#me @ ben: YOU BETTER NOT SCREW THIS UP FOR US

[lordprettyflackotara]

video games || ben drowned

Ben bit his bottom lip, trying his hardest to concentrate. Usually Ben was a god at video games, the flashing colors and tiniest noises unfazing him. He was playing Valorant, his finger eagerly hovering over the mouse. His teammates were dying left and right, forcing Ben to take charge and carry the game. Usually this would’ve been a piece of cake, the blonde preferring to work solo anyways. However that ability to carry on like normal was obstructed, by your pretty lips wrapped around his cock.

Ben should’ve known better. He should’ve known your offer to suck him off while playing was too good to be true. But now you had him trapped, forcing him to pay attention and play or you’d threaten to stop. You’d edged him for what felt like hours, his cheeks rosy red and cock aching for release. He glanced down at you, your big doe eyes meeting his desperate ones. “Cmon I needa cum,” Ben begged, his eyes full of a plea. You released his throbbing cock with a pop, smiling up at him mischievously. “What’s wrong Benny? Can’t handle a taste of your own medicine?” You mocked. It was true, a week prior he had your legs tied to his foot board, your body spread out like a starfish as he edged you for hours. Then just once you thought he was done he had overstimulated you into oblivion, leaving you unable to walk for days. You thought this pay back was pretty tame, the blonde lustful enough to take the bait. You licked up the side of his shaft, causing him to whimper. Considering Ben used a variety of vibrators and toys to make you squirm, you thought using your tongue was decent enough.

“Cmon babe quit the games, just let me cum already,” Ben panted. You continued to look up at him as he tried to focus on the round, killing off the other teams Sage. You bobbed your head up and down on his cock, forcing your jaw to go slack as you took him to the base. You allowed yourself to gag, knowing the sound would only bring him closer to the edge. You used one hand to jack off what you couldn’t suck, while the other fondled his balls just for a little extra stimulation. Ben whined as his tip hit the back of your throat, the sound of you gagging heavenly. He cringed as he got shot and killed, his headset long discarded so he could hear your sinful acts. As the loading screen ensued his hand flew to your hair, rolling his lip in between his teeth. “Fuck, that’s it, please don’t stop, oh my fuck-” He moaned, tilting his head back in his gaming chair. His eyes screwed shut, his hand attempting to make you suck his cock faster. Ben could feel his cock twitch, his orgasm so close.

That was until you abruptly pulled away. Moans and whines left Ben’s lips, his eyes meeting your devious ones. In a swift motion he reached down and grabbed you by your shirt collar, dragging you to your feet. “You really wanna play games? Let’s play my favorite,” Ben growled. He tossed you onto his bed, dragging you to position yourself on all fours, “Bend over bitch, it’s my turn now.”

[thebiggerbear]

"I took care of that asshole for you." "I don't like the sound of that." - Soldier Boy Prompt Response

Summary: When Ben mentions something to you in the middle of battle, your attempt at a little levity turns the conversation in a direction that probably would have been better kept off of Comms during a mission.

Pairing: Soldier Boy x Female!Reader; Soldier Boy x Female!Supe!Reader

A/N: Prompt from @dumplingsjinson. This came out of nowhere, I have no idea what it is, and yes, I did pick on Hughie a little bit. After Season 3, he deserved it a little. 😜

Unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine.

Warnings: Soldier Boy being Soldier Boy; explicit mentions of violence/blood/gore; mentions of death & dead bodies; explicit language; a smidgen of dirty talk; implications

Word Count: 2132

Taglist: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187; @rieleatiel

SB Taglist: @deans-spinster-witch; @birdiellie; @heartlessdelusions; @nancymcl; @brightlilith

@muhahaha303; @just-levyy

Jensen Taglist: @samanddeaninatrenchcoat

You can also read on AO3

"I took care of that asshole for you." "I don't like the sound of that."

“You got six more on their way up to you,” you warned Ben before dodging and knocking out the three security guards you were currently battling. You could hear reinforcements thundering up the stairs to your op partner.

“Good,” Ben grunted in your earpiece. “Now we’re in for a good fucking time.” You heard the brute force of his strength impacting human flesh from the sounds of loud blows and sickening crunches echoing in your eardrum. You rolled your eyes at Ben’s comment and held your breath as you popped out of the area you were in and appeared next to him on the fifty fourth floor. You immediately joined the fray.

“There you are, doll. Here to join the party?” Ben gave you a smirk as he knocked several men across the room with his shield.

“I wouldn’t call this a party.” You lifted your arm in his direction and a small beam shot out, killing the man who had been approaching behind him with a gun. “But yeah, I’m here. Let’s do this and get it done.”

Ben turned to see the dead man fall in a crumpled heap and then smirked even wider at you. “Lead the way, dollface.”

You did just that, busting into the stairwell and racing up the stairs. Ben was right behind you. 

You both encountered rashes of security response teams in between floors that you worked together to take out. You heard a gun click behind you but before you could react, Ben knocked the weapon from the man’s hand and then bashed his head against the concrete wall, leaving behind a very big stain of blood and brain matter. 

Ben turned to you, his green eyes stormy and dark. You knew that look by now even if you hadn’t just seen what you did; it usually preceded a murderous rage Soldier Boy would go into if anyone was stupid enough to really piss him off. And that didn’t even begin to touch what would set off the nuke inside his chest.

“I took care of that asshole for you.” He inclined his head in the dead man’s direction.

You screwed up your face in mock disgust. “Yeah, I don’t like the sound of that.”

The jade storm you were staring at lightened slightly and a very dirty smirk adorned his face instead. “One of these nights, you’re going to take me up on that offer, doll.”

You snorted and used your forearm to wipe some blood off of your face. Great. Now he’d never stop trying to talk you into it. “That ass belongs to me and you know it,” he’d always tease, wearing that same filthy grin, before you’d tell him that wasn’t happening and proceeded to distract him in other ways. 

“Uh, if you two are done doing whatever kind of gross and perverted flirting this is, you’re about to have another welcome party in the next forty five seconds,” Hughie spoke in your ear, sounding uncomfortable and thoroughly repulsed.

“Sounds like something you told Butcher while licking his balls before he turned that tight ass of yours into the Lincoln Tunnel,” Ben fired back.

“What are you talking about? That doesn’t even make sense, you ass.”

You shook your head in disgust at the exchange, not really listening to Hughie’s predictable and offended response, and you were about to head up the stairs when Ben’s hand grasped your shoulder and turned you around. He leaned in, murmuring into your free ear, “I forgot we were on comms.” You knew that was his roundabout way of apologizing. “I meant what I said, doll. Think about it. For now, I just can’t wait to get this shit over with and be back in that sweet pussy of yours, right where I belong.” Normally, that would disgust you rather than turn you on, but Ben always had a way of painting a picture with the dirtiest fucking words that somehow had you aching for it to become a reality. So much so that everyone and everything else would cease to exist in your world temporarily until it was indeed made a reality. Mallory put you two together because you would be the strongest team to be able to go up against Homelander and Vought. She never expected that you two would become more than partners on ops. You couldn’t begin to count the amount of times you’d popped yourself and Ben out of an op to get busy elsewhere once you were distracted, and she’d had to warn you both that if you didn’t cooperate, the deal would be off the table. To which Ben would then push you back onto said table, or desk, or whatever flat surface in the room, forcing her to roll her eyes and exit the room, leaving you both to demolish the place in a frenzy until you both were popped out of there by your own self.  

Hearing your heartbeat pick up in response to his statement, Ben gripped your cheeks with his bloody fingerless gloves, rubbing a thumb tenderly over your bottom lip. You could feel the wetness he left behind and you should be grossed out, but then his lips were suddenly on yours and as so often happened when that occurred, your head got a little fuzzy and your brain turned off. You shoved him into the concrete wall, causing a loud cracking sound, but neither of you cared to look. Instead, you had jumped up into his arms and began grinding against him as you dug your teeth into his lip and pulled, making him chuckle into your mouth. 

You were then pushed up against the wall, your hands held above your head in one of his, causing another cracking sound. The darkness in his gaze was back, but this time for a whole other reason. He covered your mouth with his and you couldn’t help but moan, twitching against his hold that only seemed to tighten. His other hand disappeared in between you, working at the fastenings of his suit. If he would just let your hands free, you could help him with that and have it done much faster.

“Guys! Guys! GUYS! HEY!” Hughie yelled into your earpieces. You both broke apart, wincing at the sudden pain in your ear drums. 

“Fuck!” Ben yelled as you grit your teeth. Ben had released you and both of you held your hands to your ears. 

“Welcome party in twenty seconds! Focus!”

Ben recovered first. “I’m going to fucking rip your spine out when I get back there, you snivelling little shit!” 

Hughie’s audible gulp was heard on the line.

You were still waiting for the reverberations in your ears to stop. “Shit,” you whimpered. Okay, yeah, you both had gotten a little carried away just like you usually tended to do and you needed to focus on the mission at hand, but damn. Had that really been necessary? The amount of pain in your ears confirmed that no, it fucking hadn’t.

Ben gripped your chin and forced you to meet his eyes. The fire that had been there before cooled slightly but it still burned brightly. “We’ll finish this later,” he promised in a quiet murmur, giving your hearing a moment to recuperate which you really appreciated. He even tenderly stroked the skin in front of your ears. “Better?” He asked after a few seconds had passed.

You nodded, still wincing slightly as you held one hand to your right ear. “Yeah. Thanks.” He gently placed you down on your feet and you took an uneasy step forward, him catching you before you could fall. While you and Ben both had super hearing, yours was a little extra — a very fucked up side effect of the Compound V in your system. So someone yelling in the same room as you was harsh on your eardrums and made you want to claw at your head. Someone yelling in your ear was pure fucking torture and literally rocked your world. Which was why now your equilibrium was temporarily fucked.

“Hughie,” you hissed. “If you ever do anything like that again, I’m going to rip your dick off and shove it so far down your throat, you’ll shit it back out. Which, from what I hear, should be an easy feat considering you’re used to having one up your ass. Do you understand me?”

Another audible gulp was heard down the line. “S-Sorry. It’s just, you guys are in the middle of the mission and you’re about to—”

“Hughie,” you snarled.

“Yes, ma’am.”

A proud smile graced Ben’s face as he helped you back to your feet but you were in no mood to smile back. You held a hand to your head, feeling a headache coming on thanks to what just happened. You then felt Ben’s lips at your temple. “You sure you’re okay?”

These fleeting moments of tenderness that Ben would show you still always managed to surprise you. But it was also one of the reasons you had let him into your bed and your heart (though he didn’t know about that last part yet and probably wouldn’t for some time if you had your way). You could take or leave Soldier Boy 99.9% of the time, but Ben — Ben you stayed for. 

“Yeah,” you whispered, laying your head down on his shoulder and closing your eyes for a moment. You felt his hand rubbing your back and you relaxed at the heat you felt through the fabric of your suit. 

“Guys,” Hughie interrupted more softly this time. “Sorry to break this up but you’ve got ten seconds until the next welcome wagon shows up.”

Your eyes snapped open and you lifted your head. “Exactly why are we doing all of the heavy lifting on this one again?”

Ben chuckled as he pressed a kiss above your right ear and then moved to pick up his shield from where he’d dropped it when you pushed him before.     

“We need to get a sample of the newest batch of V that Vought is cooking up so we know if—”

“Yeah, yeah,” you interrupted Hughie. “I remember. You just make sure Mallory remembers that after this, Ben and I are on an extended vacation.” Ben gave you an approving smirk.

“Ah, okay.”

“I mean it, Hughie. Or I’ll be popping into places you and everyone else do not even want to fucking imagine. Termite will look like the shitty little prequel that couldn’t, compared to what I can do.” And you would make good on your threat, too. You and Ben deserved a break. They’d had you doing shit like this for nearly four months now. This was the most dangerous op yet but they’d perfectly timed it when Homelander and his group of Subpar Supes (as you called them) would be on a government-sanctioned mission out of the country. That didn’t mean that Homelander couldn’t get back here immediately if he was notified of a security breach in the Tower. Especially if he knew Soldier Boy was involved. 

You heard another door slam open two flights above you and you let out a tired sigh. You only had a few more levels to go until you reached the Labs. And thanks to Supe stamina, you didn’t tire easily so a couple of more caches of guards that Vought could pull out of its large steel ass were nothing. But damn if you didn’t want this op to be over with already and you and Ben were on a tropical beach somewhere that you had popped both of you to. 

The footsteps thundered down the stairs as the guards rushed to engage you and you glanced over towards Ben. His smirk grew as he tensed and got ready for battle. “Come on, doll. Let’s have a little more fun before we blow the joint.”

You huffed out a laugh and got ready yourself, your hands beginning to glow as you held them out in front of you. “There you go with your words again,” you teased.

He appeared next to you, holding up his shield in front of you both. “The only one you’re going to be blowing tonight, doll, is me.”

You rolled your eyes at his ridiculous joke but before you could respond, you heard in your ear, “Gross.” You couldn’t help but snicker along with Ben right before the guards attacked. Well, that’s what the little shit got for nearly cracking your eardrums before. He was just lucky that you hadn’t popped over to him, backhanded him to cause him the same amount of pain he had caused you, and popped back to Vought. As for Ben, well…you were going to make damn sure he kept his promise to you, on all counts.  

