#only had to tweak a couple of them like!!! never happens to me

[linoyes]

lee know + ate trailer making film

[charliemwrites]

Part 10! of SpecGru reader. This is a little short, but I was so excited to post because NOVA.

Content: safe/sane/consensual sex - oral, female receiving

Nova is your partner for the day – running drills as guest instructors for recruits, working them so hard they don’t have enough air to make any stupid, sexist remarks. The two of you spend all day flirting like a new lovesick couple, your hand drifting low on her back while she teases you with double entendres. Press her up against the wall outside the dining hall after lunch, licking the taste of apple off her lips while she tangles clever fingers in your hair.

Don’t care about who might be watching, or who cares. Not like your captain does. The opposite really, as he sidles up behind you while you’re spotting Nova in the gym. He slaps your ass so hard it damn near echoes, smirking at your scandalized face while she quickly reracks so that she can laugh.

“How are my girls doin’ today?” he chuckles.

“Right as rain, cap,” Nova answers, beaming when he cups her cheek.

“Can’t be anything but good with our star girl around,” you reply, winking at her. Bark a laugh when she smacks you in the thigh.

“Yeah?” he asks, a note of sincerity in his voice now. “Those shitheads leavin’ you alone?”

You blink, realize that there has been a distinct lack of 141 overtures today. No wonder you’re in such a good mood. An orgasm in the morning, your pretty, hyper-competent girlfriend all day, and no shitty former teammates? That’s practically a vacation lately.

“Do I have you to thank for that, sir?” you ask. Remember him saying something about talking to Price yesterday.

“You can thank me later,” he answers with a little smirk.

“Gladly, sir.” He’s getting more than that at this rate.

“Just wanted to check in on you two,” he continues, tweaking your nose, “and there’s an intel brief at 1600.”

“Yessir,” you and Nova reply together.

He chuckles again, gives you both one last fond look, then takes his leave.

“Finish up in here, shower, and get there a bit early?” Nova suggests.

You turn back to her, wipe a bit of sweat off her forehead with your forearm. She huffs in (only half fake) disgust and lays back on the bench again. She’s still got half a set to finish.

“Yeah, I want to steal Price’s usual seat,” you answer.

“You petty little tart,” she chuckles.

You lean your elbows on the bar and lean over her, arching your eyebrows playfully. “I’m your petty little tart.”

“Have always had a sweet tooth,” she muses.

You laugh and get off the bar so that she can continue. Of course, you’re keeping a close eye on her – but lord, she’s distracting. Thick thighs and solid abdomen, her tank-top is even sticking to the flexing muscles. And her arms. You’re not even being subtle, drinking in each deliberate rise and fall of the metal bar. Following droplets of sweat down her biceps…

“You mind?” she huffs, though not without amusement.

You jolt a bit, flushing as you help her rerack again. She sits up, a mischievous curl to her full lips.

“What’s got into you, huh?” she asks, tilting her head.

You shrug as you switch places, trip up a bit when you realize just how nice the view is. Even thoroughly sweaty, she smells a bit like coconut. Damn.

“Not you, unfortunately,” you reply absently.

She chuckles, tapping a finger against your forehead. “Tell ya what, love – you do five extra reps and we can make that happen.”

You’ve never flown through a workout so fast.

--

You damn near stumble into the shower stall, lips and tongue tangled with Nova’s. The flimsy curtain flutters haphazardly behind her as you reach blindly for the knob. Ice cold water drenches your back, but it does nothing to cool the desire blazing in your gut. Not when she’s peeling herself out of her compression pants, shimmying out of her damp shirt, and wriggling out of her sports bra.

Don’t even care about your own clothes, dropping to your knees in awe. She’s absolutely gorgeous, your girl. Pretty brown skin interrupted by pale patches like scattered clouds, meeting of earth and sky right there in front of you. Something divine about that, you think vaguely. She certainly looks the part, all strength and confidence, dark eyes smoldering like coals. Interrupted only by slashes of scar tissue and the SpecGru tattoo on her forearm.

You’ll never get tired of looking at her.

“C’mere, love,” you murmur, hooking your fingers behind her thigh and gently urging her closer.

She laughs a bit, though there’s a breathless edge to it that makes you perk up like a dog.

“You’re still dressed, daft thing.”

You shake your head. “That can wait.”

Despite your deal in the gym, there’s nothing you want more right now than to take care of her. Just leave her a shaky, whimpering mess, until your shirt is wet with her rather than water or sweat.

“Let me take care of you, baby?” you breathe, hands skimming up her soft thighs. You caress your thumb over her labia, licking your lips at the stickiness already gathered there. “Please, Nila.”

She shudders hard. You groan softly, trailing kisses over the bundle of tissue protecting her lower tummy. Can feel her twitching a bit from the ticklish sensation of your hair brushing her ribs.

“Y-your sure?” she asks. “I haven’t washed off yet…”

“Don’ care,” you mumble, scraping your teeth over the sharp cut of her hip. Tease eager fingertips over her leaking slit, playing in the trim curls. “I gotta taste you. Stay hydrated ‘n all that.”

She tries to scoff, but it’s overtaken by a wobbly moan when you suck a modest mark into her inner thigh. Keegan’s going to pout when he sees it; that’s his favorite spot to claim on all of you.

“Yeah, babes,” she gasps, “g-go ahead.”

It’s probably pathetic, how quickly you faceplant into her pussy. Can’t bring yourself to care when the taste of her bursts across your desperate tongue. A bit of salt, but all her, earthy. You lap at her with the flat of your tongue, starting at her dripping entrance and working slowly up until you curl the tip over her slippery, swollen clit. Again and again. Until all your thoughts whittle down to this, to her. To the helpless clench of her empty cunt and the involuntary buck of her hips. Nothing to calm your thoughts like taking care of your angel.

“Fuck, baby,” she moans, blunt nails scraping over your scalp.

Your eyes roll back as shivers chase down your spine, moaning into her cunt just to return the effect. Love how her head tips back, knees quaking. You scoot in a bit closer, hook her knee over your shoulder to offer some stability. Then focus your attention on that button of nerves, sucking it gently into your hot mouth.

“F-fingers,” she whimpers, “fingers too, love. Please.”

As if you could deny her anything ever. Circle worshipful fingers around her entrance, groaning lustfully when slick begins dripping down your wrist. God, she always gets to fucking wet. When she tilts her hips with a needy whine, you test one finger inside her, rubbing gently against her walls. But she keens, clearly wants more, so you stuff a second finger inside her, curling them as you flick your tongue over her clit.

“Fuck!” she cries. “Yeah, just like that. J-Just there, babe.”

And you’re useless to do anything but acquiesce, setting a steady rhythm that leaves her squirming on your mouth and hands. Feel like you could get off on the noises she’s making alone, your own pussy drenched and aching. But you can’t be bothered to spare a single thought or movement for yourself, hands and mind too full of Nila.

Your dedication is quickly rewarded by the telltale squeezing of her pussy, the increasing pitch and volume to her voice. Don’t dare change a single thing, as desperate for her to cum as she is. Could live forever between her thighs, just like this, listening to that voice break for you.

“Fuck, fuck, I’m… c-cum – fuck!”

You moan as she drenches your chin and neck, quick to support her weak legs so that she can ride out each and every wave of her ecstasy. Suckle at her sensitive clit and circle your fingers around her spongy g-spot until she’s shuddering, gently tugging at your hair. You pull away reluctantly; don’t want to overstimulate her (when she doesn’t want it) but pussy-drunk all the same.

Give her a second to catch her breath, dotting kisses like stars around your pretty Nova.

“That was perfect,” she coos, “come up here for a kiss? I miss you.”

You make sure she’s steady before standing, smiling, stupidly charmed. “I’m right here, sweetheart, nothing to miss.”

“Miss you anytime I’m not kissin’ you,” she replies dreamily, looping her arms around your neck.

You pepper kisses along her jaw until you reach her puffy, bitten lips. Tuts softly at their swollen state before she thoroughly distracts you by licking the taste of herself from your mouth.

“Spoil me,” she sighs against your lips.

“Not spoiling if you deserve it,” you reply, hugging her close.

She giggles brightly, tucking her face against your flushed neck. Stay like that for a moment, gently swaying. Then she nips gently at your collarbone.

“C’mon, let’s get you out of those clothes.”

First | Previous | Introducing...

Masterlist

[futureplayboibunnie]

It’s canonically Miguel’s birthday soooo….a fluffy/cute/ lil steamy drabble? yes pls.

-

It was late, you and Miguel were both a little tipsy from the wine you plied each other with, but the night was starless, the fire was roaring, the city lights were gleaming and it was Miguel's birthday.

Miguel always hated his birthday. It was an unpleasant reminder of the years before him and the unforetold future ahead of him- all in all, it was an unsettling and borderline depressing experience, it was clear that everyone around him was viscerally aware of that. Even when he was in the warm blanketed safety of his own home, with the woman he wanted to spend his life with, it was still a struggle for him to not hate the predicament he put himself in. Your head rested on his lap while he was sat on the couch like a normal careless couple would do, your fingers stroked against him tenderly, normally, like it was second instinct but from this angle, you could tell his mind was wandering, twinges of apprehension and sullenness tweaked at his face so faintly, you almost didn't notice

“What's going on up there?” You said with a strained soft breath, your eyes flickered to his, the flames licking at the fireplace illuminated the deep crimson of his eyes. He looked so beautiful and you hated that he barely recognized it. Even now when he stroked your hand with his thumb, the familiar heat he ignited when you first wanted him crept its way back to you all this time.

“Nothing mi amor, let me just be here with you.”Miguel pursed his lips as he so obviously tried to dismiss the situation, he snapped his stare awayfrom yours. Your mind drew to a blank, unsure of what to even say after that but then you remembered, you didn'teven give him his gift yet. You shot up and Miguel instantly raised an eyebrow, watching you hurry away out of the room.

It was only a couple of seconds before you came back with a wrapped box with a cute little bow, a card, and a bouquet of roses.

“Oh my god.” Miguel said mildly but you could tell he was trying to stifle a giggle. He gave you a cute little defeated scoff and got up and came to you, slightly amused by this cute display you provided. He couldn't help but sigh dryly, he pondered you for a second, he had never felt so...appreciated. His heart fluttered in his chest at the realization. His eyes darted to the flowers and he chuckled and then looked back at you with a quiet playfulness.

“You bought me flowers.” He said flatly and smirked, you shoved the flowers in his face aggressive for him to smell them.

“You always buy me them, why can't I buy you some? What? Don't like 'em? Here sniff 'em.” You teased with a pretty smile and Miguel spluttered as he shoved them away

“Alright baby, I got it, I got it.” He protested playfully through short laughs, his smile was gorgeous and you were gawking at him like a lovesick fool.

“Open the card.” You say softly, handing him it, you flash him a flirty look, fluttering lashes sly smile and all. He quirked an eyebrow at yourlittle shift in tone and expression- he always hyper-analyzed you, and every single move you made, he he enjoyed it thoroughly. Even after all this time, he was still crazy about you, your tease, your ability to make him wonder. Miguel opened the card, intrigued by your boldness.

Happy birthday mi amor.

You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. You are the most incredible man I've ever known. I'm the luckiest girl in the world to get to be with you, care for you, love you.

This is your day. I want this all to be about you. I'll let you do anything you want to me, anything, fuck me any way you like. I'm yours. All yours. Tonight and forever.

All my love

Miguel's gaze softened when he read the sweet words, you knew exactly what to say to make him melt in your hands, he glanced up at you and your cheeks colored with a heated blush, a suggestive smirk playing at your lips. You were acting coy as if you weren't aware of what you had written just for him. Even when you were trying to be sincerely romantic, you couldn't help but slip how much you loved his cock.

“Dirty girl.” He said with a crooked smile, biting his lip, gaping into that gorgeous face he's been fascinated by since he met you. “God I love you.” He muttered when he cradled your face in has hands.

“Open it.” You handed him his little wrapped box, your eyes brightened as he took it and unwrapped it.

It was a box. With a few things stuffed inside of it.

There were many cute knicknacks inside of it: a frame with you and Miguel absolutely drunk off your tits at a party that you can’t even remember, Peter took that amusingly hideous photo and he wouldn’t let either of you forget it so instead you thought to embrace it. Funnily enough, you bought him a nail file for his talons with his name engraved on it and you just shrugged with a smug face and said it was when he was in the need for self care. Miguel scoffed dryly, you were enjoying himself. You also got him a real gold ring with his spider emblem engraved on it. He felt very appreciated indeed.

