#otp: see you on the other side of the front

[dixonsdarkelf]

jydia (josh & lydia aka vec & scud) core

“Hey, Vee. Check it out.”

At the mention of her nickname, Vec turned from her place in the kitchen, her gaze falling to her new partner resting back on the couch. He was twirling something between his fingers, tossing it in the air once and catching it before continuing his tricks.

She watched him for a moment, arms folded over her chest and a crook in her brow. “What am I looking at?”

“I got a new pen that can write under water,” Scud explained, as if the answer was obvious.

Her eye caught one of the pictures on the wall, the frame slightly askew. She rested the knife in her hand on the side of the skin and stepped around the kitchen island. “Huh. That’s cool,” she replied matter-of-factly. “I didn’t know such a thing existed.”

The smirk tugging at his lips was criminal. “It can write other words too.”

When the realization—that the whole thing was yet another dad joke—hit her, she rolled her eyes and huffed, stopping in her tracks in front of him. She loved word play as much as the next person, but if she had a dollar for every dad joke he’d cracked since their relationship began a few weeks ago, she could’ve pay off her medical school debt. He could admit it may have been excessive, but he lived for her reactions. Lived to see that playful eye roll and hear that infectious laugh.

“You’re such a goof,” she teased, the sound a mixture between a groan and a chuckle.

“And yet here you are,” he mused. He watched as she towered over him, her long black hair brushing his forehead. Fighting the urge to pull her into his lap was becoming harder by the second.

“Of course I’m here,” she chided, rolling her eyes again and leaning over him, reaching to adjust the photo on the wall. “This is my house.”

He gently caressed the sides of her thighs, grazing the hem of her skirt as he looked up at her with a glimmer in his eye. His resolve was quickly beginning to crumble. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

Main masterlist Quarters Of The Undead (QOTU) Masterlist AO3 link Her Spotify playlist

I've recently figured out how to make moodboards and now I can't be stopped lmao. Naturally, I had to make one for my OTP featuring a little snippet from an upcoming QOTU chapter. Here's a moodboard I recently made for Vec, and here's one @dixons-sunshine made for Georgie. You can learn more about Vec here, and if you wanna follow her Tumblr, here's her blog. Jydia is everything to me, and I am eternally grateful for the creation of this AU.

[shawtuzi]

Hey girlie it’s me again with sum thoughts on my mind 🌷🙂‍↔️

Hear me outtttt eren otp with his gc (armin, jean, Connie, ony etc) y/n is upset he’s not giving her any attention so she gives him the sloppiest, toe curling, soul sucking head ever, all while he’s otp trying to stop his moans and his eyes from rolling back 🫦✌🏽

my honey it’s so good to see you again and i loooove the way you think!! let’s get into it

cw include: mentions of smoking, just very detailed head, eren gets super whiny, overstimulation, not proofread sawry

“if y’all magically turned into a woman and took up stripping as a profession, what would your stage name be?”

“ . . . ”

“connie, the fuck are you goin’ on about?” eren chuckled, his tongue poking out to swipe over his lips. his brows furrowed in concentration as he finished pearling an abnormally fat blunt.

“i think id go by ‘cinnamon’ . . . s’got a nice ring to it yeah?”

“seems pretty basic, i’d go by ‘scarlet’. it’s all sexy and mysterious you know?” eren could hear jean’s voice in the other line, responding to connie. eren’s nose scrunched in a laugh, his hand blindly reaching beside him to grab a lighter.

his eyes flicked over to your bored ones when he felt the warmth of your hand against his, the lighter dangling loosing between your fingers. he raised a thick brow at you, “you good?” you puffed air through your cheeks, your arms crossing over your chest, “m’bored ren.”

“you’re always bored, baby. you wanna hit this?” he chuckled, holding the blunt in front of your face. you nodded without saying a word, deciding to turn your attention to your nintendo switch. you laid on your tummy, your feet swinging in the air as you angrily switched on animal crossing.

“brat.”

“what’d you say?”

“nothing, angel face,” eren grinned, placing the blunt between his lips. soon the bitter smell of whatever strain eren was smoking hit your nostrils. “come closer, you’re too far away,” eren mumbled, his finger poking gently against your shoulder. you side eyed him, kissing your teeth before scooting closer until your side was pressed against eren’s.

“ren, you ain’t answer the question! what would your name be?” you heard connie say, making you roll your eyes. men are so weird.

eren took a big hit of the blunt, his hand moving down to hold it in front of your lips. “mannn, i don’t know, maybe ‘emerald’ because of my eyes? this question is fuckin’ stupid.” you rolled your eyes once more, taking a small hit of the blunt.

“hit that shit harder, i know you’re mad but this is good shit and you’ll be even more mad if you missed out on a good high,” eren spoke lowly, bringing the blunt closer to your lips. fuck, he’s right.

you wrapped your lips around the end, your eyes never once leaving his. “hurry up n’ get off the phone, rennie,” you grumbled, blowing the yellow tinted smoke in his face. eren nodded, plucking the blunt from your fingers. he muttered something about getting off soon, but you knew that meant at least another fifteen minutes.

and you were right.

fifteen minutes turned into thirty, and by the time it was reaching forty minutes you were spiraling. i mean, how dare he look so good in only a wife beater and nike shorts??

“rennn—mmph!” you were cut off by eren squishing your cheeks together, his lips smushing to yours. before you could even begin to enjoy the kiss eren pulled away. “just a minute, baby. it’s been forever since we been on group call. i’ll be all yours in a few,” he whispered, giving your lips three more pecks before settling in his original spot.

your clit throbbed, your panties now feeling extra sticky against your pussy. such a simple kiss had you ready to spread your legs for him, it was ridiculous!

you sighed, nuzzling into his side. your eyes fluttered shut when you felt the tips of his fingers trace your jaw and the apples of your cheeks. “you’re beautiful,” eren whispered into the crown of your head, his hand cupping your jaw softly. you practically purred like a kitten, nuzzling your face into his touch.

you didn’t even get to respond before ony piped up, taking eren’s attention away from you once again.

“y’know, ren, i won’t have any clients until, like, five on saturday if you wanna come by. i know you been talking about adding to your sleeve.”

eren examined his forearm, as did you. goosebumps rose on the inked skin as you slowly traced your nails around it. “yeah . . . yeah, i might come by. if i do, i know exactly what i want.”

“what we talked about last time?”

eren’s glanced at you, his lips lifting into a lazy smirk. “yeah, what we talked about last time. don’t say nun about it though, it’s a surprise.” that caught your attention. you lifted your head from its comfy place in his side, “what is it?” eren gently nudged your head back into his side, his hand coming up to pat softly on your head. “you’ll see, baby.”

eren babbled on with his friends for ten more minutes, and as the minutes passed your patience grew thinner and thinner. at thissss point there was only one solution!

eren grunted in discontent when you got up, but his expression switched to amusement when you settled between his thighs, your arms folded neatly on his pelvis. you propped your chin on your arms, your doe eyes locking with his.

shit, he could feel your boobs on his dick. they felt soft, like really soft, even through the fabric of your his shirt and his shorts.

“ren! perk up your ears, connie keeps saying your name and it’s giving me a migraine.”

eren blinked hard, his eyes slowly drifting to the phone in his hands. oh, so that’s the game you were playing.

‘so spoiled,’ he thought to himself as he glared into your scarily fake innocent eyes. well this time he wasn’t going to give you that satisfaction.

“yeah m’here,” eren muttered, muting himself seconds after. he looked into your eyes, then your lips, and back into your eyes. “i know what you’re doing, and i’m not giving into it. do your worst, you won’t hear a peep outta me,” and with that eren unmuted himself, his pretty emerald eyes rolling in annoyance when he was scolded for not paying attention.

you couldn’t help but giggle into your arms, your feet kicking against the bed. you couldn’t believe that eren yeager, yes this eren yeager was telling you confidently that you wouldn’t get a reaction from him. the same eren yeager who, every time you give him head, begs oh so sweetly to cum in your mouth, pretty pink lips parted and chest heaving like he just ran a marathon. he couldn’t be serious.

‘whatever,’ you mouthed at him, your attention now focused on his lower half. you could feel him twitching between your breasts, already half hard. you pushed up his tank top, immediately pressing wet kisses all along the exposed skin. you sloppily kissed your way down his lower stomach until your lips brushed against the soft material of his shorts.

your eyes drifted to his, come to find out he was already looking at you. his expression looked bored, but his eyes said a different story. he curtly nodded his head, encouraging you to continue. you grinned, softly tugging on the waistband of his shorts. eren lifted his hips, he smirked when you pulled his shorts down, your face in a state of slight shock when you realized he was wearing just the shorts.

like you predicted, he was already more than half hard, his, soon to be leaking, tip a pretty shade of pink. you pressed soft kisses to the tan base, your tongue peeking out to sweep over his tip.

eren raised his eyebrows when you grabbed his hand. you tapped on his two fingers, silently telling him to stick them out. eren maneuvered his fingers into the form of a gun, his teeth peeking out in a grin when he realized what you were doing.

“earth to dickhead, someone’s talking to you!”

“yeah, yeah . . . i’m listenin’.”

you parted your lips, gently placing the digits on your tongue. you took your time sucking on his fingers, wetting up your mouth until the feeling of cottonmouth was gone.

eren’s abs clenched when you finally put your mouth on him again, your tongue feeling much wetter now. by now pre was started to dribble from the tip of his dick, and you were more than eager to lick it up. your soft lips wrapped around the tip, your hot tongue slowly circling around it. you did this for a few minutes before you heard a huff from above you.

you looked up through your lashes, to find eren frowning, his lips nearly pushed into a pout.

“you’re doing a terrible job of pretending to not care,” you giggled, your eyes never once leaving his as you tapped his cock against your tongue.

eren just shook his head, proceeding with his conversation on the phone. to keep from touching you he balled the sheets in his fist, the soft fabric straining against his hand whenever he squeezed at it to fight the urge away.

he blinked slowly when you finally took more of his cock into your mouth. fuck, he already wanted to get off the phone. he was losing terribly. he needed to lock in, quickly!

“eren, i’m tired of looking at your ceiling. put your damn face back in the camera!”

eren sighed when he heard connie’s agitating, grating voice lmao, but nonetheless put his face back in the frame of the camera. “why would i wanna be stuck lookin’ at y’all’s ugly mugs when i could be looking at anything else?” eren smirked, running a hand through his hair.

you couldn’t help but watch in awe as eren talked, and acted so nonchalantly while his now fully hard dick was halfway in your mouth. every now and again his stomach would clench and then unclench, but other than that he gave nothing away.

eren ‘accidentally’ lifted his hips up, slipping more of his dick into your mouth until the tip touched your throat. your eyes squeezed shut, throat tightening as you fought back a gag. you removed his cock from your mouth with a pop!

you chest heaved, drool dripping from your lips and onto his thighs. if you wanted a reaction out of eren this was unfortunately gonna have to get messy.

you eased his cock back into your mouth, lowering your head until you physically couldn’t take anymore. you felt eren’s thighs tense, his legs no so subtly shifting beneath you. your jaw relaxed, head lowering until your nose nudged against the hairs at the base of him. eren’s breath hitched, his jaw dropping the tiniest bit.

everything was muffled, the voices of his friends nothing but hums in the background of what really mattered in the moment.

“ren, where’s y/n? i gotta ask her something,” armins voice rang, breaking eren out of his trance.

without even thinking eren answered, “she’s asleep. got so bored she dozed—ack!”

eren’s phone nearly dropped out of his hands when your tongue pressed against the two, thick veins on the underside. you peered at him through your watery lashes, spit dribbling from other side of your mouth. you hollowed your cheeks, trying your absolute best to keep the noises at a minimum—it wouldn’t be very fun if the guys caught on so soon.

“the fuck was that?”

“nothing, nothing. i just got a cramp in my leg s’all.” now eren wasn’t entirely sure they believed him, but in all honesty, he really didn’t give a shit.

you cupped eren’s balls, tenderly squeezing them until he was squirming beneath you. he abruptly stopped his movements, taking a deep exhale before trying to engage in conversation with his friends once more. he couldn’t let you win, he was in too deep in whatever this little competition was now. besides the squirming, he has yet to make a sound, so in his humble ass opinion he was doing pretty well.

well, he was until you started bobbing your head and stroking him at the same time—his ultimate weakness. you let out a little squeak of surprise when eren’s leg twitched, and then moved off the bed completely, now dangling off the side.

“eren . . . you look rough as fuck and it’s making me nervous. you better not be—”

“i’m not d-doin’ anything constance, i have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“then why’re you sweating like a fuckin’ dog?”

eren was in pure disbelief to feel little dots of sweat against his forehead, his hands were also clammy as hell. “it’s hot in here. now continue with your dumbass story,” with a shaky thumb, clicked the mute button on his phone. his arm fell against the bed with a dull thud, head tipping back dramatically as he belted out a longggg, drawn out moan.

“you—you fuckin’ bitch. what the fuck,” he grit out, tatted hand gripping onto your hair with force. you moaned at the sting from your scalp, the feeling of victory washing over you. “you’re so—haaah, s-so annoying and unfair, but this fucking throat,” he thrusted wildly into your mouth, pretty green eyes rolling into the back of his head.

he looked so pretty, you loved when he got lost in pleasure like this. you were now using both hands to stroke his cock, the obscene, downright nasty sounds of you choking on his cock echoing throughout the room.

eren nearly whined when you removed your mouth, luckily your hands were still working his cock. “hang up. now.” eren had never moved quicker, grabbing his phone so quickly he nearly tossed it. he unmuted his mic,

“i gotta go, bye.”

“you’re lame as fuck eren. if you hang up don’t bother hitting us up onna game later.”

you couldn’t believe your eyes when eren actually started debating his decisions. oh absolutely not!

your lips wrapped around his dick once more, your cheeks hollowing as you sucked him off like the poor boy was a juice box. all the babbling and name calling coming his phone came to a halt, no one saying a word. eren’s head tilted back, adams apple bobbing. “i—hah, really gotta go.”

“y/n was never asleep was she.”

“no i wasn’t, gimme the damn phone,” your voice was a bit raspy, but you needed to be heard! you snatched the phone from eren’s hand, his entire arm going limp seconds afterwards. his dick twitched pathetically against his stomach, a tiny stream of pre leaking from the angry red tip.

you put your face in the frame, trying to look as serious as you could in front of the four men. “he will get back to you guys later, and you better include him in whatever stupid game you’re playing!” and with that the call finally fucking ended.

when you looked back at eren he was stroking his cock, his free hand beckoning you over to finish what you started. you settled between his legs, giggling when he made his dick jump out at you. “i hate when you do that,” you grinned, grabbing the throbbing muscle gently. you could feel saliva pooling on your tongue watching dribbles of pre leak from his tip when you squeezed it.

eren covered his face with his hands, a shiver crawling up his back. “suck it. please suck it, baby,” he panted, tatted hands slowly sliding down his face so he could watch you. his entire body felt as if it were on fire, his wife beater sticking the tiniest bit to his sweaty chest.