A/N: 🤷‍♀️

dividers by @firefly-graphics

[knight-of-flowerss]

BIRTHDAY PRESENT

MODERN!BOXER!BENJICOT 'DAVOS' BLACKWOOD x READER

Masterlist

Smut! MDNI! 18+!

Synopsis: Daughter of a famous boxer, a spoiled little princess, but also one who cares for her family. When your brother gets beaten to a pulp by an underground beast of a boxer, your father takes him under his wing. Now you have to deal with him.

Note: am I supposed to be writing three other fics atm? Yes. Yes I am. Did I write this in the spur of the moment cause it sounded like an amazing fic? Yes. Yes I did.😋 also I used Y/N twice (js a warning lol)

Tags: @thethreeeyed-raven @lost-in-fiction-like-ur-mom @hardkiddonut

Your bother was a boxer. A shit one but still a boxer. Your dad is one too, a legendary one. The great Duke Miller. Your brother, Scotty Miller, is due to be his 'prodigy', he's hoping.

Duke has high standards for Scotty, he wishes for him to be like how he was. But he's a screw up, he hates boxing and he'd rather play football rather than train.

Duke started him off in underground fights, trying to toughen him up. It'd been a few months and he'd gotten a bit better so Duke decided to put him in a match with one of the best fighters in that shitty, underground boxing world.

Benjicot 'Bloody Ben' Blackwood.

He's dangerous, always beating his opponents basically to a pulp. As soon as he stepped into that ring, he was an animal.

And that's what happened, he beat Scotty to a pulp, nearly killing him. You were furious, watching your brother get repeatedly punched as he lay their helplessly, brutality always did make the crowd go wild.

Scotty is taken away on a stretcher, to the hospital. Rage blinds you as you storm over to Benjicot's changing room, opening and slamming the door.

He's half dressed and you're seething with anger. Are you seriously going to stand up to this very violent boxer? Yes, yes you are apparently.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?! You nearly killed my fucking brother!" You shout at him. Ben turns around, only just now noticing you're here.

His eyes rake up and down your body, taking in the heels, short dress and perfectly manicured nails. His lips curl up into a smirk as he leans against the lockers, his arms crossing across his bare chest. "He was too weak. He deserved it."

Was your brother weak? Yes, yes he was. Are you going to let this man know that you agree with him? No. No the fuck you aren't. "Too weak?! So since he's too weak, you just thought you'd kill him?! Is that it?!"

He shrugs and his smirk widens. He pushes off the lockers and stands straight. "His own fucking fault. He shouldn't have signed up to fight me. You must be his little sister then?"

"Yeah! I am! And it wasn't him who signed up for the match! It was our dad! Just 'cause you think you're some big man doesn't mean you have to nearly kill him!" You screech, the sound echoing off the walls.

He approaches you slowly, stopping just in front of you, towering over you. He takes you in once more, his gaze raking over you. Taking you all in, a shiver going down his spine.

"Your daddy should know better than to throw your older brother to me. What's your name then?" You glare up at him as he smirks down at you. "My name's y/n, but I don't care about that. You're gonna pay for his hospital bills."

He hums, "y/n huh? Cute, like you." His smirk morphs into a teasing grin, "and pay his hospital bills? How are you going to make me do that, Darlin'?"

"You're gonna pay it with the money you won." He laughs at that, gripping your chin and tilting your head up. "Is that so? You think you can just waltz in here and demand money from me, huh? And what if I don't wanna give you a single penny, Darlin'? What then?"

You smack his hand away, "it doesn't matter if you don't want to! You nearly fucking killed him! It's the bare minimum!"

He laughs again, reaching out and tugging you towards him, his big, calloused hands gripping your hips. "How do I know you care about your older brother? How do I know you aren't just trying to swindle me out of my hard-earned cash?" He grins, a shit-eating grin.

You push him away, your manicured nails slightly digging into his bare chest, "Because I was the one who told him not to fight! I love my brother and you are the fucker who nearly killed him! You're gonna pay for it!"

He lets out an exasperated sigh, rolling his eyes at you. He leans forward, his arms coming up to box you in on a nearby locker. "And how are you going to stop me from walking away, huh? Sweet little thing like you. Who's gonna make me pay, huh?"

"I'm gonna make you pay. Or they are." You nod your head at the two men at the door, your body guards. They follow you practically everywhere since your dad is a legendary boxer back in his day and his brother being his 'prodigy son', that's what the press calls him, bar him being a shite boxer.

He follows your gaze over to the two bodyguards, eyeing them both up for a few seconds before a loud, barking laugh leaves his lips. His attention drifts back to you. "Yeah? You think those big guys are going to make me pay up, eh? Just because your daddy used to be this big, famous boxer doesn't mean your bodyguard’s intimidate me darlin'."

"Oh, so you think you can beat them black and blue like you did Scotty?" He laughs again, a barking sound that seems to echo. He grins down at you, his voice now taking on a lower, more serious tone.

"You think I’d let those two goons over there even touch me? I'd knock them both out with a single punch, then what're you gonna do darlin'?" His tongue darts out to lick at his lips before grinning.

"You won't knock them out." You spit out. He smirks, leaning in closer so your faces are mere inches apart. “You doubting my boxing skills? I'm offended, darlin'. You just saw what I can do. I'd beat those big guys into the ground, without even breaking a sweat."

You cross your arms over your chest, "Go on then."

He laughs again, a loud and arrogant sound, he pushes away from the wall, "You sure you want me to kick your goons arses? Won't you be embarrassed about my beating them so badly?" You give him a dirty look, looking him up and down, "Like you could."

He grins as he stops in front of your big bodyguards. He looks up at the two big men, an arrogant smirk plastered on his face as he gives them a cocky wave. "Hey there boys, fancy a little sparring session? Just a fun little warmup before I fight again tomorrow."

The bodyguards exchange a look before the first one cracks his knuckles, his eyes never leaving Ben. "Sure pal, why not?"

You stay a little behind, watching everything happen. One of the bodyguards swings a punch at Ben's face, but he ducks to the side at the last moment and it misses, he laughs as he straightens up and shakes his head. "Is that the best you've got? Seriously?"

The bodyguards both charge forward at the same time now, fists flying. But he's too quick, he dodges every punch, his movements smooth and agile. He laughs again and smirks at them. "You call yourselves bodyguards? You're about as strong as a wet noodle."

The bodyguards are getting frustrated now, one of them tries a kick aimed at his stomach, but he grabs the man's leg and swings him around, sending him flying into the other bodyguard and knocking them both to the ground. He stands over them, still laughing, his hands on his hips as he looks to you. "You still doubting me, darlin'?"

You glare at him, "You said you could knock them out, you haven't knocked them out yet." He laughs again as he looks down at the two men who are now both getting to their feet. He's having the time of his life. "I'm getting there sweetheart, I'm getting there. Just didn't want it to be too quick and easy."

The bodyguards charge at him again, but he's still too quick, he ducks and weaves through their punches, countering with jabs of his own. He's like lightning, moving around the room with dizzying speed.

The bodyguards are getting tired now, their movements slowing down as they wear themselves out. But he's nowhere near tired at all, he's enjoying himself too much. "Come on guys, is that all you got? This is embarrassing, honestly."

The bodyguards exchange a look, they're both exhausted now, their faces red, their breathing ragged. They're done for. But it doesn't even look like Benji has broken a sweat.

He grins as he steps over to them, towering over the two big men, his hands on his hips as he looks down at them. "Have you boys had enough yet?"

They both nod, still trying to catch their breaths. There is no way they could keep up with him. He laughs again, that same loud, barking sound, and turns to look back at you. "There, I told you I'd knock their asses to the ground. You doubt me again princess?"

"Are both of you fucking serious?! You're both fucking pathetic!-" You hear someone clearing their throat at the door, you turn to look at them. "Daddy..", Your father was at the door. A former legendary boxer, still big and hench, in his fifties, bordering sixties. He's still got his muscles and the brooding glare.

Benji's smirk slips a little, his eyes going wide at the sight of your father, the famous, legendary boxer, Duke Miller. This was not the man he wanted to meet right now. Well, he would love to meet him, but right now when he's knocking his daughter's bodyguard's on their arses? Nope. He slowly steps back and stands up straight, he's still taller than your dad, but that didn't matter, everyone knew that this man was not to be trifled with.

Your dad doesn't speak, merely looks him up and down and grumbles. "You're that Bloody Ben bloke arnt you, huh?" Benjicot swallows, his hands shifting from his hips to stuffing themselves into the pockets of his trousers. "Yes sir. That's me."

Your dad walks further into the room, taking in the sight of his two bodyguards sitting on the floor, before his steely gaze drifts back onto Ben, he looks him up and down for a few moments before grumbling again. "What're you doing talking to my daughter?"

Ben glances quickly at you before looking back at your father, trying to keep his cool, though he can feel himself starting to sweat under the pressure of being eyeballed by your dad. He shrugs his shoulders and responds with a slight stutter. "She uh, she came to see me, sir… after the fight."

Your dad narrows his eyes, the intense glare not faltering for a second as he steps further into the room, moving closer to Ben, his expression stern and intimidating. "Why'd she come to see you huh? You beat her brother good. What she want from you?"

Ben swallows again, his hands gripping a little tighter in his pockets, though his lips still quirk upwards into a cheeky half-smirk. He looks past your dad and meets your gaze for just a moment, before his eyes flicks back to your dad again. "She came to demand I pay hospital bills, sir."

Your dad scoffs a little at that, his eyes flickering over to you, before he fixes Ben with his hard stare again. "Hospital bills huh? Yeah she's a good kid, always making sure that brother of hers is okay. Always looking out for people." He steps closer still, his face so close to Ben that he's practically breathing down his neck, his voice dangerously low. "I take it you told her you ain’t paying?"

Ben swallows again, his gaze shifting to the floor, the smirk slipping from his face as he suddenly feels much smaller and insecure under your dad's gaze and proximity. He nods faintly once, not trusting himself to speak without stuttering right now.

Your dad chuckles slightly at that, a low and gruff sound, as he steps back and crosses his arms over his chest, still looking at Ben. "Is that right? You’re saying no to us, huh?” He raises an eyebrow as he waits for a response, the look on his face making it very clear he's not to be trifled with or defied.

Ben slowly raises his gaze, meeting your dad's eyes now, his bravado starting to return as he straightens up slightly and speaks up. "Yeah, I am. Why should I pay hospital bills for some guy who I beat up in a fight when it's literally our jobs."

Your dad keeps his brooding face on before bursting out in a boisterous chuckle, "Fair enough lad." You look at your dad with a shocked face, you can't believe he's not shouting at him by now.

Your dad chuckles again and shakes his head as he moves over to the two bodyguards, still sitting on the floor, and reaches down to pull the first one to his feet, who wobbles slightly but ultimately stands up on steady legs. He pats him on the shoulder before he nods to the second one, who stands up but still looks a little shaky. "You two go stand out in the hallway. Make sure we're undisturbed." They both nod and leave the room, glancing warily and warily at Ben as they do.

Ben watches them go, his eyes following the two bodyguards, before slowly drifting back to your dad, who is now standing in front of him again, his arms crossed over his giant chest and his feet planted firmly on the floor, like an intimidating sentinel.

Your dad glares at him for a few moments, his expression stern, before he slowly starts to speak again, his voice low and firm. "Let me tell you something, kid. You got a reputation for being tough, for winning fights and being a damn good boxer. But I'm not afraid of you. Don't think for a second that I wouldn't lay you out flat if I had to. Understand?"

Ben swallows again, his bravado shrinking down under your dad's harsh words and terrifying presence. His shoulders slumped slightly and he mutters. "Yes sir, I understand."

Your Dad nods, seemingly satisfied in knowing that he's got Ben feeling small and scared. He steps back, putting a little distance between them before speaking again, his voice a little less intimidating now, but no less firm and authoritative. "Good. Now, I'm going to talk with my daughter. Alone. You sit down. And you don't move a muscle till one of us tells you to, you hear?"

Ben nods again and mutters another 'yes sir' before he quickly turns and heads over to a chair in the corner of the room, sitting down on it quickly, like an obedient schoolboy.

Your dad makes a satisfied grunt as he watches Ben sit down, his gaze lingering on him for a few more moments, before he looks at you, jerking his head towards the door. "Pumpkin, come with me. We need to talk."

You nod and follow him out of the room, glancing back towards Ben one more time, he glances up and meets your eyes but looks away quickly, staring down at his hands awkwardly instead, looking like a scolded child sitting in the corner.

Once you're both out in the hallway, your dad speaks again. "What're you doing talking to that kid, Pumpkin?" You look up at your father, "He has to play Scottys bills daddy. Just because you think he's a good boxer and you wanna 'take him under your wing' doesn't mean he gets to beat up your son."

Your dad scoffs and mutters something under his breath as he shakes his head, still looking a mixture of annoyed at your insistence. "You're too soft, Pumpkin. Kid has skills, he's got potential. I think I can train him, mentor him, groom him. He could be something special."