But what really caught his attention was the less wholesome side of it.

You gave him your tiny lacy panties that you knew he loved.

Nipple clamps? Really? Oh my God.

And then he came across it, the multiple polaroids of you naked for the camera. All for him. All his. You looked heavenly.

“Hmmm.” He hummed apppreciatively. Completely enjoying what he was looking at, your body was made for him, you looked adorable.

“You like it?” You ask sincerely but you always had that stupid, smug smirk on your face.

“Of course I do.” He chuckled before grabbing you, letting the box drop to the floor and picking you up off the ground, holding you as he nuzzled into your neck, you yelped in surprise but that soon melted into a soft breath as you inhaled his scent.

Miguel settled you down, his hands still wrapped around your waist, your fingers found hospice in his hair, you tucked a few loose tufts behind his ear.

“I love you, you know that cariño?” He muttered. “I’m not good at stuff like this, I hate my birthday…but you make me feel worthy of it.” His voice was barely audible but you were so close you could hear every syllable.

“I love you too….” You said before planting a soft chaste kiss on his lips. Miguel’s hand went to your hair, your soft pecks turning into deep, heady kisses. “Let me take care of you.” Your breathing become shallow as his hand gripped the back of your neck.

“I want slow.” He slurred against your already wine soaked lips, you always taste so sweet for him, sometimes he wanted to rub you down in honey or something other and just spend his night licking it off you. He’d consider that a beautiful way to die happy. “Want it slow.”

“Take me to bed.” You whispered, your voice gentle and thick all at once. Miguel tiptoed you to your room, he wanted to rip off that smug smirk off of your lips. But in the meantime, he wanted to make love to your body.

[maybxlle]

✧˖°. 𝐢 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

masterlist | home | rules

contains: a daughter of aphrodite panicking over our favorite white boy. and vise versa (jason grace x daughter of aphrodite!reader)

warnings: shitty ass writing, language, use of yn, and CRINGE. it's pretty bad, read at your own risk ⚠️

author's note: first fic! also, its probably gonna be bad (because i'm a shit writer 😃) im SO sorry about all the cuts! i cannot write. [send in requests y'all!] ALSO if you see any incorrections, no you didn't.

special mentions: thank you so much @canonfeminine for helping me come up with the joke percy says and @hopelesslyromanticshark because i kinda stole her formatting and her amazing advice (love ya coves!)

final word count: 2,098 words

now playing 𓏧 down bad by taylor swift

jason grace was walking outside cabin 13 when he heard you tweaking.

it was only 11am and it sounded like you had been up all night.

"y'all, you know that one song from taylor's new album? down bad? that's so me about superman." you sighed, "i don't even think he cares about me. not even a little."

"now i'm down bad, crying at the gym. everything comes out teenage petulance. fuck it if i can't have him. i might just die, it'd make no difference." you sang under your breath.

jason peeked in the cabin. he saw you hanging off hazel's bed upside down, piper was on the floor painting her nails, while annabeth was sitting in an armchair, reading, and hazel was at her desk, writing a letter to chiron about why they should have state of the art, gold-plated horse feed. they were only in the hades cabin because nico was with will in the infirmary. (awww <3)

"ma'am, we know all of this before. you never shut about hi-" piper began.

"SHUT THE ACTUAL FUCK UP BEFORE I SHOVE A FOOT DOWN YOUR THROAT."

annabeth made a condescending mom face. "yn," she said gently. "maybe you should go to sleep."

you just glared at her until she looked back at her book (rolling her eyes).

"maybe he does like me! he just doesn't know it yet." you triumphantly said.

piper snorted. you got up, and whacked her with your pillow until she fell over.

"ok, geez, i get it. cough cough bitch." piper um-coughed out.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST CALL ME? SAYS THE WHORE!"

hazel finally looked up, innocently, from her crazy letter, "ok, girls, let's calm down?"

you and piper obliged, scowling at each other.

"anyway, bACK TO WHAT I WAS SAYING. maybe he is in love with me, he just doesn't fucking know it yet!"

"wait, isn't superman jaso-"

"BITCH SHUT YOUR MOUTH BEFORE I GO TO THE DAMNED CABIN AND GET THE FUCKING DUCT TAPE. you don't know who the fuck is lurking."

jason took that as his cue to get the fuck out of there.

our favorite white boy RAN to his boys.

he gathered them in percy's cabin. "guys, i just overheard something."

"what? that the superman theme song plays wherever you go?” percy snickered.

while percy and leo... snort-laughed, frank actually asked what happened.

"basically, i was walking past cabin 13 and the girls were in there, right? so i overhear yn saying something about 'superman' and how this song -down bad i think?- relates to them or something."

suddenly all the boys had their thinking faces on.

"what if she's in love with the actor of superman?" frank suggested.

leo had this eerie look on his face. "grow a couple of brain-cells chinese canadian baby man. she's in love with jason."

everyone just looked at leo. "ok, think about it. who the fuck else flies here? only jason. who else flies? superman."

jason thought about it. "that would make sense since piper was about to say my name when yn cut her off-"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU LEAD WITH THAT???"

"i didn't think that yn would ever like me back." he said matter-of-factly.

to be fair, jason had a crush on you since he arrived at camp. you were so pretty but you were so lively too. your personality was bright and radiant and maybe a bit crazy. just a bit though. but in a good way!

you just radiated positivity as if you were the sun. to him you could've been.

jason didn't realize he zoned out until leo was about to shove a shoe in his mouth.

"LEO?! WHAT THE FLIP ARE YOU DOING?!"

"oh i got him back guys! you like... died." leo said.

"so you were going to resuscitate me by shoving a shoe in my mouth?"

"yeah, basically!"

jason didn't know what to say to that so he didn't say anything!

"can we get back on track?"

"yes," percy answered. "we shall."

"first things first, we already know that you love yn so much from the bottom of your heart. but how are you going to tell her?" frank asked.

jason was at a loss.

"don't worry, i'll sleep on it."

"hey sparky!" you exclaim.

"oh h-hey yn." you side-eyed him, wondering if he heard your gods-awful conversation yesterday.

then you slapped yourself. (mentally?) of course he wouldn't do that! he's your sweet little superman who you are hopelessly in love with!

"do you wanna race to the top of the lava wall with me? don't be shy, you always lose!" you asked.

"um, i don't think i can today yn, sorry."

you were a little lot disappointed. you just really liked him and he fucking rejects you??? what if you tell him how you feel and he doesn't feel the same way? what if you become the laughing-stalk of camp? “k, bye jase.”

after he left you sprinted to your girls.

"BITCHES, CODE RED. WHO HAS AN EMPTY CABIN?"

hazel slowly raised her hand. "just don't mess it up again. if piper doesn't want your foot in her face, don't put it in her goddamn face. ok?"

you scowled at her before sprinting to hazel’s cabin.

you guys took your seats from yesterday.

“JASON WAS ACTING FUCKING WEIIIIRD THIS MORNING.” you glared at piper.

“what the- wHY ARE YOU GUYS LOOKING AT ME?!” piper screeched.

annabeth spoke up, “you were the one who practically said jason’s name.”

“annie. you just said it. SUPERMAN ONLY BITCHES.” you said.

“what if that did happen?” hazel asked. “he’s not a pretty, perfect, goody-two-shoes princess? like you think he is. ”

“YES HE IS SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH HAZEL.”

annabeth, piper, and hazel all just looked at each other, tired with your shit.

“I CAME HERE FOR HELP, NOT THE BITCHY JUDGING COUNCIL!”

"i think she's onto me." jason said to his little boy band.

percy looked up from his game of chess with frank and stroked his chin, "why may that be?"

jason scratched his neck sheepishly, "um, she, like side-eyed me?”

“this is yn we’re talking about. she side-eyes everybody.” leo said.

“BUT NOT ME!” jason panicked.

frank tsked at percy, “what move you gonna make?”

“oh, shut it frank. i’m invested. what else did yn say?”

“i… don’t remember.”

all the boys collectively looked at him.

“I WAS NERVOUS! WHAT IF-”

“SHUT YOUR BLOODY MOUTH!” leo exclaimed. “we need a fucking plan.”

“do you have a plan leo?” frank asked.

“i actually do, frank. gather round children.”

after some meticulous planning, and a couple phone calls, a plan was set.

a prom dress, a boom box, and taylor swift.

exciting right?

it was two days after that stupid conversation (that jason totally didn't overhear).

annabeth, piper and hazel came to drag you from your seat at the docks where you were reading an angsty romance (like the sad emo girl you were after being rejected by the love of your life).

"what the fuck do you whores want?"

"ok rude," annabeth replied, "but you have to come with us."

"we have something exciting for you!" hazel said enthusiastically.

you looked at hazel, "haze, 'excitement', does not exist for me anymore. ever since the love of my goddamned life rejected me- "

piper cut you off, "ok shut up yn. first of all, he didn't even reject you. he just said he can't climb the lava wall with you. just come with us. please don't make a big deal about it."

you looked at the girls suspiciously, "what's in it for me?"

the girls shared a look, "that's a secret. but believe me, everything's in it for you."

"i look like a fucking bratz doll!" you screeched.

"ok, so?" piper replied. "I DON'T WANNA LOOK LIKE A DOLL THAT GOT BOTCHED PLASTIC SURGERY!"

piper was doing and messing up your makeup while annabeth and hazel were looking for a good outfit.

"also miss bitchy," you said, "why am i wearing this much makeup? and why is annabeth and hazel trying so hard to find an outfit?"

piper could see that you were clearly becoming suspicious. she just gave you a small (knowing) smile, "oh don't worry about it sweet."

you were about to jump her when hazel and annabeth came holding ... a prom dress and two inch heels?

“are you shitting me? what the fuck is this?” you asked.

“yn, just put it the fuck on! no. arguments. ” piper said.

you weren’t someone to refuse looking good. (even if piper messed up your makeup.) “fine, but i’m watching y’all.”

they nodded while you went to the bathroom to change.

you came out and hazel to do the back. “ok, how do i look?” you asked, deadpan.

“yn! you look stunning!” hazel exclaimed.

you looked decent. you had an old prom dress that the aphrodite cabin just happened to have and slightly crusty heels.

“this will definitely work. he’ll be drooling all over her.” piper said to annabeth.

you were so confused, what the fuck is happening?

"excuse me? what's going on? cause i am about to shit my pants." you said.

annabeth, hazel, and piper just looked at each other and said, "don't worry about it dear." and burst out laughing. (about what? that wasn't even funny???)

suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"oh my fucking gods, who is it?!" you shout.

piper looked at you. "chill," she opened the door, "hey leo."

"why is leo here?!" she ignored you! leo pulled her outside, when she came back she nodded to annabeth and hazel.

"ok yn! time for your surprise!" hazel said, knowingly.

then, hazel blindfolded you, annabeth and piper grabbed your legs, while leo grabbed your arms. while you were screaming to satan.

next, y'all went on your merry way going gods-know-where!

suddenly you were dropped straight on the fucking ground so hard your ass hurt and all your bindings slipped off.

you were in the middle of the fucking woods. and you could distantaly hear hazel, piper, leo and annabeth running away.

really where you were dropped was gorgeous. you were at a clearing in the middle of the woods. it was around sunset so everything was lit up with the golden sunlight streaming through the leaves. you could hear the faint sound of a creek in the distance.

all of sudden you heard footsteps. you got up of your ass and cursed under your breath when you realized you have no knifes because somebody took them from you.

you turned toward the sound when you saw him.

jason, all dressed up in a matching suit.

"oh, h-hi jason. whatcha doing here?"

"oh, just waiting for a pretty girl so i can give her a dance."

you looked around confusedly. "jase, i think you went the wrong way. all the pretty girls are back at camp."

he chuckled, then pulled a boombox from his ass. "would you give me this dance milady?"

you were so so so baffled. what was happening? but your heart belonged to him. "um, sure?"

he clicked play on the boombox and 'you belong with me' by taylor swift started playing. he grabbed your hands and placed them on his shoulders. (TRUST ok? they're waltzing to "you belong with me", but its fine.

you felt like your heart was going a million miles a second but in slow motion at the same time. you were panicking but you felt so content.

the bridge was playing and you realized how much the song relates to you and jason.

you guys were best friends before you something happened two days ago.

y'all knew each other better than the back of your hand.

he would bring you ice cream when you were on your period and when you weren't.

anytime he had to go on a quest without you he brought you souvenirs.

you told each other about your crazy dreams. like when elmo was chasing you down rodeo drive.

the song ended.