“ngh. yes, y-yeah just like that. just like that, just like that,” eren sounded like a broken record, completely fucked out from just your mouth. you hummed around his cock, lowering your head all the way down, your tongue peeked out to swipe over his balls and that’s what had eren’s hips jerking.

eren planted the one foot that hanging off the bed into the floor, one of his hands grabbed your hair and the other found purchase on the back of your neck—he was now in control.

he made you go slow at first, lowering your head all the way down to hear you choke before pulling you back up to the tip, your puffy lips tightening around it each time. “nasty lil thing you are,” he grunted, lifting his hips up to start a steady rhythm of thrusts. “you hear that, pretty?”

gluck ! gluck ! gluck !

“mm, love hearing you choke on my shit, especially when you’re just. beggin’. for. it.” the last four words were accompanied by four harsh thrusts. tears sprung from your eyes, dripping down your chin and onto the mess you had created around eren’s cock. you did your best to hum in agreement, because truly you were dying for it.

eren yanked your head up, your lips parted in a violent gasp, webs of spit sticking to them. you knew eren was close, and was no mood to be edged, so you began to stroke his cock, your thumb paying extra attention to his leaking tip.

“i’m about to give you m-my nut, you gonna take it baby? all down your throat?” he was borderline begging for it. you nodded eagerly and stuck out your tongue. eren groaned and pushed your head back down, his head falling against the headboard in pure ecstasy.

you felt his cock twitch violently and closed your eyes, your jaw relaxing as you swallowed each thick rope he had to offer you. you heard him mutter a few curses in german before groaning loudly. his thighs tensed as you milked him orgasm, and because it was so powerful he couldn’t help the fat, salty tears that brimmed at his lash line.

“okay . . . o-okay you can s-stop now. i need a minu—w-wait! w-wait, baby!” eren tried to push your head away, but alas, his limbs felt like jello. he propped himself up on shaky elbows, jaw dropped nearly to floor. when you deep throated him he felt as if all the air had been punched from his lungs, his head tilting back in . . . pleasure? agony? he wasn’t sure anymore.

you heard him mumble something once more in german, this time you were intrigued to know. without removing your mouth, you hummed, your bloods shot eyes looking right him. this time he said it louder followed by, “it means ‘you feel sooo fuckin’ good’.”

[too-deviant]

jackie and wilson.

previous | next masterlist.

pairing: luke castellan x unclaimed!reader

summary: you haven't been given a quest, but you have made it your personal mission to make luke castellan smile

word count: 6.2k

content: very juicy chapter. is all im gonnna say.

notes: i cant stay mad at my otps i fear

PART IV — better yet, she wouldn’t care 

“If I have to hear one more handjob joke, I’m gonna lose it. So please tell me you have good news.” 

Lee Fletcher’s dark blue eyes flitted up to yours, his lashes tickling just under his eyebrow when he did. His hands were fiddling with the bandage that wrapped around your hand, but they slowed when you spoke, “Bare with me, newbie.”

You sighed deeply, fighting the urge to fall back onto the cot that you were sitting on — you’d had the stupid bandage wrapped around your hand and wrist for what felt like eternity, but was really only five days. You should be thankful, really, since the last time you’d broken your wrist you’d been walking around with a thick blue cast on for a month, but you couldn’t help but be a little peeved. Capture the flag was today, and you hadn’t trained nearly as much as the others had due to your injury — when you probably should’ve been training twice as much, only because you were new and unfamiliar with the game. 

It was their fault for hyping it up; if they had just shut up about it, you wouldn’t have been as excited about taking part, broken wrist or not. But alas, demigods were barbarians — barbarians who thirsted to beat each other up in a controlled battle. Barbarians who didn’t have any regard for the new camper when they were climbing all over each other to see the freshly posted team setup, and trampled all over their perfectly good wrist. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t have been standing right in front of the notice board.” Luke had been saying all week. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t have asked me to accompany you there, then.” You replied every time. 

Lee narrowed his gaze, flipping your hand around carefully in his, kneading at curtain parts of your skin while checking you for reactions. When you showcased nothing but annoyance at your own shit luck, he leaned back with a cheeky smile, “Well, it’s looking good. I don’t think you need this anymore.” 

He lifted up the knot of bandage he’d removed from your hand and threw it with perfect precision into the trash can on the other side of the room, before turning and grinning at you. You couldn’t help but grin back, “You’re the best.” 

“I’m told.” He shrugged, feigning a humble demeanour. You stood, and he did so with you, looking at you pointedly, “But you should still take it easy today. It’s your first game, and you’ve been here for a week. Nobody is gonna judge you for stepping back today.” 

You scoffed, rolling your newly healed wrist around with a small smile, “I’m not stepping back for shit, Fletcher. I’m beating the hell out of Chris Rodriguez.”

“He’s on your team.” 

“I don’t care.” You rebutted. Lee rolled his eyes, but ultimately let you off with a wave. “See you later!” 

The past five days had been fairly tame. When the team setup was posted on Sunday afternoon, everyone went immediately into prep mode for the game. You knew they took it seriously, but you didn’t realise how seriously they did until you found yourself being pulled out of your sleeping bag at five in the morning so you could get a headstart on training with Luke. Although you didn’t see the relevance — after you’d broken your wrist, the boy hadn’t even let you look at a spear, so you woke up at the asscrack of dawn to…sit around and watch him train. 

Thankfully, Hermes had paired up with Ares for once, and Clarisse wasn’t letting you off easily. Whenever she could, she was dragging you to the arena and teaching you how to fight one-handed. So you were more than ready, skipping down the infirmary steps with an easy smile. 

“I think I see you here more than I see you anywhere else.” 

You paused, looking up and spotting Evan, leaning gently on the porch railing. You rounded the steps and stopped in front of him, “Hey. I’ve only been here twice.”

“In…” He checked his imaginary watch, “One week. That’s gotta be a record.”

You narrowed your eyes jokingly, “Okay. I’m still learning, leave me alone.” 

“We’ll see how much you’ve learnt later today.” He quipped, running a hand through his hair. He smirked at you, “Good luck.” 

“Thanks.” You slid out, sarcasm evident in your tone. He laughed, and you smiled, rolling your eyes. 

“Come on, clumsy. Let’s get to training.” He began to walk off, and you followed, presumably to where the Hermes team were gathering for last minute preparations. 

For this game, they’d paired up with Ares and Athena, Apollo taking lead for the blue team with Hephaestus and Aphrodite. Red team also had Demeter, and the boys of cabin twelve were on the blue team. It seemed like a pretty good split; or at least you thought it was, judging by the reactions of everyone when they read the pamphlet. You might have been reading it wrong, though. After all, you were crying out in pain and cradling a shattered wrist when it happened. 

Athena was always a good cabin to pair up with, was what Evie had told you when she was taking your measurements for armour. You presumed so, goddess of war and all. But you were a little wary about the Cabin Ten girls — Aphrodite was also a warrior goddess, after all. 

Evan led you around the back of the pegasi stables and through a mudded path. The only reason you hadn’t taken off running in fear that he was leading you to your imminent death was because the wood nymphs were out and about, milling around like bodyguards. They eyed you up at first, but a few of them recognised you from your impromptu baseball session with Luke last week and told them to back off. 

“Here she is, the woman of the hour!” Clarisse exclaimed when she saw you break through the trees. A few people glanced back and smiled at you politely, a sentiment you returned as Evan led you to the front of the crowd where she stood. 

Luke was beside her, and only nodded at you. You nodded back, a glimmer in your eyes that made his hands twitch. 

“Okay, now that our whole team is in attendance, we can begin.” The Ares girl said, conviction prominent in her voice. She was made to lead, that much was obvious. “You all know the deal. I won’t repeat it, not with the blue team so close by, but…” She sent a meaningful look around the whole crew, “You know where to go. We’ve been practising this, and in a couple of hours it’ll be time to bring home yet another win.”

“It’s pretty much all in the cards for us.” Luke cropped himself into the speech, “Cabin Nine have their special machinery but we’ve got wit, power and numbers. We’ll be fine.” 

“Speaking of cabin nine.” Clarisse hopped down from the wooden crate she was standing on, “I grabbed this from them just before the teams went up. Had to make sure they didn’t sabotage it.”

She pulled a long spear out from behind some other boxes, and let it shimmer in the light. It was beautiful, and you couldn’t keep your eyes away from it. Despite it being made from celestial bronze, the forger had clearly done something to make it shine a mesmerising silver. You could see your reflection in it as it glistened under the sun. It was double ended and if you squinted, you could see tiny spikes coiling around the first ten or so inches of each end. The shaft was smooth and engraved with something you could only make out when she walked over and handed it to you. 

“Wait.” You took it out of instinct, weighing it in both hands but giving a shocked look to Clarisse, “This is mine?” 

“You’re damn right.” She smirked, “Jake was having a field day making that thing, couldn’t stop talking about it. Especially when he added these,” She poked one of the spikes that coiled around the shaft and rubbed the tips of her fingers together with a wince, “They’re lethal. You’ll be unbeatable out there with this thing.” 

“Cool.” You gave it an experimental swing, and everyone in your vicinity took a long step back. You shrugged, smiling anyway, “Whoops.” 

You felt very powerful with your new weapon, and now that you had it in your hands, you could marvel at the engravings. They were images, battles fought — a lot of them recognisable. There was Perseus killing Phineus and Polydectes with Medusa’s head, Heracles and the Nemean Lion. There was even an engraving of Tantalus stealing the ambrosia and nectar from Olympus, for some reason. You’d have to ask Jake about that later. 

“We have two hours until we need to gather at the pavilion, so we won’t bore you with details.” A young girl who you’d seen around camp before stood up and addressed the crowd. She was very little, but she exuded authority even at her young age. “But if I see you lazing around, I’ll put my dagger through your foot.”

There was a chorus of nods and murmured agreement, so the little girl stepped back and nodded at Luke, who told them all to go get ready. The crowd dispersed, but you stayed firmly put as the boy made his way over to you, the little girl following behind him. 

“Sunny.” He tried not to smile, but you saw his lips twitch. He gestured to the girl beside him, “This is my little sister Annabeth. Newly appointed Counselor of Athena.”

You raised a brow, impressed, before looking down at the girl with a smile, “Hey, Annabeth.” You introduced yourself, trying not to show her how kind of scared you were for her to not like you. 

Luckily she nodded, “Hi. You better be good with that spear.”

“I’d like to think I am.” You joked. She didn’t laugh, simply telling Luke she was going to brainstorm and left you both alone in the clearing you’d been gathered in. You raised your brows at him, “I think she gets her stoic indifference from you.” 

He cracked a smile then, grabbing your spear from you and weighing it in his own hands, “Yeah. She’s a firecracker.” He looked at you firmly, “Think you’ll be good for this game? It’s not too late to back out.”

You snatched the weapon right back from him, rubbing his finger prints from the shaft with your sleeve and sending him a half-glare, “You just want an excuse to use this instead of me. I’m fine, JoJo.”

He raised a single brow, “Fine. But if you end up back in the infirmary, I’m not gonna kiss your wounds better.”

You smirked, backing away and pointing your free finger at him daringly, “You wouldn’t be able to hold back.”

He laughed, hand on heart, “Right.” 

You were quick to retreat to the Arena where you knew Clarisse was waiting for you. A good chance to break in the new armoury and swing a spear around that wasn’t made of styrofoam or rotten wood. You caught yourself a good sweat in an hour and a half, and Clarisse was covered in bloody dots from those spikes. Even if you were injured, they still didn’t stand a chance against those. It was a comforting thought. 

You would’ve practised the whole time had it not started raining — something that confused you greatly since the camp had a controlled climate. Clarisse just rolled her eyes, though, claiming that Chiron was upping the dramatics for the game. You were unsure that the centaur could just…make it rain, but you went along with it. You’d only been a demigod for a week after all. 

Not wanting to be completely soaked by the time the game started, you retreated back to the Hermes cabin, shortening your spear down with a click and tucking it into your belt loop before you sat down. You were still on the floor, still next to the six year-old who almost always rolled on top of you in the night — you had now perfected your rollover technique to get him off you without waking him up. 

You were re-lacing your combat boots when two shadows loomed over either side of you. Without so much as a glance away from your foot, you said plainly, “Stolls. What do you want?”

A twin pair of scoffs sounded and you just rolled your eyes. The one on the left spoke first, and you thought it might have been Travis, “Bold to assume we want anything.” 

“I mean, we do.” Connor added from your right, and the indisputable sound of a hard slap came right after. “Ow! Asshole.”

“Cut to it.” You moved onto your other shoe now that the left one was wound tight. You were always pretty speedy at tying laces, a fairly random skill but a skill nonetheless. 

“Well…” Connor started. 

“Luke put us on second offence.” Travis continued. 

“But we sorta hate doing second offence.” 

“Yeah, it’s way too much work.”

Connor leaned over your shoulder so his stupid grin was visible in your peripheral vision, “And we heard that you are on side offence. Which has a much lower maiming risk.”

“So you wanna swap spots?” You deducted, looking up from your feet and giving them a blank glance. They nodded, and you sighed, “Ok, first of all, there’s two of you and one of me. You’ll have to find someone else to swap with too.”

“Already done.” Travis nodded, “Sabine loves second offence.”

“Second of all,” You sent them firm looks, “Luke isn’t going to let you change the layout right before the game. Neither is Clarisse and neither is Annabeth.”

“Which is why we aren’t telling them.” Connor said like it was obvious, holding out his hands like he’d presented you with the best idea ever conjured, “Luke and Clarisse are on first offence and Annabeth is on last defence, right by the flag. No one will know.”

“Plus,” Travis sang, wiggling his eyebrows, “This is a perfect opportunity to prove to everyone how badass you are.”

“Yeah, Luke’s had you on a leash since you hurt your wrist.” Connor raised a teasing brow, “Why not show him what you’re made of?” 

You looked between them, and the silence that stretched seemed to serve as an answer because they were smirking at you and pushing themselves up and out of the door before you could utter a word. 

The rain hadn’t settled — Chiron and his dramatics, although it appeared Mr D wasn’t too much of a fan. God or not, he still got wet with the rest of them. You stood between Luke and Clarisse, the former shielding both your heads with his black jacket — Annabeth ended up squeezing between the two of you when she couldn’t keep up with her I’m too good to hide from the rain facade. You took it as a win, she was warming up to you! 

“Welcome to our first capture the flag of the summer!” Chiron bellowed, pausing for the cheers that resounded. “The usual rules are enforced. Magic weapons are permitted, the flag must be prominently presented with no more than two guards no less than ten yards from the flag! No killing or maiming, and no gagging or bounding of prisoners. Let the games begin!” 

