#meet on their home servers. because they don't have a home server and want the brief stability. because they want to win. etc.)

[odinsblog]

“One weird, silver lining positive from the WGA's strike has been a sense of calm over a reality that has plagued me with anxiety for years — the fact that despite having a great agent, manager, and lawyer, despite having been in hundreds of rooms with top execs and producers, despite having pitched countless networks, and despite having sold multiple pilots and pitches, I still work in food and bev. For so long, it felt like such an embarrassment in so many ways because it felt like I was the only one who was biding time in between sales with a side hustle. When I would tell people at work that I wrote television, they'd look at me like I had ten heads, or like I was delusional. They couldn't IMAGINE someone who *actually* wrote television would also be asking them what temp they wanted their salmon.

But the reality is, TV money goes fast, especially when it's just a pilot sale. And if shit doesn't get picked up to series, that money only lasts for so long. Being responsible meant swallowing my pride and keeping a job that was more consistent and steady but also gave me the ability to take pitch meetings, to write on my down time, do rewrites, answer e-mails, and take notes calls.

And for so long I thought I was a minority in that regard. Like I had done something wrong to not be successful enough to rely solely on my career as a writer.

Yet the strike has pushed SO many stories to the forefront of writers doing the exact same thing I've done, GOOD writers, great writers, writers who shit I watch all the time, whose names I instantly recognize, whose reputations in this industry precede them. So when the studios leaked that the goal was to bleed writers dry, to make it so we lost our homes, I had to laugh. Writers like me will literally do anything to keep the dream of writing alive. It's in us. It never goes away, no matter how many steaks you server, how many martinis you mix, how many cold calls you make, how many Uber passengers you pick up, how many pizzas you have to deliver. We always always always find a way to make it to that next great hope of a pitch, a sale, a green light.

And that's how you know that the CEOs are so fucking out of touch with reality. With the industry. With the POINT of the industry the point for most (not all, but most) has never been to be filthy rich, or own a yacht, or even have a membership to SoHo house. It's been to make something we love. To see it come to life, and make other people happy, or sad, or angry, or scared. To take this story you have kicking around your head and turn it into some epic journey. To be part of the process of making worlds and characters come to life. To tell stories.

The CEO's point has been to make as much money as humanly possible. And so they think that's all there is motivating writers. it's not. It never has been. Just because those CEO's wouldn't wait tables or mix drinks or drive a Lyft in order to keep a dream going, doesn't mean the rest of us wouldn't. The CEO's don't have a dream, they have a lifestyle. And I promise you a dream is a much better motivator than a yacht or a Porsche.

Try to bleed us dry, guys. Just because you'd let your own dream bleed to death, doesn't mean we would. We will always find a way to keep it alive.”

—Stefanie Williams, a tv writer on strike

[goose-duck]

Maybe Ronin with a reader who is dealing with their ex who is trying to get back together with them and won’t take no for an answer? Reader doesn’t tell Ronin at first but eventually he finds out anyways? Just a random idea I came up with, no worries if it’s not up your alley!

Exes & Orchids

Ronin Beaufort x Reader

2.6k words

You and your ex broke up a few months ago, just before you met Ronin if you had to estimate. The break up was bad; you left them due to their rather violent behaviour towards you and even your cat. They argued with you and would scream and hit you. Hell, on your way out, they even slapped you and scolded you for “daring to leave the only person who will ever love you”. They were a real twat and you were relieved to finally be rid of them.

More recently, however, you've found solace and love in a new place. You've found it with Ronin. The weird serial killer who likes to fuck with you on a server full of killers. The man who sought you out for his own entertainment. He's now also become your entertainment and the object of your affections. It seems he's found the same in you.

The two of you had semi-recently gotten together, having met in purgatory and not separated since. It'd been about a month since then, yet somehow the man had convinced you to live with him only a week after finally meeting in person. How funny is that? It's a wonder no one's killed you prior, I mean, moving in with a known killer a week after debating killing him? You're crazy. You're his crazy.

At the moment you're at home by yourself. Ronin had left a few hours ago; on a mission to get groceries, but likely distracted with something of less importance. You've gotten used to it by now. It's cute how he notices everything and just has to find out more. It's kind of annoying too.

Ronin had noticed your recent change in behaviour. How you've been on edge, kinda prickly about everything. Every time there's a knock at the door he notices your slight flinch, how you glare at the door as if it were going to eat you alive. He noticed your abrasive behaviour in regards to his affection, often pushing him away rather than accepting his love.

When he questioned you on this, you assured him it's not his fault. It was clear he didn't believe you; however he knew he couldn't pry the truth from your lips, so he dropped it. He left in a huff after that, insisting he just wanted to shower. You've grown to understand by that he means he wants to be alone to think, so you left him to it.

Maybe you should tell him about your ex? Not that he doesn't know about the low quality relationship you'd been in prior to having met him, but he doesn't know that your ex has been practically stalking you as of late. Ever since you made a post about being with Ronin, just a simple little post, a picture of you kissing his cheek; ever since then your ex has been very interested in your doings.

They've liked all your posts and been spamming you with texts about wanting to apologize and try to be friends. You know them well enough to know it's all bullshit. They're just upset you've moved on. They tried desperately to leave a cut so deep it could never scar; yet their efforts proved futile. Once you'd met Ronin it was like finally going to the hospital and getting the wound cauterized. The damage is still there, it's still a scar, one not easy to ignore, but it's healed and healthy. You have Ronin to thank for that.

You suddenly hear a knock at the front door. Yet another thing your ex had been doing recently, leaving gifts for you. They must run up, knock, then hide, because you never seem to catch them in the act. You don't know how they managed to find Ronin’s house, but it isn't as if they hadn't done this to you while you were together.

They've always been a stalker. A total creep. You were into it when you'd first met them. Someone totally obsessed? They'll never leave me? Sign me up. Alas, it's not like what the stories tell. It's not romantic at all. It's disturbing, traumatic and downright gross at times.

You'd found them in your house, uninvited, many times. Seen them going through your cupboards, sock door, and even using your shower. One time, when at their house, you'd found pictures of yourself sleeping pinned to their wall. It was horrific the things you'd seen them do. Obsession isn't nearly as attractive as you once thought it was.

Love however? That will always have your heart. When you first met Ronin on the server; he was annoying, seemed like just some other creep, especially when he talked of knowing where you live and things of the like. He managed to prove you wrong though. He respected all your boundaries and in the end kept you safe. When you agreed to meet in purgatory, you already knew he was the one.

You hesitantly stand up, making your way cautiously over to the door. Just in case something dangerous is there, you've begun opening the door in a way Ronin has stated is “strange”. You don't think it's too bad, just… careful? No- it's weird, but if he knew what was going on he'd understand. Maybe he'd answer the door for you? Track down you ex and end them? Is that too much- open the door bro-

You stand over to the side of the door, behind the side that would swing in when the door is opened. You gently turn the nob, opening the door slowly. You peek around the side of your wooden shield and search for the new object at your doorstep. It's a bouquet of flowers. White orchids. The exact flower you ex used to keep on their dining room table. Yikes. That's… awesome.

You hesitantly kick the flowers away with your foot, knocking them off the front steps into the dirt. You feel slightly bad, the flowers hadn't done anything to you. Your ex had though, meaning these flowers can't be trusted. You then slam the front door closed and thoroughly check that it's definitely locked before leaving it. You return to your place on the couch and resume your aimless internet scrolling.

~~~~~~

Ronin soon returns with groceries and mail and… a bouquet of white orchids. What is with everyone and white orchids? He sets down the bags of groceries and walks over to you. He leans over the side of the couch, single letter and bouquet in his hands.

“Hey, Darlin’~ what's with the dirt flowers out front?” He holds the orchids up to your face.

You grimace, “Seems to me they aren't out front anymore…”

He hums, “Seems they aren't.” He thinks for a moment, “What's with the flowers, hon?” He speaks a bit more sternly, suspecting there's more to the situation than just random orchids.

You sigh, “Ronin. They're meant to be in the dirt. Leave them there.” You give him the stern demand, not leaving space for refusal.

Ronin nods at this, “Alright, Darlin’, in the dirt they shall go… I do have to ask though, is there a reason you hate white orchids so much?”

You shoot him a sharp glare, “Quit catching onto shit I don't want you catching onto.”

He chuckles softly. “Not happenin’, love. What's going on? You've been acting off for a while, not that we've been together all that long, but, I didn't think you'd be the type to push away my affection. You can tell me if I'm being too much, Darlin’. Don't want things ending when they're just beginning.”

“I… don't wanna talk about it, Ronin.” You dismiss his concerns.

“Y/N. I'm being fuckin’ serious. What's wrong? I can't make things better if you don't tell me what the fuckin’ problem is. I'm worried about you and you're giving me nothing here. Please, just throw me a bone on the problem, or maybe the solution, if you have one.” He desperately begs you, his voice cracking with concern. You see his eyes water slightly. You've really got him stressed out.

He pleads, “At least tell me why you aren't tellin’ me things, Darlin’. Please, at least give me that..?” He's sunken to his knees behind the couch, only his arms and face resting on the back of the couch, just off to the side of you. He looks so worried and upset; like a cat you've stepped on the tail of then yelled at for being under your feet, as if they weren't just trying to show you affection.

You can't take that look on his face any long and concede. “Fine. ‘Guess I can at least give you that much.” You huff out, not making eye contact with him. “I don't wanna tell you… because I wanna believe this is something I can handle on my own. I don't wanna feel weak asking you for help. I know how stupid that is, it's not weak to ask for help… but… I don't know what's wrong with me!” You throw your arms up, annoyed with your own avoidance of asking for assistance when you're in too deep. You know better, yet you aren't being better.

Ronin tosses the Orchids to the floor and leaves the letter resting on the back of the couch. He then stands up and walks around the couch so he's now in front of you. He squats down in front of you, putting himself lower than you in hopes it'll make you feel more comfortable, more in control of whatever is going on. He rests a hand on one of your knees and puts his other hand to your chin; lightly grabbing your attention before pulling it away, only to gently grab one of your hands and squeeze it.

“Darlin’, tell me what's wrong. Even of you don't want me fixin’ it for you, sometimes it can help get your thoughts straight to verbalize them. I'm here. You're safe. You'll always be safe when I'm around. Please talk to me.” He gives her a patient look, worry still evident in his soft eyes.

You squeeze his hand back, finally allowing your eyes to lock with his, “My ex has been bothering me…” You wait a second, anticipating some reaction. All he gives is a soft nod; silently telling you it's okay to continue, he won't speak until you're done. You squeeze his hand again as a thanks.

“They've been stalking me again… maybe it never stopped? I don't know- I don't want to think about that. Anyway, they've been leaving me things… like… white orchids… and stuff… um… yeah. They're making me really uncomfortable and putting me on edge, so, y'know- um. That's all I've got. Eheh…” You nervously spit out what's been going on in short form. His focus is entirely on you. He's hanging onto every word that leaves your mouth.

Once he knows you don't have anything else to say he speaks up, “What do you want to do about it?” It's a simple question, yet you didn't have an answer. They may have harmed you in the past, but you don't enjoy the idea of causing anyone pain. Yet you wish he'd face some consequence for his actions.

“I- I don't know. I don't know, Ronin. I don't.” You meagerly whimper out in response. You receive a soft nod from him before he replies, “Would you like me to handle it for you?” You nod before quickly following up, “But don't kill them, okay? That seems like a bit much.” Ronin gives you a disappointed look, but agrees not to kill them.

Ronin changes his position slightly, moving himself to be placed between your legs. He gently rests his head against one of your thighs, “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better right now, Darlin’?” He softly questions, pressing light kisses to the tight his head is resting on.

You giggling lightly and run your fingers through his messy hair, “This is more than enough, Ronin.”

He leans into your touch slightly, “Nothing is enough for you. I can always give you more.” He gently moves your hand from his head, bringing it to his lips and pressing a few soft kisses to it. You blush, but don't make any sign for him to stop.