"i-" you looked up.

"um-" jason cut you off.

"you go first." you were terrified, your heart pounding in your chest.

"well, i've had the biggest crush on you, yn. since i arrived, really-"

you cut him off, pulling his mouth to your own.

you were in euphoria for a minute until you both pulled away.

"soooo?" you were giddy, "what now?"

jason looked thoroughly confused, you were too. "i don't know but we'll get through it together."

your cold heart melted a little at that.

"i have a question," you asked, walking away. "did you have a crush only because of my fat ass?"

"oh my gods, yn!"

author's note: so yeah um... there it is. it sucks, i kinda hate it but i thought it was a good idea and i wanted to start writing.

[leiascully]

Girl your “love is dead” anon got me tweaking! I don’t want to disrupt your fictober flow - but I have a prompt request for later. Can you write some petty fight or argument about Jerse or Diana while they’re already together, preferably set after s7? I’m not in the mood for their usual “we’re gonna be mature and discuss it maturely” - I want some petty and petulant heat of the moment fight. Bonus if there’s smut — SINCE MULDER AND SCULLY ARE HOT AND IN LOVE AND THEEEE SHIP BLUEPRINT with so much sexual tension and chemistry even after 30 years, and even if they weren’t soulmates you can’t look at them and honestly think they don’t have hot sex ANONN!!

It should be a nice afternoon. Mulder's over at her apartment. They're watching baseball. She's on maternity leave. She's relaxing. And yet every single thing in her life is irritating. Her body doesn't feel like her own. She didn't sleep well, because her belly is inconveniently big. Every craving she's had lately seems to exacerbate her heartburn, and she has to pee all the time, and even her walks around the neighborhood make her short of breath. She's tired of stretch marks and she's afraid of hemorrhoids, especially since it's harder to turn to wipe at this point.

Mulder seems blissfully unaware of all this and she's glad about that, but irritated too. It was only weeks ago that he was still icing her out like it was her fault he'd been buried. She knows that's the trauma—God knows she felt some of it herself after her abduction—but it's still frustrating as hell.

She prayed so hard for this pregnancy, but being pregnant comes with its own strange burdens, even during the moments that she's not afraid for her life and her child. She prayed for Mulder to be returned to her, but not for this alternately blithe and bitter version of him who's sometimes acting like nothing's wrong and sometimes seems to blame her for all of it. A quarter of the time, he's so solicitous it's as if he thinks pregnancy has broken her. A quarter of the time, he seems like he's about to bolt. The other half of the time they're together, it's like he ignores the whole situation, except for the occasional quip. But she never gets to forget it.

Whatever happened to him seems to have reset their relationship, and that also pisses her off. Seven years of foreplay, and all for what? For him to act like now that she's pregnant, she's the Virgin Mother? Especially now, when her hormones are at extreme high tide and she just wants to be railed within an inch of her life? He just sits there looking like the man who used to eat her out until her whole body ached from coming too many times, and watches baseball like he doesn't remember the way he thrust against her when he was pretending to teach her how to play.

There's a sharp crack from the tv, the sound of a ball hit hard and fast, and Mulder whoops. Scully jumps in her seat. The fact that she's startled makes her seethe.

"What do you think?" he says, turning to her. He's grinning widely. "Is it finally time for me to get NY tattooed on my ass?"

Anger bubbles over inside her. He said the same thing when he saw her tattoo for the first time. "Fuck off," she suggests, almost cordially, and starts to heave herself up from the couch. She can read in bed or something. Drink pathetic herbal tea at the table. Anything but sit here and want what they used to have.

"Hey, whoa." He catches her arm. "What did I say? Do you not want me to get a tattoo?"

"Far be it from me to suggest you do anything with your body," she says frostily, sort of crouching on the edge of the sofa. "Although I can't imagine you extending me the same courtesy."

"What's this about?" he asks, putting the tv on mute.

"You never miss a chance to needle me about my tattoo," she says. It's a completely unfair statement, the kind of deranged nonsense that only couples say to each other, and she didn't even mean to put "needle" and "tattoo" in the same sentence.

His face clouds. "It wasn't about that."

"No, of course it wasn't," she says, looking away from him. He's still holding her arm. "Because you don't care what I do unless I'm fucking someone else, even if you don't want me."

"I don't want you?" He finally sounds a little bit angry. Good. She wants to stoke those fires. Maybe he'll kiss her, maybe he'll storm out: either way, they'll have reached a tipping point. Something seems to click in his brain. "Are you fucking someone else?"

"Would it be your business if I were?" she challenges him.

"I guess not," he says, but he's got that stubborn set to his jaw.

"If you're not going to make it your fucking business, you should leave," she tells him. "It'll save me the effort of boxing up your stuff the next time some leggy brunette from your past shows up."

"Not pulling any punches, huh," he says, breathing fast. She hates the way his chest looks in that t-shirt. She hates the way his jeans strain over his thighs as he shifts.

"You never hold back when you're kicking me when I'm down," she says, looking at him levelly, and it's not fucking fair and she knows it, but none of this is fucking fair. She has everything she thought she wanted and all of it's just not quite right. She's half an inch from bursting into angry tears.

"What the fuck is happening right now?" he asks. "I thought we were watching baseball." As if he doesn't remember the way he talked to her about Ed Jerse. He remembers. He remembers everything.

"Just go," she says, turning her face away. She puts one hand on her belly, as if she could calm the roil of lust and resentment and disappointment.

"Uh uh," he says. "You don't get to kick me out before I leave you. I know that trick." His chest is heaving now.

"You've left me before," she says in a low voice.

"I'm not fucking doing it now," he tells her, anger crackling in his voice. "Diana's dead, if you remember."

"It wouldn't be the first time you've abandoned me to chase a ghost," she says, and it's a low, low blow.

He flinches like she slapped him. She didn't mean Samantha, of course she didn't. But there were other ghosts along the way, and she knows he knows that.

"What do you mean I don't want you?" he asks, the words rasping out of him.

She shakes her head. "You haven't so much as kissed me on the cheek since you got back."

"Scully, I want you all the fucking time," he says, and the intensity in his eyes and his voice hits so deep she feels it in her bones. It's like he's really looking at her for the first time since the hospital. Her lips part. She watches his eyes drop to her mouth. Fuck, she wants him so much even that makes her wet. "I didn't think you wanted me anymore."

"I want you so badly," she says, almost whimpering it, and she hates herself a little for that, for being so weak in him, but he pulls her forward and crushes her against him and his mouth is against hers at long fucking last and God, that's exactly what she needed. To be held by him, to feel him against her, really and truly here, really and truly hers.

"Please," she says, and he's already tugging her into his lap. She straddles him, the ridge of his cock making itself known under her thighs. She's wearing some t-shirt dress and leggings her mom got for her and she hates it, she absolutely hates it. She misses her sleek suits and her jeans that didn't have an elastic panel in them and being able to wear any of her sweaters without feeling like she's stretching them out in the bust. She misses the body Mulder couldn't stop touching. But he can't seem to stop touching her now, either: his hands cradle her tits, slide down her back, mold themselves over her hips. He even touches her belly, very gently, but like he's maybe a little less afraid of it.

"Can we...?" he asks.

"If we don't, I might die," she tells him, and kisses him. He kisses her back like her mouth is the only thing that can save him. His tongue is in her mouth and God, she missed it. She missed everything about him. Even the smell of his skin is intoxicating. She grabs him around the neck like she'll float away if she doesn't hold on.

They kiss until she's dizzy with need. She breaks away and sits back on her heels, panting a little. "That was a joke. About dying."

"I got that," he says, "but we can't take that chance." His hands skim up her thighs, under the hem of her giant unflattering t-shirt. She lifts her hips and her arms so he can pull it up and over her head. Immediately, his eyes are on her tits, and then his face is buried in them, his lips wandering over her skin. She moans as he thumbs her nipples through her ugly maternity bra. They're so sensitive and he knows exactly how to touch her somehow. He always did.

"Is it weird if I suck on your tits?" he asks, the words muffled by her cleavage. In answer, she lifts her nipple to his mouth and moans again as he tongues her through the fabric. Fuck, it feels good. She grinds on the bulge of his erection. She's come just from this, but not for a long time. She moves faster, torn between wanting to hump him into oblivion and wanting to come with him inside her, his skin against hers. The second possibility wins out. She crawls off his lap.

"Everything okay?" he asks. His eyes are hazy with desire and his hair is mussed. He looks so much like Mulder-Before that her heart squeezes and she almost wants to cry. They're not who they were. But they can be themselves again.

"No," she says, and gets to see his panic face. "You've got way too many clothes on."

"You got me," he says, stripping off his shirt. His scars are fading, much less livid than they were in the hospital. She studies him with an appreciative eye as he undoes his jeans. He's still got it. He wiggles out of his jeans and helps her peel out of her leggings and her maternity underwear.

"How do we do this?" he asks.

"However we want," she says. "Mulder, pregnant people can have sex." She is very, very slightly worried given how many problems she's already had, but not enough to stop. They deserve one fucking break in the midst of all of this, one thing that's still the same.

"Lean back," she tells him, nudging him toward the corner of the sofa. He goes where he's told, his cock bobbing as he moves. The slightly reclined position makes room for her stomach. It might not be the most comfortable, but she wants to look at him. She straddles him again, up on her knees. His hand is between her thighs, sliding between her folds. He swears in a low voice when his fingers find where she's wet. She echoes him when he brushes his slick thumb over her clit. It's like Fourth of July fireworks and twinkling lights on Christmas morning all at once, but inside her body.

"I want you," she tells him, looking down at him.

"You got me," he promises. "I want you so much, Scully."

"Show me," she says, sinking down. He guides his cock into her. God, it's been too long. She's tight, and even though she's so wet for him, it takes a minute to take all of him. She eases herself down and down and down the hot length of him. She moans as she takes him deeper, spreading her knees on the sofa to get another half-inch. Finally she's resting against his thighs and she's so full she thinks she could come just like this, just feeling him all the way inside her. He puts one hand on her face, as tender as if it's their first time. In a way, it is, all over again.

"I missed you," he whispers, and she bursts into tears as she starts to move. But she's laughing and crying at the same time, riding him. She lets herself be loud, lets herself be messy. He should see how he undoes her. But his mouth is open and desperate under hers too. His hands tremble on her skin.

"I missed you so much," she says, the words broken up by kisses and by the way he thrusts up into her. She loves feeling the strength of him under her. She loves his arms around her. His bare skin against hers is what she's been craving the worst her entire pregnancy. She has brief flashes of what it would have been like if he'd been here the whole time: the way he would have caressed the slight swell of her growing belly, the delight in his eyes feeling the baby kick.

"It's not too late," she says, and he groans in agreement. She's close. She sits up so she can ride him hard, grinding her pelvis against him. His fingers find her clit and she gasps, a sharp noise. He grins up at her.

"Hips before hands," she pants.

"I knew you loved baseball," he says roughly.

"Just the nice piece of ash," she says, and he flicks her clit just right and she's coming, shivering around his cock. He throbs inside her, thrusting up like he can't help himself. It's all she can do to grip his thighs with her knees as he pounds into her, but she won't shut her eyes. She needs to see him. She watches his pleasure build. His mouth is open and his cheeks are flushed. There's a light in his eyes she hasn't seen since Before.

"Come on," she urges. "I need this."

He makes an inarticulate noise that's about half her name and comes hard, his thighs like steel under her. She holds him as her muscles flutter in delicious empathy. His eyes are shining as he looks up at her. A tear rolls down his cheek. She catches it on her thumb and brings it to her lips. He laughs, sounding surprised.

She climbs off him. It's a slightly difficult process, but he braces her with his hands and that helps. She retrieves the detested t-shirt dress and wads it under herself to shield the couch from any sticky residues. They both lie back against the cushions, breathing hard.

"What were we fighting about?" she asks.

"Whether I love the Yankees more than I love you, I think," he says, sprawling next to her.

"You do," she says. "But that's okay."

"I don't," he says. "I don't love anything more than I love you, Scully. Not even ghosts."

She meets his eyes. His gaze is steady. "Okay," she whispers.