There was a loud echo of cheers and battle cries as the first conch sounded — they only had twenty minutes to get into position and then they would be permitted to cross the creek into enemy territory. Annabeth was quick to gather up the flag guards and send them off to their agreed location with nothing but a sharp eye before she was pulling together the defensive lines and sending them off too.

“Hey.” Just before you could walk off, Luke grabbed your attention, levelling his eyes with yours as best as he could from under his helmet. He adjusted yours and patted your shoulders, “You got this, Sunny.”

You nodded, “Damn right I do.” 

It was hard to navigate the woods in the rain, which was still pouring almost torrentially over them. The forest floor had grown slippery and wet with the new downpour, but the campers traipsed through it roughly, boots squelching as they moved. You followed the side defence through mud and grass, dodging branches and puddles until you couldn’t hear the chatter of Luke and Clarisse from behind you. Then you stopped, and just ahead of you, Sabine did the same. 

It wasn’t long before Connor and Travis were pushing through the trees and greeting the pair of you with wide grins. Sabine rolled her eyes, “Shove off, punks.”

Then she was storming in the direction they came from, and you had no choice but to follow. It was hard to keep up with her long strides, but whenever you lost her in the fog you just followed the sound of her annoyed mutters. 

“Stupid kids. Can’t be trusted on last offence let alone second. It’s not fair. I punch one kid for cheating and Luke sends me to side defence. Side! Stupid punk has been out of it for too long, needs a reality check.”

You didn’t bother responding — whether you were going to agree or come to Luke’s defence, you had no idea. You just followed her to the edge where the second offence was lined up just past the edge of the shore. Evie and Evan gave you the same confused look. 

“Those Stoll fuckers wanted an easy out.” Sabine spat, pushing a stray curl back under her helmet and heaving her giant club over her shoulder. 

The twins didn’t question or fight the decision, simply shrugging and going back to where they were tracing their own tic tac toe game into the wet sand. You stood idly, hands fiddling with your belt buckle before the second conch sounded. Almost immediately did the first and side offences cross the creek and disappear into the woods, while you pulled your spear from the ground and followed the twins and Sabine across the water moments after they were gone. 

Then it was a waiting game. 

“Fuck Apollo, Marry Athena and Kill Hermes.” 

Evie scoffed, shaking her head, “No. No way. Athena would be way controlling as a wife, you gotta bag Apollo.” 

Sabine hummed, “No. I think Athena and I would be unstoppable together.”

You looked up from your shoes and between the three that stood before you. It had been two hours and the most action you had was seeing one of your own teammates get flung right back over the creek by some cabin nine contraption that you were not too keen on meeting. Your spear rested across the back of your shoulders, your arms swung around the shaft at either side as you contemplated your own answer. 

“No, see —“ You huffed, “I couldn’t marry Athena, but only because she conjures babies with her brain. I could never win an argument, I know that for sure.”

“But we all agree on killing Hermes, right?” Evan butted in with a laugh that was immediately shared by the rest of them. He settled down and squinted for a moment, “Ok. Fuck, Marry, Kill. Iris, Nemesis and…Hypnos.” 

There was immediate discourse, everyone speaking up at once with their own opinions. Sabine thought Hypnos would be a terrible lay — He’d fall asleep halfway through! — but Iris would be overbearing as a wife. Evie said Nemesis would be the best wife, she’d never let anyone hurt you, and you were just about to add on that Iris could let you eavesdrop on other people’s conversations whenever you were bored when a loud crack echoed through the trees. 

Then it was quiet. You all shared silent looks, baring your weapons and facing the enemy side. 

Another crack, a snap of a twig. Then a crash, like something being dropped onto a pile of leaves. 

A scream, and a manic son of Aphrodite breaking through the trees and aiming a large Kopis at Evan, who was quick to defend with his dual wielding swords. His teammates followed, and the rest of you jumped into action — you were only slightly panicked when you realised your opponent was a Hephaestus kid who was nearly double your height. 

You’d seen him around sometimes, he was only a year or so younger than you. Same age as Clarisse, and definitely the same level of skill in battle. What made him even scarier was that he fought with nunchucks…fucking nunchucks! And he was good with them, too. 

But you had been taught well. You were quick to defend your body and use both ends of your spear to deflect each nunchuck from making contact. At one point, he clipped your arm pretty hard, and that was when you realised they were ribbed along the edges making for a harder hit. You bounced back though, swinging every which way and not letting him touch you again. 

Briefly, you could hear your peers’ own battles. There weren’t any shouts of pain, or cries for help, so you put all your focus on the boy before you. He had a height advantage, and swung his weapon down on you fairly often, which left your torso open when you held your spear over your head. But your reflexes were like lightning, and no matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t land that second hit. 

Fuelled by his own frustration, he lunged forward and tried to wrap the chain of his chucks around the shaft of your spear. He attempted to no avail a couple of times, but then he clicked a button on one of the shafts and released a crackle of energy along it. You were shocked momentarily by the reveal of his electric nunchucks that you faltered in your defence and he managed to wrangle your weapon in his own on the third try. You pulled back hard, trying to regain control and prevent his disarm, but he just pressed that damn button again and this time the volts ran through his chain and up the entire length of your spear. 

The crack that resounded was huge. Too huge to have come from those tiny nunchucks.  

Where you were expecting a sudden and painful shock through your hand and arms you instead felt a massive give. You stumbled back, shocked, but regained your footing before you could fall onto the wet ground. Your spear was in your hands, and the nunchucks were still wrapped tightly around the middle. You looked up from them to see their owner crumbled in a heap on the ground, nursing his painfully red hands while the rainfall soaked his clothes even more. 

You’d completely forgotten you weren’t alone until one of his teammates dropped their shield and ran to his aid. You looked up, expecting to meet the dumbstruck eyes of Evie and Evan, only to see their gazes fixed elsewhere. You turned your head. 

There in the grass was a giant streak of black, stretching along the shore for nearly five metres. It took a second for you to realise that it was embers — the ground had been burnt completely from where you stood to where it ended. And standing just before it was Luke and Clarisse — the blue team's flag in hand. They weren’t moving, they were staring at the burn in the floor, at you.

Your chin wobbled a little until the echo of the other team reached your ears. You looked at the pair urgently, “Move!”

And they did. Even when the blue team kids you’d been fighting  before tried to stop them, they were held back and Luke and Clarisse led your team to an easy victory. 

They cheered, and the conch sounded. Chiron emerged through the wood and smiled at them in congratulations — the whole spark debacle was nearly forgotten, campers too busy either cheering or groaning to notice the burn streak on the floor. Chiron did, though, and soon though the short lived celebration quieted down as he asked about it. 

Eyes turned to you. You shrugged, “I don’t…I don’t know what happened, it just —“

But then there were gasps. All around you. And suddenly Chiron wasn’t looking at you, he was looking at the space above your head. And then so was everyone else. 

When you looked up, squinting past the rain, and your eyes fixated on that glowing lighting bolt that floated above your head, the world went quiet. A week of hearing everything about the glory of being claimed — how at ease you would be, how reassured you would end up. None of it was true. Because for some reason, the symbol that hung above your head sent nothing but trepidation running through you. 

You almost missed Chiron's next words,  

“Zeus. Law Maker. Striker of Lightning. King of Olympus. All hail.” He shouted your name, but it didn’t feel right in your ears, “Daughter of the Sky God.”

When you couldn’t stand the sight of it — when it started to make you feel sick, when the picturesque summer camp you were finally finding yourself in started to feel tight and uncomfortable, you looked down. Everyone was kneeling, eyes on the ground. It was comforting that they weren’t staring at you anymore, but when you searched the crowd for those baby brows that held you down, they were fixated firmly on the mud. 

After your claiming, Chiron dismissed everyone sharply. They left, all talk about the capture the flag win long left behind and replaced by canards about you and your family. Your lineage. You were very prepared to stand frozen on the other side of the creek for the rest of the day but the centaur ushered you into his office in the big house just as the rain stopped. 

The next hour was a muffled blur. You felt as if you had just been plunged underwater and all you could hear was your heartbeat in your ears — you vaguely registered Chiron and Mr. D asking you a load of questions about your childhood and whether there were any signs of your parentage along the way. You couldn’t answer that. 

They Iris-Messaged your mother — who was in her office and jumped up startled when the call came through. You might have been in a hazy funk, but you could tell the surprise on her face when Chiron informed her of your claiming was genuine. She’d had no idea. That, out of all things, angered you the most. 

“This new information will have caused quite a stir in Olympus.” Was one of the last things he said, “But you should be fine, since you’re seventeen.”

“Why does me being seventeen mean anything?” 

Zeus’ Cabin was subpar to say the least. Alright if you’re only going in there to worship the guy, not so alright if you’re planning on living there. There weren’t any beds, but there were alcoves lining the walls that you tucked your sleeping bag into so you didn’t have to look at the giant statue of Zeus that stood at the end of the room. For good measure, you chucked a spare blanket over its head — he could smite you for it, you didn’t really care anymore. 

You zoned back into reality when a knock sounded on your door, and you realised it was nightfall. Dinner time. You stood from your perch on one of the many benches that sat in the room — you thought they’d have better use in the pavilion, where Hermes kids were practically falling off the benches there were so little of them — and headed over to the huge double doors, heaving one open and breathing deep at the workout it took just to see who was at the door. 

It was Evie, and for some reason that made a pit of disappointment form in your gut. You sent her a weak smile nonetheless, “Hi.”

She smiled back, full of pity, “Hey. Just thought I’d come check on you, we haven’t seen you in hours.”

“I didn’t like them staring at me.” You said plainly, stepping out into the open air. The rain had stopped now, the sky clear, and you fought the urge to roll your eyes. 

“Yeah, I get that.” Was her heartfelt reply. You felt bad for being so plain with her, but there was really only one person you wanted to see, “But, um, it’s dinner right about now. Wanna…come with?”

You didn’t really wanna, but you were starving and almost certain that nobody would be bringing you any food, so you shrugged, “Sure.” 

The large door shut on its own when you stepped away from it, and Evie jumped at the sound. You folded your arms and walked alongside her in silence until you were forced to part at the pavilion. She tried to say something — maybe a goodbye, a good luck. Maybe a we can’t be friends anymore because you’re forbidden. You didn’t stick around to check, walking over to the empty Zeus table where you unfortunately belonged. 

You filled your plate, hungry from the workout of capture the flag and exhaustion from the day, but your appetite was ruined when you saw Luke walk in and avoid your eyes completely in favour of sitting at his usual spot at the Hermes table. You hadn’t seen him all day, he hadn’t seen you, and yet here he was; ignoring your existence like he used to. It sort of hurt. 

So you dropped your fork, leaned your elbows on the untouched wood and stared at nothing. Only hours earlier were you at the top of your game, happy and ready to use your skills in capture the flag, show your friends what you could do. Now? You were completely alone, completely miserable, and completely ready to go back to Vermont. 

You wanted nothing more than to climb into your bed and cry. 

People started to stand. Heading in the direction of the campfire that you were definitely going to skip. Some Hermes kids stood, Luke included, and started a slow stroll down there too, past your table and down the hill. Chris was talking animatedly to his friends on either side of him, but Luke didn’t look very happy with whatever it was he was saying. Before you could build up the courage to call out for him, beg him to look you in the eyes and still stay your friend, he was shoving Chris roughly, the boy falling into your table with a grunt. 

“What the hell, man?” He sneered, brushing himself off. Luke just glared. He scoffed, “You’ve changed, bro. And not for the better.”

Then he was walking off in a huff, and his friends were following him. Luke met your eyes for half a second before storming off in the opposite direction — and with the influence of the tug on your heart, you followed. 

He was halfway to the Hermes cabin when you caught him, and you were thrown back to the time he got into that…thing with Dean from Ares and you chased him all the way up the hill. This time, it was down, and you were a lot less out of breath when you reached out and tugged on his elbow. 

He turned to you, “What?”

You paused, hand falling to your side. You swallowed, shrugged, “I…uh…”

Luke tightened his jaw, eyes flicking above your head like if he looked at you any longer his facade would break. He took in a deep breath and met your gaze once more, “Go to the campfire.”

“What —?”

“Go to the campfire.” He was backing away, “Entertain your fans, give out autographs. Conjure some more lighting. I don’t know. Do something, but don’t do it here.” 

You weren’t having that. Your gaze hardened, “Hey. You’re not allowed to say that to me after you ignored me all day.”

“I —“ He went for a rebuttal, but came up short, licking his lips in frustration. “You disappeared.”

“I was in the Big House, being interrogated.” You explained, annoyance clear in your tone, “I would’ve liked it if my best friend was waiting for me when I got out but unfortunately he decided he hated me like everyone else and I had to cry alone in my cabin.” 

He paused then, taking slow steps back towards you and meeting your saddened gaze. His brows furrowed, “I’m your best friend?” 

You cracked a tiny smile, “Of course you are, idiot.” 

His nod was barely there, but you saw it. You also saw his smile, small like yours and gone in a flash. “I don’t hate you.” He said, “I don’t care that Zeus is your dad. It’s just…”

“He forgot about me.” 

“What?”

You shrugged, folding your arms. There, standing in the middle of the cabins and staring at Luke Castellan, you admitted out loud what you’d been avoiding since you left the Big House, “Zeus. He forgot about me. That's why I never got attacked by monsters, because my deadbeat father was so busy turning his kid into a tree that he forgot he had another one.” 

Even under the tears brimming in your lids and through the lump on your throat, you saw Luke flinch. A minute movement, but you caught it like you caught all of his other details. The freckle on his eyebrow, the scar on his forehead that other people missed because they were too busy staring at his big one. The flinch when you brought up the tree. Thalia Grace, is what Chiron had called her. 

“I’m sorry for avoiding you.” He said in a low murmur. “Thalia was a friend of mine and Annabeth’s. Brought back some rough memories.” 

“Oh.” You breathed, “Oh, gods. I’m so sorry.” 

You stepped forward and wrapped your arms around his torso before you could think about it. Big bad Luke definitely didn’t like hugs, but there you were; hugging him and staining his camp shirt with your salty tears. You couldn’t help it — you were so full of emotions that a single hug that he hadn't even reciprocated was bringing you to tears. 

Then he hugged you back, and you started bawling. 

Bawling like a baby into his chest while he stood there and held you. Crying about your dad who forgot about you, your sister who died while you lived a happy life, your nonexistent purpose in life because you were over sixteen now and there was nothing for you. Maybe being a forbidden kid was enough, but not really. You weren’t forbidden enough for them, apparently. 

“Sorry for shoving Chris.” He spoke into your hair. You pulled your head back enough to meet his eyes, “He was saying shit about you and Thalia and it pissed me off. I know that you want me to be better, happier or whatever, and I am trying but…”

“I don’t care.”