~~~~~~

Later while you're asleep in bed, Ronin is hard at work trying to figure out what to do about your shifty ex.

First, he starts with the basics, those flowers they left. He burns them. He doesn't even think twice before those white orchids go up in flames.

Next, the letter. After hearing what had been going on he decided to read the letter himself before giving it to you. It was a love letter from your ex. He decided against reminding you of its existence. This also went into the fire.

Lastly, the root of the problem, your ex.

He knows you told him not to kill them, but it just seems like such an easy solution to the problem. How could he not? He could just not tell you he killed them. You don't have to know. It's totally fine.

Before burning the litter he had checked where it was sent from. He then followed the address to your ex’s place of residence.

When he arrives he bangs on the door. Three hard bangs.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Exactly like what he's going to do to their head. He's gonna bash it in. That should stop them from ever bothering you again.

Soon your ex answers the door; still in their pajamas, likely due to the late hour. They look confused as to why Ronin is there. They know who he is, they've stalked your posts enough to know he's your boyfriend. The question still lingers though, why is he at their home.

They soon find out when Ronin pushes them back in through their door and swiftly slams it shit behind him, not even giving them the chance to question him. They rush to find a weapon or maybe their phone, Ronin didn't care. All he cared about was ending them.

He quickly grabs them, pushing them to the floor. “I'll make sure you never bother my Darlin’ again.”

Bang.

“This wouldn't be happening if you'd just left them alone.”

Bang.

“It's all your fault.”

Bang.

“I hope hell isn't kind to you.”

Seeing that they're definitely dead; their head bashed in, blood covering most surrounding objects, he makes his leave.

He rushes back home to you… and to the fire he needs to put out. Hoping all is well and you're still asleep.

