “the best people in life are free” and I 100% agree with that! 🌼💗

Georgia (@celebrationofswifties) - new romantics is such a beautiful song & it makes me so so happy, it is the BEST song to dance like crazy to!!

Lauren (@thenameofbeinghonest13) - Out of the woods is a song that I’ve been obsessed with since Oct. 27, 2014, when 1989 came out. This song was so meaningful to me because I would listen to it every day in the car on the way to school with my Dad. I love the lyric, “the rest of the world was black and white, but we were in screaming color” and am so happy that Taylor wrote this song!

Gabriella (@ycuareinlove) - you are in love was instantly one of my favourites from 1989 but after seeing it live I became obsessed. I think getting to sing it with Taylor felt so special and every time I hear it I just think of us doing the echo part with her. I’ve always been a daydreamer and thinking about love and having that for myself one day has always comforted me, and the song just explains everything I ever want in future relationships. it’s the dreamiest, most beautiful song and I can’t explain how magical it is to me. it just feels like home every time I listen to it. 💗

Liv (@longlivthemagic) - This song has a special place in my heart, because i used to always play it whenever i was having a panic attack to calm me down <3

Jaimie (@taylorswiftlet13-hk) - I love the song New Romatics because it reflects ME! As a person. The song is extremely catchy and the lyricism is amazing. Throughout my life, I have been bullied and in the end, I built a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me, and became a stronger person overall. Thank you so much for everything you do Taylor. I love you so much.

Sanya (@delicateswift1989) - Blank Space was the first song that I heard and I loved it immediately.It always cheers me up and will always be a special song for me

Bella (@bellaheartstay) - clean means so much to me, as it’s helped me through the toughest times and has inspired me to keep going :)

Reputation

Lydia (@yourmarkonswift) - I love Dress so so so so much because the kind of the detail of storytelling in the song is just so heart touching. The bridge is one of the best bridges Taylor has ever written and makes me emotional all the time.

Alexander (@alexanderadorestay) - King of my heart is my favourite Taylor song because I have made many memories while listening to the song plus the chorus 😍

Ginger (@gingeryswift) - I love New Year’s Day because the reputation album came out right when I was going through a fallout with an old friends and NYD hit me hard. The lyrics were everything I needed and more and overall, the line “please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere” resonated with me so much because it was exactly how I felt at the time. 💗💗

Kendall (@kendallovestay) - I love getaway car because it has such incredibly written lyrics and it just makes me feel so nostalgic and happy 💓

Naomi (@naomilovestay) - At my reputation concert, metlife n1, i was in the front row of the b-stage where you sang dress. In that moment, i felt like it was just you & me in the room. I will forever be thankful for that experience. I love you so so much & i hope we can hug soon!! xoxo naomi!!

Hunter (@tayloroftodayy) - my stan song is getaway car because it has such an interesting and powerful storyline and always cheers me up and puts me in the best mood. you can listen to it when you’re feeling any emotion and it’s the best thing EVER 💗

Hayley (@delicate-stan13) - Delicate is my stan song because it helps me get through all my rough days. And it’s really fun to sing and dance to!!

Olivia (ig, @olivialovestaylor7) - hi I’m olivia and gorgeous is my favorite song of taylor’s because it is such a beautiful and happy song!! it captures the way you feel when you start liking someone perfectly and it’s just SO soft🥺🥺along with that it’s just a fun bop that you can literally listen to whenever! thank you so much taylor for writing gorgeous💕 

Emily Grace (@longlivetaysxift89) - I love CIWYW because I can personally relate to the lyric “I’m doing better than I ever was” because I’ve had to deal with a lot of mental health problems and right now I’m truly doing better than I ever was

Ella (@taylorsoldbluejeans) - i love delicate because it is such a beautiful song that can cheer me up no matter what! 🌈💓

Bessie (@flyawayswift) - Hey my name’s Bessie and New Year’s Day is my favourite song because it NEVER fails to make me cry, and it’s the most beautiful and delicate song in the world!! I’m so grateful to Taylor for writing such a masterpiece

Alexa (@kingsofmyyheartt) - I love king of my heart because it’s a pretty, happy, calm song that has a beautiful bridge and has such pretty lyrics! No matter what it’s sure to put a smile on my face!

