#or the same two badass girls over and over again

[divkazkdovikde]

the fact that i’ve read only 8 books but over 250 fanfics this year absolutely terrifies me. like when i open goodreads i’m like okay damn this is pathetic but then i open ao3 and see the number of bookmarks i have (because i use them as my what i’ve read list) and i’m like damnnn girlll??? you have a problem what the fuck

[buckyalpine]

Hello Shay ! I’ve been loving the civilian!reader fics, and I had an idea for a fic like that, but with a twist 🫣 reader is bucky’s sweet civilian gf, literal definition of sunshine, basically a lover, not a fighter. She’s a ballet teacher at a local studio (hint hint wink wink). And she lives with him and the team at the tower. One night, while the team is out on a mission, Hydra ambushes the tower and tries to take the reader hostage. And when they learn about it, they rush back home in order to save her. Meanwhile, Bucky and Tony check the footage just to see his precious sweet girl absolutely kicking ass. And I mean hardcore, like she even does the entire widow thigh-neck move. And everyone is like??? And Bucky’s just absolutely fucking HORNY bc “hell I’ve been in between those thighs so many times, you’re telling me I could’ve DIED???”

okay YESSSSS we live for a badass gf who appears to be nothing but sweet sunshine and killer on the inside. Fluffy fluffy and smutty smutty

-

"Be back soon, darling" Bucky cooed, kissing you again and again while everyone boarded the jet, getting in a few more pecks before having to leave on a mission.

"C'mon lover boy, the faster we get going, the faster you get back to your sweetheart!" Tony yelled, shaking his head watching Bucky look a you with puppy eyes, not wanting to leave his sunshine behind. "He's so down bad, I swear"

"Can you blame him, she's so cute" Sam smiled, watching the two of you cling onto each other for a few extra seconds, your form hidden, engulphed in Bucky's thick arms. "Look, you can't even see her when tin man hugs her"

"I'll miss you baby" you kissed Bucky's pouty lips, caressing his scruffy cheek before letting him run off, your cheeks heating up when he blew you another kiss before the doors closed.

"You're a little sap" Nat teased while Bucky blushed, strapping on his gear as the engine roared to life, rumbling as they took off. Bucky had 0 shame in everyone knowing how much he loved you and it started from the day he met you. He got called out immediately, questioned over the dopey smile he had on his face, the blush on his cheeks instantly giving him away.

Soon after you'd started dating, Bucky wanted you closer to him and he didn't have to ask Tony twice; his room was moved to a floor above so you'd have more space to live together. The last thing Bucky wanted was for you to get hurt because of his job. He felt more relaxed knowing you were in he safety of the compound on days where he was away.

"Who would've thought Bucky would be the romantic type"

"I did" Steve groaned, having seen Bucky's flirty side for years but he knew this was different. He hadn't seen his bestfriend like this before, clearly in utterly and desperately in love with you.

"It's adorable" Sam laughed while Bucky continued to smile, scrolling through his phone looking at pictures of you. His camera rolled was filled with various images of you baking, cuddling, sleeping, doing the most mundane things in the world, each making his heart flutter. He felt a pang in his chest, momentarily worried about if you were safe without him, the same anxiety he always felt whenever he had to leave you.

-

You stretched across the sofa, sipping on some hot chocolate and putting on your favorite comfort movie, deciding to have a relaxing night to yourself since the compound was empty. You didn't like when Bucky had to leave but you knew it was part of his job, slipping the fuzzy throw blanket over you shoulders before hitting play.

It had hardly been a few minutes before the screen went black making you blink, wondering if you'd sat on the remote by accident. Suddenly the rest of the lights turned off, a blasting sound coming from the entrance before you heard rushed footsteps nearing you.

Your heart started to race, having no time to hide or think, coming face to face with a number of masked men all towering over you. One grabbed you, pulling out a camera and hitting record, shoving it close to your face with a sinister smile.

"Look who we have, soldat"

-

The jet hadn't been flying for long, a sudden beeping alarm from the security system alerting Tony to check the cameras. His eyes grew wide, seeing the Hydra logo take over the screen before switching the live footage from the hacked system.

"Guys! There's been an attack on the compound!" Tony shouted from the computer, everyone rushing to see what came on screen, billows of smoke emitting from the main wing. Suddenly the screen went black, replaced with a man swearing a black mask, walking around the common room.

"Welcome Mr. Stark" His voice was thick with a Russian accent, the video panning to show the other agents infiltrating the tower. "Where is our soldat"

"You stay the fuck away from my girl" Bucky growled, his heart hammering in his chest, nearly crying when he saw someone grab you and shove you into a chair.

"She's precious to you, isn't she. We'll see you soon" he laughed, before the stream cut off leaving Bucky wanting to scream in frustrating, anxiety clouding all his thoughts, just wanting to get back to you to protect you.

"We have to go help her!" Bucky paced up and down while Tony rerouted the jet, speeding back to save you. "How the fuck do I know what's going on, there has to be something" He pleaded, hating that he no longer had eyes on you.

"Hold on, let me get into the back up feed" Tony tapped away at different keys, getting into the security system, selecting the camera for the common room where you were being held. "Here, I got it! I-Holy shit..."

The sound of screaming screeched through the speaker but it wasn't coming from you.

No.

"B-Barnes, you're girl just killed someone with her thighs" Tony stared at the footage with wide eyes while Bucky and the others watching in awe as your legs wrapped around one of the agents' heads, snapping his neck before flipping over and attacking another one of your assailants.

Bucky nearly choked, watching the men drop to the floor like flies, your arms and legs holding onto the men with a vice like grip until they fell, hardly breaking a sweat each time.

"Do you understand how many time's I've been in between those thighs, you're telling me she could've killed me?!!" Bucky practically moaned, seeing you fight, all his anxiety melting into lust, his cock straining against the thick material of his tac suit.

"Jesus Bucky, you're gonna poke an eye out" Sam's face scrunched up while Bucky adjusted himself, biting his lip to keep from making a sound, his tip leaking, breathing out a sigh of relief seeing you perfectly safe.

"Can't help me, look at her. Better count me out for movie night, m'gonna spent the whole night fuckin'-

"Okay, got it, you're a ridiculous, horny, pervert, and y/n probably won't walk for a week, will you please put that away" Sam shook his head, walking away when he tent in Bucky's pants got worse.

"I'm sorry, we've been housing a Hydra killer all this time?" Tony shook his head as the jet landed, still in disbelief over what everyone had just seen, both impressed and 100% scared of what else you were capable of. "You sure know how to pick em' Barnes"

As soon as the jet hit the floor, Bucky was sprinting off into he compound, running to find you, relief flooding his veins when he saw you sipping on your tea, seated on the couch again. You jumped up from your spot, jumping into your boyfriends arms, clinging onto him while the others also entered, glad to see you were okay. They got to work, clearing up the room, rounding up the few agents that were knocked out for questioning while also giving you and Bucky some privacy.

"Babygirl" Bucky hugged you tightly in his arms, burying his face into your neck, inhaling your soft scent, hoisting you up so your legs were wrapped around his waist. "Are you okay doll, are you hurt?"

"I'm fine Bucky" you reassured him, pecking his soft lips, letting him check you over before feeling satisfied you were okay, not finding a scratch on your body.

"Everything okay Buck?" you cocked your head noticing your boyfriends shift in demeanor, his soft baby blue eyes darkening into something else, biting his lip.

"Baby, I had to hold back from pulling my cock out on the jet and touching myself, you know how much that hurt? How hard I was the entire time, struggling not to jet my dick off watching how sexy you looked" He walked you up to your shared bedroom, his erection shamelessly pushing against your clothed core, not bothering to hide it one bit. "Where have you been hiding all that princess"

"Not hiding Bucky, just-never needed to do that" You shrugged shyly, squeezing your thigs around his waist playfully, making him groan as he dropped you on the bed.

"Can't wait to keep my face between these pretty legs that could kill me" He groaned, slicing your clothes off with his pocket knife before diving in without a care in the world, eating you like a man starved, tapping your thighs to wrap around his head.

"C'mon doll, squeeze em'" he moaned, humping against the bed feeling your muscles flex, his eyes rolling back, nearly cumming against the mattress at the strength he could feel, knowing you were holding back from hurting him.

you could kill him if you want.

Fuck, he was going to cum so fast.

-

"Oh god! Bucky!! PLease! D-DOn't STOP"

"That's it gorgeous, so good to me, so fuckin' pretty. won't last baby, gonna cum for you!"

"They're going at it like rabbits, didn't you sound proof their room after the first incident?"

"I did. This is after the sound proofing"

"Gonna fuck your thighs next baby, you got my cock so hard, almost creamed my pants like a teenager watching, you, oh shit-shit-m'so sensitive, keep clenching around my dick, that's it-fuckkk"

"Jesus christ, it's been an hour"

"Did you forget he has the super soldier serum? They're not gonna stop any time soon"

"I'M CUMMING JAMES"

"Gonna fucking cum for you y/n, OH FUCK YESSS you're so sexy when you fight baby, m'gonna fuckin' cum again, I can't stop"

"He's really gonna go all night, isn't he"

"Can you blame him?"

[bet-on-me-13]

Steph's Year of Recovery

So! Danny noticed that a new face had made it's way into town. Two new faces actually, an older lady known as Dr Leslie, and a girl about his age called Steph.

He first met them when he was at the hospital for one of his parents. They had stood too close to an explosion again, and he met them while he was in the waiting Area.

Dr Leslie was a strict but obviously caring older woman, who seemed to be the one taking care of Steph as a kind of maternal figure, or maybe more like an Aunt. She greeted him simply and then walked away to talk with the Secretary, leaving him to talk to Steph.

Steph was a blond girl in a Wheelchair, and he could see bandages piking out of her clothes as he talked to her. She explained that she had been in an Accident a few weeks ago that left her wheelchair bound for a while, and that she had come to Amity for their surprisingly good Medical Centers.

He and Steph got along really well, and by the end of it he asked her for her Number so they could continue talking later. They stayed in touch, and when she was finally permitted to leave the Hospital, he introduced her to his friends. They all got along like a House on Fire, both figuratively and in one memorable case very literally (Vlad had pissed them off okay!)

Eventually Steph recovered enough that she moved from a Wheelchair to Crutches, and their shenanigans got even more chaotic (Vlad hadn't even pissed them off, this time was just for fun)

The only thing Danny could complain about was the fact that Steph was hiding something from them.

She said that she had been in an Accident a while ago, which was why they had come to Amity in the first place. But Danny knew it was more than that.

He could sense lingering traces of Death coming from her after all.

...

Steph honestly loved her current life.

Sure she had lost everything, her home, her health, her friends, her life, but she had gained new things too! Like Danny and the Gang! They were honestly some of the best friends she had ever had, and for some reason they just clicked with her instantly.

Danny was interesting and funny, Sam was vegan and a badass, Tucker was smart and witty, they all fit with her personality perfectly! It almost felt like she bad been friends with them for years. (She ignored the way her heart skipped a beat when she saw them)

But she still couldn't shake the sense that they were hiding something from her.

She knew it had something to do with the Ghost Problem in the town. And wasn't that a kicker, there was a whole Supernatural Ghost Outbreak in this Town and nobody knew about it. Dr Leslie had said that Amity was off the map enough to hide from Bruce, but she hadn't mentioned it was hidden from the Justice League itself!

Danny, Sam, and Tucker definitely knew more about it than they let on however. Whenever a Ghost Attack would happen, at least one of them would rush off with some practiced excuse and return after the Ghost Attack was over all dirty. She could guess what was going on, and she really didn't like it.

(This had killed her, she had died doing what they were doing, she didn't want to lose them)

Eventually she had to confront them, coincidentally on the same day they decided to confront her.

"Are you Vigilantes?" / "Did you die?"

"..."

"What?" / "What?"

[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

Angst, unrequited crush, sweet friendship with Robin and Steve. This is angst with a little bit of fluff, my blog is 18+ so mdni.

There's definitely room for a part two so if you'd like that then let me know 🫶❤️

🎀💌✨

Okay, so imagine that you have the biggest crush on Eddie, it's gotten to the point where your heart skips a beat every time he looks at you, you can go from being talkative and a little hyper around your friends, to usually shy and quiet around Eddie.

It's majorly embarrassing, but you comfort yourself with the fact that Eddie probably doesn't even know who you are. You're not in any groups like the cheer group or band, and there's no way that you would even attempt to get into sports.

Yeah, he's caught you staring at him once or twice which was mortifying but you can deal with that, plus his friends are nice and funny and don't make you feel like an idiot for not knowing much about D&D.

As you head to your locker, Eddie and Gareth are deep in conversation with each other. You feel warmness pool in your cheeks as Gareth mentions your name. You've made some posters for Hellfire that Gareth asked you about.

In all honesty you're hoping it might lead to a conversation with Eddie that lasts longer than a few minutes.

Or one that you can approach with confidence, enrapture him with your witty repertoire. Hey, a girl can dream right?

Quickly you fix your hair and fuss around with your clothes as you approach the two of them, trying to figure a way to begin a conversation.

Just say hey you doofus, you chastise yourself. Gareth mentions you again, intrigued you move closer to see what he's saying.

"Eddie, come on man, she has a total crush on you, how could you not notice that?" Eddie frowns, you wait with baited breath for his answer.

"Dude, she's not really my type. I'm kinda hoping Megan will notice me if I'm being honest" Gareth catches your eye, notices you near the locker as yours is only a few doors down from Eddie.

Oh right, of course. Megan. She was into the same bands as Eddie and actually knew how to play d&d. A total badass, cool girl. Of course Eddie would like her.

Gareth's sympathetic gaze meets yours and you want to run away from it and hide. Get far far away from that look. Crushed by Eddie's quick rejection you hurry away from your locker and slam it shut.

You dash the posters away in your bag, brush away the tears that are threatening to build and vow never to get your hopes up about your crush on Eddie ever again.

Eddie looks up, briefly catches a glimpse of you rushing down the corridor. A strange, anxious knot settles in his belly and he doesn't know why, it's like a weird sense of foreboding.

Whatever it is he doesn't like the feeling one bit.

...

Your friends try to cheer you up, unrequited crushes suck so you know it will take a while to get over your feelings for Eddie.

The one thing that does help is your buddimg closeness with Robin and Steve that comes from picking up a few shifts at Family Video.

You love the easy banter between them, feel immediately safe and included when you're around them. You can just be yourself and it's a wonderful feeling.

There's no tying yourself up in knots trying to think of the right thing to say (like you do with Eddie) try to make yourself cooler than you actually are.

It's not like it mattered anyway, Eddie barely noticed you existed, or at least that's what you assumed.

You find hanging out with Steve to be really cool, he's sweet and nothing like the King Steve from back in the day. He picks you and Robin up from school, very quickly the three of you become close friends.

It's nice to have them to focus on and not your crush on Eddie being unreciprocated.

Except you don't realise that Eddie has noticed that you're not around much, you don't really go out of your way to run into him or anything like that.

You still speak to Gareth or Dustin and Jeff but you don't get all shy when Eddie joins in. It's like you don't notice Eddie at all.

He stopped noticing Megan and started noticing you for the first time, your absence leaves an empty space in him that he can't explain.

He sees you with Steve and Robin after school and there's a deep unsettled feeling inside of him, one that whispers to him that maybe you had a crush on Steve. What chick wouldn't?

He doesn't like how that makes him feel, he's moody and can't explain why it's bothering him so badly. He misses your sweet observations, your wit and your kindness to his sheeples.

In all honesty he just misses you. And that's something he never expected to happen.

🫶

If you have any requests then send them in, my request rules are in my pinned post, I'm really into enemies to lovers, older Eddie fics right now, so if you have any fic requests then let me know 🫶💌

[freelancearsonist]

hunger

➔ Lucy MacLean (Fallout) x AFAB!Reader

➔ 0.8k words

➔ You teach your best friend something new.