His lips shut with a smack, “What?”

You let out a sad chuckle, “Be miserable. I don’t care, I like you for who you are. Plus, I get it. Y’know? This isn’t the happiest life.” 

Luke looked at you with an expression so genuine and heavy that it sort of scared you, but you let it burn you. You’d let him burn you forever more. Then he let out a breath, tinged with relief, and relaxed his forehead onto your own. You stayed like that, heads pressed together and arms wrapped around one another, until footsteps bled into your ears. 

You pulled away from each other and spotted Annabeth, who was making her way over very quickly, trudging through the grass that was still wet from earlier. 

“Anna Banana.” Luke squinted, his new way of smiling, “What are ya’ doing over here?”

The girl stopped between the two of you and ignored her brother in favour of looking at you, “So, you’re Zeus’ kid.”

“Yup.”

“I knew your sister. She was my sister, too, for a bit.” She said, and you thought it sounded sad, but the girl hid her emotions well. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” You shrugged — it wasn’t anyone’s fault but Zeus’. You sent her a kind smile. 

She returned it, glancing at Luke then, “Don’t call me that.” 

He chucked, patting her on the head and yanking on one of her braids. She huffed and smacked his hand away, but smiled nonetheless. Then she looked back at you, “You were good with that spear today. Maybe Athena could pair up with Zeus for the next game.”

“Maybe they could.” You nodded. 

She nodded back, before announcing her departure and heading off. You looked at Luke with a proud grin, “She likes me.” 

He smiled fully, amused, “She does.”

“You like me.”

A little sheepish, “I do.”

“So who cares if daddy dearest doesn’t?” You settled on, tilting your head, “We got each other.” 

Luke nodded, and you admired the way he looked. He was handsome, that you knew, but he seemed particularly beautiful under the moon, alone with you.

🏷️ @katherines-imagines @lovingjasontoddmakemewanttocry @jennapancake @cobaltskiez @loveryoushouldcomeoverr @m00ng4z3r @ma1dita @woodlandwrites @tsireyasgf @theo-notts-doll @iammightsadyall @fennecswife @csifandom @evilwrongdoer @blueberryjune @dancing-inasnowglobe @acidaciruela @solshaven @rosieandthethorns @sofiacblair @obxstiles @lukecastellanirl (comment to be removed/added!) (also sorry if some of these didn’t work idk what’s going on)

[kwamiwayzz]

Why Jeckole (Jecka/Nicole) is the Most Popular Ship of Class of '09 - Part I

Or: Part I should be renamed to why is Aricole or Emicole not as popular as Jeckole?

After being in this community for sometime, and even waffling in-between thinking whether I still like this ship versus thinking they're just a repackaged, white American-version of another ship I love - that's another discussion for later, dear lord, I wanted to put all my thoughts down somewhere to why I think Jecka and Nicole have dominated as the most popular pairing within the Class of '09 fandom.

Disclaimer: I don't want this to be a whole post saying, "Jeckole is the best4eva, Emicole and Aricole sUX XD" but more of an explanation breaking down why this ship in particular is one that most of the fandom has gravitated towards when getting into Class of'09. After all, there has to be some reason to why it's still persisted among fans (old and new). There was even a Jeckole Week 2025 despite the fandom slowly fizzling out after Flip Side's release.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, time to dig into the popularity of SBN's most hated pairing. I haven't been in an English/Writing class since college, and it's been so long since I've ever written an essay, so let's hope (all my jumbled thoughts) everything I try to explain sounds coherent enough.

To the fans surprise (at least if you didn't know anything about SBN), he never wrote the interactions among all the girls with any queer subtext in mind. He mostly did it for 1) money, and 2) a way to get his fixation on teenage girls/lesbians out somewhere...The guy is a freak (and not in a good way). It's only a miracle that his game got this much traction and popularity.

He ended up playing himself because what else should he expect when his most hated pairing is one that the fandom loves. People can come up with all sorts of arguments as to how this game blowing up on TikTok led to teenage lesbians missing the point of the games or running off everything out of context and yadda, yadda, yadda...And maybe there is some validity in those arguments as well.

But at the end of the day, it doesn't change the fact that Jecka and Nicole became the most popular ship even after SBN was "baiting" fans.

Shipping isn’t an unpredictable beast that grows completely independently of its source material. The ways writers craft interactions between their characters–and the places where they invest the most and infuse the most life–are powerful tools that impact how fans view and come to love seeing characters both separately and in romantic relationships. (Why Do Non-Canon Ships Become So Popular - And Why Should Writers Rethink When They Do? by sarehptar on AO3)

Fanart numbers is a completely different story, so I'm going to put that aside for now.

Starting with AO3 stats, Jeckole overshadows the other ships as one of the "Big 3" (Big 3 being Jeckole, Aricole, Emicole). On the left, it's the general numbers of pairs you could filter from. While on the right, it's after filtering the tags with "otp: true"

But wait...why are Ari and Nicole fics so criminally low compared to the monster of a ship that is Jeckole, when Aricole is considered canon? This same question can be applied to Emily and Nicole. Why does Jecka and Nicole still overshadow the other two pairs even though both Ari and Emily have canonically expressed romantic interest in Nicole in their respective routes?

[Full Text of Emily's Message Below]

you wont see this cuz they make us turn our phones off but i just want to write this for me. I'm glad we are dying together it just feels right and I can't think of anyone i would rather do it with. I may as well write this too... i am super fucking gay for you sorry i lied in the hallway and didn't tell u before we shared a bed and changed in front of each other. idk if that's rape or whatever but if it is sorry lol. i can die fulfilled cuz dying together with another girl is a bigger commitment than some soft ass bitch getting married to jack the construction worker or some other boring white guy who cant pronounce Beanie Sigel. but ya if you pass out first I'm gonna try to fall over on you so it looks like were cuddling <3

I think one explanation for this is that Ari and Emily's canonical romantic interest in Nicole, along with most of their interactions with her, are primarily isolated into one route. For Ari, this is through the Hate Crime/Abusive Exes Ending. While for Emily, this is through the Suicide Pact Ending. That's not to say that shippers can't fuel themselves off crumbs and scraps until the end of time--look at one of Aricole's most well-known artists, Misan. But when taking a peek into the Class of '09 fandom from an outside perspective, the first ship you'll most likely come across is Jeckole. Even some people who like Aricole, Emicole, or some rarepairs, tend to be multishippers who universally think Jeckole is a good pairing.

As I've mentioned in previous discussions with a few people on Tumblr, Jecka and Nicole's interactions span throughout all three games in multiple routes. Nicole's interactions with Jecka aren't confined to just one or two routes. It's understandable why others would see their interactions as that of your typical best friends trope. And that's completely fine too--I actually initially saw them as just that until I decided to try the game out on a whim one day.

However, after reading an essay from sarehptar (Echodrops on Tumblr), they mention something about "emotional energy" within a story:

When I talk about “emotional energy,” I don’t necessarily mean romantic emotions (and in fact, in the case of most non-canon ships, I don’t mean romantic emotions at all!). Rather, what I mean is the weight, power, and dynamism of the myriad emotions characters express for one another, including friendship/camaraderie, trust, reliance, frustration, anger, hatred, sadness, etc. For the purposes of this discussion, emotional energy is any of the meaningful emotional interactions that two characters share–especially those which drive the main plot of a story.

I figured in the context of Nicole and Jecka in the VNs, it made sense as to why many fans gravitated towards them compared to the side pairings. This isn't to say that Nicole doesn't have emotional energy with Emily or Ari. There's a reason why Aricole and Emicole are one of the main pairings of the fandom. However, among the three main leads that Nicole interacts with, there's only one person who she centers herself around (and vice versa to an extent).

And that's Jecka.

(Screenshot from the Anime Pilot because look how much of a wet cat Nicole is trying to win Jecka's favor back)

In every single route from the original game, Jecka is always introduced to Nicole no matter what choice she makes. Whether this is after talking to Crispin or Jeffery at the beginning of the game, she always ends up running into Jecka either way.

(Screenshots Below - On the left is on Nicole's first day of school. On the right is on Nicole's second day of school if she didn't meet Jecka on the first day.)

In both instances of her first meeting with Jecka, Nicole was readily available to give out her name to this girl she just met despite having the mindset that any bonds she makes will be completely pointless. She even goes on to talk about herself and her issues with her brother to Jecka within the first two days she's met her.

"But Nicole is probably just doing that because Jecka is a more tolerable option!"

That could be true, but the player doesn't get the same kind of introduction between Nicole and Emily, Nicole and Ari, or Nicole and any other student. With Jeffery, she was only messing with him. By the time Nicole interacts with Emily in Re-Up, they're already friends. I think they're already somewhat-acquainted before the Remedial English (Suicide Pact/Get Ms. Ames Fired) Route.

By the time Nicole interacts with Ari in Re-Up, they already know each other (though, Nicole finds her a bit of an annoyance). Ari also falls for Nicole quickly after their session with the counselor while Nicole is primarily in power once they start to date.

I don't want to make it sound like I'm dismissing the other two pairings when I bring up other scenes and interactions between Jecka and Nicole. You can view them as just best friends (or even friends-of-convenience), while seeing Nicole's relationship with Ari or Emily as a more valid romantic option, and that's okay. But the examples I'm going to talk about are to give insight on why this non-canon ship is so popular within the fandom despite never canonically expressing any romantic feelings towards one another.

(Side Note: I've probably re-read sarehptar/Echodrops's essay more times than I can count in the past few days)

To get this out of the way, I'm going to get into why Aricole and Emicole are often overshadowed by Jeckole.

You can argue that Nicole does center herself around Ari or Emily, depending on which route you choose in Re-Up. In the Date Ari Route, Nicole is constantly with her girlfriend (mostly abusing her), but that sense of push-and-pull isn't exactly as apparent. It's more of Nicole pulling, and Ari being pulled.

While I've seen arguments that Ari's more manipulative side can be seen from the Rejection Route, it still has the same vibe as the Date Ari Route except Ari is the one pulling, while Nicole is being pulled. I've seen fans love this aspect of this ship, and it all boils down to preferences. But that lack of push-pull within canon is probably why it's not on the same level of popularity as Jeckole. (That doesn't make Aricole a bad ship. Do not come for me!) Ari and Nicole aren't shown in canon to be equally on par in keeping up with one another.

The tension between them either leans more towards one character or the other, depending on which route the player goes for (Hate Crime or Abusive Exes). This is why some fans do the work themselves and combine aspects of both of these routes to get a more "equal playing-field" Aricole.

Okay, so if Aricole feels like a pull-and-be-pulled dynamic, then wouldn't Emily and Nicole be on more equal ground? They both have similar backgrounds with mental health issues and are both pretty unhinged people. Like others have said, they're the epitome of, "They make each other worse."

During Suicide Pact in Re-Up, Emily mentions how she planned to flush all her Seroquel down the toilet after feeling the adrenaline rush of everything she did when spending time with Nicole. This entire route has them fucking around, skipping remedial, making Jeffery's life worse--and they both get a rush from that. But when Nicole starts to see how unmedicated/unfiltered Emily actually is, she starts to get a little scared of her.

This duo starts out as if they're on equal ground, but the moment Emily turns into her unmedicated BPD-self, Nicole just gets pulled into whatever Emily does so that she doesn't piss her off. And I figure that Nicole's fear (and respect) of Emily is why she didn't try to save her, and only saved herself when they both planned to overdose in Ms. Ames class.

What is it that both Emily and Ari have in common despite having canonical romantic feelings for Nicole? Both of their dynamic with Nicole feel almost one-sided. I don’t just mean with their romantic feelings, I also mean with their dynamic in general.

“The games aren’t meant to be a dating sim!”

Yeah I know. But when Nicole doesn’t interact with Ari all that much, they’re neither focal points to each other’ narratives at all. The same can be said for Emily.

With Jecka, Nicole is almost always with her. They skip class together, they do drugs together, they got into a situation where they pissed off a mall cop, etc, etc. I also want to point out that Jecka is often the first person that Nicole goes to when she’s bored, wants someone to talk to, or wants to hang around, and is willing to (kinda of) change for. However, while the part about Nicole “changing” is a stretch, canonically-speaking, I was going to try and go more in-depth with that in Part II.

When Nicole isn’t around Jecka, Jecka ends up going back to her shallow high school friendships (like with Kelly), but admits to Nicole that she only sat with Kelly so she isn't alone. So…they’re both in the same boat and drive each other’s narratives of trying to survive the bullshit of high school through each other.

Anyway, this wasn’t meant to be a formal analysis at all, but I think I went a bit too far to the point where my brain feels absolutely fried now. I’m just hoping this doesn’t come across as ship-bashing when comparing Nicole’s dynamic with both Ari and Emily.

Who knows how long Part II will take me lol.

[sincerelystesichorus]

let's talk about that one scene in oops

(and fizzarolli in general bc me and my autism r obsessed with this scene and haven't seen someone break it down. also ft. blitz lmao)

just a general scene and vague character breakdown/analysis!

i first of all want to admire the perfect representation of best friends to enemies with blitz & fizz because ugh.

And like Blitz tells everyone this but the way it's so malicious here. Just the perfect simple dig and Fizz's little shit eating grin because it delivered how he knew it would sdfkjsdkf. Shoves Blitz to the side because really that's all he cares to say. Fuck you and what you did to me, bye bye <3 Fizz is so for talking shit and dipping (House of Asmodeus) I love how messy it is but also shows how he really doesn't hold malice for Blitz otherwise. Obviously we see this front and center later in the episode once they start reconnecting, but I like the subtlety and how he's so willing to snap at Blitz despite his usual anxiety with confrontation.

Blitz also knowing exactly what to say to really piss Fizz off once things escalate <3

(Fizz literally so smug and content with himself lmfao)

(smirk wiped off bc hey that's the thing i'm sensitive about!!)

But Fizz keeps his composure. And if you'll let me be alarmingly gay for a second, I love how his version of keeping his cool as a messy gay is managing to basically recreate this drag race confrontation in what is probably my favorite set of Fizzie lines.

eat him up babes. also it's so important that that shitty coffee and fizz were on this side of the street for framing i'll talk about it more in a sec jfskjdfksf.

and now my personal favorite exchange of this entire scene that is criminally underrated imo:

love his face after this line. I SUPPORT DISABLED PEOPLES WRONGS sfjdlkfsdd. literally so fucking nasty with his clown wit but also so justifiable because yeah blitz did just pull this nightmare and dip in fizz's pov. i cannot wait for that to get touched on more likeeee why were they kept apart ugh.

and finally!!

this cut to blitz,, specifically the scarred side of his face is sooo good.

the face of a man who just achieved critical vicious mockery vs. the face of a man that knows he can only win this interaction one way now

Blitz does deserve a little violence maybe <3 Fizz underestimated his ass jjdkfsdlk.