Mia (@thisloveisdelicate) - I love the song delicate because is shows how your friends have to like you for who you are and that they aren’t gonna change you!!

Tayla (ig, @islandbreezeswift) - this is why we can't have nice things is my favourite song by Taylor because it helped me in a rough time when one of my friends kept stabbing me in the back while shaking my hand. the lyrics to tiwwchnt were extremely relatable, it felt like it was written for me. even though i'm no longer going through problems like this, this song is a bop and makes me dance!! thank you Tay for this song, ily from Tayla xoxo

Kartik (ig, @indianswifty) - On New Year’s Day I proposed to my girlfriend and this is our favourite rep song

Lena (@the-swiftie-scientist) - Call it What You Want reminds me how much Taylor had to struggle to find someone who stood by her no matter what 💫 it shows how important it is when you find someone who loves you for the things you are and doesn't care about rumors and gossip, someone who will stand by your side even when 'they took the crown' ... Also, it has a personal significance for me as it reminds me of how someone I love literally runaway with me on late November flying above the whole scene 💗 It's definitely Taylor's softest and most precious song, I will love it forever 💕

Sveva (@newtaylor89) - I was going through some bad times at school when i first heard this song. I was starting to have anxiety attacks, I started to avoid my friends hangs out and started pushing everyone away. Luckily my real friends stayed with me and helped me through that dark period of my life and so did this song. Now every time i listen to it i remember that my friends and Taylor will stay with me "when it's hard or it's wrong or I'm making mistakes". THANK U TAYLOR, FOR WRITING THIS EMOTIONAL SONGS, I'LL NEVER THANK U ENOUGH FOR WHAT U HAVE DONE TO ME! ILY

Mikayla (@weweredxncing) - The reason why i love this song so much is because whenever I listen to it, I just feel happy. It gives me hope that in the future I might find as love like that.

Lover

Laura (ig, @frenchbabytay) - I love ME! Because Taylor talked in my language with Brendon, she’s feeling better after her bad moments and the music video is like Shake It Off!!! It’s so funny and she makes me dance!!!!

Anne (@annewantstomeettaylor) - Me - ee - ee, ooh - ooh - , ohh - ooh - ooh ! This song really means to me because every time my anxiety and depression attacks me this song gives me light and joy. And every time I feel conscious about myself this song makes me realize that I'm the one of me ! I can't explain the happiness I feel every time I hear this song. ILY T !  ♡♡♡

Olivia (@so-ready-for-it) - I love the song ME! So much because it’s all about embracing your individuality, and I’ve struggled with my low self esteem for such a long time, and the positive message of the song reminds me that I’m unique and perfect in my own way 💓

[joseph-mazzellos]

THE OCEAN OF YOUR EYES | PART ONE

Happy birthday, Ana! I love you!

Word count: 2.1k

Character: Arthur Barone x Original Character (Inspired by a friend)

The sun was high in the sky, making this one of the hottest days of the year. There should have been a rule against playing baseball when the temperatures could have melted the rainbow sprinkles off the ice cream faster than the time it took the D-Backs to grab it in their hands to start their pre-game ritual, but there was something between those boys and baseball that not even a scorcher like that day could have broken. Ty was already pacing back and forth in the dugout, worried that half of his players hadn’t yet shown up, whilst the other team was already stretching out in the field. They had never been the most professional team in the league, but somehow - with a little luck and a lot of help from Maz’s impeccable record, they had managed to make it to the semi-finals this year as well. Ana had never cared much for baseball, it was never a very popular sport back home, but ever since she had met Emily she had slowly learnt how to appreciate the game - or at least, how fun it was to watch a bunch of guys hit very small balls and shout a bunch of words she didn’t fully comprehend. Since Emily was engaged to one of the guys on the team, and she was the sister of not one, but two of the players, she really didn’t have much of choice of where to spend her Saturday afternoons, but it had started being slightly more bearable ever since Ana had agreed to join her and keep her company on the bleachers. They were definitely not the Yankees, so there were rarely more than a handful of people sitting there with them, but Emily always made sure she brought a little banner to encourage her fiancée Vinnie, who wasn’t exactly the best player in the team.