"But.. but he hurt Scotty, daddy!" You plead with your father. Your dad sighs and looks at you, his gaze softening a little as he takes in your concern for your brother, though his tone remains firm. "It's just a couple of broken bones sweetheart. Scotty'll be fine. Kids get hurt in boxing. It's part of the game. You gotta toughen up a little, stop being so soft."

I pout. Am I a spoiled princess? Yes, yes I am. Do I get worried about my brother and my dad revolving around fights? Yes, yes I do. That's why I'm so adamant that this fucker pays.

Your dad chuckles slightly when he sees your pout, his expression softening even more. He has a soft spot for you, always has. "You're just like your momma. Always getting worked up at the slightest bit of injuries. She was soft just like you."

I nibble at my bottom lip slightly, "I miss momma. She would agree with me. It's not smart to take that.. savage… under your wing daddy."

Your dad sighs at that, his smile slipping as he's reminded of the past. He shakes his head slightly before he speaks, "Your momma would most likely not approve, you're right. But she's not here anymore. I'm the one looking out for you two now. And I say that kid has potential. I think it'd be a waste to let him carry on fighting in those crappy little underground clubs. I could help him become great, get him into professional fights."

You roll your eyes, done with this stupid conversation, "whatever, I'm gonna go visit Scotty." Your dad nods and pats you on the shoulder. "You do that sweet'eart. I'm gonna stay here and have a chat with that kid for a while. But you go see your brother, I'm sure he'd love a visit from you."

I walk away, going to the hired car for you to go to the hospital, leaving your dad.

Your dad watches you go, his expression soft for a moment before he turns back to the room, pausing outside the door to take a deep breath before he goes in.

Benji is still sitting in the chair, looking up when the door opens. He can see the intensity in your dad's eyes and suddenly feels a wave of nervousness again as your dad approaches him.

Your dad stands over him for a few seconds, not saying anything, just looking down at him. Ben tries to smile to cover up for his nervousness but it comes across as an awkward grimace on his face instead.

Your dad just grunts and motions to the chair next to Ben. "Move owa." Ben quickly scrambles to move a little further down the chair, and your dad sits down next to him, his legs spread out wide and his bulk taking up more than half the chair.

Your dad turns to look at him, his gaze hard and unwavering, it makes Ben shrink a little in the chair. "So, kid, I hear you beat my boy Scotty good huh?"

Ben swallows and nods faintly, his fingers gripping the arms of the chair slightly as he tries not to show how intimidated he feels right now by your dad.

Your dad lets out a gruff chuckle and shakes his head slightly. "You're a crazy bastard, I'll give you that. He's my kid and I love him, but Scotty never was the brightest or the toughest. I'm not surprised you managed to lay him flat like that."

Ben chuckles a little, relaxing slightly and feeling a little more confident. He likes how your dad is treating him casually, instead of like a kid, the way you had, even though he's older than you. "He was sloppy. Put up a pretty pathetic attempt of a fight. It was hard to even take it seriously, if I'm honest."

Your dad lets out another laugh at that, this one a little louder. "Yeah, Scotty's never been the best at fighting. He's always been a bit of a mummy's boy that one. Never been one for roughhousing. Was always more interested in playing sports than fighting."

Ben nods in agreement and relaxes further into the chair, starting to enjoy the conversation with your dad now, instead of feeling like he's being interrogated. He's smiling now, the same cocky smile he usually has. "Yeah, he spent more time on his football kick than on punch training, I could tell from his form as soon as the fight started."

Your dad chuckles again and nods. "Yeah yeah, that sounds like Scotty alright. Always a mamma's boy, that one. I've tried my damndest to get him to toughen up, to actually learn how to fight instead of relying on being quick or agile. But every time I tried to get him to come to the gym with me, all he wanted to do was kick a bloody ball."

Ben laughs at that, shaking his head at the thought of Scotty being anything but a fighter. "He's damn lucky he never came up against a proper fighter then or he'd be hurt a lot more than a couple of broken bones."

Your dad laughs loudly at that and shakes his head, seemingly amused by the thought of Scotty getting hurt worse than a few broken bones. "You are a real fighter son, a true one. But you're stuck in these shit-tip underground fights."

Your dad grins at that and claps a hand down on Ben's shoulder. "That's what I'm hoping to change. You got real skill kid, you've got natural talent. But you could be one of the greats if you let me train you. Help you reach your full potential."

Ben grins back at your dad, his eyes lighting up with excitement now. It was one thing to have your daughter come demanding him to give money. But having the famed former legend himself want to take him on as a mentee? That was an opportunity he was not about to refuse, even if it did mean he was stuck having to deal with your pestering.

Your dad grins as he sees the excitement and interest in Benjicot's gaze, and squeezes his shoulder. "So, what do you say kid? Will you join my private training regimen and let me help you reach the greatness I know you can achieve?"

Ben nods, not hesitating for a second at the offer. "Hell yeah I'll do it. Train with a legend? Who'd say No to that?"

Your dad grins even wider at that, laughing as he gives Ben a firm pat on the back. "That's the spirit kid. No time to spare. We start your regular training next week. Twice a week. I trust you'll be at the gym every time, no excuses. Understand?"

Ben nods again, feeling the firm slap on his back and trying not to wince as it hits his sore muscles. "I understand, sir, yeah. I'll make sure I show up. Every single session."

Your dad grins and leans back in the chair as he hears that, his hand still on Ben's shoulder. "Ah that's good news. I was hoping you'd say that. You'll stay at me mansion. Have a proper place to rest and eat before and after our training sessions. There's a gym there so that we're not driving back and forth to the boxing gyms too. You'll love it, kid."

Ben's eyes widen at that. A mansion?! That's some real top class treatment. He's never had anything close to that growing up, so he's shocked to say the least at the offer. Plus, living at a boxing legends mansion? And one as rich as your dad is? This was sounding better and better by the minute.

Your dad pats him on the shoulder again. "You'll have your own room, don't worry. Private room just for your use. Got plenty of space at the mansion, more than enough room for you to have your own space separate from our family."

Ben's mind is still boggling at the thought of having a room in your dads mansion. It's an insane deal from his point of view. Free training from one of the boxing greats and a place to live? It sounded like a dream come true. He smiles and nods again, still a little speechless.

Your dad smiles as he sees the look of disbelief on Ben's face, and can't help but laugh at his surprise. "I take it you're shocked by that, yeah? Surprised I'm giving you such special treatment and a place to live?"

Benji nods, his lips curving up into a smile despite himself. "Hell yeah, I'm surprised. I was expecting a few training sessions, but now you're telling me I'm living with you at your mansion. You don't have to do all that for me, you know. I don't deserve it."

Your dad laughs and shakes his head, waving away Benji's words. "Nonsense, kid. You've got talent. Serious talent. I'm damn near certain I can turn you into a world class fighter. It'd be a waste not to give you the best training and support to reach your full potential. I'm going to make you a damn legend."

Ben's smile somehow gets even wider at the praise and support. It feels damn good to be treated as something other than just a dumb boxer and instead, someone with actual potential. "Yeah, damn right you are. I'm gonna be the best damn fighter you've ever trained. Make you proud of having taken me on like this."

Your dad smirks and pats Benji's shoulder again, giving it a firm squeeze now. "That's what I like to hear. You have the skills, kid, I've got a lot of confidence that you're goin' places. I'm not taking on just any old guy to train. You're something special. I can see it. You're gonna have the skills and the talent to become a damn champion one day if I keep working with you."

It'd been a few months since Benjicot moved in. As you can already tell, it was a shit show. Let's just say a glass got launched in the direction of Benjicot from you, snarky comments from an injured Scotty and Rom, your little brother, silently eating while he watches and does his GCSE revision.

At every opportunity, you make his life hell. Well, inconveniencing him. Moving his boxing gloves or wrap, putting his clothes in random places, changing out his protein powder for flour. Other things too, just to piss him off, a little inconvenience in his day.

You were also rude, giving him dirty glances, mean comments, rolling your eyes at every word.

After seven months of Benjicot living with them and training with your father and brother, your birthday comes up. Nineteen. You always had wild, big parties on your birthday, this is no difference.

You're going for classy. Golds, silvers, fancy glass carved cups. It was gonna be huge.

Guests pile in, champagne getting passed around to each. After all the guests arrive, they get to mingle for a while and put the presents on the large, over-piled table.

Soon enough, you make your grand entrance. Walking down the very large staircase, clad in a black dress, short skirt at the front with a long trailing back, sliding against the floors and stairs. Your hair is lightly curled and your makeup done up. You looked almost feline.

Benjicot's standing with your brothers, watching your walk down the stairs, like a model. Long legs going down each step with cute Louis Vuitton heels.

Stepping off the stairs, people come up and wish you happy birthday. You grab a glass of champagne, sipping on it as you make your way around, mingling with friends and family.

After a while, you're a bit tipsy, taking shots with your friends and dancing on the dance floor. You stumble outside, walking to a small bench in the very large back garden, grabbing a breath of fresh air.

Ben wanders into the back garden to grab some fresh air as well. He'd had a good time partying so far but he'd needed a short break. He spots you sitting on the bench and heads over to join you. He sits on the bench next to you and looks over at you. "You enjoying your birthday so far?"

You look at him as he sits down, rolling you eyes, just your luck. "Yeah. I am."

Ben just snickers softly at your reaction to him sitting next to you. You clearly weren't too happy to see him, which amused him. "Oh, come on. Don't act too thrilled to see me, I know you're really happy I'm here…"

Ben has a cocky smirk on his face as he pokes your side gently. He hadn't seen you all night, so you getting all annoyed at him for joining you on the bench was amusing. You sigh, rolling your eyes again as you put one knee ontop of the other, resting your elbows on them.

Benji's smirk grows at the sight of you rolling your eyes yet again. He'd clearly gotten under your skin already, and it was far too easy.He glances over at you and grins before he speaks up again. "Damn, you look like you're really enjoying yourself over there."

One of his eyebrows raise slightly as you reposition your legs. You were acting just as he had imagined you would, you'd clearly grown exasperated with him already, even though he'd been sitting next to you for only less than a few minutes. It was a little funny.

Benji snickers to himself. You were a hell of an easy to rile up. He could already tell he was annoying you, he was just testing your limits now. "Why the long face? We're at a birthday party… you're supposed to be having fun, birthday girl…"

"Yeah well, with the guy that battered me brother and is now me dads fucking favourite despite not being his son sitting next to me, no surprise I'm not in a good mood." You scoff.

Benjicot just smirks slightly at your response, you were clearly a little pissed off and he knew he was the cause of it. You were just so easy to rile up, all he had to do was sit next to you and you started losing your temper. He chuckles softly, tilting his head at you. "That's right… I'm the golden boy… and you're just a pain in my arse…"

He leans back against the bench and continues to smirk smugly as he glances over at you. You were glaring at him already, you must've been absolutely fuming by now, but that was exactly what he was wanting. You were very fun to wind up, he knew exactly how to get under your skin.

He couldn't help it, he was far too amused by your angered expression. He knew you were seething on the inside and he just felt like poking the bear some more. "Aw… look at your face. You're all pouty and angry… it's cute…"

You give him a disgusted look. "Just shut up. My head is banging and you’re talking too much."

Ben snickers as you give him that look. You acted so damn cute when you were annoyed, it was amusing to him. He almost couldn't resist the idea of making you even more pissed off. "Aww, is your little head hurting? Has all that dancing given you a migrane? Poor little thing…"

You glare at him. Then your mind got fuzzy, next thing you realise, your making out with him and his fingers are.. well.. inside you..

Ben's taken by surprise when you suddenly start making out with him, not that he's complaining of course… but he wasn't expecting you to kiss him out of the blue. He grins into the kiss, just going with it. He lets a finger trail along your skin before he slides his fingers between your legs.

Benjicot's enjoying this, clearly, and he's not about to stop kissing you and touching you any time soon… he knew you were a little angry before but now he had you kissing him and making out with him he just wants more.

Ben slides his tongue into your mouth, pressing himself closer to you as he starts to kiss you a little bit rougher. He's enjoying having you so close to him like this, and he can't help but want more.

You moan softly into his mouth, your legs parting more as his fingers rock inside you. Ben grins against your lips, feeling you part your legs even more for him. He loved seeing how much you wanted him, it was an ego boost. He pushes his fingers into you a bit deeper, enjoying the way you writhe for him.

Ben slides his tongue into your mouth again, trying to muffle all of those sweet sounds you make. He really was enjoying this a lot, and he wanted more… he felt his jeans start to tighten as you got a bit more handsy and started pulling his shirt up.

Benji pulls back from the kiss when he feels you start to tug at his shirt, grinning down at you. "You gonna take my shirt off, darlin'?" You moan and pant, pouting. "I.. I wanna feel you.. fuck Benji.."

Benjicot just chuckles softly, enjoying how eager you were right now. He wasn't used to you being so willing and submissive.. He grins down at you as he pulls off his shirt, revealing the lean, well-toned muscles underneath. He grins as he looks at you, just waiting to see what you would do next.

You tug him down to kiss you again, moving his hand to guide his fingers back inside you, your nails raking down his chest.

Ben grins as you pull him down to you, not even a little bit surprised that you're wanting to continue things. He moans as he starts kissing you again, and it doesn't take you long to guide his fingers back to where they had been before and he lets his fingers sink into you again. He lets out a soft groan as your hands wander down his chest.