Idk I just love how indicative this whole interaction is for their characters but especially Fizz, it's a perfect build-up for him. Fizz has major imposter syndrome with dual layers because of general haters but especially because of Mammon and Asmodeus. Not on any fault of Ozzie's,, we just see Fizz obviously thinks he isn't fully deserving of their relationship/his situation and the healthy dynamics of it and so do most major news outlets apparently askjfsk.

(full fizzy meme post & also i like how this is a special also like damn do u think they were also apart of the crossword??)

It'll be really interesting to see how his character develops in future episodes because I feel like a lot of what I've rambled about here has come to a resolution after 2 Minutes Notice in the musical special lmao. I really like how here when he goes to compose himself, this is how he does it.

Makes me wonder how many times him and Ozzie have had the self-worth and imposter syndrome conversation before it finally stuck in the Mammon Musical Special. I just love their relationship and how they compliment one another,, and how it projects into Fizz's other relationships because they're healthy for one another. Love my OTP love Blitz & especially love Fizzie. Obviously.

[bitemevanitas]

a segment of yapping about what your fav ship with vanitas is (canon ch x canon ch) and why you love it and maybe a handful of hcs for them?

..Yeah so, I believe it's been pretty obvious from the start 🫵

Ya'll, I know this ship isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it definitely is my OTP ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Since I don't really ship poly-ships either, it's the only ship I'm truly interested in 😔

I know among the main ships many people ship Vanoé, which I don't, since it makes me somewhat uncomfortable 🫠

And while I like DomiJeanne, I'm more neutral about it 🫡

VaniJeanne (or Jeannitas for some) and their beginning was definitely rushed and had its issues, I’ve really come to love their dynamic and interactions. 🩵🩷

Jeanne has spent most of her life being controlled, and Vanitas—despite his self-destructive tendencies—helps her realize she does have agency.

They’ve both grown a lot, and I think their relationship has the potential to be something truly special.

So, without further ado, here are my headcanons ❀

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Vanitas and Jeanne have a very clumsy love

• Neither of them have had a normal romantic relationship before

• There’s a lot of trial and error

• Jeanne finds it difficult to express her feelings, but she’s very physically affectionate

• She’s the type to grab his sleeve, lean against him absentmindedly, or fiddle with the hem of his coat when she’s nervous

• Vanitas absolutely lives for making her flustered

• He’ll throw out dramatic confessions just to see her blush

• When Jeanne starts returning the energy, he short-circuits

• They argue a lot—but it’s usually over stupid things

• Something like whether croissants or pain au chocolat are the superior breakfast pastry

• Vanitas has no self-preservation instincts, and Jeanne has too much

• Their dynamic is often her dragging him away from fights and him trying to convince her to take more risks

• Jeanne’s touch is always rather cold because of her vampire nature, so Vanitas starts carrying gloves just so she can warm her hands up when they’re out in the cold

• Vanitas is terrible at accepting genuine affection

• He jokes around, flirts, and teases, but if Jeanne ever gives him a soft, sincere compliment, he immediately deflects (or changes the subject)

• Jeanne, on the other hand, is very straightforward

• One day, something inside her just clicks

• It isn’t dramatic—it’s just a quiet acceptance

• “Ah. I love him.”

• When she finally tells him, it’s blunt, almost too casual

• Vanitas, for once, is speechless

• “What? Say that again.”

• “No.”

• “Please?”

• “… No.”

• At some point though, she doesn’t understand why Vanitas still refuses to believe she cares for him, and it frustrates her to no end

• They both love small, quiet moments together—walking side by side, drinking tea at an outdoor café, or just sitting in silence while watching the city from a rooftop

• Vanitas has a habit of pressing quick kisses to Jeanne’s forehead or cheek before running off to another mission

• The first time he does it, she’s stunned into silence for a full minute

• When Jeanne gets jealous, she pouts

• She crosses her arms, looks away, and refuses to acknowledge Vanitas until he apologizes (which he always does, even if he was just teasing)

• Vanitas is an absolute menace when he gets jealous

• He won’t admit it outright, but he’ll interrupt conversations, sling an arm around Jeanne’s shoulders, and be extra clingy until the perceived "threat" leaves

• Jeanne is protective of Vanitas in a practical way—stepping in front of him in battle, keeping an eye on his injuries, and making sure he eats and sleeps properly

• Vanitas is protective of Jeanne in an insufferable way—constantly reminding people that she’s his chevalier

• Throwing himself into fights to "defend" her, and dramatically declaring that he’d die for her at every opportunity (i am well aware of the irony, okay, don't remind me)

• Jeanne hates when Vanitas is reckless with his life

• She’s seen too much loss and refuses to watch him throw himself away like that

• The first time Jeanne cries in front of him, Vanitas is horrified

• He has no idea what to do and just awkwardly pats her head until she shoves her face into his chest

• Vanitas, for all his (fake) confidence, gets very quiet when he’s feeling vulnerable

• Jeanne learns to recognize when he needs comfort, even if he won’t say it outright

• She often has nightmares about losing control and hurting Vanitas

• The first few times, he simply recites his first promise, about killing her if it ever comes to that day

• After a while, he starts reassuring her that he trusts her completely

• She still worries

• Vanitas is a good cook, but Jeanne is banned from the kitchen after nearly setting it on fire trying to make toast

• Vanitas can and will sleep anywhere—on couches, at his desk, even leaning against Jeanne’s shoulder

• Jeanne finds it endearing but also frustrating when she has to wake him up

• They have a habit of stealing each other’s clothes

• Jeanne will throw on his coat when she’s cold, and Vanitas has been caught wearing her cape more than once

• Jeanne loves when Vanitas plays with her hair, even if she pretends to be annoyed at first

• He absentmindedly braids the longer strands while they’re sitting together

• Vanitas has the worst bedhead in the morning

• Jeanne finds it adorable, but he insists it’s part of his 'charm'

• They once got stuck in the rain, and Jeanne ended up carrying Vanitas bridal style back to shelter because he refused to ruin his boots in the mud

• Vanitas doesn’t believe he deserves love, and Jeanne is determined to prove him wrong

• She worries that Vanitas will disappear one day without a word

• Vanitas worries that Jeanne will eventually see him as a monster and leave

• They don’t talk about their deepest fears often, but when they do, it’s always in the quiet of the night when they think the other is asleep

• If Vanitas ever gets seriously hurt, Jeanne refuses to leave his side

• She doesn’t sleep, eat, or let anyone near him until she knows he’s okay

• Vanitas hates seeing Jeanne cry, but when she does, he wipes her tears away with a rare softness

• Bonus funny headcanons because I'm nice

• Vanitas once jokingly proposed to Jeanne in the middle of a battle just to throw her off

• She punched him so hard he went flying into a wall

• Jeanne tried to flirt back once, and Vanitas actually choked on his drink

• Noé had to slap him on the back to stop him from dying

• Dante and Johann have a bet going on about when they’ll finally get together officially

• Dante is convinced Jeanne will confess first, but Johann thinks Vanitas will break first

• Dominique once walked in on them holding hands and immediately turned around with a horrified "I saw nothing" expression

• Vanitas once called Jeanne "ma chère fiancée" in front of Lord Ruthven and nearly got drop-kicked

.

.

.

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

💀_is this deviant enough for you, my dear? _💀

or jon makes some deliberate changes to his outfit, after catwoman said that he's not 'a real pervert'.

...

(i was re-reading all those 'crow vs 'cat issues recently, an' i gotta say i don't ever get tired of how much those two genuinely loathe one another. there is smth beautiful about one part of my otp pretty much having it out for a character, who is canonically supposed to be the 'main' love interest for the other part of my ship. internalized jealousy is delicious.

that's bit aside, i do find crane n' selina's antagonistic relationships pretty entertaining in the void as well. they are both petty n' tend to take a lot of things personally, while dehumanizing others with ease. looking at selina n' jon side by side, their hatred toward one another makes a lot of sense. they are similar in certain *smaller* ways. selina might have not crossed the line n' becoming a murder, but in few versions, it came very close to it. or even come to it. not to mention, that while her own motivations are different from crane's, she also driven by her bitter life experience, when it comes to how she sees others n' how she acts. at times, she'd be doing shitty things just bc she felt like it. her sociopathy is latent in most cases, but it is there.

but regardless of complexity of all those themes, this whole thing was born only bc i found it funny how out of all things, selina n' jon had an argument about who get offs on fear harder lol. n' then, bc of how the very moment catwoman hallucinated batman, jonathan was literally almost in her face lol. listening to all those things with rapt attention.

as result, i ended up thinking about what if crane took selina's comment a bit too seriously. i imagine, he was sitting there trying to study what makes 'pervented' n' 'sexy'. but in like very nerdy way. drawing diagrams an' all.

the scarecrow historically has no impressive man bossom or ass, so he has to be clever about it. expose some skin, but like 'naugthy' bits. it helps that the way his costume is structured, fabric will always poof up a bit. so even his semi-muscular man pecs n' narrow hips can work too. an' then it should be short too. v-cut. n' stockings? yeah, sure. the greatest detective would take it upon himself to figure out what they're cliping to. an' what else is hidden underneath.

i still stan by my belief that jonathan can only be seductive or sexy by pure accident. but it is fun to think about how far he can go, if he's challenged n' his pettyness is what drives him to go out of comfort zone.

in general, i love how different this version of jonathan's costume is compared to his other looks. it's still classic, but so colorful an' whimsical. i wish he wore it at least one time in front of batman in canon. like come on, let my dude live out his goth fantasy. n' let bruce have some fun on his usually hard n' grim job.)

[mango-yoyo]

Okay so I don't know if you're up to it or if you've done this ship. But I'm curious to have your opinion on it. So for the ask ship game :

Max/Lewis (4434) does it make sense and does it compel you?

first of all: thank you for the ask!

second of all: i have a LOT of feelings about this ship, especially as a fan of both of them.

historically, lewis and max have not gotten along well, admittedly more so on lewis' side than max's. max came in as boy wonder in 2015, just in time to watch the dissolution of lewis' and nico's relationship. he was promoted to red bull as genuine, emerging star in 2016 while lewis was fighting for his life against his everything best friend, nico.

and he was good.

and lewis knew he was good.

there was no way in hell, after the shitshow that was 2016, that lewis was going to let it stand. i will freely admit to being a huge lh44 fan, but the dude refused to call max by his name for YEARS and called 'this guy' in front of fans. greatness recognizes greatness, and lewis took one look at max and had war flashbacks. but max's response to it is even more insane, if you ask me. you have lewis and nico and seb going full ham on max for a little friendly bullying, but max just takes it. he comes back for more.

also, the trope itself has so much potential. younger talented boy takes what he could've had, a new champion dethroning the old one, winning through one of the most controversial determining races in F1 history. 2021 alone is enough to write a dissertation about the complexities of their relationship, and they are actually so weird about each other.

but then the shift happened! lewis acknowledged max as one of the greats. not directly, perhaps, but it was enough. that shift from threat to still a threat but now there's mutual respect and even (dare i say it?) affection there. and the rivalry is still just as strong, but then we see the friendly interactions and camaraderie. i would hesitate to call them friends, maybe, but what would you call the bond between two stupidly powerful, batshit crazy titans but a form of love?

okay now i'm rambling, but they are just so neat. would i call them the best otp to ever otp? nope. but would i willingly read pairings of them? hell yeah.

final verdict: makes sense, compels me

ask game

[fathercharlesoffdensen]

My instinct regarding accusations of 'queerbaiting' is if a piece of media ultimately ends with the queer characters in question in an established relationship, it is not queerbaiting.

"The Finale" of What We Do in the Shadows, in its OG or 'sacred timeline' if you will, ends with Nandor not only assuring Guillermo that he has a place with the vampires (with him) regardless of his mortal status which is in line with Nandor's established love languages; and then, he invites Guillermo to sit in his coffin with him the way a couple might occupy a two-seater sweetheart sofa, and surprises him with the secret superhero lair that nobody thought he was serious about (one of the most delightful recurring tropes of the show imo). Even more obvious is the alternate universe ending supplied helpfully by Nadja's vampire hypnosis wherein a human Guillermo and Nandor are incontrovertibly gay married and in bed together. By all accounts, Nandermo is canon and married and a couple, et cetera, ad nauseum.

Still, for all of the quiet, soft moments between them across the past six seasons + all of their homoerotic fighting and such, it surprised me that the show sort of failed to "stick the landing," as Colin Robinson offers. I doubt anyone expected the flagrant homosexual dance between Blackbeard and Steed in Our Flag Means Death to be so romantically and exquisitely realized, and perhaps this set an impossible standard, but I can't help but wonder what ultimately accounted for the decision to soft shoe Nandermo into "The Finale" vs. allowing them to finally kiss and be married and co-plan the next Staten Island vampire orgy (because somehow they'd figure out how to make it work for Guillermo to be a vampire); essentially all of the 'boring' hallmarks that the final episode intentionally catalogued through meta fourth wall-breaking and that whose absence makes the cheeky nature of said cataloging kind of feel like whomever made the call to end the show as such is laughing at vs. with the fans.

Alas, "The Finale" feels a tad mean compared to the way similar OTP ships are dealt with in Taika media, and maybe it's simply that he wasn't directly involved and Paul Simms was feeling hounded and peckish. Given how antagonistic much of fandom's one-sided parasocial relationship with media makers can be - and unfortunately, be it borne from immaturity or malice or desperation to see a much-loved concept be realized, this is a huge issue among some Shadows fen - I wouldn't blame the writer(s) for going into "The Finale" at least somewhat embittered. Even so, I can't help but read some compromise and disappointment between the lines of a recent interview with Harvey Guillen regarding how Nandermo ends up:

I think that, for the longest time, when I started playing Guillermo, that was the idea behind the character was like, "Are they, will they, does he?" And I think, because they have a little bit of Stockholm Syndrome, you start feeling a little bit of a way, because the only thing you see in front of you becomes like this person you idolize. He really does idolize Nandor, and he really does want to be a great vampire like him one day. And I think, sometimes, those lines can get blurry. So, the way that Guillermo is, I always say, I walk him on a tightrope, and it's like if he falls one way, he could be in love, and if he falls the other way, it was admiration, it was just admiration for this person. And that's a nice tight rope, because it's such a balance that people are always asking, "Will they, won't they?" I think sometimes we have to normalize two male friends being really close and not making it sexual. I think that we don't do that in society. If we saw two best friends who are female holding hands on the playground, we'd be like, "Oh, my God, they're best friends." But if we see two boys holding hands on the playground, all of a sudden, "What are you guys doing? What are you guys doing? Separate them." Because that's not normal in society, that's not "normal," but it is, and it should be normalized, that we can have close friends and not be sexual, it doesn't have to be. We could have close, same-sex friends and do everything like in a relationship, go to movies, talk about your personal beliefs, your struggles, your life, crying on each other's shoulders, and not have to make it sexual. Because I think once we cross that line, people are like, "Well, you might as well be married, why don't you marry them?" And it's like, you don't have to marry them, you could be in love and have love for someone and not have to make it sexual. I think with these characters, we've done a really great job of keeping the audience on their toes of that. Now, will something happen this season that questions that even more, or makes them one way or the other? I guess you'll have to find out.