"Okay." He nods. "As for things I might have said about anyone else you were fucking, it's not an excuse to say that I was insanely jealous, but it does explain it a little. Sorry I was a dick."

"Sometimes we were both dicks," she says. "I think that's how love works."

"You wanna find out together?" He holds out his hand.

"Yeah," she says, taking it. "I do."

On the television, a baseball soars into a cloudless blue sky. It's a grand slam.

[lightofthemoonglow]

Inexperienced Smut Prompts

30.“It’s not scary at all. Let me show you.”

Billy Loomis

Notes: third person reader. Vague catholic themes. Billy may have a corruption kink. Weird attitudes about sex, possibly

Was supposed to post this yesterday but wound up going to Talk To Me instead. Kinda worth being thrown off but but really btw

The music is so loud downstairs that even up in the master bedroom, they can hear it. It’s to be expected. It’s graduation night, a night where they’re all allowed to run wild because they’re adults now. At least in theory. It’s the start of a new beginning, a time for change. This new start is why she was able to approach Billy Loomis after years of only watched him and asking if he wanted to go upstairs with her.

The good girl of their class had followed Billy up to the master bedroom, sat on the edge of the bed as he had locked the door. It was something no one would suspect, a plot twist that had blindsided both of them. Thanks to liquid courage, she had gotten up the guts to approach him and ask him to deflower her, an attempt to shed her good girl image before going off to college. She wasn’t popular, but people knew her. Everyone knew that she was from a family of Jesus freaks, that she did all sorts of church shit in her free time. And yet, here she was, asking the sort of boy her parents hated to usher her through that rite of passage.

Billy looks her over, all wide eyed innocence, gold cross dangling from her neck, with only her knees exposed in her Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz looking dress and he knows that he has to have her. Fuck her so good that she’ll never forget him, even if she tries. Ruin her, just a little.

“I’m a little scared. What if it…”

“Hey, hey…” Billy’s voice is barely above a whisper as he approaches, his eyes dark, almost hungry as he looks her over. “It’s not scary at all. Let me show you.” He knows what he’s doing, it’s why he was asked to take care of the situation.

His mouth is soft, his hands are not. She wonders how they got to be so rough when he’s one of the rich kids. He’s got his own cellular phone, for crying out loud. How can his palms be so rough against the soft flesh of her breasts, how his fingers create a friction when they tweak her nipple that doesn’t happen when she does it herself.

Billy looks at her naked body like it’s a meal to be savored when he finally gets rid of her underwear, tossing the garment aside like it’s cheap trash. She’s looking up at him, mouth parted, thighs open and he feels satisfied and he hasn’t even fucked her yet. He’s only had a couple of fingers in her at this point, and her moans had been the sweetest thing he’s heard in a long time. As he had fingered her, made her come, she had been mumbling something, a prayer. Maybe a plea for forgiveness to the fucked up God she believes in.

Billy slides in too eagerly, too quick. She gasps and scratches his shoulders, tensing up for a moment. “Relax,” he whispers in her ear, stroking her thigh as he begins to move. “I’m gonna take real good care of you.” She turns her head awkwardly so she can look him in the eyes and for some reason, she believes in him more than anything else.

[petermorwood]

Mushrooms in Cream Sauce...

...or Pilze in Sahnesoße.

This is for @killerblackberrypie, who went looking for the version on our "European Cusines" site and found the site gone.

@dduane had taken it down for maintenance, a new theme and to take some new photos, but while the site was down it web-provider went belly-up. These things happen.

"European Cuisines" Will Return - just not quite yet.

Our recipe was, ironically, one of the recipes slated for new pics, so while this text is from the site's offline backup (with a couple of tweaks from me, because why not?) photos are sourced from the web.

There are many, many other recipes online; they're mostly in German, but Google Translate handles Rezeptedeutch well enough. I've linked to a couple, which is only fair since I'm using their pix.

You'll also see the French word "champignons" in German recipes as often as German "Pilze"; I don't know whether this indicates a French origin for the recipe, or refers to a specific mushroom, or makes the dish sound more classy.

Here's one: Champignons in Sahnesauce mit Spätzle.

And here's ours...

*****

Pilze in Sahnesoße from European Cuisines.

Contrary to popular belief, Germany is not a vegetable-free zone.

In fact, unless you find yourself buried in some tiny backwater in the Black Forest or someplace similar, Germany is much kinder to both vegetable-lover and vegetarian than a lot of other places. It will be rare to find a menu that doesn't have at least a few vegetarian or at least mostly-vegetable options on it, often far more creative than you might expect.

But leaving aside for the moment the issue of vegetarianism per se, Germans really do like more vegetables than potatoes and cabbage, especially seasonal ones in their prime. Asparagus season, for instance, has its own name: Spargelzeit - "asparagus time".

And mushrooms (all right, not as true veggies, but at least as fungi) turn up as stars in many entreés, especially in dishes meant to be served in the autumn, "Pilzsaison", mushroom season, when the good little creatures are coming up all over in the woods and the supermarkets.

This recipe calls for the mushrooms to be sautéed with onions in bacon fat (the bacon is added later). The pan is then deglazed with white wine, and various spices are added, one of them being paprika, which instantly suggests that this recipe probably sneaked over the border from Austro-Hungary, possibly via the Czech Republic.

Finally the cream and bacon go in.

The result is substantial, surprisingly elegant, and yummy.

This is definitely a recipe for a high-end Hobbit menu: an entrée for anyone who doesn't want their mushrooms upstaged by overly large amounts of meat.

The bacon-fat and bacon CAN be left out completely, making the dish meat-free. Use more butter along with more mushrooms and a red pepper diced small, and add 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika.

*****

INGREDIENTS

NB, we work in metric so that's "correct"; Imperial is converted and "approximate", though it won't make much difference. Just don't combine them or your mushrooms might crash into Mars...

1 kg / 2 lb fresh mushrooms, domesticated or a mixture of wild types to taste

125g / 1/4 pound bacon, diced

60gr 1/4 cup butter or margarine

2 large onions, diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

60ml / 1/4 cup (or more if needed to deglaze) white wine, preferably a medium or medium-dry one

A pinch of nutmeg

A pinch of mace

250ml / 1 cup heavy cream

The juice of half a medium-sized lemon, strained

2 sprigs of fresh parsley

METHOD

Clean the mushrooms with a soft brush or dry cloth. (Never wash mushrooms.) If they're big, cut them in half.

Fry the bacon in a wok or large pan until lightly browned. Remove the bacon from the pan and set it aside.

Add the butter to the pan drippings. Add the onions; sauté until lightly browned.

Add the mushrooms; cook them until they're tender, stirring often.

When they're tender, raise the heat slightly and stir in the wine, salt, pepper, paprika, nutmeg, and mace. Cover the pan and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Add the cooked bacon, cream and lemon juice. Reheat until just warm. Do NOT let this mixture boil!!!

Garnish with parsley and serve with noodles, dumplings, mashed potatoes, whole potatoes... And some crusty bread to chase the last of the sauce.

*****

Our original photo used Spätzle, as in the first pic. Ribbon tagliatelle works just fine as well, while here is Saure Pilz-Sahnesoße served alongside Bohemian Dumplings, a long bread dumpling boiled in water or stock then cut into thick slices.

From the same site, here's a simple potato treatment, Pilz-Sahnesoße mit Kartoffeln:

As far as we've been able to make out, the main difference between mushrooms in cream sauce as a main dish, and creamy mushroom sauce for use with something else, is the proportion of mushrooms to everything else, and often the size of pieces into which they're cut. Really small bits are one more ingredient, large generous chunks are much more front and centre.

Ours is definitely a main course, and though we haven't made it for a while, the memory of that last time still makes my Mind Palate go...

Soon. Soon...

[danime25]

Last Christmas

ao3 // normal masterlist // christmas masterlist

*Summary: Colt happened to overhear that there was a gift exchange. What will he do to get involved when he hears a member of the lighting crew shit talking someone else on staff?

*Rating: E for Everyone

*Content/Tags: Bittersweet Ending, Secret Santa

*Status: Oneshot?/Complete

“Ah damn.” Colt’s ears perked up as he overheard one of the lighting guys. He was in between scenes right now and he had another two hours of sitting on set before they’d actually need him for the day. So he did what came naturally to him, snoop.

“What?” The other guy asked, not looking up from the lights he was tweaking

“You know that one PA?”

“There’s a lot of them on set.” The other man rolled his eyes

“The one that hardly talks to anyone, and if she does she covers her mouth with that stupid clipboard she has?”

“Oh that frigid bitch.” His friend laughed. Colt raised an eyebrow. He knew the production assistant that they were talking about. He’d never had a problem with her in the past, and honestly she was probably the nicest member to him. She’d always make sure that he had enough time in between scenes to run to the craft table when he needed some coffee. 

“Yeah, her. So I got her for the stupid secret santa. Wanna trade?”

“Hell no. You think I want that bitch who sucked a cock to get her job?”

“Well I don’t want her either, and no one else in lighting fucking wants her.”

“Did you ask the prop department? Someone in there might be desperate enough…”

“I’ll take her.” Colt, who up until then had been silently listening made a couple strides across the way, “I’ll take her for the gift exchange or… whatever.”

“Okay.” The first guy looked him up and down, “Who are you anyway?”

“I’m the stunt guy.” Colt nodded

“Fine. Here. Give me your sheet.” The guy held his hand out

“What sheet?”

“The secret santa sheet.” He rolled his eyes, “Did you even sign up?’ “Yeah. It’s just… in my car.” Colt slid away for a second and pulled a sheet of paper out of a script someone left around. He copied the general format, and wrote down a bullshit name. He strided back in and handed it off to the guy, “There.”

“Thanks.” He looked over it for a second before a runner came and started screaming about how the director needed everyone in lighting over at the other lot. Colt took a look at the sheet that he had tucked in his pocket so as not to get the two confused. He frowned a little bit as he saw how little she wrote. A woman of few words, he guessed. If he was going to get her something she’d like as a thank you for all the coffee breaks on set, he’d have to continue snooping. He looked down at his watch and hurried to the set where his next scene was. She was probably setting up there.

---

Sure enough, he found her pointing directions out to other members of the crew. He could hardly hear her and he was only about 10 feet away. Maybe his eardrums were just shot to hell being next to explosions? He shook his head and walked over to her. He gave her a quick nod. Without missing a beat she quietly said,

“You’re early. You’re never on set early.”

“Yeah. But I’m on time.”

“Last time you were two minutes late.” She looks down at her phone. He sees the music banner on her screen and asked,

“What are you listening to?” He was fishing, but maybe that would give him some ideas about what to get her

“Nothing.” She looked at him, a bit confused. “I was listening to something on my commute.”

“Oh yeah?” He leaned against a cart, only for it to move out from under him. He tipped over slightly before catching his balance and giving her a thumbs up. “That could’ve been bad.”

“Don’t get injured.” She replied. That was nice of her. “Our insurance won’t cover it.”

“Ouch.” He laughed, “I mean you’re probably right.”

“Not probably. I am right.” She sighed, “I appreciate your company, but I really need to finish setting up for the scene… Mark will be mad if I don’t.”

“First name basis with the director?’

She sighed again, even more exhausted, “Listen if those… guys from VFX sent you to spy on me. I swear I’ve never done anything immoral to keep my job… I just come to set, do my job and go home.”

“No that’s not why I’m here…” He tried to explain, but how could he without giving away that he was trying to get her something? “I’ll just… sit over there.”

“Thank you.” Her shoulders loosened up as he sat quietly in the corner of the studio. Other members of the crew filtered in, then the actors paraded in. She started talking with the star about some rewrites the writers had come up with and guided them through it. He crept closer to listen in, given that it might change his performance too. She raised an eyebrow as she saw him move into her line of sight, but decided to not do anything about it until one of the actors piped up about the intrusion. Surprisingly, no one said anything and they got to work filming. The director guided both Colt and the man he was doubling for on how to perform the stunt correctly, the angle and distance the camera would be to ensure no one saw the switch between the two. Colt nodded along as if he were paying attention and his eyes darted back to the PA. She looked to be underlining the script with due diligence.

“And action!”

Colt watched the scene until it was his time to step in. It was a basic fight scene with a fall, easy enough. He landed on the mat perfectly and rested on it for a moment, waiting for his back to crack as he pushed into the plush pad. When he got up he walked back over to behind the camera, seeing her with her teeth pressed down into her lips.