➔ Rated MA // oral (reader receiving), a little bit of internalized homophobia, reader is afab (female anatomy, no pronouns used), two (2) okie dokies

➔ This happened bc @ozarkthedog challenged me to write some lucy porn with no plot (thank you my love <3) i have this condition where i can't write anything less than 1k so i was shook this came to me so easily hopefully it doesn't suck fjsfjslfjs

“I’ve never…”

“We don’t have to,” you quickly counter. The last thing you want to do is pressure Lucy into new territory.

She looks up at you from her position against the pillows with the biggest, prettiest brown eyes you’ve ever seen. “I want to,” she says with an earnest nod that sends her long hair out around her head like a dark halo. “I really want to.”

“Okay.”

This goes against everything you’ve been taught since the two of you were kids. Sex is for reproduction, not pleasure. It’s nothing more than goal-based. It’s all bullshit, of course, and you’ve never been quiet about your thoughts on that–much to the quiet chagrin of the leadership. You hadn’t realized until recently, though, that your childhood best friend feels the same way.

In a flash she’s got you trapped in her arms so she can roll on top of you, drawing a surprised gasp from your lips at the quick flip. She’s a lot stronger than she looks.

“I’ve never been on this side,” she murmurs, breath warm against your neck. “You’re gonna have to show me what to do.”

Your breath catches in your throat, and at first no words come. How long have you wanted to be in this exact position with this exact girl? How could words even hope to convey all the thoughts rushing through your brain right now? “I can do that.”

“Okie dokie.”

Her lips are so soft. There’s a heady contrast between her firm grip on your hips and the feather-light way she makes her way down the expanse of your stomach. There’s confidence in everything Lucy Maclean does, but she looks up at you now as she kisses your hip and there’s nerves swirling in those chocolate brown irises. Underneath her self-assuredness, there’s always been a fear of failure. It’s something you’ve comforted her through a lot over the years.

“Do I just… go for it?”

You can’t help smiling at that wide-eyed eagerness to learn and to please. “You know what feels good to you?”

She nods, fingers unconsciously massaging your spread thighs. She’s already so good at this without even realizing it.

“Start with that, and we’ll go from there.”

She nods again, and that look crosses her face. It’s one you’ve been familiar with since you were both in velcro shoes–sheer determination, resolution to rise to a challenge. You’ve always admired that look. Lucy “never backs down” MacLean is a badass, and you’re lucky to call her your best friend.

She starts with light little kitten licks to your clit, whining as her hips shift to grind against the mattress from your taste alone. She’s a little light on the pressure but you moan anyway to show her she’s on the right track. “That’s it baby, a little harder…”

“I won’t hurt you?”

Your hand comes down to cup her cheek, silently reassuring. “No, honey, you can be rough with it. Feels so good.”

She’s always taken constructive criticism in stride–she pulls away for just a moment to readjust her grip on your spread thighs, and then she returns with vigor. This time, when she seals her lips around your clit and sucks, your moan isn’t even remotely fabricated.

“Like that?” She asks, a proud smile flickering at the corners of her lips as she lets her tongue trail down to taste you properly.

“Yeah, Lucy, fuck.”

“You taste good,” she murmurs into your cunt, matter-of-fact. You can’t help smiling, even through the whine that escapes you as she returns to your clit.

“You’re doing great,” you praise as your fingers tangle into her hair. So soft, so well cared for. Always prim and proper–you love that you get to be the one to unwind her like this.

She’s a remarkably fast learner–in just a few quick minutes, and she has you whining and bucking your hips on the edge of a precipice.

“Oh god Lucy, I’m gonna–”

But you don’t get to finish your sentence, because she doesn’t relent. Her lips seal around your clit and she doesn’t let up until you’re gushing, simultaneously trying to push her away and pull her closer.

“Wow,” she breathes reverently. “Was that good?”

“Incredible,” you sigh. Your bones feel like liquid–it’s all you can do to pull her up into a messy kiss. The taste of your own arousal on your beautiful best friend’s tongue is nothing short of euphoric.

She keeps her mouth locked to yours for a long moment, then you can feel her lips twist into a broad grin. “I want to do it again.”

“Easy killer,” you say with a breathy little chuckle. “It’s your turn first.”

Her eyes widen for a moment, and then she’s nodding her head rapidly. “Okie dokie.”

➔ beta: @ozarkthedog ; dividers: @saradika-graphics

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[sadbitchopinionz]

Dean x Fem Character

A smut fanfic: Dean gets rescued by his girl and they end up hooking up in Baby

I climbed down the latter into the bunker, when I landed on the floor that's when Dean tied to a chair and a gun to his head came into view. He had a cut on his lip and across eyebrow with a definite black eye forming. I slid my hands into the back pockets of my black skinny jeans and cocked my head to the left, rolling my eyes at Dean, "look who was right."

Dean just let out a little laugh, "Babe, is that really the point right now?" He grunts and motions to the man holding the gun with his eyes.

I tilt my head the other way, while my eyes travel over the man who still held on tight to the gun, "so how do you want to do this?"

The man grins, showing his yellowish teeth, well ones that were left, "well darlin you just hand over that gorgeous dagger of yours and I'll let your man loose."

I cross my arms, "awh well I don't trust you so I am going to need you to untie him first and we can switch at the same time."

"Show me the dagger and I'll untie him." The man said so I lifted the back of my leather jacket, pulling the dagger from my waistline.

I flipped it in the air before catching it by the handle, "now untie him." I say with a smirk. The man takes a knife out of his pocket, flicking it open quickly cutting through the ropes tied around Dean's chest and his arms. He then leaned over Dean, cutting his legs loose which quickly took Dean two seconds to knee the guy straight in the face before flipping the man over, slamming him into the ground. When the man hit the ground, the gun flew out of his hand, sliding closer to me. I pick it up as Dean kicks the guy across the face knocking him out.

Dean smiles at me as he steps over the guy, pulling me against him. "So do I get a kiss?" He asks and I lean back with a smirk.

"You will as soon as you admit I was right about Jarrod." I say and Dean rolls his eyes. "He literally waited for Blake, Sam and I to leave for the store to kidnap you and hold you as ransom to get the knife. I told you from the beginning that I had a bad feeling about the guy."

Dean rubs a thumb across my cheek, "I'm sorry, is that what you want to hear?"

I smile, "close, you are missing a couple word though.

He rolled his eyes causing me to smack his chest but we are pulled out of our little bubble as the man who had kidnapped Dean was getting to his feet. He took a step forward but Dean quickly took the gun out of my hand and pointed it at him. "Move one more foot closer and I will kill you." Then Dean looked back at me, caressing my cheek with his other hand again, getting my focus back on him. "I'm sorry and you were right. Next time we will go with your gut feeling and just work the case alone." He said and I smiled, "now may I have my kiss."

I nodded and leaned forward, pressing my lips to his. I slid one arm around his waist as I pulled back, realizing I could taste blood. "Let's take care of this problem and get you back to the hotel so I can fix up your handsome face."

"Aww I think the cuts make me look badass." He smirks and tilts his head.

"You two make me want to barf so can we just get this over with." Jarrod snapped causing Dean to grunt in anger.

He slips his hand down from my face to around my waist, "what do you want to do with him?"

"Well if we let him go, he'll just come after us again but I don't think him kidnapping you deserves him to be killed." I say and Dean squeezes my hip. "But honestly it's up to you babe." I say and peck Dean's cheek. "I will be up waiting for you in your actually baby."

"Wait, you drove baby here?" He asks as he grins.

I smirk, "yeah well my sister and your brother had to go handle the whole murdering ghost thing as I was told to come alone so I hopped in baby and sped over here." I turn and head back to the latter, "Anyway come find me when you handle this."

"But wait, what if they're others out there?" He asked as he took a step towards me.

I grinned, "aww baby, it's cute you think I need protecting." I say as I lift the front of my shirt, showing off my gun. I winked at Dean as I made my way up the latter.

"Isn't she so sexy?" I hear him say as I climb completely out. I laugh as I head over to baby and slide up onto the hood. About two minute go by and I hear a gun shot go off an my eyes snap to the hole in the ground, waiting for the handsome man I came to help come out. Finally, after what felt like forever he came climbing up and out. I let out a breath that I hadn't realized I was holding in.

Dean climbed up and I could tell his hand was bleeding so I quickly slid off the hood to meet him part way. I grabbed his hand and he hissed as I looked at a fresh cut that went across his hand. I went to ask him what happened but he cut me off, "it's okay, I was going to let him go if he promised to leave us alone for good but when I turned away, he tried to slit my throat with a knife but luckily I caught it."

"So you shot him after?" I ask as I pull him towards the car. I lean in the window, grabbing the first aid kit from the passenger seat.

Dean turned and leaned against the door, "yeah." He says as he looks at the ground. "I was trying to give him a chance since he was a hunter but when he tried to kill me, he didn't leave me any other choice."

I laid the first aid kit on the roof of the impala and opened it up, pulling out the alcohol wipe. I grabbed his hand, "this is going to sting." I warn before running the wipe over his wound. He bit his lip as I cleaned it then I began to wrap it in gauze. After I get his hand all fixed, I pull out another wipe and beginning cleaning up the cuts on his face. I could tell by Dean's face he was lost in thought as I cleaned up the cut across his eye brow. "Tell me what's going on in that handsome brain of yours."

"I think it's stupid that hunters who are suppose to protect people, would hurt other hunters just for some knife." He says and stares off at the trees behind me, getting pulled out of his thoughts as his phone begins to ring in the glove box. I step to the side so he can lean in and grab it out. "It's my brother." He says before flicking it open, walking off, answering. As he talks to Sam, I clean up the trash from the wipes and close up the first aid kit, sliding, tossing it back on the passenger seat. When he hangs up the phone, he comes back over, tossing the phone into the car. "They took care of the ghost and said they would see us back at the hotel."

I nod as he leans back against baby, zoning out again, letting himself get lost in thought. "Okay, we need to get your mind off of the shitty hunters and onto something else." I say as I put my finger on his chin, turning him so he would look at me.

"What do you have in mind?" He asks as his eyes glance down at my lips.

I grin and lean up, kissing him slowly before pulling back. "Well I was thinking since we are in the middle of the woods and no one is around." I say as I take a step back, sliding my jacket off, tossing it on the car. "I figured we could have a little fun."

He smirked, cocking his head to the left a little bit as I began unbuttoning my shirt, slowly showing off my red lace bra as I slid the shirt completely off tossing it at Dean. He caught it, quickly tossing it into the car as I began slipping off my boots while unbuttoning my skinny jeans. He slipped off his leather jacket and quickly removed his shirt while I took off my pants. As I did a slow turn, I shook my ass a little at him causing him to laugh as he took a step forward, grabbing my hips pulling me towards him. "Okay that was really sexy and I need you to kiss me now." I grinned and grabbed ahold his face, pulling his lips against mine, moaning from contact. Since I had started sleeping with Dean, my hormone levels has escalated, it's like I want to have sex all the time now. Dean rubbed circles on my hips as we deepened the kiss. "Let's move this to the back seat." He says and pulls me towards the car. He opened the passenger door and leaned the seat forward, then motioned for me to enter, "ladies first."

"Such a gentlemen." I say as I climb in, just for him to smack my ass causing me to giggle.

"Actually I just wanted to stare at your sexy ass." He says as he climbs in behind me, closing the door behind him. I turn laying down in the backseat as he climbs on top of me, running his hand up my thigh. I wiggle as his cold fingers leave little fiery sparks wherever they touch on my body. He kissed up my stomach and across my boobs, making his way up my neck until finally connecting with my lips. I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him against me, grinding my middle against his. He groaned against my mouth as I slipped a hand down, in between us, into his jeans. He sucked in a breath as I wrapped my fingers around his hard shaft.

"I see my little dance did the job." I whisper as I began kissing along his jaw to his neck while I pumped my hand slowly up and down.

Dean let out a shaky breath, "Sam and Blake are waiting on us so it'll have to be a quickie."

"You mean like when you fuck really fast and hard in a bar bathroom so you can get off before getting caught?" I ask as I begin unbuttoning his pants. He nodded and I grinned, "well considering I'm really horny right now, yes I'm down for a quickie."

He smiled and leaned down kissing me as I slid his jeans and underwear down enough to spring his hard cock free. I slid my thong to the side while guiding his dick to my entrance, once he was at the opening he rammed his cock deep inside me, causing me to moan out his name. "Fuck, your so sexy when you moan my name." He groaned as he begins to ram into me, fast and hard, slamming into my g-spot. I could feel my orgasm building quickly. Now I could see why everyone liked quickies, my body was heating up.

"Fuck Dean, your dick feels so good slamming into me." I moan out.

Dean smirked, "your pussy feels good wrapped around my cock." He kissed across the top of my boobs as he pulled my bra down, sucking onto my nipple. He slipped his hand down in between us and began rubbing my clit while still fucking me harder, almost animalist really. "I'm so close and I want you to cum with me."

"Me too, don't stop." I moan out. I could feel myself reaching my peak as I drug my nails down his back, "Now." I groaned out as I fell over the edge as he bit down on my nipple causing my eyes to roll back in pleasures. He grunted out as his dick pulsed inside, filling me with his seed. He laid down on top of me as we caught our breath. I rubbed his back as he slowed his breathing back to normal. Then he sat up, pulling his cock out of me, leaning over the seat, grabbing a napkin cleaning me up then himself. "You know I find it oddly sweet that you always clean me up after we get done fucking."

"Why do you say oddly sweet?" Dean says with a laugh as he fixes his underwear and jeans.

I laugh as I fix my bra back to covering my boobs and reaching over the seat for my pants. "I said oddly sweet because I figured normal girls don't say they find that kind of thing sweet." I say as I slip my pants on before lifting my hips and butt of the seat so I could pull them the rest of the way up. "Can you grab my boots from outside while I get my shirt?"

Dean nodded and began to open the passenger door, "I wish you could go without a shirt though, you look so good in your bra." I laughed as he climbed out.

"Well I would like you shirtless too but doesn't mean we can walk around that way." I say as I pull my button up on. Dean came over and handed me my boots.

"I mean we could but you would get jealous and knock out some poor girl for checking me out." He says as he goes to grab his t-shirt but I quickly pull it out of his reach, stuffing it behind my back.

"More like you would punch out a poor man for looking at my boobs." I say with a laugh as I begin slipping my leather boots on, retying them.

Dean grinned as he stepped back as I slid out of the backseat. "Are you going to give me my shirt back?" He asked as I slid my arms around his neck while he rested his hands on my hips.

"Fine." I say with a laugh as I step to the side so he can his shirt, "just means this will be buttoned." I say as I button up the top of my shirt.

"If we didn't have people waiting I would argue with that." He says as he leans in the car, grabbing his shirt.

Once I finished buttoning up my shirt and Dean was fully dressed, we went to deal with the dead hunter in the bunker. We worked together to get him out and then buried him so no one would find his body. After we cleaned up everything, we closed up the bunker and headed for the hotel.

[mochamvgz]

what they would save ur contact as

; i don't think this needs a synopsis? it's all in the title

; ot7 enhypen x reader

; genre: hcs, non idol au, established relationship, fluff

; warnings: slight profanity, miraculous, some members being total simps, being called short by niki

; 0.5k words

; perm taglist: @inkelea @yuerki

heeseung || ramyeon partner🍜💛

the two of you LOVE ramyeon so it's only fitting. your first date, all the way back when you guys were in uni, was having ramyeon at a local convenience store for crying out loud!

and OF COURSE you immediately fished out your phone from your pocket to change his contact to the same

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

jay || my pretty girl💐 (in a completely not possesive and absolutely unpatriarchal way!)

if you saw xander hawthorne you're a real one pls marry me

we already know this guy is THE ultimate green flag so this came as a surprise to no one

you and jay are also massive feminists and no sticklers for insecure masculinity hence the parenthesis

when you find out what you're saved as on his phone you can't help but fall in love with your boyfriend all over again

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

jake || bugaboo🐞❤️🖤

if you think miraculous is a kids show GET OUTTA HERE

"there's no way you saved me as that"

"why? is there a problem bugaboo?"

without a word you unlock your phone, open ur contacts, scroll down to find his and hold it up in front of him

jake raises his brow at you and directs his attention to your screen, his mouth immediately forming an 'o'

" ‘chat noir’ ? oh my god you're kidding!"

