#most of the name changes I've heard are okay and I can live with them but I'm not gonna lie losing ''Sebastian Debeste'' stings

[kingdomoftyto]

As expected I am simultaneously THRILLED that AAI2 is finally getting an English translation and DEVASTATED that the official localization is changing the fan-established character names

Who the fuck is Eustace Winner

[lost-in-fiction-like-ur-mom]

Hi! I've read a couple of your fics and guidelines for requesting and I'd like to give it a go. Can I get a Tech x reader who's a friend of Phee (canon divergence where He lives) where he falls in love with reader and spends time relaxing on Pabu. Hope you have a wonderful day/night/whatever time it is for you! 😁

Falling Swiftly

Tech x Reader

Summary- Being a friend of Phee's, you meet The Bad Batch. Tech catches your eye, and you eventually get to live out your dream with him on Pabu.

A/N- *slowly slides in*.....So its been almost three months since I've posted.... SORRY! Better late then never? Either way, it's here now!! I hope you enjoy, TYSM for requesting!!! I went a little crazy at the beginning, sad to happy is MY FAV! The timeline is slightly exaggerated.

Word Count- 1,622

Tech. CT-9902. Brown Eyes.

You had first heard of the name when your friend Phee had sent you a Holo message. One that explained she ran into a group called 'The Bad Batch,' that they would be returning to the island with her.

You were ecstatic that your long-distance friend would be returning to Pabu. It had been weeks since you had seen her, you needed to catch up.

She always told you about the trifling adventures she went on, she was the thrill seeker of the friendship. You were content living vicariously through her.

Though, her bringing in a new 'batch' of people? Mild concern flowed through you, but you trusted Phee's judgement. Even if she had barely escaped death many times.... Okay, maybe you didn't trust her completely.

When word spread through the island that a ship was inbound, you knew it was her. Pabu didn't get many visitors.

You eagerly awaited her at the top of the island, a safe distance from the landing pad. You were practically bouncing on your heels with excitement.

"Phee!" You exclaimed as soon as you saw her exit the ship. She laughed and walked over with open arms.

A warm hug was exchanged, but cut short as the rest of 'The Bad Batch' walked down the ramp.

A small girl and three men, who vaguely resembled clones, appeared.

Your eyes immediately landed on the quirky looking man. He wore glasses, shaded yellow, and had his head down to look at his Holo pad. He somehow managed to not trip or run into anyone. This slightly impressed you.

"This is Pabu. My home away from home!" She announced to the group.

"And this, is my dear friend." She shared your name to the group while you awkwardly waved.

The tension was eased as soon as the young girl, ran up to you.

"That's such a pretty name, I'm Omega!" She radiated energy, her kindness was contagious. "Thank you. It's really nice to meet you, Omega."

Pleasantries were cut short as Phee continued her tour. You trailed along with them, mostly keeping quiet.

You always noticed how people tuned you out, almost forgetting you were there. It was something you were used to, so why change? You were talkative to the people you were comfortable with, wasn't that enough?

Somehow you didn't feel that way with, who you learnt was, Tech. Sure, his eyes were glued to his pad most of the time- but the few days you spent with him felt different.

When traveling around the island with everyone, Tech didn't let you trail behind. He always kept up with your pace. Only a few words were exchanged alone, but he always made you feel... human. He didn't let you be forgotten.

It shocked you when he knocked on your door, asking to go on a walk. You could faintly hear Omega and Wrecker snickering behind a bush.

Fighting your surprise, you accepted.

From there, the two of you spent hours upon hours together.

The smile on your face would only grown when he started ranting about his current interest. His vast knowledge amused you.

When he recounted tales of him and "The Bad Batch's" adventures, you felt like you were really there. Not to mention some of the recordings he had showed you.

One night, the two of you had found yourselves by the sand. The sound of the water splashing up made you sleepy.

With your arms crossed under your head, you laid flat. Tech, who was next to you, sat bent over. Of course- his Holo pad was between his hands.

"Did you know some beaches glow?" He started, eyes still down.

"Hmm? Really?" You asked, shifting your attention to him.

"Well-" He pushed his goggles up. "They are not technically glowing. The bright light is caused by ostracod crustaceans, which are bioluminescent organisms."

You closed your eyes, listening to him rant on about different sea life that illuminated light.

Your smile soon dropped, sadness overtaking you. A wave of emotions hit, you remembered all too well that he was leaving in the morning... You understood he had to save his old friend, Crosshair. Though, it didn't hurt any less.

Desperately, you tried to conceal your pain. Only a sniffle escaped.

Tech, oh so observant, Tech. "What is wrong?" He set his Holo pad down, eyes locked on you.

He cared about you so much... You squeezed your eyes shut and shuffled to a sit. You could barely respond, your tears overtaking you. "You're leaving..." At that, you shoved your face in your hands.

You didn't notice that Tech had moved closer until his hands gently pulled at your wrist. "I'll be back." He insisted, trying to see your face.

"Tech, I'm worried for you. What if something happens?" You stared at him, an argumentative tone present.

With an unintentional scoff, he spoke. "I have been on many improbable missions. If I thought this one was impossible, I wouldn't be going."

You sat there, wrist still in his grasp. "You don't understand.." Your eyes filled again.

It's true Tech was not one for emotions, or picking up on tension. It was difficulty for him to process others feelings.

"I know. Please... Help me understand."

You just sobbed, he pulled you tight against his chest. You could feel his heart beating, it was fast like yours.

He kissed the top of your head, at a loss for words. Eventually, a hand fell down to rest on your back. He slightly rubbed it every so often.

That was all you remembered of that night. It had been days after, no one knew when they would be coming back. If they were coming back. It was a no contact mission, the risk was too high.

Your mind was filled with thought of him. Sure, he was gone, but he seemed so vivid in your memory.

He was genuine. You knew he wasn't lying when he pushed your hair back and complimented your eyes.

You knew he wasn't lying when he held your hand softly and told you how he yearned to stay with you.

You knew he wasn't lying when the two of you picked flowers and promised a future together.

Who knew that future would be at such a high stake? Was your Tech going to come back alive?

It had been a painful two weeks. Each day without him was a stab to your heart.

What had stressed your out most, was seeing their ship fly in... It was about to be reality. Was he alive? Dead?

You anxiously shifted on your heels at the top of the island, not unlike the first day you met Tech.

Hunter was the first off the ship, next was the man you assumed to be Crosshair.

"Hunter! Is he-" You would later feel bad for not welcoming Hunter back as well, but he'd understand.

Your question was answered as soon as you saw him pace out the ship. For once in his life, he wasn't holding his Holo Pad.

As you would later learn from Hunter, Tech had never been this eager to land the ship...

"Tech!" You ran up, meeting him. A slight jump had you wrapping your arms around his neck. His own hands joining on your lower back.

All you could do was bury your face in his neck and whisper thanks to the Maker.

Your arms only relaxed when you felt kisses on the top of your head. "Oh, Tech. I missed you more than words can describe." You said, pulling slightly away to look into his eyes.

"I think I understand." He said looking down at you. Your eyebrows furrowed slightly, confused. Then it hit you- the beach.

With a sob, your grip tightened again as you held him.

A slight pang hit your chest when remembering that moment, it quickly went away. You were completely content with Tech, living out your days on Pabu.

The memory did, however, make you want to see your husband. Getting up from your chair in the kitchen, you headed out to your somewhat of a shed. Tech mostly worked in there, tools and projects that helped Pabu.

You gave a quick knock on the wooden door to let him know you were there, but you assumed he already knew by him calling you name.

A mischievous grin came across your face when you realized he had taken his sleeved shirt off and tied it around his waist. The Pabu heat was no joke in the summer.

"What ya working on?" You queried, leaning over him. Your chin rested on his sweaty shoulder.

"Experimenting on an echolocation device to persuade fish towards the fishermen's ships." He explained briefly for you, head still down working at a handheld device.

When you didn't move nor respond, he shuffled to look at you. "Did something happen?"

His eyes absentmindedly scanned you for any physical injury. Deep down, Tech was still a soldier.

"No, just thinking about you." You smiled at him, just wanting to spend time with him.

He understood well enough and moved to pull a chair up by the table. "Here, you can watch." His words seemed off putting, but you knew that's just how he was. That it was his way of showing he cared and also wanted your presence.

So, you sat and listened to him rant about the technological side of his piece, and that the last step was to make it bolt to the base of the fishing boats.

You couldn't offer many ideas or solutions, but Tech being able to talk out the project helped him tweak his wires. He always worked better with you next to him...

A/N- Thank you so much for reading! This is BARELY proof read, sorry! I just wanted to get something out for you guys!!! Please let me know of any constructive criticism!

Tags- (LMK if you want to be tagged as well!) @thethreeeyed-raven @knight-of-flowerss @dangraccoon

[smahell]

is there a villain in obey me?

yes. according to this simple search, diavolo is the antagonist we should fear. and date. and collect cards of. for some reason.

this was sent in a discord server I was in as a very very obvious joke (hopefully) and this result is surely ai generated, or google's done a whoopsie-doodle and taken something off of reddit.

yes, diavolo can assert himself as an antagonistic force, but all of his actions are always within logical reason. though it may be against the wishes of the brothers and MC, he always does what is right for the devildom, whether that may be putting lucifer on house arrest, or locking belphegor away from his brothers.

diavolo is literally just trying his best, and he's been doing that since his father basically dumped the responsibility of a whole realm on his shoulders and abandoned him to sleep at the bottom of the devildom. his past is genuinely so sad.

so, who's the villain in obey me????

you could certainly say it's belphie.. but you can also date him. belphie changes through our the story, and as of right now, he holds nothing against humans and anyone in general. though it was a short span of time, he has gained the (somewhat undeserving) forgiveness of everyone around him after trying to kill MC.

like yes, michael, but it's very obvious with him disguising himself as raphael, going against god's will, and even his manipulation of the brothers that he wants the brothers back, and still sees them as family. even if that may not be reciprocated.

you could say father. but in a sense, lilith broke the rules, and so did the brothers. they all needed to be punished accordingly. and the brothers still refer to him as "father" and not by any other name. they don't hate him as of now.

they feel sympathy. an attachment. a connection.

in the og where michael was mentioned once or twice, the fandom was quick to assign him as The Bad Guy™, but getting to know him through nb, he really is just like all the other characters in terms of role. and throughout nb michael is doted on fondly by the brothers. it's that sort of difficult familial love estranged families can relate to.

are these good decisions? no

but he's not a villain.

if you lost the loving family and friends you knew, and you had the power to get them back through such unconventional means... michael is just using the powers he was given.

"so then.. maddie's the bad guy." okay grandpa, let's get you back to your wheelchair..

she's barely even mentioned for starters, and from what I've heard, she's not even been mentioned in nb. all she's done is made mammon cry at some point, and tried to marry diavolo. she might be a shitty person, yes, but she's never even involved enough to make out lives, or even all the brothers's lives a living nightmare. she's a very minor nuisance, at most.

all the characters do something antagonistic. every single one of them. if there was a villain it would discredit the fact that the game isn't about heroes and villains and morality, but about people. and that's what makes obey me so good. and if there was (a villain), the story would've ended by now, long before the franchise's fifth anniversary. ****

every character is morally grey, and the fact that it leaves it up to the player to annotate what is good and bad makes the whole experience more immersive and personal than ever. however, it speaks volumes concerning a lack of media comprehension that anyone would try to assign a villain to obey me.

obey me is about dating silly demon boys, and watching people live, whether that be in peace and harmony, or in tense, on-the-brink-of-destruction moments. the story has no need of a true antagonist, when we have well developed and wide range of characters gets that impact the story no matter what. enjoy the game, hate or love the characters.. whether they're antagonists or not, just have fun.

****(because the devs weren't very good at writing the first game.. so I doubt they could've had the support to have written a second one)

[edit: this was brainstormed between @prettylittlelambs and i on discord :3 thank you for sort of inspiring me and going me come up with more ideas]

[princessmaybank]

Im so so sorry. I requested but completely forgot to say who I wanted it with. Can you do prompts 6 and 14 from the Cherry Red prompt list??? Congrats on 5k you deserve it

😭😭

Sorry this took so long baby! You sent a few of these but we got it cleared up! I hope you like it!

No Touching

Pairings: JJ x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Mentions of abuse, kissing, mutual masterbation, etc.

Summary: JJ sees your bruises and doesn't want to hurt you, he comes up with a plan to get you both off.

Author's Note: Not my best work, but I hope you like it!

She came running in with tear stained cheeks, soaking wet, and bruises all over her exposed skin. Y/N hadn't even said anything yet and my blood was boiling. John B was at Sarah's, everyone else was at their respective homes, and I wouldn't be caught dead at my house at the moment.