“Oh good, looks like my brother is already losing his mind”

Emily said, waiving in the direction of the dugout when she caught Ty’s eyes, but he was too distracted by something to wave back.

“We better hope and pray that they don’t get to the finals, then. The stress alone might kill him.”

Ana smiled at her friend, gaining a small laugh as she distractedly looked for Vinnie behind the metal fence.

“Losing is just not something I do, baby girl”

Ana didn’t even have to turn around to know who was talking to her, and she made sure she turned to face him before rolling her eyes, not wanting to let him think for one second that he had an effect on her.

“If only you could hit as well as you can bullshit your way into conversations, Barone, you’d be the first team in the league”

Ever since the first day he met her, Barone had been intrigued by Ana. It wasn’t only the fact that she was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. Her dark chocolate coloured hair fell perfectly on her back, long enough to fall right above another feature that he hadn’t failed to notice from the first day. Her eyes were a shade of brown lighter than her hair, and he had thought he had never seen eyes as bright as hers. When he first introduced himself to her, he had broken up with his girlfriend only a few days before. That felt like the perfect opportunity to meet someone knew, and he had never seen a rebound like her before. She had the potential to become one of those few things he was passionate about. Little did he know, though, that she wasn’t going to make it easy on him at all. When she straight up rejected him, giving the D-Backs something to laugh about for a whole week, he had found himself even more intrigued by the incredibly beautiful girl going to every one of his games, but not giving him the time of day. They had started this game, where he would say something to annoy her just to see her eyes roll and a proud smile form on her lips at her usually witty retorts.

“I could always show you other things I am very good at”

He moved his face closer to the fence were she was standing and she promptly pushed his face away from her, her tiny hand barely covering half of his face. She felt a shiver at the contact of her hand against his stubble, pulling back quickly as she brushed off the sensation as annoyance.

“Why don’t you go stretch, playboy. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt... By someone other than me.”

She gave him her best fake smile, and he took it in and metaphorically put it in his pocket to revisit later when he was alone. He still needed to work hard if he ever wanted to be on the receiving end of one of her real, brighten-up-the-whole-room smiles, but for now this was all he could hope for. He just responded with a smirk, as he started walking backwards towards the dug our where Ty was about to pop a vein in his neck as he tried to call him.

“He sure is persistent.”

Emily said, with a small smirk, looking at her best friend.

“He needs to take a hint.”

“I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like you enjoy your little exchanges more than you let on. They make the games way more exciting.”

Ana roller her eyes again, it felt like everything she was capable of doing when the subject of the conversation was Barone.

“I think these games are exciting enough with all those lunatics.”

She teasingly said, desperate to change the subject as she started thinking that maybe her friend knew her better than she cared to admit. She had been hanging out with a few guys in her class at uni, and they all seemed pretty interested in her, but she never got the little spark of excitement when talking to them that she did when Barone was around. It didn’t help that he was undeniably, objectively gorgeous. She needed to focus on the grass at her feet whenever she was trying to prove to him she was unbothered by his advances, cause whenever she caught a glimpse of those blue eyes she understood a little better what all those girls throwing themselves at him were talking about. The truth was, she hated only knowing the first layer of a person. It was the reason why she had only a few really good friends that she would do anything for, and not a lot of acquaintances. She needed to know someone deeply, create a connection with them, be able to understand them. It really bothered her to know that she only knew that side of him that he wanted everyone to see. She shook herself from the train of thoughts she had boarded, and she came back to reality just in time to hear the whistle of the referee mark the start of the first inning.