“You okay?” He asked her

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You want some coffee?” He asked in a way that wasn’t really a suggestion. She nodded and he guided her outside the studio. When she knew no one was looking at her she started to sob. Something in Colt’s heart broke seeing her completely shatter that he took her into his arms and held her. She seemed a bit confused by the gesture but wrapped her arms around his and cried. After a couple heaves and a tear stained shirt, he asked, “You want to talk about it?”

“I… sorry this shoot’s been a lot. Doesn’t help that Mark is fucking asshole.”

“Yeah.” He never noticed it, but the director was kind of a raging asshole when he thought about it. “The shoot’s done for the day, right?”

“Yeah.” She sighed, trying to regain her composure

“Why don’t I take you home?’

“Okay,” she said with a little grin. It wasn’t a date, per say. Colt considered it a mission to find out more about her when no one else on set seemed to care. He just knew when he saw something in her house it would click like that.

---

At the Christmas party, Colt was eager to give her her present. He’d grown to really like her and he noticed her more on set. There was some kind of change in her that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. People talked behind her back still, but it was less about her being cold and her being ‘bossy’. Colt shrugged it all off because at the end of the day it really didn’t matter to him. His head kept turning instinctively towards the door every time someone came in, but she was nowhere to be seen. He almost decided to go home when he saw her walk in. Her hair was styled, but the curls were mostly deflated as she played with the ends at her shoulder. He waved at her and she caught his gaze, practically running over to him.

“Hi! So sorry I’m late,” she started to apologize to him, “I know I said I’d be on time…”

“It’s okay.” He smiled

“I just had to make sure my boyfriend, Nick… well he texted me that he had a flat tire…” She explained. Colt’s smile faded. He tried to pretend to be happy for her sake, but he hid the box behind his back.

“Is he okay?” He asked. It was polite, if a bit disinterested

“Yeah, he’s fine. He’s parking my car now.” She replied, looking over her shoulder

“That’s good. Glad you’re alright.”

“Thanks.” She smiled back at him. “Oh there he is.”

“I should let you go then…” He hesitated

“No, you two should meet, I think you’d really like him!” She pulled him over. “Hey hon.”

“There you are.” The other man pressed his lips onto her cheek once, then again on the other side. She hugged him tightly. It wasn’t personal, but Colt couldn’t help but see it as a reminder that she wasn’t his. From the looks of it, she’d never be his. After she pulled out of his reach, she turned to face Colt. She gestured towards her friend on set,

“Hon, this is Colt.”

“Nice to meet you.” Her boyfriend smiled back at him. He looked like he was in another world… Colt really couldn’t blame him. He held his hand out and Colt shook it loosely

“You as well,” He replied. He didn’t have much else to say to her boyfriend but he tried his best to keep a conversation going between the two of them while she went to grab a drink. She managed to find the person on the crew who she was Santa for and gave her her gift. They shared a quick hug and she came back to the two.

“I guess I should tell you, I was your Santa.” Colt rubbed at the back of his neck with his free hand

“Oh!” She smiled, “Thank you. I’m sure whatever you got me is nice. You don’t have to give it to me right now if you don’t want to.”

“Yeah, I seemed to misplace it…” He acted like he dropped it when he went to get a drink, but really he left it on the table everyone had discarded their presents on. “I was just gonna head out then. I’m all partied out.”

“Oh. Okay.” She nodded, “I get that… Let me see if I can find my present before you go though. I’ll just hold onto it.”

“Okay.” He smiled at her as she went to find his present. Sure enough, she found the little box and she brought it back with her

“I can’t wait to open it later.” She smiled as she held it between the palms of her hands

“Yeah, I hope you like it.” His words seemed to deflate as they left his lips. He turned around and left the party. He sat in his truck for a moment before riding home alone.

---

The next day that they needed him on set, production had promised it would be his last. He came in with thoughts running through his head. Would she be mad at him? Would she scream ‘how could you give me this’? He wasn’t sure how she’d react. Maybe he didn’t really know her enough to have wanted to ask her for a kiss. He walked into the studio and it felt like nothing had changed. He followed her directions, the scene was shot and it was time to go home. Before he could though, he felt a tug on his shirt sleeve from behind him.

“Hey.” She said

“Hi.” He replied

“I…”

“Listen. I’m sorry about my gift. I just thought that we were getting really close. And I was gonna ask you that night for a kiss.”

“I’m sorry.” She bit her lip, “We’d just gotten together a couple days before the party.”

“Oh.” His heart broke even more. “He seemed really nice though. I hope you’re happy.”

“I am now.” She nodded, “I… don’t think I would have been able to talk to him if we hadn’t met.”

“Oh.”

“That’s to say… I feel like I owe you something.”

“Whatever it is, let’s just call it even,” he took her hand off of him

“No I mean… Colt.”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe… maybe it could have worked out.” She said after a moment of silence lingered in between them. She leaned in and pressed her lips onto his. He pulled away from her and looked at her. He had to walk away otherwise he’d never be able to live with the feeling in his chest of tearing her away from her happy ending. He dryly laughed and said,

“Well at least we weren’t under the mistleto…” She pulled the gift box from out of her pocket and held it out for him to see. He turned his back on her and walked away. She didn’t try to chase after him. Maybe they were better off this way after all.

[sunchaserwings]

Incoming rant about The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Herlock Sholmes from The Great Ace Attorney, and the BBC Sherlock (no major spoilers ahead I promise).

A preface before I begin; I was never a big fan of Sherlock Holmes or any adaptation of the stories. I've seen Elementary although I was very young so I only have the vaguest of memories of enjoying it, and my roommate had me watch a couple BBC Sherlock episodes when I was a tween/young teen. My mother claims she tried to get me into Sherlock Holmes but I'm rather skeptical. Anyhow, onto the story.

Back in March my boyfriend bought me the Ace Attorney games for my birthday which included the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (or Dai Gyakuten Saiban for those who are still stuck on the pre-localization names ;p). I was on my flight home from my birthday trip after I got the news my manager fired my brother while I was out of the state and figured why not, I'd start playing the first TGAA game on the flight. I'd probably enjoy myself and I couldn't sleep.

Second biggest mistake of the year (first biggest was trusting Les Schwab to do my brake job). I. Was. Hooked. I played the first case and fell in love with Kazuma instantly (he's so Zero shaped!). I played the second case and realized that calling him Zero shaped was way too accurate. We all know what happened there. Most important to this rant, I met Herlock Sholmes (more on my opinions on him later). I could barely put the game down but I had to take a break due to finding a new job and getting adjusted. I ended up finishing the game in June or July, one of the two. I finished the final case of the first game in one long 12 hour gaming session it was that good (my back didn't thank me though).

Now, the man of the hour: Herlock Sholmes. I didn't think much of him initially. He was simultaneously charming and annoying in the second case but as I played more he grew on me. I cried when the start of 1-5 happened. He clawed his way up into like the top 7 favorite characters at the time. The ending of the game with him playing his violin made me bawl my eyes out. I. Loved. This. Game.

It took a few more months to start and finish the second game. In between Adventures and Resolve I played Skyward Sword, Minish Cap, and some others so I had a healthy break. I came back to play Resolve and finished it like two months ago. It hit me in the gut just as hard as the first game did although there are a great many things I'd tweak and do differently. But Herlock Sholmes... man, he's not my favorite but he's up there underneath Kazuma and Van Zieks.

Anyhow, I finished the game but the hyperfixation had started and would not let me go. I've never been one to go out and seek fanfiction due to... personal stuff but I had a feeling I didn't want to go probe the depths of AO3 yet for fear of crying. I started a graveyard shift at my job which severely limited my ability to talk with people about stuff and also there's so many major spoilers but very few people I knew had played the game. A thought occurred to me, however. What about Sherlock Holmes audiobooks? I have an auditory processing issue which has made listening to audiobooks hard but I decided to give it a go. Perhaps it would satiate the TGAA hyperfixation hunger.

I found the ones produced by Magpie Audio, expertly narrated by Greg Wagland. Go check him out, he has over 77 videos of Sherlock Holmes audiobook recordings and all of them are a minimum of 40 minutes, often times far more. I went through over 30 hours of audiobook in a few weeks listening to these. Sherlock Holmes is such a good character and I can understand how and why he took late Victorian England by storm. And you know what the best part is?

Herlock Sholmes is the most faithful adaptation I have personally seen as a character of the original Sherlock Holmes.

They got so many of Sherlock's little idiosyncrasies right and you can tell the entire team were genuine fans of the books. I listened to Mr. Wagland's narration *and I saw 221B Baker of the games*. Especially the jack knife impaling the communications to the mantle being referenced in the game? The sheer mess of the flat? It's so good!

My roommate (whom is also a Sherlock Holmes fan) noticed my newest hyper fixation that spawned off of TGAA and that reignited his Sherlock Holmes obsession. He was a fan of the BBC Sherlock and now recognizes it was not a very great show but it's a comfort media for him nonetheless. He just dragged me into rewatching it and... okay, it's playing into a lot of inaccurate Sherlock tropes I don't like but goddamn Martin Freeman carries the whole show. I love his John Watson because it feels like a reasonable version of a modern, younger Watson. He feels real in a way. I do like the fact that even in the first episode, it's established that John and Sherlock can make each other laugh and smile just like in the books. I don't forgive them calling Sherlock a sociopath, however (speaking as someone with a brother that has been diagnosed with being a high-fuctioning sociopath). He's AuDHD to the max and deserves recognition in that department.

All of this to say, I can trace my current Sherlock hyperfixation back to Mega Man. Finding Mega Man in 4th grade led to watching the Ace Attorney anime in late 2021 which led to playing The Great Ace Attorney and that led to listening to Sherlock Holmes. I don't know why I decided to make this post but maybe I might start live blogging this shit? All in all, this is going to be a wild ride.

[ohifonlyx33]

So so so much to love about Love Next Door.

Its a story about a boy falling in love with his best friend, it's a story about a girl fighting her struggles and finding her path in life, it's about families coming to heal and support each other, its about friendship, its about finding your own family when you've lost your own... it's about being open and honest, about giving and receiving love, about overcoming pride or shame and just letting people see the parts of you you want to hide so you can share your burdens.

The entire cast had so much chemistry as friends, family, and romantic partners. The drama, with a few notable exceptions, felt natural. The episode 8 plot twist especially revealed a darker layer I honestly wasn't expecting, but it added so much. I liked the main couple and the secondary couple both. The parents were all mostly interesting and fun (although probably at least a little bit on the abusive side). Even these kids cracked me up and stole the show...

But I do take a few issues with it.

It's just a little annoying because I know with a few small tweaks here and there these issues could be resolved.

One being the fact that it didn't know how to end, which is a common problem with a simple romance and family drama. I literally went "what wait that's it?? That's the end?" Because I thought there had to be at least 15 minutes left for SOMETHING. But no, they actually decided to go for the fast-forward time jump... but for what?

We don't even see the main couple get married. Which, I WOULD BE TOTALLY FINE WITH.... trust me, the wedding episodes often make me cringe. Except, why have the flash forward at all, if nothing happens *after* the flash forward?

We could have set up another small dramatic hurdle for the main couple instead in the last 2 or 3 episodes... (I personally would have gone with the "do you want kids?"/"yeah, I think that'd be nice... do you?"/"yeah maybe...but what if I can't have them because cancer is high risk?"/"then that's ok too" route then to flash forward to them at Kang Dan-ho and Jung Mo-Eum's wedding 1.5 years later, with a little baby girl. 🥺

It definitely feels like the only reason we didn't see either of the main couples get married was because they wanted to be "different" by leaving it open... and AGAIN... I am fine with avoiding all the slow, sappy, overly-the-top clichés and pacing pitfalls of the wedding episode. but tbh, the last episode was just as slow and clichéd as any "wedding episode" just without the main couple getting married.

Don't get me wrong I liked seeing Choi Seung-hyo's parents renew their vows... but it was not something I NEEDED to see.

Another thing is the balance in the main couple... occasionally it felt off.

Now overall, I did feel like the main couple were a great fit, well-balanced and suited for each other... truly I loved them most of the time... but I just wish we had seen more of how Bae Seok Ryu came to terms with her feelings for Choi Seung-hyo or seen from her POV how she avoided developing them as a kid, the same way we clearly saw Choi Seung-hyo pushing his feelings away.