He leans into you a bit more, enjoying the feeling of your hands running over his chest and body, and your lips on his. He's really enjoying this, and you feel so fucking good around his fingers, he's starting to strain in his jeans, and he knows he's going to need to ease the pressure and discomfort soon enough.

You grip onto his waist, your other hand in his hair as you tug on it and moan in his mouth.

Ben moans back into your mouth, loving how you're pulling his hair and gripping onto his hips, knowing how good his fingers are making you feel, how eager you are. He slides his other hand up your thigh, his hand moving higher and higher as he kisses you more roughly and you let out another quiet gasp.

His lips move from yours and start trailing down your neck, leaving a trail of hot, messy kisses against your throat as his hand on your thigh starts to push your dress up, wanting to get touch more of your skin.

He moans against your neck, his lips and teeth sucking and biting gently as he continues to kiss down your collarbone and shoulder, his hands are now grabbing your thighs, his fingers digging into your skin as he continues leaving hot, eager kisses all over your skin.

Your thighs tremble slightly, squeezing your eyes shut, biting your lip softly. The pleasure is becoming too much.

Benjicot can feel your thighs trembling in his hands and he grins against your skin, loving how you were reacting to his mouth and hands, he could tell you were getting more worked up. His lips and teeth travel back up to your neck and he starts kissing and biting at it again, leaving more marks over your skin.

"Fuck.. Ben.. 'm close.." You whimper out, trembling and writhing.

Ben feels a shiver down his spine as you let your breathless words, he can tell how close you are and he loves it, he keeps his lips against your neck, sucking and biting gently as his hands slide higher and higher up your legs. He's enjoying it too, his breathing is heavier and he's feeling a lot of pressure against his jeans, he's going to have to find a way to get some relief sooner or later.

"Oh fuck! Benji! 'M gonna cum!" He lets out a low and slightly strangled moan as he sucks a mark into your throat, feeling you getting closer and closer to release as his hands continue to move and wander over your legs. He's growing more and more desperate to have some sort of relief, it was starting to get really uncomfortable, feeling your skin against his and hearing you call out his name over and over again.

" 'm gonna cum, 'm gonna cum, 'm gonna cum.." You mumble and babble, thighs shaking. He grins against your neck as he hears your breathless words, loving the sounds of you so close to cumming, he continues to suck and bite at your throat, his breathing heavier now and feeling more strained, he needs something soon.

Benji lets a hand wander up higher, finally letting his hand grip and squeeze your thigh, wanting to touch more of your skin and hold you even closer to him. He moans against your neck as he feels himself get even more pent up and frustrated in his jeans, and he's starting to get desperate for some kind of relief and friction.

You grip his arm, acrylic nails digging into his skin, your mouth drops open into an 'O' as your thighs tremble and you cum, the waves of pleasure crashing down.

He moans into your neck, feeling you come against his fingers and he can't help but let out a slightly shaky breath as you grip onto his arm and make all those sweet sounds.

His hips twitch forward, and he lets out another shaky moan as he feels himself get even more pent up, he's struggling to keep it together.

He pulls back from your neck and letting his forehead rest against yours, his breathing still a little laboured and his jeans feeling really damn tight.

"Mmm… Benji.." You moan breathlessly. He can't help but let a shiver run down his spine as you say his name again, all breathless and weak, he's really struggling to keep himself from just shoving you back against the bench and taking what he so badly wants.

He lets out a low moan as he looks down at you, his heart racing and his head spinning a little, he needs some kind of relief, and he's struggling to keep himself together as he looks down at you, all messed up and flushed and panting a little.

Now that was one hell of a birthday present.

[shaypie67]

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲

Summary: Ben has been being an asshole lately and decides to make it up to you. (NO SMUT)

Pairing: Soldier Boy (The Boys) x Reader

Warnings: Bad Language/Cursing.

Word Count: 722

"Will you stop?" I snap at him from where I'm trying to wash the dishes, getting a little distracted as he comes up behind me, pulling my tightly against him.

He just huffs and stands back, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What is your problem?" He scowls back at me.

I huff and drop a plate onto the table so hard it almost breaks as I turn to look at him.

"My problem is... we just had a massive dinner and I'm the one who has to do the dishes and clean the house when I feel like dropping to sleep because all you can think of is your cock!"

He clenches his jaw and scoffs a little bit, turning away from me.

"That's not my fucking job! It's the woman's and the last time I checked it was you!"

I take a deep breath, staring at him with tears glazing my eyes, thinking he was getting better at adjusting to the new worlds, only to be brought back to the beginning.

"Screw you!" I argue back through gritted teeth and throw the sponge down too and storm off into the bedroom.

Ben stands there quietly, surprised by your outburst. He feels the guilt rise in him and lets out a sigh, running a hand through his hair.

He knows how much you do for him, despite him being an ass and feels bad for blowing up in your face. Knowing he has to make it up to you somehow.

He looks around the kitchen and living room, looking at all the dirty plates and pots from where they had a joint dinner with Annie and Hughie. He nods again and grabs the sponge, grimacing at washing the wet food off the plates and buzzes around until the entire apartment is clean and he's panting heavily. Surprised by how much effort it took, but glad he did it for you.

He walks into the bedroom and sees you lying on the bed, nose in one of your favourite books. He steps closer and lays down on the bed next to you, grabbing your book and moving it to the nightstand.

I look over at Ben confused, still upset with him so I choose to stay quiet.

He takes a deep breath, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulls your back to his chest, letting out a sigh into your neck as he hugs you close. Whispering into your ear.

"I'm sorry."

I look down at his hand on my waist, taking a deep breath myself as I hear his small apology, knowing that probably took a lot out of him to admit. I smile a little and interlace my fingers with his, leaning into his hold.

"It's okay... I was just tired and didn't feel like doing a deep clean on the kitchen" I reply quietly, feeling his thumb rub my knuckles as he kisses the back of my neck.

"You don't have to. I finished it for you."

That makes me pause, turning over to look at his smirking face a little dumbfounded.

"You... washed the kitchen?"

He chuckles a little at your reaction to him actually getting off his ass and doing something for once, but he doesn't act too smug about it.

"Yes. And FYI, we're getting a dishwasher. Touching wet food from the bowl was nasty." His nose scrunches up, remembering the odd soggy feeling he powered through.

I can't help but laugh at his facial expression, using my hand to cup his cheek, kissing him softly on the lips, sighing softly when I feel him kiss me back. I pull away and barely speak above a whisper.

"Thank you."

He doesn't reply and just pulls you down onto his chest, wrapping an arm around your back to keep you close to him.

"Now no more whining, I'll buy the dishwasher so neither of us have to clean again." He grumbles in his usual grumpy tone, but I notice more of a humored tone than any anger behind it. So I just close my eyes and nuzzle into his chest, enjoying the warmth.

"Goodnight, Ben." I say before closing my eyes, letting sleep take me after the long day.

He hums in reply before kissing your forehead softly, replying in a barely audible tone.

"Night, Doll."

THE END

[aliesbienish]

Love at first swipe

Benedict Bridgerton x fem reader. Modern Au.

Warnings: Cheesy AF. Innuendos.

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Cute smile. Check.

Kind eyes. Check.

Well written profile with no misogynistic undertones. Double check.

This guy must be to good to be true. Definitely a bot. Or married and cheating on his poor wife. Plus what girl hasn’t been screwed over by a ‘Ben’, maybe he’ll be yours.

Still against better judgement you swiped right on Mr. cute smile, and then called it a day. Closing tinder and setting down your phone, reluctantly getting up to make yourself dinner. Honestly having a partner to share the cooking load was just as appealing as the romance at this point.

Basic spaghetti made and glass of wine in hand you plopped back onto the couch to continue your next rerun of pride and prejudice, the tv show of course. At least you could always day dream of life with Mr Darcy, and if he was always looking like he just emerged from the lake then so be it.

Grabbing your phone to enter into some simultaneous mindless scrolling you saw a notification from Tinder pop up. Oh boy a new match. Maybe you needed more wine.

Of course you couldn’t help being intrigued, so you opened it up to see a new message from the definite robot himself.

Ben: Good evening [y/n], to what do I owe this pleasure?

You: Bit early to determine I’ll be a pleasure isn’t it?

I’m actually only here because I am convinced you are a bot and honestly chatting with a bot is almost guaranteed to be more exciting than chatting with a man.

Ben: I’m nothing if not optimistic. I promise I am not a bot. And before you say it; I know that it’s exactly what a bot would say but it’s also exactly what a human would say.

You: Touché. Alright Ben, prove it.

Ben: Do you interrogate all your matches or am I special?

You: You’re special. But don’t get sappy about it, I’m just suspicious that your profile doesn’t have a photo of you fishing or in front of a car.

Through many years of observation I’ve hypothesised that each human man must show one or the other.

Ben: And have you hypothesised why that may be?

You: It’s almost certainly something to do with their hunting and gathering skills. That or compensation.

Ben: And how was this concluded?

You: Well fishing is obviously a modern (and frankly boring) man’s hunting and gathering.Least amount of work and blood involved. These men want to prove they can provide, but will likely never actually do the real hunting and gathering ie. Grocery shopping.

Ben: Science seems sound. And cars?

You: Well that’s obvious. The bigger and shinier the car the smaller the 🍆.

Ben: I quite agree…but that might be because I own a mud covered beetle.

You: Haven’t you heard it’s best to keep expectations low?

Ben: And risk losing out? No thank you.

You: If you’re real, which the jury is still out, I’m sure that’s not an issue.

Ben: Still? I’m flattered. And while it may not be an issue let’s say why would I settle for bronze when I can have gold?

FYI that’s me saying I think you’re gold

You: thanks for the clarification. You’re really into calling this early aren’t you? 10 minutes and you’re obsessed.

Ben: It’s actually been about thirty minutes if you count when I first came across your profile and haven’t stopped thinking about you since.

You: That is either incredibly honest or an amazing line.

Ben: Oh it’s both. But first and only time I’ll use it, cross my heart.

You: So what next?

Ben: Coffee, tomorrow hopefully if that’s not too soon?

You: Tomorrows great. Meet in the city? Say Leicester Square at 11am?

Ben: Done. I look forward to it.

You: You’d better be real or I’ll hurt you.

You were standing in the square outside of the cinema, your agreed meeting place. Despite the anxiety in you wanting to call the date off you’d made it. It was likely a good thing you only had 24 hours or so to think about it. Ben had been funny and endearing and so damn sure he wanted to meet you. He seemed so lovely that it defied belief, but you were willing to suspend reality.

You felt a hand on your shoulder, and you spun around to come face to face with Ben. In the flesh, as handsome or in fact even more so than his profile photos.

You meet his eyes and suddenly you felt lost in them.

“Hi,” You muttered, a goofy smile plastering your face. “I’m [y/n]”.

“Hi back. My real names Benedict. But Ben is fine. Long story. It’s lovely to meet you properly.”

“Thank god we’re both real,” you laughed.

“To be honest I never had any doubt. When you know you know.”

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Maybe I’m just trying to manifest my own luck on the dating apps 🤷🏻‍♀️

[iambicpentameterhamster]

Every umbrella academy character ranked (seasons 1-4)

After that shitshow of a fourth season, i felt it necessary to redo this.

#36 -The Sparrows (Jayme, Alphonso, Fae etc.)

The show had no clue what to do with these characters. They sit around being evil for a little while only to promptly die within four episodes. Also one of them is a fucking cube?!? Whats up with that?

#35 - Sloane

How come she disappears in season 4 but not sparrow Ben? So much of this makes no sense.

#34 -Sparrow Ben

I hate this character with my whole being. He goes around calling people emo as if HE DOESNT WAKE UP EVERY MORNING WITH A SCOWL ON HIS STUPID FACE AND EMO HAIR ON HIS STUPID FOREHEAD. He's so rude and awful and i'm given no reason by the show to give a shit where he ends up.

#33 -Carl Cooper

This one speaks for itself.

#32 -Reggie's wife

The two of them annoyed me so much.

#31 -Viktor

Moochy emo sod. Elliott Page's acting got progressively worse throughout the series (and i like Elliott Page, but this wasnt his best work.)- season 1 Vanya was tolerable, beyond that i couldn't stand this character. All his jokes land flat and he has the charisma of a piece of cardboard.

#30 -Season 4 Five

For the sake of this ranking, i am treating seasons 1-3 Five and season 4 Five as seperate characters. Seems like the writers were doing the same. What the fuck, guys? How do you bulldoze a character this badly?

Season 4 Five was unfunny, selfish, cowardly, and most of all on a different plane of being from the Five we all knew and loved. Screw you, season 4 Five, you're not canon.

#29 -Season 4 Lila

I'm treating Lila the same way. Season 4 Lila was an injustice to seasons 2-3 Lila.

#28 -Harlan

Couldn't care less about him. He represents to me when the umbrella academy started going to shit in season 3.

#27 -Jennifer

Again, we are given no reason to care about her.

#26 -Pogo

He was just there for the exposition. They never explained why Reggie was doing experiments on monkeys??

#25 -Reggie

He was quite a good villain but i still hate him. Really goofy at times, too.

#24 -Jean and Gene

They were quite good actually. If season 4 wasn't a dumpster fire, i reckon they'd have been able to really shine.