When he returns to the house he sees his fire is still going. He gets a bucket of water and quickly doused the fire, putting it out with ease. He then returns inside the house, quietly grabbing some clean pajamas and sneaking into the washroom to clean up.

~~~~~~

Once out of the shower he dries himself and puts on his pajamas. They're the matching ones he'd bought with you. Pink and fluffy with rainbows on them. How silly. How cute.

He silently walks into your shared bedroom, laying down on the bed beside you. He turns to look at your sleeping form, drooling slightly in a deep slumber. He smiles softly at you, brushing some hair out of your face. He holds your face gently in one hand, brushing his thumb across your cheek. He then quickly runs his fingers through your hair before pulling you close.

Your face is now pressed against his chest, your face a little squished and oh so adorable to him. He plays with your hair a little more before drawing small patterns on your back and arms. He lovingly kisses your forehead.

“‘Night, Darlin’. You're safe now, right here, in my arms.” He whispers softly against your forehead, finally closing his eyes and joining you in your peaceful sleep.

[bunny-jpeg]

hi bunny! i was wondering if you got an order for sourdough bread and blueberry muffins with a side of hard lemonade for toto? i think tumblr has been eating my asks! but if you did already get it ignore this!! love the writing and i loved the past two toto works 🫶🏻🫶🏻🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

bakery menu

want to submit your own orders? then check out the menu! there are tons of things to order and various wonderful servers. i do fandoms beyond f1 if something else strikes your fancy! as for this one, i see what your brain is cooking and i'm so sorry that your original order got eaten by the monster in my inbox! but thankfully this got through and i love the combination! i have grown a fondness for toto as i am part of a discord with other amazing people that's focused on him <3

sourdough bread ("i'm going to breed you.") + blueberry muffins ("i don't think it'll fit.") + hard lemonade (possessive behaviour) served by toto wolff (formula one)!!

cw: smut/pwp, age gap (20/50), wife!reader, breeding kink, size kink (duh), pregnancy, missionary position

toto found your antics amusing. he knew it was just the kind of person you were. you were raised in a household where hugging and kissing on the cheek were normal! toto wasn't going to get mad at you because you were more touch-y feel-y than most.

he found it cute, because you were always so affectionate towards him. you constantly wanted kiss and toto's arm around you. you want to bury into his chest and make a home out of there. you wanted to be close to him.

it wasn't you he didn't trust. it was men.

it was a hands-y mechanic at a party. he was closer to your age and made you laugh, which only left a surge of jealousy in your husband's chest. the mechanic seemed new. so he probably didn't know that you were toto's wife.

you chatted with him happily and toto felt the jealousy surge up further. he finished the drink in his hand before he put the glass down and went to 'rescue' his wife.

"schatzi." toto said, putting on his best smile. he didn't want to scare off the mechanic. he came up to you and placed his hand on your lower back. the size difference was noticable.

you were toto's little wife, you looked up at him and smiled, "ah, honey! this is the new mechanic!"

toto smiled back at you, "i know, my love." he looked at the mechanic and raised his eyebrows, "i know you'll be a great addition to the team this season. it is lovely to finally meet you. this is my wife." he said bluntly, "mrs. wolff."

you perked up, "oh my god, i'm so sorry! i only introduced myself as my first name. this is my husband!"

the new guy's eyes went wide for a moment before he said, "oh... i see." he then cleared his throat, "um, i'll be right back then!" then swiftly left the situation.

you frowned a little and said, "i wonder what that was about." you looked up at your husband, "he seemed scared."

he rubbed the top of your head before he leaned in and kissed you on the apple of your cheek, "mm, i don't think so, schatzi. why don't we go find george and lily?" two people that toto could trust.

-

that evening, toto made sure to show his wife how much he loved you. those large hands on your behind as he got you up onto the shared bed you have. he watched you get out of the dress, exposing your body to him.

your nude form was for his eyes only.

the glittery gold ring on your left hand was evidence of that. your pretty signature with the last name 'wolff' was another. he could get lost in your beauty as he yearned for you. it was a deep throb in his chest at the sight of you.

the pretty nude colour bra and the bright yellow panties you wore. both looked perfect on your skin. and only made toto undress faster, he didn't want to keep mrs. wolff waiting.

he got his button-up onto the floor, and the undershirt. you rubbed your soft thighs together and he drank in the sight of you.

"a woman like you should be illegal. i'm worried if you get more beautiful, my love." he got onto the bed and took off the undershirt, "i'd have to lock you away."

he said it almost jokingly. he trusted you of course, it was other men that couldn't be trusted.

you giggled and took his belt off. the leather felt expensive in your hands. it soon was on the bed and toto quickly got undressed as well before he was on top of you. his hands on your panties before he showed them down your thighs.

"i'm going to breed you." he said softly, "i want to see you with my child. a proper mother." his nose was up against your jaw, he could feel your pulse as it quickened.

your core got hotter as you struggled to get your bra off. you replied, "then come on now, my dear husband." you took him by the face to meet your gaze, "let's make a baby."

he thought the wind was knocked out of him for a moment before he grabbed a hold of your bra and got it off your body, leaving you fully naked to him. he got on his knees with your legs wrapped around his waist.

a heated part of him wanted to fuck you the old fashioned way. on your back so he could admire every inch of your skin.

"but, i don't think it'll fit." you remarked with a slight giggle.

he replied with a smile, he looked handsome as always. "oh don't worry, schatzi. it'll fit." toto was a big man all over. big hands meant two things, one of those things was that his the tip of his cock was familiar with the beginning of your cervix.

and that he easily bruised your poor sweet hole.

but, since you two got married. it had been easier for him to fuck you, to sink inside of you. to feel you inside and out. but now with you under him, he slowly got his cock into you. one hand on your hip and one around his cock.

he got it all the way to the root and then had both hands on your soft hips. you were beautiful under him, your breath hitched and it made toto's cock twitched.

the beautiful, amazing mrs. toto wolff.

he started to move against you. his hands felt so large on your hips as he moved against you. he hunched over you to admire every inch of your heated skin. he could feel the praise bubble up in his throat.

no mechanic, no driver, no man was going to take you from him. he made a promise to love you for all of your days. and he was expecting for that to last for many years.

you held onto the covers under you and let him move your body back and forth. the stretch felt good. you remembered the days when you'd be bruised for a few days afterwards.

"i want you to have my children, schatzi." he said with a softness in his voice. the pleasure raced up his spine as he continued to move against you. you felt perfect to him, like a dream come true.

you moaned a little louder, in the comfort of your shared bedroom. husband and wife tangled up in one another. you placed your hands onto his chest as he continued to rut against you.

his cock hit all the right areas, it made you feel flushed at it all. it was a heated feeling throughout your body.

you tried to meet his pace, but everything felt so much. your heart was racing and you could feel it in your gut. you moaned a little louder, "please honey."

he continued to work your pussy, making sure that you felt good. how could he not want that? you were his wife. not that little mechanic's wife. you were his.

"i know, angel." he said softly, "i'll make you feel good." he leaned in to kiss you on the lips. such a delicate thing under his touch, he could feel the fire in his stomach as he moved against you.

the most perfect living thing. to have sex with you was a feeling that excited toto. to have you anyway he could. he pleasure you as much as you pleasured him.

you were his heart, the thing that kept it beating. to keep going, to keep winning.

you whimpers were cute, you were close. and toto continued to make love to you.

"toto."

"i have you, my love."

you clutched onto the covers under you. your back arched at the intensity as you came around his cock. you whined a little bit and tensed up. toto took this as a chance to pick up the pace and really work his dick into you. he came soon after and made sure to get himself in as deep as it would go.

he was trying to get his wife pregnant after all. a few hard thrusts and his cum drooled into the back of your womb. a good sign if all goes well. toto felt flushed, the sweat down his back as he eyed his beautiful wife.

no mechanic cane get too hands-y if there was a proper baby bump in the way. a sign that toto had staked claim of you as if the ring he bought you wasn't enough. plus, you'd make a beautiful mother.

he pulled out of you and curled up against your stomach. he rubbed soft circles and stayed close to you. he was breathing heavily as were you.

"my beautiful wife." he said as he kissed your stomach.

-

you were all smiles at the party toto threw months later as a way to socialize for the upcoming crew of mercedes. to start out on the right foot. a promise of a good season.

even now, six months pregnant with your first child. you were still all smiles and laughter. instead of a glass of wine, you had been pouring yourself sparkling water to still be part of the celebrations. the dress you wore highlighted your rounded middle.

but now that you were pregnant, toto had to keep a close eye on you. your center of gravity had been all screwed up since your belly sprouted. he didn't need his wife taking a tumble.

he easily caught the sight of you waving hello to the mechanic from last year and giving him a big hug. he also noticed that the mechanic's hand was a little to close to your behind for toto's liking.

if it wasn't glaringly obvious that you were taken already, give the ring, the house and now the baby. he knew he was going to have to talk to the other man before the season started.

toto didn't mind that you were the type of person who loved a good hub, it was who you were! but, it was toto's job as your husband to make sure that you remained safe. <3

[bewitched-hours]

Noobador x GN! Reader crumbs? Reader catches Noobador at the end of his shift at his engineer job and they have a lovey dovey moment together and then he literally picks Reader up and takes them home with him hehe. I need a T-shirt that says "I ♡ Fluff" on it. (Also sorry for being such a frequent on your inbox. I love your writing way too much and you literally pull off every scenario I think up into a perfect fic. I should totally write something up for you on the Discord since you do so much for me?? Just let me know who you yumship with and I'll do my best!!) - Luminescent Anon

Dw, I love getting asks and having frequents in my inbox just makes it all the more special! Sorry for how long this took but as I mentioned in the server, I wanted to make sure I knew more details to make it more lore accurate... (⸝⸝⸝-﹏-⸝⸝⸝)

READER'S GETTING THEY/THEM AS REQUESTED-

You were originally just planning to show Noobador your new shirt and maybe see Red & Blue on the side...

How could you not? The twins were adorable and you've grown really close to their unc- Boss...

Regardless, you had agreed to meet him at his last station where he was fixing up some damage left behind by a couple bandits again.

If you had known they were there, you would've rushed to help but you weren't told until after it happened because Noobador wanted you to know why he was working a bit late.

Of course, you planned to scold him because with all the swords you've collected already, you'd easily turn those bandits into flies.

But you never did, because when you arrived it was eerily quiet.

You were subtly grabbing the Venomshank and looked around to see if maybe someone else was waiting for you...

... Until he suddenly appeared behind you and you were quickly thrown up onto his shoulder.... Classic.

Letting out a sigh of relief, you turned your head to look at his face and give him a gentle kiss. He made sure to enjoy it before chuckling.

"I saw you coming, sweetheart. 'I love fluff'? Really?" You could tell his mockery was a joke and dramatically played along.

"Ugh~ How could I think you would ever understand~?" You spoke with such sarcasm, hatred could've gagged. But to Noobador it was comical.

"Alright, alright, let's get home so I can shower and get the oil off my clothes." He was proudly keeping you on his shoulder like a prize as he jumped off to bring you home with him.

You were a little glad to see Red & Blue there too. You were practically an aunt to them with how Noobador and you act. And you would take that title to your grave with pride.

Noobador was luckily in the shower while the twins bombarded you with questions. Not like you minded, you were glad when the two acted more like children. They deserved to have at least the taste of normalcy.

"Why does your shirt say 'I love fluff'?" Red would ask.

"It means I like fluffy things! Like you both!" You'd chuckle as if it was obvious and panted them gently.

"But we don't have fur!" Blue would giggle at your affection.

"Maybe not but you two are fluffy with your personalities and words! And that's the softest fluff I could imagine!" You were really getting into it. It would be funny to anyone else.

But to Noobador, who was now watching from the doorframe with a soft smile on his face? He found it adorable, surprisingly enough.

You were so ready to take care of the twins like they were your own and something about that was when Noobador had first fallen for you. When that spark in him was first lit on fire and revealed a side to him that you'd never thought to see.

By the time you even noticed him sneaking up on you, he already lifted you up and spun you around with a hearty laugh. Much to the amusement of the twins...

At least until he gave you a loving kiss on the lips, earning a "Ewww" from Red & Blue. You had to stifle a laugh but Noobador had no trouble just continuing to show you love with the twins turning away.

"How about we just watch a movie and train a bit afterwards?" You eventually suggested, getting Red & Blue's attention like a charm.

Needless to say, the rest of the day was spent with an action movie and teaching the twins some sword tricks to copy...

Anything you'd like to request/ask? Check out my pinned post first and I'll be happy to write up whatever you want!

[ronearoundblindly]

For your event, this could be 4 or 8. Or both really. Dealer's choice! Johnny Storm, eternal playboy, falling for someone for real. Not buying it, she says no when he makes a move. How does he turn this around?

Warnings for verb tense being a thing I couldn't handle today--it bothers me, but I gave up, sorry--and I think that's it!

NO because it wasn't special