We saw poor Choi Syeung-hyo agonize over his feelings for about a dozen episodes and then struggle waiting for Bae Seok Ryu... but then we spent so long learning about how Bae Seok Ryu and her ex-fiance were actually a decent, happy couple... and the show refused to show more than 2 minutes of why they broke up or fell out of love. They easily could have had a QoT style Kdrama of their own about how they get back together, etc.

at least with Choi Seung-hyo's ex gf, we saw that they both moved on pretty easily without much attachment because really they were never that serious or special... it had been a while and they were both over it too. But with her ex-fiance, it was still a recent break up of an otherwise-strong relationship. So it seemed like they could have done more to convince us they had enough reasons to break up... like IDK when she stopped loving her ex and started loving Choi Seung-hyo because it's rushed and unclear what she is feeling... I also did not like that her ex pointed out that it looked like she'd already found someone when she herself had not come to that conclusion with any certainty.

I guess I just feel like all her thoughts and feelings about Choi Seung-Hyo were often hidden. Maybe to make the viewer feel suspense... but even after they got together, it felt like he told her how he felt and she avoided it. Then a few petty fights and a talk or two later she just agreed that she did like him after he convinced her... and when she ran to find him, even then—still—HE kissed her. And she's left to mutter about banana milk.

She does show her love for him later, and expresses it clearly. But even later, he proposes on a whim, before anyone even knows they're dating, and she rejects his proposal... and then immediately caves in after he convinces her... the whole timing does feel off. But it also just feels like we see the relationship more from his perspective than hers.

Like the romance is HIS plot line and the cancer is hers.

Then there's the brother... he didn't do much, his plot went nowhere, and I really only liked the scenes that brought out the contrast between his failures and Bae Seok Ryu's successes....

Then there's the way they set up Jung Mo-Eum and Kang Dan-Ho... it was a little forced, especially with her immediate (and a little bit creepy) interest in Yeon-Du and the whole "Mudflat Man" which was maybe taken a little too far. But I loved their family dynamic and their chemistry.. Just felt like their love story was a little underdeveloped... And really sending Jung Mo-Eum off to Antarctica for a year, right after they stared dating, and not even seeing her reunite with Dan Ho was not my favorite.

[signed-sapphire]

Hiiiiii! 😁 Hope you're doing well! You know how you helped me with rewriting "Welcome to Rosas"? Well, it turned out so well, that I'd like to ask for your help again, this time with " This Wish"!

I've already finished and posted Chapter 2 last week, so now I'm currently setting up Chapter 3. AND ITS GONNA HAVE STAR!! ⭐ Its going to be the last test chapter before I ask on how readers feel about it so far.

So the way the structure is going to go is that it starts with the evil royals attempting to grab the a star from the sky and start to become a looming threat on the Hamlet. Then it would transition into a dream sequence for Asha. When she wakes, she finds that Sabino has gotten really sick ever since he lost his wish. So when she has the singing moment, she's basically venting and fed up feeling powerless and trapped. Wanting to do more for him and her people, she wishes on a star in the heat of the moment. Not long after the song ends, Star comes down, in a rather reckless way. 😅

Let me know what you suggest to do! 😉

Ooh, Rascal! I forgot for most people, “This Wish” happens near the beginning lol. The song happens near the third act of TFS, almost didn’t realize that other people didn’t change that lol

Of course I’ll help! You’re writing so fast, wow (and yay! Star is coming soon! Little glowing rocket of energy)

I like how you’re going back to that one deleted scene where the royal couple attempts to pull a star from the sky. What would the dream sequence for Asha be? That situation?

Did she connect Sabino losing his wish to his illness?

Anyways. Under a cut bc it’s pretty long!

Maybe something like “they promised that they would set us free, give our wishes to them and they’d be safe. So naive, little did I know, that they had lied, that the truth was so far off” or something idk but change the “isn’t truth supposed to set you free” since your Asha wasn’t gullible

I think the “when I speak” part could be kept, maybe tweaked a bit, up until the “look up at the stars to guide me”

I think the “throw caution to every warning sign” should be changed. I get what it’s trying to mean, but it’s not the smoothest

Some phrases that may fit are “grow a spine” or “something divine” or even “take this as a sign”

I think the “I never knew I needed room to grow” should change since it seems sort of conceited with everyone except TFS!Asha. Only because for her, it tracks

Maybe add something about her saba? How she’s raised her and why he’s important to her?

“All these years, my saba cared for me, kept me safe, from vicious royalty. But now, it’s my turn to be, the shield for them all, protect my family!”

If you change that part, maybe also change the “past dipping my toes in” as well

“And I’ve got reservations and hesitations on where I should even begin, but I’m past staying and hiding, and now it’s time to fight and win!”

Idkkkk

Also, the end beat should be a belt imo. Give me that “Part of Your World” callback, you know? Idk the setting of the song, but if it’s at the Wishing Tree, the events could similarly follow the movie with the bright light and crash if needed

Hope this helped! Please let me know if you need anything else!

[josephtrohman]

sorry if you’ve been asked this before, would you be willing to spare some joetrick fic recs? i’m getting super back into them and the bandom so wanted to jump back in with some recs maybe!! (do you still prefer top joe? do you have any toppy patrick? if thats not your bag i don’t mind i’ll honesty take anything you think is well written atp 😁 ty!!!)

i’m sorry it’s taken me a couple days to answer this anon!!! finals got me both tweaking and sleep deprived at the same time somehow. also tho let it be known there is nothing to be sorry for at allllll omg, and there Never is, imagine my inbox as a safe warm place where i’m always here for ANYTHING. anyways, i have answered some joetrick fic recs earlier, here is the link to that post which has my crème de la crème joetrick fics, but i always have more in my back pocket!!! start with that other post’s list tho first for sure!!!! just bc they are THEE BEST. ok gonna put the rest under a break here (including my answers to ur question LOLL) :3

i truthfully have mellowed out when it comes to top/bottom preferences lol (i wonder if ur an og follower and saw my ask from like 2016 that i may have answered more intensely about preferring top joe and oh god the 'bottom patrick network' i was in way back when networks were a thing HDKDJDKDJSJ). i actually really enjoy top patrick/bottom joe in this day and age but there is like. none still. so i dont have much to offer u 💔 but im working on something and so is a fobtwt friend of mine so keep ur eyes peeled!!!

i combed my archive and found u my (very) slim pickings for toppy patrick. which imo is a disgrace and i Have contributed to this pattern of mostly bottom patrick w my fics BUT i hope to change this fact as i have a wip that’s just pwp top patrick/bottom joe maybe coming in the next several months LOLLLL (also my fobtwt friend as i mentioned). but i’ll start with the closest things i can find. i’m gonna break it down with the kind of adjacent to ur request fics First and then give a few more recs after :)

an exploration of the bounds of venus by disloyalorder. this might be the only top patrick pure joetrick smut on ao3 (that i found well-written enough to save at least <3). it’s got a heavy dose of mommy kink/mommy dom stuff so i guess if that’s not ur thing then u really will have to stay tuned for my fic ;) haha

wasted summer by terriblewritings. shoutout to the author for dropping it in my inbox!!! it has the mommy kink too and a liiiiiiittle talk of weight just in an appreciative way idk but a warning; it’s toppy patrick in the sense of dom patrick bc there’s no penetration, but it’s rly good!!! author says there might be more coming too ;3

token by gigantic. this one i found on total accident, i had been digging around on this user’s livejournal because they have two PHENOMENAL wentzman fics up (if u want those recs too lmk) but basically this one is joe on a gay sex mission lol, it is explicit but ofc when u get to the goods (aka the JOETRICK SCENE) it's all fade-to-black instead 💔 but still SOOOOO good so unbelievably well written!!!

i had it listed it in the other rec ask, but bdsm by heyginger has a brief mention of joe riding patrick (not explicit smut tho lol) AND of patrick tying joe up so it feels on the toppy patrick side for sure :)

also for good measure, though patrick is not toppy to JOE in these ones, there are two jeterick fics that feature patrick topping pete while joe does stuff to them etc just maybe to scratch a similar itch? lay your head down -- and feel the beat and two's company, three's just right both by likeasugarcube.

begging all ao3 writers to PLEASEEE write more top patrick/bottom joe joetrick fics i want to read joe get fucked like he deserves <3 ok anyways

EDITING THIS ASK FROM THREE MONTHS IN THE FUTURE TO SAY i have a top patrick joetrick fic up NAOW anon if you happen to return to this ask again anon. addicted to the way i feel when i think of you by josephtrohman aka yours truly ;3 (AND EDITING AGAIN TO SAY I HAVE A TOP PATRICK PUPPY PLAY JOETRICK FIC)

and now here r some general recs that aren’t toppy patrick related :)

my tongue is my choir by coricomille. patrick is mute (mixon is their vocalist) and it’s a wonderfully written, very sweet fic!!!

capture the phrases by rosiedoesfic. patrick has a secret admirer in the form of anonymous post it notes. so good<3

expensive mistakes by rosiedoesfic. cute little fic about the insta posts in mania era that had very joetricky captions :')

the cure to growing older by rosiedoesfic. a au fic where joe and patrick have been friends since they were little kids, a very cute growing up together type story :)

message in a bottle by bunnytrohman. a sweet lil getting together fic sent during 2ourdust. saur beautiful and the world needs more fics set in the stardust era imo!!!

take a breath (i know what's behind that door) by thesecondshow. joe checks in on/takes care of patrick right after the we liked you better fat post. really really beautifully written <3 (hai mitch if u see this)

your secret's out by the_seventh_avenger. cute lil fic, honestly hard to summarize with a lil blurb without giving everything away but love it so much!!

alpha dog by bunnytrohman. puppy play joetrick. i needn’t say more READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

leaving it there bc looking at my bookmark list there aren't like a TON more that i even really could rec so i'll save those for if someone else asks in another 10 months <3 lol love u anon my inbox (and dms!!! if u wanna reveal urself but no pressure) is always open to discuss these fics or ANYTHING too 💖

[mixelation]

hi! I love the way you write women in your stories and I've seen you post about Sakura in the past, so I've been wondering how you'd rethink the Sasuke/Sakura ship? I was always really disappointed in canon because Sakura is an ambitious and competitive character with her own goals and motivations but she's always held back either by her teachers, the system (team placement, being civilian born) or her "crush". I completely understand if this is not your jam or not something you like, but if it is, I'd love to hear your perspective! 🫶

Ummm I'm pretty neutral to the ship. IMHO, in part 1 we do see that Sasuke genuinely likes her (platonically, at least), so a billion years ago when I was a kid I shipped them because I wanted to see Sakura "get the guy." Now as an adult and with more canon interactions available to ~analyze~, I don't really like them as a ship but I do like when they're written as close friends. I don't think we see enough growth on Sasuke's end through the war arc or the beginning of Boruto to indicate to me he's at a place where he's willing and able to Treat Sakura Right, or treat like.... anyone right? And the end result is that, from what I've seen of Boruto, Sakura got done real dirty.

So I don't really like SasuSaku, but I can see the bones of something that would make a compelling ship. I do like Sarada a lot, so I have put some thought into how SS could function in a canon-compliant, non-shitty way. First, I don't think Sasuke is really capable of romantic feelings, and that Sakura desperately wants romance. This doesn't mean their marriage to doomed, but it does mean they need time to develop an understanding of one another: Sasuke needs to understand and validate Sakura's feelings and ideally be okay with participating in the sort of romantic gestures she wants, and Sakura needs to come to terms with the idea that Sasuke can love her, but he might not ever be in love with her, and that's okay. In theory this could have happened off-screen during the years they traveled together.

Some tweaks to canon I would make without doing massive rewrites:

*Generally I think Sakura should have gotten more hype, especially from Sasuke. I'm banning myself from massive rewrites, but two places where this could have been fixed with with only some dialogue changes/a handful or panels are:

The scene where she confronts him after he kills Danzo and he tells her to heal Karin. I think this whole subplot with Sakura was pitched in kind of a stupid way, but I do like "Sakura tries to deal with Sasuke herself," and I think to really flesh this out, Sasuke should have treated Sakura as more of a threat. I think when he finally attacked her, we should have gotten at least of couple panels of an even fight before Kakashi stepped in. This isn't ship-material but it sets them up to more "even," rather than Sakura as a passive force begging Sasuke to take her.

Second, I think she should have just gotten more hype in general during the War Arc. If we had more than just the one panel of Sasuke reacting positively to her, it would have at least signaled there's potential he still cares for her the way he did in part one.