TL;DR: Optimistically, my 'ideal' ending that I've had lodged in my head for at least three seasons was not, in fact, realized on the small screen, and thus, I shall see you all over at AO3 and/or lurking in the show's Tumblr tags!

[multiverse--wanderer]

You Are My Quarter Mile | Dom x Brian (Fast and Furious) [ENG]

[Fan-fiction based on the OTP between Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Conner (Fast and Furious) With gasoline in their veins and living life on the road on the wrong side of the law, Dominic Toretto's life will take a complete turn with the arrival of Brian O'Conner. When the heart comes into play, there's no possible handbrake for the soul.

...

REMINDER:

This story has been written in Spanish, which is my native language. This story has been translated to the best of my ability, although it is possible that it may have mistakes.

This is just a way to transport my writing to a common language for the rest of fans like me. For a better immersion, I recommend reading the story in its original version.

You can find this story on Wattpad and Archive of Our Own.

Thank you so much for reading me and see you in the stars.

...

Chapter 3 - He owns you now

The morning sun warmed the asphalt in front of Dominic Toretto's shop, where engines roared and the smell of burnt oil and gasoline filled the air. Brian arrived driving an old van, its engine purring softly, with a trailer hitched behind. It had been a week since the last time they saw each other, a tense week after the events of that night when the lines between duty and loyalty began to blur. This time, Brian brought something special, although it didn't look like it at first glance.

In the trailer, a battered car swayed slightly with the bumps in the road. It was dented all over, covered in dirt, with no windows, and stains of grease and gasoline soaked into its chassis. Beneath the layer of dust, the red color tried to shine faintly, like a reminder of better times. The vehicle seemed more like a lost cause than a promise, but Brian wore a smile painted on his face, radiating an almost irritating confidence.

As he stopped in front of the shop, the team started to approach with curiosity and barely hidden amusement. Dominic came out after arguing with Mia about some bills, wearing his usual oil-stained white tank top and worn military sweatpants, wiping his hands with a rag he tossed aside without much ceremony. His gaze, stern and intense, quickly shifted to Brian, completely ignoring the car in the trailer.

—Great... —Dominic muttered as Brian hopped out of the driver's seat. With a mix of disbelief and mockery, he asked—, What the hell is this? What do you got there?

Brian's smile widened. His blue eyes, even brighter under the tan of his skin, sparkled with a mix of pride and defiance. Dominic couldn't help but notice the fresh scars peeking out from under the short sleeves of his shirt. Brian looked battered and yet strangely happy, as if he'd returned from a fight holding the trophy in his hand.

—This is your car. —Brian extended his hands toward the battered vehicle. Dom burst into a melodic laugh.

A deep, loud laugh that echoed through the shop. Johnny, who had come out behind him, walked up to the car and gave the hood a couple of sharp taps, which made it tremble under his hands as if it were about to crumble into sand.

—My car? I told you a ten-second car, beautiful, not a ten-minute one.

—This one crosses the finish line by pushing it. —Letty muttered, causing Mia to laugh.

—It won't even cross it being towed —Dominic added, though his eyes remained fixed on Brian, a mix of reproach and curiosity in his gaze.

Brian raised his eyebrows, still smiling, as if he were enjoying the others' disbelief.

—No faith?

Brian almost seemed offended, but his mischievous grin dispelled any doubts.

—Oh, I have faith in you, —Dominic replied, crossing his arms— but this isn't a junkyard, it's a garage.

—Alright. Pop the hood. —Brian ordered, moving toward the trailer to release the fastenings.

—Pop the hood?! —Johnny frowned, but couldn't resist the curiosity.

—Pop it and then tell me.

With effort, they took the car off the trailer and brought it into the shop. Under the lights of the lamps, the vehicle looked even worse, but Brian didn't seem concerned. He pointed at the hood, insisting. When they opened it, a murmur of surprise swept through the group. Under the dust and dirt, a perfectly preserved JZ-2 engine gleamed, a treasure buried in a rusted coffin.

—Shit... —Johnny whispered, wiping some parts of the engine with a rag to reveal the technical engravings. Dominic watched in silence—. JZ-2 engine... Damn...

—And what did I tell you? —Brian asked, with a triumphant smile, looking directly at Dominic.

—I retract my previous statement. —Dominic nodded, making a face.

—You know what? It'll beat everyone else after investing about 15,000 dollars in it, or even more if we urgently need to import parts. —Johnny said, tossing a rag over his shoulder.

—We'll put it on my tab at Harry's —Dom said—. We need you back in the race to make some money, Brian. —His voice softened slightly, though his gaze remained intense—. There's a challenge in the desert racing war. This car will be ready by then.

He smiled at him in a special, confident way. Mia, who was watching the scene, smiled to herself, understanding what that silent look meant to Dom.

Brian nodded, feeling a mix of pride and gratitude that he tried to hide behind his carefree smile. Dominic stepped closer, coming within inches of him, his presence imposing.

—I'll tell you what. —Dominic stopped near Brian's body, turning to face the rebellious driver's gaze. Brian felt pride as he sensed his approval, his attention focused on him. —When you're not working for Harry's, you're working here. If you can't find the right tool in this garage, Mr. Arizona... you don't belong near a car.

Brian held his gaze, not backing down, and nodded. There was something about Dominic's intensity that made him feel alive, like he was in the most dangerous race of his life. When Dominic stepped away, leaving a charged silence in his wake, Mia approached. With a knowing smile, she whispered in his ear:

—He owns you now.

The workshop was buzzing with activity. Amid laughter and technical discussions, everyone was collaborating to move the necessary parts to the work area, where the battered car would transform into a worthy racing contender. The engine, the shock absorbers, the brakes, and even the smallest components passed from hand to hand, while the tools resonated like a chaotic orchestra, accompanied by the unmistakable scent of grease and hot metal.

Brian, after making sure everything was in place, headed to Johnny's small office, a sort of technological sanctuary amidst the roar of the engines. The space was crowded with monitors, cables, and electronic parts scattered across the desk. A worn-out poster of a classic Formula 1 race hung on the wall, next to a bulletin board filled with diagrams and scribbled notes.

Johnny, who had already turned on his computer, smiled as Brian walked in. Silently, Brian pulled a small CD from his jacket pocket and inserted it into the computer's disc tray. The screen came to life with graphics and 3D models of the car, as if they were watching the dilapidated vehicle come back to life before their eyes.

—What do you think of this? —Johnny asked, pressing a key enthusiastically. The image of the car slowly rotated on the screen, showing the modifications he had in mind. "Adjustable shock absorbers—. They'll save us a kilo. —He smiled, proud of his technical precision—. And they'll give us better traction to secure the win.

Brian leaned toward the screen after sitting at a small wooden table behind Johnny, observing the details with interest. Johnny navigated through various schematics, pointing out key components and their proposed upgrades.

—Okay, this is the basic design of the car. —Johnny explained, as a simpler image of the vehicle appeared on the screen. He pressed another key, and the image changed, showing a much more streamlined and aerodynamic version—. And this is the design it could have once it's finished. The colors can be changed.

Brian let out a low whistle, impressed by the level of detail and Johnny's creative vision.

—You should go to a specialized university. —He said, looking at him in amazement.

Johnny laughed, leaning back in his swivel chair as if the idea were a recurring joke.

—Yeah, I should... —he admitted, with a nostalgic smile that quickly turned pensive—. But I have that... what's it called? Attention deficit...

—ADHD? —Brian asked, raising an eyebrow.

—That! —Johnny exclaimed, laughing lightly—. That damn thing. It's always messed with my focus. Look, I was good at math, especially algebra. I could solve anything they put in front of me. But everything else... I failed. History, English, even science. I dropped out when I was, I don't know... fifteen or sixteen.

He paused, staring at the computer screen as if he were seeing something beyond the graphics. His fingers drummed involuntarily on the table.

—I don't know... Motors have something that calms me down. —He whispered, more to himself than to Brian—. You know? It's like everything clicks. When I look at an engine, there's no chaos, no noise. It's pure math. Every piece has a place, a purpose. I like that.

Brian watched him closely, sensing the genuine passion in Johnny's words. There was something in that confession that felt familiar, something that resonated with his own relationship with cars and racing.

—Yeah, I get it —he said finally—. It's like being in a race. Everything is clear. Nothing matters more than the next second.

Johnny nodded, smiling. Then, he turned his attention back to the computer, moving the mouse to make adjustments to the design.

—Well, genius —Brian said after a moment, getting up from his seat and giving Johnny's shoulders a couple of pats—. Tell me what you need to turn this from just a pretty drawing into a reality.

...

CONTINUE READING THE FULL CHAPTER HERE:

[surfinminho]

Kinktober day 9- Age gap w/ Felix

⤷ warnings: fem!reader, dom!Felix, unprotected sex, oral(m), cumming in mouth, sex while otp(?)

⤷ word count: 1,38k

⤷Taglist : @greysweaters-blog @hannie-bees @ashydoinwhat @chansbabygirlsstuff @hiddlestandom @stanskzsstuff @mal-lunar-28 @leeracha @linos-kitten @bonateukna @ihrtlix

⤷ permanent taglist: @iadorethemskz

*please dm me if you want to be added or removed from the taglist.*

(Reader is 22 Felix is 34)

this was wrong, you knew it but you couldn't help it. He was the CEO of some big company and you were simply a secretary.its not ideal for you to date the "big guy" of the company. If anyone found out you were at high risk to lose your job.

It was almost like a ritual, every year the company would have something like a party to celebrate all the achievements and new workers for that year. You were supposed to start working the next day yet still being invited to go. What's the harm in going?  The email you got said your boss is 'Mr.Lee'. You've heard not alot of people get to even see him let alone work alongside him. You were estatic to say the least.

When you get to the place, it was packed. You maneuver your way through the abundance of people towards a seat in the corner, you weren't much of a talkative or outgoing person so sitting in the corner on your phone was perfect for you.

Towards the end of the night, you find yourself in the hallway pressed up against the wall, felix kissing you like he's never kissed anyone before.

When you walked into a hallway, getting lost. Maybe it was because you had one to many drinks to have or maybe you just need some dick. You turned the corner to see a man, couldn't be older than 35 leaning against the wall legs crossed and his phone in his hand. When you look closer you realize it's the CEO, lee Felix. Besides the meeting you had with him a few weeks ago, you never really met him or officially "met".

He looks up from his phone when he heard footsteps. "Ah, __! Nice to see you again." He held out his hand to meet yours, keeping a firm grip on your palms.

"How do you like this so far?" He puts away his phone walking towards you.

"Oh! It's great, though I'm not one to, put myself out there you know?" You laugh at him before trying to get to your destination.

As soon as you take a step his hand stops you "I want to properly talk to you, like a conversation." he smiles, lighting dragging you back towards the wall he was leaning on.

You guys ended up talking for God knows how long. Talking about any random thing that comes to mind.

You come to find out that he's a really sweet person. Talking about his other friends who work in different departments, and stuff he does for his sister's. He was such a gentleman.

"You're such a pretty girl __, did you know?"

"I am?" You cock an eyebrow, confused at the sudden statement.

"Prettiest girl I've ever seen" he leans in, head tucked into your neck. With every breath he takes you feel the hairs on you back rise. You try and ease away from the situation, but with no where to move hence your back against wall. You find him gorgeous, obviously. He looks like a fucking angel in all the photos you see, nonetheless when his front is pressed up against yours.

"This dress is gorgeous on you, where'd you get it?" His voice drops an octive, rubbing you sides.

"Oh, it's a gift! I almost feel bad since it's a really expensive brand." It was a gift, so you didn't lie. From your friend you happens to model. They received a dress but it was the wrong size, leading them to give the dress to you.

"Really now? What brand baby" he cups your ass over the dress.

"Louis Vuitton" you look around to see if anybody is near or passing by.

"Let me buy you every dress in this color."

The statement caught you odd guard. Buy you stuff? Your friend never told you what the price of the dress was, in the hopes that you wouldn't return it. But you found it anyway, the price shocking you. 1 million dollars. You wouldn't have taken it if you knew. So having him say that he wants to buy you more?

"No, there's no need really!" You laugh trying to avoid to conversation.

"But I want to. C'mon let me spoil you."

__________________________________________

You found yourself inbetween his legs making out with him. You didn't want to let him buy you things, but you couldn't help but stay with him. Not because of his money, but because of his personality. He was a sweet soul, always being a gentleman. You like to think him giving you stuff is just a extra.

"let me please you" he whispers inbetween kisses, slipping down your straps of your tank top.

"I- we have work in like 30 minutes, w-we can't?"

"We shouldn't." He corrected "but I want to. Please baby? I'll call out sick for both of us" you wanted to, but you felt guilty for keeping him from his job.

"Okay."

He starts pulling down your pants, keeping your panties on.

He traces his thumb over the wet patch forming on your panties.

"Such a naughty girl. Getting this wet because of what? Some kissing? Pathetic."

He goes back to kissing your neck, going downwards until he reaches your breasts.

Your breath hitches,  waiting for him to do something.

He doesn't pull the loose fitted clothing off, instead sucking on whatever was available.

He pulls down his pants with one hand, other hand hold you still.

He pulls his pants and boxers down just enough to free his cock.

He nudges the tip on your clit trying to make you moan.

"I'm gonna give you the phone. Call and say you wont be available to come into work today."

You looked at him like you were seeing double. "You're joking?" You try to get him to laugh or even let out a little giggle but you get nothing.

"Do I look like I'm joking? Call them now." He's rubbing tip slowly along your folds.

"Im waiting I dont have all day."

You dial the number waiting for the person on the other end answers. As soon as they pick up Felix thrusts all the way into you.

He leans forward, elbows balancing up.

"Put it on speaker"

You remove the phone from your ear and put it on speaker, resting it on your side.

"H-Hello, yes good morning"

The other person on the line seems to be too happy for their own good.

"Good morning! How are you today" you can tell there is a smile lacing their face.

As soon as you begin to speak, his thrusts begin to quicken in pace. Hips barely meeting your thighs.

"A-ah yes about that, I am not feeling w-well today so I won't be able to make it fuck" he brings his hands to start rubbing figure 8s on your clit

"Sorry, what was that last part?"

"N-nothing!"

"Hm, okay. Well hope you feel better. Have a nice d-."

You didn't even wait for them to finish their statement, hanging up the phone immediately.