She immediately ran into my open arms. I held her as we stood in the middle of the living room. Y/N cried into my chest and with each sob it shattered my heart a little bit more. I suddenly remembered that she had those bruises. Careful not to hurt her, I pull her away from me so I can stare into her eyes. "Who did this to you?" I asked through gritted teeth, ready to tear apart the asshole who dared to lay a fucking finger on her. She was shaking as she gave me a name, barely above a whisper, but I heard it. That name was all I needed before I was stomping my way to the screen door, ready to charge through the thunderstorm outside to beat Rafe Cameron's ass. I would've too if I wasn't yanked backwards by a small tug around my bicep. I turned to face Y/N, trying to calm my heavy breathing.

"Please stay here. Don't leave me." She cried. Her voice broke on every word. I couldn't leave her like this, broken and hurt, so I decided to stay for her. My arms enveloped her shivering body making sure not to squeeze her and cause more pain.

"I'm tired. So tired.." She choked out. I led her to the guest bedroom before pulling out some clothes for her to change into. After I handed them to her I turned to walk out of the room but I felt that same small tug on my bicep again.

"Can you help me Jay? It's hard to move in certain ways." She frowned. "Oh, of course.." I tried not to stutter. She walked over to me and started to try and lift her arms over her head. "Hey, hey, slow and easy okay? One step at a time." I smiled at her. She smiled back and slowly began to move. I grabbed the bottom of her shirt and slowly lifted, revealing more bruises on her torso.

I soothed her as I continued to remove her clothes. After she was left in her bra and panties I stepped back for a moment. I needed to grab the clothes from the bed but I couldn't help my eyes from running all over her body. The red and purple marks lacing her skin were enough to make my eyes water. Y/N is the most kind hearted and beautiful person I have ever known. Rafe Cameron never deserved her. He is already the biggest asshole on planet earth but to take Y/N, the sweetest woman in the entire fucking universe, for granted, now that's a new fucking low. Next time I see him I will fucking murder him. She deserves so much better.

Suddenly I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard her light voice. "What did you say? Sorry.." I asked. "I said, are you just going to stare at me all day or are you going to do something about it Jay.." She smiled and waltzed over to me. She lightly placed her hands on my hips. Her bright E/C eyes were shining as she stared into mine. "I-I don't wanna hurt you Y/N.." I answered shyly. "I trust you with my life Jay.."

Before I knew it, we were on the couch, with each other's tongues down our throats. Her hips were jutting against mine. "Fuck are you sure about this Y/N?" I ask and pull away. "I've never been more sure, Jay." She smiled and stood up, her hand reached for mine and she led me to the bedroom. She closed the door and walked back over to me. "Hey uhm..can we take it slower?" I asked. I would usually jump at this opportunity but I couldn't help but think about how much pain she was in. I don't want to hurt her more.

She nodded in agreement before sitting next to me and started leaning in for a kiss. It took so much in me to keep my hands off of her, even though she wanted me to touch her. Our kiss led to me hovering over her, caressing her sides. She winced under my touch like it was too much. I pulled my hands away and continued to kiss her.

Fuck this was difficult! I couldn't touch her, but she wanted me to. "I-I can't I'm sorry Y/N." I pulled away and sat up. She hung her head low and whispered an apology. "No, no, don't be sorry Y/N. It's not your fault. And believe it or not, I really wanna touch you." I tried to comfort her from where I was sitting. "Really?" She asked through some tears. I nodded and gave her a smile. "Do you see what you do to me?" I chuckle and point to my hard-on which makes her giggle. "If it makes you feel better I'm extremely wet." She giggled and her cheeks tinted red. "I have an idea." I say before pulling my shorts down, my underwear follows shortly behind. I sat back down and started stroking myself. My head fell back as small whimpers released from me. I sat back and looked back to Y/N to see her with a shocked look on her face. "Oh fuck, close your mouth Y/N, not until you're ready to use it.." I whine and she surprisingly obeys. I stroked myself for a little bit longer while she watched me. "Your turn, princess." My pumps slowed down. "What?" She was embarrassed. Her eyes popped out of her head and her cheeks grew more red by the second. "Play with yourself princess." I said as I continued to stroke myself. I watched as her hand gently creeped between her legs. She started teasing herself through her shorts. "Fuck-" I whispered.

Y/N started to take her shorts off, leaving her panties on for a few moments. She teased herself by pulling her underwear harshly against her clit. My mouth was practically watering at this point. A small gasp came from her lips before she pulled her panties off. "C'mon princess, touch yourself for me." I whispered. Soon after, she brought her fingers down to her clit. I watched as her eyes closed and she shifted to get comfortable. Her tongue briefly came out to wet her lips as her fingers worked in small circles. I matched her pace with my stroking. Her eyes stayed closed but her mouth was wide, letting out pretty little noises. Her fingers circled faster. "Oh fuck Jay-" She moaned out and I nearly busted. I never thought I would hear her say my name this way. My hand went up and down faster as she continued to toy with herself. I still matched her pace making sure we would be ready around the same time. "C'mon princess, cum for me.." I panted. I sped up my motions and she did too. A few curses later from both of us and we both came at the same time. My name released from her mouth as I called her princess at the same time.

Her cum soaked the bedsheets under her as mine spilled into my hand. I smiled at her before walking to the bathroom to get a rag. I washed my hands so I could clean her up when I got back. I sat next to her on the bed again before gently wiping up her beautiful mess. "That was fun." She giggled. "Just wait until I can use my hands." I smiled and winked at her.

[another-random-paradise]

Hiii! I saw ur account is open to Twisted Wonderland requests and I do hope I can make one request!

Maybe a request for Mozus Trein with an S/O(ofc they’re the same age as him) that is shy and timid but was once an outgoing teenager when they were young and how the two bond now that they’re seeing each other again with both of them knowing that both of them obviously had a crush on one another since teens but separated due to familial circumstances(def didn’t inspire this by an oc of mine, hahahahahaaa-)

Thank you so much for the request!! and yeahh, many of my ideas are based of OC's- Since you didn't specify, I decided to write this as a short fic, since i've been wanting to write one for quite a while now, i hope that's okay!! (tbh I'm so used to writing headcanons, that if you really want to, you can also read this as headcanons) Hope you enjoy :) Also, i refuse to take Treins girl dad privilege's so i simply turned his marriage into an arranged one-

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Trein and Childhood crush!Reader reconnecting after years apart

Characters: Mozus Trein

Format: Short Fic (972 words)

Warnings: None that i can think of

Trein was rummaging through some old stuff, with his wife's death a few years ago, he decided to declutter, when he stumbled upon an old box. An old box, filled with memories of his time as a teenager. Many of them included pictures of the two of you, how could they not, when he used to spend most of his time wishing he could spend every waking moment with you. Trein has always been an orderly person, perhaps that's why he loved you, you and your outgoing personality, never shying away from anything. If he was completely honest, he still does, and there is nothing he regrets more, than not marrying you.

He still remembers the day like it was yesterday, when his parents told him he was to be married, to a woman he didn't even know, once they were both eighteen, how it broke his heart. Of course, it had to be the same day he planned to finally confess to you. So, when you met him at your favorite spot, instead of a carefully planned speech about his feeling, one he knows he would have messed up anyways at the sight of your smile, he blurted out that he's engaged. He had never felt more pain, than as he watched your heart break, seeing the pain in your eyes. He only wishes that you were able to see how it hurt him too. And the two of you coming from a generation before phones existed made it hard to stay connected, so, in the end you lost sight of each other. Oh, how he wished he could have rebelled against his parents, he still wishes he did, but he always followed the rules his parents set, believing they only wanted the best for him, so how was he supposed to just stop? He is truly happy with his life, there is nothing he loves more than his daughters, and yet to this day, you have never left his heart. To this day, it wishes it were you with who he lived this life.

And it seems that his wishes were heard for once, as the doorbell rings. He is confused at first, the person at the door seems familiar to him, he just can't quite pin point it, at least not until the familiar stranger speaks-

"Long time no see, Mozus"

No matter how much you've changed over the years, the way you speak his name as you smile at him is something that remained the same, something that he could never forget. He invited you inside, the shock of seeing you so long painted clearly on his face. The two of you sit down at the coffee table, as he hands you your drink. He has many questions, and he can only assume you do too. It doesn't take long before you two are talking as openly as you did when you were younger, reminiscing about the older days, discussing what each of you did during your time apart; he tells much about his lovely daughters, talking about each of them as if they're a piece of art, before asking what you did during your time away. He noticed rather quickly that you spoke much quieter than when you were young, holding yourself back during stories instead of making them as big as can be, where he wouldn't have gotten a word in when you were young, he was now leading the conversation. But he couldn't say that he minded, it was only normal to change with age, and he's afraid his aged body wouldn't be able to handle the adventures attitude you had as a child; the change is welcomed with open arms, just as you welcomed everything that changed about him. The conversation lasts well into the night, it is already dark out when the two of you finally become tired. Being the gentleman that he is, and always was, he invites you to stay the night, perhaps even a few more if you have travelled from afar to meet him. As he goes to sleep, he feels a warmth he hasn't felt in years.

It was an early morning, when the sound of meows awoke you. It seems it didn't take long for Lucius to warm up to you either, as the tuxedo cat lets you pet him, albeit only for a few minutes, before elegantly walking of to eat breakfast. Deciding to follow suit, you get dressed and make your way to the kitchen. When you arrive, Trein is already making breakfast, wishing you a good morning, before returning his attention to the eggs. He is already dressed to a tee, you can only imagine how early he woke up. You decide to help him, carrying the finished food to the table, as you started to properly wake up. "Didn't you say you work at a college? don't you have to go to work soon?" you ask as you both sit down at the table. "Luckily, you visited me during the holidays, I have three more weeks before i need to return to work." He responded, a smile on his face. Very quickly the two of you made plans for these weeks, to reconnect.

And reconnect you did. Your plans very quickly turned into dates, as the two of you realize that neither of you ever got over your feelings. You finally do all, or rather all the things that you can do at your age, that you wanted to do as teenagers. Eventually, you even meet his daughters, who luckily seem to like you. They know their parents marriage was arranged, and seeing their father happy with you, makes them happy.

It may have taken many, many years of longing, but it seems that, in the end, fate still had a happy ending in mind for the two of you.

Very fun to write, very happy that i finally had the chance to try and write a proper fic!!

Feedback is welcomed, just be nice please :)

Hope you have a nice day/night!

[cheegu3]

Enhypen - the glory (part 5)

summary; after rejecting one of the most popular boys at your new school, you soon realised that you'd done the gravest mistake of your life; these weren't ordinary boys, and now they were set on making your life a living hell - heavily based on the kdrama with the same name

warnings; yandere, bullying, swearing, alcohol, hospital scene, mentions of murder & suicide, affair

genre; yandere

wc; 4.8k

pairing; enha x f.m reader

note; this is more of a chill chapter, we get someone's backstory :D but yeah u won't be as stressed after as the last chapter lmao, also I've changed the narrating a little based on this poll I did, if everyone hates it I will change it lol, but I felt it added a little more flavour ??? to the characters.

masterlist

The sound of the phone hitting the floor echoed in the empty hallway. You backed away, slowly while never taking your eyes off of it; as if it had a camera inside and whoever texted was watching with a grin on their face.

It started ringing, vibrating violently on the floor. You ran up and picked it up, only because you were afraid they were still in the building and could hear it. But when looking down at the screen, you breathed out in relief. It was the number that Soobin had texted with.

‘’ Hello? ‘’

You waited in silence, not wanting to risk revealing anything in case that number wasn’t him either.

‘’ Y/n? ‘’

It was his voice, thankfully.

‘’ Soobin! I think they have my number. I got a text from someone else and I thought it was you. ‘’ you said in a hushed voice, starting to walk towards the entrance while hunched over.

‘’ What? Did you say anything? ‘’

‘’ Not anything that would make them think I was talking to you. But who do I say I thought it was? They will probably ask tomorrow. ‘’

Soobin quietened for a moment.

‘’ Maybe it’s best you don’t come to the academy tomorrow. ‘’

‘’ No, that’s a terrible idea! It will make me look really suspicious. ‘’

‘’ Will you really be able to lie to their faces if you see them though? ‘’

‘’ I have to try at least. But if I don’t succeed, a backup plan? ‘’

You heard him hum on the other side of the line.

‘’ We can use Yeonjun then. ‘’

Your face scrunched up, doubt written all over your face. You were pretty sure he’d reject it, rather rudely, based on him telling you to stay away from his brother the last time the two of you talked.

‘’ Or…Yena. ‘’ you suggested.