#23 -Cha Cha

This is getting into better territory. I liked Cha Cha, she was badass, but not well developed.

#22 -Detective Patch

Again, i liked her, but she wasn't given much time to develop as a character.

#21 -The Swedes

They were funny, whimsical villains that were fun to watch on screen. Funny and whimsical are two adjectives that TUA used to embody.

#20 -Elliott

My guy just wanted to eat fish and be a conspiracy theorist 😔

#19 -Sissy

Welcome back, Sheldon's mum.

In all seriousness, she was well acted despite Viktor's actor giving her nothing to work with, so props to her.

#18 -Dave

WE GOT ZERO MENTIONS OF DAVE IN SEASONS 3-4?!? DESPITE HIM BEING A HUGE PART OF KLAUS'S CHARACTER?!?! WHEN I CATCH YOU WRITERS-

#17 -Destiny's children

I am in fact an active member

#16 -Luther

I have bumped Luther up my list because in seasons 3-4 he sort of embraces his goofiness, but in seasons 1-2 he is an insufferable, incestuous moron. He is up here for good character development and i wished he could have ended up with Sloane.

#15 -Agnes

She was really cute and sweet, i liked her a lot. RIP season 1, you were peak.

#14 -Herb and Dot

They were sweet and funny too, and i miss the whole idea of the time commission.

#13 -Kenny's mum

An honourable mention

#12 -Grace

Grace was super well performed and poignant. I have no issues with Grace.

#11 -Stan

Live, laugh, love Stan. I hate that the trauma of losing him was never mentioned in season 4 for Diego or Lila.

My top 10

#10 -Lenoard Peabody/ Harold Jenkins

I stand by him being one of the best-acted and most cleverly written villains of all time. He is not only a well-executed surprise villain, but a scarily accurate one, and the actor plays him to perfection. We even start to like him before the cracks show. Also he looks like a creepy version of Lin Manuel Miranda.

#9 -Ray

Season 4 did Ray DIRTY. It was completely out of character for him to just walk out. They could have at least have him die in a tragic accident or something. Season 2 Ray is the perfect, most charismatic, ideal man and i hold him in my heart forever and in my head Alison and Ray ended up together.

#8 -Hazel

He had one of the best arcs on the show, period. Continues to represent everything good about the first two seasons of TUA. He was flawed, he was human, he was loveable.

#7 -Umbrella Ben

He seemed like he could have been a brilliant character with more screen time. His sacrifice in season 2 was a genuinely moving moment. The backstreet boys moment is SO FUNNY and his and Klaus's dynamic is something i really miss.

#6 -The Handler

We don't appreciate The Handler enough. The show started rolling downhill as soon as The Handler was gone. She was the glue that held the show together, one of the best villains/antagonists in TV history.

#5 -Allison

Yes, season 3 Allison made some stupid choices and did some terrible things, but a lot of it came from grief and she redeemed herself in season 4 imo. Seasons 1-2 Allison was one of the most charismatic, endearing and empathetic characters on the show.

#4 -Seasons 1-2 Lila

I love you. I miss you. Come back to me.

#3 -Diego

Bumped up the list for being a CONSISTENTLY good character who is flawdd but still extremely loveable and hilarious.

#2 -Seasons 1-3 Five

Seasons 1-3 Five would shoot season 4 Five in the face. He is the daddy here, and season 4 Five is the creepy uncle.

Original Five is a masterfully crafted, hilarious, unique, intelligent character and i will not let season 4 ruin it for me.

#1 -Klaus

This needs no justification.

What do you think? How far do you agree?

[anundyingfidelity]

I'M A RUIN — Soldier Boy/Ben (Part VII)

Series summary: After the events of the Seven Tower, you present Grace Mallory a new secret project you're working on already to develop a cure to Compound V. The only problem? You need Soldier Boy for that.

Pairing: Soldier Boy/Ben x female reader.

Word count: 3.2k.

Warnings for series: set after S3 (spoilers), some OOC!Ben, some depressed!Ben, angst, hurt/comfort, eventual smut, slow-burn, language, PTSD, reader has Compound V (she's no Vought supe tho), Soldier Boy being an usual asshole, reader is a fucking liar.

Warnings on this chapter: sexual tension, suggestive stuff.

Notes: bonding chapter of this slow burn aaaa thanks again for reading :D

this fic tags: @k-slla @syrma-sensei @mostlymarvelgirl @cheynovak @drasticemotions @soldirboy @deans-spinster-witch

☕ if you like my writing, support me with a ko-fi !

get yourself in the taglist!

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII

GEN MASTERLIST! — SERIES MASTERLIST!

Part VII: No More Doubts

When you left the motel early after a quick and dull breakfast, Ben was a pain in the ass as he kept asking question after question on the road. You knew he could just leave you alone but it wasn’t really something you’d like him to do. He was a fugitive, so were you. Soldier Boy knew better than that and he only had to stay by your side as much as he hated the idea. The only thing you could truly answer was that you were driving to a safer place. At least you were hoping it was. When you pulled the car after driving hours between the grove, Soldier Boy was waking up from his nap. You thanked heaven for that.

“We’re here,” you announced, turning off the engine.

Ben stirred on his seat, taking in the view of the house and nature and got out of your car, following you to the front door. He couldn’t help but to look around in somewhat awe. It was a large cottage-style house decorated with earth tones, great walls and columns. The place was surrounded by countless trees, making the weather bearable and somewhat nice due to the hidden location. The leaves climbed on some of the windows and the plants and flowers rested on the ground perfectly neat. He assumed you came here often. But it wasn’t really the place you used to come by and sleep every single day. It was too far away from the facility. As you unlocked the door, Ben followed inside, not without taking a last glance at your surroundings. No homes were near, nothing was to be seen. Only you and him inside this big fucking house.

The indoors were no different from the impression he got first. The decoration, the expensive sofa where you threw the sports bag, and the paintings and pots all over the place were saying you were rich. Of course, a fucking rich whore you were, he thought to himself. And he wondered where your real place was located.

“So, I’m gonna show you a guest room and then around, please don’t screw my house,” you said, giving him the sports bag.

“Got something to drink?” he asked, a smirk plastering on his face as he stepped closer to where you were standing.

“Water I do.”

Ben chuckled for a bit, eyes not leaving your face. “You’re so fucking boring, you know?”

“Yeah, well, alcohol is not really an important supply. Just follow me and maybe I’ll get you some later,” you said, turning around to get to the stairs.

You knew he did as you asked when his big steps echoed around the place. Once you were on the second floor, you motioned him to the next room a couple of feet away from yours and gave him directions about the bathroom and the manners. If he was going to be in your place, then he had to behave.

“I told you already, I’m not a fucking animal,” he complained after hearing your orders.

“Sure,” you dragged the word, eyes narrowed. “Because last night you were so civilized in the bathroom.”

He scoffed and then chuckled. “Did I get too loud?”

“You fucking tell me,” you replied with a much annoying smile on your face to match his own.

“Could’ve joined me. We’re not patient and doctor anymore,” 

“No.”

Just as the last word fell off your lips, your phone rang. Quickly you took the call, realizing it was Grace. You left Soldier Boy in his room and walked down the stairs a little too fast.

“You made it?” she asked on the other line.

“Yeah, arrived just minutes ago,” you answered, checking the stairs in case he followed. “Where are you, Grace?”

“That doesn’t matter. I have something for you.”

“Okay, tell me.”

“I will text you an address and an hour. Today. Don’t miss it.”

Your phone buzzed, announcing the information had arrived.

“I won’t.”

“I’ll keep calling through different phone numbers. Do what you have to do to complete the cure,” she said, like if she knew what was happening between both now.

Soldier Boy was unbearable but you had to keep him on track. Luckily, you were back home again and you’ll be working on the Anti V soon, praying the last bits of information and results of the last test were there for some reason.

“I’m doing my best,” you sighed.

Grace hummed.

“Good.”

“Any updates so far?”

Ben’s smooth voice woke you up from your daydreaming while you sat together in the dining room.

You had been able to make something quick for lunch after Grace called and you found yourself all jittery and tense, hoping Soldier Boy wouldn’t notice. But he did sense something different from you. So he kept insisting on what was going on.

“I don’t know,” you whispered, taking the last sip of water from your glass. You avoided his eyes, looking away.

He rolled his eyes and narrowed at you. “Has your office contacted you?” 

You shook your head.

“So they’re dead,” he said. Not asking, but affirming it.

A heavy sigh left your lips, your eyes going back to his harsh ones. “Leaving was the best.”

“Who’s that you keep in touch with?”

“What?”

Ben groaned slightly before snapping back with a low voice. “C’mon, Y/N. You called yesterday on the road, and now you receive a call. Who the fuck is it?”

His question is not just an inquiry anymore. He’s demanding to know. But you also know he hated Grace Mallory for putting him to sleep again, confined to a chamber where he’d be a trophy for the government to do whatever they wanted, how they wanted. Until you appeared, offering him empty words. Just like everyone.

“My superior.”

Your answer hit him like a truck. He knew it was Grace, but he didn’t like hearing it from you. 

The truth was, Ben didn’t like you… Not that much. Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn’t. Sometimes he wanted to kill you, sometimes the small common sense he still had on his head would say you’d be better alive. He had been thinking of going away, but not he didn’t really want to. He knew you had been working with Grace, he was no idiot. So maybe staying close should get him even closer to Homelander and Vought. He also thought of Ryan back in the cell you had put him in. He was so damn afraid Ryan would become like his father. And since the brat has been protected before by many people, finding would not be easy. That’s where your contacts and network would be a help to him. He was hoping to find something at your place to find them and the information he craved.

“Right,” he said, alarmingly calm and quiet. He took the last bite of pasta on the plate and swallowed down in silence under your gaze. You didn’t know what else to say.

“So, these powers of yours,” he continued, drinking the last sip of juice. “How’d you get them?”

“Why do you want to know?”

He shrugged. “I mean, they’re pretty fucking useless against me,” his words made you chuckle. Of course you knew that. “But I’m just wondering if you’d be with them.”

Your face turned back to a somber demeanor. “The Seven?”

He gave you a nod.

“Well, it’s not like all supes dream of that,” you uttered. “I just wanted to be normal.”

Ben raised a brow at your sudden confession. “Someone exploded everyone’s heads at the CIA. Sorry to say, sweetheart, but you suck at being normal.”

“Yeah, details I have to work with.”

“I take it you never went to them,” he continued and saw confusion on your face. “Vought.”

The word made you shudder for a slight moment, and you quickly tried to collect yourself to avoid him noticing.

“No, I never did.”

He scrutinized your eyes, hearing the poor increase of your heartbeats. They were enough to tell him something was wrong. But he decided to play along, so he nodded and gave you a rather compassionate look.

“Must be thankful they didn’t fuck up your life then.”

He had no idea.

You had parked the car outside an abandoned gas station; it was one of the nearest grocery stores to your home years ago. The now wasteland was almost two hours away, with a gas station around ten miles elsewhere. You had been waiting for Grace outside the car, leaning against the hood. Bored, you checked your phone again. When you arrived it was already past three o’clock. When twenty minutes went by, you wanted so badly to drive and get inside the next store you see and buy yourself food and supplies enough to survive a week or two with the idiotic supe now staying at your home. Grace said would be calling through a different phone but you received no calls so far. You’ve been waiting for more than an hour and the drive home wasn’t going to be shorter. Suddenly another car came into sight, pulling over near yours. Two men came out of it.

“Doctor Y/N?”

The stranger with the unknown voice and a weird accent caught your attention. Soon, you found the two tall men standing in front of you in the parking lot.

“We’re here on behalf of Grace Mallory,” the man continued.

He wore a long dark trench coat, looking rough and intimidating. The total opposite to the younger one, who gave you a kind smile once your eyes settled on him.

“How-”

“We have something for you,” the younger man continued. “I’m Hughie. Hughie Campbell,” he introduced himself, giving you a hand and fixing the backpack on his shoulder with the other one. You took it after a moment of hesitation. “He’s Billy Butcher, we’ve worked with Grace before.”

You nodded. “I thought she was the one coming.”

“She’s not in shape for that,” Billy answered. He realized your face changed at his words and quickly explained himself. “Vought’s cunts are looking for her, not safe.”

“Fuck,” you mumbled under your breath. “Great, awesome. So what do you have for me?”

“We, uhm, we made it to your facility and thought these could do some help,” Hughie took out a pouch and gave it to you.

With trembling hands you opened the pouch and sighed in relief. Five test tubes of the Anti V prototype were laid there. “You found them.”

“And we found a little bit more,” Butcher continued. “Victoria Neuman exploded the heads of your employees back there. We believe Vought had been sneaking and getting spies for themselves.”

“Victoria is a supe,” you voiced out. “A supe is running for vice president…”

“Yeah, long story,” Hughie commented. “She’s obviously linked with Homelander and Vought. Everyone was dead when we arrived; lab assistants, guards, agents, the supes… We believe her mission was to just let you and Soldier Boy out, besides stealing information about the cure you’re working on. Probably to give it to Vought.”

“Anything weird happen there before the attack?” Billy asked, not giving you time to swallow Hughie’s words.