A party. He goes to a lot of them. He goes to them all the time. He's got his lines to use on women. He's very showy, but that has become exactly Johnny's MO. In a way, it's what women expect of him.

To you, however, it just looks like he's putting in zero effort.

You've noticed him: first since he's famous and there, second since a woman he already hit on laughed so freaking loud while shrieking "oh, Johnny, you're so bad," and third since he stared in your direction. He was obvious. The obviousness wasn't the weird part, though, because he's Johnny Storm and known for being on fire. What was weird is the staring being AT YOU.

His behavior earlier in the night, combined with your anxiety at being singled out, makes exactly what he said to you pretty fuzzy. You weren't rude, but you were dismissive. Other than saying your name, you basically shut him out. You could tell there were other eyes on you now like yours had been on him.

You're sure he'll find someone else. He won't even remember you. Johnny takes it in stride, and that basically proves your point.

2. NO because it wasn't just you

You're out at dinner. This is a fancier restaurant, and no one is with you at the two-seater booth. You just craved several things they offer. Since takeout isn't quite the same, you splurge and have that beautiful trifecta of appetizer, entrée, and dessert all to yourself.

Mid-main course, right after you thank the server for taking your dessert order, a smiling face pops around the corner.

"Hey," Johnny beams, "I know you. Small world, huh?"

A distinctive blond comes to stand behind him.

"Let the woman eat her dinner in peace."

"Right, sorry, Sue, this is my friend--" you were wrong that he wouldn't remember your name "--and..." He eyes the empty edge of table across from you.

"It's nice to meet you--"

"Are you alone?" Johnny blurts over his sister's kindness.

Suddenly, you're the one who could burst into flames from sheer embarrassment.

And then there's Reed Richards, openly scolding Johnny in a nice restaurant that you will never be setting foot in again.

"No, I just meant..." Johnny tries, far quieter than before. He even slides into the free side of the booth. "I meant you should eat with us instead."

It's not really a question, but you're beyond put off your food.

"I would rather crawl into a hole right now," you hiss, flustered as you catch the curious eyes of other patrons.

Sue and Reed dismiss themselves, thank the gods, removing themselves as an obstacle trapping more onlookers in the gap between tables.

You flag down your server, begging for you check and dessert to-go, as soon as humanly or inhumanly possible.

"Wait. Wait. You don't have to leave."

"I don't have to but I want to," you retort.

Johnny puts his hand on the bill which you rip out of his grasp. "At least let me get this. Please, I--it's my fault. You--"

But you've already slapped down your card and told the poor, confused server that you'll pick it up at the hostess stand along with your coat.

3. NO because you didn't feel safe

To say you were alarmed when Johnny Storm showed up at your job not long after the restaurant would be an understatement, but apparently, someone took photos of what they thought was a lovers' quarrel and mailed them to the Baxter building. The person's note threatened your life for 'treating' Johnny that way, and now he has come to make sure you're okay until the person is found.

He suggests the security of his home rather than yours. Doesn't seem to bother him that the secure building is also where the threat was sent, but on the elevator ride to the top of the Baxter, Johnny admits that if you're here then The Four can easily catch them.

You're bait.

Excellent.

Johnny makes the whole thing feel like a planned game night with friends, a sleepover of sorts, but the mood is heavy and swept through with the undercurrent of danger.

He confesses at the door to your temporary bedroom that he'd like to go on a real date with you. His biggest regret for the situation is that you two didn't have any of the 'benefits' of being together before someone tried to pull you apart.

He is genuine. He seems genuinely sad. He's authentically comforting, it's true, but you can't see this as a good life for you. If this is the life, Johnny's too hard to go out with.

The threat is caught in the small hours. You tossed and turned, never knew any of the capture was going down, and were told later in the morning, promptly returning to your regular world.

4. YES when he stops trying so hard

He waits a few weeks before coming to your home to check on you.

"I'll leave," he promises, "just tell me your okay. Sleeping alright? Going out normally? Whatever it is that made you happy before, you're doing it, right?"

He waits some more for your response, stuck at your threshold, a box in his arms.

Literally, nothing has been normal. You sleep horribly, you get distracted at work constantly, and you haven't accepted any invitations to even the tamest social events, let alone eaten out since.

"I swear, I'm not trying anything. It's not a date. I brought this to give you. Not expecting anything." Johnny's puppy dog expression makes you smile, the first one you can recall this week.

"I don't know... I'm really tired."

He stands up straight and cheery. "I got movies for that." He rummages in the box. "I've got flicks to keep you awake, flicks to put you to sleep, and popcorn to eat until...whenever."

He produces a stovetop popping pan.

"No," you sigh, and Johnny deflates instantly. "No. You said it's not a date, but I'm disagreeing with you."

You step out of the way and push the door wide open.

He soaks in the victory for a moment, then passes you, leaning to kiss your cheek quickly as you hear the popcorn start rattling to life in his hot palm.

Johnny--solo--is adorable and comfortable, normal enough to forget who he is. When he's relaxing, when he's focused on you, it feels completely different to the pickup lines and the parties. The most daredevil thing he does is hold cornels on his tongue until they pop, trying to catch them in his mouth as they jump away. The most playboy thing he does is critique bad dialogue in the movie.

It's during one of the 'stay awake' movies that you're knocked out cold on his toasty shoulder.

Without making any moves, he made just the right move for you.

[Main Masterlist; Sleepover Masterlist]

@supraveng @patzammit @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @yiiiikesmish @ashesofblackroses @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory @brandycranby @buckysprettybaby @ellethespaceunicorn @late-to-the-party-81 @bigtreefest @mistressmkay @astheskycries @veryprairieberry @bitchy-bi-trash @rogersbarber @blogbog710 @yenzys-lucky-charm @thiquefunlover63

[mullermilkshake]

People would assume

Part 1 <- Part 2 -> Part 3

So you're Satoru Gojo?

It’s the next day and the auction is happening and you have to deal with your boss once more.

Kento Nanami x Fem!reader Kento is rough,he's jealous,manipulation,Gojo is flirty,

<- Masterlist

You were conflicted. 

So conflicted on whether it was a good idea to do as Kento Nanami asked of you. Of course you needed to because you didn't want to lose your job, but you hated what he did, how he abused your trust and assaulted you right there under the table. 

Where did it all come from? Why had he been so forward to pull something like that when he had never shown any sign of an attraction towards you before? Asking someone to get a drink and displaying that level of lewdness were two sides of a completely distorted coin. He sounded like a possessive lover, or an antagonised husband who caught you in an affair of your own. 

You scrubbed yourself when you got home, sat in the bath for over an hour until the water went cold, making yourself clean. You never slept either, giant black bags under your eyes were a dead give away, everyone would know what he did, it was written all over your face.  

Here you were, at the lobby of the gallery, the launch you had put so much work into making it the biggest event of the year in the art world. Your stomach made you acutely aware of the sinking sensation, flipping and twisting to the point you thought you would vomit. 

Your heart dropped when your boss came into view in the lobby, watching servers flit in and out of doorways with champagne and nibbles for the guests. You didn't want to go to him, you wanted to yell out at what a pervert he was, someone to take him away forever and pray for a new replacement that wouldn’t require HR’s interception.

He turned and spotted you immediately as soon as you stepped inside, but someone blocked your way. 

“So you’re the one who’s been looking after my account huh?”

“Excuse me?” You smiled in confusion at the white haired man, your eyes flitting between him to Mr Nanami.

“Satoru Gojo? The most handsome client you could ever have?” Was he flirting with you?

Oh shit. You remembered.

“Yes of course Mr Gojo.” You faked that smile on your face and offered your hand. “My apologies.”

He took it, shaking longer than what was deemed socially acceptable. “Y’know, I wish I had seen you face to face for our meetings instead of on the phone, Nanami never said how gorgeous you were.” 

“That’s because it’s inappropriate to talk about a work colleague in that way Gojo. Please don't harass my staff.” 

Mr Nanami stepped in behind you and you froze, he broke up your hands taking yours in his and held it longer than he should have. He spoke like he always had, pretending last night never happened. 

How could Mr Gojo not see? You thought everybody would see it all over your face, but no one did.You wanted someone to punch him square in the face, Mr Gojo looked like the type to have strength behind a swing, so why wasn’t he doing it? 

Frustration to speak up kept you quiet. 

“Oh c’mon Nanami, I’m only playing so don’t be such a bore, look at her. She shouldn’t be working for you because she’d look much better on my arm.” Satoru Gojo set his sights on you and held out his arm. ��How about it?”

You could see your boss’s eyes burning into you along with Gojo’s smile, a wink over his sunglasses he wore inside. His arm looked very inviting, even though he seemed just as much of a bad egotistical choice as Mr Nanami was, but at least you supposed were sure he wouldn’t do anything remotely as fucked up as last night. 

“I-I’m sorry, I really must decline, Mr Nanami has much to do and I’m here to assist him.” 

“That’s a shame.” He pulled a card from his suit and slipped it between your fingertips. “My personal number, if you change your mind.” 

The cardstock, thick and embossed, cream coloured with a textured look. Very expensive. Very pretentious. It was there for a second and then gone, ripped from your fingers and crumpled up in Mr Nanami's fist.

“It’s not very professional taking personal numbers from clients, is it? I thought you were going to behave?” 

You had a sudden splurge of confidence stir up inside of you, no one spoke to you that way and someone who had no say in your personal life couldn’t dictate it either. You responded, keeping your voice low to avoid a scene. “Sir, I’m here to work for you and that is it. Please don’t insert yourself into my personal affairs. Firstly I wouldn’t do something so unprofessional, secondly we need to discuss what happened last night. But for now, tell me what you need me to do and we’ll call it there.” 

He nodded and his expression was neutral. “Okay. Come with me then.” 

He guided you off to the side, a smaller room down a long hall that housed the coats and belongings of some of the wealthiest minds in the entire country. Great, you were on cloakroom duty. That was what your retaliation got you. 

He turned quickly, no one was in there except the two of you. You immediately felt the pressure in your shoulders as he grabbed you, forcing you up against the wall and the door slammed shut after he kicked it. “I recognise that I’ve given you preferential treatment, but I didn't think it would affect your manners. Don’t ever talk to me like that again, do you understand me?”

Nothing. Nothing that could have come out of your mouth would have, or could have made this better or pulled you out of the situation. Part of you wanted Mr Gojo to burst in and knock the man on his ass for speaking the way he did. Manners? What preferential treatment did he give you? It was nothing short of harassment and plain perversion. 

“Mr Nanami-”

He was much closer now, your noses almost touched and the height difference was frightfully obvious. “I’ve treated you well here, haven’t I? I bet you haven't even cancelled that date I told you to get rid of either? What am I going to do with you if you won't do as you're told?”

“Why are you doing this? Where has this all come from?”

He chuckled, quietly enough, but it was there. “All this time, and you had no idea that I’ve wanted you ever since you stepped into my office for your interview.”

That was four years ago, four years when you started and you were none the wiser, but it wasn’t only that, Mr Nanami had relationships whilst you were there, word got around easy in an office, it always did. 

He didn’t move an inch no matter how much you tried to pull him off you. “Then tell me you have a thing for me like a normal person, not whatever this is and that shit show last night. I don’t appreciate it and you're scaring me, let me go.”

Mr Nanami didn’t respond to your words, he only took a brief glance at his watch. “The auction starts in thirty minutes. I want you behind the display waiting to make sure the right pieces go out, do not leave unless I tell you. We wouldn’t want Gojo ogling you again, would we?”

“Fine. Can you let me go now please?”

“Of course.” He let you go and tidied a section of your hair. “Keep yourself out of trouble until then.” A stroke to your cheek and the pad of his thumb ghosted over your lip. 

Then he just left, closing the door behind him and left you in a delayed rut once the confidence you have faltered. You were confused with shallow breaths that came built up once you were alone with the coats and bags that had just witnessed the same thing you had. 

What the fuck is going on?

You left the room as quickly as you went in, straightening yourself up along with your dress just past your knees. You could smell him on you, you swore it, now everyone would definitely know. 

“Fancy bumping into you again.”

You had to actively cover your mouth to stifle the startled gasp from your lips. “M-mr Gojo, the auction will be starting soon, you should really take your seat.” 

He looked you up and down, but this time his eyes weren’t so hungry, they weren’t perverted in a way that made all of your insecurities scream out loud. 

They were more warm. “Will you be there to see everything sold?” 

“N-no I’ll be dealing with the inventory. I won’t be on stage.” 

Your words made him shrug. “Then I don’t need a seat, come and take a walk with me.” 

Your eyes darted around for your boss, you couldn’t see him anywhere and it put you on edge more than a deer in open season. 

“I still have much to do-“ He took your hand and pulled you with him. 

“Nonsense! C’mon. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together now you’re in charge of all my accounts, we really should get to know each other.”

There was a low outdoor balcony, the doors could close and that’s what he did. He closed the single pane glass doors away from the crowd because it was already getting dark, low amber hues fading into the darkened clouds overhead and everything was losing its sunny shadows to replace them for artificial street lamps and low lighting under trees and bushes. 

The valets worked effortlessly to park up as another car tooks its place and two more men came to help in crisp suits and slicked back hair with a quaint smile to gain the keys and access to a stranger's car. 