‘’ Yena? Who is that? ‘’

‘’ Jungwon’s sister. I’ve met her and she gave the impression of almost hating him. It’s a long shot bu- ‘’

Soobin sassily agreed, ‘’ It definitely is. ‘’

‘’ Backup plans don’t have to be super solid. I’m just gonna bet everything on plan A working out. ‘’

You didn’t have many choices after all. Yena was risky and uncertain, Yeonjun was almost certainly a no and you weren’t sure about Sunoo yet. With no other friends that could be undercover right under the noses of your bullies, all that was left to do was to believe in yourself and be confident; which was definitely a first.

‘’ What do I do if they text again? ‘’

‘’ Pretend like you knew it was them from the beginning. If they question it, say you were…drunk? ‘’ 

Your loud laugh echoed. ‘’ Soobin, your suggestions suck. ‘’

‘’ Sorry…’’ he mumbled back.

‘’ I might have to resort to that though, if it all goes to shit. ‘’

‘’ I still don't think you should go. ‘’

‘’ My parents want me to get good grades. I can’t lose my scholarship at this prestigious school. ‘’

‘’ But you already went today. Just use an excuse so you don’t have to see them. We can hang out instead, if you want? ‘’

Your phone vibrated again in your hand.

‘’ Hold on, I’m getting another call. I’ll let you know though. ‘’

‘’ Okay, bye! ‘’

You pressed answer on the incoming call after having hung up on Soobin. It was an unknown number again, so mentally you prepared yourself before putting the phone to your ear.

‘’ Hello? ‘’

‘’ Did you guess right? ‘’

The voice sounded familiar, but admittedly it was one of the last people you expected.

‘’ Sunghoon? ‘’

‘’ Well done! ‘’

‘’ How do you have my number? ‘’

‘’ Took your phone while Ni-ki was busy with you in the gym. ‘’

Ah, of course. It would’ve been almost impossible to divide your attention between all seven of them to catch them in the act if they went through your stuff. You were thankful for having changed your settings so you actually had a password now, making sure they couldn’t go through your phone and see Soobin there.

‘’ Do the others have it too? ‘’

‘’ Not yet. ‘’

You weren’t sure what to say next, letting the silence settle. You felt like there was something else, but he was taking his time saying it.

‘’ Oh, right! I forgot about that. ‘’ he shouted out abruptly as if talking to himself.

‘’ Forgot about what? ‘’

‘’ You texted me back, almost like you were waiting for someone to text you. ‘’

You panicked and was forced to come up with a lie on the spot in just a few seconds. Luckily, since he couldn’t see you, it was much easier to lie. Your face didn’t heat up and you didn’t have to maintain eye-contact with basically one of the living lie detectors out of the group. 

You were incredibly lucky today. If you were face to face, he’d be able to figure out you were lying very fast.

 ‘’ Yeah…my cousin just got a phone and said she’d text me today. ‘’

He went quiet for a moment, scaring you. Was he trying to assess your voice because he wasn’t sure if he believed you? 

‘’ Are you lying to me, sweetheart? ‘’

You froze but managed to press out an answer through clenched teeth, ‘’ No. ‘’

‘’ Are you sure? I can easily check up on your family, you know that. ‘’

But you had already made up your mind, it would be cruel and very stupid to throw Soobin under the bus now. The only option was doubling-down and lying until your nose turned red.

‘’ Yes. I’m sure. ‘’ you tried to put a little irritation to your tone to make it more believable.

After some time, he ticked his tongue and reluctantly answered,

‘’ Okay. ‘’

You waited with bated breath, for what he’d say next.

‘’ You’re coming tonight, right? ‘’

‘’ Tonight? What’s tonight? ‘’

‘’ Just hanging out. Jungwon’s house. Come over. ‘’

‘’ But- ‘’

Your protest was rudely cut off by the sound of the call ending. Looking down at the phone, a scowl formed on your face and you huffed. Another party? What was wrong with them?

You stood in the corridor, feeling completely dumbfounded. Could you even run away now, no- you glanced down at your arms, remembering what happened last time you did and cursing them for giving you such a permanent reminder.

Taking a deep breath you cautiously made your way to the entrance. Despite him not mentioning anything about the hospital, it was still pretty smart to be on your guard on the way out. Who knew if that girl had texted them as soon as you and Soobin left her room, and they rushed there to ambush you.

But it was fairly quiet when you reached the front desk. If they were hiding, they probably would’ve come out a long time ago, since you were just meters away from the entrance now.

You shrugged off the random burst of paranoia and sprinted to hail a taxi outside. Maybe they would let you go home quite early just like last time. There wasn't much you could bring to the table anyway.

You fished your phone out and texted Soobin, telling him that Sunghoon had called and told you to come to Jungwon's house. It felt a bit unusual. You’d never hung out with them after school up until the day before, when Jay dragged you to the party.

‘’ Miss, we’re here. ‘’

‘’ Thank you. ‘’

You got out and hurried inside as it was still snowing, albeit a lot less than earlier. They were standing in the entrance, all eyes on you when the taxi drove away. The gate stood wide open this time, and the front door was open which gave them a perfect view of the driveway.

‘’ Hey. ‘’ Sunoo smiled at you.

You groaned mentally, whole body screaming for you to turn back around and go home. They didn’t even give you a chance though. As soon as you had put your stuff down, you were dragged by the waist to the living room, where all those people had been last time.

However, this time the couches were empty except for when they started sitting down in them one by one. You shifted uncomfortably, being the only one still standing.

It was obvious that there was no party. No music and no other people, only the alcohol in the red cups was the recurring theme from the day before. Why did they make you come there all alone? You felt anxiety start to brew at the pit of your stomach. 

‘’ I-uh…can I use the bathroom? ‘’

It was the oldest trick in the book, but hopefully they had already had so much to drink before you showed up that they wouldn’t think twice about it.

Jake was the only one who answered, with an uninterested grunt. You went right away, in case they would change their minds. Locking yourself into the bathroom you texted soobin. 

6:00 pm

You: Soobin? They’ve dragged me to Jungwon’s house.

The phone pinged almost immediately, you panicked and turned off the sound, looking around in the silence to see if they might’ve noticed. Nothing moved around outside and no noises or footsteps got closer. 

Next you had to suppress a laugh as you noticed you named him cousin so the others wouldn’t notice anything. Naming him ‘’ baby ‘’ would’ve made all hell break loose if they had just spotted it once.

Cousin: What? Like a party? 

You: Not really, I’m the only one here.

Cousin: Can you get away? 

You sucked on your lip while thinking. There wasn’t really a way out of this unless you wanted to have more wounds on your body. The whole thing felt like a very annoying headache.

Cousin: Y/n? Hello? Do you need help? 

You: No! We have a plan, remember?

Cousin: Sorry :(

You: I’ll text you later

Cousin: I live close by, just run over

You: Will you drive me home? :) 

Cousin: ofc!

‘’ Princess? ‘’

You jumped and almost dropped your phone clumsily in the process of getting up from the toilet seat. The phone slipped into your pocket again. You unlocked the door and stepped out, coming face to face with Heeseung.

He only looked at you briefly, then pushed past you to get to the bathroom. You went back to join the others. Sunoo and Ni-ki occupied the only couch that wasn’t full so you went to them.

Sunoo lit up when seeing you and Ni-ki only said something under his breath before moving so you could sit next to him. Sunoo handed you a cup and you poured alcohol in it, downing it almost immediately in a poor attempt to fix your uneasiness.

‘’ Not drinking? ‘’

‘’ Not a fan. ‘’

Ni-ki sounded moody, resting his elbows on his legs so his whole form was slumped over. His head didn’t raise when he talked, indicating he wanted to be left alone. You looked at Sunoo for answers but he just shrugged, mouthing ‘ bad day ‘.

‘’ Do you still box? ‘’

He finally raised his head to give you a very vehement look. ‘’ Yeah. ‘’ 

Sunoo tried to avoid it when his eyes averted to him, knowing he was looking at him in disbelief over what he had blurted out when he was alone with you. Whistling innocently he looked away and pretended like he was interested in the intense and lively conversation Jake and Jay were having next to him.

Now that Sunoo was turned away from you two, you leaned in a bit closer to Ni-ki, asking what you’d been wondering for a long time.

‘’ Do you even like me? ‘’

He frowned and then looked a bit caught off guard, pulling his hood further up to cover more of his face. ‘’ Yeah? I…think so. ‘’

‘’ But like, as much as the others or…’’ you trailed off.

He glared at you through his bangs which made you close your mouth again, regretting saying anything at all.

‘’ Y/n? ‘’

Sunghoon called you over, patting on the empty seat next to him where presumably Heeseung sat in before. Reluctantly you sat down, glancing at Jake and hoping you wouldn’t catch his attention any time soon, since he was extra bad when intoxicated.

Sunghoon must’ve noticed, his long fingers came up to your jaw, turning your head towards him. You stared into his bleary eyes. He looked very drunk, long gone with his pupils struggling to focus on you. But there was still some tenderness in them.

Sunghoon was slightly anxious. He’d never been alone with you before, and not this close in such an innocent way too; they all acted as a group and stuck together as one, agreeing to not be alone with you for too long.

While leaning his head back on the couch the two of you were sitting on, he turned his head to look at you. It was embarrassing how nervous you made him, as if you were some crush he had in middle school. Just looking at you made his throat close up.

‘’ Do you like this house? ‘’ he randomly blurted out, through slurred speech.

You laughed lightly which made Sunghoon smile widely.

‘’ Yeah, it’s nice. ‘’

He wanted to say more, maybe the way to your heart was to make you laugh. But he didn't get the chance to before Jungwon plopped down on the other side of the couch, next to you.

He didn’t seem at all interested in flirting with you, instead going straight into a rather serious-toned conversation, a dead-pan look on his face.

‘’ Do you know why he invited you here? ‘’

‘’ No. Not really. ‘’ you tilted your head.

‘’ From now on, we want to see you outside of school too. ‘’

You turned to him. ‘’ Why? ‘’

His lips were licked as annoyance flashed across his face, his cold eyes piercing through you. ‘’ Because we said so. ‘’

The alcohol had started to rush to your head already, making your speech a bit slower, vision blurrier but also lips bolder. 

‘’ Why are you always so blunt with me? You’re kind of mean. ‘’ 

He grimaced at your whiny tone and got eye-contact with Sunghoon, who probably knew what his friend was thinking. But he could never really stop Jungwon, since he was the leader after all.

‘’ Because, you’re a brat. ‘’ he calmly said, although his eyes were anything but.

‘’ A brat? ‘’ 

You stood up and almost stumbled into his lap when the dizziness hit you. Tauntingly, you looked down at him while swinging your cup in one hand.

‘’ You’re the ones who fucking bully me, you piece of shit! ‘’

‘’ Y/n. ‘’ Sunghoon warned, seeing Jungwon’s eyes narow.

‘’ Don’t talk to me like that. ‘’

You groaned and almost ripped your hair out in frustration. His calm exterior always made you feel crazy; it made you look hysteric in comparison, and wrong when you had all the reasons to be acting like that.

‘’ Shut the fuck up! ‘’ you yelled.

He snapped. Standing up so fast you flinched and lost balance, he was there to jerk you towards him with a harsh grip around your wrist. You lost your chance to talk as he hurried to drag you upstairs, Sunghoon running behind. 

You get pushed into a bedroom and Sunghoon got the door slammed in his face just as he was a few seconds away from it.

The tension in the room is high. Even though your back was turned to Jungwon, you could almost feel how he seethed of anger, but it was controlled and calculated, he was in control not you.

‘’ Face me. ‘’

You shuddered at his low voice, taking as much time as possible to turn around. The door was locked, who knew what he was going to do to you, away from the eyes of others?

‘’ I’m sorry. ‘’

You finally turned, and immediately your eyes unwillingly welled up with tears. It was the last thing you wanted to happen, but you became that girl in the gym again. Just one look at him and you wanted to cower away, beg for mercy or cry like a helpless child. 

You felt like a different person outside of the school. Because when the day was over, so was the torture. Seeing him look like he wanted to tear you apart in a different environment than the bleak walls of the gym reminded you of your grim future; they would torture you in your safe haven now too. It wouldn’t be over as soon as you passed the gates. They demanded you meet them at their houses and text them. What would happen if you answered just one second too late?

Jungwon stared at you wordlessly. He felt his chest swell with pride due to the sadistic nature of the situation. He liked that you were so afraid of him and that he, more than the others could elicit such a strong reaction from you - only a puppeteer could know his toy that well, know exactly what strings to pull for what; and what is that if not love?

You saw his face unmoved by your sniffling, so as a last resort you pathetically went down on your knees, hands clasping together while incoherent pleas left your mouth.

‘’ Please…please- don’t hurt me. ‘’

He crouched and was careful not to show any emotions. ‘’ Say you’re sorry again. ‘’

You looked up at him and he almost became entranced by the look of your teary eyes, glimmering while looking up at him, only him.