“Uhm, yeah. Actually my lab assistant… She tried to warn me and, well, she was crying and asking me to leave. I didn’t know why until her head just- you know…”

You choked a little with your words. The picture of her body and the last seconds of her life were all you got. Everything was equally horrible that day.

“I’m sorry,” Hughie whispered.

“It’s fine,” you cleared your throat. “And I assume you didn’t find anything else? Information? Files?”

“Computers were destroyed. No files. No info. Nothing,” Butcher answered. “Grace says you’re the leader of the project. You have copies, right?”

“Why everybody keeps fucking asking me that? Of course I do!” you almost yelled, eyes full of rage staring at him.

“Easy there, doc,” Butcher lifted up his hands in surrender. “We just wanna get rid of those cunt supes as much as you want. Nothing wrong to make sure.”

“Well, I do have them,” you replied with a cocky smile. “Thank you very much for your concern, Adele.”

Butcher rolled his eyes, sharing a look with Hughie before switching his attention back to you.

“Yeah, sure you do, luv.”

It was already seven o’clock when you arrived home with supplies and food. Ben, as usually, acted like a fucking caveman claiming he was hungry and you had to act like the housewife, serving him a fucking hamburger and a glass of wine. That was the only liquor you bought. Despite his complaints, his hunger was greater and he devoured the greasy food with no table manners at all.

“You could chew your food like a fucking human being, you know,” you said, eating the last french fries you had. 

He turned his eyes to your face, pointing with his finger. “You were gone for like five hours.”

“So? There’s fruit in the fridge.”

Ben narrowed his gaze, like if he had been offended.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know how to serve something for yourself,” you teased. He didn’t say a word, and you giggled. “That’s fucking pathetic.”

He leaned towards the dining table, eyes locked on yours. “No, you just don’t know your fucking place, woman.”

“I just saved your life, Ben. At least say thanks,” you beamed, having too much fun by seeing him upset for mundane things.

“No, you didn’t.”

You rolled your eyes and took a sip of your wine. “Fine. I didn’t. Let’s go past this and start over. If you’re gonna live here, for now, then you’ll have to learn how to respect me.”

His brows raised. “I thought I already did.”

“Offering yourself to fuck me in a cheap motel is not respectful, Soldier Boy.”

“Well, I didn’t try anything, did I?” Ben finished his sentence at the same time he finished his dinner.

He waited for a smart comeback from you but it never came. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and a stupid grin appeared on his lips. “Unless you want to.”

“No, we’ve been through it. My answer is still no.”

“Then, mind to fucking tell me if you found something by now?”

He changed the topic swiftly. His playful demeanor switched immediately and you sighed, knowing he might have to hear anything to keep him down.

“You’re in danger.”

“I’m the strongest supe ever, that doesn’t make any damn sense,” Ben scoffed.

“Listen, we need to hide from Vought. Hide and not leave a trace, because now I’m involved with you and they’re absolutely looking for your ass,” you gave him a stern look as you went on. “If I fall, you go with me. And if you fall, then I don’t know if they’d still want me. But you’ll be fucked anyway.”

Ben nodded. In his mind, it didn’t sound like a bad plan. In the end, that’s what he wanted; to get closer to Vought and Homelander to get over with them. The world didn’t deserve those fuckers. And as much as Homelander was created with his own DNA, he knew better than to let a scum like him walk around the planet. You already gave him something, a clue. He had to play along for now. If they took you in first, then he might probably bargain to be him instead. It was only fair. He was the one that mattered anyway.

“Okay, I get it. I’ll stay here. But I don’t want those fucking therapies anymore,” he expressed, his gaze not moving away from the surprised look on your face. “Understand?”

You blinked a couple of times, shifting on your seat and chuckling under your breath. “It’s fine, believe me. I can’t stand you more than you do.”

Ben held your gaze, daring you to try something else. Instead, you smiled and got up and took your empty dishes to the sink. His eyes followed your moves, focusing on your small shorts and the softness of your legs. And you knew he was definitely checking you out when you talked.

“By the way, you’ll have to help me wash the dishes.”

He stood up, plates on his hands and walked behind your figure, putting them on the sink as you opened the faucet. His arms surrounded you once he did so and you flinched a bit. Ben smirked, feeling the reaction of your body trapped against his.

“Get away,” you ordered in a whisper, unable to move.

“I’m helping you, Y/N,” he breathed your name against your neck, his hand wrapping on yours gripping on the edge of the sink.

The only sound now was his hot breath on your skin and the water flowing. You quickly turned the faucet off, but you didn’t try to push him away.

It was the second time during the day he had said your name, ever. And you wouldn’t deny it sounded fucking delightful. He had only addressed you as his ‘doctor’, but now it was different. Though, you didn’t want to give into him. He was a huge douchebag and you were basically forced to spend time with him, in your home, without really wanting him there. You felt his lips ghosting over the sensitive skin of your neck, and the primal part of you yearned for his touch, but the rational one won over and you freed yourself from his arms.

“Stop doing that,” you warned once you were face to face. His eyes were dark already and had a sparkle you knew too much since the day before.

“Alright,” he nodded.

“Just- let’s just wash these. I want to sleep.”

With a tired sigh, you walked down the basement. It was already midnight and Ben was locked inside his room, probably jerking off or something since you, once again, rejected him in your kitchen. Inside the dark room, you found the metal door that let you inside the bunker and unlocked it with the code. When you stepped in, you made sure to turn on the power and lights that illuminated the room and the small lab in the back. The computers started to run and you sat down on the main monitor, leaving the pouch with the Anti V tubes on the side of the desk.

Yeah, you might have told Butcher and Grace you had copies of every detail of the project. But you were afraid of the last stuff you discovered just before the attack. You knew well how the information was protected and encrypted, but it didn’t really assure you the profile of Solaris would be there. He was the first and last supe who had his powers off for a couple of hours at least and the feeling of losing it all had been eating you the last few hours after meeting with Grace’s messengers.

It took you a while to decrypt the system, something you had been already used to doing every time you got there to keep working on it, just to make sure no one would steal it. Hopefully, Vought hadn’t discovered it before destroying the facilities, you thought. And after a while, you found the last updates of the last test your team ran. Solaris profile and test was there. Not just in written letters, but the footage of the test and the exact formula that was used too. Now, you were so lucky.

“Well, thank you, Bianca. Wherever you are,” you whispered to yourself and took a tube from the pouch the men gave you earlier. You had a busy night ahead.

[logan-fields-official]

A sbg x gn reader who is like emu otori from wonderlandxshowtime and she is the captain of the dance team + and has the fighting technique of mizuki just search up "mizuki wrestler" on tiktok.

SBG x Reader

Don’t know what I’m gonna name this yet and will probably come back to add more.

The dance studio was filled with an energetic feel as Y/N, the captain of the dance team, led their group through their rehearsals. To say Y/N was an enthusiastic person was an understatement. It was like they had sun in their pocket. their cheerful and energetic demeanor often lighting up the dance teams spirits though it also sometimes drains them out. “Okay, everyone! Let’s take it from the top! I want to see those jazz hands sparkle!” Y/N exclaimed, clapping their hands together, earning a few giggles from the team. Logan, with his anxious demeanor, adjusted his glasses nervously, wincing slightly. “Uh, Y/N, maybe you shouldn’t not do the jazz hands this time? I think it’s a bit odd of a time for that.” he suggested, tugging at the hem of his sweater, his voice barely above a whisper. Y/N gasps dramatically and snaps their head towards Logan “Nonsense, Logan! Jazz hands make everything better. Right, Aiden?” Y/N stated, turning to Aiden. Aiden grinned and glanced up at Y/N nodding his head. “Oh absolutely! There’s nothing good jazz hand can’t fix. Besides, Logan, if they somehow screw up jazz hands then it’s just some more entertainment for us.” he chuckled, ignoring Logan's nervous side-eye. Ashlyn, sitting on the edge of the half wall, rolled her eyes though a slight smirk found it’s way onto her usual cold expression. “Yeah, yeah, as long as you don’t make me join in, I’ll stay” she said, and Tyler, leaning against the wall next to Ashlyn spoke up with an amused expression. “Don’t worry, Logan. Y/N’s probably just gonna end up adding something crazy if they gets rid of the jazz hands they’re just full of wild ideas, it’s mostly harmless.” Once practice was done, Y/N suggested an ice cream run. “I’m in the mood for something sweet, YALL wanna come get ice cream with me?” Y/N questioned, eyes sparkling with excitement. A cheer of enthusiastic agreement erupted, except from Ben, who sat quietly at the mini fringe, scribbling in his journal to stay detached from the dance team’s chaos. Y/N glanced at Ben and eagerly spoke up “Ben! You should join us! It’ll be fun I promise” Y/N claimed, their cheerful tone coaxing a slight smile from him as he nodded slightly. As the group was leaving the studio, laughter filled the air, but their playful evening took a sudden turn. Just as they had reached the parking lot, an argument broke out nearby. A couple of men were arguing loudly, and before the group could decide if they want to ignore it or intervene, it escalated. One of the men who appeared quite anger reached for something at his waistband, and all of a sudden Y/N’s instinct kicked in. “Guys back up!” Y/N shouted. Leaping forward ready to protect the group, their Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training kicking in, Y/N quickly moved to intervene, placing themselves between the escalating fight and their friends. “Hey! What the fuck are you doing! Do you wanna go to jail?” they shouted, heart racing but their voice steady. Logan looked on in worry, clutching Ashlyn's arm, while Ashlyn’s usual cold demeanor fell away, revealing a hint of concern. Tyler’s usual harsh mood melted into protectiveness as he quickly made his way over to grab Y/N. “What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed!” he scolded, while Ashlyn caught up, not far behind also ready to help if need be. Watching in shock and amusement, Aiden stared intensely, while Ben stopped scribbling in his journal, ready to help dissipate the nervous energy radiating from him. The group was tense, but Y/N remained determined, channeling their training. 'Its okay guys, I know how to handle this,' they claimed, confidence filling their tone. A delicate dance between bravery and rashness, Y/N stood firm, ready to protect their friends at all costs.

[descendantofthesparrow]

How would you write the scenario of Ben finding out Mal drugged him NOT because she had a crush on him, but because it was another way to try and get the wand

ive always imagined it to be where one of the other vks slips, accidently telling him like Evie being like 'oh and i rememeber when we made cookies to spell you for the wand!' like a kinda fond memory becuause now it kinda is one becuase they've moved on from that but Ben just goes...."what?" very quietly and Evie softens in almost horror like "she didnt tell you?"

"tell me what?" Ben demands, softly, but he demands it-what has 'she', she could only mean Mal. it always comes bakc to Mal. Evie frowns, wondering if she should be the one to say it. "Evie please." Ben pleads and Evie sighs, taking his hands.

"Ben, know that while we might've had ill intentions from the start, you and Auradon all changed us for the better and by the time the coronation came around, none of us wanted to be apart of the plan anymore-" Ben interupts her, a thing he rarely does. "Evie. please." Ben begs, squeezing her hands.

Evie sighs again. "we...Mal didnt put a love spell on you becuase she had a crush on you....she...well we love spelled you becuase we were after the wand, to break the barrier and free our parents."

Ben feels his reality shatter. all this time...he had beleived Mal had actually just been too scared to make a real move and had love spelled him so she could be with him-that was still screwed up but Ben understood becuase as she had said-she didnt know what love felt like so he had just thought Mal hadnt known how to process her feelings and just spelled him to make it easier.

but no. back then-it had just been another excuse, he had just been another pawn in her old evil game. he knows things have changed know, he knows that.

it doesnt make him feel any less betrayed.

"i need to go talk to mal," Ben pushes out, standing up and leaving his office where he and Evie had been discussing the isle children and the plan to get them all off to freedom.