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

sunghoon || (name)

the guy first saved your number when you were paired up for a project which was 2 whole years ago mind you and for some reason it just never? occurred? to him? to change it??

of course you're mad when you find out

"seriously hoon?"

"i'm sor-"

"give me your phone"

he complies. you unlock and open his contacts going to ‘favourites’, clicking on your contact which is at the top of the list duh

you change your contact name from ‘(name)’ to ‘the love of my life💘’ and hand his phone back. he raises his brows when he sees what you did but doesn't say anything because it's true

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

sunoo || QWEEN🙌👑

"YES!!! GO QUEEN!!!"

you guys were hanging out at his place one day, all snuggled up watching a movie and the female lead just did something super badass making you jump up

sunoo doesn't waste a moment grabbing the opportunity

"but you're my queen"

you're surprised at the abruptness of the compliment but try to appear more ‘seriously dude?’ rather than a blushing mess

"what? it's true i even have your contact saved as that"

he brandishes his phone to show you

there's no stopping the blush now

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

jungwon || yang jungwon's girlfriend 😤💖💓

when you ask him why he's referring to himself in third person he'd say

"in case my phone ever gets stolen or something, the thief would still know you're mine"

you can't take it anymore and burst out laughing

"what?" he'd ask with his brows furrowed

"you're ridiculous"

"but you still love me" he's right about that

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

niki || shortie🙄

to be fair your height is above average but your boyfriend is a fucking giant and even then you're only like 2 cm shorter

he still can't leave it alone tho and teases you about it to no end

"are you for real?"

"what? it's true ya know"

"for fuck's sake it's only 2 cm"

and just like that the two of you are at it again

; a/n: surprise surprise! my first hc yayyy! i hope this turned out okay bc i had no idea what i was doing lmao💀 ily if you got the reference in the jake one no i don't just mean miraculous

© mochamvgz on tumblr | all rights reserved | do not plagiarise, repost or translate any of my works

[mimasroom2]

Accelerating fury

A Hunger Games Ellie au

Pt 2

Pt 3

In this specific au the hunger games didn’t end with Katniss,, just bc I wanted this to take place after ^•^. I mainly focus on the reader/you until the parade with all the costumes and chariots, but I PROMISEEEEE Ellie comes into play😭🙏 plz I just love to yap. This isn’t the plot of the original Hunger Games! It’s very similar but I did tweak it to be different so! Know that if you read!

Reader is from district 8 (textiles)

Ellie is a badass from district 2 (masonry)

((Btw the photo of the dress I included is the dress that reader wears,, I am OBSESSED w Lolita fashion !!))

C/w: uhhh it’s the hunger games sooo… death? No smut in this one (everyone throws tomatoes at me). SLOWWWWWW BURNNNNNN. If you don’t like yapping and plot don’t read😭 No use of Y/N. Cursing bc ms collins couldn’t😘 Strictly lesbian reader.

W/c: 5k

𓆟. ° .• .𓆝 .• ° . 𓆟 . ° .• .𓆞

It started like all the stories you had ever heard. The same girl from every year, Maria Miller, gave her speech about the Hunger Games. How everyone was oh so excited for this year. Apparently President Snow and the gamemakers had something special planned, as if they don’t say that same thing each time.

You scoffed, and crossed your arms as the same video began. After all this time you basically had the thing memorized. ‘War. Terrible war.’ you repeated to yourself. The few friends you had snickered to the side of you, and you playfully bumped them to get them to shut up. There were so many capitol officials here today. The peacekeepers were easily more than tripled. They wanted absolutely no distractions from Maria - they saw today as regal as the balls you hear about that go on in the capitol. You looked down at your clothes and smoothed them out. Thankfully since your district was textiles, you actually had something decent to wear, unlike the kids you see from district 12.

And you were well off enough to only have your name entered the minimum number of times, not more times for food like some of your friends with large families had to do. You only had this year, and then next year, and you were done. They cut you off after you turn 19, and then you never have to worry about the Hunger Games again. Well, unless you happened to get pregnant and have kids. But there’s no chance that was happening. You’d rather play dead at a necrophilia convention than have sex with a man.

“Well, as usual, ladies go first.” Maria snaps you out of your endless stream of thoughts and you look up to see her hand already rustling in the bowl of names. You reach over and hold the hands of your friends at you side. Your friends have a tradition of holding hands during the reaping. You’ve been doing it every year, and none of you have been picked. Knock on wood.

Maria digs around in the fishbowl full of names, you look over nervously at your friend Riley. She’s one of the people who had to enter more for extra food. You gulp and look ahead as Maria begins her painfully slow process of opening up the paper and reading the name.

It started how every living victor describes it. They say the more you hope it doesn’t happen, the more likely it will. The more you repeat ‘please don’t say my name’ in your head, the more likely your name will be called.

Maria opened her mouth and your blood went cold. You felt that horrid feeling one only feels when something disastrous happens. You had only felt it once before, when you late girlfriend was taken away by peacekeepers, about two years ago. At least you weren’t the one being dragged away to be hung. At least then you knew you were going to survive.

Everything around you went fuzzy as dissociation swept in. You couldn’t hear your friends gasping, or Maria calling out your name a second time. You barley felt the ones you loved letting go of your hands, until you realized you were carrying yourself down the rows and rows of people right to the stage.

Your thoughts about mundane things drew in as you stood there waiting for the male tribute’s name to be called. You thought about your cat, and your friends. The plans you had made for the rest of the week. The new job you were going to start soon, after you had the courage to quit your old one.

Before you know it, Maria is already back at the mic and talking to the crowd, “Everyone, please give a big hand to the tributes chosen to represent district 8 in this year’s Hunger Games!”

You didn’t even see the male tribute come up. You slowly look to your right and see a guy named Jesse. You’ve met him before, went to school with him and took a job together. You knew him, but you didn’t really know him. That would probably make it easier for you, if he was one of your friends then you’d be obligated to protect him. At least when he dies you can keep going. Fuck, now is not the time to think about that. You mentally scold yourself for being so grim.

~

Right now you were following an Avox down winding staircases and hallways to meet your stylist. You’ve heard rumors saying she’s supposed to be one of the best, always coming up with unique and astonishing outfits every year. I mean, that makes sense, she was styling outfits for the textiles district after all. The Avox leaves you in a little room to wait.

Suddenly the door opens and a girl steps inside. She looks only a few years older than you. “Hi. I’m Dina. I’ll be your and Jesse’s stylist.” She actually holds out her hand, and you shake it. She grabs a stool and sits down in front of you. “Now, I’m guessing they already told you about sponsors, right?”

You nod. Your mentor, Tommy, already told you all about them on the train to the capitol. You’re trying to use your organization skills from your job to your advantage. You’ve been thinking about what angle to take: wether you should paint yourself as a smart stow away or a sexy young lady. No matter what you thought of, it had already been done before. Even if you had never seen it televised yourself, your mom and dad had told you stories passed down of a beautiful singer from one of the first games who poisoned everyone, the man who used the force field to his advantage who then made the gamemakers mad, and the girl from a few years ago with the bow and arrow who did everything to save the one she loved.

“Great.” She claps her hands together. “Tell me a bit about yourself. I like to take direct inspiration from my tributes in order to give you guys the best shot.”

You can’t say anything. You just stare at her. The way you pictured it, only frilly old people worked in the capitol. This girl seemed so.. normal. No fancy jewelry, no over the top hairdo, no long spider lashes. She’s not even wearing work clothes.

“How did you end up here?” You ask. You’ve been wondering, but you never meant to actually say it out loud. “Oh shit, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that, you don’t have to answer.” You look away from her.

“Wow. No one’s uh.. ever asked me that before.” She laughs shyly and when you look up, she’s nervously fidgeting with the bracelet she has on. She clears her throat, “My older sister took care of me when my parents died. This used to be her job. We had family debt, so when she died, I took it on.” She sighs, “That’s about it.”

“I’m sorry about that.” You try comforting her. There’s really no use. There’s no cameras here. It’s just you and her. You really don’t have to please anyone, but you’ve decided in this moment not to be overtly cruel just to win. If you were going to do it, you were going to do it right.

She smiles softly, “Thank you.“

“Uhm, do you seriously not have a plan yet? Like, for what I’m gonna wear?” You try getting back on track, there’s really no time to waste. If you do this wrong, you only have a few days guaranteed left to live.

She smiles, “Nope. I do my best work in the middle of the night. There’s a reason why everyone oohs and ahhs at my designs.” She winks.

“And there’s a reason you haven’t been fired yet.” You try testing the waters.

“Damn, you sly dog. Gonna have to let Tommy know we got ourselves a wild one.” She laughs and rubs your head, like how dads do.

Huh. If all capitol citizens are like this, this is gonna be easy.

~

The next day, you and Jesse briskly follow the same Avox to get dressed in whatever Dina cooked up for you.

“She uh, she ask you to talk about yourself too?” Jesse prompts, keeping his hands in his pockets.

You nod, “Yup. Quite the character huh? Not really what I was expecting when I picture a capitol official.”

You glance over, look him up and down, and snort. He couldn’t have been bothered to change out of his pj’s. “Hey don’t look at me like that.” He throws his hands up. “We’re going straight to get into costumes. Needa save my energy for the arena.”

The mention of the arena makes your heart drop. You were so entranced by the yummy food and cool technology you forgot why you were in the capitol in the first place. Jesse goes silent after that, keeping his head low as he continues to follow the Avox. You don’t know why, but you just now realize he must be scared too. You also realize you never actually told Dina about yourself, so you assume she must have taken inspiration from some of the conversations you guys had.

You guys finally arrive and meet Dina in front of a dressing room with huge mirrors. “You’re up first, Jesse.” She smiles and pats him on the shoulder. They disappear into the changing room, leaving you to sit with your own thoughts on a little chaise. You hear Jesse laugh, and think about how nice it would be to get to know him under different circumstances.

“Heya, stranger.” A voice says from behind you, and you instinctively jump. You turn around and see Tommy, your mentor. “Woah there, games haven’t started yet.” He chuckles and you laugh a little. He reminds you of your dad. He won his games awhile back. He’s getting old, and his wife, Maria, is the one who called your name at the reaping. You didn’t realize the two were married until you were bad mouthing Maria, about how she just had to pick your name, when he showed you his ring. You apologized profusely, and he was very kind. He even said that’s not the first time that’s happened since he’s become a mentor. You sure lucked out. The people on your team almost seemed like family, even though you only met them a few days ago.

“What’re you doing here, Tommy? And where’s Maria?”

“Maria’s talkin’ to the gamemakers. She basically runs us here in the district 8 level. Even me.” He crosses his arms and chuckles. He really is like a dad. “Yeah, but I’m here cause I honestly don’t have nothin’ else to do. Only reason I’m still alive is cause I won my games, so now I gotta tell you how to win yours.”

“What about Jesse?” You tilt your head and ask.

He keeps eye contact with you, “I meant Jesse, too.”

“Oh.”

He pauses for a second. “Nah, don’t worry ‘bout it. Good girl, keepin’ your head in the game.” He pats you on the back, a little too hard.

Before you can cringe at the exchange that just happened, Jesse walks out in an all white aristocratic outfit. The shirt has so many ruffles you can’t even count. Must be a pain to iron. The pants are high waisted but are tailored to fit him perfectly. There’s a white bow tie with pearls on it, too. Everything is so simple, yet so fancy. You can tell Dina used some really expensive materials. Probably the most expensive she could find. Jesse even has a little white cane to go with the look.

He does a little spin for everyone watching. “Cool, right? Almost breaks gender norms a little.” He smiles and blushes softly at Dina, who looks proud.

“It’s called Ouji fashion. Used to be real popular couple hundred years ago.”

She faces towards you. “Alright. Now it’s your turn.” She grabs your hand and leads you into the dressing room, “Yours is called Lolita.” She explains.

“Is this all for a certain occasion or anything? Like they’d go to a fancy dinner and wear this?”

“Nope. For fun.” She grins widely and holds open the curtain for you.

Your jaw drops. “Wowww.” is all you can say.

The most gorgeous dress you’ve ever seen in your entire life rests on a mannequin in the middle of the room. You swear to god, you might actually cry. Working in textiles, you could only dream to even ship out a dress as pretty as this.

It’s all white, like Jesse’s, but what it lacks in color, it makes up in texture. There’s so many details to it. Your head spins trying to figure out how the hell Dina did all of this in one day. It’s got this beautiful big skirt that looks like it can swallow you whole. Long sleeves that flare at the end. And lace everywhere. There’s absolutely every accessory you could ever wish to own: earrings, necklace, little lace gloves, stockings and heels. Not to mention the headdress with pearls all over it to match Jesse’s tie.

You carefully reach out to touch the fabric, almost like you expected it to melt, like snow. “I’m wearing… that?”

Dina pretends to look around the room. “Who else could it be for?”

She talks as she helps get you undressed and into this thing. “I think it really says something about you guys. Like, ‘Hey. We’re from textiles alright, and we don’t play around. We’re here to knock you off your feet!’ Well, both figuratively and literally.” You try smiling a little, but every time someone mentions other tributes, you feel sick.

Once you’re finally in the outfit you walk out to show Tommy and Jesse. Dina opens the curtain back up, and everyone gasps as you slowly walk out. Maria’s there too, and she immediately runs up to hug you.

“Alright, guys.” Dina claps her hands together. “It’s go time.”

~

You and Jesse stand together, slowly looking at all the tributes.

“Fuck,” he mutters, “There’s so many of them.”

You nod. “They seemed so small on TV…” you trail off as you look around at each costume. They just keep getting better and better, but you think Dina was right in getting to know you and Jesse. You think your costumes fit you the best.

Everyone’s in a blob, so you can’t tell who’s from where. Dina shows up behind you and leads you two to the 8th carriage. Before you get on, she points around and tells you who’s from which district.

“Sorry, Dina. I’ve never been around horses before.” Jesse says as he tries to get up into the carriage.

“You’ll get used to it.” Dina smiles, and goes to take her place backstage.

“Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the 81st annual Hunger Games! I’m your host, Caesar Flickerman, and today we are awaiting the tributes for the famous carriage parade…”

As he drones on, you can’t help but keep looking at the female tribute Dina said was from district 2. You scoff to yourself, she must be a career. The capitol should, in theory, make them illegal. But they love the drama they stir up. You take a deep breath, flattening out the dress near your hips and fluffing up the skirt, all while keeping your eyes locked on the girl a few carriages in front of you. This has to be perfect.

Jesse sees you staring her down. He nudges you a little, “Her name’s Ellie.” He starts, even though you didn’t ask. “Saw it on tv on the train here while you were sleeping. Supposedly she got blackmailed into volunteering. Her dad fucked with the wrong crowd and this girl threatened to kill him if she didn’t volunteer. At least, that’s what I heard anyway.”

You simply hum in response, closing your eyes and continuing to make your dress look as neat as possible.

Not satisfied with your response, Jesse states, “She’s pretty, right? Not my type though.”

You look up at her again. “Yeah, no. Not my type either.” You lie through your teeth. Damn, if you had seen this girl anywhere but here, you’d wanna be buried in her thighs. What, who said that! You clear your throat and try to focus. It’s gonna be easy. Just wave and flash that pretty smile and the sponsors will love you.

You see the first carriages start to go, and you hear Caesar announce, “And they’re off! Wow! Look at them go!”

You take one more deep breath before your carriage starts to be pulled out of the shadows and into the stadium.

“Would you look at that! District 1, never failing to impress.” Caesar goes on, he sure can make anything sound like the best thing ever. “And here comes district 2. I hear we have a bit of an outlier this year.”

All of a sudden, the girl, who appeared to just be wearing a normal suit, spreads her arms out and metallic wings emerge. She doesn’t even smile. She just smirks, and the crowd goes wild.

You look up on one of the big screens and finally get a clear view of this Ellie girl. She’s wearing just a plain black suit, and behind her are those giant metallic wings. You squint your eyes. The camera zooms in and you see the wings aren’t just made of hunks of metal, they’re made of guns. Your jaw drops, but then you remember you’re on live television, so you immediately straighten up.