“You seem really uncomfortable around him, what he do, shout at you?”

“Who do you mean Mr Gojo?” You knew exactly who. 

“You don’t need to be proper around me. Call me Satoru when we’re alone, it’s fine because we’re going to be working together. And you knowwho I’m talking about.” 

You decided not to abandon your professional client working relationship, but kept it vague for no selfish reason other than it was just plain embarrassing. “Mr Nanami is stressed, he wants this to go well.” 

He chuckled and leant against the balcony to turn to you, the height difference noted. “You can keep telling yourself that, but you aren’t the first person he’s done this too. He runs all you girls ragged, no wonder they all quit. I’m guessing it’s just a matter of time before you do too, though I hope not.” 

He’s done this to more people? 

“How so?” Now you were intrigued. How many others had he done this to and why had no one spoken up about it?

“He usually doesn’t like other people doing things, unless it eats into his overtime, that really pisses him off. So I guess that’s where you suffer. That man seriously needs to get laid, I’m surprised he’s never fucked any of those girls who quit, I know I’d be in a lot of trouble if I was in his position.” 

He sounded genuine, not at all like he was trying to hit on you specifically. It intrigued you how familiar he seemed, like they could have been old friends and it made you die with anticipation for the answer, but it was something that could come later. It was then you realised that you both weren’t on the same page. You only assumed you were, that he was aware of Mr Nanami’s behaviour towards you, but you weren’t. He was going on about something completely different.

“Right…” was all you could say, there wasn’t a point in telling him what your boss did, it wasn’t appropriate either. The best thing was to go to HR. That's all you could do, despite the repercussions from him. And you knew there would be.

“You seem like a nice girl, so I’ll give you this advice for free.” If he wasn’t already serious enough, he was now as his expression dropped from neutral to strained and his hand touched your shoulder so delicately.

“Don’t bend over backwards for him and don’t let him have his way or you’ll be in all kinds of trouble, you’re the best I’ve seen and you’ve lasted the longest. I would hate to see you quit because he’s grumpy.”

You faked a smile, because it was all you could think of to hide the wide eyed shock. “I appreciate that Satoru, I’ll keep that in mind. But don’t worry, I won’t be going anywhere.” 

“That’s good to know!” Thumbs up with a big grin, he nodded you off and turned back to the door. “Good talk, I better go in and see this painting sell. Later!”

It took some time to compose yourself before you wandered back in and prepared to take the backstage to watch everything unfold smoothly. Only there wasn’t anything behind the stage. Nothing at all like it was abandoned. Dark.The curtain was across and the bustle of tables and chairs scraping the floor and footsteps across the stage were clear but no one stood behind. 

Just you. 

“Did you really think I would leave such an important task like that to you when you’re flaunting yourself in front of clients?”

And Mr Kento Nanami.

You didn’t look at him, you didn’t need to. The individual hairs stood up on the back of your neck and every instinct inside you told you to get out, but you had mulled on what Satoru Gojo told you. And you weren’t about to let him have his way and if it was required, you’d treat him like a child to put that point across. 

You weren’t about to let him take advantage. You were so confident. “Mr Nanami-“

“I asked you a question. Can you honestly assume that I would trust you with this, when I can’t trust you to behave around clients?” He was much closer to you now, the negative pressure agonising behind you as you focused on the curtain.   

“I trust you to ‘assume’ I can do my job. Mr Nanami.” 

“There are many people already seated just in front of that curtain. I would suggest you keep your voice down or people might ‘assume’ something else.” 

Part 1 <- Part 2 -> Part 3

If you'd like to be tagged, please let me know! 😊

Taglist - @starrynights23x,@jumpinjaxx,@yatiimariiee

Likes, comments and reblogs are so appreciated! ❤️

DISCLAIMER - I do not own any of the characters. This is a work of fan fiction and is absolutely not representative of the views or intentions of the original creator(s).

Also please don’t post any of my work without permission thank you!

[daily-memory-of-touch]

Sorry i never played this game and don't intend on to but. Could you explain what's the meaning of this scene in fortnite terms (no more seriously actually wondering about the context or whatever. If you don't mind spoiling this random anon. Ty)

Okay so leading up to this scene is Siffrin (hat + cloak fella, uses he/they) reliving the same Fortnite game over and over because he's in a time loop. He and his squad mates (Mirabelle, she/her; Isabeau, he/him; Odile, she/her; Bonnie, they/them) are the last ones alive aside from a few other players. There's a griefer on the server named the King (he/him) that they gotta defeat and the party has rallied the entire server against him. Not everyone has the best gear for the job so that's why it's up to the party to defeat him. The King is making the storm disconnect you from the server if you in it for too long

So Siffrin has been in this loop of playing Fortnite for a while now. The King has placed himself in a big structure and set up traps to try and catch the party off-guard, and every time the party (or just Siffrin) dies and can't be revived time loops back. With the help of Loop (they/them), a knowledgeable gamer who's aware of the loops, the two of them have been in a separate VC figuring out how to handle all of this (Loop gives advice and Siffrin does their best)

At this point Siffrin is pretty sick of the time loop. They actually have beaten the King a few times, but even if the party gets their 1# Victory Royale time still loops back. Every morning the party actually meets in-person to grab lunch before heading back to game. Siffrin and Isabeau have been pining over each other for a while now and the time loop makes Siffrin's yearning worse and worse, especially since Isabeau (and the rest of the party as well) think that Siffrin is touch-adverse when in reality he just gets surprised by sudden touch and is just touch-starved

So before everyone else gets to the shop they all eat together at it's just Isabeau and Siffrin. The two of them are having a convo they have every loop, which in the middle of it includes Isabeau going to put a hand on Siffrin's shoulder but then pulling back when he remembers that he should respect their space. This has been bothering Siffrin the entire time loop, and on this loop he has certified had it and doesn't want to feel stuck anymore. So, without wanting he grabs Isabeau by the collar and kisses him. Isabeau immediately pushes Siffrin away, but his actual reaction is unclear because Siffrin then loops back to right before he made that impulsive choice and the convo goes on like normal. It's unknown if Isabeau reacted like that out of surprise or disgust or any other emotion. Siffrin and Loop later talk about this during this loop and Loop isn't happy with them

Not relevant to the rest of the post but Siffrin and Loop tend to meet up for breakfast separately from the rest of the party, but if they don't meet up Siffrin just makes something at home to eat. Sometimes they'll grab a quick coffee together if they talk mid-day before the Fortnite gaming session. It's not important but the detail matters to me as to how those two have irl talks

[nerdygaymormon]

Some memories from an April 2025 Regional Training

This past Saturday a regional training was held for about 250 leaders from the stakes in west-central Florida. Because the training was being held in my stake center, the stake clerk and myself (the stake executive secretary) were assigned to help. A lot of work went into this. Among other things, I was responsible to provide lunch for about 40 people, including an apostle and 4 Seventy.

For the most part, our plans went smoothly, but there was one glitch, I had ordered grilled chicken, rice, black beans, and plantains from a restaurant and they didn't have the order ready on time, which put a significant crimp in my timeline. Fortunately, two kind ladies (one is the wife of a Seventy and the other the wife of a stake president) volunteered to help and the extra hands helped make up the lost time.

Just before everyone else showed up to eat, these two wonderful ladies insisted there should be a picture of me with the table setting. In order to airdrop the photos to me, I had to tell them my phone is named "bootieshaker9000" 😅

I received a text asking me to come to the room where they're eating lunch. Elder Anderson said, "When you come to Tampa, you want black beans & yellow rice, and this did not disappoint." He expressed his appreciation for the setup of the room, for the meal, and especially that it was all plated and ready. He said usually there are servers coming in and out of the room to deliver food and take plates away, but not having all that made for a much better discussion and he would be recommending this for his future travels.

Several people who'd been in the room let me know that before I was summoned, Elder Anderson had gone on about how much he liked the setup and the food, that he wasn't just thanking me as a courtesy but that it was genuine.

After lunch, Elder Anderson walked into the kitchen to thank those of us cleaning up and expressed his surprise to see only men, that usually he only sees all sisters. I spoke up to say, "Nowhere in the Handbook do the duties of the sisters' callings include cooking or cleaning." I also pointed out this was the two counselors in the stake presidency, the stake clerk, assistant clerk, and myself doing the cleaning.

My stake president shared with me that one of the other stake presidents pulled him aside and asked if members make comments to him about why would he let a gay man be his stake executive secretary? He replied that he simply tells them that the requirement for this calling is to be worthy of a temple recommend, and David is. He thinks this other stake president wants to call a gay person to a calling but was worried about pushback.

I started the morning about 7am and finally at 5pm the meetings were over, the trash emptied, the equipment put away, and I could go home. That evening, I received a text from my stake president

Then on Sunday I received a text from a Seventy thanking me for all the work I did. And on Monday was a surprise, I received an Edible Eats arrangement with balloons and a nice thank you card from a Seventy and his wife (she is one of the women who had stepped in to help get lunch on the tables).

I sent him a text to thank him and this was his reply

No, I didn't get to have much time with any of these General Authorities. No, I didn't mention to them that I'm a queer Latter-day Saint. One of them already knows from previous interactions I’ve had with him, but I don't know if the rest will ever find out that it was the work of a gay man who impressed them.

By the way, I was instructed to have white table cloths, white plates & bowls (which most LDS chapels would have on hand) and no paper napkins. I decided to order some cloth napkins that would have rainbow colors as my way of representing a queer person was responsible for this, but I got them in a checkered pattern to not be so obvious. It was a way of affirming myself during what I figured would be a time when I'd have to be more careful about sharing this part of myself.

[nhaaauyen]

⁺˚⋆｡°✩ FLOATING ✩°｡⋆˚⁺

and baby i know you // sugar sweet like you always do

modern restaurant sev x reader au!: after your kiss on the beach, you return to work unsure of what it means now for the two of you. luckily, sevika answers that for you.

series masterpost: is it casual now? wc: 2.1k author's note: hi i could not sleep so i did the reasonable thing and wrote a sevika fic at 4am LMAOO i also wanted to try the headcannon format but I have no idea if I did it right smh </3 btw this is a sequel to is it casual now?and i wont be posting until exams are done (booo) but I hope you guys enjoy!!

♡ the beach kiss with sevika was everything - it was passionate and perfect in so many indescribable ways. but after you both parted ways, you realized you left without actually discussing your feelings - which by the way, was such a lesbian thing to do.

♡ now you're home, sprawled across your bed, staring at your phone like you could will it to buzz with a text from sevika. but the screen remains stubbornly blank. after what feels like an eternity of hopeful glancing, you finally toss it into a drawer. out of sight, out of mind. 

♡ but when you try to go about your nightly routine, your mind keeps drifting back to sevika. brushing your teeth, you remember what her lips taste like, like weed and sour candy. changing into pajamas? you’re wondering what she wears to bed instead.

♡ your resolve finally crumbles and you retrieve the phone, fingers trembling slightly as you unlock it. nothing. you wait a beat, then refresh again because maybe the universe is just running a little slow tonight. but it was, in fact not.

♡ in a moment of dramatic self-preservation, you shut off the phone completely. if you can't see the lack of messages, they can't hurt you, right?

♡ you huff in annoyance, and maybe you’re still a bit high, but it hurts... real bad.  you throw the covers on and shut your eyes, wishing for the ache in your chest to go away because it was one kiss - one magical kiss where sevika looked at you like you held the mysteries of the world and only she could uncover them. fuck, you had it bad.

♡ morning comes, and you're spectacularly late. why? because high-you thought turning off your only alarm was a genius move. clothes fly on haphazardly, hair gets half brushed, and you bathe in perfume to mask yesterday's lingering weed scent.

♡ you burst into the restaurant 20 minutes late, bracing for your head server's wrath. when you walk in, all eyes are on you and your ears turn red, from both the embarrassment of being late and the incident with your head server the day before.  

♡ beelining for the back to clock in, you instead collide with someone at the door. and of course out of everyone it could be, it's her. sevika, the one person you were hoping not to run into yet.

♡ "pagli?" the nickname stops you in your tracks. you look up, meeting that intense gaze that sends your mind reeling back to yesterday's kiss. suddenly, you're drowning in butterflies and the memory of how she looked at you like you were made of stardust.  sevika looked ridiculously good. she was wearing just her usual uniform with brown leather suspenders and a white collared shirt, but her muscles were stretched under the fabric and you’re starting to wonder how you survived working with her in the past few months.

♡ you start to stammer out an excuse, but sevika's already grabbing your arm, pulling you into the manager's office.  "your shirt has a bit of something," she says as she hands you a clean white shirt.  you look down to find a toothpaste stain, because of course.

♡ the awkwardness is palpable as you take the shirt, mumbling thanks while steadfastly avoiding eye contact. sevika seems to suddenly remember the concept of privacy and excuses herself. post-shirt-change, you brave the floor. your head server makes only one snarky comment about your tardiness. in your book, that's a win.

♡ the rest of your shift is normal. well, "normal" if you don't count your newfound spidey sense, or more accurately sevika-sense. it's like your body's attuned to her presence - you know when she's at the bar, talking to customers, probably when she blinks too.