[ninthprime]

snowpiercer 4x07 - 4x10 thoughts

despite being mixed on this last season, i think i could make a really good 3 hour youtube video essay about this show. or a real good a more civilized age style podcast about this show. tl;dr: i dislike this season less than a lot of people, but man, it was kind of weird, wasn’t it!

the other night while trying to gather my thoughts i reread much of the wikipedia page for this show, just to remind myself of stuff from previous seasons i may have forgotten. while doing so it occurred to me that, if summarized quickly, this season sounds far from bad. in fact, it sounds much more coherent than season 3, which has to rely a lot on layton’s weird visions. this season in concept sounds pretty appropriate as a final season- it answers questions about CW-7 and the warming of the world, gives us a big final villain with lore importance, and ends with everyone together building a new society. i’m pretty sure i guessed the final scene of this show would be an audrey and oz duet before the season even aired. which means all the flaws are in execution, which is an interesting issue to have.

as someone who’s mostly into this show because i’m attached to the characters, a lot of this is in character arcs, which feel very weird for a final season. this is where the big “they weren’t 100% sure this would be the last one” sign is blaring very brightly and loudly. that’s most clear with wilford’s death, which seems like it was made so that he could come back if they needed him to, probably as a fucked up cold zombie- but since the show’s over, it feels like it gets weirdly little emphasis. i actually think the concept of wilford offing himself before any of the people he abused can get to him could work in an “ain’t that a kick in the teeth” sort of way, but it doesn’t feel like it’s his last scene (even if the scene is pretty cool). but now it has to be! and i’m not even a wilford fan (i know, throw your rocks at me).

this extends to a lot of the other characters too. i am not a layton hater, but it is really striking to me that i can’t figure out what layton’s arc is supposed to be this season. and i don’t mean in the standard “he needs to rescue his kid” way- i mean that i don’t feel like he changes much, despite being one of the main characters and going through a huge loss when the season starts. i really enjoyed wilford pointing out how selfish he’s being in 4x06, but it doesn’t lead to anything in a way that’s bizarre. i can name a few characters where i think i know what their arc is this season- i think part of the reason i enjoyed the javi-sykes-oz stuff is that i can see the bones of all of their arcs, with oz’s being the most obvious and fulfilled. same goes for alex and josie. but none of them really feel 100% resolved, or it feels like you have to infer a lot. with josie, for example, you can tell her arc is about her trauma being revived and finally finding a way to truly come to peace with it, but it fell flat for me to have her final confrontation with headwood resolve offscreen. alex is the same way- having her lose both ben and wilford at the same time she meets nima makes her think about her identity, and the resolution is “she’s herself, and she’s going to prioritize the future and her community in the end.” but the show puts weirdly little emphasis on her saving the world, and i felt it kind of odd that it came down to just one screw. i had been guessing that she’d been planting little traps nima’s plans for the previous couple of episodes, which felt like a very alex thing to do, but i guess she wasn’t?

uh, to make a long story short- good season in concept, lacking in practice. it kind of strikes me as a first draft. in the universe where this was made under better circumstances (ie. 100% knowing this is the last one), maybe with some different voices, and we got the second draft? i think this would’ve been pretty solid. i did still like a lot of it, but this is where it’s lacking to me.

with all of that out of the way, here’s some more positive stuff and more stray thoughts:

i think 4x08 is my favorite of this last stretch of episodes, because it’s a lot of the small character moments that i really enjoy from this show. some of my favorite parts of this season and season 3, otherwise both pretty flawed seasons, involved taking advantage of the increasingly long histories the characters have. i loved roche’s ridiculous little speech to perk everyone up! look, i know he’s making stuff up, but i’m having fun! everyone’s getting a kick out of it! he gets to make a joke about yetis!

other smaller moments i liked here: josie’s conversations on revenge with boki and ruth, till walking around town with audrey, every part of the brakemen reunion but i especially got a huge laugh out of oz and till doing rock paper scissors in the middle of a firefight, ruth in the hospitality room one last time, javi getting revenge for ben via the spring doll, and the delightful bit in the finale where ruth finds sykes and z-wreck in the middle of having broken out of lockup offscreen.

despite how rushed everything is, nima really is a lot of fun. i truly feel absolutely nothing for milius (lol), but nima is often a delight to watch. the build-up during his argument with melanie, cross-cutting with wilford explaining who nima really is, is one of the best-executed scenes this season. i think in an “ideal” version of this show, in like the novel retelling or whatever (hire me amc), we would have had him built up before he actually appears- in a flashback in season 2, or being mentioned by melanie and ben a couple times. that might make it more obvious that alex is his kid, but it was barely a reveal by the time it happened anyway. (the scene where he sees her sketches and says “wow, did you draw this?” had me grinning, truly an absent father.) by the way: i think he and melanie should have legit dated. i think their dynamic is more interesting with that idea in mind.

i imagine there was some sort of real life restriction here, but i think my big change i would make this season, rather than a small tweak for character arc/plot arc purposes, is that i would have audrey be slightly less ill and put her into the javi-sykes-oz storyline. i mentioned in my last post that i think new eden letting layton’s crew take the train can be fixed by having someone argue that it’s as much about saving everyone on snowpiercer as it is saving liana, and that person should probably be audrey, who was there and who has always felt strongly about her community. i think she’d bounce off of oz and sykes in particular in interesting ways, and it allows time to set up that she’s nervous about her scars and potential lung damage, which kind of comes out of nowhere. also it is WILD that we never see her find out wilford died. like, bonkers.

it sucks to me that people were so down on the season by the time we got to the end, because for what it’s worth, the finale was clearly written with such love for the show and it makes me sad we got it in the circumstances we did. storming the train one last time, season one style! melanie on the intercom! martin colvin showing up and z-wreck complimenting his fighting skills! josie talking about pike and the other dead tailies in her part of the intro! astrid and miss gillies at the party! none of this really happens without people who really care about the show writing it, which is what i mean when i say that i think this was a first draft, not a completely bad one.

favorite relationships this season…i’ve already posted what i think about javi/sykes (it’s very good and i’m rotating them a lot). layton telling alex about wilford dying reminded me that i really enjoy their dynamic- in a world where alex has endless dad problems, layton’s a different kind of adult figure in her life. till and ben’s friendship was great. and i really did like melanie and alex together again, and layton and melanie being the center of the story at the end.

and that’s snowpiercer! it actually doesn’t feel like it’s over. in fact, i keep getting haunted by a sort of “do the characters know their problems are over? does that feel wrong to them?” style story…which could either be a fic about grief or a full pathologic style piece of wall-breaking metafiction about being in a story that’s ended. uh…i do plan on rewatching the first three seasons after work travel season ends in a couple weeks. watch this space i guess.

[tiredflowercrown]

💩 King Beast: If you could make any one thing happen in canon without consequence, what would it be?

🤩 King Charming: Who or what first caught your eye in/about Descendants? What got you hooked?

🍎 Snow White: If you could ask any character for a five minute interview, who would it be and why?

🥸 Mr. Deley: You have evidence to expose the crimes of a so-called hero. Who’s going down and why?

🤡 Seven Dwarves: You can pick any seven characters to be your roommates. Who are they and why?

💋 Evil Queen: If you had to marry one of the classic Disney villains, who would it be and why?

⚓ Captain Hook: What’s your pirate name? How about the name of that dinghy you call a ship?

This got entire too lengthy, and took far too long sooo cut

💩: if you could make any one thing happen in canon without consequence, what would it be?

Hmmmm. I wanna make it count. Fuck, I can't deny my gut instinct. Anthony. Make him exist and be acknowledged by Dizzy or Chad or Chole. Make him appear, not in an off shoot where we assume it's him, but like give him a little scene. Like maybe a Doug level character, a relationship to a main character but not relevant to the main plot in anyway. (I know it's silly and doesn't matter but that was the instinct)

Oooh or actually show the abuse and don't sweep it under the rug. Quit being a coward disney.

🤩: who or what first caught your eye in/about descendants? What go u hooked?

Traditionally, before I was fandom? The Music. I actually used to listen to songs when I was daydreaming/stimming. I know and can name drop It's good to be bad, but that is far from the only example.

Fandom? I've said this before, but Anthony. He's just so compelling to me. The fandom dive actually went Anthony Tremaine, Claudine Frollo, then Harriet Hook. He is Blorbo more than anyone else to me.

🍎: if you could ask any character for a five minute interview, who would it be and why?

This is such a hard question because I know interviews and have conducted them before. 5 minutes isn't a lot of time and the questions i want to ask need more time. Hmmmmmmmm, Ben.

I would ask about his plans to better Auradon, about how he plans to inact said ideas, maybe about why he chose the Isle. He's a politician he should be able to answer those quickly.

🥸: you have the evidence to expose a so-called hero. Who's going down and why?

Beast. Idk who of my mutuals wouldn't answer Beast. Why? Crimes against humanity, unjust imprisonment, genocide, rights violations (in Auradon), union busting, etc.

🤡: you can pick any 7 characters to be your roommates. Who are they and why?

So many difficult questions. It's not just oh who do I want around me, but also who wouldn't kill each other living together. Ugh, who have the most compatible personalities.

Carlos. He's fairly easy-going and keeps to himself. He also would clean up after himself, so it wouldn't be a horrible mess. (At least not one of his doing.)

Jane. Couples are tricky, but I don't think they would fall into the typical traps of too much pda or sex. Maybe arguments would be an issue but any group of people would have that threat.

Doug. Evie isn't gonna be here and I feel like he would spend a lot of time at her place so he's a negligible factor. Also if he was around he would be pretty chill.

Hear me out, Gil. Anything he would bring home wouldn't be "bad" enough to like horribly disrupt the house and vibe. He's also nice and is easy-going.

Uggg this is so hard. I'm going canon (or like canon to the point where they existed in canon at some point), and vks are hard because of VK tendencies for not working well in big groups. I don't wanna room with kids (or like under 16s). Lonnie??? Her sports equipment would take up a lot of space but I don't think she would actively use it inside???

Screw it I'm going with relative unknowns, Yzla and Reza. The canon versions. So Reza is an unsufferable know it all and Yzla doesn't really have a personality. I can deal with that. Sure why not.

💋: if you had to marry one of the classic Disney villians, who would it be and why?

When they say classic I'm assuming pre Renaissance. So Evil Queen, Chernabog (though I don't think they mean him cause he isn't "well kniwn"), Captain Hook, Cruella de Vil, Queen of Hearts, Madam Mim (see Chernabog reasoning), Lady Tremaine, and Maleficent.

Lady Tremaine. She wouldn't kill or abuse me??? She's just mean and like abusive and neglectful to her kids but I feel like she like her spouse?? None of them are good options. But she isn't insane so I'll take it.

⚓️: what's your pirate name? How about that dinghy you call a ship?

Salty Sal. It's got alliteration and and like sea themes. Ship is Wilted Flower. It has a bit of historical justice (I think. I'm not looking up what I think to check.)

[no-i-cant-decide]

Someday (ao3 link)

Rating: General Audiences

Word count: 856

Tags: Fluff, Parenthood, Hope

Requested by @leximitchells 💜

"What are you smiling at?"

Callum glanced up from his phone, still grinning from ear to ear as he showed Ben what was on the screen.

"Stacey brought Lily and little Charli home earlier today," he said. The photo showed the newborn sprawled out in a bassinet while she slept, her dark hair sticking up at wild angles and her tiny hand clutching one of Stacey's fingers.

"As if it ain't noisy enough over there, now we get to hear her crying at all hours as well," Ben complained, though his soft expression didn't match his annoyed tone. "Better kiss your beauty sleep goodbye, babe."

"Nah, I bet she's an angel."

"She's a Slater, Cal. Every Slater woman who's ever lived is part banshee, and that little baby ain't gonna be any different."

Callum hummed in response, swiping through the other photos Stacey had posted, still with that big smile on his face.

"Are you alright?" Ben asked, giving him a funny look. "Anyone would think you've never seen a baby before."

"I just think she's cute, that's all." Callum clicked the screen off and set his phone down on the side table, wrapping his arm around Ben's shoulders as he brought his attention back to the telly.

"It's weird though, innit?" Ben said after a few moments of quiet, snuggling in closer to Callum's chest. "Having a baby at that age. Lily and Ricky are barely a few years older than Lex. Just don't seem right."

"Yeah, I'm with you there. But at least that little girl's got a huge, loving family to help take care of her, eh? It's better than what I had growing up."

Ben smiled up at Callum sympathetically, grabbing the hand wrapped around him and pressing a kiss to his knuckles. "I ‘spose you're right; there's worse things than having Stacey as a nan. She's done alright with the rest of her lot if you disregard the pregnant twelve year old."

Callum tutted at him, though he didn't argue. A comfortable silence fell over them again as they passively watched the movie playing on the telly. It was one they'd both seen plenty of times, but it was a favourite of theirs. And they loved any excuse to be together, curled up close on the sofa tracing idle patterns across an arm or a leg.

"Do you ever think about it?" Callum asked quietly as he ran his fingers through Ben's hair.

"What, having a pregnant twelve year old?" Ben responded, horrified.

"No, god no! What a nightmare!" He chuckled and scratched gently at Ben's scalp until he felt him relax back against him. "What I meant was, do you ever think about having a baby?"

Ben turned to look at him, a soft smile starting to spread on his face. "Like, us having a baby? You and me?"

"Well, yeah," Callum admitted, feeling his face flush.

It was something that had been on his mind a lot the last few days. Well, not just the last few days. But Callum realised in all the time they'd been married, neither of them had ever brought it up. Not that they'd had enough time to bring it up between every crazy, screwed up thing they had been through in the last four years of their lives. The more time went on, the more Callum wondered if that could ever be in the cards for them.

"I know we haven't really talked about it before, like at all. And I'm not saying I don't like how things are. You and Lexi mean the world to me, our little family is like a dream come true for me. I never in a million years thought I'd be lucky enough to have what we have–"

"Babe, it's alright," Ben soothed, cutting off Callum's rambling by reaching up a hand to cup his jaw. "I know what you meant. It's just- it's bad timing, innit? I've got to make sure Lexi's my focus right now."

"No, I know. That makes total sense." Callum smiled sadly, but tried to hide it by kissing Ben's forehead.

"But that don't mean I haven't thought about it," Ben continued, much to Callum's surprise, "because I have. And I do. Want to. Someday."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Just, y'know, when things are more stable with Lex. And with me."

"'Course. I weren't talking right away."

"How could I say no to a little rugrat with your dimples and adorable ears?" Ben said, the fondness in his voice clear as day.

"A baby brother or sister for Lexi to boss around," Callum added with a laugh.

"Oh, she'd love that! She'd absolutely adore them."