‘’ I’m sorry. ‘’

‘’ Good. ‘’ His lips twitched. ‘’ Stand up. ‘’

They tugged upwards momentarily when you obeyed. You kept your head down, scared to provoke him, even by doing the slightest of things.

‘’ I’m gonna give you my number. When I text, answer. When I call, answer. ‘’ 

He turned his back on you to dig his phone out from a bag thrown on the floor. You got the sudden urge to attack him and then make a run for it, but that wouldn’t lead to anything but short satisfaction.

You recollected yourself in time for him turning back and handing you his phone. When you’re done and he took it back impatiently, he stared at the screen for a while. Then he pressed the number and your phone vibrated.

‘’ Save it. ‘’

You gave a fake smile and nodded. However, seeing as it didn’t seem to satisfy him, you quickly did what he asked on the spot.

‘’ You can go now. ‘’

‘’ Already? I haven’t really talked to the others, and they don’t even have my number except for Sung- ‘’ you pressed your lips shut.

Although it was slowly starting to wear off, the alcohol had made you ramble again and by the look of dissatisfaction on his face, you could tell he wanted you to shut up.

‘’ You don’t need those yet. Am I not doing you a favor? ‘’ he stepped closer, making you automatically back away.

There were only a few meters until you’d back into the wall. You prayed to God that he wouldn’t force you to back into it entirely, so he could creep over you.

‘’ Do you want to be here? ‘’

Your mouth fell open at the horrible accusation. Why would you want to be at the house of one of your bullies, where they all hung around you, taking turns to poke their sticks into your skin to get a reaction?

‘’ No. I’m leaving. ‘’

He didn’t stop you, but you heard the arrogant scoff and saw the smirk when passing by him anyway. Your angry stomping down the stairs caught the attention of the other guys.

‘’ You’re leaving already? ‘’ Jake shouted, hurrying to get up so he could follow you.

Ni-ki and Sunoo watched you curiously, not saying anything.

‘’ You basically just got here. ‘’ 

He tried to pull you into a hug, which you quickly slipped out of, seeing Jungwon standing at the top of the stairs. 

‘’ I said she could go. ‘’

His stern voice made Jake freeze and he moved away from you, giving you a small smile which made you raise your eyebrows awkwardly.

‘’ Bye. ‘’ you mumbled, closing the door behind you.

Well that was…weird? 

*******

‘’ I’m here! ‘’

Soobin ran over to greet you, a big grin plastered on his face.

Footsteps approached the hallway and rounding the corner, the owner of them, Yeonjun popped his head out. His smile dropped when seeing you.

‘’ Y/n. ‘’ he said, rather formally.

‘’ Yeonjun. ‘’

Soobin chuckled. ‘’ No need to be so awkward. You’ve met before. ‘’

You took off your shoes and he strolled off in front of you, making you hurry to follow as you didn’t want to be alone with his grumpy older brother.

‘’ Are you okay? ‘’

‘’ Yeah, it wasn’t too bad. ‘’

He looked relieved and started walking further into the house, waving at Yeonjun to come with and ultimately stopping in the living room.

‘’ Maybe we can watch a movie. ‘’

‘’ I’m fine with anything. ‘’ you smiled.

‘’ Is this the part where I leave? ‘’

‘’ Yeonjun! ‘’ Soobin gasped.

His cute attempt at trying to look stern made you snort.

Meanwhile, his older brother threw his head back and groaned in discontent, plopping down on the couch and crossing his arms in protest.

‘’ For how long? ‘’

‘’ I don’t know yet. Don’t be rude. ‘’

Soobin pressed on the control and the large flat TV screen lit up. You almost ticked your tongue and shook your head. Of course he was a Disney nerd.

He turned around, looking childishly excited, and came over to sit down next to you. The movie quite quickly became forgotten, serving as background noise while you and Soobin passionately fought over the snacks.

‘’ I’ll go make you kids some food. ‘’ Yeonjun said, rolling his eyes at the two of you, and leaving you and Soobin alone in the living room.

Soobin craned his neck to check that his older brother had really left before turning to you. There was something he had wanted to tell you for a long time.

‘’ Does he not like me? ‘’

He smiled knowingly and shook his head. ‘’ It’s not that, I promise. ‘’

‘’ Then…did he have a rough childhood or something? ‘’ you sarcastically joked as you didn’t like when people used that as an excuse to be rude.

‘’ Something like that. ‘’

You caught the way his tone sounded borderline uncomfortable so you cleared your throat awkwardly. ‘’ Sorry, I was just joking.

‘’ His friend got bullied when he was in middle school. I’m sure he just feels a bit- well, vulnerable around you. ‘’ 

You weren’t sure how to respond so you just hummed, it was your turn to feel uncomfortable as Soobin was determined to continue no matter what.

‘’ He really struggled to see him like that. There wasn’t much he could do. When he went to the principal he was shut down, told that it was just ‘ friends playing around ‘. Later he found out their parents were pretty rich though, and at least one of them was a part of the anti-bullying committee. ‘’ Soobin shook his head, sighing while a sour expression overtook his face.

‘’ If he confronted them, they wouldn’t beat him. No, they were different, almost psychos despite being kids. They would bully his friend harder instead, knowing it would push Yeonjun away from him because he wanted to protect his friend. In the end, he was lonely. Everyone he loved watched from a distance, knowing that if they intervened it would get even worse. ‘’

‘’ What happened after they graduated then? Did he never get his justice or revenge? ‘’

Soobin looked away from you, his heart felt heavy.

‘’ No. He never did. ‘’

Silence filled up the living room. Hearing that both made you feel incredibly sorry for Yeonjun and also anxious for your fate. Would it be the same as that boy? Would Soobin have to suffer the same way - by the sidelines watching helplessly just like his brother?

You raised your head, noticing he wasn’t completely finished with his heartbreaking story. He had to hurry because the rummaging in the kitchen had stopped, indicating Yeonjun was on his way back.

‘’ It had a very unhappy ending. Remember when I said I recognized the look in your eyes when you were walking to the rooftop? ‘’

Your heart sunk. ‘’ Yeah…’’ 

Did you even really want to hear the next part? 

‘’ He saw that one night. While walking home from school. So just like I did, he followed his friend to a rooftop. ‘’

‘’ He wasn’t as lucky as you were? ‘’ you filled in when he got quiet again.

He nodded, a somber look on his face.

‘’ But, he didn’t jump though. ‘’

You frowned.

‘’ What? What do you mean? ‘’

‘’ He was pushed. ‘’

This time the silence was deadly, stretching on for several minutes. On the other side of the wall, Yeonjun was leaning against it, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

‘’ Did he get justice?

‘’ No. Of course not. The rich and powerful always get away with it. Yeonjun went to the police station but when they arrived, a bunch of black cars were already there. Took about ten minutes of inspecting before they concluded it was a suicide. ‘’

You felt nauseous. 

‘’ Did he…did he see who pushed him? ‘’

‘’ Yeah, it was them of course. The worst out of them all did it, and while they all freaked out, he barely flinched. As a solution, they were transferred to different schools in Seoul and it was swept under the rug. Even if Yeonjun wanted to get revenge, it would be almost impossible to find them. ‘’

‘’ Fuck, that’s heavy. ‘’ you leaned back on the sofa and stared at the ceiling, taking in everything that had been said.

‘’ I think the worst part is that nobody believed him. ‘’ you turned and saw that he was crying now, his knuckles were rubbed due to the rage he felt on the inside.

Breathlessly you watched him. You hadn’t seen Soobin like this yet.

‘’ What do you mean? ‘’ you softly whispered and tried to reach out for him.

He let you take his hand, and you rubbed his knuckles instead, but in a more calming and loving manner.

‘’ Since those fuckers cleaned it up neatly, his parents fought a lot about it. When he told them, crying out and looking for support, his mom didn’t believe him, but his dad did. So they got divorced. Then, his dad met my mom. ‘’ 

He ruffled his hair and scoffed. ‘’ Turns out his dad didn’t really believe him either after all. One night he got drunk and confessed he had an affair and just wanted a reason for divorce. ‘’

Your other hand wrapped around his shoulder.

‘’ But you believed him. ‘’

Soobin nodded. The endless tears had started to stain his shirt.

‘’ Of course I did. He’s my brother. ‘’ he mumbled, pain coloring his voice.

‘’ Is that…why you were so quick to help me? ‘’

‘’ I thought that if I couldn’t help him then, well…’’

Struggling to find the words, you filled in for him. ‘’ Then you could help others, to prevent it from happening again? ‘’

He grimaced. ‘’ I haven’t been successful so far. People don’t really believe in me. ‘’

You felt his words sting. It hit a little too close to home and you found yourself feeling guilty for doubting him like everyone else had.

‘’ I’m sorry. ‘’

Soobin let out an airy laugh, knowing what you were thinking of.

‘’ Don’t apologize, you let me in the end, didn’t you? ‘’

You smiled shyly. ‘’ Yeah. I guess so. ‘’

He smiled too, warmth spreading all over his face. But it faded quite suddenly as he had to look away. Why was his heart beating so fast?

-

-

I can't tag some of u and idk why tumblr is being a bitch??? does anyone know how I can fix this??)

taglist; @peaceout97, @ayadikreino, @beoms-sugar, @keikeu, @sunghoonnsupremacy, @lilyalone, @roses-and-blue-perennial-salvia, @eunchaesmileyface, @nunugget, @seunns, @nshmrarki, @huening-ly

[dontcallpanic]

In honour of Halloween I'm going to share a kind of spooky story I literally stumbled across. (Because why not!)

This is a story of local legends, strange old folk, my unhealthy obsession with death rituals, chimneys and uhh corpses.

Okay, let me set the scene.

I have a friend who had the wonderful privilege of growing up on an old Welsh farm. It's surrounded by fields and woodland, streams and lands. It's a complete maze. Very easy to get lost. One day we're going for a walk and her elderly dad joins us (along with their three dogs!) there are also two kiddos in tow. It's an expedition. The kids know where they're going (we think) and within seconds we're deep down the cwm, winding through trees, over the same(?) river multiple times. We go up and down and around and around, there's mud, sticks, water and chaos until we duck under the massive trunk of a fallen tree and come across the ruins of an old house deep in the woods.

(not the house, this is a different ruin but it's like this but more intact)

All four walls are still standing, there's no roof but you can clearly see the windows and the wooden lintel above the door is still intact, just about, and of course, there is a massive fireplace (it is rural Wales after all).

My friends dad is a man of few words and is very softly spoken and is essentially an 80 year old hippie (affectionate). He has spoken to me once in my life and that was to tell me about his dog. So, imagine my surprise when he leans in to say:

"This is the last house in Wales where they used to take the bodies up the chimney."

This actually isn't the most surprising thing I've ever heard in my life but I'll admit it took my brain a moment to catch up. But, I've been around the old places a bit and I had to write a paper on death rituals once so as far as I'm concerned there is no better way to start a conversation. I'm metaphorically rolling up my sleeves because this is New Information and this is my jam. So I'm like

"Oh, I've not heard that one before. I know there are some Welsh houses with special doors or like trap doors in the ceiling so people can get the coffins in and out but I've never heard of them using the chimney before."

And so he manages to tell me a little bit about how the smoke was purifying and about how the house was lived in until the 1950s by a little old lady and how big the chimney is - you know, the usual small talk, until one of the kiddos tries to eat an ivy leaf and runs off which brings the conversation to an abrupt and premature end.

Fast forwarding a bit, later on I mention this story to my mum thinking she might get a kick out of it being the last house of this type in Wales or something like that. Her reaction is instead:

*shocked gasp followed by hushed whisper* "I've heard of this... I read it in a book..."

Now, my mum is weird and she doesn't elaborate, just repeats the phrase 'i read it somewhere' again and again before I change the subject. And I don't think much else about it

But when I next see her (a few days later) not only has she remembered that I mentioned this, but she has brought the book! She hands it to me at the right page and fixes me with a bit of a look and says

"it's terrible..." and walks off.

The segment she's marked begins with the title: Night of terror in... and then the exact name of the little tiny hamlet where we are currently staying.

"Okay" I think, "that's a bit weird. What are the chances."

It's not enough to give me heebies though, the book is on ghost stories local to the area so it's kind of the done thing for each little area to get a shout out. So I begin reading and honestly I'm more hoping that it'll give me some info on why they thought exiting through the chimney was a good idea and what the purpose this served.

History time: So, it turns out this is a custom local to this area. (Oh, I think, that's why I haven't heard this one before!) It's linked to the gwylnos or wake night (which I have heard of - it's essentially a vigil) and this custom of taking bodies up the chimney is called called hirwen-gwd which literally means long white bag.

At this point I begin to get the tiniest heebie because I don't like mummies and bodies wrapped up in shrouds really creeps me out.