♡ you catch her stealing glances at you across the room, and suddenly remembering drink orders becomes impossible. you don’t know how many tips you must’ve lost today from having to repeat orders.

♡ the kitchen is its usual chaos and when sevika squeezes in to help, the world narrows to the points where she touches. her hand on the small of your back as she passes, the brush of fingers as she takes plates from you - the feeling lingers even as you leave the kitchen.

♡ you're hyper-aware of every little interaction with sevika. but was it all in your head? are you reading too much into things? the uncertainty is maddening.

♡ the dining room is nearly empty as you put away the last of the chairs. a glance at the clock shows it's almost 11 pm.  suddenly, you realize how eerily quiet the restaurant is. where is everyone? 

♡ your question is answered by the soft strains of jazz floating through the air. huh. since when did the restaurant play music this late? assuming it's a speaker malfunction, you head to the kitchen to find sevika. when you find her, she’s surrounded by an array of ingredients on the kitchen counter.

♡ "where is everyone?" you ask, confused.

♡ "they left early. you didn't respond when someone asked if you were going out." mentally, you facepalm. of course you were spacing out earlier, definitely not to thoughts about a certain manager. you gesture to the ingredients. "what's all this?"

♡ "well," sevika says, "are you hungry?"  your stomach growls in response. traitor. "looks like i'm making a meal for two, then," she remarks with a sly smile.

♡ "wait, why are you still here?" you question.  "paperwork," she replies with a slight shrug. "can't leave yet." there's a pause, a moment of hesitation. "you can go if you want, though."

♡ you catch the hint of uncertainty in her voice. "well i have to stay to see if our manager can actually cook," you tease. sevika scoffs, "oh, i can cook. be prepared to have your taste buds forever changed."

♡ you laugh, moving closer. "can i help?" you settle next to her behind the counter. "promise you won't cut yourself? i can't afford any workplace injuries." she jokes.

♡ you roll your eyes dramatically. "i'm not that bad of a cook, you know."

♡ "we'll see about that," sevika chuckles, handing you a knife. as you start chopping vegetables, your arms occasionally brush against each other. the kitchen suddenly feels very warm, and it's not from the stove.

♡ "you eat meat?" sevika asks, eyebrow raised.

♡ "yeah, why?"

♡ she grins. "good. i'm making lamb curry." 

♡"i've never had that before." you admit. "never?" sevika looks shocked. "it's delicious." 

♡ you shrug, a bit embarrassed. "sorry, i don't usually eat what we serve to customers." sevika pauses, studying you for a moment. then her expression softens. "this is actually a recipe my dad passed down. the restaurant just got a shipment of curry leaves and peppers for next week's menu."

♡ "oh? will i be seeing this on the menu soon?" you ask, intrigued. she smirks, "i don't know. will my first customer like it?"

♡ the look she gives you makes you fumble with the knife. maybe you are that bad of a cook after all. or maybe it's just the effect she has on you. you're stirring the curry when sevika leans in. "give me a taste."

♡ you bring the spoon to her lips, but in your nervousness, you bump her nose instead. "no way you did that," she says in disbelief.  “that was definitely done on purpose.”

♡ "i did not!" you refute. "oh yeah?" she nudges the spoon, leaving a streak of curry across your cheek.

♡ "sevika!" you gasp, feigning outrage. she throws her head back, laughing. the sound makes your heart skip.

♡ "you suck," you mutter, fighting a smile. "i'm sorry, okay? come here." she grabs a rag, cupping your face gently as she wipes away the curry. your hand goes limp, spoon forgotten as you stare into each other's eyes. her hand is so gentle against your skin, the rag somehow feeling rougher than she does.

♡ the oven timer abruptly blares, shattering the moment. you both jump back, a bit flustered. when it's nearly ready, sevika asks you to set the table outside while she finishes up.

♡ "just sit down," she insists when you offer to help bring things out. she emerges with two steaming plates and a bottle of wine.  as you take in the ambiance - the soft lighting, the music, the intimate table setting - it hits you. this feels like a date. but you quickly push the thought away. you haven't even talked about what that moment on the beach meant yet.

♡ sevika's watching you expectantly as you take your first bite. the flavors explode on your tongue. "this is amazing," you say, eyes wide. "consider my taste buds changed forever."

♡ the smile she gives you in response is brighter than any star you've ever seen. you continue eating, stealing glances at each other over your wine glasses, and you have no idea how to stop the feeling like you’re floating right now. as you eat, the conversation flows easily. "you know, there used to be a dance floor here. silco had a band playing next to the bar."

♡ "what happened to it?" you ask. she shrugs. "people stopped using it. probably lost the confidence to dance in public." you chew thoughtfully, then suddenly stand up. "come on, let's dance."

♡ "what?" sevika looks at you like you've grown a second head.

♡ "there's music, good wine, and we're technically on an ex-dance floor," you argue, grinning. "it would be a crime if we don't dance."

♡ she hesitates. "i don't know how to dance."

♡ "neither do i," you admit, offering your hand. it's almost like an admission of something else - that you don't know how to navigate this new territory with sevika either.

♡ reluctantly, she takes your hand and stands. you pull her close, placing one hand on her waist as she rests hers on your shoulder. your first few steps are more stumble than dance. sevika chuckles, "i get why we took away the dance floor now."

♡ you shake your head, laughing. "we're god awful at this."

♡ "i know, but..." she trails off, her eyes meeting yours.

♡ "but what?" you ask, heart racing. she takes a deep breath. "but at least i get to hold you." your heart skips a beat. you look up from where your head was resting on her chest, only to find her already gazing at you with that same inscrutable look from the beach.

♡ it was like a magnetic force was pulling you together. suddenly, her lips are on yours, your hand tangled in her hair. she leans you back slightly, deepening the kiss in a move more graceful than any dance step you've attempted tonight.

♡ sevika’s lips are soft against yours, and you can taste the wine she drank from before on them.  as you part, she lets out a satisfied hum that vibrates through her chest and into yours. you keep your bodies close, foreheads touching, sharing the same breath.

♡ "was there any actual paperwork to do?" you whisper.

♡ she has a sheepish smile. "you caught me." 

♡ "the amount of kissing we did compare to work is starting to make sense now.” you quipped, feeling her shoulders rise and fall with her laughter. wrapped in her arms and still high from the kiss before, you find the courage to voice what's been on your mind. "i really, really like you." 

♡ sevika doesn’t respond with words but instead, with another kiss. when she pulls back, her eyes are twinkling. "dido?"

♡ you groan. "oh. my. god." her laughter fills the room, rich and genuine. "i really, really like you too," she enunciates clearly, her tone teasing. "better?"

♡ "way better," you affirm, pressing your head into her chest just like you did that first time by her car. but this time, it's different. where there was once uncertainty about your future with sevika, now there's a sense of rightness, of belonging.

♡ as you sway together in the dim light of the restaurant, the soft jazz still playing in the background, you notice how perfectly you fit together.  you lift your head, meeting her gaze. the look in her eyes - tender and with a hint of wonder - makes your heart swell. 

♡ "so," you murmur, "what's for dessert?"

♡ sevika answers with a grin that is wide and full of affection. "i thought we were already having it."

[twoastricts]

Can you have multiple different cross over AUs that cross over the same stories? I don't care for the answer, here's another Life Series x Hollow Knight AU. Calling it "Hollow Life AU".

Basic premise goes like this:

Watcher 1: I'm bored.

Watcher 2, currently cleaning up after the end of the newest life series: how can you be bored, we just finished watching a death game for crying out loud! Wait at least a week before being bored again.

Watcher 1: yeah, the death game is fun. But when the death game ends, there is nothing to do while we wait for their souls to heal. We just send them back to their home sever where they play with friends and sleep sound and have infinite respawns and there are no real stakes. It's boring!

Watcher 2: if we get too greedy our food supply will-

Watcher 1: BORING!!

Watcher 2: Fine, you want stakes? You want them to fear sleep? I have an idea.

Commence mass isekai of the Life Gang to Hallownest.

Main plot is that all the members get spread out across Hallownest and they need to link up to find a way home, with Grian having a special interdimensional communicator that he and Xisuma made after Last Life because Xisuma decided that if a portion of his players were going to whipped up into these death games he wants to be kept in the know of what's going on. (It's made of redstone on Xisuma's end, an end crystal and some Watcher magic from Grian. Xisuma knows Grian is a Watcher.)

And despite the fact that Watchers sent them here, that was 2 Watchers working together and they were much more experienced than Grian, who is a baby by Watcher standards.

Xisuma (along with some more technical Hermits, I mean to do this without Doc or Cub would be stupid) sets up a way for the Lifers to get to Hermitcraft (and thus have free range to go back to their home servers if they aren't Hermits) but he can only do it once or else the worlds we become unstable and fall apart. So Grian needs to round up his friends so he can send them all back at once.

Problem. Just because you're from another world doesn't mean you're immune to infection. So yeah, some of the Lifers get infected.

Commence speedrun of the Dream No More ending so moth b*tch can die and everyone can get home.

Still don't know what bug I want everyone to be. Open for suggestions on any player that isn't drawn here. Any bug from Hollow Knight is allowed except for wyrms, roots, or void constructs/creatures of any form. Feel free to give suggestions on whether they get infected or not as well, along with who they might first meet upon waking.

I know Grian first meets Hornet, Scott is alone, Joel is in the Hive, Lizzie in alone, and Pearl meets Seer. I also know that I want Martyn, and maybe Ren, to get wrapped up in the Grimm troupe, and for Quirrel to be babysitting at least 3 different Lifers (Probably Jimmy, Skizz, and either Scar or Mumbo)

obviously when suggesting characters they first meet there are some that are off limits (Radiance and The Hollow Knight for obvious reasons, along with anyone who is dead, for obvious reasons).

I just manly want suggestions on bugs to make their bugsonas though.

[videnrambles]

Assistant Manager Yuuji but also other shit is going on AU

Another VERY self indulgent AU that I've spent far to long thinking about by meeee (─‿─) ♡

Sometimes I like to imagine an AU where Yuuji was picked up by Ijichi for his weird ass strength. Because he can't see curses he can't be a sorcerer, but the higher ups are like "Somethings clearly wrong with this kid and we want to keep an eye on him."

So Yuuji becomes a test run for a body guard program that pairs widows/assistants up people who have heavenly restrictions(or are just weird little freaks in Yuji's case). Ijichi volunteered to help with his training because it meant being put on missions without Gojo.

I don't really have anywhere else to say this stuff but I wanna make note of a few things :P

The Itadori family are moved to Tokyo. Ijichi moves in with them to help with Yuuji's training. Wasuke likes Ijichi but thinks he doesn't eat enough and demands Yuuji fatten him up.

Gojo has yet to meet Yuuji but complains to anyone who will listen that the kid is a home wrecker for taking Ijichi away. Very few of the other managers are willing to put up him.

Gojo also gets jealous when he hears that Ijichi's student brings homemade sweets on every missions they go do together. None of his students love him enough to do that.

The managers and windows are all in a discord server. They use it to ask for help/advice on dealing with different sorcerers. There is a whole channel dedicated to complaining about Gojo.

Things start off pretty good, the first few weeks are easy, almost fun for the two. They go on low level missions where Yuuji is able to observe how sorcerers fight and work. He even gets to meet Kusakabe, who offered to help teach Yuuji how to fight.

But then things start to get weird.

Okay i have zero ideas for how to like scale weirdness so I'm just gonna list some stuff I've imagined and y'all can use your imagination.

Ijichi and Yuuji go against a curse that connects peoples dreams and feeds off their energy while they sleep.

Ijichi is given a super cool sci-fi gun

Registered and unregistered cursed weapons, objects and tools of varying grades keep showing up. Sometimes they appear in the car before missions, in their houses, hell Yuuji even got a 4th grade one in his happy meal. (it would be so funny if you sent in asks about this so i can talk about the definitely fake multi page document of ideas for cursed stuff, jk jk.. unless?)

I'm really bad about coming up with actual specifics and not just fun little scenes for me to think about. Basically just think gravity fall vibes. Getting into some very wild situations but usually home in time for dinner with Wasuke.

Idk maybe Sukuna gets trapped in an apple watch or something and Yuuji carries him around in hopes of domesticating him.

Essentially I want it to be like:

Random assistant: Where is Ijichi and his freak of a kid?! We need more help setting up for the event or the higher ups are gonna be pissed!! Yuuji who is trapped in an entirely different dimension and must go on a quest to find the Fairy Queens treasure and defeat the Evil Dragon Overlord to return home or their home will be destroyed: Do you think Grandpa will care if we're a little late for dinner? Ijichi who fell in the portal with him and is doing this for the 3rd time this week: Yuuji-kun we aren't leaving the classroom for a month after this, okay?

Anyway stuff happens, they get into weird scenarios but react with the same energy of someone who found hair in their soup at a restaurant. They're usually able to sort it out before the end of the day.

The higher ups don't really give a shit because the two usually report back at the end of the day no matter how weird the report is, and it's more than Gojo does.

Also Nanami and Gojo both have a thing for Ijichi and are competing for his attention. They are both failing because Ijichi is focusing on training his son right now. :)

There is 100% more details that I'm forgetting, but this is self indulgent and I don't care. Im definitely forgetting a few tags too but oh well.

[zeondraws]

Ok, Fellas, so today was wild

I'm at Gamescom atm and a week before this I tried to make a small plan for myself. Mostly because I had gotten such a big interest for the game, I wanted to see if I can meet anyone at the event.