*Moving into the end-game of the manga, I think Sasuke should have been the one to ask Sakura to travel with him. She could initiate the conversation, she could make a bunch of faces that indicates that she wants to ask, but Sasuke should have verbalized it.

*Finally, I know there's a panel of Sasuke with Sarada as a toddler, but I would have liked it established that he was around for his wife and kid in the early years. I'll accept "years long mission during her formative years means Sarada barely remembers him" if you REALLY want the family drama, but I just think it's SO shitty that Boruto implies he was barely there for Sakura at all in general, including when she had his baby.

If we go into vaguely canon AUs, I can totally see SasuSaku happening in an AU where Sasuke never goes to Orochimaru. I think Sakura and Naruto were really important social bonds for Sasuke, so I can see him eventually being like, "Yeah, okay, I can take you on a date." I'm imagining they're like 15-16 when this happens, so Sakura herself is more mature, and also in the processing of figuring herself out as a kunoichi, Sasuke finds there's a lot to like/admire about her.

That, or Sasuke abruptly and painfully realizes his true sexuality is "could break me in half"-sexual.

I realize most of my tweaks are on Sasuke's end. That is because loving Sasuke and being willing to sacrifice and compromise for him is like 50% of Sakura's personality. So mostly on her half she just has to learn to prioritize herself and her own feelings and communicate that, and most of these skills I think we see her actively cultivating as she integrates Inner Sakura into her outer personality. So I assume with age she'd only get better and better-- it is needed growth, but also I think it's closer to her canon trajectory that Sasuke's, so the solution is "just write her slightly better" LMAO.

[longbobmckenzie]

Tips for writing a villa fic

If you pay attention to Love Island the Game fanfiction at all, you've probably read a villa fic or two, or a hundred. They can be a lot of fun, and the nature of the game lends itself really well to the concept. Which is why so many people have started writing villa fics of their own... and yet, so few finish them, or even come close.

Well, I’ve written more than my fair share of villa fics, ranging from a 3k word oneshot (yes, really) to a 230k word start-to-finish Season 2 Bobby fic, and I’ve read a whole lot more, so I've learned a thing or two about the genre.

So, I figured I’d share some of my tips, and ask some of my writer friends for their input (thanks @queen-of-boops, @rebelrayne, and @thoracic-orchid), and here we are!

Buckle in, because this gets long (much like my fics!)

Tip #1: Recognize that it’s a lot of work

It takes a long, long time to write a full villa fic, especially if it’s Season 2 and you’re starting on Day 1 and going right up to the final (and beyond?). We’re talking months of work, maybe even years depending on how much time you have to dedicate to it. My first fic (230k words) took me 9-10 months to write, and that was during COVID lockdown when I didn’t really have much else to do.

This isn’t meant to discourage you at all, but I’ve seen so, so many villa fics get published and never get past the first few chapters. Sometimes they even get 20-30 chapters in before the author loses interest or just plain runs out of free time. It’s a commitment, but it can definitely be done!

This especially applies to “All Star” villa fics or season crossovers. Kudos to those who attempt it and especially those who finish (I know of only one person who’s managed this off the top of my head), but trust me, it’s hard enough writing a villa fic, writing a crossover is putting it on evil mode.

Also consider if you’re writing from a male character’s POV (the LI, perhaps, or a male MC) that you’ll probably need to write more “boys only” scenes, so a little extra creativity is required (I could never, honestly).

Tip #2: Have a plan

I cannot stress this enough. Easy for me to say since I’m an outliner at heart anyway, but I’m in the middle of writing a villa fic and even with an outline, I’m still going back and tweaking early chapters (tip within a tip: write a few chapters before publishing anything!) when my plan changes slightly.

But having a clear direction of where you want to take the fic and planning out plot points, recouplings, dumpings, etc. is extremely important. Especially when you start going off-canon (more on that in a bit) or when you get to days where literally nothing happens in the villa.

The nice thing about villa fics is that you’ve already got a structure to work with, you just have to plan how you want your characters’ relationship(s) to develop and how to drive the plot.

Tip #3: You don’t always have to stick to the plan

That said, characters sometimes do things you didn’t plan for. And that’s okay! Sometimes. There are times you need to assert your will, but other times, things will change and you just need to re-evaluate your outline. And that’s okay… within reason.

For example, in Whiskey & Scotch, my plan was always for Bobby to be the endgame LI. Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with Henrik, and people really liked him and my OC together (mild spoiler: they were coupled up for a time). I was extremely tempted to blow up my outline to make it work for them, but the groundwork was laid for Bobby to be endgame, and I had scenes planned that had been living in my head for months by that point that I was excited for. It just didn’t make sense to make Henrik the LI (which is why I’m now working on a rewrite/alternate ending, because I still love them together even years later).

On the other side, at the post-Casa Amor dumping, Noah was single and I’d planned for him to save Hope. She was already a bit of a villain, they had history, it just made sense. But when I was writing the scene, I was completely stuck on his speech. I got a crazy/evil idea and had him save someone else instead. It changed a lot and I had to rework my outline a bit, but it worked out so well that I can’t imagine doing it the way I’d intended.

Tip #4: Watch the show

This is optional (technically, they all are), but it really is helpful on so many levels. It can give you an idea of the villa layout (Seasons 3-5 and 7 of the show all use the same villa), give you ideas for challenges, dialogue, plot ideas, etc. The show uses a host instead of the opening scene and some of the dumpings being done through text, generally it’s the boys picking the girls on day 1 instead of the girls, etc.

There are also more rules on the show that don’t make it into the game. Again, totally optional, but to make it a bit more realistic you could limit the islanders’ alcohol consumption (or let them get completely shit-faced if that works for your plot), take away all clocks, refer to their microphones occasionally, etc.

Also, like… I’ve never seen anyone on the show have sex on the terrace, but it happens in the game. You want your characters getting it on out in the open like that? By all means. But if you prefer a bit more realism, stick to the bedroom and hideaway. The bathroom is communal, but hey, the shower works too.

If you want to add challenges to your fic, I like to use this website for ideas. It lists most of the challenges from season 3 onwards, including results and video. It’s a great resource.

Tip #5: Kiss canon goodbye

There are definitely readers out there who prefer fics that follow canon, and to each their own. Personally, I’ve played the game over and over, read a whole bunch of fics, and written a bunch of fics, so I’m kinda sick of canon. Plus, sometimes canon just sucks or doesn’t make sense. So don’t be afraid to stray from canon, toss it into a ball and throw it out the window, or stomp all over it.

First, the dialogue. We’ve all read it over and over, got it practically memorized. Feel free to change it! In fact, please do! You can keep some lines and change the responses to completely alter a conversation, or make slight adjustments, or just… not include it at all, if you want. You can take out canon scenes and replace them with your own. Or keep them and just change who-did-what. Etc, etc. Make it your own!

Second, individual scenes. It’s okay to cut them. We don’t need to see Noah singing Toto on the daybed with Hope and Rocco walking by singing Wonderwall. Cutting it will not negatively impact your fic in any way.

What about challenges? Well… they can be cut too. Ask yourself, do they drive the plot? Is it necessary? For example, the day 4 slime challenge. Priya grinds on Noah despite not needing his colour, Lottie gets mad, blah blah blah. We know. The reader most likely knows. But unless you’re making MC’s drama the primary focus, you can cut it and just write a paragraph of narration telling us why the girls are fighting. The reader will understand and most likely appreciate that they didn’t have to skim through it.

Hell, you can skip recouplings, dumpings, even whole days. Trust me, I’ve done it. If you’re primarily sticking to a timeline that generally follows canon and not really messing with what’s going on with the other islanders, you can absolutely skip over that stuff and keep the focus solely on your MC and their LI. You can even still make slight changes to canon and just narrate what happened.

Basically, what you keep depends on what you’re trying to do with your fic. If you want to do the whole villa experience thing, keep as much as you want. If you just want to write a love story between two people who happen to be in the villa, you can cut out anything and everything that doesn’t in some way develop their relationship.

Also, you don’t have to start on day 1. Or if you do, you don’t have to start with the MC arriving at the villa. Be creative! And along the same veins, you don’t have to end it with the final. Heck, your characters don’t have to even make the final!

Tip #6: Read other fics

Again, you don’t have to do this. Plenty of villa fic writers don’t read other people’s villa fics. But I do think it’s a good idea, especially if you want to write a Bobby or Lucas fic (picking on the most popular characters because they have the most fics written for them).

You’ll be able to get some ideas of how other people did it – how much canon they kept in, how much they cut, how they made the story their own – but you’ll also get a good idea of what’s been done before. MC and Bobby are immediately attracted to each other right from the start? Great… but how are you going to make yours different from the other hundred fics that do that? Lucas switches to Blake? Okay yes, that’s canon – but are you going to keep it? What motivations are you going to give him? Maybe MC switches too?

And this isn’t to say that if someone else has an idea for something, you can’t do the same thing. Especially for people who watch the show, there have been a number of situations where people will have the same ideas. I’ve had it where I’ve had scenes planned or written only to read someone else’s fic and seen almost the exact same thing. It happens! Obviously don’t plagiarize, but it’s okay to have the same idea. And if anyone accuses you of stealing ideas, have them send their hate mail to me (don’t actually do that).

Tip #7: Write what you want to read

The reason I got into fanfiction and wrote my first villa fic in the first place was because I had an idea that I thought would be really interesting to read. I didn’t think anyone else was gonna come up with the same idea, though, so I wrote it myself.

I don’t know what sort of motivations other writers have when they start writing their fics, but if you have an idea, you just might be the best candidate to write it.

Tip #8: Don’t do it alone

Find a beta reader if you can (note: it’s not always easy, especially since villa fics are a huge commitment), but even if you can’t get someone to edit for you, getting someone who can give constructive criticism is extremely helpful – if you’re open to listening. They can help you figure out what works, what doesn’t, and what to work on.

Most importantly, though, find someone you can bounce ideas off of. If you’re struggling writing a scene, or need some ideas to help with a character’s motivation or dialogue, or you have a crazy idea and need some validation or advice… having someone you can go to is the best. All of my fics are better thanks to the people who helped, whether it was in big ways or little.

Tip #9: Develop your main character

Okay this is the tip that I don’t actually listen to myself 🤣 I’m a storyteller, so my fics tend to be more about the plot than the character arc, but having more well-rounded, developed characters is something I wish I were better at. If you know who your character is – their voice, their habits, their likes and dislikes, their family and relationship histories – it’ll be easier to write them. And the same goes for the canon characters as well! Give them more of a backstory! Give them siblings and heartbreaks! Especially with a villa fic where, unless they’re doing a challenge, they do nothing but sit around all day and have chats, you need stuff for them to talk about. This goes for group conversations, too – sometimes you just need to have some ideas of things they can talk about.

Now, I will say that I don’t think every MC needs to have heartbreak in their past (maybe they’re the heartbreaker?) or some sort of sob story. Those are common tropes in your regular run-of-the-mill romance story, and there’s nothing wrong with it, but it all goes hand-in-hand with your character’s motivations and how you want their relationship with the LI to develop. You can go that direction, but don’t feel you have to. If the story you have planned doesn’t need a character with a tragic past, then just have them be an average Joe.

Also, just a minor pet peeve of mine… your MC doesn’t have to be this super perceptive person who gets everyone’s answers right in Two Truths and a Lie. It’s day 2, c’mon. And they don't need to be the girl that all the guys in the villa are falling all over themselves to be with – is it more interesting for 4-5 guys to be into MC or for MC to be interested in someone only to be turned down? Just food for thought.

Tip #10: Choose the right POV

There’s no right or wrong POV, so choose whatever’s comfortable for you and your fic. But just note that readers do have their preferences (some people are strongly opposed to 1st and/or 2nd POV, for example). For a chaptered villa fic, it doesn’t really make sense to use 2nd person POV (“you” pronouns) because you’re telling the story of a main character who isn’t really generic. For oneshots/series where you’re writing snapshots of the villa, that might be what works for you, though.

As for 1st and 3rd, there are pros and cons to both. I chose to write my first villa fic in 1st because I really wanted the focus to be on my MC and seeing the villa through her eyes. Basically, if she didn’t see it or hear about it, I wasn’t going to include it. Other than that fic, though, I’ve primarily written in 3rd and it’s made me a better writer.