I ignore this and bravely soldier on to find out that it seems that the soul needed help escaping the body and the house where the person passed away. It wasn't uncommon for doors and windows to be left open to help the soul escape.

And the coffin actually plays a minimal part in this ritual because apparently the body is actually taken out of the coffin, and taken up... And then back down the chimney. Which was definitely not what I was expecting.

It then mentioned that this ritual was abruptly abandoned in 1760 following "a strange and terrible happening at a gwylnos"

A slight aside, it's worth mentioning that most Welsh customs (especially the historical ones) had a reputation for getting extremely rowdy. The Welsh make excellent beer and cider and any occasion is a great excuse to well... get pissed. Yes, even funerals. (As you can imagine this was extremely Frowned Upon by the puratins).

Okay so long story short, the custom mutated over the years and so, while they were taking the body up and down the chimney, someone had to lie in the coffin to stop the devil taking over. For reasons unknown the person who had to lie in the coffin had to be the person who was the most drunk. (It's a pretty extra drinking game, I'll give them that).

So, on this night in 1760, as the others go outside to see to the hirwen-gwd, a young man lies down in the coffin and the lid is placed back on. The others see to the ritual and generally have a "jolly old time." On completion of the ritual they untie the ropes and return inside, back to the coffin only to find that the young man inside is, himself, dead.

This both horrifies and terrifies the family to the core and news spreads through the community like wildfire. (God, imagine coming back from hauling your relative up a chimney to find someone else dead in their coffin... )

The cause of death remained unknown with some people saying he had died of shock after being confronted with the devil himself. So naturally nobody wanted to risk it and the custom was abandoned literally overnight.

(view over the valley at night - the house is technically in this shot)

So, I'm reading all of this and yeah it's pretty weird, but so am I, so the thing that I find the weirdest is that in this story they mention the house where this happened by name and let me tell you, that is extremely rare. You never get anything anywhere near so specific with these stories usually.

So I do what anyone else would do and start looking at old maps of the area to see if I can find where this house was. Did it even exist? Is it still standing? Is it nearby? Wouldn't it be funny if it was that house in the woods?

Well, it took a bit but I did eventually find the house listed on a map from 1850-1890 and to my genuine surprise, it is actually, honestly the ruined house in the woods that I visited with my friend the other day.

At which point her dad's words made much more sense.

At the time I thought he meant the last example of that kind of house where they would have done that ritual... not THE LITERAL LAST HOUSE where they had to stop the ritual because someone died!!!!!

Oh, and that lady still living in the house in the middle of the woods in the 1950s... Definitely a witch!

And there you have it, that's the story of how I accidentally visited the house that ended the tradition of hauling corpses up and down the chimney.

-----------------------

If you made it this far thanks for reading! Diolch yn fawr iawn, I hope you enjoyed a tiny slice of true Welsh history and lore 🩵

Also tagging @oldefashioned and @cantchangemypast because you might enjoy this story!

[nausikaaa]

Six Sentence Sunday

thanks for tagging me @run-for-chamo-miles @that-disabled-princess and @orange-peony!

classicstober 2024's prompts have been announced and i'm super excited because it's historical figures! my obsession with Roman non-fiction and biographies has finally paid off!

i thought it would be a good opportunity to jumpstart my writing brain by writing lots of short and snappy things. and so today, i've written 1000 or so words for Regina of South Shields, who i've had the pleasure of visiting!

i'm about to ramble, so i'm putting it under a cut. also warning, i've included photos of a tombstone and a human skeleton. if you just want to read the six sentences and not see them, scroll fast right to the bottom.

so, this is Regina. or rather, her tombstone, discovered by builders in 1878, and a reconstruction of how it might have looked when it was erected. if you haven't heard of her, which is understandable, she was a British woman from modern day St Albans (near London) during the Roman occupation of Britain. she was sold as a slave (did her family need money? was she born a slave? we don't know) and bought by a man named Barates, from Palmyra, a city in modern day Syria, who was either a soldier or at least travelling with the Roman army. they moved to a garrison close to Hadrian's Wall in what is now South Shields in the north east, and Barates fell in love with Regina. he freed her and they got married.

her tombstone is mostly important because it tells us that a Syrian man was in Britain during this time, and since her tombstone has Palmyrene script on it, and the chances he engraved his own wife's tombstone are slim, there was likely at least one other Syrian person who could engrave headstones around. which suggests that there was a whole group! the name of the Roman fort in South Shields was Arbeia, which could even mean "the place of the arabs."

it's estimated that a third of people in Britain during the Roman occupation were long distance migrants, and most were not slaves, as is often assumed. Ivory Bangle Lady, who I have also visited in York Museum and who lived around the same time, is believed to have come from Africa. and she was a wealthy free woman!

but what about Regina? well, we know she was from the Catuvellauni tribe, and that she died aged 30. we can assume she spun wool as she's depicted doing so on the tombstone, which was a respectable pastime for Roman women, and she's shown wearing lots of jewellery, so she probably led a comfortable life.

but we don't know how she felt about her marriage, as her tombstone is in Barates' words. did she love him back, or was she under duress to marry him to improve her own prospects? did they have children? did she have friends in Arbeia? did she have to learn Aramaic or Latin to communicate with Barates, or did he know Celtic? we simply don't know. so much of her personality has been lost to time.

so my challenge was to write something that pieces together various possibilities to create what could be an approximation of who Regina was. to give her some life, a voice, and at least a bit of agency.

okay. enough preamble. here's six lines:

I had grown and reached my twentieth year, and as the dark circles beneath my eyes disappeared and the warmer months led me to abandon my woollen cloak, I noticed men's behaviour towards me change. I am not the type to play at being coy- I knew they found me attractive. With my white skin, red hair, and pale blue eyes, I was exotic to them. I stood out.

I noticed Barates' behaviour change too. I realised I had a choice to make.

if you want to know more about Regina, my main source is this podcast by Mary Beard, but i also took inspiration from the book Roman Woman by Lindsay Allason-Jones.

tags: @forabeatofadrum @j-nipper-95 @artsyunderstudy @prettygoododds @confused-bi-queer @imagineacoolusername @ic3-que3n @aristocratic-otter @larkral @hushed-chorus @ivelovedhimthroughworse @shemakesmeforget @fatalfangirl @ebbpettier @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @cutestkilla @youarenevertooold @alexalexinii @shrekgogurt @bookish-bogwitch @thewholelemon @supercutedinosaurs @shutup-andletme-go @theearlgreymage @ileadacharmedlife @alleycat0306 @carryonsimoncarryonbaz @comesitintheclover @noblecorgi @roomwithanopenfire and @blackberrysummerblog

[inconveniently-discorporated]

I saw the Barbie movie.

One thing I did not expect was to have Feelings about what it is like to be a neurodivergent woman.

This wasn't even really addressed in the movie directly at all (aside I guess from having "weird Barbie" who lives separately from everyone else and takes in the "broken Barbies", and all of the super-positive and "uplifting" Barbies who were supportive of each other were OPENLY rejecting her because of things that were beyond her control and didn't even make her harmful to their society, just not entirely Like Them...)(okay I guess I lied, I guess they did address it and it didn't really click for me until now). (I'm still leaving that sentence in because I'm so shocked at how the point of this post is how minimized I have felt as a woman, TO THE POINT I APPEAR TO HAVE MINIMIZED THE WOMAN I CAN ENTIRELY EMPATHIZE WITH.)

Anyway. It was made EXTREMELY clear by my peers from literally day one that I was Different. I mean, I'd had one-off interactions with kids before kindergarten, but going to school was the first time I was seeing the same group of children every day.

I remember being utterly baffled. Many kids seemed to understand what to do already. Most kids were friends with someone by the end of the first day. One of my most vivid memories was from the first day almost 30 years ago, when I turned to one of the girls -- her name was Sofia, she had waist-length black hair, and her name card was a laminated piece of letter practice paper. I asked her, "How does everyone know this already?"

Her answer was that she went to preschool, and for the longest time I thought that was it. I thought that was the only reason why I didn't Get It, and never Got It from then until I graduated and from then until after I got and quit my first job and moved onto my second job (where there happens to be A LOT of neurodivergent people and I seem to get it a lot better now). It didn't occur to me that there were other kids who admittedly didn't go to preschool, who didn't have the same problem as me, and other kids who did go to preschool (because believe me, I was asking) who DID have the same problem as me (and looking back I remember at least one point where the teacher had to address the class about bullying people who were "different").

Moving from childhood into adolescence, it was made EXCEEDINGLY clear to me that I wasn't simply a Different Person, but moreso a Different Woman. It was made apparent that I was NOT an object of desire, and I did NOT deserve to think of myself as such in any way, shape, or form.

I didn't simply ignore makeup because it was expensive, and a little confusing, and somewhat of a sensory difficulty. I ignored it because I didn't think it was for me. I wasn't allowed to be one of those girls. I didn't only ignore fashion because clothes shopping was overwhelming and I couldn't spend that kind of energy in the morning putting together an outfit (not that I had a cohesive closet anyway). I ignored it because of the giggles I heard behind my back when I DID try to camouflage as A Normal Girl, because of the comments like, "Look at her wearing that belt like she thinks she's cute."

It affected me so much that I frankly didn't see myself as a "real woman" until I was in my (LATE) twenties. It's not that I didn't want to be a woman, it's that I didn't think I was allowed to feel like one. I was absolutely convinced that my husband would someday discover this "secret" about me -- that I wasn't a "real woman" -- and leave me. I literally thought he was lying to me about being attracted to me.

This did eventually change with work on my self-esteem, but one of the results is something that still persists to this day -- I feel simultaneously constrained by the societal views of women, while being almost entirely unable to relate. I went into that movie and left, today, realizing that I STILL feel like I'm Not Allowed to feel like I have some of these problems.

I've never been cat-called (though I have been screamed at by people on the street for not being desirable enough of a woman in public). But I HAVE been dismissed as an overdramatic woman by medical professionals, when my husband wouldn't get the same treatment. I've never been harassed for my number, but I HAVE had men harass and belittle me at the mechanic for saying "no" to them, who then promptly stopped the moment my husband walked into the shop and came up beside me. I've never been told I'm too pretty to be smart, but I HAVE had men refuse to talk to me and seek out my less-experienced male coworkers for answers instead.

So I drove away realizing that this dichotomy still exists for me. I couldn't relate to Barbie crying because she didn't feel pretty enough, because I've never felt like that pressure actually applied to me -- it was just always made apparent by my childhood peers that I wasn't, and didn't deserve to even worry about whether I was attractive enough. And I realized that these other pressures were the same way -- I didn't feel the pressure to be the perfect leader, because of course I couldn't be that. I didn't feel the pressure to fit in perfectly, because of course I just already couldn't.

I want to do extraordinary things, not because people expect that of me as a woman, but because people think I CAN'T as someone who is Different and Not Like Them. People are SHOCKED when I eventually adapt to a social situation (like a new job), and show that I can contribute at the same level as other people once I learn what I'm doing.

Kind of like how the Kens didn't even bother with Weird Barbie, she was just forgotten in her weird house, and she ended up being the one to help them all. And then at the end, when the Barbies realize what they've done to her, they apologize and she just sort of goes, "Eh, that's how it is."

I don't know. It's just a very weird place to be. And it can all probably be summed up by the fact that I didn't even register her experience as something I could entirely relate to, until I went to write this post about the experience that I entirely relate to.

[itjazzbicch]

Free

Pairing:  Havik (Dariou) x Reader 

Summary: Once a slave who helped build the realm of Seido, the reader has always lived their life in fear from the trauma the realm has caused them, only to be blindsided by Havik, who comes to free them, destroying Seido with Rain's assistance, and promising the reader a new, better life as they are free...

Requested by: @isimpformaskmen (Ya asked for some Havik, so I hope you enjoy it!)

Warnings:  Havik's Tower ending spoilers, Reader was a former slave, Reader uses Havik's real name, Dariou. The reader is also a little crazy like Havik is (lol)

Word Count: 0.7k 

Seido wasn't the glamorous realm that everyone thought it to be. It was built on the back of enslaved people such as me, living through horrors and strict laws. Most people were afraid to make so much as a tiny, meaningless mistake because there was a chance that they'd be imprisoned for it.

I lived much of my time as one of the commanders' servants. It wasn't the best, but it was better than being in prison or dead.

"I'll be right back with what you requested, sir," Bowing my head to the commander and going about my way, I started daydreaming like I always did, thinking of a better life and startled by screams that I heard in the hall.

In fear, I quickly hid against the wall, covering my mouth and panting as I heard more screaming. It sounded like some guards were fighting someone, that someone letting out a deep but low laugh with the screams silencing.

Panting harder, I could hear the footsteps getting closer. I didn't want to be next, but I was afraid to move, seeing a figure pass by. Somehow, they didn't notice me, my hand falling limp as I recognized them:

"D-Dariou?"