After having had a big hurdle while trying to reenter the business area, I was able to go back and meet someone from the Chinese Room (I met two today). Which was wild for me, didn't think with this sudden interest in the game that I was able to meet someone from the team who worked on the game so soon.

I told them how I struggle to find interests in most games since those usually don't speak to me, but Still Wakes The Deep suddenly caught my attention. Where I ended up researching a bunch to find hidden details or eastereggs, looking through the game files and replaying the game to further understand the story.

I only had a small window to ask a bunch of questions, I sadly couldn't ask silly questions like "Does Muir look like a Bagpipe?" or ask some Questions about Caz.

Before the meeting I asked people on the discord server if they wanted to know anything. So I tried to take the questions I had for the moment and get through them XD

I did tell them how there is a small community on tumblr/discord where we gather. And that I asked some folk for questions I should ask.

Ok these are big spoilers, at least some suprised me, quite a bunch if them are of course about Muir and Innes.

I hope I remember everything properly that he told me, I immediately wrote everything down on discord for the others to read, but figured making a tumblr post will be good as well.

Innes:

Quite a lot of people asked about the VA of Innes, apparently they forgot to include him in the credits which made them feel extremely bad, even apologising to them. I can definitely understand how that must feel, I think I'd melt away. They'd fix it in the next patch, I can't check if it's already fixed atm.

At the very end of our chat, while shaking hands, I asked if Innes is bald. And the answer was "*laughs* yes".

Now I clearly asked this one as a joke, because I found it funny to tell the others on discord, however I very much support luscious hair Innes that many are drawing.

Muir:

I explained to them how I've been researching some stuff in the game. And figured out, that Muir must've died around the time when Caz flooded the Forward Pontoon in Marine Control. So I asked if that's possible to be the time when it actually happend- and they did confirm this! I was surprised that I got that on point.

But I got some further details about this, apparently they wanted to showcase how Muir would've died there.

Basically, once Caz flooded the Forward Pontoon, you would've seen Muir outside loosing his grip out in the deck and getting crushed under debris.

Which was so painful for me to imagine, to see Muir outside, walking on his tendrils and suddenly not being able to keep his balance.

I tried illustrating how I roughly imagine this scene, it ain't perfect, but maybe it helps everyone to visualise it.

The Flooding shifted the entire rig and debris fell onto him.

To have some sense where everything is, Accommodation Roof (where you find Roy) is on the left side, if you look at the rig from the Derrick entrance. And Marine Control should be on the right side.

The thing is Marine Control is facing the ocean (if I remember correctly, I hope I do, I'm currently not home to check), so you couldn't take a look at the derick while Caz does the thing. Which basically made them remove this and hid Muir nearby the Derrick for players to find. And I told him how I replayed the game and saw Muir lay there with Innes, it was 6AM and I just sat there like O-O

Muir & Innes:

A burning question for many was, what their relationship is. And they told me it's more like a father son relationship, saying how Innes is very strict to Muir.

Muir is the younger one of the two and also likes to tease Innes a bunch (so the pipe thing is one of his many shenanigans he'd do)

Here we see a wild Muir in his natural habitat about to prank his friend (caught in 4k) (I almost died) (look at him plotting).

Now, I could not forget to mention that the fandom decided to ship Muir and Innes and wanted to see their reaction. They took it with a smile and just talked about their complex relationship again. Which I found cool to hear.

I sadly don't remember every small detail of the convo, since I wanted to make sure that I was able to ask all the questions people wrote on discord.

Brodie & Raffs:

This was a surprise to hear, which also made me very sad. Brodie was also like a father for Raffs, he knew his mother too.

And apparently Brodie was supposed to tell Raffs mother incase anything happened to him. So that she can feel better knowing Raffs died quickly and without much pain. Which is just... I'm in shambles. sobbing

Gibbo:

Some folk wanted to know if he had an actual model, to which the person answered with yes. They planned to show him at some point, but decided that the player should see Trots firstly.

I also randomly asked if the Gibbo model ingame was a part of Addairs model (judging by the game files), if I remember correctly he nodded.

I hope we get to see it in the artbook, I preordered it but forgor to tell him that. But it's okay.

I sadly don't remember everything here, I had to check discord for the questions (I hope I don't say anything wrong), but with Gibbo they focused more on the sound design and the mystery. And I think in the end it worked out perfectly.

Other:

They implanted a bunch of eastern eggs into the game, the art director even said he's still finding new ones to this day.

He mentioned the pictures shown in various areas and mentioned that he inserted pictures of his family and cousins etc.

Also the Kid inside the TV in the Crew Lounge? That's the Art Director as a kid! Whaaaaaaaa- Didn't know this one for sure.

And another random thing, I showed him the meme that @cazrig made. Because I inserted it inside my piece of fanart. I sadly couldn't show him more memes of the community because I forgor/no time. The memes Robin made are also comedy gold.

It was this one (I keep dying of laughter)

He found it very funny, so did the other person I showed it to.

But he also talked about how worried he was how the game would be perceived in the end. Since it came out extremely close to the release date of the new Elden Ring DLC. And having worked on it for so long they didn't know how the reactions would be.

But were positively surprised how well it was perceived, people playing the game, tears being shed and so on.

Okay that took me ages to write, I just wanted to have it all inside a tumblr post. Otherwise I may forget stuff if it's scattered on discord.

The event day turned out well for me today. I was so worried, that my tiny plan wouldn't work yesterday. But somehow I had some luck on my side.

After I got home I added his signature to my physical copy. I also made myself a small card with my artwork for it. I also gave them a small card and a big printed version of the fanart as well.

Thank you John!

I go sleep now, tomorrow is another gamescom day

[andhumanslovedstories]

hi! i'm gonna overshare a little bit but i'm doing my nursing prereqs right now and i'm really worried. i'm kind of really mentally ill and i've been worrying recently if nursing is worth it. i want to help people and it sounds so interesting and i love medical stuff but i don't want to get burnt out with the stress and long hours. someone told me that nursing is a lot like being a restaurant server, and i don't want to go to school and get a degree and a career that's literally just serving again. is it satisfying? is it rewarding? is it soul-killing? i'm scared

hi there! I'll overshare in return! I'm just coming off three months of disability for burnout (which for me is just depression but with a name you can use in the workplace). My job didn't cause my depression, but it certainly exacerbated it. The hours, the stress, the constant exposure to people suffering and the limits on your ability to do something about it, all those suck and they can break your brain. (On the other hand, I've been majorly depressed while working at an ice cream parlor where the walk-in freezer was for smoking weed. You can be depressed anywhere.)

And it is a hard job! Harder in some parts of the field than others. Different places have different nursing cultures, different laws, different staffing, etc. Where I work, there's good protection and advocacy for nursing. That's not true everywhere.

With all that said--I really like nursing. I get to do work that I know contributes good to the world. I get to solve very practical problems. I meet people I would never otherwise meet. I have the opportunity every shift to do something that I am proud of. And a lot of times, I find it fun! It's fun to brainstorm how to make someone who's been puking all night feel better. It's fun to see your efforts rewarded, even in small ways. It's fun to stop something before it becomes an emergency. It's fun bustling around, juggling a dozen different things. It's not ALWAYS fun. But for me, the work is not just meaningful but also enjoyable.

That's how I knew I had bad burnout btw. Even when things went well and I did work I was proud of, every shift was such a fucking slog.

If you are interested in the basic work of nursing (managing the human response to illness and promoting health), then there's a million and one jobs you can do with a nursing degree. They cater to different traits. I've discovered I really like precepting new nurses, I like working on the floor with its routine and concrete goals, and I like symptom management. I don't like critical care or the emergency department or working on stuff that isn't patient care, like paperwork and charge nursing. I like novelty but not chaos. I like independence but not being left entirely to my own devices. I like that I physically cannot take any of my work home. I do not like being on committees. So for me, right now at this point in my life, I like being a basic med-surg night shift float pool nurse. I would be absolutely miserable as a neuro ICU critical care day shift nurse. I would be bored to death being an inpatient rehab night nurse. Being a nurse manager would probably make me suicidal again.

If you find the basic work interesting and rewarding, you can tailor it to your taste. (I can't recommend floor nursing enough for the adhd havers amongst us.)

and last thing, regarding mental illness: I think a lot of nurses (and ppl in healthcare in general) struggle with mental illness way more than they think they do. Someone who knows they have depression and works to manage it will likely be more resilient than someone endlessly pushing through their fatigue and misery. Probably a better nurse, too. I take meds, go to therapy, get sleep, push myself to eat, take sick days, protect my limited energy, do physical activity--I'm a gym girlie now!!--because I'm treating a disease I know that I have. Just knowing that there's something up with your brain and doing something about it puts you way ahead like half of the people who work the emergency department.

[r0ttenhearts]

what could have been

scaramouche x online friend! reader

sypnosis: meeting up with scaramouche after being online friends for 4 years doesn’t go as planned

warnings: unrequited, scara leading reader on, suggestive content

there he was. the scaramouche, your online best friend of four years. he looked exactly as he did on his cell phone camera, pale porcelain like skin and his sharp, striking eyeliner. it could almost put your own to shame. meeting at a convention wasn’t exactly the way you had hoped to meet. not too long ago, dreaming about the day he would confess his feelings to you and eventually it leading up to a date to meet him in person. that was your dream. but you could settle, as long as you got to see him with your own eyes, not through a screen.

you saw the way his eyes lit up as his eyes met yours. his black jacket hugged his figure perfectly as he walked towards you, a smile on his face. “(y/n), don’t tell me that’s you.”

you could envision the way your cheeks turned crimson at his words, smacking his arm playfully as you shake your head. “oh, shut up! and look at you, you’re not exactly what someone would expect either.”

he knew you were poking fun at his height as he stuck his tongue out, grabbing your hand as you both went from booth to booth together. it had gone smoothly but the nerves inside of you were buzzing. that warm feeling of his hand holding yours was driving you insane.

the rest of the convention went on, you and scaramouche both sporting a filled up tote bag with merch and goodies from your favorite games and shows. it almost felt unreal, standing next to him as you both waited for his uber. his face being illuminated by the moonlight while you stood on that sidewalk. curse the way of the night that would bring shadows to a face like that.

once his uber showed up, he pulled you into the car with him, claiming you were safer with him anyway. you trusted him, took his word for it, of course. it was scara. you had known him for years the worst he could do is tell you something mean, right?

that’s what you thought until your lips mashed together in the hallway of his apartment, his cold hands undressing you as you both made your way to his room. it was so familiar to you that you didn’t have to look around after seeing it so many times in his webcam calls.

maybe it was just the loneliness you felt, that feeling eating you up inside before him. before you met and got close. that feeling that terrified you to no end, the realization that you would never belong. never have a place to call home, or someone to call home. maybe that’s why you did it with him. that’s why you felt you could lose yourself into him, allow him to kiss you, and now push himself inside of you.

the look in his eye as he sat up in bed the next morning, cigarette to his lips as he confessed to having a lover. telling you, you’d be blocked once you left the comfort of his apartment, never to see or talk to him again. it was a different kind of betrayal. the kind you wouldn’t shake off for months.

your fingers trembled, standing on the sidewalk outside of his apartment building.

“@theballader’” has blocked you from viewing their tweets.”

“Your message could not be delivered. This is usually because you don't share a server with the recipient or the recipient is only accepting direct messages from friends.”

“add friend”

meeting scaramouche was all but the beginning of means for you. you stayed away from everything you once loved mutually, games, shows, servers, forums. anything you thought you might see him be active in or even remind you of him. quiet nights at the bathroom sink with tears running down your face were not uncommon after that day. how cruel could the world be. you just wanted a friend. a friend you fell for, but someone to care for you. someone that you knew you’d never have.

taglist: @samarill @sakiimeo @astrolomona @dearsumire @saeism @shoheartluv @0kauy @lelemnh @aqualesha @ayameei

[diamondmeadow]

Rugby prongsfoot please!!

Yeeeees!!! I was hoping someone asks about this because... all I wanna do is talk about it (when I should be writing it - someone smack me). So this is another fic that was supposed to be written for a fest (I keep failing at all these deadlines, don't I?). This one was a prompt for Padfootfest last year, but I'm determined to finish it because I'm eternally obsessed with the idea. There were many prompts I wanted to write for in the fest, but the moment claiming went up, I had a random chat with some people on James' discord server about a particular prongsfoot prompt

Marauders host wet t-shirt contest.