“That’s crazy.” You mutter to yourself, but Jesse must have heard it because he nods in agreement.

“I love it, I absolutely love it!!” Caesar goes on, and the crowd never stops cheering for her, even as more carriages come through.

You take your eyes off the screen and look at her in front of you. She’s absolute eye candy and she doesn’t even look like she’s trying. Your stomach and chest twist out of jealousy. If these people don’t cheer for you and Jesse just as loud… there’s going to be a problem.

Finally, it’s your turn. There’s big lights shining on you as you emerge into the light of the stadium. You wave your hand like how you and Dina practiced in the mirror. You want to give almost a regal look, so you give a small, elegant wave. At the same time, Jesse raises his cane to the crowd, almost like he’s saying ‘Hello. How do you do? I’m very fancy, yes. I’d love it if you sponsored me.’

“How charming! Oh my, I love it! That is amazing!” You smile when you hear Caesar praising the two of you.

You reach the middle of the stadium, and bust out the move you know is sure to get a good reaction: you smile wide, but keep it classy, and start blowing graceful kisses into the crowd. When you’ve done that enough times, you pick up your skirt in one hand, put your other hand up to your heart, and bow graciously.

The crowd absolutely eats it up.

You come back up from the bow and look in front of you. You can’t even hear what Caesars saying, because you lock eyes with Ellie, who’s turned around to stare at you. You can’t exactly tell what her expression is, because she’s so far away, but you swear you can hear exactly what she’s thinking:

‘I’m going to kill you.’

~

That night, you lay awake in the plush bed of the room you’re staying in. Maria keeps saying ‘your room’ ‘your bed’, and it honestly annoys you a little bit. They’re not yours. You’d rather be back in district 8, in your own actual bed. You roll over, trying to get comfortable, as you need to sleep and conserve all your energy for the games. Oh shit. The games. You groan, reaching over to grab a pillow and hugging it to your chest. Why are the games still a thing? They should’ve ended years ago. You remember there was almost an uprising all over Panem. That girl Katniss maybe? Your brain is too foggy, you can’t even think straight.

You hug the pillow tighter. And what was with that girl Ellie? You made a mental note to watch her during training tomorrow, to see what she does.

You sigh, and reach up to rub your head. Now with thoughts of Ellie, there was no way you could sleep.

~

“How’d you sleep?” Jesse asks the next morning. After breakfast the two of you walk with Maria to the training center. She keeps telling you that if you’re on time, you’re late, so you guys always end up at every place at least 15 minutes early.

You shrug your shoulders, “Fine I guess.” You don’t want to tell him that you couldn’t really sleep, or all the nightmares you had, or what you had to do to stop thinking about Ellie.

“It’s weird. It’s way too quiet.”

You look up at him. “Where?”

He gestures around the ginormous building, “Here. In my room.”

You laugh a little, “Oh, so it’s your room now?”

“Cmon. You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Oh, look. We’re here.” You nudge Jesse a little, trying to lighten the mood. He just shoots you a disappointed look.

You, Jesse, and Maria sit side by side on a little bench outside the training center. There’s already a couple people there, but not too many. Now that you’re closer to the other tributes, you can really evaluate them in your head. You look at them one by one, saying things to yourself like ‘Oh I could definitely take him in a fight.’ And ‘I’d feel bad but that 12 year old would get absolutely hounded.’

As each new pair of tributes arrive, you do the same thing. Eventually, everyone is there but two.

The head trainer comes out and taps her foot. You look around. Of fucking course it’s her. The one person you actually wanted to see. You hear a laugh in the distance and look up to see Ellie, her mentor, and the district 2 male tribute casually walking to join the rest of you. Huh. You’d think she’d wanna be here early to scope out her prey or something.

You slowly look her up and down, you hope she locks eyes with you so that she knows you’re staring. You cross your arms and mutter to yourself, “I could take her.”

Jesse seems to have a talent for hearing you when you don’t mean to, because he asks, “In a fight or…?”

You gasp and punch him. You both laugh, and you feel grateful he’s not the vengeful type.

The head trainer explains all the rules for today, and even though you hate being here, it’s actually pretty cool to see how it all works.

You and Jesse decide to split up. You’ll focus on survival, and he’ll focus on combat. Then, when your time is halfway done, you’ll come together and tell each other what worked and what didn’t, and you’ll switch.

It’s a pretty nice plan, considering some of the tributes from the same district are already starting to get sour with each other and split up. You hope that doesn’t happen to you and Jesse, you’re actually starting to really like his companionship and company. You sigh and start to look around at what to do first. There’s the plant matching game, the fishing area, or maybe you should focus on shelter instead of food?

You start to head over to the makeshift tent area, when something off to the side catches your eye.

You see Ellie all by herself, squatting in the area where people learn to make fires, with a little switchblade. You cock your head to the side, and look around. No one’s paying any attention to her.

All the other careers from 1, 2, and 4 have already teamed up, like they always do early on. They’ve come up with a game where if you fall on the monkey bars, or can’t shoot a perfect arrow, you have to stay behind an extra 3 seconds by the cornucopia.

It’s absolutely fucking stupid, and they even go and win almost every year. You glance back over at Ellie. Her hair is in a messy half up half down style, and somehow she makes the weird training suit you guys are forced to wear work.

Your breath starts to quicken, but you say fuck it and go to talk to her anyway.

You shuffle your feet a little so that she knows someone’s coming. Now is really not the time to scare her. “Too bad we had to end up here, huh.”

She seems a bit shocked someone’s actually talking to her, with how quickly she looks up at you. “What?”

“Too bad we had to end up here.” You repeat yourself.

Ellie stares at you. “Least it’s not the quarter quell.” She says flatly.

You swallow, surprised that her voice is higher than you expected. You realize you’ve never actually heard her speak before, and you pictured her voice to match her face: rough and a little mean.

But it’s sweet.

You just laugh awkwardly and agree. You don’t want to seem like you’re towering over her, so you sit down on the ground next to her. She only continues playing with her switchblade. You try to sneak another glance at her, and you notice she has so many beautiful freckles up close.

“You do know how to make a fire, right?” You decide to break the silence and ask.

She sighs, “Of course I do.”

You gesture to the pile of sticks and wood in front of her. “Let’s see it then.”

Ellie just stares at them. You guess she’s probably trying to figure out what to do first. “Right. Of course. Fine.” She says, shaking her head. She grabs two sticks and tries to rub them together.

You gently place your hand on hers to stop her. “You need to make a nest first.”

She blinks at you. “Like for birds?”

You laugh a little, “No, silly. Here…” you grab the sticks out of her hands and place them down to build a nest for the fire. Ellie watches closely to what you’re doing. You hold out your hand for the knife Ellie’s holding, and she reluctantly gives it to you. You carve the end of one stick into a point, and then twist it into a log until the fire starts. “There.” You say, and look at Ellie.

She slowly looks at you. “Just never had to make one before.” She mutters.

You don’t mean to stare to be rude, but her green eyes are almost sucking you in. She seemed so cool and able during her first appearance in the parade. But now that it’s just all the tributes together by yourselves, she’s acting almost… apprehensive. I mean, it doesn’t really matter. The goal is to appease the sponsors and mentors, so they can send you gifts in the arena. There’s really no point in making friends if you’re going to kill them.

“I’m sorry about what happened by the way.” You suddenly spit out. You mentally slap yourself for being so awkward and having no rizz.

Ellie sure seems to have a habit of just staring at people until they elaborate.

You inhale sharply, “With your dad.”

She sighs and shakes her head. After a few moments of pause she replies, “Yknow just cause I’m from 2 doesn’t mean I’m a career.”

You nod, you didn’t want to say you could tell in case she got mad and tried to kill you early.. “Yeah… but, it’s not like you had to be here.”

She hugs her knees closer to her. “I mean. I kinda did, actually.”

You cock your head to the side, “What do you mean?”

“To make a really long story short,,, I was forced to volunteer or else my uh, dad Joel, would have died. This girl named Abby has had it out for me. She put her name in like, hah, fucking 200 times for so she’d get called. Told me if I didn’t volunteer to take her place she’d uh… yeah she’d kill Joel.”

You can’t really hide the way your mouth drops. “Shit, man. Wow. That’s- yeah, I’m sorry.” You were never really good at consoling people.

She mutters out a quick ‘thanks.’ You think it’s so quiet it could classify as a whisper.

Ellie goes on, “I mean.. everybody now thinks I’m this total badass cause of the parade. That wasn’t even me. That was my stylist,, hell, he told me what to do and when to do it to get the best reaction.”

“You did look really cool during the parade, to be fair.” And you’re not even lying. You were sure all of Panem was losing their shit as soon as Ellie raised her arms.

She looks at you and softly laughs. “Hah. Yeah, I’m just tired of relying on other people and taking away their credit, yknow?”

You nod. You never really imagined she could be so… thoughtful.

Even though you’re in a death game, you mentally slap yourself for not having proper manners like how you were taught, “Oh wait. I never introduced myself. I’m-“

Ellie quickly puts a finger up to your lips to tell you to shut up.

“I know who you are. I saw your reaping too. And who couldn’t forget that dress you wore.” She whistles, looking you up and down.

Now it’s your turn to stare at her. The conversation is going better than expected, and you hate to say it, but you couldn’t get rid of that butterfly feeling in your stomach. You hoped that if you didn’t win, it was Ellie. And if she did happen to die, it was quick.

You can’t help but look at her lips, although you look up at her again when you ask, “Why are you being so nice to me?”

She looks into your eyes and mutters, “Because you’re the first person who’s actually made an effort to talk to me.”

Part 2 :3

𓆟. ° .• .𓆝 .• ° . 𓆟 . ° .• .𓆞

[annoyinglandmagazine]

First Time Reading Girl Genius Novels!

Airship City just arrived!!!! So just to clarify, I have read and am entirely up to date on the webcomic so don’t worry about spoiling anything! I’m also only really reacting to things that stick out to me while I’m reading the novels specifically, I already know the story. So without further ado let’s get into it:

Heterodyne Boys content! Hell yes!

Bill silently cleaning his weapons while Barry worries about him is so wholesome and sad at the same time. It is a tragedy that we never really get to see much of this sibling dynamic because it seems really sweet.

The thumbs up signal too, just a little snapshot of how they were before all this.

Damn the Other is terrifying, just picking all the main players off one by one until no one’s even being accused anymore because it’s so clearly something on another level.

‘It was the most Bill had spoken this week.’ This is just too depressing

It’s kind of weird to be reminded that the Heterodynes did actually win against the Other; the end to their story is just so far from triumphant it feels like a loss.

Actual descriptions of the way the locket and the Spark impacts Agatha’s mind!

The atmosphere of Beetleburg is really fleshed out which is nice.

‘Jägermonsters found everything amusing. Except when people tried to beg for mercy. That they found downright hilarious.’ Ha!

The implications that ordinary household appliances have kill modes installed that are only activated in the presence of a strong Mechanicsburg accent should surprise me more than it does

There is so much irony in Agatha hiding the fact she reads Heterodyne Boy novels from her adoptive parents Punch and Judy.

‘If a mad scientist wasn’t at war with at least two of his neighbours it was because he had his back to the sea and even then he had to watch out for an invasion of intelligent sea urchins.’ Europa really is just Like That

The fact the Heterodynes represented hope to the average people because they actually tried gives me so many emotions

Moloch’s narration is a lot more sympathetic than he comes across in the comic at the start.

The general populace automatically getting worried at Sparky tones even with no context is a nice touch

Jägers and their terrible pick up lines make a first appearance

Beetle was really very sweet to Agatha and meant well which I tend to forget because of the whole Hive Engine first impression

‘Glassvitch’s specialty was chemical engineering which minimised his experience with hysterically sobbing young ladies.’

Something, something, “science is better than emotions or people” is both extremely autistic and a very common take in Girl Genius which I love.

Klaus’ backstory is once again so depressing.

Also the fact no one took him seriously because he was an adventurer who let Bill and Barry take the spotlight and then he just came back out of nowhere, challenged anyone to try and take him on and ended up taking over a significant part of the continent, is kind of badass.

Oh Agatha, assassination attempts since he was revealed are nothing in the wide array of shit going on to make Gil the way he is; that is so far from the problem that to call it the tip of the iceberg would be assigning it too much importance

Boris being known and feared almost as much as the Baron, hell yes, that long suffering man deserves respect for his efforts.

‘He clutched the fishbowl to his chest protectively’ Gil, I love you

Klaus swinging an arm around Gil’s shoulder and patting it while smiling and calling him his son non critically might be the most affection we’ve ever seen him express.

Why do I feel like this is peak healthiness for their relationship, the bar is in the fucking basement

Klaus and Gil ‘eyed each other, as if each were embarrassed at the thought of speaking first. Finally the Baron cleared his throat and said, “Yes, Gil, what do you think of that?”

The description makes that already hilarious interaction so much better. Their whole role in this confrontation reads as second hand embarrassment at the poor planning of their enemies and awkwardness at being remotely associated with this disaster of an coup

‘Klaus looked disgusted’ yep that’s definitely it.

The Wulfenbach Empire understanding that most Sparks really only want praise, a space to work, something to challenge them and someone to make sure they eat is hilarious.

Worldbuilding in the form of universe specific bigotry is my jam. The way constructs get portrayed as comic relief in pop culture due to a culture of discrimination is ingenious. I also appreciate the touch that Klaus has strong and public opinions on this though I suppose it’s not that surprising considering he himself is one in some sense.

I think Lilith teaching music and dance is a new detail and it’s nice to flesh their lives out more, it fits what little we know about her really well.

They are such good parents and this is just adorable

That’s all for now, I’ll pick it up again later!

[so-long-soldier-writes]

No Longer Yours

kol mikaelson x reader | requested

summary: you watch as the love of your life starts to love someone else

tags: angst, heartbreak

word count: ~1.8k

a/n: remembering the plot of the originals was so hard tf, i need to rewatch it

When Ester brought Kol back, you were both shocked and delighted. It was such an uncharacteristic thing for her to do, but yet, you couldn’t complain. For decades, you were lovers, on and off waiting for him as Klaus re-daggered him every couple years. Then, after the whole family was rejoined in Mystic Falls, he was killed by two teenagers way in over their own heads. His death broke you. So much so that his sister offered sympathy, something you’ve never received from her. When the bunch moved back to New Orleans, you took her offer and followed, not living with them, but near them. Away from the brother that so often hurt him, but near the sister that now comforts you. You learned to be okay. 

But now Klaus has stirred up something new, and all the species of the city are fighting, and everyone is gathering forces to try to fight him. It’s the witches, versus the werewolves, versus the Mikaelsons, versus the New Orleans’ vampires that pre-existed in the city. In the midst of it, the Other Side was collapsing, and Esther made a desperate act to bring her family back together. 

Kol isn’t the same. Not one bit. His body is different, as is his mind. He’s on edge, understandably, but no longer only seeking you to tame his restlessness. He’s been put on a mission, you know that, to manipulate the young witch for his mother’s benefit, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less. 

And Finn. Finn’s been in your ear nonstop, taunting, updating, day-to-day, on how the progress between the two is going. You’re not sure when you hurt him, but he’s surely out to hurt you. 

“He has this look in his eyes, when he talks about her. Like he knows his task is to trick her, but he doesn’t want to do it. He’s going soft, and it’s not for you anymore,” he’d whisper. You were on the street corner, watching them walk out of the pub, when the eldest snuck up behind you out of nowhere.

“Why are you telling me this?!”

“Thought it’d be something you want to know.”

Finn in his old body was annoying enough. Him in this one, this vessel that seems to carry a hundred times more sass than the last one, is so much worse. 

And it’s not like Kol doesn’t know you’re here. One of his first days back, he spotted you from afar and whisked you away into a quiet corner, declaring his love and kissing your face. You still see him every day, too, even though his return is being kept quiet from the rest of the Mikaelsons. The fact of that makes it even harder to separate him from Davina. You only see him in stolen moments; she seems to be everywhere, in everyone’s business. 