He recognized my voice, slowly turning to me:

"Y/N. I found you."

I was shaking, struck with shock as I saw his disfigured face, beginning to ramble out of fear:

"W-What are you doing here? We'll be killed!"

"Oh no, we won't," He growled, taking my hand, "Tonight, our lives will change for the better. Now, we must leave. Immediately."

"O-Okay," I nodded, following him as Dariou was my only friend in this forsaken world. We managed to make it out unharmed and no one on our tail, heading clear up to the mountain top, nearly crying as I pleaded to him:

"Dariou, tell me what's happening. Please, I'm scared."

"There's no need to be afraid," He sighed, finally at the peak of the mountain, holding my hand as I stared at him; his scarred face still took me aback, a tear dropping to my cheek as I caressed his cheek softly:

"What happened to you while you were gone?"

It was apparent that it was a sensitive subject as he turned away from my hand, but I quickly held his hand again, reassuring him:

"I don't think of you any differently. I've just worried about you so much, and I can tell you've gone through a great deal of pain."

"I have," He murmured, pulling me to him and keeping me under his arm, "But that's all about to pay off. Rain!"

Who? I was confused but stayed put, still scared and so, hugging Darriou's torso, watching as this man dressed in purple with a staff stood at the peak:

"Leave the rest to me."

Suddenly, thunder started cracking in the sky, and that alone showed me that this, Rain, wielding strong magic, his arms raised to the sky as it began to rain and that water grew more and more into waves and quickly after, a gargantuan storm, flooding the capital of Seido.

I was scared but was smiling for some reason as Havik left me where I stood to take a closer look, hands also raised to the sky as he was laughing chaotically:

"FINALLY! FINALLY, SEIDO FALLS!"

The entire capital was destroyed, but I was grateful for Dariou because I still could've been down there.

"This-" I whispered shakily, looking at Dariou, "This is why you came for me?"

"You've suffered as greatly as I have, Y/N," Coming back to me with his arm over my shoulder again, he brought me to see the destruction, "But now, we're free! As we always should have been!"

"We're f-free?" I cried softly, my throat closing from holding back tears, "We're free!"

As I watched the waves of the storm cascade with destruction, I couldn't help but cry, squeezing Dariou as his arm wrapped around me, embracing me as he whispered:

"I told you I'd come back for you and make our dreams a reality, remember?"

What I thought would be a dream was coming true, and as I picked my head up to wipe my tears, I was smiling again, beginning to laugh along with him:

"It's come true. We're free!"

"Yes indeed, my dear!" Still holding me, we stared at the destruction of Seido with smiles. It was the beginning of a new era, his voice confident as he swore to me, "And no one will ever shackle us in chains ever again!" 

2023 © itjazzbicch — do not repost or translate my work. Likes, reblogs, and comments are always welcome 

[maybeamiles]

Okay so something happened in the Honkai Star Rail community that really bothered me and I'm trying to put into words what makes me so upset about it.

So Hoyoverse recently hired a new voice actor named Chris Niosi to voice one of their new characters. He is no longer voicing this character. The reason he is no longer voicing this character is because a bunch of people found out that in 2019 Niosi released a shitty internet apology for being abusive to people in his personal life in response to callout posts on Twitter and Tumblr. During this time he also violated an NDA about a role he played in Fire Emblem 3 Houses, and was replaced with Zach Aguilar. He did not face any criminal charges for this behavior, but it is a thing that happened. Naturally people are upset about this and kept asking for him to be fired, and some VA's stood up for him claiming he'd changed, and fans began to lash out against them too. Niosi ended up resigning, and Hoyoverse will hire a new voice actor.

So far, it seems this controversy has not affected his work. Since 2019 he's played Reigen Arataka in Season 3 of Mob Psycho 100 and was an NPC in Genshin Impact.

Now I have a few problems with the community reaction to all this:

Problem number 1: I spent way too much time in the Dream SMP fandom, and have heard way too much bullshit about people being abusers in their personal lives to be ok with any of this. Like part of the reason Dream SMP was so awful is that every other week there would be a new post along the lines of "Dream is the Worst! Here are 7 Heavily Censored Screenshots To Prove Why!" This stuff instantly activates my "I don't like this" senses, I have a very bad reaction to these things.

Problem Number 2: He's a fucking actor. Just because he now has a bit of fame in the community doesn't mean he's somehow more worthy of criticism than he was before. Hell, he still has work in the industry. Just go look up his IMDB. The only reason it matters more in Star Rail is because a lot of the Hoyoverse VA's make extra money off of being Hoyoverse VA's, like how Dan Heng's VA gets the other Star Rail VA's together to do music covers. Even then, he's WORKED WITH HOYOVERSE BEFORE. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT HE'S NOW VOICING A PLAYABLE CHARACTER INSTEAD OF AN NPC.

Problem number 3: Personally, I don't see what online abuse allegations from 2019 have to do with his role as a Voice Actor. Would working at McDonald's or in a less flashy job stop him from hurting people? No! Now, if I was hiring him, I would be nervous about that NDA violation, or that the abuse allegations might flare up into a PR disaster (like they ACTUALLY DID). I might not hire him for a major role. I might take concerns about his mistreatment of his colleagues more seriously. He might not be a Good Face for my company. But, at the end of the day, he is still a Guy Doing a Job, parasociality be dammned, and not doing This Job will not make anything better for the people he hurt.

(Also your (and my) favorite game has like, one not-pale dude in it and is made by a huge dev team that probably has shitty people in it just because that's what happens when you get a large enough group of people together but like heyyyyy let's all jump onto boogeyman of the week now shall we?)

(now, concerns about parasociality I do respect. Hoyoverse VA's are VERY parasocial, and tend to make a bit of extra money from fans by doing cool Hoyoverse VA things. But most people are like ABUSER = BAD AND GROSS and... ugh onto the next slide).

Problem number 4: ABUSER = BAD AND GROSS is a stupid black-and-white mindset and I think everyone who has this mindset should grow the fuck up. People can and do get better, I know people who have gotten better, people who it would be really fucked up of me to stop speaking to because of things I wasn't even alive for, when I don't even know the people who were hurt. People who have already had enough guilt and now need the space to live again. Hell, I've hurt people. You can't divide people into "good" and "bad" and you have to make room for change because if you do not you will hurt someone badly and that mindset will either break you with guilt or turn you into one of the "bad" people without even realizing it. (i reblogged earlier a comic about this exact phenomenon go read it)

At the end of the day I do think it was a good thing Niosi resigned because jesus fucking christ this was a PR disaster, and I would have hated to see him do something like Elliot Ghindi and use the parasociality of Hoyoverse fans to hurt more people (which is just a possibility, not something Niosi has actually done), but I don't think the internet Hate Mob was a good thing. I think bringing up someone's irrelevant personal details into their work life is a universally bad thing and even though he's a semi-public figure, nobody's private life should be exposed like that. There are court systems for a Fucking Reason and I know that they are flawed but also I genuinely believe that this whole internet tradition of making "callout posts" and stuff is incredibly toxic and abusive and I don't want it to keep happening in the fandoms I'm in.

[allwormdiet]

Insinuation 2.2

Time for another day of learning and adventure at Winslow High

That does have to be weird, though, right? Like "I fought a big badass villain last night and survived, my whole world has been changed by this encounter, I stared death in the face, what do you mean I still have to go to class and act like nothing changed?" Massive whiplash, I'd imagine.

Mrs. Knott gives the impression of being... better, at least, than Gladly. She's putting the effort in if nothing else, even if she has to leave the better-performing students alone in order to handle the rest of them, but that feels more like a matter of understaffing than any personal failure on her part.

God it's still messed up that Taylor has such little respite from bullying. This poor girl.

...I think this is the first time I've ever seen anything about Taylor knowing basic computer programming. Wonder if that ever comes back around.

And yeah Taylor, of course you have a geeky reputation, you're a fucking geek. Even setting aside the stuff with the bullying, like c'mon.

I saw a shitpost about how the single reason that Earth Bet is a dystopia is that Reddit is the number one news source in the world and there's something really funny about that idea.

Okay real quick the screenshot would be too small for me to add alt text, but “This article is a stub. Be a hero and help us expand it.” is an objectively hilarious line

And here we get the most information on any given Undersider, and it's immediately clear that Rachel has had a hard fucking life, like hell. Living on the streets as a teenage parahuman must be rough as hell, it's like living on the streets as a normal teenager except people want to recruit or imprison you while wearing stupid costumes instead of just police uniforms

(I would follow a Bitch fansite though, for real)

That's not how gangs work but whatever

So the ABB has a dragon man with dragon tattoos who uses the Chinese word for dragon as his cape name while being from Japan, a suicide bomber who dresses like a ninja, and a bomb Tinker. I don't know enough about Bakuda to really say but Lung and Oni Lee's gimmicks feel... mm. Lazy isn't the right word. Let's just stick with "racist" and move on so it stops bugging me

This is cute actually. She did a good job and she wants to like, celebrate that... and the only problem is that there's nobody she can celebrate with. I just made myself sad thinking about that.

And now she's basically Googling herself, which is also somehow cute.

There's something really funny about the idea that like. Taylor gets in touch with the Undersiders through a fucking Missed Connections post on a superhero message board. Like it's almost certainly the safest and most reliable way to get that message out, but that doesn't make it less comical.

And it looks like that's where we're leaving things.

Current Thoughts

Hit some highs and lows with this chapter honestly. Learning a little bit more about Taylor (swear to god I've never heard the programming thing come up before) and getting more of a breakdown on the Undersiders is all well and good, plus developments from the events of the night before, but again the whole Deal of the ABB grates pretty harshly. Like you don't need goddamn Edward Said to tell you that's all crap, it's just crap, and I don't think it reflects well on the author for putting that crap out there instead of thinking about it for maybe another thirty minutes first.

I gotta run some errands, 2.3 after that, God willing I don't have to read about the ABB for a while longer

[traegorn]

Seriously why do you entertain zionist perspectives? Why dont you treat them like terfs like they should be?

Okay, I suspected there was a second one of you since the grammar got better -- but maybe I'm wrong, blocked the wrong person, and you're just one person.

Don't care.

This is what my inbox has looked like. This is the constant barrage of asks I've been getting, and this is just a sample. There's more. I'll put it under the cut because shit is going to get LONG.

And if we recall, all I have ever said was: Lilith is a figure from Jewish folklore, and as many Jewish people have said she is closed, non-Jewish witches probably shouldn't work with her. If you choose to, I think you're being an asshole.

Somehow... SOMEHOW that makes me antisemitic according to this weirdo? And now apparently it makes me a supporter of the Israeli government? I genuinely don't know how we got here.

I've redacted the names of folks who are supposedly "Zionists" in the messages, because I've literally found zero evidence on any of their blogs to support this. They all appear to be Jewish, but that isn't the same fucking thing.

Mind you, I shouldn't have to look because I hadn't even heard of most of them. One of them interacted with a post of mine, but... like... you get that I have thousands of followers, right? I don't research them. I don't look them up. I have a job and a life.

I think we're missing something more important though.

What is your goal here? Is your goal to try to change my mind? Is it to get me to agree with you? Because you'd have to be as dumb as a pile of broken doorknobs to think this was an effective strategy to change anyone's mind. Constant harassment does not ever achieve that.

If your goal is to just bully me off of social media, that isn't going to work either. You don't know me that well if you ever thought that would work. Even a surface googling of me would tell you that I spent seven years fighting a lawsuit (and winning) that someone tried to use to silence me online.

But then there's the stuff I don't talk about.

I have had a man who lives thirty minutes away from me threaten to come to my home and shoot me with a shotgun because I wrote an article exposing his brother as a convicted child molester working conventions. I have had a man who literally lives three blocks from me threaten to beat me to death in a nearby park I regularly walk through because he (erroneously) thought I stole a blue lives matter flag from a local restaurant.

You want to sell me on any of this? You want me to believe you're anything but a liar willing to say whatever they can think of to insult me? Bring receipts. Bring evidence. Bring proof. You want to accuse [random tumblr user] of something? Show me. Show me what they've done and/or said. Build an argument.

Because at no point has anyone done that. At no point has anyone built an actual, credible argument for any of this bullshit. All that seems to happen is that if someone doesn't agree with you, you call them antisemitic (or I guess now a Zionist).

I'm done with you, coward.

[crimsonspectre]

Ginger and honey

Summary: Max's catching up with his best friend

MF X fem!OC

You can find this on AO3 too.

“I don’t understand why you have to freeze to death,” I said, looking at her rather revealing outfit in the cold Austrian weather. 

“Said the guy driving a coffin on wheels at 300 km/H every weekend.”