where I ended up saying, very innocently, that during the contest everyone is surprised to find out Sirius has a secret nipple piercings. And that's how I was recruited to write it. At first the idea was pretty simple, but as it often goes with my ideas, they spiral, so we ended up with a universe where James and Sirius are childhood friends who end up at different unis, playing for different uni rugby teams. They meet one autumn at Sirius' uni where a rugby charity wet t-shirt contest is held. Of course, James and Sirius are glad to see each other, the event is fun and they have a friendly competition going on between each other the whole time. All would have been fine and dandy. But the thing is, since forever James has been having a sexuality crisis featuring Sirius which is only exasperated by a surprise discovery - Sirius has pierced his nipples and never told him about this. As we all imagine, it does things to James. Which might not be a problem per se, but James has a girlfriend back home (sorry Lils). In the end, in his crisis he succumbs to his weakness. Things happen. But hey, what happens at charity rugby events stays at charity rugby events, or more importantly what happens in the locker room showers with your best mate stays there too. Featuring big rugby boys prongsfoot, steamy intercrural, nipple play, lots of guilt (cheating), lots of shame (James is NOT gay), and lots of confusion. A couple happy, clueless event participants who get to go on a date with the rugby boys in exchange for a little monetary contribution, while the said boys think of nothing else but the sex they've just had together.

Anyway... pray for me. I don't have much written, it's just bits and pieces here and there, but this idea is rotting my brain and it is not coming off my wip list because it has all my favourite things and it-needs-to-happen. If I can't find time for this in summer, I might do a self-prompt for the Padfootfest this year.

[mcytanti]

A Dying Lioness

Track 39, Storms by Fleetwood Mac.

You are a lioness, and a dying one at that.

The world is ending, you feel it atrophy, you see how it crumbles, you speak with the others about how it will go. 

You hear her groans, cries, as she shifts and pulls underneath you, the earth is dying just like you.

You work, and you work, and you work some more. Grinding materials, reaching out to old friends for help, all this so your allies can fulfill their goal, vision, dream. Paw pads crack and claws break as you labor. Every shulker is filled to the brim with materials you strain as you move materials both and forth. It’ll be worth it, you tell yourself. Still the earth writhes.

Anxiety drives you, time is running out, you race against the other mega-collation to see who can finish first. Every second is closer to a promised end. Termination. A conclusion.

At some point, come to spawn, where all things began, only to see it has been destroyed even more, every building the central area blown up in some way. You see her wounds, she oozes obsidian and froglights. You assess the destruction, there’s no time. You can’t help her, not here at least.

Your slab is one of the builds destroyed. It makes you upset.

The love or heart stage is destroyed, but this doesn’t upset you at all. It served its purpose. The Slab had never been fully realized. Not while you were there, at least. But did you even know what you wanted the Slab to be? A meeting place? A place for drama? You aren’t sure. Still it bothers you.

When you ask the reason you are told “because she was bored” and that makes you angry.

You and everyone else online are spending your time creating, she could have joined you but instead decided to mindlessly destroy.

You rant to the others that she spent so much time wounded that she was alone but when she does things like this it’s hard for you to want to be around her.

You turn away, there is work to be done.

You get to talking about what happened before you arrived for today's work. The trail, team Sunset, the final judgement.

You are told that Sin might want to talk to you, you aren't very interested in what she has to say.

But then Arch says "I like when people get closure."

Closure is something you don't think exists as you don't think endings truly exist.

Life is about going from one moment to the exit and even in death you leave yourself in the memories of others, to share or alter or simply forget.

But then think of the work you are doing, and the monuments across the server. Brand new experiences for all. Every build for the maze had a message, a purpose, to make people consider their time here and what they've done with it.

Everything she does is for others.

You look around you, at the blocks you're placing and your messy inventory. You could have ran off and tired to fix spawn instead, that shattered earth, or worked your own project but instead you're here.

Everything she does is for others so everything you do is for her.

You go talk to Sin.

You thought about talking to Sin before, your original plan was to cry in front of him simply because you wanted him to feel bad, your next plan was to bring him to a trap and kill him, but revenge sounded hallow. It wasn't going to bring your home back.

Your latest plan is to be honest. It's the end of the world, after all, what good are plans and schemes now?

It's short, he apologizes as promised.

You don't accept it. It was cruel. You could have accepted a destroyed base, sure it would suck, but what was broken could be rebuilt. Yes, it would have been different, but it would also be new.

What Sin did was so much worse. An instant ban if you even got close. The base you worked so hard on and the build your husband so lovingly crafted on top of it could never be returned. Gone forever.

And the worst part is? You weren't even the target. Your allies were.

You tell him asking if he thought of you would be pointless. You know he didn't.

You are a tool. No one thinks of the hammer while hitting the nail.

Still, he seems sorry.

Still, you leave feeling the exact same way.

There's work to be done.

Some time passing and you finally steal a few moments with your wife. You love them so much, and you have been through so much together. Your sunshine. They are the warmth on your back. The light you close your eyes and turn your face towards.

You're both tired, you don’t talk as much as you maybe should. It doesn’t matter, all you wanted was a private moment with them and you got it. 

You wanted to write her a letter, praising them, thanking them but you're afraid you don’t have enough time. There’s work to be done. The earth groans.

As you work, your wife bans their husband.

You think of Jest for a moment. Circumstances prevented you from getting to know them, but you always found them a bit detached. Always away in some secret corner of the map. Only talking to Blue, Van, and Evu. A figure you see in the corner of your eye, just a glimpse, but never fully see.

Your conclusion is that this is a fitting end for them.

You continue to work.

Moving up and down, flying around and around, checking work, adding details. At some point it makes you sick but you keep going.

Your stomach rolls every time you fall off the vines into the Panopticon. Floor rushing towards you. You wonder if it’ll kill you. You never find out.

You finish it alone. You're done.

The others have left you, you’re not sure for what and you don’t really care. 

You call out to them. A roar from deep within your chest, it’s finished and you are so happy. 

Night falls as they return.

They are delighted, fluttering around you and the build. They crowd around the village for screenshots as you silently slip away to look at the work. 

Los Angeles, the Panopticon, Control. It’s stunning.

And you move on.

You talk to your husband next. You love him, but you feel the strain of the end. 

First you go to the cabin in the snow. The chill gets to you immediately, you can’t be surrounded by the cold in a time like this. The stillness bothers you. Blinding white. You can’t stand it.

You suggest you move to your town. There the humidity and mud comforts you. It’s dark here, warm and safe.

But you know no matter where you two go he will keep you safe.

In your den he is leaning against the couch while you sit at the kitchen counter.

You tell him what you planned to write in his book. That he was a help to you, that you found comfort in him, that you hope in the next life you keep being friends.

You ask to trade hearts. You want to carry a piece of him when it’s all over, you want him to have a piece of you. You kiss him softly, sweetly, and he goes.

Your inferno, soon his flame will burn out. Soon your wind will blow no more.

Time gets hazy after that. Like the fog of a dream you move your boat away from the destruction to something new. 

You hope to meet your friends here, in the bright blue water, with the coral and fishies and the build your husband so lovingly crafted.

At some point your husband has returned and suggests you fix the Slab.

The idea doesn’t make you feel good. You mentioned it earlier but decided it felt wrong to have something pristine in spawn when the earth is shattered and in pain.

“Really?” you ask but the others agree with Void and encourage you. You think if you tried to fix it you’ll cry. 

You ask him for time to think and moments after, because time is a luxury you no longer have, agree. 

Mostly because he said he’d help. You like having him do things for you.

One last project together. To move as one.

As you gather materials and work together people are being banned. You have a distaste for it. You decide you want to live. There’s no other way you could exist. Because you are flesh and bone and claws and tooth, and you will fight until the very end. There is no other way.

Resent does creep in. Busying yourself only works for so long. It was so pointless, at least Nara had a reason to blow things up. When Arch says it feels like griefing you silently agree.

When Chips joins the group and the first thing she says is don’t kill me I’ll be upset, you decide it’s time to work alone. Why should you consider Chip’s feelings when she didn’t consider yours? Or anyones for that matter? 

You don’t have the resources, don't have the time to be doing this. You have letters to write and goodbyes to say. 

You wait until she’s gone to rejoin but you're not completely there, float in and out of the group.

After you finish, or maybe before? It’s hard to tell as every moment fell atop the last, becoming one. You check out the clock tower. 

Signs upon signs telling a story, one that makes you cry as you ascend the steps.

At the end you are faced with more signs, clues, to solve the maze. 

You tell Arch you love her, and you think of your signs against an obsidian wall as you leave. A portrait of a jaguar. Frog Lights. A rusted wall.

Sweetbitter.

You do end up writing those letters. The Heart part 1 and 2. A thank you and I love you for a wife and a husband.

You think about how you say those words often, and wonder if people believe you when you do. You mean it. Deeply. Truly. Every single time. I love you.

Blue meets you at the clock tower while waiting for Birmingham to start for their letter. You kiss and hug and you feel better for a moment.

It is luck that Void is there too, a floor below. 

You threaten to kill him because he is your hostage. He asks why, sweet but confused. 

You tell him it is because he’s sooo special to you as you hand him the book. He reads it and hugs you. 

Comforts you when you admit you cried reading it. 

Not a very private moment with Arch standing right behind you but it will do. 

The moment itself is short as someone else needs him. 

He leaves. 

You think about how this summarizes your whole marriage. A few short moments before someone else needs him. 

You are left alone again. So you work on solving the maze Blue leaves for good. 

Your heart aches but you keep working. Always something to do.

Despite ignoring the major clues, the signs which reveal the order of locations you need to visit, you do finish charting your path and Arch tells you to fly. You do.

More people are banned and you tell the group that it bothers you. That you want others to choose life. Flowers in a field you don’t want to be stepped on.

However, you consider the people who have been banned and say that this makes sense. They aren’t the type to see things through until the end. 

But then Void and Mari ban each other and you feel devastated. 

Arch returns in tears and your heart aches even more. You ask her for one last girltalk. You need to make sure she’s okay.

When you ask Arch why, because of course she knows why he has to know why, she says it was planned. For a while. 

A memory flashes in your mind, something you can’t quite reach. You think you’ve been told that plan before but you’re just not sure. It doesn’t matter if you were. It makes sense for them.

Arch says that for some people this is their way of moving on. In the case of Void and Mari, you agree.

Then Evi agrees with your comment about the type of people who self ban. You wish you didn’t say anything at all.

Nara is revived, and comes back just to talk to you. 

You think of your past as you return to spawn.

You see her, handsome and strong as always, but her flame has burned out. Ash is in the place of a once brilliant bright flame.

You had such passion for each other. Your only question is where it went wrong.

“Spying,” he says, “Jay told us from the start.” 

Ah, so another thing Jay lied about. Add it to the list. 

You spent all day wanting to kill someone. 

Chips for spawn. Sin for the chunkban. Jay for everything. 

And Nara grants your wish. You ban Nara. It’s quick but there’s blood. Wet sticky. You have two of his heads, and two of his hearts. Another piece to take with you. You go back to flying.

You’re not sure how long it takes but you do fly across the world and back and the message is revealed. The question you must answer while writing your signs for the clock tower.

AT LAST WE MEET AT THE END OF THE WORLD. WAS IT WORTH IT.

You return. 

You tell Arch you could leave a long winded message about how it was worth, to get to know the server, to create with them, to love them. 

You only knew Meep when the server began and now you have found such a community, such love here. But you tell her that you’ll write the concise version instead.

On a cherry wood sign dyed light grey, glowing, you write “YES.”

Everyone is getting into places now, gear put away, last messages wrote.

You go to Animal Crossing, you have things very precious there. Your cubs.

Two jaguars. 

Jasmine. The eldest. Pink, a different shade of your beloved wife’s hair back when she was still alive. With the cutest heart shaped rosettes. Still, 9 months in the womb making you suffer and she doesn’t even look like her stupid mom, Blue.

Jezebel. The younger. She black fur, with the same green eyes of the man you love, and the buds of green horns. 9 months in your womb making you suffer and she looks just like her stupid dad. Void.

They are sleeping as you take them in your arms. The weight is heavy. They are still sleeping when you get Luna and Sappho from that hole in the wall you hid them in. 

You take them all to your den, so you can all be comfortable at the very end.

Luna and Sappho are cozy in bed.

You hold your cubs close to you and you lay down in your shower, head hitting the cold tuff floor. Tired. You want it to be over.

You think of Mari, and how you both wanted the world to end with a gunshot. Not a whimper. 

But here you are and the world is quiet. No more groans, no more struggle. This is her end, yours too.

Your husband is banned, your wife took an early leave. It’s you Arch, Cog, Princess, Evi, Seri and Mering at the very end.

There were things you could have done differently.

You were a storm, you blew into the server and for better or for worse you left things changed.

It feels hollow now, you wish you could have left more. Even now you churn, never a calm sea.

It’s fitting this end, but it wasn’t the plan. Was any of this the plan?

Yellow text flashes in your mind,

“Thanks for playing!” and your world is gone.