They looked into each other's eyes for a moment; looks filled with love and an excitement for the future, something that had become rare for them this last year or so. Callum then leaned down to connect their lips in a chaste kiss. They only broke apart because the giddiness bubbling inside both their chests made their smiles too broad, making it impossible for their lips to keep touching.

"Someday, yeah?" Callum's eyes were shining.

"Yeah," Ben agreed, "someday."

[ashton-ryder]

👥 + Lindsay

Send ‘👥‘ for 4 hcs about our muses relationship or about your muse @lindsohalloran

Lindsay humbled down this young recruit by giving him the worst military punishment Ash had ever gotten, seeing his arrogance as something to be tempered down with, the moment Ashton made one mistake during their training that was all the ammunition Lindsay needed to screw with him, while he had the thought of punishing the entire platoon, Ashton felt bad and told Lindsay he'd do it for the entire team. Thus he did. Covering laps, knocking it down, doing cleaning duties multiplied by the entire team for a week but Ashton still completed the punishments with a smirk on his face, as if a defiance in the fact that he fucking did that. What else do you have to throw at me? But deep down, it was enough to shut Ashton up, to keep his arrogance in check for the rest of their training, keeping Ash on his toes and mind sharp.

If there was any kind of sign of weakness, young recruit Ash actually had a teeny tiny fear of heights, Lindsay was the one to help him over come in making him climb up and down the wall thousands of times every day before the break of dawn, knowing that this fear was something Ashton had to overcome if he truly wanted to follow in his father's footsteps to learn to be a jet pilot. When they moved onto the parachute training, Lindsay had to shove him out of the helicopter and Lindsay absolutely found pure joy in that. But Ashton would've forever been thankful for him pushing him past that fear, now not even batting an eye at extreme heights, even remembering the day of helping Charlie face her own fears, bit by bit, sharing the same story now just a funny anecdote in life, though not using as extreme as Lindsay's methods for Charlie, as effective as they were on Ash.

There was always rumors of Lindsay's relationship in Belize, sightings by Ladyville, outside of their training base, recruits noticing a shift in Lindsay's mood everything he came back from time off, Ashton was one of those people, being who he is, that noticed and just let it fly over his head until someone spelt it out to him, and even then it was always kind of a ..so? Never understanding to correlation. But he was also the one brave enough to even ask Lindsay about it one day, never seeing it as much of a taboo or problem for the candor of it all. It surely threw Lindsay off by that question asked so innocently. And perhaps one of those off nights over a few drinks, the two of them once had a genuine conversation about it all, on relationships, sexuality, dreams deeper conversations that go further than just between mentor and recruit.

Lindsay once crossed path with Ashton's father, Ben, exchanging into training and knowledge between the two different areas of military, Ash's dad being a pilot, a force in the sky, while Lindsay, a force on the ground, specifically jungle grounds. They were of similar levels of seniority, Ben being the older more experienced one between the two but he knew what he didn't know, hoping to learn as much as he can offer to teach. It might've only been a few weeks, month tops of the two men interacting, but the moment Ashton heard about it he jumped at the opportunity, desperate to know more about his dad that he wished he had to chance to know better. Annoyingly hounding Lindsay for as much information as he could give about his time in the military, grateful for even a morsel, as those were things his mother didn't even have much answers to his questions. Lindsay often preface that he didn't know much, but to Ashton, that was enough.

[lily-lilibeth]

Safe and Sound

A/N: A small Reylo piece I wrote long ago and wanted to share here.

Summary: Ben is getting nightmares every night about Rey dying in front of him. Is up for his life companion and wife to comfort him and aleviate his pain and fear.

I do not own Star Wars nor its characters.

You thought you could save her?

Foolish child, I expected better from you! And now you will see what happens to those who disobey me.

Ben Solo whimpered slightly as he thrashed in bed, this was the third night in a row that he kept having these nightmares. His Rey, his life companion, his wife, the love of all his life.

Watch her die before you as punishment!

"N-no, Rey..." He whimpered again and tried his dammest to wake up from his nightmare, he can't move, he felt his breath caught in his lungs. He can't move and won't be able to save Rey!

With a movement of his finger, Supreme Leader Snoke snapped Rey's neck with the Force in front of his apprentice.

Now turn your dispair into anger, ignite it. You just lose her!

Ben jerked away and coughed, sitting up in bed. "REY!" His breathed is caught in his throat as he whimpers and hyperventilates, Rey... she just died again, he lost the woman that he loved.

"Ben, hey, Ben!" Rey now has her hands on her husband's shoulders. "Ben, you're okay, you're okay, it's only a nightmare." Her concerned and soothing voice was what brought Ben back to reality and he looked at his wife, there was fear in his eyes, like a fear that he had not felt ever since a long time ago. His brown eyes locked into her hazel eyes, and almost automatically he drew the woman into his arms.

"Rey..." He whispered, holding Rey in almost possessive way as if he was scared that she would disappear the next second he let her go from his tight embrace. "...Don't leave me... I... I wouldn't take it, I can't live without you..." His voice cracked a little, and he felt something wet roll down his cheeks. Tears. He had started crying. "P-Please..." He sobbed softly.

"Ben..." Rey understood now. His nightmare was about her again, just like the past few days where he would wake up in the morning and look so scared and shattered. Her arms wrapped around his back and she held him closer. "I'm right here with you, I'll never leave you. My home is here with you." Her hands cupped his damp cheeks and her hazel eyes looked into his teary brown eyes.

"How... how can I be sure? I'm scared Rey..." Ben was never one to show his emotions openly, he'd learned long ago not to be driven by emotion, currently though, he was quite scared, so hurt and uncertain of what would happen next. "If I lose you... I..."

"Shh," Rey cut him off by holding him closer to him, putting his head in her chest, close to where her heart was, it was beating calmly and gently. Her beating heart was right there, she was alive. Alive and here with him, it was going to be alright, it had to. Rey had to be alright. "It's alright, everything will be alright, Ben. I'm right here, you will not lose me." She whispered into his ear, her hands both caressing his dark hair and his back as he comforted him. "Snoke is dead, you killed him, Ben. He cannot hurt us anymore." She spoke with sincerity. "You're alright, I'm right, my love." She continued with her soothing actions. Ben leaned in her touch.

"Rey, I love you so much. I love no other woman aside you, I must protect you." Even with his teary, broken voice, Ben vowed himself to protect his wife to the best of his ability. It had to be this way, he couldn't bare to lose the love of his entire life. They had come this far to be separated by destiny. Screw destiny or fate, Ben was not going to lose his beloved Rey.

Rey smiled, knowing this was the protective and loving Ben that she loved and adored. "I know you will, Ben."

Ben looked up into her hazel eyes after a while of being nested in her arms and having his face into her chest. "I promise you."

With that he leant in, letting his lips meet with Rey's. They both held each other close as they shared one passionated kiss.

Ben now knew that no matter how scary and painful his nightmares were, they were just nightmares and not a real thing. He would not lose Rey, not now and never.

Without a doubt, he would have Rey until death did them apart, even in the afterlife they would be together and nothing was changing that.

[newtonsheffield]

Can we get a lil Late Show Anthony and Kate hangouts (preferably with siblings), pre-disaster non-date vs post-date vs after they are official? Who's the happiest to see them finally together?

Well after their awkward date that Anthony did not think was a date, Kate avoided him at all costs and she didn't say anything to Edwina but Yeah. Not a super strong connection. 's fine but they definitely never hung out again, even as a group. Kate was too embarrassed by the fact that she wore her best dress, and by best she does mean tightest, and she spent a long time getting ready for a guy who clearly wasn't into her.

Prior to that, she'd thought they kind of had a cute, teasing, flirty vibe. He hadn't had his own show yet, and she was still sort of making a name for herself and the first time they met it was through Eloise and Edwina.

Kate had been dragged along by Edwina with a "Don't worry, her older brothers are coming so you can glower disapprovingly at us together."

"I don't glower." Kate rolled her eyes as they slipped into the bar, tagging behind Edwina who waved to her friend gesturing them over.

Kate slid onto the booth, waving to Eloise who she'd met one or twice before and a man sat beside her twenty seconds later.

"Thanks for fucking giving me a fake drink to order, Eloise." He grumbled, "I looked like an enormous cock!"

Eloise guffawed at the man, "You fucking didn't!"

"Far be it for me to expect you to have a little maturity." He rolled his eyes, leaning back against the back of the boot, smoothing his hair back.

"What did she make you ask for?" Kate asked curiously and when the man turned towards her, starting as though he'd only just realised she was there, her stomach dropped.

He looked vaguely familiar, as though she'd seen him in passing once or twice at events, and he was handsome, with his hair neatly swept back and the stubble that clung tightly to his jaw and there was something kind in his dark eyes.

He clicked his tongue, "Wet screw against the bar?"

Kate bit back a laugh as Eloise cackled, "Maybe later, you can buy me a drink first at least?"

A smirk sprung to his lips as he held out his hand, "Anthony Bridgerton."

"Kate Sharma."

And she'd thought by the end of the night when he sat beside her with his arm around her shoulder, there was a little bit of a vibe between them as they both heckled Benedict, desperately trying to pick up in the corner. But apparently she'd been wrong.

And after they're officially dating, it's not Benedict everyone's ganging up on.

"I honestly thought, in my 25 year old hubris," Kate laughed as they sat in Anthony's living room, his arm around her waist as she sat on his lap, "That you invited me to your flat to cook for me, and have sex."

Anthony flushed, "In my defence: Eloise told me you just wanted to get to know me better!"

Eloise scoffed, "What was I supposed to say, Anthony: Kate wants to shag you silly? You're still my brother!"

"Wouldn't have been inaccurate though." Kate sighed, "Imagine my surprise when we awkwardly sat on the couch next to one another, Anthony hardly even making eye contact with me before he cleared his throat and said Wanna beer? And I got one and then he said to me, words that every woman wants to hear when they've shaved their legs specifically for a date: Do you want to play scrabble?"

His siblings jeered at him and Anthony's ears turned red. "You were kind of becoming a huge deal, and I had a bit part on that stupid show, and I thought you were just flirty with everyone! I thought you wanted to be friends with me!"

"I wanted to be sex friends with you!"

"Anthony, you used to have game, what the fuck?" Ben laughed.

"Well, Ben, it worked didn't it?" Anthony snapped, "We played scrabble, and now she's my girlfriend!"

"Yeah, honey, we played scrabble and five years later: you had me!"

Anthony rolled his eyes, "I- I'm chalking it up to a win regardless. We're together, you have a Tshirt with my face on: You're obsessed with me."

[marxistmanicpixiedreamgrrrl]

The more I learn about the world &, importantly, myself, the more I find myself unabashedly, unapologetically caring & being myself; the odd, queer, sometimes dysfunctional person that I am. Because the act of being authentically is, truly, a beautiful if not divine thing to me. Existing is artistry. It's artistry in whatever abstract conception of the word "art" & "artist" I hold, in any case.

Existing as you are, without feeling ashamed for that to any degree other than the genuinely bad (read: immoral, not just socially unacceptable) qualities & traits you have is core, to me, to feeling liberated & free. If I wasn't the unashamedly cringey person I often am, or try to be, I don't think I'd feel nearly as good about myself as I do. & actually caring for yourself is the first step to caring about anything else.

Another dimension to this for me is how this isn't something I created for myself, not entirely anyway, there's people who have taught me to care, there's things which made it clear to me that caring, in the purest sense of the word, is a radical act worthy of respect as much as any other. One of the first things which made me feel this way, cognisantly, is something which used to be in the bio of almost every social media account I had. A quote from The Leftist Cooks' video "This is Not a Video Essay."

"Do you want to save the world? Can we admit that to each other? Do you want to save the world? I want to save the world." There's something real in admitting that that I think a lot of people, myself included, are afraid of. It's vulnerable! It sets you up to fail. Because, like, yeah, of fucking course I want to save the world! But I can't. & you can't. & Neil from The Leftist Cooks can't either. But we can try, and together, if we care & go out & do things we might one day succeed.

Something else which really impacted me in regards to all this, whatever you want to call it, Caring & Existing or something like that, probably the very first in that regard, is folk-punk. I could go on a tirade about how it's the song of my people or whatever, being an anarchist, but what I find most important is that it's also vulnerable & honest. & it's music for losers! Half the time it's about making art because you're too unproductive to change the world. The other half is about drug abuse. But, like, it's real. & it cares. Folk-punk speaks about relatable struggles & experiences & reminds you that everyone else in this mess with you is as dysfunctional as the next. & there's work to be done there, sure, but that won't ever go away. & we need to go out & do stuff anyway!

I find this sentiment all throughout my life, mirrored in a way which is almost creepy in its persistence. A book I read years ago, The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe contains the quote "we’re all just different flavours of fucked-up, hiding it as best as we can." I don't necessarily know what I'm trying to say. Probably something about how important art is & has been to me & how much I genuinely adore people. We're weird & a bit screwed up & I genuinely think that's beautiful.

If there's anything conclusive I'd want to say it'd be this: Go out & be yourself, authentically. Fuck up. Fall down & get back up again. & try to change the world in a positive way, while you're at it. Just don't sweat the small stuff, disregard morally neutral social conventions whenever you can, & it's always better to do a bad job than not to do it at all.