What also hurts, is that you can’t hate the girl. She seems to be Klaus’ number one hater and that warrants some respect. She’s been planning to control Mikael to help take down Klaus, and that’s something no one has ever been able to do. She’s a badass, powerful witch, who Kol is falling for, and that’s not her fault. 

Though slowly, you see it going both ways. She’s falling for him as much as he is her, and honestly, you can’t blame her. Kol is so much more than his narcissistic siblings make him out to be. He’s charming, funny, protective, and up until now, loyal. But then again, maybe you’re overexaggerating this. He’s around Davina for a task, maybe this is just him playing a part. 

You know, deep down, that it’s not. 

It’s one of the days you get Kol alone. Truly alone, without Davina, nor Finn, nor any other supernaturals lingering around, overhearing your conversation. Things feel back to normal, you feel happy, like maybe you have been overthinking, and everything’s actually fine. 

“So, um, how’s it been with your mother?” You didn’t mean to bring up his mother. It’s an awkward subject, and the woman has never been a kind one. But after ten minutes, your dinner date begins to run dry, exchanging small smiles and short laughs rather than the deep thoughts and strong opinions you once shared. 

“She’s fine. She’s my mother. The same, horrible woman she’s always been.” 

His accent is so much thicker in this body. 

“Hm. And Finn? Personally, he’s been annoying the hell out of me, and if he doesn’t stop, I’ll send him right back.”

It earns a chuckle. “I’m about to send him there, too. Little brown noser, always desperate for mother’s approval. What’s he bugging you about?”

“Nothing important, just… the usual.”

“He’s so much worse as a witch. He always hated vampires and now he isn’t one, yet he still wants to bring the rest of them down. Him having access to magic is not great, either.”

“Oh, I bet. Glad I’m only on his ‘hate’ side and not his ‘kill’ side. If I ever defended Klaus in my lifetime, I would have a much different fate against witch Finn.”

He laughs a bit louder. “I’m pretty sure I’m on his ‘kill’ side. Mother giving me chores is the only reason he hasn’t struck. But I wouldn’t let him kill you, Y/N. You’ve always been mine, and even Finn knows not to mess with us.”

His words make you feel some warmth inside, some comfort, that maybe, again, you’re just overthinking all this. 

“He better not, or I’ll send Matt after him again. Bet he’s only a click away, if I tell him I need to extinguish a Mikaelson.”

“Oh, he would be so upset to learn mother brought him back to life. All his hard work, gone! I think Matt would have a lovely time here in New Orleans. So many things he hates in one city. Bet he’d come up with an elaborate system to bomb every vampire in a fifty mile radius without destroying the city itself.” 

“And he’d find a way to make a protective bubble around Rebekah, saving her, and no one else.”

“Oh, don’t remind me of that crush! Any man my little sister could’ve picked and she chooses the vampire-hating prick. Her taste in men has never been good.”

“I don’t know, Marcel’s kind of nice to look at,” you tease.

His eyebrows raise playfully. “Marcel? You should’ve known him when he was a child, then. Little misfit.”

You laugh. It feels like old times. Like going on adventures, pushing peoples’ buttons, grabbing life by the neck. It feels like the love you and Kol shared way before the collapse of the Other Side, and even before Mystic Falls. It’s reckless and exhilarating. 

But now, it’s short-lived. And you feel the light dimming day by day, and you’re not sure how much longer you’re willing to pretend like it’s all okay. 

“I should be getting back soon. Mother’s going to think I ran off.”

“Totally understandable, she is not one to cross.”

“Definitely not.”

“What’s in your plans for next week? Any time we’ll be able to steal like this again?”

“Not sure yet. Klaus is so sporadic, and she bases her plans around his hourly attitude changes. I’ll keep you updated.”

“Okay.” You don’t want to ask it, but it’s been sitting on the tip of your tongue all night, and if you don’t, you might go crazy. “Kol?”

“Yes, love?”

“Your ‘task’ she puts you up to, with Davina.”

“Yes?”

“You care for her.” It’s less of a question, more of a statement. You meant it to be a question, but your mouth spoke before your brain could catch up.

Kol pauses, halfway getting up, to sit back down. He’s never been one to lie to you. You’re not sure if this is when he’ll start. 

“I do,” he replies truthfully. “I don’t want her to get hurt trying to take down my family. I see why she wants to, and I believe she can, but she’s still young. I’ve been trying to best Klaus for centuries and have never been able. But while I’m protecting her the best I can while my mother is actively trying to manipulate her, I don’t feel anything for her, if that’s what worries you.”

You nod, confirming his words about your concerns. “It’s good that you care. She’s been through a lot. She deserves someone who will stand up for her.” 

You wish it didn’t have to be him. 

“I try, while mother and Finn constantly berate.”

“When do they not?” You half-joke, smiling softly. 

“You’re entirely correct.”

Kol might not believe he’s growing affection for the young witch, but you know differently. You can see it in his eyes and the softness of his voice. You can see it on the dimples that form on her face from smiling so wide. 

Klaus finds out that ‘Kaleb’ is Kol, and everything gets much more difficult. It’s such a big tangled web of emotions that you take a step back from the family altogether. Mikael’s on the loose and Klaus is vengeful. New Orleans is in a city-wide panic as the vampire-killing vampire runs rampant without Davina’s control. It isn’t her fault that he got loose. 

It isn’t anyone’s fault when he rushes to her side, more than once. 

It isn’t anyone’s fault when he kisses her, and she kisses back. 

It’s just circumstance. Time and place. People grow apart and others grow close, and sometimes, nothing can be done to stop it. You have to learn to let it go; to understand that he’s happy, and that’s truly the only thing that matters. You’ve survived without him before and you can learn to do it again. 

New Orleans is in the midst of an all out war. Klaus kills anyone who stands in his way. It’s nothing new but it’s nothing short of terrifying. You realize, now, as Kol grows closer to the young witch, and Rebekah starts to take the side of her brothers, that you’re just as vulnerable as the wolves he hunts. A lone vampire cannot survive any greater than a lone wolf, and Klaus doesn’t care who he slaughters in his act of vengeance. It’s with great sorrow and even greater heartbreak that you leave the city, middle of the night, with only a note to explain your absence. Kol will be okay. He’ll be safer with her than you; Klaus has never liked you too much, and his second chance at life matters more than your love for him. 

You’ll always love him, but he’s no longer yours.

He may still love you too, but not in the way it once was. 

And with that, you have to learn to be okay. 

[enehana]

can you write about Leo crushing on fem reader who is daughter of Khione and at the time they both don't know who the reader godly parent was but she is shown to have ice powers and can change the temperature around the environment when she gets anxious, scared or sad and over time they grew close and started dating that is when Leo put two and two together that the reader is Khione's daughter

Of course! Hope you like it. I absolutely did not proof read anything.

Leo Valdez x Daughter of Khione

You and Leo Valdez certainly weren't alike. You were a tall, sexy, badass with an affinity for combat. There wasn't too many good stories about you, especially due to you never being claimed despite Percy forcing the gods to pay their child support and claim their kids. To newer campers, you were standoffish and scary. Yet, when Leo Valdez arrived with camp along with Piper and Jason, he was absolutely taken with you.

You were confused. He had shown to be a carefree, silly guy. Yet he always wanted to talk to a girl that wasn't often liked at first glance. He was claimed quickly, as many demigods are nowadays. A son of Hephaestus. Not exactly the type of kid that would want to talk to you. A son of the god of the forge and fire constantly trying to make friends with a orphan girl with ice powers and anxiety-induced snowstorms. Quite the pair.

"Hey, Elsa, don't you wanna come watch me at work? I've got a new flamethrower I'm working on that I think you'll find pretty hot."

"It's a flamethrower. I certainly hope it can get hot enough to throw fire. And my name isn't Elsa."

"Whatever you say, hermosa."

"That isn't my name either."

He'd never leave you alone. Sometimes it was comforting. Not many people thought about you like that. Annabeth was too preoccupied with Percy being missing to think about anyone but him. Thalia was gone with the huntresses. Luke, Silena, and many of your other friends died a year prior in the battle of Manhattan. And Nico never stuck around at camp. So you were on your own most of the time. It was nice to have someone who thought of you enough to come bother you everyday. Though sometimes you just needed to be alone.

"What are you doing here all alone, Hermosa? Capture the flag is about to start, you love playing."

"Not a good time, Leo."

"I can't exactly postpone the game, unless you want me to blow up the entire forest."

"I don't care about the game."

"You're making it awfully chilly in here, y'know."

"Then leave."

"Damn, okay. If that's what you want, your wish is my command, your highness."

Then he went on a quest. And you were left at camp. No more crazy fire boy to annoy you. Yet, you thought of him more than you expected to. You kept telling yourself he wasn't thinking of you. He was on a quest, there were a million more important things than the girl he decided to borderline harass everyday. Surely he was more focused on staying alive, right?

Leo hadn't been at camp nearly as long as you had. He did get somewhat of a grip on the whole dying before reaching adulthood thing, but he was used to that. He didn't see quests in the same light you did.

Then when they got back from the quest, and the first thing he did was run up to you, excited to tell you about it. Excited to see you. All the thoughts left your brain. He was an absolute idiot.

"Oh my gods, there's literally so much to tell you."

"You're supposed to debrief-"

"Nah, Jason's got it. Let me tell you about this batshit insane lady I killed."

Unbeknownst to both of you, that batshit insane lady he 'killed' was your mother.

Slowly, you started to laugh at his jokes. You'd sit with him while he built the Argo II in bunker nine. You'd bring him snacks and made sure he slept at least enough to stay alive. It was peaceful, for a short while.

Then they had to go on another quest. Finally retrieving Percy. Stopping Gaea. Potentially saving Nico.

You had to stay at camp. Again. Not your lucky day.

Leo would iris message you almost every day. You weren't used to that. The people you talked to were always at camp, nearby. Then all of a sudden, all of your friends are off saving the world without you. At least Leo cared enough to fill you in on what was going on.

But the seven disagreed on whether or not to save Nico. And that hurt the most. You knew Nico better than most people at camp. You were outcasted because somehow you didn't have a godly parent. And he was the son of Hades. Of course misfits tend to drift towards each other.

You wanted to save Nico more than anything. So you packed your shit and left camp. You stopped accepting iris messages. No one knew where you went.

So when you ran into the seven down at Nico's prison, everyone was shocked. You were convinced they wouldn't come to rescue him. They all thought you dropped off the face of the Earth.

You all got Nico and got the hell out of there. Then you were stuck on the Argo II indefinitely.

Leo built you your own room, right next to his. Not that he ever slept there anyways. You two would stay up all night, keeping him company when he couldn't sleep.

And of course, there had to be encounters with monsters. You really came in handy there. You could just freeze them, and Percy or Jason would shatter them with their swords, sending them straight back to Tartarus. Leo didn't look at you the same way after that.

You two were still best friends, but he always acted like he knew something he didn't want to tell you, especially when you used your powers. And no matter how much pushing you did, he wouldn't tell you.

The anxiety this caused you was immense. Snowstorms would rage outside the ship every time he insisted nothing was off. Hail would knock holes in the ship, which Leo would complain about every time. The ocean underneath you almost froze over. That's when he confronted you.

"Okay, we all know you're doing this. What in Tartarus is this about?"

"Oh my gods, Leo. It's nothing." You used the phrase exactly like he did. Same tone and pausing as him. Every little detail exact. He didn't get the hint.

"Clearly not. I don't know if I should be concerned for you or worried that you're trying to kill us all."

"I am not trying to kill you!"

He took you into his arms, his heat and your cold causing steam to rise from your bodies.

"If you're not trying to kill us, you must be killing yourself. We can't have that."

His heat thawed right through you. The storm outside calmed and the ship passed through the silky water gracefully.

And one night, while you two were up in the engine room way past curfew, he turned to you.

"Y'know, you're actually not as bad as everyone tried to tell me you were."

"Oh. Yeah. The whole unclaimed thing doesn't come across as lightly as it used to, huh?"

"I guess. And for the record, I'd totally claim you. Whoever your godly parent is should be proud to have you as their kid."

"Oh wow, thanks."

"Yeah, sure."

Then he smiled at you with all the warmth in the world. Your entire spirit was set ablaze. You unconsciously leaned towards him, your shoulder brushing against his. The whole world seems to stop spinning. The sound of your heartbeat drowns out the crashing waves and heavy machinery all around you. You and Leo didn't leave the engine room until morning.

Things were different between you two ever since. He'd bring you flowers that were often burnt in his nervousness and he'd allow you to take a break in his room whenever you needed it. And you started calling yourself his girl.

Eventually, he caught on to that.

"What, am I your boyfriend now?"

"Yes, you are."

"Damn, anything to make you happy, hermosa."

And he was yours. No more watching him flirt with every woman that comes his way. Much more being flirted with. Every chance you got, you were by his side. You also noticed he observed you more often. Especially when you used your powers.

"What in Hades has possessed you to look at me like that?" You questioned, having just turned an empusa into an ice sculpture.

"You just- oh shit."

"Valdez?"

"You're an awful lot like Khione. Y'know, the hair, the attitude, the ice powers."

"Oh. Oh shit."

"Could she be...?"

"I guess. If she tried to kill you she's also probably the type of bitch to not claim her kids like she's supposed to."

"What the hell was your dad thinking?"

"The same thing you were thinking when you first met her."

And you and Leo laughed. It wasn't too different. Sure, your mom tried to kill him, but that can't stop Leo Valdez from being yours. Nothing could. Even when he was willing to die to fulfill the prophecy and kill Gaia. The physician's cure brought him back to you. Everything always turned him back to his new home. And the anxiety induced snowstorms almost completely stopped with him by your side.

[saltpepperbeard]

Poison into Positivity: A List of What I Liked in OFMD S2

Hello hello everyone! Things have been a little rough around here. Even away from the more heated takes, I've still seen a few "down in the dumps" murmurs. To which, I'm giving y'all big hugs, but also offering up some little bits of warmth! I wanted to share quite a few bullets of the things I enjoyed about this season. Maybe it'll serve as a reminder, or maybe it'll just serve as a chaotic, silly little read as per usual PFFF.

But I invite you to read along, and even add some of your own points should you feel inclined! Also, this might not even be my full list; these are just the ones that came to me quickly/off the top of my head. Still, let's dive on down like a fantastical, dazzling goldfish, shall we?

All the callbacks/parallels. My goodness. When I tell you I'm a SLUT for metaphors/parallels/callbacks/etc etc. Seeing so many things and being able to just *Leonardo Dicaprio pointing meme.* I know people might not share that same opinion because some might view it to be excessive, but I personally LOVED being able to point at my screen and be like "oH EYYYYYYY!!!" Maybe because it makes for such immaculate gifset/meta material <3 SJKJDLHSK

The costuming and makeup. WHEN THEY TALKED AT ECCC ABOUT EVERYONE GETTING HOTTER, THEY WERE NOT KIDDING LMAO. EVERYONE LOOKED SO, SO GOOD. and listen, i am on my knees begging for them to give ed with his hair up back to us. i need Her back,,,ALSO, SOMETHING SOMETHING COMPLICATED EMOTIONS TOWARDS STEDE'S LATTER HALF LOOK, BUT ALSO...GOD DAMN, MR. DARBY,,,,,,

Speaking of Mr. Darby, the acting in this season. The ACTTTINNNGG. Everyone acted their ASSES off. Everyone put their entire piratussies into this season. Though, I'm PARTICULARLY impressed with Taika and Rhys, because again with their "oh we're comedians lol so idk drama can be Difficult Difficult Lemon Difficult." MMMM I THINK THE FUCK NOT, MY GUYS LMAO??? They both did SO well with all the drama and painful moments. The acting in episodes 2, 3, 6, and 7 in particular like...God. GOD!!!