"Maybe kitten needs a reward. Did so good following directions right?"

"Y-yes please." you whine, trying to get him to move faster.

He flips you over, grabbing your hips before he starts to pound into you.

"S-such a tight fucking pussy. Only for me right?"

You nod Into the bedsheets unable to say anything.

"Words kitten"

'y- a-ah shit" he reaches over to your breasts, pinching your nipples.

"Baby, you're cumming, how can I move when you're clenching down on me like that" he grabs your hips pushing them off of his cock.

"Wanna cum in your mouth"

He proceeds to manhandle your body to get you in a kneeling position.

"Open." You stick your tongue out, waiting for him to feed you his cock.

He slides only the tip in when he starts jerking it off.

"Such a good girl hm? Making me use your holes like these"

You looked up at him and started to gently suckle on the tip.

"s-shit gonna cum in your mouth. You want it right."

You tried to nod your head but he shoves his cock down your throat.

"Then fucking take it"

[cameliawrites]

Kanej Fic Recs: The "Figuring Out Intimacy" Trope

If you're anything like me, you're a glutton for very specific fic tropes applied to your very favorite OTPs (and we all know my OTP of OTPs is kanej). To this end, ao3 tags are your best friend. When you see that delicious combination of tags like "emotional hurt/comfort" and "healing" and "pining" with some sort of moody, vaguely poetic title, that's the good shit right there. That is a MEAL, and you are about to feast.

Anyways. I'm getting off track.

I come to you today with more than just an offering to the potluck; I am here to open up the doors to the whole damn buffet. That's right - FIC RECS. Specifically, fic recs that scratch the particular itch for "post-canon fics where Kaz and Inej figure out how to touch each other, but really the Physical Armor is always symbolic of the Emotional Armor that they have to learn to lower if they hope to ever really Be Together." Do you know what I'm talking about? If you know, you know. It's kanej figuring out intimacy. It's touch, but it's about the way they touch each other's souls. It's a fandom-classic fic trope. FEAST AWAY. (And feel free to reblog and add any of your own favorites! This is certainly not an exhaustive list, just some favorites of mine that fit the bill.)

They're all complete, they're all canon compliant (I had to set some limitations because my list was getting out of hand lol), and they're listed in order of rating (T, M, etc.), but otherwise they're in no particular order, and the summaries and/or most of the excerpts are those provided by the authors on ao3!

Can We Stop? by thegoldenkneazle (Rated G, 220 words, drabble)

Excerpt:

Kaz immediately drew back, rolling over onto his side of the creaky bed to create space between them. “Are you okay?” he asked, dark eyebrows drawing together.

Every Time We Touch by Pokemon67 (Rated G, 1k words, oneshot)

Summary: "Inej hadn't been exaggerating. It wasn’t easy for her either."

Excerpt:

She couldn’t quite recall how they’d ended up here, in Kaz’s room, on his bed. She was perched on his legs, right in front of him, and if she raised her head she could look into his eyes count the little flecks of gold the light always teased to her were there. 

Uncharted Waters by insignificant457 (Rated T, 5k words, oneshot)

Summary: "One step on the long and winding road to intimacy."

Excerpt:

Perhaps Inej should be insulted that she’s been penciled into Kaz’s schedule, fit snugly in between a Crow Club shareholders’ meeting and a parley with the Liddies, but when it comes to taking steps forward in their relationship, romantic spontaneity is not exactly something they can afford.

Council of the Tides by blacktag189 (Rated T, 15k words, multichap)

Excerpt:

With each tiny step forward they made, the urgency to be pulled out to sea still built. She couldn't ignore the brutal truth in that - that no matter how much he gave her here...one day everything would align just right and she would leave. But today wasn't that day.

Discover the Rest by Silver_89 (Rated T, 4k words, oneshot) (note: restricted to ao3 account holders)

Summary: "Post Crooked Kingdom fic where Kaz and Inej have made some progress with touch but touch is not the only progress Inej wants to see from him. She wants to know him too."

Excerpt:

Inej didn’t share much about her time at the Menagerie...And yet she had shared that she struggled with touch too. He understood why. But she didn’t know why he was the same. I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all. It was time he tried taking it off.

All Flowers in Time (Bend Towards the Sun) by laurie_ipsum (Rated M, 10k words, multichap)

Summary: "Does this fandom need yet another Kaz and Inej figure out intimacy fic? Probably not, but I did it anyway."

Excerpt:

Kaz wants all his firsts. It’s written in his eyes, on his face, in every line of his body. She can tell it terrifies him. It terrifies her, too.

One Thousand and One Nights by Trogdor19 (Rated M, 11k words, multichap)

Summary: "One new touch, every night…"

Excerpt:

He dips his head, his cheekbone brushing against hers so quietly it’s like the way she moves. So silkily between shadows no one’s ever quite sure it happened. 'Wait for me,' he breathes. The letters barely given enough air to shape them.

The Trouble With Wanting by A_nonnie_mouse (Rated M, 6k words, oneshot, part of a series)

Summary: "Inej begins to reckon with her own armor so she can have what, and who, she wants."

Excerpt:

“Kaz.” She was frustrated at his self-deprecation. “Please understand. My mind wants you. My heart longs for you. My body…” She struggled for words, the shame rising again, threatening her eyes with tears. “My body isn’t entirely convinced something horrible isn’t going to happen again. This wasn’t because of you. You understand that, don’t you?” 

show me where my armor ends (show me where my skin begins) by kingsandqueensofthebarrel (Rated M, 25k words, oneshot)

Excerpt:

“You’re something I want, Wraith,” he says, his tone all business like. “And I don’t stop until I have what I want.” “That could have sounded romantic.” “It’s a fact.” She hums and squeezes his hand.

collision course by cameliawrites (Rated M, 10k words, oneshot) (shameless self-promotion)

Excerpt:

Inej adjusts to Kaz the way that winter adjusts to spring: she thaws, and thaws, and thaws—and then she utterly melts.

you're a bandit like me, eyes full of stars by sarathedreamer (Rated M, 54k words, multichap, part of a series)

Summary: "Kaz and Inej learning to be with one another after Crooked Kingdom (events in Rule of Wolves might be mentioned in later chapters but you'll be warned!) Basically a slow burn filled with angst and fluff, and little plot :)"

Excerpt:

She blushed and felt a smile tug at her lips, so she looked down at his hand, held up in front of her like an invitation. His fingers were barely shaking. Inej looked back up at his eyes, asking a silent question once more, and Kaz nodded after a short hesitation. She gently cupped his hand in hers, fascinated by the softness of it, by the way two of hers were not quite enough to hold one of his. No one but she could know how graceful Dirtyhands’ weapons were under his gloves, and that was another one of his secrets she would gladly keep close to her chest.

Things We Can Never Do by rainstormdragon (Rated E, 3k words, oneshot, part of a series)

Excerpt:

They had done this before more than once. First words, then their hands on their own bodies. Gasped encouragement and shared fantasies. “Tell me what you’d want to do,” he urged her, not moving even a hair’s breadth toward her, giving her the safety of the space between them. “Tell me what you’d want me to do.”

Closer by lilieswho (Rated E, 7k words, oneshot)

Excerpt:

There is a deep desire crawling under Inej’s skin. It’s a feeling she’s begun to grow used to by now — the feeling of wanting someone, wishing for their touch and hoping they wish for hers back. Not someone’s, no. Kaz’s.

If you've made it all the way to the end of this rec list (hi!! thanks!), you should absolutely reply to or reblog this post with your favorite "kanej figure out intimacy" fic, whether it's on this list or something else! :) Support your local organic pasture-raised fic authors, etc. etc.

[yourcousin-vinny]

I have moar questions for the OTP + CHARACTER ASK because I really wanna pick your brain (only if you want!!). So: 16, 18 and 19 C:

bestie, i love when people pick my brain.

16 - covers

This one is so straightforward to me. Zeb is covered in fur and rarely needs covers (until Hoth). Kallus has minimal fur and frequently feels like the chill never left him after Bahryn (this I think is why he's still wearing a quilted jacket on the humid rainforest that is Yavin IV). It's less that Kallus hogs the covers and more that Zeb gives them to him and then wraps around him too (until Hoth, when Zeb valiantly tries to steal some back, or at least cuddle close enough to Kal that they can reasonably share the covers).

18 - drunk

They're both big lads so I think they both have a pretty high tolerance for how much alcohol they can consume. Where they differ is Zeb still has a few stone on Kallus, so he can drink more without feeling it as much, but Kallus is also incredible at still appearing sober when he's deep into his cups. Kal started drinking early and his time rising through ISB meant he got really good at lying, so if you aren't super close with him you may not even realize the glass in front of him is number 4 and not him still nursing the first one. But those who are close to him, namely Zeb but the rest of the Ghost crew too, can pick up on little tells. He laughs a bit more freely, he's even snarkier than usual, sometimes he gets flushed. Because he's an adult, he knows not to get into the rowdy shenanigans he used to as a teen, but sometimes there's a glint in his eye and he gets tempted to pickpocket or climb the side of the temple or drag Zeb to dance with him (see: makeout on the dance floor). If he's playing sabacc, though, he lets his opponents think he's way more drunk than he is and swindles them out of their credits.

Zeb gets more outgoing and gregarious, which is a freedom that comes with joining the Rebellion and having a relatively safe home base. Every time he's drunk he makes new friends, and for a lot of those new friends it's the first time they see Zeb as someone who's approachable and not scary. He's relaxed and has his arms draped over the back of the booth, but when the mood strikes him he can get rowdy and wrastle with people. He never starts a fight though.

The two of them drinking together is honestly not much different than them relaxing at other times. They're old men (by Rebellion nightlife standards); they aren't trying to give themselves hangovers tomorrow. But they will sit shoulder-to-shoulder for an entire night, having quiet side conversations and making the rest of their table think they're already together when neither of them has as much as thought about it.

When only one has been drinking, both have been known to fireman carry the other back to their bunk.

19 - fights

Before they're together, it's really small stuff mostly (I know you used my repair kit, now where did you karking put it), but sometimes it's really big stuff, along the lines of who is allowed to forgive whom and for what. Kallus doesn't feel worthy of Zeb's forgiveness for Lasan; Zeb doesn't feel worthy of Kallus' forgiveness for not getting him off the Chimaera sooner. But they work through it. They talk to each other, even if they go in circles for a while, and they trust each other.

They're later fights are even more hypocritical. They always yell at each other when there was a close call or when one of them did something reckless, even though they both know they would've done the same thing if it meant saving the rest of the ship or not sacrificing the mission. Oooohhh but these can be knock down drag out fights. They say horrible things to each other because they know each other so well and know their pressure points, then immediately regret it. These fights don't happen often, but they require a cool-off period. Zeb stays with Hera, Kallus stays with Cassian or Sabine if she has her own quarters. But even after a fight like this, they still can talk it out and repair it.

On Lira San, the fights go back to "where did you put the damn vegetable peeler."

[silme-lorien]

Saruman for the character ask meme

😭 thank you !

How I feel about this character:

i mean . he is pretty bad. but honestly he’s a really good bad guy! i love the thing with him being a traitor twice over and joining the side that he was literally sent to arda to help destroy, it’s such an interesting plot point. and he doesn’t fit the stereotype of every other evil character in tolkien! he is saruman the white/of many colors! every other character that is evil is mostly portrayed as having a lot of dark imagery but saruman as a person is usually dressed in white or his shimmering robes, only his actions are given the dark/fire imagery

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

honestly none but him and gandalf fully had a thing back when they were first sent to arda (also elrond if you know you know)

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

the only 2 i can think of are grima and sauron 😭 i like his weird little friendship thing with grima i think its terrible

My unpopular opinion about this character:

honestly he should have gotten more screen/book time. i like his presence, it’s very entertaining. he’s barely in the books of course because the only way we really hear about him is through secondhand accounts and that one time the three hunters saw a ghost and convinced themselves it was him, up until the scouring of the shire, so i think he should have had more time.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

i think he has a pretty good canon, especially the whole dissolving-on-frodos-front-lawn-vampire-in-the-sun-style, maybe i just wish he had done more weird shit. like let him have a slow descent into madness. i wanna see this man spiraling

[heykoonsy]

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Teaser post for SoulHate!, a Klance Soulmate!AU I started writing back when Voltron: Legendary Defender first graced Netflix in 2016. To be honest, I never thought this fic would see the light of day since I dropped it after inspiration left me. But, I am currently experiencing a renaissance with my writing and falling back in love with my craft. Writing used to be one of my favorite hobbies and somewhere along the way I forgot that. Now, I am determined to see these nameless fanfictions within my drafts through to the end. The first to get such treatment is SoulHate!, but believe me, there is more to come. 

This post will provide you with a lot of insight into this world I’ve created for our favorite red/blue pair. You’ll learn about the rules of the universe and what challenges await our characters. Of course, it wouldn’t be a teaser if I didn’t include a small excerpt from the fic itself so I’ve tucked that below as well! I’ve also included when you can read more, because honey, I am done with more than half of the story already and I want you to see it!

ABOUT THE WORLD

SoulHate! is a first-words-tattoo soulmate AU. If that doesn’t make sense, I understand! When Soulmate!AU’s first started to circulate tumblr the rules were vast and ever changing. With this particular AU, I thought soulmates were great, BUT what if we added some extra spice. This spice included soul tattoos, which branded our OTP upon puberty. The soul tattoo, instead of being a piece of art, would instead be the first words their soulmate would ever speak to them. The soul tattoo would vary depending on location, font, and size. Also another tidbit–they hurt. The soul tie that binds our pair will reflect pain onto their other half from any number of stressors. 

If it doesn’t make much sense here, that is perfectly fine! Everything will be revealed organically as the story goes on. Oh, and here’s your warning: SoulHate! is as Slow Burn as they come. If you’re here for a quick Soulmate fix, you have scrolled too far. BUT, if you are strong enough to last on Klance crumbs alone on our way to the wicked witch’s house, then look no further. This budding romance between enemies will make you laugh and warm your heart all at the same time.

EXCERPT FROM THE WORK

Lance looked outside where his eyes caught a large truck moving slowly down the street. He saw brake lights—but by the time it left his vision, there was steam in his face. Lance rinsed off the sauce and lathered it up with a bead of dish soap. Once he was finished he did the same with the fork he used and put them both in the drying rack. Two minutes of his life—wasted. Now that he was fed—it was time to find his phone. The last time he remembered having it was on his way home from shopping earlier today. He was Googling the name of a new song for his mom. After that? Nothing. So it was probably somewhere stupid like in the side door or stuck underneath the seat. Lance walked out of the kitchen and gave the front door a wide berth. That end table wasn’t going to get him a second time. He looked around for the key dish—a weird upside down seashell decoration that his mom kept from the beach she and dad were married on. There was a key to the house, a key to his dad’s car, and of course, right at the bottom of all the junk in there, were his mother’s car keys. Before opening the door—Lance looked at the state of himself.