I chuckle, she’d always been insufferable. 

“You know what? I’ll keep my advice to myself next time,” I answered theatrically. 

“Aw, Maxie,” she pouted “If I needed advice on styling, I’d ask anyone but you.”

I looked at her, trying to maintain the bothered facade. 

“Cut it with the ‘Maxie’ thing, I’m not five years old.”

“Sorry, though you were the pet-name lover kinda guy.” 

I rolled my eyes, laughing, “Let’s just walk in silence, okay?” 

She answered by holding my arm with her left hand in silence. A couple of minutes later, we were standing at my front door. 

“Make yourself at home.”

She’d been home to me for years, so it only made sense. I traced her movements while she took her high heels off and sat on the couch, folding her legs closer to her body. 

“I’ll bring you some tea, Ms. ‘My outfit’s too nice to ruin with a coat’” 

She flashed a smile, the first honest one today. Hopefully not the only one. 

“I’d be waiting, Mr. ‘Don’t call me Maxie’” 

I couldn’t help but look at her while waiting for the kettle to boil. She was far away, her gaze trying to open a hole in the living room floor. She was not the one I knew, the cheerful friend of my childhood, the supportive system, the love of my life. Not that she knew that last part, a burden I’ve endured alone for years. 

When I left the cup in front of her, making a little extra purposeful noise, she turned to look at me. 

“Oh, thanks, Max. Sorry, I was spacing off.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Are you okay?” I asked, sitting next to her. Even if my body asked me to come closer, to obey the magnetic force that commanded me to her, I managed to take some distance. 

She sighed, looking at me in the eye. 

“Chase and I split up,” she whispered. 

“You… what?” I couldn’t hold my surprise. They spent years together, looking happy. But I guess she’s been hiding things from me. 

Her eyes finally met mine, something there twitching for coming out  “Let’s say we failed to understand each other lately.”

I scanned her face for something, but all I saw was avoidance. 

“Why are you talking to me like I’m a judge on the Supreme Court? I’m your best friend.”

Her eyes seemed to melt for a second, and she pouted a specific way she does when trying not to cry. Seen it a thousand times. 

“Sorry, I’m just… The reason makes me embarrassed.”

I felt like I was floating in the sea, miles away from her, the waves keeping me at a safe distance. Suddenly, the beating of her aching heart made them change direction, pushing me closer so smoothly I almost didn’t notice. And equally unnoticed, I was putting my arm around her, inviting her head to rest on my shoulder, and she accepted. 

“I’m not gonna force it out of you,” I said softly. “But you can trust me.”

“I know I can trust you, Max. You’re the person I trust the most.”

I caressed her shoulder, the night silence only interrupted by the soft whimpers of her crying. I knew better than to point out the obvious. 

After a couple of minutes, she whispered, “I love you.”

I heard her, even if my mind filled with white noise immediately after. I needed to see my doctor for an audiometry, maybe the years in the paddock were finally catching up on me. 

“Max…”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I looked at her, confused. 

Her face was red, part embarrassment, part crying. She pouted before speaking again, “I said I love you. That’s why Chase broke up with me. Cause I’m in love with you.”

I felt the heat on my face growing from my stomach, scorching my heart. The only thing that forced my mouth was the uncertainty growing in her expression. And heaven knows my mouth didn’t have time to lose on words, not when I've dreamed of what kissing her would be like for... too many years now. So I did. Just a small one, to test if her heart waves will choose to push me away or pull me over. And she pulled me over for another kiss. A deep one, rooted in something feral hidden behind restless nights and nostalgic days. 

Without warning, she was sitting on top of me, our hands all over each other, and thank god she chose the freezing-to-death outfit, allowing me to touch the skin I’ve longed for forever. 

After some time, I pulled apart trying to catch my breath, and I held her face in my hands. It was the most beautiful sight. Flushed, aroused, almost begging. 

I brushed my lips against hers, holding her in place, denying her the chance to kiss me back.

She pouted, “You’re mean, Maxie.” 

“You've got no idea how mean I can be,” I whispered, my voice raspier, making her body tremble. I let her face go, but she didn’t move an inch. I traced her jawline, then her neck, and reached for her necklace, a gift I made her years ago - a golden ‘M’ for her initial - pulling the chain slightly.

“Now it stands for Max.” 

- - - - - - 

The next morning was particularly cold, and she was snuggling against me. I caressed her hair. 

“Even more naked than last night! I see you insist on freezing to death.”

She laughed, and kissed my neck before answering, “I’ll have you as my heater now.”

“I’ll make you ginger and honey tea every day. It’s like you, spicy, sweet. Sometimes hard to swallow.” 

She poked my ribs laughing, and I laughed too. 

I turned to take a good look at her, “I love you too. I didn’t say it last night.”

“I know, Maxie.”

[lover-girl-estxx]

Him?!

not mine

one day to fight

Today was Media day the boy were in different room both doing interviews "everyones gonna break 15 minutes we'll come back together" Conor nodded and stood up "i'm gonna go get something to eat i'll be back in a bit" "okay" Dee said with a smiled. I walked down the hall to Nates room "oh sorry wrong room" I smiled. "hi" Nate said coming out of the room "hi" I smiled and hugged him "I was thinking you wanna go to dinner tonight?" he asked "sure! can you? don't you have weight to cut?" he shook his head "no i'm good i can just only have dinner" "okay i'm down let me know what time" "okay sounds good" "i'm gonna go eat right now and go do some editing so i'll see you later" "okay baby Love you" "Nate-" Nick said coming out of the room Nate turned around "isn't the Conors sister?" Nate put a hand over his mouth making me laughed "okay love you too bye" I said "love you?' Nick asked as Nate laughed and pushed him into the room.

I was now back doing photos for Conor

Nate<3: they're not taking that very well

Y:I thought you said they wouldn't care?

Nate <3: I thought they wouldn't, idk what to do.....Rich is saying I have late night training so ig no dinner tonight

Y: that's okay I get it fight week and all, jlmk if your coming to my hotel late

Nate<3: okay I will..and will most likely gonna text you threw the day

*you hearted Nate <3 message*

"your water cut off just started Conor" I said as he drank from his water bottle by our stuff "fook" he whispered setting it down, I went back to setting up lighting "who's Nate?" he asked looking down at my phone "hey don't look at my phone" I said going over and taking it from him "who is it? they asking for photos you took last week" "yeah it's -um my friend from California I just took photos of us at the beach" "in March in north california you went to the beach?" "um yeah you just went for sunset photos" "and who's Nate i've never heard of him" "no I think i've told you about him he-um- he's been my friend for awhlie" "and there's a heart next to his name just for fun? what does he do?" "he-" "Conor come feel the babys kicking!" he turned and went to her I sighed and mouthed a thank you.

Y: Conor almost found out we can not

Nate <3: dude how?

Y: your text Dee saved your ass

Nate <3: my ass? more like yours lol....we could tell him before the fight then just beat the shit out of each other might help us in the long run

Y: i'll have to think about that..... think after so it's a fair fight hes not so angry

| Next Day |

Y: i'm meet my family for a dinner before the fight..am I gonna see you before you guys fight?

Nate<3: just come to my locker room when you get to there

Y:you sure?

Nate <3: yeah....I know your nervous but everything is gonna work out I promise, just think of it like were sparring

Y: okay i'll see you later thank you love you<3

Nate <3: love you

I was stressing my brother and my boyfriend are fighting in six hours I was scared of them hurting each other bad, i'm nervous if Nate wins how much my brother will hate him after and Nate maybe the same. Dee came to my hotel room with her outfit and the makeup artist Conor got us, Conor spends money on the dumbest stuff sometimes. "your nervous yeah?" she asked "yeah..I just don't know what's gonna happen with everything" "you really like him?" I smiled "I love him he's kind and everything you would want..I just don't want things to be weird with Con" "at the end of the day you don't live for Conor you live for your self and it might be weird..but you love Nate and he treats you good your loyalty is to yourself not Conor okay?" I smiled and sighed "yeah thanks Dee I really needed that" she smiled and nodded.

We all set at the long table for dinner "how ya feelin' Con" I asked "I feel great i'm gonna wipe the floor with that little dork" he chuckled, I faked a laugh "you okay ya haven't been around a lot this week" he added "been workin' a lot people want more since the fight change" he nodded "okay you've been doing good thank you" I nodded "of course". "family photo!" Con said standing up we all got in the photo I was next to my mom who was next to Conor.

Conor was warming up the co-main event are about to walk out "Conor i'm running to get a drink before you lock in" he nodded. I walked down the hall, Nate said he just sits and waits for his fights so it was fine for me to see him. I knocked on his locker room door, he opened the door and he wrapping his arms around my waist mine his neck "you okay?" I asked "yeah i'm good are you good" I nodded "I don't believe you" he said softly he pulled away looking at me my eyes kinda watered "nothing Nate i'm being dumb" I dabbed my eyes "no it's okay..I couldn't imagine if Nick was fighting you" we both laughed "thanks" he made me look at him " I love you anything's gonna be fine in an hour this will be over and you never have to do this again k?" I nodded "I love you too," he kissed me "i'm sorry I can't cheer for you and i'll text you after" "okay mamas" I kissed his cheek before grabbing a drink and going back to Conors locker.

The fight started they fought Nate had blood dripping down his whole body while still hitting Conor. they went to they're corners I sighed my eyes moving from Conor to Nates as they got cleaned by the cutmen, they went back to the middle starting the second. I put my head into my lap Dee put her hand on my shoulder, cheers started to go and I looked up and Nate had my brother in a RNC, I was happy and sad at the same time. me and Dee went into the cage I hugged Conor "good job Con" I rubbed his back then stepped back to let Dee do the same. I went over and shook Nate's hand with a smiled "good fight Diaz" he smiled and shook my hand "thank you".

We walked back to Cons locker room he just sat on the floor rubbing his head in his own thoughts.

Nate <3: going out at 1 you wanna come?

Y: yeah I'll meet you probably 1:30

Nate<3: sounds good :)

A/n next part will probably be out Wednesday

[maximwtf]

Hi there! first off, I LOVE your fics so much! Secondly, I’d like to request for Stede since I agree, there is a lack of fics for him!! I love the way you’ve written for him so far. Feel free to ignore this if you don’t feel like writing it for whatever reason, of course 💟

Though, perhaps I could request a Stede x reader where the reader sees Black Pete and Lucius’ romance blossom and they think it’s the most endearing thing ever but it also makes them a bit nervous because they have feelings toward someone in the crew (Stede) and they don’t know the first thing about how to express it. Stede noticed the reader is down one day and they accidentally spill their dilemma but they leave Stede’s name out. So then Stede is giving the reader courting lessons pretty much and then after the lessons have “concluded” and Stede’s like “okay now go get ‘em!” pretty much, the reader stands there and is basically repeating back everything they learned to him. He’s not taking the hint so he’s like yes that was wonderful practice, now go and tell the lucky person all of this! And the reader is like well…it’s you. And confessions both ends ensue blah blah💕again if you don’t feel inclined to write this, no worries! Wasn’t sure if you are taking romantic requests for him. But maybe even if you aren’t this plot could still apply just minus the part where the reader uses it on Stede, where he gives the reader courting lessons still and it’s all cute and fluffy?

Stede Bonnet x Reader

Words: 3130

Google docs pages: 5

Warnings: None? Reader is bad with emotions, they don’t know what to do with love. Is the author's inability to write non-tragic romance also a warning? Nah but fr it’s the best fluff I can offer!

Opening: You watch Pete and Lucius’ relationship blossom, becoming jealous of it. Stede notices you being down more often and tries to help, when you end up telling him of a crush you have. He offers to teach you ways to confess, though he doesn’t seem to realise who this crush truly is.

AN// Reader can be any gender ! Thank you for this request, ahh. I don’t usually get excited over fluff, but if it’s for Stede I’m here for it. I hope this came out good !^^ I’m still learning to write for him, this being only the second fic I've made for him wahh

“Go get em’ !”

There were no other words to describe how you felt when you saw Pete and Lucius be able to embrace their love, other than jealousy and melancholy. How they could so openly tell each other that they loved one another, how they could spend time together freely and knew how to tell the other how they felt. If you would have been able to do that, you wouldn’t even be in this position. This feeling wasn’t even you wishing anything bad for them, only wishing that you could have something that they had, with the person you fancied. 

But that person walked on deck, having no clue of your silent feelings and admiration. And if you didn’t soon find it in you to somehow tell him, you feared you’d miss your chance eventually. Hell, he was an attractive man and surely there’d come another if you sat at the sidelines and did nothing. But what could you do?