If you want to alternate POV between your MC and the LI (and maybe some of the side characters as well, as there are some people who do that), I recommend sticking to 3rd POV, because it can be a little confusing for the reader to remember whose POV they’re reading when it’s in 1st.

And there you have it! Ten tips to think about before (or during) embarking on your own villa fic. Good luck!

[wise-0ne]

Please:Part two

Tw: swearing, mentions of death and violence

We were in one of the only calm places in the QZ. it wasn't quiet, but it was nice. No fighting or weird tweaked. I sat next to my mom and the guy she was trading with. Dad was standing a couple of feet away from us. He was watching us.

This is the first time I've ever been allowed to go with them on these types of things. It's cause I'm sixteen now and they said they want me to explore with them and get to experience things.

Mom was doing a trade and I was sitting with her. The guy she was trading with was sketchy, so I went over to my dad. I walked past groups of people and finally got to him.

He had his arms crossed and was leaning against the wall. I stood by him. I felt the safest by him. He was my protector. He's never let anything happen to me.

While we stood there, some guy comes over. "Hey, friend." the guy says. My dad puts an annoyed look on his face. Dad doesn't like talking to people. He continued to stare.

"Don't worry, I don't want anything." The man said, obviously intimidated.

The man was bald and probably living on the streets.

"But if you're feeling lost-" My dad cuts him off before he can finish.

"If you tell me to 'look for the light' I'll break your jaw," Dad says. He was pissed and looked at the guy. The guy then walks away, not wanting to get beat by a man that was ten sizes bigger than him. My dad looks at me. I'm smiling and trying not to laugh. My dad shakes his head but smirks.

Then the siren buzzes and mom walks over to us, "Well I mean, it cost us a couple of cards, but, uh, we got him." She tells us.

We start walking down the alley.

"He's supposedly taking the battery to a red-tagged building." She continues talking while we walk down the street.

"But get this... corner of Stillman and cross."

Dad tunes in "The one Miguel used to use."

"Yea I'm thinking so." she continues "I mean we could take the subway tunnel under Haymarket, get into the building from below, and take Robert by surprise."

"Let's pay this fucker back," I say while we walk the alleyway.

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

"I can't believe you guys let me come," I say excitedly.

"I can't believe that your dad let you." Mom jokes while dad shakes his head.

We are in front of the subway entrance and my dad is cutting the chain that's holding the door. Mom watched the street while I watched dad.

Once the chain was broken, we pushed our way inside. We put our bags down and grabbed our guns and flashlights.

When I turned eight, dad taught me how to use a gun. He told me that when I turned sixteen, I'd get my own. And like he said. I did

We turned on our flashlights "Ready?" mom asked us. We both nodded and started walking down the wet stairs, down to the subway entrance.

Walking through the wet tunnel, we shinned our flashlight at the walls. Then mom spotted a smiley face by a door,

"Oh, that's the one." My mom said while going up to the door.

She unlocked the door and shinned her flashlight in. It was an office. There was a desk and paper.

Then I heard my mom yelp.

"Oh! Oh fuck." dad points his gun toward her and so do I.

It was an infected, entangled in the wall.

"It's dead," I say to her. She sighs,

"I know, I just wasn't expecting it." She then walked over to a ladder.

I stayed and looked at the thing on the wall. It was covered in vines and what looked like mushrooms.

"Hailey, come here." My dad says. I look over at him and go to him.

Mom was climbing a ladder, with a flashlight in her mouth. I look over at dad. He nods his head, signaling me to go up the ladder.

I put my foot on the ladder, and start climbing. The ladder was shaky, but it was safe.

"Looks like they re-framed the whole building, probably in the '80s." My dad said while he claimed up from behind.

"Everyone was cutting down apartment sizes to sell more condos." He continued.

"Oh," I say, trying to focus on not falling.

"This has been 'Construction Corner' with Joel Miller," Mom says sarcastically. I chuckle.

"How much farther, this ladder is sketchy," I say while the ladder rocks.

Mom keeps climbing, "Uh, this far." she says.

Mom then gets into a doorway and dad and I follow.

"What the fuck?" Mom spits.

"It has been blocked." She tells us.

While mom pushes on the door, I smell something odd. I look at my dad and sniff the air.

"Do you smell that?" I ask him. He nods back and me.

"Gunpowder," I say, I then look down and point my flashlight at the door.

Blood.

Dad pulls out his gun and mom pushes the door open.

"Mom-" But I get cut off by the sound of something falling. I then look back at dad.

Mom walks into the hallway and points out her gun. Dad and I follow her.

Bodies were everywhere, along with blood.

We walk forward and see Robert, dead on the floor with a truck battery by him. I see dad and mom look around, but I bend over to look at the battery.

"The battery shit," I tell them.

They both look over at me, and I shake my head.

We're all looking at the battery, but then we hear a groan from down the hall. Our heads all turn and we grab our guns. Dad slowly walks down the hall, and we follow. We hear more winces and dad pokes his head from around the corner. Mom and I follow him as he raises his gun at the two girls at the ends of the hall. He got to a door when suddenly a girl jumped out at him.

He throws her against the wall and points the gun at her. I point my gun at the girl and she tries to grab the knife that she dropped, but my dad steps on it.

"Joel?" We hear a woman say. It was Marlene.

Dad looks at her "Marlene?"

Marlene then looks down at the girl.

"Are you okay?" she asks. The girl nods and she tries to get her knife again, but dad kicked it back to me.

The girl started to get mad, but Marlene said "Ellie, calm down."

The girl looks at her, and she pauses. "Oh shit," she says seeing the gun wound that Marlene had.

"I'm alright, but you can't be stupid like this," Marlene reassures her.

Mom then walks in front of me, "so this is who Robert screwed us over for."

I chime in "Must be going shitty if you're buying from him."

"Yea, it kinda has been." She yells. "The merch was bad, and he didn't take fuck off for an answer."

"Give me my knife." The little girl said, sitting on the floor.

My dad then asks"What do you need a truck battery for?" while still pointing his gun at Marlene. Then the girl tries to get up.

My dad aims the gun at her "Don't."

"Not at her," Marlene says while pointing a gun at my dad. Mom and I raise our guns at the women.

"Point it at me," Marlene tells my dad. My dad looks at her and back at the girl. The girl was scared and had her hands up. He then moves the gun toward Marlene.

"I need that battery for a more important reason than you do," Marlene says to dad while putting her gun down. Dad looks at her confused.

The other woman next to Marlene then says "That was a lot of gunfire, FEDRA is going to be here soon."

Marlene nods. "We were gonna move Ellie out of the zone tonight, but we won't be able to now."She pauses. "Now I'm thinking, you're gonna do it.".

Dad looks at her "The hell we are."

Ellie yells "I'm not going with them!"

"Who is she?" I ask Marlene.

Marlene looks at me "To you, she's cargo."

"We don't smuggle people." My dad says.

"There's a team of Fireflies waiting for her at the old State House."

Dad scoffs.

"I know what's out there," Marlene said.

"We were going with an entire squadron for that very reason."

She pauses, "But now I don't have a truck, I don't have a squadron, FEDRA's five minutes away."

I look at my dad. "What I do have is you," Marlene says.

"You get her there safely, and they'll give you what you need." She says in a bribing voice.

"Not just a battery. The whole thing. Fueled-up trucks, guns, supplies, all of it."

"I swear." She says

"Do you trust her?" Mom asks my dad. His face says it all.

"No, me neither, but she seems desperate." Mom looks at me.

"Firefly vehicle usually means repurposed FEDRA stuff," I say

"So better-than-decent chance makin' it to Tommy in one of those," Dad says.

Dad starts a sentence but gets cut off "The second we hand that kid over..."

"Y'all talk it through, but please remember that I'm bleeding out.' Marlene says, breathing heavily.

Mom walks back over to them, and Dad and I follow.

"Okay. Here's the deal." Mom says.

She looks back at dad.

"We'll get her to your crew at the State House.'

"But before we hand her over, they give us everything that we want. If not, we kill her, there and then." Mom says She's not kidding.

"Deal," Marlene responds.

Ellie looked at Marlene, "Really? That fast?"

Marlene looks at her and calmly says "You are all that matters."

We all pause and Ellie stands up.

"Remember what I told you?" Marlene asks Ellie.

Ellie nods and Marlene grabs her shoulder. "Now go get your backpack."

Ellie walks into the room, stomping. She was angry, but I understand why. I wouldn't want to go with strangers.

She comes out with a backpack and sweater. She stares at The three of us.

"Let's go." Dad demands. Before he can walk away, Marlene stops him.

"Joel... don't fuck this up."

She pauses "Please."

Marlene then sighs as we take Ellie, not knowing anything about this girl, nor why we are taking her. But we do know, she is important.

[caltropspress]

RAPS + CRAFTS #29: Masai Bey

1. Introduce yourself. Past projects? Current projects?

Peace. My name is Masai Bey. I did a few albums. The Panacea Goldmind, C87 (with BMS), Natural Magic Music, Art Of The Covenant, Beboppin, Guardians Of The Gate (performed with L.I.F.E. Long as Auxiliary Arms). I’ve done a bunch of features and collaborations with other artists. I am currently “retired” from making albums, but I still practice a little.

2. Where do you write? Do you have a routine time you write? Do you discipline yourself, or just let the words come when they will? Do you typically write on a daily basis?

I usually write at home. Lots of times the ideas come while driving in the car, but the construction is usually at home.

3. What’s your medium—pen and paper, laptop, on your phone? Or do you compose a verse in your head and keep it there until it’s time to record?

I would say I’ve always been more of a pencil and paper person, but for the last couple of years it’s been my phone because I use the phone to make notes of ideas. Before I know it, some of those ideas transform themselves into half verses.

4. Do you write in bars, or is it more disorganized than that?

Both.

5. How long into writing a verse or a song do you know it’s not working out the way you had in mind? Do you trash the material forever, or do you keep the discarded material to be reworked later?

I usually do all of my editing while I write. I keep the discarded material if it can be reworked in a different context.

6. Have you engaged with any other type of writing, whether presently or in the past? Fiction? Poetry? Playwriting? If so, how has that mode influenced your songwriting?

I used to do a little poetry writing. Writing poetry taught me how to display an idea a few different ways while reinforcing the single concept.

7. How much editing do you do after initially writing a verse/song? Do you labor over verses, working on them over a long period of time, or do you start and finish a piece in a quick burst?

Most of my editing happens while writing.

8. Do you write to a beat, or do you adjust and tweak lyrics to fit a beat?

I like to write to the beat. It gives me the space to put the pieces together rhythmically.

9. What dictates the direction of your lyrics? Are you led by an idea or topic you have in mind beforehand? Is it stream-of-consciousness? Is what you come up with determined by the constraint of the rhymes?

Everything you just asked. All of these are used.

10. Do you like to experiment with different forms and rhyme schemes, or do you keep your bars free and flexible?

I do both. Whatever seems to make sense to me at that moment.

11. What’s a verse you’re particularly proud of, one where you met the vision for what you desire to do with your lyrics?

"Nonstop." That song was the B-side to the "Paper Mache" single released on Definitive Jux. That song is me.

12. Can you pick a favorite bar of yours and describe the genesis of it?

“My flav was made for any particular age: zero years to eighty, / 7000 B.C. to 7000 A.D.” 

I wanted to use the word age two different ways.

13. Do you feel strongly one way or another about punch-ins? Will you whittle a bar down in order to account for breath control, or are you comfortable punching-in so you don’t have to sacrifice any words?

I’d rather not punch-in only because I like to record the energy flow of the entire verse.

14. What non-hiphop material do you turn to for inspiration? What non-music has influenced your work recently?

Soul, funk, club classics, freestyle, jazz, etc.

15. Writers are often saddled with self-doubt. Do you struggle to like your own shit, or does it all sound dope to you?

Sounds dope to me.

16. Who’s a rapper you listen to with such a distinguishable style that you need to resist the urge to imitate them?

I never had the urge to imitate anyone.

17. Do you have an agenda as an artist? Are there overarching concerns you want to communicate to the listener?

I have no real agenda. I just always wanted to make music that sounded dope to me and share it with the world.

RAPS + CRAFTS is a series of questions posed to rappers about their craft and process. It is designed to give respect and credit to their engagement with the art of songwriting. The format is inspired, in part, by Rob McLennan’s 12 or 20 interview series.

Photo credit: Unknown (contact me).