I loved so many characters in this season, and I'll of course have to give two individual shoutouts to my two favorite new ladies, but man. LET'S GO FRENCHIE!!! ALWAYS A DELIGHT!!! FANG/KEVIN MY ABSOLUTE SWEETHEART. JIM SERVING ABSOLUTE FUCKING GENDER THIS SEASON. OLU OLU DARLING OLU. PETE NEVER MISSING WITH HIS ONELINERS. LUCIUS BEING SO THEATRICAL AHDJKSDK LIKE NATHAN PLEASE YOU KILL ME. ROACH MAKING ME LAUGH OUT LOUD NUMEROUS TIMES AS HE DOES. WEE JOHN AND HIS KNITTING AND DRAG!!! AND THEN OF COURSE MY DEARLY BELOVEDS, ED AND STEDE. I JUST LOVE THEMMMMM!!! But okay okay okay-

Zheng my beloved. I just love this badass pirate queen with her sweet little pigtails and her IMMACULATE LINE DELIVERIES SDHJKSKL. A lot of my favorite deliveries from the entire season came from her quite honestly. Please see: "Girl, how ARE you?" and "Hiiiiiii. I KNOWWW it's been a day" and "I've killed mediocre men. I've killed exceptional men. But you're the worst kind: a mediocre man who thinks he's exceptional."

AND ARCHIE MY BELOVED. She kills me because I remember seeing like, those ~*~audition tape whispers~*~ WAY back in the day, and subsequently thinking she was going to be quite a different character. Only for this silly goofy bubbly energetic darling to pop up and snag my heart. HER deliveries kill me also, like when she goes "Like...STEDE Stede?" and the whole "I was IN the fuckin' snake!" also hhngngngngnershkfhslkds tattooed ladies Hot :(

Speaking of which, the comedy. THE DELIVERIES. THE WAY I LAUGHED OUT LOUD NUMEROUS TIMES THROUGHOUT, EVEN WITH THE DEEP UNDERCURRENT OF DRAMA/ANGST. The whole bit where Stede is in hysterics over his cursed coat is just hsjkdhsklds; it will NEVER not make me wheeze. And then, like I said, almost EVERYTHING Pete says this season kills me; another thing that will never not make me laugh is "a doggie...?" weird little pirate show with weird little humor my beloved

The ROMANCE??? I genuinely was going into the season with the expectation of getting maybe like, one or two Gentlebeard kisses. Imagine my shock and utter delight when we ended up with FOUR, AS WELL AS AN INTIMATE SCENE, THE LETTER SCENES, AND THE LOVE PROFESSIONS. Like, one of them dropping a legitimate "I love you" felt like an unrealistic expectation--the HIGHEST dream tier really. And then wouldn't you know it. And that doesn't even account for all the rest of the couples either! The murder wives having their chaotic little moments of fucked up affection??? LUCIUS AND PETE GETTING ENGAGED AND THEN MARRIED??? HELLO??????

The sets! I know people have pointed out that the world felt a bit simplified this time around, due to budget restraints and what have you. But I still loved what they did with the world even with the various constraints. The market in episode 6 is a PARTICULAR favorite of mine; it's just so lush and colorful. I also love what they did with The Revenge during episode 6 too!

Also, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I really actually liked that they filmed on location. First of all, love that the Kiwis got to be right at home in Aotearoa. Love that they have an even more special connection to the show now. But second of all, I just like when scenery is...actually THERE? It feels way more TANGIBLE. Don't get me wrong; that hugeass wraparound screen that they use to film a lot of sets is a technological marvel. But I'm a sucker for practical.

The deeper and more complex dives into character motivations/trauma. Like, homie lol...When I tell you episodes 6 and 7 utterly set my brain alight in the best way possible. I was CHUGGING through thoughts. You know those gifs where someone is walking around and ranting/passionately talking,,, yeah. Yeah. Maybe because a lot of it "struck a chord" with me indeed, but I love love LOVE getting brain food like that.

Speaking of brain food, in PARTICULAR, the deeper dives into Ed's self-loathing and into Stede's troubles with confidence and masculinity. A lot of Stede's choices were fueled by those two things, and it was SO friggin fun to catch all of them, put them in a jar, and shake them around. I've seen a lot of people fearing his actions in the latter half were out of character, but to me, I don't see it that way. I just see a man who has been so spurned, so left behind, and SO deprived, a man who is stuck thinking he has to be someone else to mean something. And I think that plays a lot into even the EARLIEST developments we saw in season 1, so it was just so intriguing to watch everything messily play out.

THE INNKEEPER. THE INNKEEPER MY BELOVED. SO much about that episode absolutely has my heart. All the different developments, the stakes, the pacing, and the payoff at the end. Not to mention that I had a FEELING that mysterious figure in the trailers was Hornigold, so it was so SO validating to see him pop up PFFF. And also, all those dream/gravy basket sequences were so so good too. I don't know if it's the chemistry between Taika and Mark, or the deeper symbolism, or the lines that have become vocal stims for me SJKDLS (please see: ooOOoooO eddie eddie eddie...you're laying some heavy shit on me, bro), but man. MAN.

And this one gets its own bullet because of course it does: the fucking mermaid scene. Like, are we kidding. ARE WE KIDDING. THE ROMANCE OF IT ALL? THE FANTASTICAL-NESS INDEED?? THE WAY IT WAS ALL FUCKING PRACTICAL AND RHYS SWAM DOWN TO TAIKA AS A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GOLDFISH AND THEY HAD TO THROW HEART EYES AT EACH OTHER UNDERWATER??? WHAT THE FUCK!!! And don't even get me started on Kate Bush lol. This Woman's Work might easily be one of my favorite songs, if not my FAVORITE song from the season. And man. Man. The whole meaning behind Ed seeing Stede as this beautiful, sparkly being, and not some hypermasculine/extraordinary thing. He fell in love with Stede for who Stede really is. And so I ADORE that acknowledgement.

Speaking of songs, the MUSIC!!! Absolute bangers all throughout. And I loved how there seemed to be even more intermixed within the episodes. Like God... "These are the kids..." 🗣️ HELLO MY LOVE I HEARD A KISS FROM YOU 🦗🦟🦗🦟🦗🦟 . And all the beautiful classic piano pieces and NINA SIMONE AND JUST HSJKDHSFJKLHSKD????

Okay, I've always had and STILL have complicated thoughts and opinions on Izzy, but man, seeing him interact with the Revenge Crew was really something. Seeing Stede's influence come over the lot of them like a warm blanket, extending its welcoming and familial hands...It was just lovely. I love seeing our little sea family care for each other so much. They've probably all hurt so so much in different ways, so to see them all being a collective heart is just so nice.

Speaking of which, the queerness of it all, the queer celebration of it all. The way the whole crew is just...a representation of queer people finding each other, and subsequently finding love and family in each other. Like, when the whole world wants to cast you out, you pull each other in. When no one else wants you, you take refuge in each other. And just...the joy, beauty, and wonder that can be found in that.

And speaking of which x2, the overall care that was put into the entire thing, the effort that was put into the entire thing. I know Max fucked us over with the budget, which subsequently fucked things like the intricacy, the amount of characters, and especially the pacing. But, I don't know; I personally could still tell everyone involved was trying so so hard to deliver for us. Based on the little details, the little callbacks, and the little moments that felt so catered to us, it just seemed so...gifted to us. Not to mention of course, the way they so deliberately chose to end on a hopeful note in case we never get a third season. They care about us. They've always cherished our excitement and passion, so it just...idk; it feels so special to have a bit more of an intimate connection like that. I've never been involved with a piece of media that so avidly SEES its audience, and celebrates along with us. So, despite everything, despite any sort of troubles, despite any sort of lows, that's a big part of what has me clutching all of this so closely to my chest. And I really hope they can still see that love, because I want nothing more than for them to see this beautiful story through.

Also, getting to enjoy this with everyone. Getting to ride the wave from the beginning of filming, all the way through the finale. Getting to see all the excitement, all the theories, all the art, all the fanfiction, all the gif sets, all the meta, and everything in between. It has carried me through some nastiness in my personal life, and has subsequently served as a very welcomed distraction. It's been such a pleasure getting to delight in this new content with you all, and I hope we get to do so into the future. <3

[maacchia]

New Recruit

Miguel Diaz x Fem!Reader

Summary: Miguel is looking for new students to help Johnny get the dojo started. He quickly finds out that you are the baddest badass in the Valley, and invites you to Cobra Kai, an invitation you are hesitant to accept

Warnings: none really, fluff ig

(Takes place during season 1, reader kinda replaces Aisha as CK’s second student)

You wouldn’t say you were the most popular girl in the Valley. Though, you thought you had enough of a “cool” reputation to remain left alone by those who were considered bullies around school. However, that didn’t stop Kyler and his dumbass friends for giving you shit this afternoon.

“Just give me my keys,” you stood with one hand on your hip and another held out before Kyler as he dangled the keys to your moped just a few inches above where you could actually reach. The boy and his little crew had caught you as you were leaving the convenient store. You dropped your keys as you were taking them out of your bag, and Kyler had appeared in front of you, picking them up as soon as you bent to do the same. You assumed they were on their way to the store themselves, but decided to stop just to mess with you.

Kyler laughed as he looked down at you, giving instigated looks at his other accomplices who laughed along with him.

“Aw, come on you gotta try harder than that,” he cooed in a mocking tone. Rolling your eyes, you jumped once more as you previously had, prompting him to throw them over to his blond friend. He similarly dangled them in front of you, and you heard chuckles from the others.

Now, you wouldn’t say you were a naturally violent person. You usually like to settle your disputes with conversation. But it was hot out, and you were really looking forward to going home after the crappy day you had. You sighed, rolling your eyes once again before taking a few determined strides to where the boy was standing. The smile on his face grew as he prepared to taunt you some more, until you placed both hands firmly on his shoulders and swiftly brought your knee up to his crotch.

The boy instantly doubled over in pain, groaning as his hands came down to cup his area. You used this opportunity to snatch the keys back into your grasp, smiling victoriously as you did.

“Thanks,” you stepped back before turning to Kyler and his other two goons who were gawking at your sudden blow. You were sure that if you weren’t a girl, they might’ve jumped you at this retaliation, but since you were, they just stood with their mouths agape. You smiled sarcastically at Kyler, who looked at you with frustration in return.

You briskly walked toward your bike and then got on, starting the vehicle with the key. You drove off in the direction of your home, feeling triumph at your small defeat of those jerks. Even though you knew they would still go back to messing with other kids the next day, it felt good knowing at least you stood your ground. However, what you didn’t know was that there was another spectator who had seen the encounter from a couple yards away.

Walking home from school, Miguel Diaz came across the spat moments before your bash to Brucks’ dick. He stood utterly shocked and impressed as he realized he just found the kind of student Cobra Kai was looking for.

Miguel had to ask Demetri and Eli who you were during lunch the next day, seeing as he was still relatively new to the school and didn’t yet know most people.

“Oh, her?” Demetri pointed in the girls direction and Eli quickly swatted his hand down. “That’s (Y/N) (L/N). Yeah, she’s in my bio class—not very social, but seems cool over all. Let me borrow a pen once.”

Miguel looked over at you a few tables away, chatting it up with the only other person at your table. He wouldn’t say he was confident when it came to talking to girls. Hell, it was like what Demetri had said the first time he sat down at their table: that he had practically sealed his position of being unpopular and undateable. He was pretty sure you might even laugh in his face full stop, but he thought it was worth a shot if it meant Cobra Kai could gain more pupils. So, finishing his lunch, he began to plan on what he would say to you.

The school day was going as it usually did for you. You went to your morning classes, talked with a couple friends, and were already exhausted before lunch time. The only difference you noticed were the slight dirty glances Kyler and his crew gave you across the lunch room.

As you were putting up your books into your locker, getting ready for the last period of the day, you felt the presence of someone approaching you. You figured it was one of the few acquaintances you had at school. The person came to a stop right next to your locker, appearing to wait until you were finished before speaking. You closed the door before looking to your right to see a boy who you actually weren’t familiar with at all. With a confused expression, you fully turned to face him. He seemed anxious and unsure of himself as he began speaking.

“Uh…Hi! Um…you’re (Y/N) right?” he prompted, clearly nervous.

“Yeah?” you replied. The boy nodded quickly before continuing.

“Hi! Er…wait…I actually said that already, sorry,” he awkwardly chuckled, and you thought you could actually see him sweating. “I’m Miguel…Diaz—Miguel Diaz. I’m new here. I was watching you yesterday— I-I mean I wasn’t like, watching you, I was headed in that direction already and I just saw you, and you were already out—”

“Can you get to the point, Miguel Diaz?” you questioned, a little irritated at his stammering.

“Oh yeah, sorry,” he took a quick breath in before he said, “Yesterday I saw the way you stood up to Kyler and his friends, when you kicked one of them in the…you know. And I was wondering i-if you would be interested in joining my karate dojo?” The words came out faster than they previously had.

Miguel then took off his backpack and placed it on the floor in front of him as he began searching through it for something. You followed his movements with furrowed eyebrows as you saw him pull out a piece of paper and stand up straight, looking at you again.

“It’s called Cobra Kai,” he said, holding out the paper to you, at which point you realized it was a flyer for the dojo in question. You took it in your hands, looking over the the text and seeing the large clip art of a cobra at the focal point. You shifted your gaze back up at him as he began talking again,

“We’re looking for new recruits, and, you know, I just-I thought you seemed pretty tough. We have a class later today, actually! The time is on the flyer.”

Miguel couldn’t really read your expression as you looked back down at the flyer, nodding your head slowly. You took a moment, mulling the sudden flood of information over in your head. You didn’t think you had ever been asked such a question before.

“Um,” you began, squinting your eyes slightly and focusing back on him, “I’m not sure karate is…really my thing.” You hesitantly replied, clearly a bit weirded out by the offer. You saw the boy glance at the ground almost disappointedly, and jumped to spare his feelings, “I mean thanks for thinking I’m tough or whatever, but that whole thing with Kyler, it wasn’t really much of anything. I was just pissed.”

“Oh ok, yeah I get it. Don’t worry,” Miguel said, shaking his head. You smiled awkwardly, holding the flyer back out to him. But he didn’t take it, “You can keep it, I got plenty more.”

Miguel smiled at you, let down, but not surprised by the rejection. You placed the flyer in between one of your textbooks when the sound of the the warning bell signaling last period rang through the halls. You glanced up briefly before dismissing yourself.

“That’s me, I gotta go. But thanks again for the offer,” you said, beginning to walk past him and in the direction of your bio class.

“No problem,” he called back. The boy sighed, looking down at his shoes defeatedly. He really didn’t want to let Sensei down, and had a little hope that you would accept the invitation. But just like Demetri and Eli, you seemed to think it was kinda ridiculous, which he couldn’t exactly blame you for.

Miguel bent down to zip and pick up his backpack that was still on the ground. He threw it over his shoulder before trudging off to class himself.

Miguel, or “Karate Boy”, as you elected to call him in your mind, stayed in your thoughts as you rode home that afternoon. The whole thing had come as a surprise. Not that someone had seen your brush with those assholes yesterday, but more that it would inspire them to think that you would be good at martial arts.

Of course, you had felt flattered by the boys consideration. It wasn’t everyday that someone paid attention to you. Not even your parents, really. But come on, karate? The most you knew about karate came from those cheesy action movies you had seen on tv a few times. And while it seemed cool on screen, you never saw it as some something that many people did in reality.

You arrived home, thoughts about karate leaving your head as the familiar residence came into your view. Today was actually more exciting for you than normal. Last week, you had reluctantly asked your parents if they could have a movie night with you. To your thrilled surprise, they actually agreed, and had promised to take time off of their busy schedules to spend the evening with you. It was a very rare opportunity to finally hang out with them, and something you had been looking forward to since you arranged it.

You came up onto the driveway, smiling as you saw your moms car parked on the pavement, faltering only when you realized you didn’t see your dads stationed next to it. You parked your moped in the garage, eagerly running inside. As you came into the living room, you spotted your mom looking intently at her computer while typing.

“Hey mom!” you exclaimed, smiling ear to ear. Though, you don’t think she heard you come in as her eyebrows jumped in surprise when her gaze briefly met yours.

“Oh, hey sweetie! Didn’t see you there. How was school?” she asked, not really seeming interested as she quickly returned her attention back to her computer. A behavior you were pretty used to by now.