Wrinkled jeans, a navy blue T-shirt, gray socks. He basically took off his shoes and took a pain-induced nap…coma…something to that effect. Either way, Lance opened the front door and walked out onto the cement driveway. Upon noticing the chill, he made his way quickly to the passenger side door. When he opened it he saw a charging cord, the thermoses his mother packed for their day trip and…a whole lot of not-his-phone. He checked underneath the seat next and started patting around his back pocket for his phone to open up the flashlight feature. He felt like a primitive being standing there in the dark, hands blindly searching for a device with a built in light. When that yielded no results, he opened the back door and climbed in. Maybe it could have slid when they parked?

Lance looked down under the seats and found one, his phone and two, a forgotten bag of fruit. It must have rolled. Lance pocketed his phone and pulled the plastic bag of apples up onto the seat. He looked outside the car window for a moment. That truck from earlier was parked in front of that house with the SOLD sign displayed. There was a green Subaru hitched to the back of the moving truck. A navy blue Ford truck was already filling the cracked driveway. Lance narrowed his eyes as someone got out of the Ford. Who in their right mind moved in this late? Lance shrugged it off and pocketed his phone. He gripped the bag of apples tightly. Now to get these bad boys inside. Lance picked up the bag and threw it over his shoulder. And only when he did that did he notice the tear in the bag. Lance dropped the bag and looked around—one, two…he counted four apples rolling their way to freedom. Lance ran after them as they traveled down the slope of his neighborhood. Of course this would happen to him. In his good socks. On a chilly night. When people were around to see him.

Lance caught up to two apples, which were caught in someone’s uneven lawn. He picked them up and looked around quickly. The third one disappeared—probably rolled off the curb and into a storm drain. But the fourth one was the fastest. It had already made its way to the moving truck by the time he got halfway down the street. He booked it, all the time wondering if one measly apple was really worth all this strife. He could feel the thunder of his footsteps, the sound of his breathing, could see something in his peripheral—

WHAM!

Lance hit the concrete so hard the wind got knocked out of him. Not only that, but he could feel the telltale burning sensation of a scrape on his elbow and right ankle. Like he’d skidded a little on the way down. Not to mention the almost heartbeat like thump in his chin—like he’d been punched.

Lance opened his eyes, and they immediately locked onto…a head of black hair. Lance looked around them where cardboard boxes, a cell phone, and a pair of earbuds were spread around their crash site. He hadn’t even seen the guy, where did he come from?

Lance could have sworn he heard something come from below.

“What?” Lance said, breathlessly.

“I said, ‘Ouch, my fucking head.’”

Lance’s eyes went wide and his heart sank. He crawled backwards and tripped over himself to get back onto his feet. He needed to get out of there. Now. But his legs couldn’t carry him fast enough—it was like he was running in a dream. He felt his heartbeat in his chest, the cold sweat forming on his neck, and every panicked breath from his mouth. When he got to his mother’s car, he grabbed the half-empty bag of apples and slammed the front door behind him. If he woke someone up, oh well. Lance booked it to his bedroom after dropping the apples on the floor. When he closed the door behind him he was able to breathe.

Until he looked down at his soul tattoo…

Nothing.

Lance patted his jeans, prodding the tattoo on his hip hoping that it would start up again. Hoping that the unbearable pain would return.

But it didn’t. 

WHEN TO EXPECT MORE

I had planned on finishing the series before posting the first chapter–but I am too excited to keep everything to myself. I will be posting the first chapter of SoulHate! next Saturday!

[jazzystudios82]

Diabolik Lovers: An Angel's Embrace AU Shorts #1 - The Songbird meets the Vampire King ♡

DL OTP Prompt #1: Meet Cute | Meet Ugly

meet-cute: a cute, charming, or amusing first encounter between romantic partners (as in a movie)

This short is based on the 1st prompt made by @yuriko-mukami for the 2024 DL OTP Challenge they're hosting. The ship I'm using for this is an OC x Canon pairing that I made for the AU "An Angel's Embrace": Angelica Amor x Karlheinz Sakamaki.

Though I have to admit, this probably will steer more towards the "meet ugly" side of the prompt depending on how this goes.

WARNING: Diabolik Lovers is a dark series with mature themes and topics. Discretion is advised. . . .

——————————————————————————

The Demon Realm. . . .

"Why the long face, sis?" Angelica's younger brother, Camilo, asked. Angelica looked at her younger brother with a rather dejected expression. "It's nothing, Camilo." she replied.

"The look on your face doesn't look like you're thinking about 'nothing', Angie." her youngest brother, the more mature and stoic Victor, said as he looked up from his book. "Are you not happy with the fact that Lady Christa is marrying Lord Karlheinz because he's. . .well, you know."

Angelica knew what Victor was referring to. It wasn't uncommon for demons to marry within their own family. Several of them did it, so it wasn't a surprise that Christa was marrying her older cousin, the infamous Vampire King Karlheinz Sakamaki.

Now while this was something that Angelica herself didn't like, it wasn't what was making her, in her brothers' words, "sullen".

"Honestly, I couldn't care less." she said, looking outside the carriage window to see if they were getting closer to the Sakamaki Castle. So far, they seemed to still be a good distance away.

"Really? Then is it because Wolfgang couldn't come with us to the wedding?"

". . . .I-"

"Don't lie." Victor interrupted. "It's beneath you."

Camilo roughly hit Victor with his elbow, causing the light pink haired male to look at his brother with distaste. "Camilo-"

"Oi, be nicer, alright?" Camilo told him, then added in a hushed whisper, "That's her husband you're talking about, remember."

". . . .Why are you acting like I've lost my memory about our brother-in-law?"

"I'm not-"

"Fine, I'll admit it. Especially if it gets you two to be quiet." Angelica interrupted, getting her brother's attention. "I do wish that he was here. I mean, it would be like a little reunion between the three of us." she revealed.

"Hmm, I guess that makes sense." Camilo said.

"Indeed." Victor added. "The three of you were close during our school years at Nevermore. In fact, if I remember correctly, she's the one to have introduced you two to each other. But I think that there's no need for you to be so worried. Wolfgang just needed to take care of something for his father, so he should make it in time."

"Vic's right Angie, there's no need to be so sad." Camilo said, trying to raise his sister's morale. "Knowing your husband, he'll be there in no time."

As she continued to look out the window, Angelica saw that they were now getting closer to the Vampire King's castle, where she noticed several other fancy carriages varying in colors at the front entrance. As a footman arrived at Angelica's side of the carriage, he opened the door and helped the silver eyed woman and her brothers out.

"Lady Angelica of the Amor family?" the footman asked. "Yes? Do you need something from me?" Angelica asked as her brothers were getting out of the carriage.

"Lady Christa has informed me that you and your family are to be seated with near the front with her and Lord Karlheinz's family. Please follow me."

.

.

.

.

The Sakamaki Castle, the Royal Gardens. . . .

"This is where Lady Christa wants to have you seated." the footman said, gesturing to the pristine seats that were saved for Angelica and her family, most of whom aren't at the wedding yet.

"Well, thank you good sir for saving these for us." Angelica said with a smile. She was unaware that the footman had blushed at the smile she gave him.

"Y-you're. . . .You're welcome, Lady Amor." he said with a light stutter. "If you and your brothers need anything, please let me or the head butler know."

Angelica nodded her head and went to go find Christa while her brothers stayed behind to interact with some of the other guests. She wanted to give her friend a little gift that she made for her before the wedding started, as it was something of a personal matter for her. She then used her magic to summon the gift, which was a small box wrapped in white wrapping paper and topped with a cute little rose red bow.

As Angelica walked through the castle's gardens, she overheard what sounded like a couple bickering with one another, though it seemed like who the feminine voice belonged to was doing most of it. Now Angelica didn't want to snoop on the couple, as it was unbecoming and rude for a woman to do such a thing: at least, that's what her mother used to tell her when she was younger.

However, the silver eyed woman stopped in her tracks when she heard Christa's name being mentioned. "?" Curiosity overcame her, which made Angelica hide herself behind the rose bushes and stayed as quiet as a mouse to listen to the conversation.

"I can't believe you Karl! It's bad enough that you took that plain woman as your second wife, but Christa?! Are you kidding me?!" the woman shouted in a shrill voice. "Now Cordelia, you know that I had no other choice." the man said, calm and collected. "Christa's parents and mine always did want us to be together, and it could help me with my current. . . .situation."

Angelica immediately tensed when she realized who they were. Karlheinz and Cordelia Sakamaki?! If she was caught listening to them, who knows what they'd do to her.

"NO OTHER CHOICE?! You-"

Not wanting to be caught, Angelica immediately snuck away from the still arguing couple, hoping that their argument would keep them distracted long enough for her to make her escape.

Though Cordelia didn't notice her at all, it appeared that a certain golden eyed vampire did.

.

.

.

.

As soon as she realized that she was far away, Angelica had stopped to rest as her poor feet were sore, it didn't help that she wore those stupid heels her aunt got her specifically for Christa's wedding. Angelica didn't mind wearing heels, she just hated that these particular ones dug into her skin when she ran.

'Maldicen estos estúpidos tacones!' Angelica thought as she sat down on a stone bench and took off her heels so her feet could rest, making her release a sigh of relief.

However, before she could have a chance to relax, Angelica immediately stiffened when she heard a now familiar voice say, "Ah, so this is where you went to."

"!"

Angelica turned her head to the direction where she heard the voice, and saw that it was none other than Christa's fiancé, Karlheinz. The pink haired woman immediately tried to get up and give him a proper curtsy. "Y-Your Majesty-"

"Now now, there's no need for that, my dear." Karlheinz said, his voice deep and suave. His golden eyes looked down at her feet and an expression that resembled concern appeared on his handsome features. "Oh my, those heels truly must have done a number on your poor feet."

Angelica immediately got embarrassed and quickly grabbed her shoes and put them back on, wincing at the pain that returned. "I'm so sorry! I-" "It's fine, my dear." Karlheinz interrupted. "I don't mind. After all, I could smell your blood from the cuts on your feet."

Angelica was, for a moment, rather speechless. How was she supposed to respond to that?

"Oh. . . .I-"

"Now, is there a reason why you're in my garden and not with the rest of the guests?"

Angelica, after taking in a deep breath, summoned the present for her friend, the reason she was in the gardens in the first place. "What is that?" Karlheinz asked as his eyes laid on the small box. "This is a gift for Christa, Your Majesty." Angelica explained.

"A gift? And you couldn't have left it with the others because. . . .?"

Angelica had gotten rather embarrassed, but decided to just get it over with. After all, Karlheinz is Christa's fiancé after all, so it shouldn't be a big deal telling him this, right?

"It's. . . .it's a replacement of an old item of hers that she lost during our school days." Angelica revealed.

"?" Karlheinz waited for her to explain further, which Angelica did. "When we were roommates, Christa had this rose pendant that she wore all the time. It was one of her most treasured items," Angelica said, a small smile appearing on her face as she remembered their time at the academy.

"Unfortunately, she lost it right before our class graduation. I remember how saddened she was, the poor thing. Luckily, It was rather easy for me to recreate, since the design was easy to remember and the materials weren't difficult to find."

When Angelica looked up from the gift box and back at Karlheinz, and was surprised to see that the Vampire King had a small look of shock on his face. "Your Majesty? Are you alright?"

"I. . . .I'm fine, my dear it's just. . . .it's rather uncommon for a demon to show such human emotions." was Karlheinz's response.

"Oh. . .well, I suppose you can thank my father for that. He's a human." Angelica told him.

"?!"

The revelation was very much shocking for the Vampire King, Angelica could tell that much. After all, it was practically unheard of for a demon to be raised by a human in Eden.

"You were. . . .hold on a second. Tell me, were you a student at Nevermore Academy?" Karlheinz questioned.

"Yes, I was." Angelica answered, a little confused. What did this have to do with what she told him?

"Then. . . .are you by any chance An-"

"Angelica? Are you here?" a soft feminine voice called out. A familiar one at that.

Christa emerged from the shadows, wearing an extravagant white silk dress that seemed to be encrusted with rubies and pearls, a matching necklace and earrings, white heels, and a white lace veil.

But what truly caught Angelica's attention was that right next to Christa was a large human-sized wolf with royal blue fur. Angelica, however, wasn't afraid of the wolf, as she knew who the wolf was. In fact, she was actually quite happy to see him.

"Wolfgang!"

The green eyed wolf's ears perked up, and he immediately ran up towards Angelica, shifting from wolf into man in the process.

"Mein Engel!" Wolfgang exclaimed, embracing Angelica. "It's so good to see you again!"

"I'm happy to see you too, Wolfie," Angelica said. As soon as he released her from his embrace, Angelica noticed that Karlheinz and Christa were both staring at them, though the two white haired vampires had different reactions.

Christa was looking at them with an adoring expression while Karlheinz simply looked confused. "Oh, my apologies, Your Majesty." Angelica said, an embarrassed look on her face. "This is my husband, Wolfgang. He's the son of Lord Gottfried."

"Ah, I see." Karlheinz said, the confusion now gone. "I remember seeing you at my meetings with the other clan leaders, though if I remember correctly, you were much smaller then."

"Oh, well I-"

"Angie? What's that in your hand?" Christa asked, hoping that she had prevented things from getting awkward between her fiancé and Angelica's husband.

"Oh! It's a gift that I wanted to give to you," Angelica said. The pink haired woman walked up to the blushing bride and gifted her the small box. Christa opened it and gasped when she saw what the box was containing. "Angie, how did you- -I thought I lost it!" Christa said, doing her best not to tear up.

"Well, I couldn't locate the original, so I had to create a new one from scratch." Angelica explained. "Do you like it?" "Like it? Angie, I love it!" Christa exclaimed as she embraced her silver eyed friend. "Thank you so much!" Angelica smiled as she returned her friend's hug. "You're welcome, Christa."

As the two women let each other go, they both failed to notice that Karlheinz was staring at the two. Well, at Angelica, to be accurate. This continued up until Wolfgang reminded everyone to head back to the wedding so the ceremony could begin.

Even when he and Christa recited their vows, the older male couldn't get the pink haired woman out of his mind.

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*BONUS CONTENT 🩸*

Gabriel Amor (Angelica's father: The Witch King & current head of the Amor family)

For those wondering, while Gabriel is a human, he is also an immortal witch, so he's around the same age as Karlheinz, Burai, and Giesbach if he was still alive.

Camilo Amor (Angelica's brother: The middle triplet)

Victor Amor (Angelica's brother: The youngest triplet)

For those wondering, this is how I imagined what Christa's pendant looks like. I wanted it to evoke Christa's "White Rose" nickname.

Hope this turned out well! What do you guys think?

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