Your whole life, you hadn’t been the emotional kind. Showing any feelings that would show vulnerability was almost automatically forbidden for you. Far before you’d even heard of the Gentleman pirate had you been like this. A rough life at the sea hadn’t been kind, and even if it was more so now, you lived in the olden days. And most of the time when it turned out to be a fault in the new crew, you looked at Izzy and excused yourself. He was similar, so why should you try to change? Being the way you’d always been was comforting in a way, and learning a new set of behaviours sounded exhausting. Having to open up more, and be able to tell someone you cared for that you loved them felt impossible because of that. What if you came off as rude? Or even worse, if they didn’t even feel the same. Especially on a ship where you had to meet the same people every day, having to face the person who rejected you felt horrifying. And you couldn’t possibly keep avoiding this person, he was your captain after all. 

Stede Bonnet. The former rich landowner, who had abandoned his previous life in exchange for a pirate’s. An idea that you thought you would possibly never truly understand the reason for. From growing up on a pirate ship, to being a permanent member of his crew, you had no idea why one would like to become a pirate. Almost every day was a fight to win, but this man somehow stayed positive and had taught his crew manners you’d never seen on a ship. You had thought you would never be able to fit in, but so you did. Because he had welcomed you with open arms, like he had known you his whole life. He didn’t care about what you’d done, who you had been or where you’d come from. He cared about who you were now. A truly admirable person in your eyes. 

Not to mention, you had an eye for nice fabrics and clothes. You’d never been able to afford them, nor were they practical in the action you had to take part in daily, but did they look nice. And he wore them well, all the ones he’d brought with him on the ship. All the nice colours, shapes and textures were a sight for a sore eye. You didn’t know if he’d ever noticed you checking out his outfits, but you hoped not. What would he even think? If he didn’t know why you were staring, you assumed he would think you were just creepy. Another reason why you didn’t want to confess to him. 

But did all of this make your chest ache, long for something that you were almost positive you couldn’t reach. The thoughts started making you distance yourself when the time gave you the possibility. You’d spent time at the bow of the ship, or all the way up in the crowsnest. Places where you could be alone for a moment, to try and convince yourself that eventually you’d tell him. 

But during all of this, you failed to notice that your absence hadn’t gone unnoticed, as much as you had hoped that would have been the case. Stede noticed soon after, starting to note that you seemed awfully upset. He had planned to ask you about it, but never could. He almost started blaming himself, if he had done something wrong to scare you off? Perhaps you wanted to leave the crew all together for a yet unknown reason? He knew if that was the case that he would never be able to stop you, but he could always try. Which had originally been the reason why he’d come looking for you. And if you were going to leave, he wanted to say his goodbyes, as much as it pained him to even think of that possibility. 

Once more, you leaned to the railing of the ship, watching the vessel make its way forward. Sometimes you wondered if this feeling was all your fault. You were the one basking in melancholy instead of changing. Yet, these thoughts never had enough power to make you actually quit these habits. 

The sound of someone coming towards from the hallway near you brought you back from your thoughts. To your horror and pleasure, it was Stede. He noticed your quick turn towards him, giving you a gentle smile before fully emerging through the small door frame, placing himself on the other side. Though, that smile faded rather quickly as he seemed to remember the reason why he’d come to find you. “Ah, I almost ran out of options as to where you could have been!” He said, a slight chuckle in his tone as he unintentionally tried to ease the rather tense atmosphere. You gave him a shrug, keeping your eyes keenly on the water, watching it swirl and hit the ship in waves. “See, I came to ask you how you’ve been feeling? You seem like you’re keeping something bottled up?” He continued to speak, guessing you had nothing to say to his first comment. Though, this one froze you. What could have you said? That he was the reason why you’d been upset this whole time? Blame Lucius and Pete for all of this? Or were you upset because of yourself. “Homesick, you know how it is.” You lied, trying to joke off the question. But your attempt had gone down the drain, only making Stede furrow his brows in concern. He knew you were lying, knowing you viewed the ship as your home. “Please, it’s not good to continue like this. Better to talk it out.” He insisted, making you bite your inner lip in return. Like you were holding back something you feared you might slip on accident. 

Yet, that helped as much as rowing a boat without oars. “I fear the person I care for doesn't feel the same.” You sighed, ashamed of admitting to your feelings. Your gaze was tilted faintly upwards, eyes watching the water, too scared to look at Stede. A gentle hum came from his side. “Then why don’t you go ask?” The advice sounding like he was relieved it hadn’t been anything worse than that. But to you, this was as worse as it was ever going to get. Being stuck with feelings you didn’t know how to express. But even that feeling, the frustration was hard to show to him. Having to keep him in the shadow from how you felt. You shook your head, lowering your gaze. “I don’t know how.” A defeated sigh leaving you as your shoulder slumped down. If you were to guess, an empathic expression had appeared on Stede’s face. He stayed silent for a moment, before placing a hand on your shoulder. You almost pulled away, startled by the sudden touch. Yet there was something so comforting about it that it didn’t take you long to ease into it. “If you want to, I could offer you a few tips on confessing in the proper way?” The captain suggested, voice gentle as ever. He spoke with confidence, knowing that he could possibly help you. And you knew that, but that hadn’t been the reason for your reply. “Oh, I would appreciate that.” Even if he couldn’t help you, you could finally spend time with just him, as he talked to you about the subject of love, having no clue that he was that subject for you. 

And after that conversation, you collected all of the courage in you as you prepared for the first meeting of the few you would continue to have with him. And with a deep breath, you pushed the door open that led to his quarters, finding the man himself seated on one of the couches. He got up to greet you, starting the ‘lesson’ soon after. 

You sat in front of him, listening as he talked. “You didn’t tell me more about this person. What kind of confession would fit them? If it is a pirate, I’m not so sure a fancy confession is the thing you need.” He laughed the comment off faintly, a hint of doubt in his voice. “N-no! I’m sure- they’d love it.” You answered rather abruptly, thinking he might be rethinking this offer. “Well then…A confession is often considered a private matter. So you would find a place such as that to confess in. You would usually think the wording of the confession beforehand, polite and respectful.” The man started, his eyes looking up as he thought of how these tips could be used on a ship. As he paused speaking his thoughts out loud, he turned to you, as if waiting for you to have questions. But you didn’t, you looked at him keenly, waiting for him to continue. “Well- You could ask them out to eat before confessing. But I’m not so sure you could do that here, I’m afraid.” He said, tilting his head a little at the shame of that. “Thoughtful gestures are an alternative, perhaps a small gift or a letter?” He added after, clearly deep in thought as he tried to come up with something that was doable on a ship. “I’m not so gifted with my hands.” You muttered, thinking of the possibility of giving him a gift. After all, he was describing the way he had been taught to confess, so you wanted to follow those tips he gave you. “You don’t have to be, a confession on its own is good enough.” He smiled, shaking his head slightly. 

You turned to look at your feet, silent as you thought of what he’d said. Though, the moment didn’t last long as Stede spoke up again. “How about we practise the tips I gave the next time we meet?” He asked, tilting his head slightly. You turned to look at him, blinking your eyes a couple of times. “On who?” He couldn't have possibly been suggesting that you-, “on me, if that is alright with you.” He said, a friendly smile on his face, per usual. You blinked again, faster this time. “I- Of course.” You nodded, internally stunned by the suggestion, having to shake your head slightly to bring you back into the moment. You would have to learn how to keep your cool, this was practically the same thing you’d have to say to him when you actually told him. 

After that, he gave you a couple more tips, explaining the almost laughable mannerisms he had been taught or that he had read of. It amused you to watch him make fun of the things he had been taught into, giving you the slightest of ideas why he had chosen the life you’d had to live for most of your life. By the sound of it, you would have most likely done the same. 

You went to the next meeting with him, this time more relaxed. He stood in the middle of his quarters. By the way he was breathing he must have just moved some of the furniture out of the way. “Evening.” You greeted him, looking around as you walked in. “Ah, just in time.” Stede smiled, nodding his head as a greeting when you came closer.  “I thought tonight we’d try the advice in action, what do you say?” He asked after his initial comment, seeing as you hadn’t said anything. “Oh, of course. Yes. How do I start?” You asked, looking around as if exploring the cabin, a desperate attempt to hide sight of you being flustered. A light laugh left Stede before he replied. “If it’s okay, I thought I’d show an example first.” Your gaze snapped to him, soon after looking at your feet again to not seem odd. “Ah, of course.” You nodded, taking a small step back to give the man space. 

Stede cleared his throat, taking something from the table near him and stepping towards you. “A private place.” He hinted at the space the two of you were in before going forward with the example. He brought his hand towards you, handing you a nicely folded piece of paper. You took it with a slightly shaky hand, trying to keep in mind that he was only giving you an example, having no idea of how you truly felt. 

You weren’t sure what to say so you automatically opened the paper, eyes scanning over the words on it. You didn’t have to read often, so the skill hadn’t developed much, but if you read slowly enough you understood what the short letter said. A few compliments, subtly hinting at his yet hidden ‘feelings’. You looked up at him, lowering the letter. “I- Thank you?” You stuttered out, an awkward look appearing on your face as you realised how rusty it sounded in a situation like this. Stede only gave you a polite smile before offering you a hand. “Please, allow me to fetch us a place to sit.” He said, leading you to one of the couches. He allowed you to sit down first, taking a seat only after. “I’m afraid I don’t have anything to offer you. But let us use imagination.” The man in front of you explained, you gave him a nod while folding the piece of paper into your pocket. “When do you confess?” You asked, turning your gaze on him. “Well, we’d eat and maybe after or a little later you’d pull them aside to tell them.” He said, standing up and leading you to the middle of the room yet again. 

You stood in front of him, listening as he spoke. “Dear, I hope you’ve had a pleasant evening. But before it ends, I wished to tell you my admiration for you. Because I do fancy you.” He spoke calmly, knowing exactly what to say. You bit your inner lip, nodding after. “Alright.” Stede put his hands together, pleased with how it was going so far. “Do you want to give it a try?” He asked, tilting his head. You blinked a couple of times, nodding your head before even giving it a proper thought. “Okay, whenever you’re ready.” He said, giving you space. You took a deep breath, deciding that this was going to be it. You’d confess to him, and somehow manage to make him realise that you were being serious. 

You walked up to him, taking a moment before pulling the same letter he’d given you out of your pocket, handing it to him. He looked a little surprised, but still accepted the offer and looked over the letter quickly, as if he didn’t know what was in it. “Ah, thank you. Go on.” He smiled, looking back up. “It’s only the truth. I wished to show you how much I admire you, because I have had my eye on you. Stede, I fancy you.” You said, adding his name in as a desperate way to try and make this more obvious. But instead, he put his hands together, seemingly excited. “Ah, that’ll do it, almost swooned even me. I think you’re ready, go get em’!” He nodded firmly after, nothing but kindness in his eyes. Yet the longer you looked at him the more it seemed like he wasn’t so happy about what he’d just said. Like he hadn’t wanted to say it at all. You bit your inner lip for a moment, having to insist on making him understand. “I admire you, have for a long time.” You said, almost repeating yourself. Stede furrowed his brows, smiling at you a little awkwardly, now more confused than anything. “Wonderful practice. Now, go and get this lucky person!” He encouraged you. “Stede I’m-” You took a breath, not even sure what to say anymore. He hadn’t taught you what to do if the person you’re confessing to is the person teaching you how to confess. 

By this point the man in front of you seemed worried, offering a hand out to you. “Are you feeling alright?” He asked, placing his hand on your shoulder. You looked at the floor before taking a hold of his wrist, gently. Your eyes looked into his, desperate to make him understand even if you couldn’t show it properly with words or small subtle actions. “I fancy you, Stede.” You said, and as soon as he was opening his mouth again, you quickly added in, “it’s you.” This made him close his mouth for a moment, soon a softer look appearing on his face. “I love you.” You mumbled out to avoid any tense silence from forming. “Dear, did you go through all this trouble to confess to me?” He smiled, seemingly relieved yet he said nothing of it. You gave him a slow nod, afraid this was only the starting point of him rejecting you. “Because I was afraid I was losing you from the moment you started disappearing to this moment right now.” He added, gently pulling you towards himself to offer a hug, which you accepted. 

He felt warm, somehow he managed to also smell better than any other pirate you’d been close to. “I assumed you were leaving the crew and later realised I must have missed my opportunity with you.” He said, pulling back slightly, still close to you. You humoured the thought of him somehow sensing you didn’t want to go far from him at that moment. “You thought I was going to leave?” You asked, furrowing your brows, slightly amused. Though, you understood why he had thought that. He didn’t answer, only giving you a faint eye roll before placing a hand to the side of your neck, his thumb pushing your chin up slightly, making you look up at him. “I fancy you too.” He said, that being the only thing you’d ever wished to hear him say. 

AN// Yall TRUST I proof read this, but with the mindset of someone who hasn’t slept. Also why is Stede so hard to find good images of, bros making a face in like 99% of all images >:(