“It was fine,” you answered quickly. “Where’s dad?” You questioned, eyebrows faintly scrunched. Your mom just continued to type, not hearing, or maybe ignoring your question completely.

“Mom,” you spoke firmer.

“Hm?” she reluctantly perked her head up, meeting your stare. You felt a sudden pit in your stomach.

“Where’s dad?,” you inquired, quieter and uneasily this time.

Your mom sighed and tilted her head to the side a little, looking back at you with that same apologetic look you had been given so many times before.

“Look sweetie, your father had an important meeting come up. I know you were looking forward to tonight, but it was urgent, so he had to cancel. You know how it is.”

You stood and stared at her a moment, your smile shrinking until it disappeared completely. The familiar feeling of disappointment crashing over you in painful waves.

“Yeah…yeah I know how it is.” Your eyes stung. Your nose began to feel stuffy. Your attempts to blink away your tears were in vain as you felt one roll down your cheek. You swiped it away almost immediately, not wanting to show your mom how much it got to you. But it didn’t matter, because she wasn’t looking at you anyway as she attended back to her work.

“Um,” you sniffed, “will you at least be able to hang out tonight?” A tiny bit of hope in your voice. But as she shook her head, not even peering at you, the hope drowned.

“I would, but I’m swamped today, love. Something went wrong with the investors earlier, and they’re all on my ass, so I gotta focus. But I promise, me and your father will watch movies with you next time, okay?” She didn’t give the impression she was asking for a response as she kept on working.

“Okay,” you responded anyway, your tone defeated. You slumped upstairs to your room, face hot and more tears streaming down your cheeks. You finally reached your bedroom, throwing your bag next to your bed as you threw yourself on to it.

Of course, you thought. Of course they cancelled. Of course they made plans with you only to end up doing what they always do. Forgetting you. How could you be so stupid to think that this time would be different?

You hated being like this. You thought that after all of the times your parents had let you down, you would’ve gotten used to it by now. But here you were, crying your eyes out like it was something new. On top of barely having any friends, it seemed like not even your parents wanted to spend time with you.

You sat up, looking around your room before finally settling on your school bag. You found your mind wandering to the interaction you had with Miguel earlier. Here was this boy who had noticed you, and even thought about you, something most people, including your parents, never bothered to do. And you didn’t even really know him.

You wiped your face quickly before reaching down into your bag and picking out the flyer. You held it out in front of you, regarding the information again. The class times were displayed in a bold text. Just like Karate Boy had told you earlier, there was a class that very afternoon, and looking at the clock in your room, you realized that it would be starting in the next 45 minutes.

Karate, huh? You stood to grab your keys off of your night table, headed for the door with your bag over your shoulder.

What did you have to lose?

Miguel had head to the dojo immediately after school was over. Johnny had him doing some more sit ups, talking to him from across the room about his failed attempt to recruit some guys at a basketball court.

“Any luck today for you?” he asked the panting boy. Miguel shook his head.

“Not really. I gave out some flyers though,” he said, thinking back on his talk with you. Miguel was so sure he had found just the kind of person Cobra Kai was looking for, but he figured they would have to keep looking.

“Yeah that’s great,” Johnny muttered sarcastically. “You know, when I was a teenager, everyone thought karate was badass. What’s wrong with your generation?”

“I don’t know, I think now they all just think it’s…lame?” Miguel replied, moving from sit ups to push ups.

“Lame?!” Johnny yelled incredulously. “That’s bullshit! Karate isn’t lame, it’s kickass! Kids today are just coddled too much, that’s what it is.” Miguel nodded sagely at his sensei’s proclamation. “Maybe if we start one of those Tickle accounts, we could get some attention from other teenagers.”

Miguel brought himself to sit down, bringing his legs up to his chest and his arms coming around them. He looked at his sensei, trying to figure out what he meant before putting it together.

“…you mean TikTok?” he asked.

“Yeah whatever,” Johnny waved his hand dismissively before starting toward his office. “Make sure you clean those mats!” he instructed before disappearing through the door frame. Miguel sighed, standing up to retrieve the cleaning supplies from the closet.

Cobra Kai had been his saving grace when he moved to the Valley. He wanted so bad to be able to show other kids the kind of confidence they could gain. But he could also understand why they might feel like they’d never be able to defend themselves, just like he once did. Karate in the Valley was mostly a thing of the past, and he didn’t know if it would ever return to the glory Sensei described in his old stories. They would just have to keep looking.

As the pupil walked his way back into the training room, spray and rag in hand, he heard the bell chime of the front door. Miguel stopped in his tracks, meeting (y/e/c) eyes for the second time that day.

You walked up to the mat, taking a curious glance around the place before looking at him as he stared back, a marveled expression across his features. You smiled softly.

“You came,” was all he said in a gently astonished tone.

“Yeah, well, I had nothing else to do and figured why not give it a shot? Who knows, maybe karate is my thing,” you smiled wider as you saw his excitement grow at your words. It was kinda adorable. Shifting from foot to foot, uncharacteristically nervous, you abruptly heard the sound of an adult male voice from another room.

“Miguel, who is it?!” he shouted.

“I think we have a new student!” he yelled back, not breaking the gaze held between you two. You heard eager footsteps entering the room as a tall man with blond hair, and what looked to be a black robe on, entered rather joyfully.

But then you noticed the smile on his face significantly drop as he took one look at you. Miguel turned to face him, and you both watched as Johnny scoffed and glanced away, wistfully irritated.

“We don’t take girls,” he did a small dismissive gesture with his hands as both you and Miguel gave him the same baffled expression, yours on the little more offended side.

“Excuse me?” you said, almost prompting him to clarify. But before he could say anything more, Miguel hastily looked back at you, shaking his head and chuckling tensely, before grabbing the man and guiding him to the other room.

You sat there in disbelief, listening to their hushed whispers. What the hell was that guys problem? You thought that by now, people knew that girls were just as capable of fighting as guys. Women were allowed in the military nearly a century ago, for christs sake! Miguel didn’t tell you this place was run by a sexist douchebag.

You couldn’t help but start to feel stupid for even showing up. Maybe this was a mistake? Maybe you really hadn’t found a place to fit in after all. The self assurance you had in your impulsive decision was slowly replaced by a creeping feeling of doubt as the conversation between the two males droned on.

Two excruciating minutes later, the older man came out again, Miguel trailing behind him. “Ok, take off your shoes and step on the mat,” he ordered. You slid off your shoes, doing as he instructed and stepping forward on to the cold, soft surface. The man in black came to stand directly in front of you, Miguel standing slightly off to the side, smiling encouragingly in your direction.

“After further review, I’ve decided to allow female students,” he spoke. You rolled your eyes and smiled sarcastically. Lucky me, you thought. He began speaking again, “but if you wanna be in Cobra Kai, you can’t act like a girl.”

You looked at him incredulously. Was he serious? looking at his deadpanned expression, you deduced he was as you crossed your arms defiantly and scoffed before replying, “And how do girls act, exactly?”

Johnny rolled his eyes himself, “Don’t give me that. You know, all emotional. Loud. Complain-y. Never letting you finish a sentence.”

Well it seems like someone was projecting, you thought squinting your eyes. But this misogynistic bullshit wasn’t anything new to you either. “Well I know a few guys who act just—”

“Quiet!” the sudden cry made you flinch in surprise as he cut you off. How ironic. The man began to pace back and forth in front of you. “My student tells me that the other day you kicked some asshole giving you a hard time,” he stated.

You thought for a moment. Previously, you had rejected the praise Miguel had given you for the incident. But now, hearing the way Karate Man put it, you couldn’t help but feel a little prideful.

“Yeah,” you said, raising your chin half an inch higher, “I guess I did.” You glimpsed over at Miguel who had his own look of pride on his face as he gave you a determined nod, smirking.

“Well here at Cobra Kai, that’s the kind of behavior we encourage,” he stopped in front of you.

“Here, you can learn not just how to send a message with a kick,” he swiftly brought up his fists into a fighting position, “…but with your fists.”

You glanced at his balled up hands, and then back in his eyes. He stared at you with determination, “So, you think you can handle it?”

You hesitated for a second, trying to decide if you really were ready for the commitment. Then, you glanced over at Miguel, who was smiling at you hopefully, encouragingly. You knew what your answer would be.

“Yeah, I am,” you smirked with determination. You looked back at the Sensei, who nodded his head in faint satisfaction and stepped back.

“Alright, let’s get to work,” he replied, and you felt a chill of excitement run down your spine. This was the start of something you wouldn’t regret. Maybe you’d even make some new friends along the way.

Or perhaps, something more…

[misguidedasgardian]

Wildcats (part VII)

VII. A time to break down.

MASTERLIST

Summary: You are to stay in Atlanta, with Daryl. 

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Zombie apocalypse AU, living dead, zombies, guts, blood, guns, injures, cannibalism, near death experience, you know what this is about. 

+18, MINORS DNI

Notes: I had to divide this chapter in two parts! it got a bit big mmmm hahaha, anyways, enjoy minutes of quality time with our favorite archer.

You made a tough decision, Carol was set to get back to the church, with Noah as a collateral, as you and Daryl were set to stay in Atlanta, and keep watch.

You were extremely nervous to be alone with him, you had been mean to him that morning during your funeral rites and honestly, he was still mean to you sometimes when you were out there.

The air was thick between the both of you as soon as you saw the car you found and fix drive away. You really should learn some mechanics, maybe Rosita could teach you, she was such a badass

“You comin?”, he asked, already done with you, from the glass gates of the building, you nodded and followed him quickly.

You had lost all the bravado you had gotten in your turf, this was unknown territory now. You were still kind of angry that they spoke shit about you yesterday. You felt kind of sad, actually, they didn’t say anything bad, but something you had heard a couple of times before… that you were not gonna make it out here, they probably wondered why you had been so far, but you had been, you did, you saved his ungrateful ass, didn’t that count for something?

You cleared a floor and stayed there, with clear sights to the hospital and to the streets your friends could be coming back in later that same day, or at least so hoped so. You wondered how Carol remembered how to go back, because you couldn’t possibly do it.

You set up some sort of vigilance post, you had a big gun, you couldn’t remember which one, and with it you could watch the hospital. The silence was uncomfortable between the two of you, although you felt as Daryl might be softer towards you, and you wondered -again-, if it was because of what happened this morning, with your friend? Did he pity you now? because somehow that was worse

You sneaked a peek of him, he seemed determined, a man on a mission, to find this girl, maybe she was his girlfriend or something

Why didn't that idea sit well with you? Why did you have a bitter taste in your mouth at that thought?

Why did you care? he seemed to despise you.

You sighed way too loudly and he seemed to notice, sneaking a peek at you too

A thought, quickly, say something! anything!

“I think we should just… buy Beth’s release”, you muttered

“Ya got any money?”, he asked mockingly

“No, I mean, if resources are why they are “charging” Beth and Noah with involuntary servitude, really, we should buy their release, with medicine and food”, you muttered. You felt his gaze on you.

“Nah”, he said, “we should go in, take em out one by one, take her back”

“You cannot possibly believe that is the best course of action”, you mocked back, now every plot to make conversation over and wanted to discuss his point of view.

“Beats talkin”, he muttered under his breath, you sighed, loudly, and he looked at you angrily, you felt his heated gaze on you

“If shots start flying they are just as likely to end in our group then theirs”, you said angrily

“Ya have to toughen’ up!”, he said, you looked at him and he seemed desperate for you to grasp into that simple truth… that perhaps today all what mattered was who had the bigger gun, and how good they were at shooting it

“Well, I’m just another dead girl, right?”, you asked back at him, he shook his head, truly crossed with you 

“It meant nothin”, he drawled, “what I said”, he muttered under his breath

“You are not the first person that thinks that about me, and you won’t be the last”, you whispered. It hurt a bit, hearing it from him.

“It's bullshit”, he said, “didn’t mean it”

“Then why would you say it?”, you pressed

“Jus’ wanted to get Carol off my back, alright?”, he said, frustrated 

“What are you, twelve?”, you mocked. ... you seemed pretty cozy with her last night… the new girl. He didn’t answer, he just mumbled something under his breath. 

An awkward silence formed between you, you didn’t want to leave it like this, anxiety taking a hold on you, but still, you didn’t say anything.

Daryl saw it, the anguished look on your face, and immediately thought you were thinking about this morning 

“Who was that guy?”, he asked softly. You immediately got that he was asking about Pope

“Him, me and three others escaped together when our shelter was overrun”, you said softly, “he was a part of the team”

“What happened?”, wasn’t he in a chatty mood?, unusual, you’d think

“one of them, our leader, was a Sergeant from the army, he trained us, kept us safe, he was the first one to go, sacrificed himself so we could make it, had a grenade, took a bunch of walkers with him”, you said with admiration. “He was badass, reminds me of Abraham a bit”

“Why’d you leave?”, he asked, looking back at him.

“There was one that wasn’t so nice”, you whispered. You felt his gaze on you, but you only looked ahead, beyond the windows, beyond the hospital

“Did he hurt ya?”, he asked. You shook your head

“Didn’t get to”, you said, “I left first”, you said simply. You looked through the scope of the rifle you had, but again, there was nothing to see. “Pope, the guy from yesterday, wouldn’t come with me, he was as scared as the next person and I couldn’t make any promises to where we were going, I didn't even know where I was going to spend the night out there”. You were talking more than you thought you’d be, but something loosened your tongue, you felt comfortable telling him. “So he stayed…”

“And where’s the other asshole?”, he asked

“Who knows”, you whispered, “but he cleaned up most of the armory, so I think he just got a better offer with another group”, you felt his gaze on you, and you started to get nervous, to kept trying to watch the hospital, but it wasn’t working, your pulse was worse because of how nervous you were 

“You can’t be trustin’ people”, he said, looking outside, “It's gonna get you killed”, he whispered

“So, under that premise, I shouldn’t trust you either”, you said, “or Rick, or Carol, or Michonne, or Carl…”

“No, not tha”, he said, “Ya can trust us”

“Well, I do”, you said lowly. 

“What I’m sayin is that you can’t go around trustin all of em”, he said, “ya are one of us now, par of the family”, you looked at him, he looked back at you, it was so contradictory, most of the time he asked like he didn’t want you here anyways. 

“It’s because I care about the lot of you that I don’t want anything to happen to you, and I will try to prevent it… prevent you from getting shot at, for example”, you explained, exasperated. You tried to keep watching, but your arms and hands were trembling so much. You were nervous, didn’t quite understand why. Was the grief? the nervousness of the closeness with Daryl? tiredness? lack of nutrients? bitterness from what Daryl had said? He kept treating you like you were a child. You didn’t know, you wanted to faint

“Ya shakin”, he said

“I know!”, you said back, lowering the weapon. “I’m just… tired”, you sighed loudly, “you know what? I’m gonna make a round through the floor, a sweep”, you said

“I’m comin with ya”, he said standing up

“That will defeat the purpose”, you said slowly, “besides we need to keep eyes on that hospital”, you said shakily

“Wanna get away from me?”, he asked, a bit offended. you passed him the assault rifle.

“My pulse sucks”, you said gently, “I won’t get myself killed, I promise”, you said with a shy smile, he seemed to analyze your face, but eventually he relented, nodded with a growl, taking the weapon from your hands, you grabbed your gun with a silencer from your holster and kept it unlocked, and adventures yourself out of the room and down the hall.

You didn’t want to get away from him, not really, it wasn’t personal, you just needed to breathe a bit loosely, you felt like your ribs were crushing your lungs. 

it was too much

Pope was dead, you were the one to end him -completely-, and you were stressed, you didn’t want to be back in Atlanta, you feel like all the things you have done in all these months don’t matter anymore, all that you had advanced was worth nothing. Back to square one. You watched everyroom, there were no walkers. You peeked behind every door, every dorner of the floor, you didn’t want to go lower or higher, you didn’t want to risk it. 