-

Ana’s ears were still ringing from all the shouting she and Emily had been doing during the game - good shouting when the D-Backs got a hit, or they managed to run back to base, bad shouting full of profanities when the other team scored or the referee made a bad call against the boys in red. Everyone had started dispersing and Ana was looking at her phone distractedly as she waited for Emily to reappear with Vinnie, who was meant to drive them home. She was hoping to go home and take a really long shower to wash away all the dirt from the clouds of sand that the wind and the players had sent their way during the game before they met at Pat’s house to celebrate their victory. Ana had never been one for parties, but she was learning to feel comfortable around the boys and the few friends she had made through them. Plus, Em had basically begged her to go.

“You sure sounded like a little sailor during the game.”

How could she have hoped to have missed him leave? It was almost as if he had waited for her to be alone. He rested his arms on the fence, resuming the same position they were in just a couple hours earlier, as if he was trying to imply they needed to pick up the conversation where they had left it off. She ran a hand through her hair and pushed them back, casually noticing his eyes follow the movement as if he was trying to memorise it.

“Let me guess, you only like girls who say pretty please and wash your uniform for your next game.”

She tried to push his button, not knowing enough about him to be able to really comment on what he liked. So far he only seemed to really like her body and to annoy her.

“Quite the opposite, darling. I do like girls with a mouth on them. Sure, most of the time they don’t use it to insult me...”

Ana caught a glimpse of his blue eyes and felt the need to grab ahold of the fence with both hands, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of showing even the slightest sign of attraction to him, but he took that as an invitation to move even closer, so he moved his hands on the fence, each hand laying right next to hers. She could feel the warmth of his fingers against hers even if they weren’t properly touching. She needed to say something, or run away. She decided to go with the one that did not make her look like a crazy person.

“I think you might have gathered I am not one of your little cheerleaders.”

“Oh. Believe me. You’re very different.”

His tone made it sound as if it was a very good thing, but she was sure that he had nothing against his little groupies, he sure made sure they were well taken care of when they were there. Not that she had noticed how he would flirt with every single one of them every game, anyways, she had better things to think about.

“But you still root for me, though.”

“I root for the whole team, you could be sitting on the bench the whole game and I wouldn’t even notice you’re gone.”

He laughed, bringing one hand up to his face and stroking his stubble with one hand before setting it back down right next to hers.

“Interesting. I always notice when you’re gone.”

Ana started to wonder whether it was something he said to everyone or if he really meant it. She doubted he sat in the dug out noticing if she was sitting on the bleachers or not. She ruled it as bullshit in her mind and decided to reply with one of her signature eye-rolls, leaving him with something familiar. She spotted Em with the corner of her eye, and she thanked God the conversation was about to be cut short.

“See you around, Barone.”

She said, turning away from him before she could stare into his eyes again and picked up the pace to join Vinnie and Emily.

“Are you coming tonight, Barone?”

Vinnie shouted back.

“What’s tonight?”

“Drinks at Pat’s. You never come. Ana will be there.”

Ana hit Vinnie right in the chest, and he brought his hands to the spot she had hit very dramatically.

“Sure. It’s a date.”

Barone shouted in Ana’s direction, making her flip her middle finger upwards in his direction and making him smile widely.

“There’s my classy lady again.”

He just said, grabbing his bag and walking in the other direction, excited to be able to see her again, for the first time without a metal fence acting as a shield.

“I would kill you if she didn’t love you so much.”

Ana scoffed as she walked to the backseat of Vinnie’s car, thinking of how she was now very confused about her feelings regarding that night. Was she nervous to see him outside of his D-Back uniform? In a setting that wasn’t so familiar to both of them? Maybe the sand was really starting to cloud her brain.

“I thought you guys needed a little push. Em says you might be good for him.”

Em proceeded to hit him in the same exact spot Ana had just hit him previously, and he let out another dramatic groan, while Emily turned to look at her best friend with a small smile.

“Ignore him. Tonight’s going to be fun.”