You were on the last floor, you’d realize, and when you got to a small room that was next to the elevator, and to your amazement, there, untouched… stood a vending machine. You gazed upon what might as well be the last candybars in the world and your mouth watered at the sight, so you walked straight at it

Oh if only you had seen the water damage from the roof… dampened and ruining the floor in front of it

It collapsed as soon as you stepped on it. The last thing you remember is losing your footing, the floor collapsing under your weight… the next? incredible pain as you landed haphazardly on the floor on the next level. You tried to stand, but a shot of pain rushed through you… fortunately, only one story down. You didn’t know how long you had been laying there on top of cheap construction materials (luckily), but as you came back to your senses, four walkers were reaching for you from the door to the next office. 

“Damn it!”, you screamed, trying to grab your ax, you no longer had the gun in your hand.

You tried to stand but your legs failed you, the adrenalin still wouldn’t let you do a realistic asset of the damages to your body yet. You stumbled back when you tripped over a thin broken beam and you lost footing. The first walker fell on top of you, putrid smell and one dead eye looking down at you, jaws snapping. You didn’t have the momentum to stab him with your ax, but you did use your knife, and he was killed in an instant, the problem was that the second one fell on top of it, and you consequently. 

The wind got knocked out of you, your arms trapped underneath the first one, and just when it was about to bite you, a bolt broke into his skull, almost getting you.

“Damn it!”, you hear Daryl curse from above. He jumped, he actually jumped to your rescue, You got out of your two-body imprisonment, and you actually managed to stand and help Daryl slay the last one, after he majestically ended the third. And then it was all done, you stayed back from the door when they had entered, but no more came. When he made sure of that, he turned to you with so much anger you actually took a step back

“What is wrong with ya?”, he snapped, “you almost got killed!”

“I’m sorry!”, you said quickly, the adrenaline abandoning you, a shot of pain rushed through your leg, and you whimpered, “I got excited and didn’t see”

“This is what I mean!”, he said, he was really angry, you had never seen him like this… in the week you had met him. “I really keep wonderin’…”

“I know, you’ve said it!”, you said, more loudly than you wanted it. this time, your eyes filled with tears, “you keep wondering how I’m still alive”, you said angrily, couldn’t look at him. “You know if you hate me so much, if you consider me this much of a burden you should have let that walker get me, or the other day! or you should have left me in Terminus”

“Is that what ya think?”, he asked, he walked towards you, squealing up to you, in his eyes so much frustration that it was insane

“Why do you though? hate me so much?”, you asked him, finally looking at him. “I have done nothing but try and be as helpful as I can, and I really don’t want to throw this on your face, but I did save your ass from those guys when we met”

“I don’t hate ya! That ain’t why im so angry at ya”

“Then why? Why do I frustrate you so much?”, you asked/yelled at him

“Ya don’t get it”, he said angrily, turning from you

“Enlighten me then”, you said back, he wanted to say something, an angry something, turning back again to face you. He looked down on you, at your very eyes. You looked back at him, prepared to hear something hurtful, but he didn’t… he got calmed, he took a deep breath, and rubbed his face with his big hands. You both took a moment to catch your breath, you started to feel the hit on your side, on your leg, but nothing was broken, or at least you hoped so. He wasn’t going to budge, so you just took a long breath

“Thank you”, you said shakily, “I swear I have never been this careless, I guess I’m getting used to people having my back”, you said shyly

“Ya should”, he said. “You do now”

“I’m sorry”, you said again, echoing your words, “I swear… I…. thank you”, you whispered again. 

It was sinking down on you, just now, the weight of being in a group, all of it, the good and the bad. The losses and the gains, the need to be better for them, to not be a burden, for not having to be saved just like now, Daryl had jumped down a whole floor to save your useless ass, and you kept pestering him. Of meeting incredible people that might die, that may come back to haunt you that you might have to put down

You wiped the tear angrily before it left your eyes, as you looked at the dropped walkers on the floor, you thought you had never been this close before… of dying. You looked at Daryl, who still couldn’t believe what just happened, and you just took two long steps and hugged him tightly. To your surprise, he hugged you back almost immediately, rubbing your back

“I’m sorry!”, you cried, “I’ll do better! don’t hate me”, you whispered the last bit, you didn’t want him to hold ill will towards you.

. . .

Daryl watched you intently as you devoured the Snickers bars, the peanuts in it were hard and chewy, -odd combo but it was true-, and the caramel dangerously mellow, but it tasted like the best candy bar you had ever had. You catch the archer staring at you, with an amused glance on his eyes

“It was totally worth it”, you said with a mouth full

“I bet”, he said, amused. Your ass hurts, and you peeked and you had a horrible bruise on your thigh, but it could have been worse, much much worse, so you were truly thankful

“I don’t want you to hate me”, you whispered, looking at him, feeling extremely guilty

“I don’t”, he assured you, “you just frustrate me”, he admitted, he kept watching the hospital. 

“Well good to know”, you said with a chuckle, you felt your body lax, after the fall, you felt like you could faint, suddenly extremely tired

You wanted to do something nice for him, so you lit a small fire inside one of the drawers in a  filing cabinet, and managed to warm up a can of noodles, which he ate, so you felt happy that you could “provide” for him in return, at least once.

“You sure you're ok?”, he asked, as he ate the noodles, you nodded

“Yeah, only my ass hurts a bit, and my lack of dignity, the rest it's fine”, you said lightly, he chuckled

“If ya wanna, take a lil’ nap”, he offered, you just nodded, gratefully

“I think I will take you up on that offer”, you said softly. You cuddled right next to him, who was sitting by the window, and you cuddled on the floor, wanting to relax your beaten body, and you slept a couple of hours, fully knowing, someone’s got your back.

post chapter notes: the "extra" chapter still isn't done hehe but in this one you found more details about reader's past

taglist 🤍 @crazyunsexycool

[invisibleperiwinkle]

i haven’t seen may people talk about this but it’s one of my main gripes with the percy jackson show so here we go.

annabeths character is so poorly written.

and before we begin, leah is an AMAZING actress and i’m PUMPED for her and black girls everywhere who can see themselves represented in such a badass character.

that being said, the folks in the writers room are FAILING annabeth. her character in the show is incredibly one dimensional, and again it’s not at the fault of the actress, the writers simply aren’t writing the character well. which breaks my heart for two reasons

1) there’s representation for a strong independent black character but if you take away all the things that makes annabeth such a cool and interesting character it feels so tacked on and not cared for. if you want to have representation do the character justice so the moment is important. not just lack luster and anti climactic

2) the writer of the books is writing the show. and rick has forgotten his own characters. which isn’t new information but it never stops pissing me off.

annabeth is a character i see myself in a lot, so having her not be written well for the show is so upsetting. the fact being she isn’t a hard character to write. she’s smart (of course), calculated, but also very reserved. these are the parts of her we see, but even then not much of it.

the moments i feel took so much character development away from her were

a) not having the spiders in the tunnel o’ love

b) not having her play fetch with cerberus

c) the zoo truck scene not being focused on percy and annabeth getting to know each others backstories and more making it “oooo guys did you know they fall in love with each other in four books?!?!?!??”

d) the aunty em scene being changed and not getting to see annabeth just be a kid for five minutes and want to eat burgers and fries

e) annabeth not being giddy over the gateway arch/not playing the architecture game in the lotus hotel

f) ZERO trace of her crush on luke

annabeth is a very closed off character but those moments in particular showcase her being more human and also the trust she has in percy to let him see that side of her.

A) while yes, we do get to see annabeth scared in the tunnel o’ love scene thinking she’s going to lose percy, there’s a difference in the fear of thinking you lost your best friend vs seeing something you’re genuinely scared of.

the mechanical spiders are so huge to annabeths development because she lets percy see her scared and not just this strong wall of calculations she’s been portrayed as this whole time.

it makes her seem more human. we remember she’s still just a 12 year old girl who’s spent most of her development years at camp because she didn’t have anyone

B) this scene in the books is hands down one of my favorites. annabeth plays fetch with this dog and teaches him tricks and then she cries

we get a wonderful exchange of percy saying that everyone needs a little love and attention sometimes which is something annabeth never got

also she cries!! AND AND AND!!! we get more backstory, that she had a doberman before she ran away

i guarantee, and in fact we KNOW annabeth doesn’t like reminiscing on her past at home. but she did here. even for a second. we see her breaking down her walls yet again. slowly but surely.

also i want to showcase the significance of her crying, i’m gonna infer here from how i am as a person, but i hate crying in front of people to the point that i simply can’t. and i’ve only cried in front of like four people? two over a facetime call, and twice in person (my parents). and they are all people i trust with my life, i don’t cry to people often. so if i do cry in front of you it is a HUGE sign of trust for me. and i feel like from all i know about annabeth, she is the exact same way. crying in front of someone is a huge sign of trust. so there lol.

C) again, with reminiscing on her home life, we get the zoo truck

the show is WAYYY overdoing percabeth. and for someone who that’s their favorite ship of all time to say that, you know it’s an issue. i said it. there’s too much percabeth. specifically, coupley percabeth. THEY ARE STILL TWELVE.

and the zoo truck scene in the show was changed from percy and annabeth getting to know the more personal and intricate “this is what i hide from the world that whittles away my soul, but here i trust you, we’re friends. you deserve to hear this” side of each other, to “when did you two become an old married couple”

excuse me while i roll my eyes into next century.

taking away them getting to know each other pissed me off so much. because again. we don’t get to see annabeth be vulnerable and human.

percy existing and breaking down her walls is HUGE to her character development throughout the books and they are just taking it away from her

D) these last three are all gonna be shorter because it’s all more or less the same point, it all showcases how annabeth is still just a kid at heart

this is the first time we see annabeth not care about the next step or if there’s something else going on. when they’re at the garden gnome emporium and auntie em offers them food annabeth jumps at the chance to just hang out and eat food

she is still a kid. the show provides none of this. the show doesn’t make annabeth seem like a kid at all. just a very calculated human trapped in the body of a preteen.

E) annabeths whole schtick for the entire series is her loving architecture and it being that one thing (in the first book) that brings out that sense of childlike wonder and whimsy in her

in the book she gets all giddy about the arch and makes them pause the quest so she can go to the top of it. also talking about how it’s held up by math and having her sparkle and wonder and awe that comes when talking about your passion.

do we see this in the show? no. why would we!

also the architecture game is just cute. of course the one game she’d gravitate towards is about building things. LIKE CMON NOW. ugh

let my girl be a kid and have whimsy. PLEASE.

F) now i HATE luke but this is a character thing for annabeth. seeing her have a crush on luke cause ofc she would. he’s the one guy to show her any love and care and he’s handsome i suppose.

she’s still just a girl. so naturally she would have a crush on him. and it’s something that again just makes her a human.

and there isn’t enough of that.

annabeth is a really special character to me and to see her be failed by the writers is heartbreaking. especially when you have an amazing of an actress as leah playing her. you cannot sit there and write an underdeveloped version of one of the best female protagonists of modern YA literature. be serious with me for a sec

to quickly state my point. annabeth isn’t a difficult character to write, the writers just don’t seem to want to put in the time of reserching and developing already developed characters. literally ALL you have to do is go back and read and comprehend the books. THATS IT.

annabeth is a smart, independent, calculated character. but that’s not THE ONLY SIDE OF HER. as the show would have you believe. she has emotions and she is human, behind her walls she’s just a twelve year old girl figuring out life and wanting to be loved and appreciated and taken seriously like all of us do. and it’s killing me that they aren’t doing justice to her character, especially when because of the show, she gets to be a role model for black girls everywhere. they deserve better than that.

rick, i’m asking you kindly, just give me the pen and let me in that writers room so annabeth can be done right. 🩷

[sashaisready]

Chapter Two - No big deal

Bucky Barnes Mob AU x Femme Reader

You're hard at work in Pepper's Bakery when notorious mob boss James 'Bucky' Barnes darkens your doorway one typical afternoon, and life is never the same again.

Series Masterlist

Chapter Three Warnings: References to being followed without consent/stalking

Later as you lock up and walk home, you couldn't help but replay the events of the day in your head once more.

Wanda had loudly squealed once they'd gone, not only was terrifying mob boss James 'Bucky' Barnes in your bakery but you had stood up to him! Told him off, even!! And he'd TIPPED you a hundred dollar bill for it. What a badass! She'd jumped on the phone to her boyfriend Vis to recount (and maybe embellish) the entire shocking tale.

But you didn't feel like a badass. You felt scared, surprised by your boldness. What were you thinking?? Talking to a mob boss like that? You always got carried away when people riled you up, your big mouth getting you in trouble. It had been a problem your whole life, starting from when you'd stand up to bullies twice your size in the playground as a kid, often getting knocked on your ass in the process.

You'd held the money up to the light thinking it was a forgery, but Wanda reminded you that Barnes wasn't living on the breadline. Rumour has it he lived in a fancy townhouse with gates so high you couldn't see over them. He must be worth millions.

You insisted on splitting the money with Wanda but she had point blank refused, demanding that you keep every penny as you earned it by sticking up for her. You'd begrudgingly agreed after she eventually wore you down, but made a mental note to use at least part of it to buy a gift for her.

The money burned a hole in your pocket as you walked home. It felt like dirty money, as if accepting it had somehow welcomed Barnes and his world into the bakery. Yes he'd spent money on baked goods too, but it wasn't the same thing as a cash tip. Hush money essentially, after one of his goons had hassled your staff.

You didn't particularly want mobsters in the bakery, either. You hoped they weren't going to make a habit of it. You didn't want them scaring the other customers, or making veiled threats like his little protection gag. This was the first time you had ever hoped a customer didn't like your baking...

But still. It was definitely a bit excitement for a Tuesday afternoon wasn't it?

It was.

And there was something about Mr. Barnes.

You'd felt a thrill rip through you as you stared him down, going toe to toe with him. You'd never admit it to Wanda, Hell you could barely admit it to yourself...but when he'd glared at you there had been a tingle between your thighs, in spite of your fear.

You sighed deeply, shaking that train of thought off as you began to walk faster.

And there, across the street but unseen by you, a black SUV slowly crawled in your direction.

**

Bucky was pleasantly surprised by how good the cakes were at Pepper's Bakery, sneaking the last chunk of blondie into his mouth as he absent-mindedly glanced over some paperwork.

His attention was captivated by the spirited Baker who had stood up to him earlier. He'd thought you were cute when he'd walked in, dressed in overalls with a tiny smudge of flour on your chin. You'd smiled at them warmly when they'd arrived, treating them all sweetly rather than quivering in fear like so many others do. He liked your smile, he was drawn to the sparkle in your eyes. You weren't his 'usual type' by any means, but he was interested in you all the same.

He couldn't resist teasing you, his childish go-to when it came to women he was attracted to. He didn't like to appear vulnerable even for a moment in any scenario - and that included flirting with girls if there was a chance they could reject him. So he stuck with teasing and baiting, the perfect way to have a bit of fun without showing his hand. He only allowed himself to flirt properly when the girl was already eating out of the palm of his hand. Besides, he always enjoyed a bit of back and forth. Getting women riled up and angry at him. It was a type of foreplay for him.

But you held your own, not entertaining the idea of him getting the upper hand in any way. You gave as good as you got it, shutting him down, and that had impressed him.

He was only teasing you about protection. He wouldn't do that. Besides, he was courting Stark as a potential partner and he didn't need a business degree to know that threatening Stark's wife's employees was likely to put a dampener on their deal.

And then you'd told off Thor, standing up for your colleague like a proud mama bear. You weren't frightened of any of them.

At first he thought you didn't know who he was. Maybe that's why you weren't afraid to speak up. But you did. You knew full well. But you didn't care who he was, you had no patience for Thor's antics and made that very clear.

You had told him you expected respect in your establishment, and that you had only been respectful to them. You were right, that was reasonable. It was your turf. You had been good to them. Bucky understood the importance of respect. Thor needed to be reined in, often running his mouth with women at the worst possible times. Bucky had even intervened before. He was impressed that someone else had stepped in. That you had stepped in.

He'd arranged a few of his men to keep an eye on you. Nothing sinister. Just see what your routine looked like. Learn a bit more about you. He already knew your full name of course. Your age. Your address. He had told Steve to get all that the moment they'd left the bakery. It's no big deal. He just likes to know as much as he can about the people he deals with. He's an important man after all, he can't be caught off guard.